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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16516-8.txt b/16516-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..97d6eb5 --- /dev/null +++ b/16516-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3615 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Walker's Appeal, with a Brief Sketch of His +Life, by David Walker and Henry Highland Garnet + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Walker's Appeal, with a Brief Sketch of His Life + And Also Garnet's Address to the Slaves of the United States of America + +Author: David Walker and Henry Highland Garnet + +Release Date: August 12, 2005 [EBook #16516] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WALKER'S APPEAL, WITH A *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Richard J. Shiffer, and the PG +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +Transcriber's Note: This book includes several pointing hand symbols. +A hand pointing to the left is represented as [<-Hand] and a hand +pointing to the right is represented as [Hand->]. + + + + +WALKER'S APPEAL, + +WITH A BRIEF SKETCH OF HIS LIFE. + +BY + +HENRY HIGHLAND GARNET. + +AND ALSO + +GARNET'S ADDRESS + +TO THE SLAVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + + +NEW-YORK: +Printed by J.H. Tobitt, 9 Spruce st +1848. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +Such is the very high esteem which is entertained for the memory of +DAVID WALKER, and so general is the desire to preserve his +"Appeal," that the subscriber has undertaken, and performed the task +of re-publication, with a brief notice of his life, having procured +permission from his widow, Mrs. Dewson. + +The work is valuable, because it was among the first, and was actually +the boldest and most direct appeal in behalf of freedom, which was +made in the early part of the Anti-Slavery Reformation. When the +history of the emancipation of the bondmen of America shall be +written, whatever name shall be placed first on the list of heroes, +that of the author of the Appeal will not be second. + +_Troy, N.Y., April 12, 1848._ + + + + +A BRIEF SKETCH + +OF THE + +LIFE AND CHARACTER OF DAVID WALKER. + + +It is generally the desire of the reader of any intellectual +production, to know something of the character and the life of the +author. The character of _David Walker_ is indicated in his writings. +In regard to his life, but a few materials can be gathered; but what +is known of him, furnishes proof to the opinion which the friends of +man have formed of him--that he possessed a noble and a courageous +spirit, and that he was ardently attached to the cause of liberty. + +Mr. Walker was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, Sept. 28, 1785. His +mother was a free woman, and his father was a slave. His innate hatred +to slavery was very early developed. When yet a boy, he declared that +the slaveholding South was not the place for him. His soul became so +indignant at the wrongs which his father and his kindred bore, that he +determined to find some portion of his country where he would see less +to harrow up his soul. Said he, "If I remain in this bloody land, I +will not live long. As true as God reigns, I will be avenged for the +sorrow which my people have suffered. This is not the place for +me--no, no. I must leave this part of the country. It will be a great +trial for me to live on the same soil where so many men are in +slavery; certainly I cannot remain where I must hear their chains +continually, and where I must encounter the insults of their +hypocritical enslaver. Go, I must." + +The youthful Walker embraced his mother, and received a mother's +blessings, and turned his back upon North Carolina. His father died a +few months before his birth; and it is a remarkable coincidence, that +the son of the subject of this Memoir, was a posthumous child. + +After leaving home, David Walker travelled rapidly towards the North, +shaking off the dust of his feet, and breathing curses upon the system +of human slavery, America's darling institution. As might be expected, +he met with trials during his journey; and at last he reached Boston, +Mass., where he took up his permanent residence. There he applied +himself to study, and soon learned to read and write, in order that he +might contribute something to the cause of humanity. Mr. Walker, like +most of reformers, was a poor man--he lived poor, and died poor. + +In 1827 be entered into the clothing business in Brattle street, in +which he prospered; and had it not been for his great liberality and +hospitality, he would have become wealthy. In 1828, he married Miss +Eliza ----. He was emphatically a self-made man, and he spent all his +leisure moments in the cultivation of his mind. Before the +Anti-Slavery Reformation had assumed a form, he was ardently engaged +in the work. His hands were always open to contribute to the wants of +the fugitive. His house was the shelter and the home of the poor and +needy. Mr. Walker is known principally by his "APPEAL," but it was in +his private walks, and by his unceasing labors in the cause of +freedom, that he has made his memory sacred. + +With an overflowing heart, he published his "Appeal" in 1829. This +little book produced more commotion among slaveholders than any volume +of its size that was ever issued from an American press. They saw that +it was a bold attack upon their idolatry, and that too by a black man +who once lived among them. It was merely a smooth stone which this +David took up, yet it terrified a host of Goliaths. When the fame of +this book reached the South, the poor, cowardly, pusillanimous +tyrants, grew pale behind their cotton bags, and armed themselves to +the teeth. They set watches to look after their happy and contented +slaves. The Governor of GEORGIA wrote to the Hon. Harrison Grey Otis, +the Mayor of Boston, requesting him to suppress the Appeal. His Honor +replied to the Southern Censor, that he had no power nor disposition +to hinder Mr. Walker from pursuing a lawful course in the utterance of +his thoughts. A company of Georgia men then bound themselves by an +oath, that they would eat as little as possible until they had killed +the youthful author. They also offered a reward of a thousand dollars +for his head, and ten times as much for the live Walker. His consort, +with the solicitude of an affectionate wife, together with some +friends, advised him to go to Canada, lest he should be abducted. +Walker said that he had nothing to fear from such a pack of coward +blood-hounds; but if he did go, he would hurl back such thunder across +the great lakes, that would cause them to tremble in their strong +holds. Said he, "I will stand my ground. _Somebody must die in this +cause._ I may be doomed to the stake and the fire, or to the scaffold +tree, but it is not in me to falter if I can promote the work of +emancipation." He did not leave the country, but was soon laid in the +grave. It was the opinion of many that he was hurried out of life by +the means of poison, but whether this was the case or not, the writer +is not prepared to affirm. + +He had many enemies, and not a few were his brethren whose cause he +espoused. They said that he went too far, and was making trouble. So +the Jews spoke of Moses. They valued the flesh-pots of Egypt more than +the milk and honey of Canaan. He died 1830 in Bridge street, at the +hopeful and enthusiastic age of 34 years. His ruling passion blazed up +in the hour of death, and threw an indescribable grandeur over the +last dark scene. The heroic young man passed away without a struggle, +and a few weeping friends + + "Saw in death his eyelids close, + Calmly, as to a night's repose, + Like flowers at set of sun." + +The personal appearance of Mr. Walker was prepossessing, being six +feet in height, slender and well proportioned. His hair was loose, and +his complexion was dark. His son, the only child he left, is now 18 +years of age, and is said to resemble his father; he now resides at +Charlestown, Mass., with his mother, Mrs. Dewson. Mr. Walker was a +faithful member of the Methodist Church at Boston, whose pastor is the +venerable father Snowden. + +The reader thus has a brief notice of the life and character of David +Walker. + + + + +WALKER'S + +APPEAL, + +IN FOUR ARTICLES, + +TOGETHER WITH + +A PREAMBLE, + +TO THE + +COLORED CITIZENS OF THE WORLD, + +BUT IN PARTICULAR, AND VERY EXPRESSLY TO THOSE OF THE + +UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +_Written in Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, Sept. 28, 1829._ + + +SECOND EDITION, WITH CORRECTIONS, &c. + +BY DAVID WALKER. + +1830. + + + + +APPEAL. &c. + +PREAMBLE. + + +_My dearly beloved Brethren and Fellow Citizens:_ + +Having travelled over a considerable portion of these United States, +and having, in the course of my travels taken the most accurate +observations of things as they exist--the result of my observations +has warranted the full and unshakened conviction, that we, (colored +people of these United States) are the most degraded, wretched, and +abject set of beings that ever lived since the world began, and I pray +God, that none like us ever may live again until time shall be no +more. They tell us of the Israelites in Egypt, the Helots in Sparta, +and of the Roman Slaves, which last, were made up from almost every +nation under heaven, whose sufferings under those ancient and heathen +nations were, in comparison with ours, under this enlightened and +christian nation, no more than a cypher--or in other words, those +heathen nations of antiquity, had but little more among them than the +name and form of slavery, while wretchedness and endless miseries were +reserved, apparently in a phial, to be poured out upon our fathers, +ourselves and our children by _christian_ Americans! + +These positions, I shall endeavour, by the help of the Lord, to +demonstrate in the course of this _appeal_, to the satisfaction of the +most incredulous mind--and may God Almighty who is the father of our +Lord Jesus Christ, open your hearts to understand and believe the +truth. + +The _causes_, my brethren, which produce our wretchedness and +miseries, are so very numerous and aggravating, that I believe the pen +only of a Josephus or a Plutarch, can well enumerate and explain them. +Upon subjects, then, of such incomprehensible magnitude, so +impenetrable, and so notorious, I shall be obliged to omit a large +class of, and content myself with giving you an exposition of a few of +those, which do indeed rage to such an alarming pitch, that they +cannot but be a perpetual source of terror and dismay to every +reflecting mind. + +I am fully aware, in making this appeal to my much afflicted and +suffering brethren, that I shall not only be assailed by those whose +greatest earthly desires are, to keep us in abject ignorance and +wretchedness, and who are of the firm conviction that heaven has +designed us and our children to be slaves and _beasts of burden_ to +them and their children.--I say, I do not only expect to be held up to +the public as an ignorant, impudent and restless disturber of the +public peace, by such avaricious creatures, as well as a mover of +insubordination--and perhaps put in prison or to death, for giving a +superficial exposition of our miseries, and exposing tyrants. But I am +persuaded, that many of my brethren, particularly those who are +ignorantly in league with slave-holders or tyrants, who acquire their +daily bread by the blood and sweat of their more ignorant +brethren--and not a few of those too, who are too ignorant to see an +inch beyond their noses, will rise up and call me cursed--Yea, the +jealous ones among us will perhaps use more abject subtlety by +affirming that this work is not worth perusing; that we are well +situated and there is no use in trying to better our condition, for we +cannot. I will ask one question here.--Can our condition be any +worse?--Can it be more mean and abject? If there are any changes, will +they not be for the better, though they may appear for the worse at +first? Can they get us any lower? Where can they get us? They are +afraid to treat us worse, for they know well, the day they do it they +are gone. But against all accusations which may or can be preferred +against me, I appeal to heaven for my motive in writing--who knows +that my object is, if possible, to awaken in the breasts of my +afflicted, degraded and slumbering brethren, a spirit of enquiry and +investigation respecting our miseries and wretchedness in this +_Republican Land of Liberty!!!!!_ + +The sources from which our miseries are derived and on which I shall +comment, I shall not combine in one, but shall put them under distinct +heads and expose them in their turn; in doing which, keeping truth on +my side, and not departing from the strictest rules of morality, I +shall endeavor to penetrate, search out, and lay them open for your +inspection. If you cannot or will not profit by them, I shall have +done _my_ duty to you, my country and my God. + +And as the inhuman system of _slavery_, is the _source_ from which +most of our miseries proceed, I shall begin with that _curse to +nations_; which has spread terror and devastation through so many +nations of antiquity, and which is raging to such a pitch at the +present day in Spain and in Portugal. It had one tug in England, in +France, and in the United States of America; yet the inhabitants +thereof, do not learn wisdom, and erase it entirely from their +dwellings and from all with whom they have to do. The fact is, the +labor of slaves comes so cheap to the avaricious usurpers, and is (as +they think) of such great utility to the country where it exists, that +those who are actuated by sordid avarice only, overlook the evils, +which will as sure as the Lord lives, follow after the good. In fact, +they are so happy to keep in ignorance and degradation, and to receive +the homage and the labor of the slaves, they forget that God rules in +the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, having +his ears continually open to the cries, tears and groans of his +oppressed people; and being a just and holy Being will at one day +appear fully in behalf of the oppressed, and arrest the progress of +the avaricious oppressors; for although the destruction of the +oppressors God may not effect by the oppressed, yet the Lord our God +will bring other destructions upon them--for not unfrequently will he +cause them to rise up one against another, to be split and divided, +and to oppress each other, and sometimes to open hostilities with +sword in hand. Some may ask, what is the matter with this enlightened +and happy people?--Some say it is the cause of political usurpers, +tyrants, oppressors, &c. But has not the Lord an oppressed and +suffering people among them? Does the Lord condescend to hear their +cries and see their tears in consequence of oppression? Will he let +the oppressors rest comfortably and happy always? Will he not cause +the very children of the oppressors to rise up against them, and +oftimes put them to death? "God works in many ways his wonders to +perform." + +I will not here speak of the destructions which the Lord brought upon +Egypt, in consequence of the oppression and consequent groans of the +oppressed--of the hundreds and thousands of Egyptians whom God hurled +into the Red Sea for afflicting his people in their land--of the +Lord's suffering people in Sparta or Lacedemon, the land of the truly +famous Lycurgus--nor have I time to comment upon the cause which +produced the fierceness with which Sylla usurped the title, and +absolutely acted as dictator of the Roman people--the conspiracy of +Cataline--the conspiracy against, and murder of Cæsar in the Senate +house--the spirit with which Marc Antony made himself master of the +commonwealth--his associating Octavius and Lipidus with himself in +power,--their dividing the provinces of Rome among themselves--their +attack and defeat on the plains of Phillipi the last defenders of +their liberty, (Brutus and Cassius)--the tyranny of Tiberius, and from +him to the final overthrow of Constantinople by the Turkish Sultan, +Mahomed II., A.D. 1453. I say, I shall not take up time to speak of +the _causes_ which produced so much wretchedness and massacre among +those heathen nations, for I am aware that you know too well, that God +is just, as well as merciful!--I shall call your attention a few +moments to that _christian_ nation, the Spaniards, while I shall leave +almost unnoticed that avaricious and cruel people, the Portuguese, +among whom all true hearted christians and lovers of Jesus Christ, +must evidently see the judgments of God displayed. To show the +judgments of God upon the Spaniards I shall occupy but little time, +leaving a plenty of room for the candid and unprejudiced to reflect. + +All persons who are acquainted with history, and particularly the +Bible, who are not blinded by the God of this world, and are not +actuated solely by avarice--who are able to lay aside prejudice long +enough to view candidly and impartially, things as they were, are, and +probably will be, who are willing to admit that God made man to serve +him _alone_, and that man should have no other Lord or Lords but +himself--that God Almighty is the _sole proprietor_ or _master_ of the +WHOLE human family, and will not on any consideration admit of a +colleague, being unwilling to divide his glory with another.--And who +can dispense with prejudice long enough to admit that we are men, +notwithstanding our _improminent noses_ and _woolly heads_, and +believe that we feel for our fathers, mothers, wives and children as +well as they do for theirs.--I say, all who are permitted to see and +believe these things, can easily recognize the judgments of God among +the Spaniards. Though others may lay the cause of the fierceness with +which they cut each other's throats, to some other circumstances, yet +they who believe that God is a God of justice, will believe that +SLAVERY _is the principal cause_. + +While the Spaniards are running about upon the field of battle cutting +each other's throats, has not the Lord an afflicted and suffering +people in the midst of them whose cries and groans in consequence of +oppression are continually pouring into the ears of the God of +justice? Would they not cease to cut each others throats if they +could? But how can they? The very support which they draw from +government to aid them in perpetrating such enormities, does it not +arise in a great degree from the wretched victims of oppression among +them? And yet they are calling for _Peace!--Peace!!_ Will any peace be +given unto them? Their destruction may indeed be procrastinated +awhile, but can it continue long while they are oppressing the Lord's +people? Has He not the hearts of all men in His hand? Will he suffer +one part of his creatures to go on oppressing another like brutes +always, with impunity? And yet those avaricious wretches are calling +for _Peace!!!!_ I declare it does appear to me, as though some nations +think God is asleep, or that he made the Africans for nothing else but +to dig their mines and work their farms, or they cannot believe +history, sacred or profane. I ask every man who has a heart and is +blessed with the privilege of believing--Is not God a God of justice +to all his creatures? Do you say he is? Then if he gives peace and +tranquility to tyrants, and permits them to keep our fathers, our +mothers, ourselves and our children in eternal ignorance and +wretchedness to support them and their families, would he be to us a +God of _justice_? I ask O ye _christians!!!_ who hold us and our +children, in the most abject ignorance and degradation, that ever a +people were afflicted with since the world began--I say, if God gives +you peace and tranquility, and suffers you thus to go on afflicting +us and our children, who have never given you the least +provocation,--Would he be to us _a God of justice_? If you will allow +that we are MEN, who feel for each other, does not the blood of our +fathers and of us their children, cry aloud to the Lord of Sabaoth +against you, for the cruelties and murders with which you have, and do +continue to afflict us. But it is time for me to close my remarks on +the suburbs, just to enter more fully into the interior of this system +of cruelty and oppression. + + + + +ARTICLE I. + +OUR WRETCHEDNESS IN CONSEQUENCE OF SLAVERY. + + +My beloved brethren: The Indians of North and of South America--the +Greeks--the Irish subjected under the king of Great Britain--the Jews +that ancient people of the Lord--the inhabitants of the islands of the +sea--in fine, all the inhabitants of the earth, (except however, the +sons of Africa) are called _men_, and of course are, and ought to be +free. But we, (coloured people) and our children are _brutes!!_ and of +course are and ought to be SLAVES to the American people and their +children forever! to dig their mines and work their farms; and thus go +on enriching them, from one generation to another with our blood and +our tears!! + +I promised in a preceding page to demonstrate to the satisfaction of +the most incredulous, that we, (colored people of these United States +of America) are the _most wretched, degraded_ and abject set of beings +that ever _lived_ since the world began, and that the white Americans +having reduced us to the wretched state of _slavery_, treat us in that +condition _more cruel_ (they being an enlightened and Christian +people) than any heathen nation did any people whom it had reduced to +our condition. These affirmations are so well confirmed in the minds +of all unprejudiced men who have taken the trouble to read histories, +that they need no elucidation from me. But to put them beyond all +doubt, I refer you in the first place to the children of Jacob, or of +Israel in Egypt, under Pharaoh and his people. Some of my brethren do +not know who Pharaoh and the Egyptians were--I know it to be a fact +that some of them take the Egyptians to have been a gang of _devils_, +not knowing any better, and that they (Egyptians) having got +possession of the Lord's people, treated them _nearly_ as cruel as +_christians Americans_ do us, at the present day. For the information +of such, I would only mention that the Egyptians, were Africans or +colored people, such as we are--some of them yellow and others dark--a +mixture of Ethiopians and the natives of Egypt--about the same as you +see the colored people of the United States at the present day,--I +say, I call your attention then, to the children of Jacob, while I +point out particularly to you his son Joseph among the rest, in Egypt. + + "And Pharaoh, said unto Joseph, thou shalt be over my house, + and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled; + only in the throne will I be greater than thou."[1] + + "And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, see, I have set thee over all + the land of Egypt."[2] + + "And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without + thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land + of Egypt."[3] + +Now I appeal to heaven and to earth, and particularly to the American +people themselves who cease not to declare that our condition is not +_hard_, and that we are comparatively satisfied to rest in +wretchedness and misery, under them and their children. Not, indeed, +to show me a colored President, a Governor, a Legislator, a Senator, a +Mayor, or an Attorney at the Bar.--But to show me a man of color, who +holds the low office of a Constable, or one who sits in a Juror Box, +even on a case of one of his wretched brethren, throughout this great +Republic!!--But let us pass Joseph the son of Israel a little further +in review, as he existed with that heathen nation. + + "And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he + gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest + of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt."[4] + +Compare the above, with the American institutions. Do they not +institute laws to prohibit us from marrying among the whites? I would +wish, candidly, however, before the Lord, to be understood, that I +would not give _a pinch of snuff_ to be married to any white person I +ever saw in all the days of my life. And I do say it, that the black +man, or man of color, who will leave his own color (provided he can +get one who is good for any thing) and marry a white woman, to be a +double slave to her just because she is _white_, ought to be treated +by her as he surely will be, viz; as a NIGER!!! It is not indeed what +I care about intermarriages with the whites, which induced me to pass +this subject in review; for the Lord knows, that there is a day coming +when they will be glad enough to get into the company of the blacks, +notwithstanding, we are, in this generation, levelled by them almost +on a level with the brute creation; and some of us they treat even +worse than they do the brutes that perish. I only made this extract to +show how much lower we are held, and how much more cruel we are +treated by the Americans, than were the children of Jacob, by the +Egyptians. We will notice the sufferings of Israel some further, under +_heathen Pharaoh_, compared with ours under the _enlightened +christians of America_. + + "And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, thy father and thy + brethren are come unto thee:" + + "The land of Egypt is before thee: in the best of the land + make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen + let them dwell; and if thou knowest any men of activity + among them, then make them rulers over my cattle."[5] + +I ask those people who treat us so _well_, Oh! I ask them, where is +the most barren spot of land which they have given unto us? Israel had +the most fertile land in all Egypt. Need I mention the very notorious +fact, that I have known a poor man of color, who labored night and +day, to acquire a little money, and having acquired it, he vested it +in a small piece of land, and got him a house erected thereon, and +having paid for the whole, he moved his family into it, where he was +suffered to remain but nine months, when he was cheated out of his +property by a white man, and driven out of door!--And is not this the +case generally? Can a man of color buy a piece of land and keep it +peaceably? Will not some white man try to get it from him even if it +is in a _mud hole_? I need not comment any farther on a subject, which +all, both black and white, will readily admit. But I must, really, +observe that in this very city, when a man of color dies, if he owned +any real estate it must generally fall into the hands of some white +person. The wife and children of the deceased may weep and lament if +they please, but the estate will be kept snug enough by its white +possessors. + +But to prove farther that the condition of the Israelites was better +under the Egyptians than ours is under the whites. I call upon the +professing christians, I call upon the philanthropist, I call upon the +very tyrant himself, to show me a page of history, either sacred or +profane, on which a verse can be found, which maintains, that the +Egyptians heaped the _insupportable insult_ upon the children of +Israel by telling them that they were not of the _human family_. Can +the whites deny this charge? Have they not, after having reduced us to +the deplorable condition of slaves under their feet, held us up as +descending originally from the tribes of _Monkeys_ or _Orang-Outangs_? +O! my God! I appeal to every man of feeling--is not this +insupportable? Is it not heaping the most gross insult upon our +miseries, because they have got us under their feet and we cannot help +ourselves? Oh! pity us we pray thee, Lord Jesus, Master.--Has Mr. +Jefferson declared to the world, that we are inferior to the whites, +both in the endowments of our bodies and of minds? It is indeed +surprising, that a man of such great learning, combined with such +excellent natural parts, should speak so of a set of men in chains. I +do not know what to compare it to, unless, like putting one wild deer +in an iron cage, where it will be secured, and hold another by the +side of the same, then let it go, and expect the one in the cage to +run as fast as the one at liberty. So far, my brethren, were the +Egyptians from heaping these insults upon their slaves, that Pharaoh's +daughter took Moses, a son of Israel, for her own, as will appear by +the following. + + "And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, [Moses' mother] take + this child away, and nurse it for me and I will pay thee thy + wages. And the woman took the child [Moses] and nursed it. + + "And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's + daughter and he became her son. And she called his name + Moses: and she said because I drew him out of the water."[6] + +In all probability, Moses would have become Prince Regent to the +throne, and no doubt, in process of time but he would have been seated +on the throne of Egypt. But he had rather suffer shame, with the +people of God, than to enjoy pleasures with that wicked people for a +season. O! that the colored people were long since of Moses' excellent +disposition, instead of courting favor with, and telling news and lies +to our _natural enemies_, against each other--aiding them to keep +their hellish chains of slavery upon us. Would we not long before this +time, have been respectable men, instead of such wretched victims of +oppression as we are? Would they be able to drag our mothers, our +fathers, our wives, our children and ourselves, around the world in +chains and hand-cuffs as they do, to dig up gold and silver for them +and theirs? This question, my brethren, I leave for you to digest; and +may God Almighty force it home to your hearts. Remember that unless +you are united, keeping your tongues within your teeth, you will be +afraid to trust your secrets to each other, and thus perpetuate our +miseries under the _christians!!!!!_ [Hand->] ADDITION,--Remember, +also to lay humble at the feet of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, +with prayers and fastings. Let our enemies go on with their +butcheries, and at once fill up their cup. Never make an attempt to +gain our freedom or _natural right_, from under our cruel oppressors +and murderers, until you see your way clear; when that hour arrives +and you move, be not afraid or dismayed; for be you assured that Jesus +Christ the king of heaven and of earth who is the God of justice and +of armies, will surely go before you. And those enemies who have for +hundreds of years stolen our _rights_, and kept us ignorant of Him and +His divine worship, he will remove. Millions of whom, are this day, so +ignorant and avaricious, that they cannot conceive how God can have an +attribute of justice, and show mercy to us because it pleased Him to +make us black--which color, Mr. Jefferson calls unfortunate!!!!!! As +though we are not as thankful to our God for having made us as it +pleased himself, as they (the whites) are for having made them white. +They think because they hold us in their infernal chains of slavery +that we wish to be white, or of their color--but they are dreadfully +deceived--we wish to be just as it pleased our Creator to have made +us, and no avaricious and unmerciful wretches, have any business to +make slaves of or hold us in slavery. How would they like for us to +make slaves of, or hold them in cruel slavery, and murder them as they +do us? But is Mr. Jefferson's assertion true? viz. "that it is +unfortunate for us that our Creator has been pleased to make us +black." We will not take his say so, for the fact. The world will have +an opportunity to see whether it is unfortunate for us, that our +Creator _has made us_ darker than the _whites_. + +Fear not the number and education of our _enemies_, against whom we +shall have to contend for our lawful right; guaranteed to us by our +Maker; for why should we be afraid, when God is, and will continue +(if we continue humble) to be on our side? + +The man who would not fight under our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, in +the glorious and heavenly cause of freedom and of God--to be delivered +from the most wretched, abject and servile slavery, that ever a people +was afflicted with since the foundation of the world, to the present +day--ought to be kept with all of his children or family, in slavery, +or in chains, to be butchered by his _cruel enemies_. [<-Hand] + +I saw a paragraph, a few years since, in a South Carolina paper, +which, speaking of the barbarity of the Turks it said: "The Turks are +the most barbarous people in the world--they treat the Greeks more +like _brutes_ than human beings." And in the same paper was an +advertisement, which said: "Eight well built Virginia and Maryland +_Negro fellows_ and four _wenches_ will positively be _sold_ this day +_to the highest bidder!_" And what astonished me still more was, to +see in this same _humane_ paper!! the cuts of three men, with clubs +and budgets on their backs, and an advertisement offering a +considerable sum of money for their apprehension and delivery. I +declare it is really so _funny_ to hear the Southerners and Westerners +of this country talk about _barbarity_, that it is positively, enough +to make a man _smile_. + +The sufferings of the Helots among the Spartans, were somewhat severe, +it is true, but to say that theirs were as severe as ours among the +Americans I do most strenuously deny--for instance, can any man show +me an article on a page of ancient history which specifies, that, the +Spartans chained, and hand-cuffed the Helots, and dragged them from +their wives and children, children from their parents, mothers from +their sucking babes, wives from their husbands, driving them from one +end of the country to the other? Notice the Spartans were heathens, +who lived long before our Divine Master made his appearance in the +flesh. Can Christian Americans deny these barbarous cruelties? Have +you not Americans, having subjected us under you, added to these +miseries, by insulting us in telling us to our face, because we are +helpless that we are not of the human family? I ask you, O! Americans, +I ask you, in the name of the Lord, can you deny these charges? Some +perhaps may deny, by saying, that they never thought or said that we +were not men. But do not actions speak louder than words?--have they +not made provisions for the Greeks, and Irish? Nations who have never +done the least thing for them, while _we_ who have enriched their +country with our blood and tears--have dug up gold and silver for them +and their children, from generation to generation, and are in more +miseries than any other people under heaven, are not seen, but by +comparatively a handful of the American people? There are indeed, more +ways to kill a dog besides choaking it to death with butter. Further. +The Spartans or Lacedemonians, had some frivolous pretext for +enslaving the Helots, for they (Helots) while being free inhabitants +of Sparta, stirred up an intestine commotion, and were by the Spartans +subdued, and made prisoners of war. Consequently they and their +children were condemned to perpetual slavery.[7] + +I have been for years troubling the pages of historians to find out +what our fathers have done to the _white Christians of America_, to +merit such condign punishment as they have inflicted on them, and do +continue to inflict on us their children. But I must aver, that my +researches have hitherto been to no effect. I have therefore come to +the immovable conclusion, that they (Americans) have, and do continue +to punish us for nothing else, but for enriching them and their +country. For I cannot conceive of any thing else. Nor will I ever +believe otherwise until the Lord shall convince me. + +The world knows, that slavery as it existed among the Romans, (which +was the primary cause of their destruction) was, comparatively +speaking, no more than a _cypher_, when compared with ours under the +Americans. Indeed, I should not have noticed the Roman slaves, had not +the very learned and penetrating Mr. Jefferson said, "When a master +was murdered, all his slaves in the same house or within hearing, were +condemned to death."[8]--Here let me ask Mr. Jefferson, (but he is +gone to answer at the bar of God, for the deeds done in his body while +living,) I therefore ask the whole American people, had I not rather +die, or be put to death than to be a slave to any tyrant, who takes +not only my own, but my wife and children's lives by the inches? Yea, +would I meet death with avidity far! far!! in preference to such +_servile submission_ to the murderous hands of tyrants. Mr. +Jefferson's very severe remarks on us have been so extensively argued +upon by men whose attainments in literature, I shall never be able to +reach, that I would not have meddled with it, were it not to solicit +each of my brethren, who has the spirit of a man, to buy a copy of Mr. +Jefferson's "Notes on Virginia," and put it in the hand of his son. +For let no one of us suppose that the refutations which have been +written by our white friends are enough--they are _whites_--we are +_blacks_. We, and the world wish to see the charges of Mr. Jefferson +refuted by the blacks _themselves_, according to their chance: for we +must remember that what the whites have written respecting this +subject, is other men's labors and did not emanate from the blacks. I +know well, that there are some talents and learning among the coloured +people of this country, which we have not a chance to develope, in +consequence of oppression; but our oppression ought not to hinder us +from acquiring all we can.--For we will have a chance to develope them +by and by. God will not suffer us, always to be oppressed. Our +sufferings will come to an _end_, in spite of all the Americans this +side of _eternity_. Then we will want all the learning and talents +among ourselves, and perhaps more, to govern ourselves.--"Every dog +must have its day," the American's is coming to an end. + +But let us review Mr. Jefferson's remarks respecting us some further. +Comparing our miserable fathers, with the learned philosophers of +Greece, he says: + + "Yet notwithstanding these and other discouraging + circumstances among the Romans, their slaves were often + their rarest artists. They excelled too in science, insomuch + as to be usually employed as tutors to their master's + children; Epictetus, Terence and Phædrus, were slaves,--but + they were of the race of whites. It is not their _condition_ + then, but _nature_, which has produced the distinction."[9] + +See this, my brethren!! Do you believe that this assertion is +swallowed by millions of the whites? Do you know that Mr. Jefferson +was one of as great characters as ever lived among the whites? See his +writings for the world, and public labors for the United States of +America. Do you believe that the assertions of such a man, will pass +away into oblivion unobserved by this people and the world? If you do +you are much mistaken--See how the American people treat us--have we +souls in our bodies? are we men who have any spirits at all? I know +that there are many _swell-bellied_ fellows among us whose greatest +object is to fill their stomachs. Such I do not mean--I am after those +who know and feel, that we are MEN as well as other people; to them, I +say, that unless we try to refute Mr. Jefferson's arguments respecting +us, we will only establish them. + +But the slaves among the Romans. Every body who has read history, +knows, that as soon as a slave among the Romans obtained his freedom, +he could rise to the greatest eminence in the State, and there was no +law instituted to hinder a slave from buying his freedom. Have not the +Americans instituted laws to hinder us from obtaining our freedom. Do +any deny this charge? Read the laws of Virginia, North Carolina, &c. +Further: have not the Americans instituted laws to prohibit a man of +colour from obtaining and holding any office whatever, under the +government of the United States of America? Now, Mr. Jefferson tells +us that our condition is not so hard, as the slaves were under the +Romans!!!! + +It is time for me to bring this article to a close. But before I close +it, I must observe to my brethren that at the close of the first +Revolution in this country with Great Britain, there were but thirteen +States in the Union, now there are twenty-four, most of which are +slave-holding States, and the whites are dragging us around in chains +and hand-cuffs to their new States and Territories to work their mines +and farms, to enrich them and their children, and millions of them +believing firmly that we being a little darker than they, were made by +our creator to be an inheritance to them and their children +forever--the same as a parcel of _brutes_!! + +Are we MEN!!--I ask you, O my brethren! are we MEN? Did our creator +make us to be slaves to dust and ashes like ourselves? Are they not +dying worms as well as we? Have they not to make their appearance +before the tribunal of heaven, to answer for the deeds done in the +body, as well as we? Have we any other master but Jesus Christ alone? +Is he not their master as well as ours?--What right then, have we to +obey and call any other master, but Himself? How we could be so +_submissive_ to a gang of men, whom we cannot tell whether they are as +_good_ as ourselves or not, I never could conceive. However, this is +shut up with the Lord and we cannot precisely tell--but I declare, we +judge men by their works. + +The whites have always been an unjust, jealous unmerciful, avaricious +and blood thirsty set of beings, always seeking after power and +authority.--We view them all over the confederacy of Greece, where +they were first known to be any thing, (in consequence of education) +we see them there, cutting each other's throats--trying to subject +each other to wretchedness and misery, to effect which they used all +kinds of deceitful, unfair and unmerciful means. We view them next in +Rome, where the spirit of tyranny and deceit raged still higher.--We +view them in Gaul, Spain and in Britain--in fine, we view them all +over Europe, together with what were scattered about in Asia and +Africa, as heathens, and we see them acting more like devils than +accountable men. But some may ask, did not the blacks of Africa, and +the mulattoes of Asia, go on in the same way as did the whites of +Europe. I answer no--they never were half so avaricious, deceitful and +unmerciful as the whites, according to their knowledge. + +But we will leave the whites or Europeans as heathens and take a view +of them as Christians, in which capacity we see them as cruel, if not +more so than ever. In fact, take them as a body, they are ten times +more cruel avaricious and unmerciful than ever they were; for while +they were heathens they were bad enough it is true, but it is +positively a fact that they were not quite so audacious as to go and +take vessel loads of men, women and children, and in cold blood and +through devilishness, throw them into the sea, and murder them in all +kind of ways. While they were heathens, they were too ignorant for +such barbarity. But being Christians, enlightened and sensible, they +are completely prepared for such hellish cruelties. Now suppose God +were to give them more sense, what would they do. If it were possible +would they not _dethrone_ Jehovah and seat themselves upon his throne? +I therefore, in the name and fear of the Lord God of heaven and of +earth, divested of prejudice either on the side of my colour or that +of the whites, advance my suspicion of them, whether they are _as good +by nature_ as we are or not. Their actions, since they were known as a +people, have been the reverse, I do indeed suspect them, but this, as +I before observed, is shut up with the Lord, we cannot exactly tell, +it will be proved in succeeding generations.--The whites have had the +essence of the gospel as it was preached by my master and his +apostles--the Ethiopians have not, who are to have it in its meridian +splendor--the Lord will give it to them to their satisfaction. I hope +and pray my God, that they will make good use of it, that it may be +well with them. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] See Genesis, chap. xli. v. 40. + +[2] v. 41. + +[3] v. 44. + +[4] v. 45 + +[5] Genesis, chap. xlvii. v. 5, 6. + +[6] See Exodus, chap. ii. v. 9, 10. + +[7] See Dr. Goldsmith's History of Greece--page 9. See also Plutarch's +lives. The Helots subdued by Agis, king of Sparta. + +[8] See his notes on Virginia, page 210. + +[9] See his notes on Virginia, page 211. + + + + +ARTICLE II. + +OUR WRETCHEDNESS IN CONSEQUENCE OF IGNORANCE. + + +Ignorance, my brethren, is a mist, low down into the very dark and +almost impenetrable abyss of which, our fathers for many centuries +have been plunged. The christians, and enlightened of Europe, and some +of Asia, seeing the ignorance and consequent degradation of our +fathers, instead of trying to enlighten them, by teaching them that +religion and light with which God had blessed them, they have plunged +them into wretchedness ten thousand times more intolerable, than if +they had left them entirely to the Lord, and to add to their miseries, +deep down into which they have plunged them, tell them, that they are +an _inferior_ and _distinct race_ of beings, which they will be glad +enough to recall and swallow by and by. Fortune and misfortune, two +inseparable companions, lay rolled up in the wheel of events, which +have from the creation of the world, and will continue to take place +among men until God shall dash worlds together. + +When we take a retrospective view of the arts and sciences--the wise +legislators--The Pyramids, and other magnificent buildings--the +turning of the channel of the river Nile, by the sons of Africa or of +Ham, among whom learning originated, and was carried thence into +Greece, where it was improved upon and refined. Thence among the +Romans, and all over the then enlightened parts of the world, and it +has been enlightening the dark and benighted minds of men from then, +down to this day. I say, when I view retrospectively, the renown of +that once mighty people, the children of our great progenitor, I am +indeed cheered. Yea further, when I view that mighty son of Africa, +HANNIBAL, one of the greatest generals of antiquity, who defeated and +cut off so many thousands of the white Romans or murderers, and who +carried his victorious arms, to the very gate of Rome, and I give it +as my candid opinion, that had Carthage been well united and had given +him good support, he would have carried that cruel and barbarous city +by storm. But they were disunited, as the colored people are now, in +the United States of America, the reason our natural enemies are +enabled to keep their feet on our throats. + +Beloved brethren--here let me tell you, and believe it, that the Lord +our God, as true as he sits on his throne in heaven, and as true as +our Saviour died to redeem the world, will give you a Hannibal, and +when the Lord shall have raised him up, and given him to you for your +possession, O my suffering brethren! remember the divisions and +consequent sufferings of _Carthage_ and of _Hayti_. Read the history +particularly of Hayti, and see how they were butchered by the whites, +and do you take warning. The person whom God shall give you, give him +your support and let him go his length, and behold in him the +salvation of your God. God will indeed, deliver you through him from +your deplorable and wretched condition under the Christians of +America. I charge you this day before my God to lay no obstacle in his +way, but let him go. + +The whites want slaves, and want us for their slaves, but some of them +will curse the day they ever saw us. As true as the sun ever shine in +its meridian splendor, my colour will root some of them out of the +very face of the earth. They shall have enough of making slaves of, +and butchering, and murdering us in the manner which they have. No +doubt some may say that I write with a bad spirit, and that I being a +black, wish these things to occur. Whether I write with a bad or a +good spirit, I say if these things do not occur in their proper time, +it is because the world in which we live does not exist, and we are +deceived with regard to its existence. It is immaterial however to me, +who believe, or who refuse--though I should like to see the whites +repent peradventure God may have mercy on them, some however, have +gone so far that their cup must be filled. + +But what need have I to refer to antiquity, when Hayti, the glory of +the blacks and terror of tyrants, is enough to convince the most +avaricious and stupid of wretches--which is at this time, and I am +sorry to say it, plagued with that scourge of nations, the Catholic +religion; but I hope and pray God that she may yet rid herself of it, +and adopt in its stead the Protestant faith; also, I hope that she may +keep peace within her borders and be united, keeping a strict look out +for tyrants, for if they get the least chance to injure her, they will +avail themselves of it, as true as the Lord lives in heaven. But one +thing which gives me joy is, that they are men who would be cut off to +a man, before they would yield to the combined forces of the whole +world--in fact, if the whole world was combined against them, it could +not do any thing with them, unless the Lord delivers them up. + +Ignorance and treachery one against the other--a servile and abject +submission to the lash of tyrants, we see plainly, my brethren, are +not the natural elements of the blacks, as the Americans try to make +us believe; but these are misfortunes which God has suffered our +fathers to be enveloped in for many ages, no doubt in consequence of +their disobedience to their Maker, and which do, indeed, reign at this +time among us, almost to the destruction of all other principles: for +I must truly say, that ignorance, the mother of treachery and deceit, +gnaws into our very vitals. Ignorance, as it now exists among us, +produces a state of things, Oh my Lord! too horrible to present to the +world. Any man who is curious to see the full force of ignorance +developed among the colored people of the United States of America, +has only to go into the southern and western states of this +confederacy, where, if he is not a tyrant, but has the feelings of a +human being, who can feel for a fellow creature, he may see enough to +make his very heart bleed! He may see there, a son take his mother, +who bore almost the pains of death to give him birth, and by the +command of a tyrant, strip her as naked as she came into the world, +and apply the cow-hide to her, until she falls a victim to death in +the road! He may see a husband take his dear wife, not unfrequently in +a pregnant state, and perhaps far advanced, and beat her for an +unmerciful wretch, until his infant falls a lifeless lump at her feet! +Can the Americans escape God Almighty? If they do, can he be to us a +God of Justice? God is just, and I know it--for he has convinced me to +my satisfaction--I cannot doubt him. My observer may see fathers +beating their sons, mothers their daughters, and children their +parents, all to pacify the passions of unrelenting tyrants. He may +also, see them telling news and lies, making mischief one upon +another. These are some of the productions of ignorance, which he will +see practised among my dear brethren, who are held in unjust slavery +and wretchedness, by avaricious and unfeeling tyrants, to whom, and +their hellish deeds, I would suffer my life to be taken before I would +submit. And when my curious observer comes to take notice of those +who are said to be free (which assertion I deny) and who are making +some frivolous pretensions to common sense, he will see that branch of +ignorance among the slaves assuming a more cunning and deceitful +course of procedure. He may see some of my brethren in league with +tyrants, selling their own brethren into _hell upon earth_, not +dissimilar to the exhibitions in Africa but in a more secret, servile +and abject manner. Oh Heaven! I am full!!! I can hardly move my pen!!! +As I expect some one will try to put me to death, to strike terror +into others, and to obliterate from their minds the notion of freedom, +so as to keep my brethren the more secured in wretchedness where they +will be permitted to stay but a short time (whether tyrants believe it +or not,) I shall give the world a development of facts which are +already witnessed in the courts of heaven. My observer may see some of +those ignorant and treacherous creatures (colored people) sneaking +about in the large cities, endeavoring to find out all strange colored +people, where they work and where they reside, asking them questions +and trying to ascertain whether they are runaways or not, telling +them, at the same time, that they always have been, are, and always +will be, friends to their brethren; and perhaps, that they themselves +are absconders, and a thousand such treacherous lies to get the better +information of the more ignorant!! There have been and are at this day +in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, coloured men, who +are in league with tyrants, and receive a great portion of their daily +bread, of the moneys which they acquire from the blood and tears of +their more miserable brethren whom they scandalously delivered into +the hands of our _natural enemies!!!!_ + +To show the force of degraded ignorance and deceit among us some +further, I will give here an extract from a paragraph, which may be +found in the Columbian Centinel of this city, for September 9, 1829, +on the first page of which the curious may find an article, headed + + "AFFRAY AND MURDER." + + _Portsmouth, (Ohio) Aug. 22, 1829._ + + "A most shocking outrage was committed in Kentucky, about + eight miles from this place, on the 14th inst. A negro + driver, by the name of Gordon, who had purchased in Maryland + about sixty negroes, was taking them, assisted by an + associate named Allen and the wagoner who conveyed the + baggage, to the Mississippi. The men were hand-cuffed and + chained together, in the usual manner for driving these poor + wretches, while the women and children were suffered to + proceed without incumbrance. It appears that, by means of a + file the negroes unobserved had succeeded in separating the + irons which bound their hands, in such a way as to be able + to throw them off at any moment. About 8 o'clock in the + morning, while proceeding on the state road leading from + Greenup to Vanceburg, two of them dropped their shackles and + commenced a fight, when the wagoner (Petit) rushed in with + his whip to compel them to desist. At this moment, every + negro was found to be perfectly at liberty; and one of them + seizing a club, gave Petit a violent blow on the head and + laid him dead at his feet; and Allen, who came to his + assistance, met a similar fate from the contents of a pistol + fired by another of the gang. Gordon was then attacked, + seized and held by one of the negroes, whilst another fired + twice at him with a pistol, the ball of which each time + grazed his head, but not proving effectual, he was beaten + with clubs, and left for dead They then commenced pillaging + the wagon and with an axe split open the trunk of Gordon and + rifled it of the money, about $2,490. Sixteen of the negroes + then took to the woods; Gordon, in the mean time, not being + materially injured was enabled, by the assistance of one of + the women, to mount his horse and flee; pursued, however, by + one of the gang on another horse, with a drawn pistol; + fortunately he escaped with his life, barely arriving at a + plantation, as the negro came in sight; who then turned + about and retreated. + + "The neighborhood was immediately rallied, and a hot pursuit + given--which, we understand, has resulted in the capture of + the whole gang and the recovery of the greatest part of the + money.--Seven of the negro men and one woman, it is said + were engaged in the murder, and will be brought to trial at + the next court in Greenupsburg." + +Here my brethren, I want you to notice particularly in the above +article, the ignorant and _deceitful actions_ of this colored woman. I +beg you to view it carefully, as for ETERNITY!!! Here a _notorious +wretch_, with two other confederates had SIXTY of them in a gang, +driving them like _brutes_--the men all in chains and hand-cuffs, and +by the help of God they got their chains and hand-cuffs thrown off and +caught two of the wretches and put them to death, and beat the other +until they thought he was dead, and left him for dead; however he +deceived them, and rising from the ground, this _servile woman_ helped +him upon his horse and he made his escape. Brethren what do you think +of this? Was it the natural _fine feelings_ of this woman, to save +such a wretch alive? I know that the blacks, take them half +enlightened and ignorant, are more humane and merciful than the most +enlightened and refined Europeans that can be found in all the earth. +Let no one say that I assert this because I am prejudiced on the side +of my color, and against the whites or Europeans. For what I write, I +do it candidly, for my God and the good of both parties: Natural +observations have taught me these things; there is a solemn awe in the +hearts of the blacks, as it respects _murdering_ men:[10] whereas the +whites (though they are great cowards) where they have the advantage, +or think that there are any prospects of getting it, they murder all +before them, in order to subject men to wretchedness and degradation +under them. This is the natural result of pride and avarice.--But I +declare, the actions of this black woman are really insupportable. For +my own part, I cannot think it was any thing but servile deceit, +combined with the most gross ignorance: for we must remember that +_humanity_, _kindness_ and the _fear of the Lord_, does not consist in +protecting _devils_. Here is a set of wretches, who had SIXTY of them +in a gang, driving them around the country like _brutes_, to dig up +gold and silver for them, (which they will get enough of yet.) Should +the lives of such creatures be spared? Is GOD and Mammon in league? +What has the Lord to do with a gang of desperate wretches, who go +_sneaking about the country like robbers_--light upon his people +wherever they can get a chance, binding them with chains and +hand-cuffs, beat and murder them as they would _rattle-snakes_? Are +they not the Lord's enemies? Ought they not to be destroyed? Any +person who will save such wretches from destruction, is fighting +against the Lord, and will receive his just recompense. The black men +acted like _blockheads_. Why did they not make sure of the wretch? He +would have made sure of them if he could. It is just the way with +black men--eight white men can frighten fifty of them; whereas, if you +can only get courage into the blacks, I do declare it, that one good +black man can put to death six white men; and I give it as a fact, let +twelve black men get well armed for battle, and they will kill and put +to flight fifty whites. The reason is, the blacks, once you get them +started, they glory in death. The whites have had us under them for +more than three centuries, murdering, and treating us like brutes; +and, as Mr. Jefferson wisely said, they have never _found us +out_--they do not know, indeed, that there is an unconquerable +disposition in the breasts of the blacks, which when it is fully +awakened and put in motion, will be subdued, only with the destruction +of the animal existence. Get the blacks started, and if you do not +have a gang of lions and tigers to deal with, I am a deceiver of the +blacks and the whites. How sixty of them could let that wretch escape +unkilled, I cannot conceive--they will have to suffer as much for the +two whom they secured, as if they had put one hundred to death: if you +commence, make sure work--do not trifle, for they will not trifle with +you--they want us for their slaves, and think nothing of murdering us +in order to subject us to that wretched condition--therefore, if there +is an _attempt_ made by us, kill or be killed. Now, I ask you had you +not rather be killed than to be a slave to a tyrant, who takes the +life of your mother, wife, and dear little children? Look upon your +mother, wife and children, and answer God Almighty; and believe this, +that it is no more harm for you to kill a man, who is trying to kill +you, than it is for you to take a drink of water when thirsty; in +fact, the man who will stand still and let another murder him, is +worse than an infidel, and if he has common sense, ought not to be +pitied.--The actions of this deceitful and ignorant coloured woman, in +saving the life of a desperate man, whose avaricious and cruel object +was to drive her and her companions in miseries, through the country +like cattle, to make his fortune on their carcasses, are but too much +like that of thousands of our brethren in these states: if any thing +is whispered by one, which has any allusion to the melioration of +their dreadful condition, they run and tell tyrants, that they may be +enabled to keep them the longer in wretchedness and miseries. Oh! +coloured people of these United States, I ask you, in the name of that +God who made us, have we, in consequence of oppression, nearly lost +the spirit of man, and, in no very trifling degree, adopted that of +brutes? Do you answer, No?--I ask you, then, what set of men can you +point me to, in all the world, who are so abjectly employed by their +oppressors as we are by our _natural enemies_? How can, Oh! how can +those enemies but say that we and our children are not of the HUMAN +FAMILY, but were made by our creator to be an inheritance to them and +theirs forever? How can the slave-holders but say that they can bribe +the best coloured person in the country, to sell his brethren for a +trifling sum of money, and take that atrocity to confirm them in their +avaricious opinion, that we were made to be slaves to them and their +children? How could Mr. Jefferson but say,[11] + + "I advance it therefore as a suspicion only, that the + blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or made distinct + by time and circumstances, are _inferior_ to the whites in + the endowments both of body and mind?" "It," says he, "is + not against experience to suppose, that different species of + the same genus, or varieties of the same species, may + possess different qualifications." + +[Here, my brethren listen to him.] + + [Hand->] "Will not a lover of natural history then, one who + views the gradations in all the races of _animals_ with the + eye of philosophy, excuse an effort to keep those in the + department of MAN as _distinct_ as nature has formed them?" + +I hope you will try to find out the meaning of this verse--its widest +sense and all its bearings: whether you do or not, remember the whites +do. This very verse, brethren, having emanated from Mr. Jefferson, a +much greater philosopher the world never afforded, has in truth +injured us more, and has been as great a barrier to our emancipation +as any thing that has ever been advanced against us. I hope you will +not let it pass unnoticed. He goes on further, and says: + + "This _unfortunate_ difference of colour, and _perhaps_ of + _faculty_, is a powerful obstacle to the emancipation of + these people. Many of their advocates, while they wish to + vindicate the liberty of human nature are anxious also to + preserve its _dignity_ and _beauty_. Some of these, + embarrassed by the question, 'What further is to be done + with them? join themselves in opposition with those who are + actuated by sordid avarice only." + +Now I ask you candidly, my suffering brethren in time, who are +candidates for the eternal worlds, how could Mr. Jefferson but have +given the world these remarks respecting us, when we are so submissive +to them, and so much servile deceit prevails among ourselves--when we +so _meanly_ submit to their murderous lashes, to which neither the +Indians or any other people under heaven would submit? No, they could +die to a man, before they would suffer such things from men who are no +better than themselves, and _perhaps not so good_. Yes, how can our +friends but be embarrassed, as Mr. Jefferson says, by the question, +"What further is to be done with these people?" for while they are +working for our emancipation, we are, by our treachery, wickedness and +deceit, working against ourselves and our children--helping ours, and +the enemies of God, to keep us and our dear little children, in their +infernal chains of slavery!! Indeed, our friends cannot but relapse +and join themselves with those who are actuated by _sordid avarice_ +only!!!!' For my part, I am glad Mr. Jefferson has advanced his +position for your sake; for you will either have to contradict or +confirm him by your own actions and not by what our friends have said +or done for us; for those things are other men's labors and do not +satisfy the Americans who are waiting for us to prove to them +ourselves that we are MEN before they will be willing to admit the +fact; for I pledge you my sacred word of honor that Mr. Jefferson's +remarks respecting us have sunk deep into the hearts of millions of +the whites and never will be removed this side of eternity. For how +can they, when we are confirming him every day by our _groveling +submissions_ and _treachery_? + +I aver that when I look upon these United States and see the ignorant +deceptions and consequent wretchedness of my brethren, I am brought +oft-times solemnly to a stand, and in the midst of my reflections I +exclaim to my God, 'Lord didst thou make us to be slaves to our +brethren, the whites?' But when I reflect that God is just, and that +millions of my wretched brethren would meet death with glory--yea, +more, would plunge into the very mouths of cannons and be torn into +particles as minute as the atoms which compose the elements of the +earth, in preference to a mean submission to the lash of tyrants, I am +with streaming eyes, compelled to shrink back into nothingness before +my Maker, and exclaim again, thy will be done, O Lord God Almighty. + +Men of colour, who are also of sense, for you particularly is my +appeal designed. Our more ignorant brethren are not able to penetrate +its value. I call upon you therefore to cast your eyes upon the +wretchedness of your brethren and to do your utmost to enlighten +them--_go to work and enlighten your brethren!_--let the Lord see you +doing what you can to rescue them and yourselves from degradation. Do +any of you say that you and your family are free and happy and what +have you to do with wretched slaves and other people? So can I say, +for I enjoy as much freedom as any of you, if I am not quite as well +off as the best of you. Look into our freedom and happiness and see of +what kind they are composed!! They are of the very lowest kind--they +are the very _dregs!_--they are the most servile and abject kind, that +ever a people was in possession of! If any of you wish to know how +FREE you are, let one of you start and go thro' the southern and +western States of this country, and unless you travel as a slave to a +white man (a servant is a _slave_ to the man whom he serves,) or have +your free papers (which if you are not careful they will get from you) +if they do not take you up and put you in jail, and if you cannot +give evidence of your freedom, sell you into eternal slavery, I am not +a living man; or any man of color, immaterial who he is or where he +came from, if he is not the 4th from the "_Negro race_," (as we are +called,) the white christians of America will serve him the same, they +will sink him into wretchedness & degradation forever while he lives. +And yet some of you have the hardihood to say that you are free & +happy! May God have mercy on your freedom and happiness! I met a +colored man in the street a short time since, with a string of boots +on his shoulder; we fell into conversation, and in course of which I +said to him, what a miserable set of people we are! He asked +why?--Said I, we are so subjected under the whites, that we cannot +obtain the comforts of life, but by cleaning their boots and shoes, +old clothes, waiting on them, shaving them, etc. Said he, (with the +boots on his shoulders,) "I am completely happy!!! I never want to +live any better or happier than when I can get a plenty of boots and +shoes to clean!!!" Oh! how can those who are actuated by avarice only, +but think that our creator made us to be an inheritance to them +forever, when they see that our greatest glory is centered in such +mean and low objects? Understand me, brethren, I do not mean to speak +against the occupations by which we acquire enough and sometimes +scarcely that, to render ourselves and families comfortable through +life. I am subjected to the same inconvenience, as you all. My +objections are, to our _glorying_ and being _happy_ in such low +employments; for if we are men, we ought to be thankful to the Lord +for the past, and for the future. Be looking forward with thankful +hearts to higher attainments than _wielding the razor_ and _cleaning +boots and shoes_. The man whose aspirations are not _above_, and even +_below_ these, is indeed, ignorant and wretched enough. I advance it +therefore to you, not as a _problematical_, but as an unshaken and +forever immoveable _fact_, that your full glory and happiness, as well +as all other colored people under heaven, shall never be fully +consummated, but with the _entire emancipation of your enslaved +brethren all over the world_. You may therefore, go to work and do +what you can to rescue, or join in with tyrants to oppress them and +yourselves, until the Lord shall come upon you all like a thief in the +night. For I believe it is the will of the Lord that our greatest +happiness shall consist in working for the salvation of our whole +body. When this is accomplished a burst of glory will shine upon you, +which will indeed astonish you and the world. Do any of you say this +will never be done? I assure you that God will accomplish it--if +nothing else will answer, he will hurl tyrants and devils into _atoms_ +and make way for his people. But O my brethren! I say unto you again, +you must go to work and _prepare the way_ of the Lord. + +There is a great work for you to do, as trifling as some of you may +think of it. You have to prove to the Americans and the world, that we +are MEN, and not _brutes_ as we have been represented, and by millions +treated. Remember, to let the aim of your labours among your brethren, +and particularly the youths, be the dissemination of education and +religion. It is lamentable, that many of our children go to school, +from four until they are eight or ten, and sometimes fifteen years of +age, and leave school knowing but a little more about the grammar of +their language than a horse does about handling a musket--and not a +few of them are really so ignorant, that they are unable to answer a +person correctly, general questions in geography, and to hear them +read would only be to disgust a man who has a taste for reading; +which, to do well, as trifling as it may appear to some, (to the +ignorant in particular) is a great part of learning. Some few of them, +may make out to scribble tolerably well, over a half sheet of paper, +which I believe has hitherto been a powerful obstacle in our way, to +keep us from acquiring knowledge. An ignorant father, who knows no +more than what nature has taught him, together with what little he +acquires by the senses of hearing and seeing, finding his son able to +write a neat hand, sets it down for granted that he has as good +learning as any body; the young, ignorant gump, hearing his father or +mother, who perhaps may be ten times more ignorant, in point of +literature, than himself, extolling his learning, struts about in the +full assurance, that his attainments in literature are sufficient to +take him through the world, when, in fact, he has scarcely any +learning at all!!!! + +I promiscuously fell in a conversation once, with an elderly colored +man on the topics of education, and of the great prevalency of +ignorance among us: Said he, "I know that our people are very ignorant +but my son has a good education: he can write as well as any white +man, and I assure you that no one can fool him," etc. Said I, what +else can your son do, besides writing a good hand? Can he post a set +of books in a mercantile manner? Can he write a neat piece of +composition in prose or in verse? To these interrogations he answered +in the negative. Said I, Did your son learn, while he was at school, +the width and depth of English Grammar? to which he also replied in +the negative, telling me his son did not learn those things. Your son, +said I, then, has hardly any learning at all--he is almost as +ignorant, and more so, than many of those who never went to school one +day in their lives. My friend got a little put out, and so walking off +said that his son could write as well as any white man.--Most of the +coloured people, when they speak of the education of one among us who +can write a neat hand, and who perhaps knows nothing but to scribble +and puff pretty fair on a small scrap of paper, immaterial whether his +words are grammatical, or spelt correctly, or not; if it only looks +beautiful, they say he has as good an education as any white man--he +can write as well as any white man, etc. The poor, ignorant creature, +hearing this, he is ashamed, forever after, to let any person see him +humbling himself to another for knowledge but going about trying to +deceive those who are more ignorant than himself, he at last falls an +ignorant victim to death in wretchedness. I pray that the Lord may +undeceive my ignorant brethren, and permit them to throw away +pretensions, and seek after the substance of learning. I would crawl +on my hands and knees through mud and mire, to the feet of a learned +man, where I would sit and humbly supplicate him to instil into me, +that which neither devils nor tyrants could remove, only with my +life--for the Africans to acquire learning in this country, makes +tyrants quake and tremble on their sandy foundation. Why what is the +matter? Why, they know that their infernal deeds of cruelty will be +made known to the world. Do you suppose one man of good sense and +learning would submit himself, his father, mother, wife and children, +to be slaves to a wretched man like himself, who, instead of +compensating him for his labours, chains, handcuffs and beats him and +family almost to death, leaving life enough in them, however, to work +for, and call him master? No! no! he would cut his devilish throat +from ear to ear, and well do slaveholders know it. The bare name of +educating the coloured people, scares our cruel oppressors almost to +death. But if they do not have enough to be frightened for yet, it +will be, because they can always keep us ignorant, and because God +approbates their cruelties, with which they have been for centuries +murdering us. The whites shall have enough of the blacks, yet, as true +as God sits on his throne in heaven. + +Some of our brethren are so very full of learning that you cannot +mention any thing to them which they do not know better than +yourself!!--nothing is strange to them!!--they knew every thing years +ago!--if any thing should be mentioned in company where they are, +immaterial how important it is respecting us or the world, if they had +not divulged it; they make light of it, and affect to have known it +long before it was mentioned, and try to make all in the room, or +wherever you may be, believe that your conversation is nothing--not +worth hearing!! All this is the result of ignorance and ill-breeding; +for a man of good breeding, sense, and penetration, if he had heard a +subject told twenty times over and should happen to be in company +where one should commence telling it again, he would wait with +patience on its narrator, and see if he would tell it as it was told +in his presence before--paying the most strict attention to what is +said, to see if any more light will be thrown on the subject; for all +men are not gifted alike in telling, or even hearing the most simple +narration. These ignorant, vicious, and wretched men, contribute +almost as much injury to our body as tyrants themselves, by doing so +much for the promotion of ignorance amongst us; for they, making such +pretensions to knowledge, such of our youth as are seeking after +knowledge, and can get access to them, take them as criterions to go +by, who will lead them into a channel, where, unless the Lord blesses +them with the privilege of seeing their error, they will be +irretrievably lost forever, while in time!! + +I must close this article by narrating the very heart-rending fact, +that I have examined school-boys and young men of colour in different +parts of the country, in the most simple parts of Murray's English +Grammar, and not more than one in thirty was able to give a correct +answer to my interrogations. If any one contradicts me, let him step +out of his door into the streets of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, or +Baltimore, (no use to mention any other, for the Christians are too +charitable further south or west!)--I say, let him who disputes me, +step out of his door into the streets of either of those four cities, +and promiscuously collect one hundred school boys or young men of +colour, _who have been to school_, and who are considered by the +coloured people to have received an excellent education, because, +perhaps, some of them can write a good hand, but who notwithstanding +their neat writing, may be almost as ignorant, in comparison, as +horses. And, I say it, he will hardly find (in this enlightened day, +and in the midst of this _charitable_ people) five in one hundred, who +are able to correct the false grammar of their language. The cause of +this almost universal ignorance amongst us, I appeal to our +school-masters to declare. Here is a fact, which I this very minute +take from the mouth of a young coloured man, who has been to school in +this state (Massachusetts) nearly nine years, and who knows grammar +this day, _nearly_ as well as he did the day he first entered the +school-house, under a white master. This young man says--"My master +would never allow me to study grammar."--I asked him why? "The school +committee," said he, "forbid the colored children learning +grammar--they would not allow any but the white children to study +grammar." + +It is a notorious fact that the major part of the white Americans +have, ever since we have been among them, tried to keep us ignorant +and make us believe that God made us and our children to be slaves to +them and theirs. _Oh! my God, have mercy on Christian Americans!!_ + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[10] Which is the reason the whites take the advantage of us. + +[11] See his Notes on Virginia, page 213. + + + + +ARTICLE III. + +OUR WRETCHEDNESS IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE PREACHERS OF THE RELIGION +OF JESUS CHRIST. + + +RELIGION, my brethren, is a substance of deep consideration among all +nations of the earth. The Pagans have a kind, as well as the +Mahometans, the Jews and the Christians. But pure and undefiled +religion, such as was preached by Jesus Christ and his apostles, is +hard to be found in all the earth. God, through his instrument, Moses, +handed a dispensation of his divine will to the children of Israel +after they had left Egypt for the land of Canaan, or of Promise, who +through hypocrisy, oppression, and unbelief, departed from the faith. +He then, by his apostles handed a dispensation of his, together with +the will of Jesus Christ, to the Europeans in Europe, who, in open +violation of which, have made _merchandize_ of us, and it does appear +as though they take this very dispensation to aid them in their +infernal depredations upon us. Indeed, the way in which religion was +and is conducted by the Europeans and their descendants, one might +believe it was a plan fabricated by themselves and the _devils_ to +oppress us. But hark! my master has taught me better than to believe +it--he has taught me that his gospel as it was preached by himself and +his apostles remains the same, notwithstanding Europe has tried to +mingle blood and oppression with it. + +It is well known to the Christian world that Bartholomew Las Casas, +that very notoriously avaricious Catholic priest or preacher, and +adventurer with Columbus in his second voyage, proposed to his +countrymen, the Spaniards in Hispaniola, to import the Africans from +the Portuguese settlement in Africa, to dig up gold and silver, and +work their plantations for them, to effect which, he made a voyage +thence to Spain, and opened the subject to his master, Ferdinand, then +in declining health, who listened to the plan; but who died soon +after, and left it in the hands of his successor, Charles V.[12]--This +wretch, ("Las Cassas, the Preacher,") succeeded so well in his plans +of oppression, that in 1503, the first blacks had been imported into +the new world. Elated with this success, and stimulated by sordid +avarice only, he importuned Charles V. in 1511, to grant permission +to a Flemish merchant to import 4000 blacks at one time. Thus we see, +through the instrumentality of a pretended preacher of the gospel of +Jesus Christ our common master, our wretchedness first commenced in +America--where it has been continued from 1503 to this day, 1829. A +period of three hundred and twenty-six years. But two hundred and +nine, from 1620--when twenty of our fathers were brought into +Jamestown, Virginia, by a Dutch man-of-war, and sold off like brutes +to the highest bidders; and there is not a doubt in my mind, but that +tyrants are in hopes to perpetuate our miseries under them and their +children until the final consummation of all things. But if they do +not get dreadfully, deceived, it will be because God has forgotten +them. + +The Pagans, Jews and Mahometans try to make proselytes to their +religions, and whatever human beings adopt their religions, they +extend to them their protection. But Christian Americans not only +hinder their fellow creatures, the Africans, but thousands of them +will _absolutely beat a coloured person nearly to death, if they catch +him on his knees, supplicating the throne of grace_. This barbarous +cruelty was by all the heathen nations of antiquity, and is by the +Pagans, Jews and Mahometans of the present day, left entirely to +Christian Americans to inflict on the Africans and their descendants +that their cup which is nearly full may be completed. I have known +tyrants or usurpers of human liberty in different parts of this +country take their fellow creatures, the colored people, and beat them +until they would scarcely leave life in them; what for? Why they say, + + "The black devils had the audacity to be found _making + prayers and supplications to the God who made them!!!_" + +Yes, I have known small collections of coloured people to have +convened together, for no other purpose than to worship God Almighty, +in spirit and in truth, to the best of their knowledge; when tyrants, +calling themselves _patrols_, would also convene and wait almost in +breathless silence for the poor coloured people to commence singing +and praying to the Lord our God, and as soon as they had commenced the +wretches would burst in upon them and drag them out and commence +beating them as they would rattle-snakes--many of whom, they would +beat so unmercifully, that they would hardly be able to crawl for +weeks and sometimes for months.--Yet the American ministers send out +missionaries to convert the heathen, while they keep us and our +children sunk at their feet in the most abject ignorance and +wretchedness that ever a people was afflicted with since the world +began. Will the Lord suffer this people to proceed much longer? Will +he not stop them in their career? Does he regard the heathens abroad, +more than the heathens among the Americans? Surely the Americans must +believe that God is partial, notwithstanding his Apostle Peter, +declared before Cornelius and others that he has no respect to +persons, but in every nation he that feareth God and worketh +righteousness is accepted with him.-- + + "The word," said he, "which God sent unto the children of + Israel, preaching peace, by Jesus Christ, (he is the Lord of + all.")[13] + +Have not the Americans the Bible in their hands? Do they believe it? +Surely they do not. See how they treat us in open violation of the +Bible!! They no doubt will be greatly offended with me, but if God +does not awaken them, it will be, because they are superior to other +men, as they have represented themselves to be. Our divine Lord and +Master said + + "all things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, + do ye even so unto them." + +But an American minister, with the Bible in his hand, holds us and our +children in the most abject slavery and wretchedness. Now I ask them, +would they like for us to hold them and their children in abject +slavery and wretchedness? No says one, that never can be done--you +are too abject and ignorant to do it--you are not men--you were made +to be slaves to us, to dig up gold and silver for us and our children. +Know this, my dear sirs, that although you treat us and our children +now, as you do your domestic beasts--yet the final result of all +future events are known but to God Almighty alone, who rules in the +armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and who +dethrones one earthly king and sits up another, as it seemeth good in +his holy sight. We may attribute these vicissitudes to what we please, +but the God of armies and of justice rules in heaven and in earth, and +the whole American people shall see and know it yet, to their +satisfaction. I have known pretended preachers of the gospel of my +Master, who not only held us as their natural inheritance, but treated +us with as much rigor as any Infidel or Deist in the world--just as +though they were intent only on taking our blood and groans to glorify +the Lord Jesus Christ. The wicked and ungodly, seeing their preachers +treat us with so much cruelty, they say: our preachers, who must be +right, if any body are, treat them like brutes, and why cannot +we?--They think it is no harm to keep them in slavery and put the whip +to them, and why cannot we do the same!--They being preachers of the +gospel of Jesus Christ, if it were any harm, they would surely preach +against their oppression and do their utmost to erase it from the +country; not only in one or two cities, but one continual cry would be +raised in all parts of this confederacy, and would cease only with the +complete overthrow of the system of slavery, in every part of the +country. But how far the American preachers are from preaching against +slavery and oppression, which have carried their country to the brink +of a precipice; to save them from plunging down the side of which, +will hardly be effected, will appear in the sequel of this paragraph, +which I shall narrate just as it transpired. I remember a Camp Meeting +in South Carolina, for which I embarked in a Steam Boat at +Charleston, and having been five or six hours on the water, we at last +arrived at the place of hearing, where was a very great concourse of +people, who were no doubt, collected together to hear the word of God, +(that some had collected barely as spectators to the scene, I will not +here pretend to doubt, however, that is left to themselves and their +God.) Myself and boat companions, having been there a little while, we +were all called up to hear; I among the rest, went up and took my +seat--being seated, I fixed myself in a complete position to hear the +word of my Saviour and to receive such as I thought was authenticated +by the Holy Scriptures; but to my no ordinary astonishment, our +Reverend gentleman got up and told us (colored people) that slaves +must be obedient to their masters--must do their duty to their masters +or be whipped--the whip was made for the backs of fools, &c. Here I +pause for a moment, to give the world time to consider what was my +surprise, to hear such preaching from a minister of my Master, whose +very gospel is that of peace and not of blood and whips, as this +pretended preacher tried to make us believe. What the American +preachers can think of us, I aver this day before my God, I have never +been able to define. They have newspapers and monthly periodicals, +which they receive in continual succession, but on the pages of which, +you will scarcely ever find a paragraph respecting slavery, which is +ten thousand times more injurious to this country than all the other +evils put together; and which will be the final overthrow of its +government, unless something is very speedily done; for their cup is +nearly full.--Perhaps they will laugh at, or make light of this; but I +tell you Americans! that unless you speedily alter your course, _you_ +and your _Country are gone!!!!!!_ For God Almighty will tear up the +very face of the earth!!!! Will not that very remarkable passage of +Scripture be fulfilled on Christian Americans? Hear it Americans!! + + "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still:--and be which + is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is + righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, + let him be holy still."[14] + +I hope that the Americans may hear, but I am afraid that they have +done us so much injury, and are so firm in the belief that our Creator +made us to be an inheritance to them forever, that their hearts will +be hardened, so that their destruction may be sure.--This language, +perhaps is too harsh for the American's delicate ears. But Oh +Americans! Americans!! I warn you in the name of the Lord, (whether +you will hear, or forbear,) to repent and reform, or you are +ruined!!!!!! Do you think that our blood is hidden from the Lord, +because you can hide it from the rest of the world by sending out +missionaries, and by your charitable deeds to the Greeks, Irish, &c.? +Will he not publish your secret crimes on the house top? Even here in +Boston, pride and prejudice have got to such a pitch, that in the very +houses erected to the Lord, they have built little places for the +reception of colored people, where they must sit during meeting, or +keep away from the house of God; and the preachers say nothing about +it--much less, go into the hedges and highways seeking the lost sheep +of the house of Israel, and try to bring them in, to their Lord and +Master. There are hardly a more wretched, ignorant, miserable, and +abject set of beings in all the world, than the blacks in the Southern +and Western sections of this country, under tyrants and devils. The +preachers of America cannot see them, but they can send out +missionaries to convert the heathens, notwithstanding. Americans! +unless you speedily alter your course of proceeding, if God Almighty +does not stop you, I say it in his name, that you may go on and do as +you please for ever, both in time and eternity--never fear any evil at +all!!!!!!!! + +[Hand->] ADDITION.--The preachers and people of the United States +form societies against Free Masonry and Intemperance, and write +against Sabbath breaking, Sabbath mails, Infidelity, &c. &c. But the +fountain head,[15] compared with which all those other evils are +comparatively nothing, and from the bloody and murderous head of +which, they receive no trifling support, is hardly noticed by the +Americans. This is a fair illustration of the state of society in this +country--it shows what a bearing _avarice_ has upon a people, when +they are nearly given up by the Lord to a hard heart and a reprobate +mind, in consequence of afflicting their fellow creatures. God suffers +some to go on until they are ruined for ever!! Will it be the case +with our brethren the whites of the United States of America? We hope +not--we would not wish to see them destroyed, notwithstanding they +have and do now treat us more cruel than any people have treated +another, on this earth since it came from the hands of its creator +(with the exception of the French and the Dutch, they treat us nearly +as bad as the Americans of the United States.) The will of God must +however, in spite of us, _be done_. + +The English are the best friends the colored people have upon earth. +Tho' they have oppressed us a little, and have colonies now in the +West Indies, which oppress us _sorely_,--Yet notwithstanding they (the +English) have done one hundred times more for the melioration of our +condition, than all the other nations of the earth put together. The +blacks cannot but respect the English as a nation, notwithstanding +they have treated us a little cruel. + +There is no intelligent _black man_ who knows any thing, but esteems a +real English man, let him see him in what part of the world he +will--for they are the greatest benefactors we have upon earth. We +have here and there, in other nations, good friends. But as a nation, +the English are our friends. [<-Hand] + +How can the preachers and people of America believe the Bible? Does it +teach them any distinction on account of a man's color? Hearken, +Americans! to the injunctions of our Lord and Master, to his humble +followers. + + [16]"And Jesus came and spake unto them saying, all power is + given unto me in heaven and in earth. + + "Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in + the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy + Ghost, + + "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have + commanded you; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the + end of the world. Amen." + +I declare, that the very face of these injunctions appears to be of +God and not of man. They do not show the slightest degree of +distinction. + + "Go ye, therefore," (says my divine Master) "and teach all + nations," (or in other words, all people) "baptizing them in + the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy + Ghost." + +Do you understand the above, Americans? We are a people, +notwithstanding many of you doubt it. You have the Bible in your +hands, with this very injunction. Have you been to Africa, teaching +the inhabitants thereof the words of the Lord Jesus? + + "Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Ghost." + +Have you not, on the contrary, entered among us, and learnt us the art +of throat-cutting, by setting us to fight, one against another, to +take each other as prisoners of war, and sell to you for small bits of +calicoes, old swords, knives, &c. to make slaves for you and your +children? This being done, have you not brought us among you, in +chains and handcuffs, like brutes, and treated us with all the +cruelties and rigour your ingenuity could invent, consistent with the +laws of your country, which (for the blacks) are tyrannical enough? +Can the American preachers appeal unto God, the Maker and Searcher of +hearts, and tell him, with the Bible in their hands, that they make no +distinction on account of men's colour? Can they say, O God! thou +knowest all things--thou knowest that we make no distinction between +thy creatures to whom we have to preach thy Word? Let them answer the +Lord; and if they cannot do it in the affirmative, have they not +departed from the Lord Jesus Christ, their master? But some may say, +that they never had or were in possession of a religion, which makes +no distinction, and of course they could not have departed from it. I +ask you then, in the name of the Lord, of what kind can your religion +be? Can it be that which was preached by our Lord Jesus Christ from +Heaven? I believe you cannot be so wicked as to tell him that his +Gospel was that of _distinction_. What can the American preachers and +people take God to be?--Do they believe his words? If they do, do they +believe that he will be mocked? Or do they believe because they are +whites and we blacks, that God will have respect to them? Did not God +make us as it seemed best to himself? What right, then, has one of us, +to despise another and to treat him cruel, on account of his colour, +which none but the God who made it can alter? Can there be a greater +absurdity in nature, and particularly in a free republican country? +But the Americans, having introduced slavery among them, their hearts +have become almost seared, as with an hot iron, and God has nearly +given them up to believe a lie in preference to the truth!!! and I am +awfully afraid that pride, prejudice, avarice and blood, will, before +long, prove the final ruin of this happy republic, or land of +liberty!!! Can any thing be a greater mockery of religion than the way +in which it is conducted by the Americans? It appears as though they +are bent only on daring God Almighty to do his best--they chain and +handcuff us and our children and drive us around the country like +brutes, and go into the house of the God of justice to return Him +thanks for having aided him in their infernal cruelties inflicted upon +us. Will the Lord suffer this people to go on much longer, taking his +holy name in vain? Will he not stop them, PREACHERS and all? O +Americans! Americans!! I call God--I call angels--I call men, to +witness, that your DESTRUCTION _is at hand_, and will be speedily +consummated unless you REPENT. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[12] See Butler's History of the United States, vol. 1, page 24. See +also, page 25. + +[13] See the Acts of the Apostles, chap. x. v.--25--26. + +[14] See Revelation, chap. xxii. v. 11. + +[15] Slavery and oppression. + +[16] See St. Matthew's Gospel, chap, xxviii. v. 18--19--20. After +Jesus was risen from the dead. + + + + +ARTICLE IV. + +OUR WRETCHEDNESS IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE COLONIZING PLAN. + + +My dearly beloved brethren:--This is a scheme on which so many able +writers, together with that very judicious colored Baltimorean, have +commented, that I feel my delicacy about touching it. But as I am +compelled to do the will of my master, I declare, I will give you my +sentiments upon it. Previous, however, to giving my sentiments, either +for or against it, I shall give that of Mr. Henry Clay together with +that of Mr. Elias B. Caldwell, Esq. of the District of Columbia, as +extracted from the National Intelligencer, by Dr. Torrey, author of a +series of "Essays on Morals, and the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge." + +At a meeting which was convened in the District of Columbia, for the +express purpose of agitating the subject of colonizing us in some part +of the world, Mr. Clay was called to the chair, and having been seated +a little while, he rose and spake in substance, as follows: Says +he--[17] + + "That class of the mixt population of our country [coloured + people] was peculiarly situated; they neither enjoyed the + immunities of freemen, nor were they subjected 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 colour, they + never could amalgamate with the free whites of this country. + It was desirable, therefore, as it respected them, and the + residue of the population of the country, to drain them off. + Various schemes of colonization had been thought of, and a + part of our continent, it was supposed by some, might + furnish a suitable establishment for them. But, for his + part, Mr. C. said, 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 + in the introduction into that extensive quarter of the + globe, of the arts, civilization, and Christianity." + +[Here I ask Mr. Clay, what kind of Christianity? Did he mean such as +they have among the Americans--distinction, whip, blood and +oppression? I pray the Lord Jesus Christ to forbid it.] + + "There," said he, "was a peculiar, a moral fitness, in + restoring them to the land of their fathers, and if instead + of the evils and sufferings which we had been the innocent + cause of inflicting upon the inhabitants of Africa, we can + transmit to her the blessings of our arts, our civilization, + and our religion. May we not hope that America will + extinguish a great portion of that moral debt which she has + contracted to that unfortunate continent? Can there be a + nobler cause than that which, whilst it proposes, &c * * * * * + [you know what this means.] contemplates the spreading of + the arts of civilized life, and the possible redemption from + ignorance and barbarism of a benighted quarter of the + globe?" + +Before I proceed any further, I solicit your notice, brethren, to the +foregoing part of Mr. Clay's speech, in which he says, ([Hand->] look +above) + + "and if, instead of the evils and sufferings, which we had + been the innocent cause of inflicting," + +&c. What this very learned statesman could have been thinking about, +when he said in his speech, "we had been the innocent cause of +inflicting," etc., I have never been able to conceive. Are Mr. Clay +and the rest of the Americans, innocent of the blood and groans of +our fathers and us, their children? Every individual may plead +innocence, if he pleases, but God will, before long, separate the +innocent from the guilty, unless something is speedily done--which I +suppose will hardly be, so that their destruction may be sure. Oh +Americans! let me tell you, in the name of the Lord, it will be good +for you, if you listen to the voice of the Holy Ghost, but if you do +not you are ruined!!!! Some of you are good men; but the will of my +God must be done. Those avaricious and ungodly tyrants among you, I am +awfully afraid will drag down the vengeance of God upon you.--When God +Almighty commences his battle on the continent of America, for the +oppression of his people, tyrants will wish they never were born. + +But to return to Mr. Clay, whence I digressed. He says, + + "It was proper and necessary distinctly to state, that he + understood it constituted no part of the object of this + meeting, to touch or agitate in the slightest degree, a + delicate question, connected with another portion of the + coloured population of our country. It was not proposed to + deliberate upon or consider at all, any question of + emancipation, or that which was connected with the abolition + of slavery. It was upon that condition alone, he was sure, + that many gentlemen from the South and the West, whom he saw + present, had attended, or could be expected to co-operate. + It was on that condition only, that he himself had + attended." + +--That is to say, to fix a plan to get those of the coloured people, +who are said to be free, away from among those of our brethren whom +they unjustly hold in bondage, so that they may be enabled to keep +them the more secure in ignorance and wretchedness, to support them +and their children, and consequently they would have the more obedient +slaves. For if the free are allowed to stay among the slaves, they +will have intercourse together, and, of course, the free will learn +the slaves _bad habits_, by teaching them that they are MEN, as +well as other people, and certainly _ought_, and _must_ be FREE. + +I presume, that every intelligent man of colour must have some idea of +Mr. Henry Clay, originally of Virginia, but now of Kentucky; they know +too, perhaps, whether he is a friend, or a foe, to the coloured +citizens of this country, and of the world. This gentleman, according +to his own words, had been highly favoured and blessed of the Lord, +though he did not acknowledge it; but to the contrary, he acknowledged +men, for all the blessings which God had favoured him. At a public +dinner given him at Fowler's Garden, Lexington, Kentucky, he delivered +a public speech to a very large concourse of people--in the concluding +clause of which, he says, + + "And now, my friends and fellow citizens, I cannot part from + you, on possibly the last occasion of my ever publicly + addressing you, without reiterating the expression of my + thanks, from a heart overflowing with gratitude. I came + among you, now more than thirty years ago, an orphan boy + pennyless, a stranger to you all, without friends, without + the favour of the great, you took me up, cherished me, + protected me, honoured me, you have constantly poured upon + me a bold and unabated stream of innumerable favors, time + which wears out every thing has increased and strengthened + your affection for me. When I seemed deserted by almost the + whole world, and assailed by almost every tongue, and pen, + and press, you have fearlessly and manfully stood by me, + with unsurpassed zeal and undiminished friendship. When I + felt as if I should sink beneath the storm of abuse and + detraction, which was violently raging around me, I have + found myself upheld and sustained by your encouraging voices + and approving smiles. I have doubtless, committed many + faults and indiscretions, over which you have thrown the + broad mantle of your charity. But I can say, and in the + presence of God and this assembled multitude, I will say, + that I have honestly and faithfully served my country--that + I have never wronged it--and that, however unprepared, I + lament that I am to appear in the Divine presence on other + accounts, I invoke the stern justice of his judgment on my + public conduct without the slightest apprehension of his + displeasure." + +Hearken to this statesman indeed, but no philanthropist, whom God sent +into Kentucky, an orphan boy, pennyless and friendless, where he not +only gave him a plenty of friends and the comforts of life, but raised +him almost to the very highest honour in the nation, where his great +talents, with which the Lord has been pleased to bless him, has gained +for him the affection of a great portion of the people with whom he +had to do. But what has this gentleman done for the Lord, after having +done so much for him? The Lord has a suffering people, whose moans and +groans at his feet for deliverance from oppression and wretchedness, +pierce the very throne of Heaven, and call loudly on the God of +Justice, to be revenged. Now what this gentleman who is so highly +favored of the Lord, has done to liberate those miserable victims of +oppression, shall appear before the world, by his letters to Mr. +Gallatin, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Great +Britain, dated June 19, 1826. Though Mr. Clay was writing for the +states, yet nevertheless, it appears, from the very face of his +letters to that gentleman, that he was as anxious, if not more so, to +get those free people and sink them into wretchedness, as his +constituents for whom he wrote. + +The Americans of North and of South America, including the West India +Islands--no trifling portion of whom were, for stealing, murdering, +&c. compelled to flee from Europe, to save their necks or banishment, +have effected their escape to this continent, where God blessed them +with all the comforts of life--He gave them a plenty of every thing +calculated to do them good--not satisfied with this, however, they +wanted slaves, and wanted us for their slaves, who belong to the Holy +Ghost, and no other, who we shall have to serve instead of tyrants. I +say, the Americans want us, the property of the Holy Ghost, to serve +them. But there is a day fast approaching when (unless there is a +universal repentance on the part of the whites, which will scarcely +take place--they have got to be so hardened in consequence of our +blood, and so wise in their own conceit.) To be plain and candid with +you, Americans! I say that the day is fast approaching when there will +be a greater time on the continent of America than ever was witnessed +upon this earth since it came from the hands of its Creator. Some of +you have done us so much injury that you will never be able to repent. +Your cup must be filled. You want us for your slaves and shall have +enough of us--God is just, _who will give you your fill of us_. But +Mr. Henry Clay, speaking to Mr. Gallatin respecting coloured people +who had effected their escape from the U. States (or to them _hell +upon earth!!_) to the hospitable shores of Canada[18] from whence it +would cause more than the lives of the Americans to get them, to +plunge into wretchedness--he says: + + "The General Assembly of Kentucky, one of the states which + is most affected by the escape of slaves into Upper Canada, + has again, at their session which has just terminated, + invoked the interposition of the General Government. In the + treaty which has been recently concluded with the United + Mexican States, and which is now under the consideration of + the Senate, provision is made for the restoration of + fugitive slaves. As it appears from your statements of what + passed on that subject with the British Plenipotentiaries, + that they admitted the correctness of the principle of + restoration, it is hoped that you will be able to succeed in + making satisfactory arrangements." + +There are a series of these letters, all of which are to the same +amount; some however presenting a face more of his own responsibility. +I wonder what would this gentleman think if the Lord should give him +among the rest of his blessings enough of slaves? Could he blame any +other being but himself? Do we not belong to the Holy Ghost? What +business has he or any body else, to be sending letters about the +world respecting us? Can we not go where we want to, as well as other +people, only if we obey the voice of the Holy Ghost? This gentleman, +(Henry Clay) not only took an active part in this colonizing plan, but +was absolutely chairman of a meeting held at Washington the 21st day +of December, 1816[19] to agitate the subject of colonizing us in +Africa.--Now I appeal and ask every citizen of these United States and +of the world, both _white_ and _black_, who has any knowledge of Mr. +Clay's public labors for these States--I want you candidly to answer +the Lord, who sees the secrets of your hearts, Do you believe that Mr. +Henry Clay, late Secretary of State, and now in Kentucky, is a friend +to the blacks, further than his personal interest extends? Is it not +his greatest object and glory upon earth to sink us into miseries and +wretchedness by making slaves of us, to work his plantation to enrich +him and his family? Does he care a pinch of snuff about +Africa--whether it remains a land of Pagans and of blood, or of +Christians, so long as he gets enough of her sons and daughters to dig +up gold and silver for him? If he had no slave, and could obtain them +in no other way if it were not repugnant to the laws of his country, +which prohibit the importation of slaves, (which act was indeed more +through apprehension than humanity) would he not try to import a few +from Africa to work his farm? Would he work in the hot sun to earn his +bread if he could make an African work for nothing, particularly if he +could keep him in ignorance and make him believe that God made him for +nothing else but to work for him? Is not Mr. Clay a white man, and too +delicate to work in the hot sun? Was he not made by his Creator to sit +in the shade, and make the blacks work without remuneration for their +services, to support him and his family? I have been for some time +taking notice of this man's speeches and public writings, but never to +my knowledge have I seen any thing in his writings which insisted on +the emancipation of slavery, which has almost ruined his country. Thus +we see the depravity of men's hearts, when in pursuit only of +gain--particularly when they oppress their fellow creatures to obtain +that gain--God suffers some to go on until they are lost for ever. +This same Mr. Clay wants to know what he has done to merit the +disapprobation of the American people. In a public speech delivered by +him, he asked: + + "Did I involve my country in an unnecessary war?" + +to merit the censure of the Americans-- + + "Did I bring obloquy upon the nation, or the people whom I + represented--did I ever lose an opportunity to advance the + fame, honor and prosperity of this State and the Union?" + +How astonishing it is, for a man who knows so much about God and his +ways, as Mr. Clay, to ask such frivolous questions. Does he believe +that a man of his talents and standing in the midst of a people, will +get along unnoticed by the penetrating and all-seeing eye of God who +is continually taking cognizance of the hearts of men? Is not God +against him, for advocating the murderous cause of slavery? If God is +against him, what can the Americans, together with the whole world do +for him? Can they save him from the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ? + +I shall now pass in review the speech of Mr. Elias B. Caldwell, Esq. +of the District of Columbia, extracted from the same page on which Mr. +Clay's will be found. Mr. Caldwell, giving his opinion respecting us, +at that ever memorable meeting, he says: + + "The more you improve the condition of these people, the + more you cultivate their minds, the more miserable you make + them in their present state. You give them a higher relish + for those privileges which they can never attain, and turn + what we intend for a blessing into a curse." + +Let me ask this benevolent man, what he means by a blessing intended +for us? Did he mean sinking us and our children into ignorance and +wretchedness, to support him and his family? What he meant will appear +evident and obvious to the most ignorant in the world. [Hand->] See +Mr. Caldwell's intended blessings for us, O! my Lord!!! + + "No," said he, "if they must remain in their present + situation, keep them in the _lowest state of degradation and + ignorance_. The nearer you bring them to the condition of + brutes, the better chance do you give them of possessing + their _apathy_." + +Here I pause to get breath, having labored to extract the above clause +of this gentleman's speech, at that colonizing meeting. I presume that +every body knows the meaning of the word "_apathy_"--if they do not, +let him get Sheridan's Dictionary, where he will find it explained in +full. I solicit the attention of the world to the foregoing part of +Mr. Caldwell's speech, that they may see what man will do with his +fellow men, when he has them under his feet. To what length will not +man go in iniquity, when given up to a hard heart and reprobate mind, +in consequence of blood and oppression? The last clause of this +speech, which was written in a very artful manner and which will be +taken for the speech of a friend, without close examination and deep +penetration, I shall now present. He says, + + "Surely Americans ought to be the last people on earth to + advocate such slavish doctrines, to cry peace and + contentment to those who are deprived of the privileges of + civil liberty, they who have so largely partaken of its + blessings, who know so well how to estimate its value, ought + to be among the foremost to extend it to others." + +The real sense and meaning of the last part of Mr. Caldwell's speech +is, get the free people of colour away to Africa, from among the +slaves, where they may at once be blessed and happy, and our slaves +will be contented to rest in ignorance and wretchedness, to dig up +gold and silver for us and our children. Men have indeed, got to be +so cunning, these days, that it would take the eye of a Solomon to +penetrate and find them out. + +Extract from the speech of Mr. John Randolph, of Roanoke. + +Said he:-- + + "It had been properly observed by the Chairman, as well as + by the gentlemen from this District (meaning Messrs. Clay + and Caldwell) that there was nothing in the proposition + submitted to consideration which in the smallest degree + touches another very important and delicate question, which + ought to be left as much out of view as possible, (Negro + Slavery.)[20] + + "There was no fear, Mr. R. said, that this proposition would + alarm the slave-holders; they had been accustomed to think + seriously of the subject. There was a popular work on + agriculture, by John Taylor of Carolina, which was widely + circulated, and much confided in, in Virginia. In that book, + much read because coming from a practical man, this + description of people, [referring to us half free ones,] + were pointed out as a great evil. They had indeed been held + up as the greater bug-bear to every man who feels an + inclination to emancipate his slaves, not to create in the + bosom of his country so great a nuisance. If a place could + be provided for their reception, and a mode of sending them + hence, there were hundreds, nay thousands of citizens, who + would, by manumitting their slaves, relieve themselves from + the cares attendant on their possession. The great + slave-holder, Mr. R. said, was frequently a mere sentry at + his own door--bound to stay on his plantation to see that + his slaves were properly treated, &c. Mr. R. concluded by + saying that he had thought it necessary to make these + remarks, being a slave-holder himself, to show that, so far + from being connected with abolition of slavery, the measure + proposed would prove one of greatest securities to enable + the master to keep in possession his own property." + +Here is a demonstrative proof, of a plan got up by a gang of +slave-holders to select the free people of colour from among the +slaves, that our more miserable brethren may be the better secured in +ignorance and wretchedness, to work their farms and dig their mines, +and thus go on enriching the christians with their blood and groans. +What our brethren could have been thinking about, who have left their +native land and home and gone away to Africa I am unable to say. This +country is as much ours as it is the whites, whether they will admit +it now or not, they will see and believe it by and by. They tell us +about prejudice--what have we to do with it? Their prejudices will be +obliged to fall like lightning to the ground, in succeeding +generations; not, however with the will and consent of all the whites, +for some will be obliged to hold on to the old adage, viz.: the blacks +are not men, but were made to be an inheritance to us and our children +forever!!!!!! I hope the residue of the coloured people will stand +still and see the salvation of God, and the miracle which he will work +for our delivery from wretchedness under the christians!!!!!! + +[Hand->] ADDITION.--If any of us see fit to go away, go to those who +have been for many years, and are now our greatest earthly friends and +benefactors--the English. If not so, go to our brethren, the Haytians, +who, according to their word, is bound to protect and comfort us. The +Americans say that we are ungrateful--but I ask them for heaven's +sake, what we should be grateful to them for--for murdering our +fathers and mothers?--Or do they wish us to return thanks to them for +chaining and handcuffing us, branding us, cramming fire down our +throats, or for keeping us in slavery, and beating us nearly or quite +to death to make us work in ignorance and miseries, to support them +and their families. They certainly think that we are a gang of fools. +Those among them, who have volunteered their services for our +redemption, though we are unable to compensate them for their labors, +we nevertheless thank them from the bottom of our hearts, and have our +eyes steadfastly fixed upon them, and their labors of love for God and +man. But do slave-holders think that we thank them for keeping us in +miseries, and taking our lives by the inches? [<-Hand] + +Before I proceed further with this scheme, I shall give an extract +from the letter of that truly Reverend Divine, (Bishop Allen,) of +Philadelphia, respecting this trick. At the instance of the Editor of +the Freedom's Journal, he says,[21] + + "Dear Sir, I have been for several years trying to reconcile + my mind to the Colonizing of Africans in Liberia, but there + have always been, and there still remain great and + insurmountable objections against the scheme. We are an + unlettered people, brought up in ignorance, not one in a + hundred can read or write, not one in a thousand has a + liberal education; is there any fitness for such to be sent + into a far country, among heathens, to convert or civilize + them, when they themselves are neither civilized or + christianized? See the great bulk of the poor, ignorant + Africans in this country, exposed to every temptation before + them: all for the want of their morals being refined by + education and proper attendance paid unto them by their + owners, or those who had the charge of them. It is said by + the Southern slave-holders, that the more ignorant they can + bring up the Africans, the better slaves they make, 'go and + come.' Is there any fitness for such people to be colonized + in a far country, to be their own rulers? Can we not discern + the project of sending the free people of colour away from + their country? Is it not for the interest of the + slave-holders to select the free people of colour out of the + different states, and send them to Liberia? Will it not make + their slaves uneasy to see free men of colour enjoying + liberty? It is against the law, in some of the southern + states, that a person of colour should receive an education, + under a severe penalty. Colonizationists speak of America + being first colonized, but is there any comparison between + the two? America was colonized by as _wise_, _judicious_ and + _educated_ men as the world afforded. WILLIAM PENN did not + want for _learning_, _wisdom_, _or intelligence_. If all the + people in Europe and America were as ignorant, and in the + same situation as our brethren, what would become of the + world? where would be the principle or piety that would + govern the people? We were _stolen_ from our mother country, + and brought _here_. We have _tilled_ the ground and made + fortunes for thousands, and still they are not weary of our + services. _But they who stay to till the ground must be + slaves._ Is there not land enough in America, or 'corn + enough in Egypt?' Why should they send us into a far country + to die? See the thousands of foreigners emigrating to + America every year: and if there be ground sufficient for + them to cultivate, and bread for them to eat; why would they + wish to send the _first tillers_ of the land away? Africans + have made fortunes for thousands, who are yet unwilling to + part with their services; but the free must be sent away, + and those who remain must be _slaves_. I have no doubt that + there are many good men who do not see as I do, and who are + for sending us to Liberia; but they have not duly considered + the subject--they are not men of colour. This land which we + have watered with our _tears_ and _our blood_, is now our + _mother country_, and we are well satisfied to stay where + wisdom abounds and the gospel is free." + + "RICHARD ALLEN, + + "_Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in the + United States_." + +I have given you, my brethren, an extract verbatim from the letter of +that godly man as you may find it on the aforementioned page of +Freedom's Journal. I know that thousands and perhaps millions of my +brethren in these States, have never heard of such a man as Bishop +Allen--a man whom God many years ago raised up among his ignorant and +degraded brethren, to preach Jesus Christ and him crucified to +them--who notwithstanding, had to wrestle against principalities and +the powers of darkness to diffuse that gospel with which he was +endowed, among his brethren--but who having overcome the combined +powers of devils and wicked men has under God planted a church among +us which will be as durable as the foundation of the earth on which it +stands. Richard Allen! O my God!! the bare recollection of the labours +of this man, and his ministers among his deplorably wretched brethren +(rendered so by the whites,) to bring them to a knowledge of the God +of heaven, fills my soul with all those very high emotions which would +take the pen of an Addison to portray. It is impossible, my brethren, +for me to say much in this work respecting that man of God. When the +Lord shall raise up coloured historians in succeeding generations, to +present the crimes of this nation to the then gazing world, the Holy +Ghost will make them do justice to the name of Bishop Allen, of +Philadelphia. Suffice it for me to say, that the name of this very man +(Richard Allen,) though now in obscurity and degradation, will +notwithstanding stand on the pages of history among the greatest +divines who have lived since the apostolic age, and among the +African's, Bishop Allen's will be entirely pre-eminent. My brethren, +search after the character and exploits of this godly man among his +ignorant and miserable brethren, to bring them to a knowledge of the +truth as it is in our Master. Consider upon the tyrants and false +christians against whom he had to contend in order to get access to +his brethren. See him and his ministers in the states of New York, +New Jersey, Penn. Delaware and Maryland, carrying the gladsome tidings +of free and full salvation to the colored people. Tyrants and false +christians however, would not allow him to penetrate far into the +South for fear that he would awaken some of his ignorant brethren, +whom they held in wretchedness and miseries--for fear, I say it, that +he would awaken and bring them to a knowledge of their Maker. O my +Master! my Master! I cannot but think upon Christian Americans!! What +kind of people can they be? Will not those who were burnt up in Sodom +and Gomorrah rise up in judgment against Christian Americans with the +Bible in their hands, and condemn them? Will not the Scribes and +Pharisees of Jerusalem, who had nothing but the laws of Moses and the +Prophets to go by, rise up in judgment against Christian Americans, +and condemn them[22] who in addition to these have a revelation from +Jesus Christ the son of the living God? In fine, will not the +Antediluvians, together with the whole heathen world of antiquity, +rise up in judgment against Christian Americans and condemn them? The +Christians of Europe and America go to Africa, bring us away, and +throw us into the seas, and in other ways murder us, as they would +wild beasts. The Antediluvians and heathens never dreamed of such +barbarities. Now the Christians believe because they have a name to +live, while they are dead, that God will overlook such things. But if +he does not deceive them, it will be because he has overlooked it sure +enough. But to return to this godly man, Bishop Allen. I do hereby +openly affirm it to the world, that he has done more in a spiritual +sense for his ignorant and wretched brethren than any other man of +colour has, since the world began. And as for the greater part of the +whites, it has hitherto been their greatest object and glory to keep +us ignorant of our Maker, so as to make us believe that we were made +to be slaves to them and their children to dig up gold and silver for +them. It is notorious that not a few professing christians among the +whites who profess to love our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, have +assailed this man and laid all the obstacles in his way they possibly +could, consistent with their profession--and what for? Why, their +course of proceeding and his, clashed exactly together--they trying +their best to keep us ignorant that we might be the better and more +obedient slaves--while he on the other hand, doing his very best to +enlighten us and teach us a knowledge of the Lord. And I am sorry that +I have it to say, that many of our brethren have joined in with our +oppressors, whose dearest objects are only to keep us ignorant and +miserable, against this man to stay his hand. However, they have kept +us in so much ignorance that many of us know no better than to fight +against ourselves, and by that means strengthen the hands of our +natural enemies, to rivet their infernal chains of slavery upon us and +our children. I have several times called the white Americans our +_natural enemies_--I shall here define my meaning of the phrase. Shem, +Ham, and Japheth, together with their father Noah and wives, I believe +were not natural enemies to each other. When the ark rested after the +flood upon Mount Arrarat in Asia, they (eight) were all the people +which could be found alive in all the earth--in fact if scriptures be +true (which I believe are) there were no other living men in all the +earth, notwithstanding some ignorant creatures hesitate not to tell +us, that we, (the blacks) are the seed of Cain, the murderer of his +brother Abel. But where those ignorant and avaricious wretches could +have got their information, I am unable to declare. Did they receive +it from the Bible? I have searched the Bible as well as they, if I am +not as well learned as they are, and have never seen a verse which +testifies whether we are the seed of Cain or of Abel.--Yet those men +tell us that we are of the seed of Cain and that God put a dark stain +upon us, that we might be known as their slaves!!! Now I ask those +avaricious and ignorant wretches, who act more like the seed of Cain, +by murdering, the whites or the blacks? How many vessel loads of human +beings have the blacks thrown into the seas? How many thousand souls +have the blacks murdered in cold blood to make them work in +wretchedness and ignorance, to support them and their +families?[23]--However, let us be the seed of Cain, Harry, Dick or +Tom!!! God will show the whites what we are yet. I say, from the +beginning, I do not think that we were natural enemies to each other. +But the whites having made us so wretched, by subjecting us to +slavery, and having murdered so many millions of us in order to make +us work for them, and out of devilishness--and they taking our wives, +whom we love as we do ourselves--our mothers who bore the pains of +death to give us birth--our fathers & dear little children, and +ourselves, and strip and beat us one before the other--chain, handcuff +and drag us about like rattle-snakes--shoot us down like wild bears, +before each other's faces, to make us submissive to and work to +support them and their families. They (the whites) know well if we are +_men_--and there is a secret monitor in their hearts which tells them +we are--they know, I say, if we _are_ men, and see them treating us in +the manner they do, that there can be nothing in our hearts but death +alone, for them; notwithstanding we may appear cheerful, when we see +them murdering our dear mothers and wives, because we cannot help +ourselves. Man, in all ages and all nations of the earth, is the same. +Man is a peculiar creature--he is the image of his God, though he may +be subjected to the most wretched condition upon earth, yet that +spirit and feeling which constitute the creature man, can never be +entirely erased from his breast, because the God who made him after +his own image, planted it in his heart; he cannot get rid of it. The +whites knowing this, they do not know what to do; they are afraid that +we, being men, and not brutes, will retaliate, and woe will be to +them; therefore, that dreadful fear, together with an avaricious +spirit, and the natural love in them to be called masters, (which term +we will yet honour them with to their sorrow) bring them to the +resolve that they will keep us in ignorance and wretchedness, as long +as they possibly can[24] and make the best of their time while it +lasts. Consequently they, themselves, (and not us) render themselves +our natural enemies, by treating us so cruel. They keep us miserable +now, and call us their property, but some of them will have enough of +us by and by--their stomachs shall run over with us; they want us for +their slaves, and shall have us to their fill. (We are all in the +world together!!) I said above, because we cannot help ourselves, +(viz. we cannot help the whites murdering our mothers and our wives) +but this statement is incorrect--for we can help ourselves; for, if we +lay aside abject servility, and be determined to act like men, and +not brutes--the murderers among the whites would be afraid to show +their cruel heads. But O, my God!--in sorrow I must say it, that my +colour, all over the world, have a mean, servile spirit. They yield in +a moment to the whites, let them be right or wrong--the reason the +whites are able to keep their feet on our throats. Oh! my coloured +brethren, all over the world, when shall we arise from this death-like +apathy?--And be men!! You will notice, if ever we become men (I mean +_respectable_ men, such as other people are,) we must exert ourselves +to the full. For remember, that it is the greatest desire and object +of the greater part of the whites, to keep us ignorant, and make us +work to support them and their families.--Here now, in the Southern +and Western Sections of this country, there are at least three +coloured persons for one white, why is it, that those few weak, +good-for-nothing whites, are able to keep so many able men, one of +whom, can put to flight a dozen whites, in wretchedness and misery? It +shows at once, what the blacks are, we are ignorant, abject, servile, +and mean--and the whites know it--they know that we are too servile to +assert our rights as men--or they would not fool with us as they do. +Would they fool with any other people as they do with us? No, they +know too well that they would get themselves ruined. Why do they not +bring the inhabitants of Asia to be body servants to them? They know +they would get their bodies rent and torn from head to foot. Why do +they not get the Aboriginies of this country to be slaves to them and +their children, to work their farms and dig their mines? They know +well that the Aboriginies of this country, (or Indians) would tear +them from the earth. The Indians would not rest day or night, they +would be up all times of night, cutting their cruel throats. But my +colour, (some, not all,) are willing to stand still and be murdered by +the cruel whites. In some of the West-India Islands, and over a large +part of South America, there are six or eight coloured persons for one +white. Why do they not take possession of those places? Who hinders +them? it is not the avaricious whites--for they are too busily engaged +in laying up money--derived from the blood and tears of the blacks. +The fact is they are too servile, they love to have Masters too +well!!!!!! Some of our brethren, too, who seeking more after self +aggrandizement, than the glory of God, and the welfare of their +brethren, join in with our oppressors, to ridicule and say all manner +of evils falsely against our Bishop. They think, that they are doing +great things, when they get in company with the whites, to ridicule +and make sport of those who are labouring for their good. Poor +ignorant creatures, they do not know that the sole aim and object of +the whites, are only to make fools and slaves of them and put the whip +to them, and make them work to support them and their families. But I +do say, that no man can well be a despiser of Bishop Allen, for his +public labors among us, unless he is a despiser of God and +Righteousness. Thus, we see, my brethren, the two very opposite +positions of those great men, who have written respecting this +"Colonizing Plan," (Mr. Clay and his slave holding party,) men who are +resolved to keep us in eternal wretchedness, are also bent upon +sending us to Liberia. While the Reverend Bishop Allen, and his party, +men who have the fear of God, and the welfare of their brethren at +heart. The Bishop in particular, whose labors for the salvation of his +brethren, are well known to a large part of those, who dwell in the +United States, are completely opposed to the plan--and advise us to +stay where we are. Now we have to determine whose advice we will take +respecting this all important matter, whether we will adhere to Mr. +Clay and his slave-holding party, who have always been our oppressors +and murderers, and who are for colonizing us, more through +apprehension than humanity, or to this godly man who has done so much +for our benefit, together with the advice of all the good and wise +among us and the whites. Will any of us leave our homes and go to +Africa? I hope not.[25] Let them commence their attack upon us as they +did on our brethren in Ohio, driving and beating us from our country, +and my soul for theirs, they will have enough of it. Let no man of us +budge one step, and let slave-holders come to beat us from our +country. America is more our country, than it is the whites--we have +enriched it with our _blood and tears_. The greatest riches in all +America have arisen from our blood and tears:--and will they drive us +from our property and homes, which we have earned with our _blood_? +They must look sharp or this very thing will bring swift destruction +upon them. The Americans have got so fat upon our blood and groans, +that they have almost forgotten the God of armies. But let them go on. + +How cunning slave-holders think they are!!!!--How much like the king +of Egypt, who after he saw plainly that God was determined to bring +out his people, in spite of him and his, as powerful as they were. He +was willing that Moses, Aaron and the Elders of Israel, but not all +the people should go and serve the Lord. But God deceived him as he +will christian Americans, unless they are very cautious how they move. +What would have become of the United States of America, was it not for +those among the whites, who not in words barely, but in truth and in +deed, love and fear the Lord Our Lord and Master said:--[26] + + "Whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe + in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged + about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depths of + the sea." + +But the Americans with this very threatening of the Lord's, not only +beat his little ones among the Africans, but many of them they put to +death or murder. Now the avaricious Americans think that the Lord +Jesus Christ will let them off, because his words are no more than the +words of a man! In fact, many of them are so avaricious and ignorant +that they do not believe in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Tyrants +may think they are so skilful in State affairs is the reason that the +government is preserved. But I tell you, that this country would have +been given up long ago, was it not for the lovers of the Lord. They +are indeed, the salt of the earth. Remove the people of God among the +whites, from this land of blood, and it will stand until they cleverly +get out of the way. I adopt the language of the Rev. S.E. Cornish, of +N. York, editor of the Rights of All, and say: + + "Any colored man of common intelligence who gives his + countenance and influence to that colony further than its + missionary object and interest extend, should be considered + as a traitor to his brethren, and discarded by every + respectable man of colour: and every member of that society, + however pure his motive, whatever may be his religious + character and moral worth, should in his efforts to remove + the coloured population from their rightful soil, the land + of their birth and nativity, be considered as acting + gratuitously unrighteous and cruel." + +Let me make an appeal brethren, to your hearts, for your cordial +co-operation in the circulation of "The Rights of All," among us. The +utility of such a vehicle, if rightly conducted, cannot be estimated. +I hope that the well informed among us, may see the absolute necessity +of their co-operation in its universal spread among us. If we should +let it go down, never let us undertake any thing of the kind again, +but give up at once and say that we are really so ignorant and +wretched that we cannot do any thing at all! As far as I have seen the +writings of its editor, I believe he is not seeking to fill his +pockets with money, but has the welfare of his brethren truly at +heart. Such men, brethren, ought to be supported by us. + +But to return to the colonizing trick. It will be well for me to +notice here at once, that I do not mean indiscriminately to condemn +all the members and advocates of this scheme, for I believe that there +are some friends to the sons of Africa, who are laboring for our +salvation, not in words only but in truth and in deed, who have been +drawn into this plan. Some, more by persuasion than any thing else; +while others, with humane feelings and lively zeal for our good, +seeing how much we suffer from the afflictions poured upon us by +unmerciful tyrants, are willing to enroll their names in any thing +which they think has for its ultimate end our redemption from +wretchedness and miseries; such men, with a heart truly overflowing +with gratitude for their past services and zeal in our cause, I humbly +beg to examine this plot minutely, and see if the end which they have +in view will be completely consummated by such a course of procedure. +Our friends who have been imperceptibly drawn into this plot I view +with tenderness, and would not for the world injure their feelings, +and I have only to hope for the future, that they will withdraw +themselves from it; for I declare to them, that the plot is not for +the glory of God, but on the contrary the perpetuation of slavery in +this country, which will ruin them and the country forever, unless +something is immediately done. + +Do the colonizationists think to send us off without first being +reconciled to us? Do they think to bundle us up like brutes and send +us off, as they did our brethren of the State of Ohio? Have they not +to be reconciled to us, or reconcile us to them, for the cruelties +with which they have afflicted our fathers and us? Methinks +colonizationists think they have a set of brutes to deal with, sure +enough. Do they think to drive us from our country and homes, after +having enriched it with our blood and tears, and keep back millions of +our dear brethren, sunk in the most barbarous wretchedness, to dig up +gold and silver for them and their children? Surely, the Americans +must think that we are brutes, as some of them have represented us to +be. They think that we do not feel for our brethren, whom they are +murdering by the inches, but they are dreadfully deceived. I +acknowledge that there are some deceitful and hypocritical wretches +among us, who will tell us one thing while they mean another, and thus +they go on aiding our enemies to oppress themselves and us. But I +declare this day before my Lord and Master, that I believe there are +some true-hearted sons of Africa, in this land of oppression, but +pretended _liberty!!!!!_--who do in reality feel for their suffering +brethren, who are held in bondage by tyrants. Some of the advocates of +this cunningly devised plot of Satan represent us to be the greatest +set of cut throats in the world, as though God, wants, us to take his +work out of his hand before he is ready. Does not vengeance belong to +the Lord? Is he not able to repay the Americans for their cruelties, +with which they have afflicted Africa's sons and daughters, without +our interference, unless we are ordered? Is it surprising to think +that the Americans, having the bible in their hands, do not believe +it. Are not the hearts of all men in the hands of the God of battles? +And does he not suffer some, in consequence of cruelties, to go on +until they are irrecoverably lost? Now, what can be more aggravating, +than for the Americans, after having treated us so bad, to hold us up +to the world as such great throat cutters? It appears to me as though +they are resolved to assail us with every species of affliction that +their ingenuity can invent. ([Hand->] See the African Repository and +Colonial Journal, from its commencement to the present day--see how we +are, through the medium of that periodical, abused and held up by the +Americans, as the greatest nuisance to society, and throat-cutters in +the world.) But the Lord sees their actions. Americans! +notwithstanding you have and do continue to treat us more cruel than +any heathen nation ever did a people it had subjected to the same +condition that you have us. Now let us reason--I mean you of the +United States, whom I believe God designs to save from destruction, if +you will hear. For I declare to you, whether you believe it or not, +that there are some on the continent of America, who will never be +able to repent. God will surely destroy them, to show you his +disapprobation of the murders they and you have inflicted on us. I +say, let us reason; had you not better take our body, while you have +it in your power, and while we are yet ignorant and wretched, not +knowing but a little, give us education, and teach us the pure +religion of our Lord and Master, which is calculated to make the lion +lay down in peace with the lamb, and which millions of you have beaten +us nearly to death for trying to obtain since we have been among you, +and thus, at once, gain our affection, while we are ignorant? Remember +Americans, that we must and shall be free, and enlightened as you are, +will you wait until we shall, under God, obtain our liberty by the +crushing arm of power? Will it not be dreadful for you? I speak +Americans for your good. We must and shall be free I say, in spite of +you. You may do your best to keep us in wretchedness and misery, to +enrich you and your children but God will deliver us from under you. +And wo, wo, will be to you if we have to obtain our freedom by +fighting. Throw away your fears and prejudices then, and enlighten us +and treat us like men, and we will like you more than we do now hate +you,[27] and tell us now no more about colonization, for America is as +much our country, as it is yours.--Treat us like men, and there is no +danger but we will all live in peace and happiness together. For we +are not like you, hard hearted, unmerciful, and unforgiving. What a +happy country this will be, if the whites will listen. What nation +under heaven, will be able to do any thing with us, unless God gives +us up into his hand? But Americans, I declare to you, while you keep +us and our children in bondage, and treat us like brutes, to make us +support you and your families, we cannot be your friends. You do not +look for it, do you? Treat us then like men, and we will be your +friends. And there is not a doubt in my mind, but that the whole of +the past will be sunk into oblivion, and we yet, under God, will +become a united and happy people. The whites may say it is impossible, +but remember that nothing is impossible with God. + +The Americans may say or do as they please, but they have to raise us +from the condition of brutes to that of respectable men, and to make a +national acknowledgement to us for the wrongs they have inflicted on +us. As unexpected, strange, and wild as these propositions may to some +appear, it is no less a fact, that unless they are complied with, the +Americans of the United States, though they may for a little while +escape, God will yet weigh them in a balance, and if they are not +superior to other men, as they have represented themselves to be, he +will give them wretchedness to their very heart's content. + +And now brethren, having concluded these four Articles, I submit them, +together with my Preamble, dedicated to the Lord for your inspection, +in language so very simple, that the most ignorant, who can read at +all, may easily understand--of which you may make the best you +possibly can.[28] Should tyrants take it into their heads to +emancipate any of you, remember that your freedom is your natural +right. You are men, as well as they, and instead of returning thanks +to them for your freedom, return it to the Holy Ghost, who is your +rightful owner. If they do not want to part with your labours, which +have enriched them, let them keep you, and my word for it, that God +Almighty, will break their strong band. Do you believe this my +brethren?--See my Address delivered before the General Coloured +Association of Massachusetts, which may be found in Freedom's Journal, +for Dec. 20, 1828.--See the last clause of that Address. Whether you +believe it or not, I tell you that God will dash tyrants, in +combination with devils, into atoms, and will bring you out from your +wretchedness and miseries, under these _Christian People!!!!!!_ + +Those philanthropists and lovers of the human family, who have +volunteered their services for our redemption from wretchedness, have +a high claim on our gratitude, and we should always view them as our +greatest earthly benefactors. + +If any are anxious to ascertain who I am, know the world, that I am +one of the oppressed, degraded and wretched sons of Africa, rendered +so by the avaricious and unmerciful, among the whites.--If any wish to +plunge me into the wretched incapacity of a slave, or murder me for +the truth, know ye, that I am in the hand of God, and at your +disposal. I count my life not dear unto me, but I am ready to be +offered at any moment. For what is the use of living when in fact I am +dead. But remember, Americans, that as miserable, wretched, degraded +and abject as you have made us in preceding, and in this generation, +to support you and your families, that some of you (whites) on the +continent of America, will yet curse the day that you ever were born. +You want slaves, and want us for your slaves!!! My colour will yet, +root some of you out of the very face of the earth!!!!!! You may doubt +it if you please. I know that thousands will doubt--they think they +have us so well secured in wretchedness, to them and their children, +that it is impossible for such things to occur. So did the +antideluvians doubt Noah, until the day in which the flood came and +swept them away. So did the Sodomites doubt, until Lot had got out of +the City, and God rained down fire and brimstone from heaven, upon +them and burnt them up. So did the king of Egypt doubt the very +existence of a God, he said, "who is the Lord, that I should let +Israel go?" Did he not find to his sorrow, who the Lord was, when he +and all his mighty men of war, were smothered to death in the Red +Sea?--So did the Romans doubt, many of them were really so ignorant, +that they thought the world of mankind were made to be slaves to them; +just as many of the Americans think now, of my colour.--But they got +dreadfully deceived. When men got their eyes opened, they made the +murderers scamper. The way in which they cut their tyrannical throats, +was not much inferior to the way the Romans or murderers, served them, +when they held them in wretchedness and degradation under their feet. +So would Christian Americans doubt, if God should send an Angel from +heaven to preach their funeral sermon. The fact is, the Christians +having a name to live, while they are dead, think that God will screen +them on that ground. + +See the hundreds and thousands of us that are thrown into the seas by +Christians, and murdered by them in other ways. They cram us into +their vessel holds in chains and in hand-cuffs--men, women and +children, all together!! O! save us, we pray thee, thou God of heaven +and of earth, from the devouring hands of the white Christians!!!!!! + + Oh! thou Alpha and Omega! + The beginning and the end, + Enthron'd thou art, in Heaven above, + Surrounded by angels there: + + From whence thou seest the miseries + To which we are subject; + The whites have murder'd us, O God! + And kept us ignorant of thee. + + Not satisfied with this, my Lord! + They throw us in the seas: + Be pleas'd, we pray, for Jesus' sake, + To save us from their grasp. + + We believe that, for thy glory's sake, + Thou wilt deliver us; + But that thou may'st effect these things, + Thy glory must be sought. + + * * * * * + +In conclusion, I ask the candid and unprejudiced of the whole world, +to search the pages of historians diligently, and see if the +Antediluvians--the Sodomites--the Egyptians--the Babylonians--the +Ninevites--the Carthagenians--the Persians--the Macedonians--the +Greeks--the Romans--the Mahometans--the Jews--or devils, ever treated +a set of human beings, as the white Christians of America do us, the +blacks, or Africans.--I also ask the attention of the world of mankind +to the declaration of these very American people, of the United +States. + + _A Declaration made July 4, 1776._ + +It says,[29] + + "When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary + for one people to dissolve the political bands which have + connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers + of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the + laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent + respect for the opinions of mankind requires that they + should declare the causes which impel them to the + separation. We hold these truths to be self evident, that + all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their + Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these + are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to + secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, + deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; + that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of + these ends it is the right of the people to alter or to + abolish it, and to institute a new government laying its + foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in + such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their + safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that + governments long established should not be changed for light + and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath + shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils + are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the + forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of + abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, + evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it + is their right, it is their duty to throw off such + government, and to provide new guards for their future + security." + +See your declaration, Americans!! Do you understand your own language? +Hear your language, proclaimed to the world, July 4, 1776-- + + [Hand->] "We hold these truths to be self evident--that + _ALL_ MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL! _that they are endowed by + their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among + these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness!!_" + +Compare your own language above, extracted from your Declaration of +Independence, with your cruelties and murders inflicted by your cruel +and unmerciful fathers on ourselves on our fathers and on us, men who +have never given your fathers or you the least provocation!!! + +Hear your language further! + + [Hand->] "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, + pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to + reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their _right_, + it is their _duty_, to throw off such government, and to + provide new guards for their future security." + +Now, Americans! I ask you candidly, was your sufferings under Great +Britain one hundredth part as cruel and tyrannical as you have +rendered ours under you? Some of you, no doubt, believe that we will +never throw off your murderous government, and "provide new guards for +our future security." If Satan has made you believe it, will he not +deceive you?[30] Do the whites say, I being a black man, ought to be +humble, which I readily admit? I ask them, ought they not to be as +humble as I? or do they think they can measure arms with Jehovah? Will +not the Lord yet humble them? or will not these very coloured people, +whom they now treat worse than brutes, yet under God, humble them low +down enough? Some of the whites are ignorant enough to tell us, that +we ought to be submissive to them, that they may keep their feet on +our throats. And if we do not submit to be beaten to death by them, we +are bad creatures and of course must be damned, &c. If any man wishes +to hear this doctrine openly preached to us by the American preachers, +let him go into the Southern and Western sections of this country--I +do not speak from hearsay--what I have written, is what I have seen +and heard myself. No man may think that my book is made up of +conjecture--I have travelled and observed nearly the whole of those +things myself, and what little I did not get by my own observation, I +received from those among the whites and blacks, in whom the greatest +confidence may be placed. + +The Americans may be as vigilant as they please, but they cannot be +vigilant enough for the Lord, neither can they hide themselves, where +he will not find and bring them out. + + * * * * * + + 1 Thy presence why withdraw'st thou, Lord? + Why hid'st thou now thy face, + When dismal times of deep distress + Call for thy wonted grace? + + 2 The wicked, swell'd with lawless pride, + Have made the poor their prey; + O let them fall by those designs + Which they for others lay. + + 3 For straight they triumph, if success + Their thriving crimes attend; + And sordid wretches, whom God hates, + Perversely they commend. + + 4 To own a pow'r above themselves + Their haughty pride disdains; + And, therefore, in their stubborn mind + No thought of God remains. + + 5 Oppressive methods they pursue, + And all their foes they slight; + Because thy judgements, unobserved, + Are far above their sight. + + 6 They fondly think their prosp'rous state + Shall unmolested be; + They think their vain designs shall thrive, + From all misfortune free. + + 7 Vain and deceitful is their speech, + With curses fill'd, and lies; + By which the mischief of their heart + They study to disguise. + + 8 Near public roads they lie conceal'd, + And all their art employ, + The innocent and poor at once + To rifle and destroy. + + 9 Not lions crouching in their dens, + Surprise their heedless prey + With greater cunning, or express + More savage rage than they. + + 10 Sometimes they act the harmless man, + And modest looks they wear; + That so, deceiv'd, the poor may less + Their sudden onset fear + + PART II. + + 11 For God, they think, no notice takes + Of their unrighteous deeds; + He never minds the suff'ring poor, + Nor their oppression heeds. + + 12 But thou, O Lord, at length arise, + Stretch forth thy mighty arm, + And by the greatness of thy pow'r, + Defend the poor from harm. + + 13 No longer let the wicked vaunt, + And, proudly boasting, say, + "Tush, God regards not what we do; + He never will repay."--_Common Prayer Book._ + + * * * * * + + 1 Shall I for fear of feeble man, + The Spirit's coarse in me restrain? + Or, undismay'd in deed and word. + Be a true witness of my Lord. + + 2 Aw'd by mortal's frown shall I + Conceal the word of God Most High! + How then before thee shall I dare + To stand, or how thine anger bear? + + 3 Shall I, to sooth th' unholy throng, + Soften the troth, or smooth my tongue, + To gain earth's gilded toys, or flee + The cross endur'd, my Lord, by thee? + + 4 What then is he whose scorn I dread? + Whose wrath or hate makes me afraid + A man! an heir of death! a slave + To sin! a bubble on the wave! + + 5 Yea, let men rage: since thou wilt spread + Thy shadowing wings around my head: + Since in all pain thy tender love + Will still my sure refreshment prove. + + _Wesley's Collection._ + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[17] See Dr. Torrey's Portraiture of Domestic Slavery in the United +States, page 85-86. + +[18] Among the English, our real friends and benefactors. + +[19] In the first edition of this work, it should read 1816, as above, +and not 1826, as it there appears. + +[20] "Niger" is a word derived from the Latin, which was used by the +old Romans to designate inanimate beings which were black, such as +soot, pot, wood, house, &c. Also, of animals which they considered +inferior to the human species, as a black horse, cow, hog, bird, dog, +&c. The white Americans have applied this term to Africans, by way of +reproach for our color, to aggravate and heighten our miseries, +because they have their feet on our throats, and we cannot help +ourselves. + +[21] See Freedom's Journal for Nov. 2d, 1827--vol. 1, No. 34. + +[22] I mean those whose labors for the good, or rather destruction of +Jerusalem, and the Jews. Ceased before our Lord entered the Temple, +and over turned the tables of the Money Changers. + +[23] How many millions souls of the human family have the blacks, beat +nearly to death, to keep them from learning to read the Word of God +and from writing. And telling lies about them, by holding them up to +the world as a tribe of TALKING APES, void of _intellect!!! incapable_ +of LEARNING, &c. + +[24] And still hold us up with indignity as being incapable of +acquiring knowledge!!! See the inconsistency of the assertions of +those wretches--they beat us inhumanly, sometimes almost to death, for +attempting to inform ourselves, by reading the _Word_ of our Maker, +and at the same time tell us, that we are beings _void of +intellect!!!!!_ How admirably their practices agree with their +professions in this case. Let me cry shame upon you Americans, for +such outrages upon human nature!!! If it were possible for the whites +always to keep us ignorant and miserable, and make us work to enrich +them and their children, and insult our feelings by representing us as +_talking Apes_, what would they do? But glory honour and praise to +Heaven's King, that the sons and daughters of Africa, will, in spite +of all the opposition of their enemies, stand forth in all the dignity +and glory that is granted by the Lord to his creature man. + +[25] Those who are ignorant enough to go to Africa, the coloured +people ought to be glad to have them go, for if they are ignorant +enough to let the whites _fool_ them off to Africa, they would be no +small injury to us if they reside in this country. + +[26] See St. Mathew's Gospel, chap, xviii. v. 6. + +[27] You are not astonished at my saying we hate you, for if we are +men, we cannot but hate you, while you are treating us like dogs. + +[28] Some of my brethren, who are sensible, do not take an interest in +enlightening the minds of our more ignorant brethren respecting this +_Book_, and in reading it to them, just as though they will not have +either to rise or fall by what is written in this book. Do they +believe that I would be so foolish as to put out a book of this kind, +without strict--ah! very strict commandments of the Lord!--Surely the +blacks and whites must think that I am ignorant enough. Do they think +that I would have the audacious wickedness to take the name of my God +in vain? + +Notice, I said in the concluding clause of Article 3--I call God, I +call Angels, I call men to witness, that the destruction of the +Americans is at hand, and will be speedily consumated unless they +repent. Now I wonder if the world think that I would take the name of +God in this way in vain? What do they think I take God to be? Do they +suppose that I would trifle with that God who will not have his holy +name taken in vain?--He will show you and the world, in due time, +whether this book is for his glory, or written by me through envy to +the whites, as some have represented. + +[29] See the Declaration of Independence of the United States. + +[30] The Lord has not taught the Americans that we will not some day +or other throw off their chains and hand-cuffs, from our hands and +feet, and their devilish lashes (which some of them shall have enough +of yet) from off our backs. + + + + +AN ADDRESS + +TO THE SLAVES OF THE UNITED +STATES OF AMERICA + +(REJECTED BY THE NATIONAL CONVENTION, 1843.) + +BY HENRY HIGHLAND GARNET. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The following Address was first read at the National Convention held +at Buffalo, N.Y., in 1843. Since that time it has been slightly +modified, retaining, however, all of its original doctrine. The +document elicited more discussion than any other paper that was ever +brought before that, or any other deliberative body of colored +persons, and their friends. Gentlemen who opposed the Address, based +their objections on these grounds. 1. That the document was war-like, +and encouraged insurrection; and 2. That if the Convention should +adopt it, that those delegates who lived near the borders of the slave +states, would not dare to return to their homes. The Address was +rejected by a small majority; and now in compliance with the earnest +request of many who heard it, and in conformity to the wishes of +numerous friends who are anxious to see it, the author now gives it to +the public, praying God that this little book may be borne on the four +winds of heaven, until the principles it contains shall be understood +and adopted by every slave in the Union. + + H.H.G. +Troy, N.Y., April 15, 1848. + + + + +ADDRESS TO THE SLAVES OF THE U.S. + + +BRETHREN AND FELLOW CITIZENS: + +Your brethren of the north, east, and west have been accustomed to +meet together in National Conventions, to sympathize with each other, +and to weep over your unhappy condition. In these meetings we have +addressed all classes of the free, but we have never until this time, +sent a word of consolation and advice to you. We have been contented +in sitting still and mourning over your sorrows, earnestly hoping that +before this day, your sacred liberties would have been restored. But, +we have hoped in vain. Years have rolled on, and tens of thousands +have been borne on streams of blood, and tears, to the shores of +eternity. While you have been oppressed, we have also been partakers +with you; nor can we be free while you are enslaved. We therefore +write to you as being bound with you. + +Many of you are bound to us, not only by the ties of a common +humanity, but we are connected by the more tender relations of +parents, wives, husbands, children, brothers, and sisters, and +friends. As such we most affectionately address you. + +Slavery has fixed a deep gulf between you and us, and while it shuts +out from you the relief and consolation which your friends would +willingly render, it afflicts and persecutes you with a fierceness +which we might not expect to see in the fiends of hell. But still the +Almighty Father of Mercies has left to us a glimmering ray of hope, +which shines out like a lone star in a cloudy sky. Mankind are +becoming wiser, and better--the oppressor's power is fading, and you, +every day, are becoming better informed, and more numerous. Your +grievances, brethren, are many. We shall not attempt, in this short +address, to present to the world, all the dark catalogue of this +nation's sins, which have been committed upon an innocent people. Nor +is it indeed, necessary, for you feel them from day to day, and all +the civilized world look upon them with amazement. + +Two hundred and twenty-seven years ago, the first of our injured race +were brought to the shores of America. They came not with glad spirits +to select their homes, in the New World. They came not with their own +consent, to find an unmolested enjoyment of the blessings of this +fruitful soil. The first dealings which they had with those calling +themselves Christians, exhibited to them the worst features of corrupt +and sordid hearts; and convinced them that no cruelty is too great, no +villainy, and no robbery too abhorrent for even enlightened men to +perform, when influenced by avarice, and lust. Neither did they come +flying upon the wings of Liberty, to a land of freedom. But, they came +with broken hearts, from their beloved native land, and were doomed to +unrequited toil, and deep degradation. Nor did the evil of their +bondage end at their emancipation by death. Succeeding generations +inherited their chains, and millions have come from eternity into +time, and have returned again to the world of spirits, cursed, and +ruined by American Slavery. + +The propagators of the system, or their immediate ancestors very soon +discovered its growing evil, and its tremendous wickedness, and secret +promises were made to destroy it. The gross inconsistency of a people +holding slaves, who had themselves "ferried o'er the wave," for +freedom's sake, was too apparent to be entirely overlooked. The voice +of Freedom cried, "emancipate your Slaves." Humanity supplicated with +tears, for the deliverance of the children of Africa. Wisdom urged her +solemn plea. The bleeding captive plead his innocence, and pointed to +Christianity who stood weeping at the cross. Jehovah frowned upon the +nefarious institution, and thunderbolts, red with vengeance, struggled +to leap forth to blast the guilty wretches who maintained it. But all +was vain. Slavery had stretched its dark wings of death over the land, +the Church stood silently by--the priests prophesied falsely, and the +people loved to have it so. Its throne is established, and now it +reigns triumphantly. + +Nearly three millions of your fellow citizens, are prohibited by law, +and public opinion, (which in this country is stronger than law), from +reading the Book of Life. Your intellect has been destroyed as much as +possible, and every ray of light they have attempted to shut out from +your minds. The oppressors themselves have become involved in the +ruin. They have become weak, sensual, and rapacious. They have cursed +you--they have cursed themselves--they have cursed the earth which +they have trod. In the language of a Southern statesman, we can truly +say, "even the wolf, driven back long since by the approach of man, +now returns after the lapse of a hundred years, and howls amid the +desolations of slavery." + +The colonists threw the blame upon England. They said that the mother +country entailed the evil upon them, and that they would rid +themselves of it if they could. The world thought they were sincere, +and the philanthropic pitied them. But time soon tested their +sincerity. In a few years, the colonists grew strong and severed +themselves from the British Government. Their Independence was +declared, and they took their station among the sovereign powers of +the earth. The declaration was a glorious document. Sages admired it, +and the patriotic of every nation reverenced the Godlike sentiments +which it contained. When the power of Government returned to their +hands, did they emancipate the slaves? No; they rather added new links +to our chains. Were they ignorant of the principles of Liberty? +Certainly they were not. The sentiments of their revolutionary orators +fell in burning eloquence upon their hearts, and with one voice they +cried, LIBERTY OR DEATH. O, what a sentence was that! It ran from soul +to soul like electric fire, and nerved the arm of thousands to fight +in the holy cause of Freedom. Among the diversity of opinions that are +entertained in regard to physical resistance, there are but a few +found to gainsay that stern declaration. We are among those who do +not. + +SLAVERY! How much misery is comprehended in that single word. What +mind is there that does not shrink from its direful effects? Unless +the image of God is obliterated from the soul, all men cherish the +love of Liberty. The nice discerning political economist does not +regard the sacred right, more than the untutored African who roams in +the wilds of Congo. Nor has the one more right to the full enjoyment +of his freedom than the other. In every man's mind the good seeds of +liberty are planted, and he who brings his fellow down so low, as to +make him contented with a condition of slavery, commits the highest +crime against God and man. Brethren, your oppressors aim to do this. +They endeavor to make you as much like brutes as possible. When they +have blinded the eyes of your mind--when they have embittered the +sweet waters of life--when they have shut out the light which shines +from the word of God--then, and not till then has American slavery +done its perfect work. + +TO SUCH DEGRADATION IT IS SINFUL IN THE EXTREME FOR YOU TO MAKE +VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION. The divine commandments, you are in duty +bound to reverence, and obey. If you do not obey them you will surely +meet with the displeasure of the Almighty. He requires you to love him +supremely, and your neighbor as yourself--to keep the Sabbath day +holy--to search the Scriptures--and bring up your children with +respect for his laws, and to worship no other God but him. But slavery +sets all these at naught and hurls defiance in the face of Jehovah. +The forlorn condition in which you are placed does not destroy your +moral obligation to God. You are not certain of Heaven, because you +suffer yourselves to remain in a state of slavery, where you cannot +obey the commandments of the Sovereign of the universe. If the +ignorance of slavery is a passport to heaven, then it is a blessing, +and no curse, and you should rather desire its perpetuity than its +abolition. God will not receive slavery, nor ignorance, nor any other +state of mind, for love, and obedience to him. Your condition does not +absolve you from your moral obligation. The diabolical injustice by +which your liberties are cloven down, NEITHER GOD, NOR ANGELS, OR +JUST MEN, COMMAND YOU TO SUFFER FOR A SINGLE MOMENT. THEREFORE IT IS +YOUR SOLEMN AND IMPERATIVE DUTY TO USE EVERY MEANS, BOTH MORAL, +INTELLECTUAL, AND PHYSICAL, THAT PROMISE SUCCESS. If a band of +heathen men should attempt to enslave a race of Christians, and to +place their children under the influence of some false religion, +surely, heaven would frown upon the men who would not resist such +aggression, even to death. If, on the other hand, a band of Christians +should attempt to enslave a race of heathen men and to entail slavery +upon them, and to keep them in heathenism in the midst of +Christianity, the God of heaven would smile upon every effort which +the injured might make to disenthral themselves. + +Brethren, it is as wrong for your lordly oppressors to keep you in +slavery, as it was for the man thief to steal our ancestors from the +coast of Africa. You should therefore now use the same manner of +resistance, as would have been just in our ancestors, when the bloody +foot prints of the first remorseless soul thief was placed upon the +shores of our fatherland. The humblest peasant is as free in the sight +of God, as the proudest monarch that ever swayed a sceptre. Liberty is +a spirit sent out from God, and like its great Author, is no respecter +of persons. + +Brethren, the time has come when you must act for yourselves. It is an +old and true saying, that "if hereditary bondmen would be free, they +must themselves strike the blow." You can plead your own cause, and do +the work of emancipation better than any others. The nations of the +old world are moving in the great cause of universal freedom, and some +of them at least, will ere long, do you justice. The combined powers +of Europe have placed their broad seal of disapprobation upon the +African slave trade. But in the slave holding parts of the United +States, the trade is as brisk as ever. They buy and sell you as +though you were brute beasts. The North has done much--her opinion of +slavery in the abstract is known. But in regard to the South, we adopt +the opinion of the New York Evangelist--"We have advanced so far, that +the cause apparently waits for a more effectual door to be thrown open +than has been yet." We are about to point you to that more effectual +door. Look around you, and behold the bosoms of your loving wives, +heaving with untold agonies! Hear the cries of your poor children! +Remember the stripes your fathers bore. Think of the torture and +disgrace of your noble mothers. Think of your wretched sisters, loving +virtue and purity, as they are driven into concubinage, and are +exposed to the unbridled lusts of incarnate devils. Think of the +undying glory that hangs around the ancient name of Africa:--and +forget not that you are native-born American citizens, and as such, +you are justly entitled to all the rights that are granted to the +freest. Think how many tears you have poured out upon the soil which +you have cultivated with unrequited toil, and enriched with your +blood; and then go to your lordly enslavers, and tell them plainly, +that YOU ARE DETERMINED TO BE FREE. Appeal to their sense of justice, +and tell them that they have no more right to oppress you, than you +have to enslave them. Entreat them to remove the grievous burdens +which they have imposed upon you, and to remunerate you for your +labor. Promise them renewed diligence in the cultivation of the soil, +if they will render to you an equivalent for your services. Point them +to the increase of happiness and prosperity in the British West +Indies, since the act of Emancipation. Tell them in language which +they cannot misunderstand, of the exceeding sinfulness of slavery, and +of a future judgment, and of the righteous retributions of an +indignant God. Inform them that all you desire, is FREEDOM, and that +nothing else will suffice. Do this, and for ever after cease to toil +for the heartless tyrants, who give you no other reward but stripes +and abuse. If they then commence the work of death, they, and not you, +will be responsible for the consequences. You had far better all +die--_die immediately_, than live slaves, and entail your wretchedness +upon your posterity. If you would be free in this generation, here is +your only hope. However much you and all of us may desire it, there is +not much hope of Redemption without the shedding of blood. If you must +bleed, let it all come at once--rather, _die freemen, than live to be +slaves_. It is impossible, like the children of Israel, to make a +grand Exodus from the land of bondage. THE PHARAOHS ARE ON BOTH SIDES +OF THE BLOOD-RED WATERS! You cannot remove en masse, to the dominions +of the British Queen--nor can you pass through Florida, and overrun +Texas, and at last find peace in Mexico. The propagators of American +slavery are spending their blood and treasure, that they may plant the +black flag in the heart of Mexico, and riot in the halls of the +Montezumas. In the language of the Rev. Robert Hall, when addressing +the volunteers of Bristol, who were rushing forth to repel the +invasion of Napoleon, who threatened to lay waste the fair homes of +England, "Religion is too much interested in your behalf, not to shed +over you her most gracious influences." + +You will not be compelled to spend much time in order to become inured +to hardships. From the first moment that you breathed the air of +heaven, you have been accustomed to nothing else but hardships. The +heroes of the American Revolution were never put upon harder fare, +than a peck of corn, and a few herrings per week. You have not become +enervated by the luxuries of life. Your sternest energies have been +beaten out upon the anvil of severe trial. Slavery has done this, to +make you subservient to its own purposes; but it has done more than +this, it has prepared you for any emergency. If you receive good +treatment, it is what you could hardly expect; if you meet with pain, +sorrow, and even death, these are the common lot of the slaves. + +Fellow-men! patient sufferers! behold your dearest rights crushed to +the earth! See your sons murdered, and your wives, mothers, and +sisters, doomed to prostitution! In the name of the merciful God! and +by all that life is worth, let it no longer be a debateable question, +whether it is better to choose LIBERTY or DEATH! + +In 1822, Denmark Veazie, of South Carolina, formed a plan for the +liberation of his fellow men. In the whole history of human efforts to +overthrow slavery, a more complicated and tremendous plan was never +formed. He was betrayed by the treachery of his own people, and died a +martyr to freedom. Many a brave hero fell, but History, faithful to +her high trust, will transcribe his name on the same monument with +Moses, Hampden, Tell, Bruce, and Wallace, Touissaint L'Overteur, +Lafayette and Washington. That tremendous movement shook the whole +empire of slavery. The guilty soul thieves were overwhelmed with fear. +It is a matter of fact, that at that time, and in consequence of the +threatened revolution, the slave states talked strongly of +emancipation. But they blew but one blast of the trumpet of freedom, +and then laid it aside. As these men became quiet, the slaveholders +ceased to talk about emancipation: and now, behold your condition +to-day! Angels sigh over it, and humanity has long since exhausted her +tears in weeping on your account! + +The patriotic Nathaniel Turner followed Denmark Veazie. He was goaded +to desperation by wrong and injustice. By Despotism, his name has +been recorded on the list of infamy, but future generations will +number him among the noble and brave. + +Next arose the immortal Joseph Cinque, the hero of the Amistad. He was +a native African, and by the help of God he emancipated a whole +ship-load of his fellow men on the high seas. And he now sings of +liberty on the sunny hills of Africa, and beneath his native palm +trees, where he hears the lion roar, and feels himself as free as that +king of the forest. Next arose Madison Washington, that bright star of +freedom, and took his station in the constellation of freedom. He was +a slave on board the brig Creole, of Richmond, bound to New Orleans, +that great slave mart, with a hundred and four others. Nineteen struck +for liberty or death. But one life was taken, and the whole were +emancipated, and the vessel was carried into Nassau, New Providence. +Noble men! Those who have fallen in freedom's conflict, their memories +will be cherished by the true hearted, and the God-fearing, in all +future generations; those who are living, their names are surrounded +by a halo of glory. + +We do not advise you to attempt a revolution with the sword, because +it would be INEXPEDIENT. Your numbers are too small, and moreover the +rising spirit of the age, and the spirit of the gospel, are opposed to +war and bloodshed. But from this moment cease to labor for tyrants who +will not remunerate you. Let every slave throughout the land do this, +and the days of slavery are numbered. You cannot be more oppressed +than you have been--you cannot suffer greater cruelties than you have +already. RATHER DIE FREEMEN, THAN LIVE TO BE SLAVES. Remember +that you are THREE MILLIONS. + +It is in your power so to torment the God-cursed slaveholders, that +they will be glad to let you go free. If the scale was turned, and +black men were the masters, and white men the slaves, every +destructive agent and element would be employed to lay the oppressor +low. Danger and death would hang over their heads day and night. Yes, +the tyrants would meet with plagues more terrible than those of +Pharaoh. But you are a patient people. You act as though you were made +for the special use of these devils. You act as though your daughters +were born to pamper the lusts of your masters and overseers. And worse +than all, you tamely submit, while your lords tear your wives from +your embraces, and defile them before your eyes. In the name of God we +ask, are you men? Where is the blood of your fathers? Has it all run +out of your veins? Awake, awake; millions of voices are calling you! +Your dead fathers speak to you from their graves. Heaven, as with a +voice of thunder, calls on you to arise from the dust. + +Let your motto be RESISTANCE! RESISTANCE! RESISTANCE!--No oppressed +people have ever secured their liberty without resistance. What kind +of resistance you had better make, you must decide by the +circumstances that surround you, and according to the suggestion of +expediency. Brethren, adieu. Trust in the living God. Labor for the +peace of the human race, and remember that you are three millions. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Walker's Appeal, with a Brief Sketch +of His Life, by David Walker and Henry Highland Garnet + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WALKER'S APPEAL, WITH A *** + +***** This file should be named 16516-8.txt or 16516-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/5/1/16516/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Richard J. 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charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Walker's Appeal and Garnet's Address to the + Slaves of the United States of America + by David Walker and Henry Highland Garnet. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + /*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ + + <!-- + body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + p {margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + text-align: justify;} + /* Title ----------------------------------------------- */ + p.title1, p.title2, p.title3, p.title4 + {text-align: center; font-weight: bold;} + p.title1 {font-size: 180%;} + p.title2 {font-size: 150%;} + p.title3 {font-size: 120%;} + p.title4 {font-size: 90%;} + /* Front Matter ----------------------------------------- */ + p.fm0, p.fm1, p.fm2, p.fm3, p.fm5 {text-align: center; font-weight: bold;} + p.fm0 {font-size: 70%;} + p.fm1 {font-size: 80%;} + p.fm2 {font-size: 90%;} + p.fm3 {font-size: 100%;} + p.fm4 {text-align: center; white-space: pre;} + p.fm5 {font-size: 130%;} + /* Author ----------------------------------------------- */ + p.author, p.author-up {text-align: right; 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Walker's Appeal, with a Brief Sketch of His Life + And Also Garnet's Address to the Slaves of the United States of America + +Author: David Walker and Henry Highland Garnet + +Release Date: August 12, 2005 [EBook #16516] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WALKER'S APPEAL, WITH A *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Richard J. Shiffer, and the PG +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p class="title2 spaced">WALKER'S</p> +<p class="title2 spaced">APPEAL,</p> +<p class="title4">WITH A BRIEF SKETCH OF HIS LIFE.</p> +<p class="title4">BY</p> +<p class="title3">HENRY HIGHLAND GARNET.</p> +<p class="title4">AND ALSO</p> +<p class="title3">GARNET'S ADDRESS</p> +<p class="title4">TO THE SLAVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<p class="title4"> +NEW-YORK:<br /> +Printed by J.H. Tobitt, 9 Spruce st<br /> +1848.<br /> +</p> + +<br /> +<hr /> +<div class="trans-note"> +Transcriber's Note: The transcriber added the Table of Contents. +</div> +<h2><a name="Contents" id="Contents"></a>Table of Contents</h2> + +<ul class="TOC"> +<li><b>TITLES</b><span class="tocright"><b>PAGE</b></span></li> +<li><a href="#PREFACE">Preface.</a><span class="tocright"><a href="#pageiii">iii.</a></span></li> +<li><a href="#A_BRIEF_SKETCH">A Brief Sketch of the Life of David Walker.</a><span class="tocright"><a href="#pagev">v.</a></span></li> +<li><a href="#APPEAL_c">Walker's Appeal.</a><span class="tocright"><a href="#page9">9</a></span> + <ul class="TOC"> + <li><a href="#PREAMBLE">Preamble.</a><span class="tocright"><a href="#page11">11</a></span></li> + <li><a href="#ARTICLE_I">Article I.</a><span class="tocright"><a href="#page17">17</a></span></li> + <li><a href="#ARTICLE_II">Article II.</a><span class="tocright"><a href="#page29">29</a></span></li> + <li><a href="#ARTICLE_III">Article III.</a><span class="tocright"><a href="#page46">46</a></span></li> + <li><a href="#ARTICLE_IV">Article IV.</a><span class="tocright"><a href="#page56">56</a></span></li> + </ul> +</li> +<li><a href="#ADDRESS_TO_THE_SLAVES_OF_THE_US">Garnet's Address to the Slaves of the U.S.</a><span class="tocright"><a href="#page89">89</a></span></li> +</ul> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pageiii" id="pageiii"></a>[pg iii.]</span></p> +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p>Such is the very high esteem which is entertained for the memory of +<span class="smcap">David Walker</span>, and so general is the desire to preserve his +"Appeal," that the subscriber has undertaken, and performed the task +of re-publication, with a brief notice of his life, having procured +permission from his widow, Mrs. Dewson.</p> + +<p>The work is valuable, because it was among the first, and was actually +the boldest and most direct appeal in behalf of freedom, which was +made in the early part of the Anti-Slavery Reformation. When the +history of the emancipation of the bondmen of America shall be +written, whatever name shall be placed first on the list of heroes, +that of the author of the Appeal will not be second.</p> + +<p><i>Troy, N.Y., April 12, 1848.</i></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pageiv" id="pageiv"></a>[pg iv.]</span></p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pagev" id="pagev"></a>[pg v.]</span></p> +<h2><a name="A_BRIEF_SKETCH" id="A_BRIEF_SKETCH"></a>A BRIEF SKETCH<br /> +OF THE<br /> +LIFE AND CHARACTER OF DAVID WALKER.</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p>It is generally the desire of the reader of any intellectual +production, to know something of the character and the life of the +author. The character of <i>David Walker</i> is indicated in his writings. +In regard to his life, but a few materials can be gathered; but what +is known of him, furnishes proof to the opinion which the friends of +man have formed of him—that he possessed a noble and a courageous +spirit, and that he was ardently attached to the cause of liberty.</p> + +<p>Mr. Walker was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, Sept. 28, 1785. His +mother was a free woman, and his father was a slave. His innate hatred +to slavery was very early developed. When yet a boy, he declared that +the slaveholding South was not the place for him. His soul became so +indignant at the wrongs which his father and his kindred bore, that he +determined to find some portion of his country where he would see less +to harrow up his soul. Said he, "If I remain in this bloody land, I +will not live long. As true as God reigns, I will be avenged for the +sorrow which my people have suffered. This is not the place for +me—no, no. I must leave this part of the country. It will be a great +trial for me to live on the same soil where so many men are in +slavery; certainly I cannot remain where I must hear their chains +continually, and where I must encounter the insults of their +hypocritical enslaver. Go, I must."</p> + +<p>The youthful Walker embraced his mother, and received a mother's +blessings, and turned his back upon North Carolina. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page6" id="page6"></a>[pg vi.]</span> + His father died a +few months before his birth; and it is a remarkable coincidence, that +the son of the subject of this Memoir, was a posthumous child.</p> + +<p>After leaving home, David Walker travelled rapidly towards the North, +shaking off the dust of his feet, and breathing curses upon the system +of human slavery, America's darling institution. As might be expected, +he met with trials during his journey; and at last he reached Boston, +Mass., where he took up his permanent residence. There he applied +himself to study, and soon learned to read and write, in order that he +might contribute something to the cause of humanity. Mr. Walker, like +most of reformers, was a poor man—he lived poor, and died poor.</p> + +<p>In 1827 be entered into the clothing business in Brattle street, in +which he prospered; and had it not been for his great liberality and +hospitality, he would have become wealthy. In 1828, he married Miss +Eliza ——. He was emphatically a self-made man, and he spent all his +leisure moments in the cultivation of his mind. Before the +Anti-Slavery Reformation had assumed a form, he was ardently engaged +in the work. His hands were always open to contribute to the wants of +the fugitive. His house was the shelter and the home of the poor and +needy. Mr. Walker is known principally by his "<span class="smcap">Appeal</span>," but +it was in his private walks, and by his unceasing labors in the cause +of freedom, that he has made his memory sacred.</p> + +<p>With an overflowing heart, he published his "Appeal" in 1829. This +little book produced more commotion among slaveholders than any volume +of its size that was ever issued from an American press. They saw that +it was a bold attack upon their idolatry, and that too by a black man +who once lived among them. It was merely a smooth stone which this +David took up, yet it terrified a host of Goliaths. When the fame of +this book reached the South, the poor, cowardly, pusillanimous +tyrants, grew pale behind their cotton bags, and armed themselves to +the teeth. They set watches to look after their happy and contented +slaves. The Governor of <span class="smcap">Georgia</span> wrote to the Hon. Harrison +Grey Otis, the Mayor of Boston, requesting him to suppress the Appeal. +His Honor replied to the Southern Censor, that he had no power nor +disposition to hinder Mr. Walker from pursuing a lawful course in the +utterance of his thoughts. A company of Georgia men then bound +themselves by an oath, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page7" id="page7"></a>[pg vii.]</span> + that they would eat as little as possible +until they had killed the youthful author. They also offered a reward +of a thousand dollars for his head, and ten times as much for the live +Walker. His consort, with the solicitude of an affectionate wife, +together with some friends, advised him to go to Canada, lest he +should be abducted. Walker said that he had nothing to fear from such +a pack of coward blood-hounds; but if he did go, he would hurl back +such thunder across the great lakes, that would cause them to tremble +in their strong holds. Said he, "I will stand my ground. <i>Somebody +must die in this cause.</i> I may be doomed to the stake and the fire, or +to the scaffold tree, but it is not in me to falter if I can promote +the work of emancipation." He did not leave the country, but was soon +laid in the grave. It was the opinion of many that he was hurried out +of life by the means of poison, but whether this was the case or not, +the writer is not prepared to affirm.</p> + +<p>He had many enemies, and not a few were his brethren whose cause he +espoused. They said that he went too far, and was making trouble. So +the Jews spoke of Moses. They valued the flesh-pots of Egypt more than +the milk and honey of Canaan. He died 1830 in Bridge street, at the +hopeful and enthusiastic age of 34 years. His ruling passion blazed up +in the hour of death, and threw an indescribable grandeur over the +last dark scene. The heroic young man passed away without a struggle, +and a few weeping friends</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Saw in death his eyelids close,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Calmly, as to a night's repose,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Like flowers at set of sun."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The personal appearance of Mr. Walker was prepossessing, being six +feet in height, slender and well proportioned. His hair was loose, and +his complexion was dark. His son, the only child he left, is now 18 +years of age, and is said to resemble his father; he now resides at +Charlestown, Mass., with his mother, Mrs. Dewson. Mr. Walker was a +faithful member of the Methodist Church at Boston, whose pastor is the +venerable father Snowden.</p> + +<p>The reader thus has a brief notice of the life and character of David +Walker.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pageviii" id="pageviii"></a>[pg viii.]</span></p> +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page9" id="page9"></a>[pg 9]</span></p> +<a name="APPEAL_c" id="APPEAL_c"></a> +<p class="fm3 spaced">WALKER'S</p> +<p class="fm5 spaced">APPEAL,</p> +<p class="fm3 spaced">IN FOUR ARTICLES,</p> +<p class="fm0">TOGETHER WITH</p> +<p class="fm5 spaced">A PREAMBLE,</p> +<p class="fm0">TO THE</p> +<p class="fm2 bold">COLORED CITIZENS OF THE WORLD,</p> +<p class="fm0">BUT IN PARTICULAR, AND VERY EXPRESSLY TO THOSE OF THE</p> +<p class="fm3">UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.</p> +<br /> +<p class="fm1"><i>Written in Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, Sept. 28, 1829.</i></p> + +<hr class="short" /> +<br /> +<p class="fm1">SECOND EDITION, WITH CORRECTIONS, &c.<br /> +<br />BY DAVID WALKER.<br /> +<br />1830.<br /> +</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page10" id="page10"></a>[pg 10]</span></p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page11" id="page11"></a>[pg 11]</span></p> +<h2>APPEAL. &c.</h2> + +<h3><a name="PREAMBLE" id="PREAMBLE"></a>PREAMBLE.</h3> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p><i>My dearly beloved Brethren and Fellow Citizens:</i></p> + +<p>Having travelled over a considerable portion of these United States, +and having, in the course of my travels taken the most accurate +observations of things as they exist—the result of my observations +has warranted the full and unshakened conviction, that we, (colored +people of these United States) are the most degraded, wretched, and +abject set of beings that ever lived since the world began, and I pray +God, that none like us ever may live again until time shall be no +more. They tell us of the Israelites in Egypt, the Helots in Sparta, +and of the Roman Slaves, which last, were made up from almost every +nation under heaven, whose sufferings under those ancient and heathen +nations were, in comparison with ours, under this enlightened and +christian nation, no more than a cypher—or in other words, those +heathen nations of antiquity, had but little more among them than the +name and form of slavery, while wretchedness and endless miseries were +reserved, apparently in a phial, to be poured out upon our fathers, +ourselves and our children by <i>christian</i> Americans!</p> + +<p>These positions, I shall endeavour, by the help of the Lord, to +demonstrate in the course of this <i>appeal</i>, to the satisfaction of the +most incredulous mind—and may God Almighty who is the father of our +Lord Jesus Christ, open your hearts to understand and believe the +truth.</p> + +<p>The <i>causes</i>, my brethren, which produce our wretchedness and +miseries, are so very numerous and aggravating, that I believe the pen +only of a Josephus or a Plutarch, can well enumerate and explain them. +Upon subjects, then, of such incomprehensible +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page12" id="page12"></a>[pg 12]</span> +magnitude, so +impenetrable, and so notorious, I shall be obliged to omit a large +class of, and content myself with giving you an exposition of a few of +those, which do indeed rage to such an alarming pitch, that they +cannot but be a perpetual source of terror and dismay to every +reflecting mind.</p> + +<p>I am fully aware, in making this appeal to my much afflicted and +suffering brethren, that I shall not only be assailed by those whose +greatest earthly desires are, to keep us in abject ignorance and +wretchedness, and who are of the firm conviction that heaven has +designed us and our children to be slaves and <i>beasts of burden</i> to +them and their children.—I say, I do not only expect to be held up to +the public as an ignorant, impudent and restless disturber of the +public peace, by such avaricious creatures, as well as a mover of +insubordination—and perhaps put in prison or to death, for giving a +superficial exposition of our miseries, and exposing tyrants. But I am +persuaded, that many of my brethren, particularly those who are +ignorantly in league with slave-holders or tyrants, who acquire their +daily bread by the blood and sweat of their more ignorant +brethren—and not a few of those too, who are too ignorant to see an +inch beyond their noses, will rise up and call me cursed—Yea, the +jealous ones among us will perhaps use more abject subtlety by +affirming that this work is not worth perusing; that we are well +situated and there is no use in trying to better our condition, for we +cannot. I will ask one question here.—Can our condition be any +worse?—Can it be more mean and abject? If there are any changes, will +they not be for the better, though they may appear for the worse at +first? Can they get us any lower? Where can they get us? They are +afraid to treat us worse, for they know well, the day they do it they +are gone. But against all accusations which may or can be preferred +against me, I appeal to heaven for my motive in writing—who knows +that my object is, if possible, to awaken in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page13" id="page13"></a>[pg 13]</span> +the breasts of my +afflicted, degraded and slumbering brethren, a spirit of enquiry and +investigation respecting our miseries and wretchedness in this +<i>Republican Land of Liberty!!!!!</i></p> + +<p>The sources from which our miseries are derived and on which I shall +comment, I shall not combine in one, but shall put them under distinct +heads and expose them in their turn; in doing which, keeping truth on +my side, and not departing from the strictest rules of morality, I +shall endeavor to penetrate, search out, and lay them open for your +inspection. If you cannot or will not profit by them, I shall have +done <i>my</i> duty to you, my country and my God.</p> + +<p>And as the inhuman system of <i>slavery</i>, is the <i>source</i> from which +most of our miseries proceed, I shall begin with that <i>curse to +nations</i>; which has spread terror and devastation through so many +nations of antiquity, and which is raging to such a pitch at the +present day in Spain and in Portugal. It had one tug in England, in +France, and in the United States of America; yet the inhabitants +thereof, do not learn wisdom, and erase it entirely from their +dwellings and from all with whom they have to do. The fact is, the +labor of slaves comes so cheap to the avaricious usurpers, and is (as +they think) of such great utility to the country where it exists, that +those who are actuated by sordid avarice only, overlook the evils, +which will as sure as the Lord lives, follow after the good. In fact, +they are so happy to keep in ignorance and degradation, and to receive +the homage and the labor of the slaves, they forget that God rules in +the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, having +his ears continually open to the cries, tears and groans of his +oppressed people; and being a just and holy Being will at one day +appear fully in behalf of the oppressed, and arrest the progress of +the avaricious oppressors; for although the destruction of the +oppressors God may not effect by the oppressed, yet the Lord our God +will bring other destructions upon them—for not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page14" id="page14"></a>[pg 14]</span> +unfrequently will he +cause them to rise up one against another, to be split and divided, +and to oppress each other, and sometimes to open hostilities with +sword in hand. Some may ask, what is the matter with this enlightened +and happy people?—Some say it is the cause of political usurpers, +tyrants, oppressors, &c. But has not the Lord an oppressed and +suffering people among them? Does the Lord condescend to hear their +cries and see their tears in consequence of oppression? Will he let +the oppressors rest comfortably and happy always? Will he not cause +the very children of the oppressors to rise up against them, and +oftimes put them to death? "God works in many ways his wonders to +perform."</p> + +<p>I will not here speak of the destructions which the Lord brought upon +Egypt, in consequence of the oppression and consequent groans of the +oppressed—of the hundreds and thousands of Egyptians whom God hurled +into the Red Sea for afflicting his people in their land—of the +Lord's suffering people in Sparta or Lacedemon, the land of the truly +famous Lycurgus—nor have I time to comment upon the cause which +produced the fierceness with which Sylla usurped the title, and +absolutely acted as dictator of the Roman people—the conspiracy of +Cataline—the conspiracy against, and murder of Cæsar in the Senate +house—the spirit with which Marc Antony made himself master of the +commonwealth—his associating Octavius and Lipidus with himself in +power,—their dividing the provinces of Rome among themselves—their +attack and defeat on the plains of Phillipi the last defenders of +their liberty, (Brutus and Cassius)—the tyranny of Tiberius, and from +him to the final overthrow of Constantinople by the Turkish Sultan, +Mahomed II., A.D. 1453. I say, I shall not take up time to speak of +the <i>causes</i> which produced so much wretchedness and massacre among +those heathen nations, for I am aware that you know too well, that God +is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page15" id="page15"></a>[pg 15]</span> +just, as well as merciful!—I shall call your attention a few +moments to that <i>christian</i> nation, the Spaniards, while I shall leave +almost unnoticed that avaricious and cruel people, the Portuguese, +among whom all true hearted christians and lovers of Jesus Christ, +must evidently see the judgments of God displayed. To show the +judgments of God upon the Spaniards I shall occupy but little time, +leaving a plenty of room for the candid and unprejudiced to reflect.</p> + +<p>All persons who are acquainted with history, and particularly the +Bible, who are not blinded by the God of this world, and are not +actuated solely by avarice—who are able to lay aside prejudice long +enough to view candidly and impartially, things as they were, are, and +probably will be, who are willing to admit that God made man to serve +him <i>alone</i>, and that man should have no other Lord or Lords but +himself—that God Almighty is the <i>sole proprietor</i> or <i>master</i> of the +<span class="smcap">whole</span> human family, and will not on any consideration admit +of a colleague, being unwilling to divide his glory with another.—And +who can dispense with prejudice long enough to admit that we are men, +notwithstanding our <i>improminent noses</i> and <i>woolly heads</i>, and +believe that we feel for our fathers, mothers, wives and children as +well as they do for theirs.—I say, all who are permitted to see and +believe these things, can easily recognize the judgments of God among +the Spaniards. Though others may lay the cause of the fierceness with +which they cut each other's throats, to some other circumstances, yet +they who believe that God is a God of justice, will believe that +<span class="smcap">Slavery</span> <i>is the principal cause</i>.</p> + +<p>While the Spaniards are running about upon the field of battle cutting +each other's throats, has not the Lord an afflicted and suffering +people in the midst of them whose cries and groans in consequence of +oppression are continually pouring into the ears of the God of +justice? Would they not cease to cut +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page16" id="page16"></a>[pg 16]</span> +each others throats if they +could? But how can they? The very support which they draw from +government to aid them in perpetrating such enormities, does it not +arise in a great degree from the wretched victims of oppression among +them? And yet they are calling for <i>Peace!—Peace!!</i> Will any peace be +given unto them? Their destruction may indeed be procrastinated +awhile, but can it continue long while they are oppressing the Lord's +people? Has He not the hearts of all men in His hand? Will he suffer +one part of his creatures to go on oppressing another like brutes +always, with impunity? And yet those avaricious wretches are calling +for <i>Peace!!!!</i> I declare it does appear to me, as though some nations +think God is asleep, or that he made the Africans for nothing else but +to dig their mines and work their farms, or they cannot believe +history, sacred or profane. I ask every man who has a heart and is +blessed with the privilege of believing—Is not God a God of justice +to all his creatures? Do you say he is? Then if he gives peace and +tranquility to tyrants, and permits them to keep our fathers, our +mothers, ourselves and our children in eternal ignorance and +wretchedness to support them and their families, would he be to us a +God of <i>justice</i>? I ask O ye <i>christians!!!</i> who hold us and our +children, in the most abject ignorance and degradation, that ever a +people were afflicted with since the world began—I say, if God gives +you peace and tranquility, and suffers you thus to go on afflicting +us and our children, who have never given you the least +provocation,—Would he be to us <i>a God of justice</i>? If you will allow +that we are <span class="smcap">men</span>, who feel for each other, does not the blood +of our fathers and of us their children, cry aloud to the Lord of +Sabaoth against you, for the cruelties and murders with which you +have, and do continue to afflict us. But it is time for me to close my +remarks on the suburbs, just to enter more fully into the interior of +this system of cruelty and oppression.</p><p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page17" id="page17"></a>[pg 17]</span> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="ARTICLE_I" id="ARTICLE_I"></a>ARTICLE I.</h2> + +<p class="heading"><span class="smcap">our wretchedness in consequence of slavery.</span></p> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p>My beloved brethren: The Indians of North and of South America—the +Greeks—the Irish subjected under the king of Great Britain—the Jews +that ancient people of the Lord—the inhabitants of the islands of the +sea—in fine, all the inhabitants of the earth, (except however, the +sons of Africa) are called <i>men</i>, and of course are, and ought to be +free. But we, (coloured people) and our children are <i>brutes!!</i> and of +course are and ought to be <span class="smcap">Slaves</span> to the American people and +their children forever! to dig their mines and work their farms; and +thus go on enriching them, from one generation to another with our +blood and our tears!!</p> + +<p>I promised in a preceding page to demonstrate to the satisfaction of +the most incredulous, that we, (colored people of these United States +of America) are the <i>most wretched, degraded</i> and abject set of beings +that ever <i>lived</i> since the world began, and that the white Americans +having reduced us to the wretched state of <i>slavery</i>, treat us in that +condition <i>more cruel</i> (they being an enlightened and Christian +people) than any heathen nation did any people whom it had reduced to +our condition. These affirmations are so well confirmed in the minds +of all unprejudiced men who have taken the trouble to read histories, +that they need no elucidation from me. But to put them beyond all +doubt, I refer you in the first place to the children of Jacob, or of +Israel in Egypt, under Pharaoh and his people. Some of my brethren do +not know who Pharaoh and the Egyptians were—I know it to be a fact +that some of them take the Egyptians to have been a gang of <i>devils</i>, +not knowing any better, and that they (Egyptians) having got +possession of the Lord's people, treated them <i>nearly</i> as cruel as +<i>christians +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page18" id="page18"></a>[pg 18]</span> + Americans</i> do us, at the present day. For the information +of such, I would only mention that the Egyptians, were Africans or +colored people, such as we are—some of them yellow and others dark—a +mixture of Ethiopians and the natives of Egypt—about the same as you +see the colored people of the United States at the present day,—I +say, I call your attention then, to the children of Jacob, while I +point out particularly to you his son Joseph among the rest, in Egypt.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"And Pharaoh, said unto Joseph, thou shalt be over my house, +and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled; +only in the throne will I be greater than thou."<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + +<p>"And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, see, I have set thee over all +the land of Egypt."<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p>"And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without +thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land +of Egypt."<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p></blockquote> + +<p>Now I appeal to heaven and to earth, and particularly to the American +people themselves who cease not to declare that our condition is not +<i>hard</i>, and that we are comparatively satisfied to rest in +wretchedness and misery, under them and their children. Not, indeed, +to show me a colored President, a Governor, a Legislator, a Senator, a +Mayor, or an Attorney at the Bar.—But to show me a man of color, who +holds the low office of a Constable, or one who sits in a Juror Box, +even on a case of one of his wretched brethren, throughout this great +Republic!!—But let us pass Joseph the son of Israel a little further +in review, as he existed with that heathen nation.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he +gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest +of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt."<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p></blockquote> + +<p>Compare the above, with the American institutions. Do they not +institute laws to prohibit us from +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page19" id="page19"></a>[pg 19]</span> +marrying among the whites? I would +wish, candidly, however, before the Lord, to be understood, that I +would not give <i>a pinch of snuff</i> to be married to any white person I +ever saw in all the days of my life. And I do say it, that the black +man, or man of color, who will leave his own color (provided he can +get one who is good for any thing) and marry a white woman, to be a +double slave to her just because she is <i>white</i>, ought to be treated +by her as he surely will be, viz; as a <span class="smcap">niger</span>!!! It is not +indeed what I care about intermarriages with the whites, which induced +me to pass this subject in review; for the Lord knows, that there is a +day coming when they will be glad enough to get into the company of +the blacks, notwithstanding, we are, in this generation, levelled by +them almost on a level with the brute creation; and some of us they +treat even worse than they do the brutes that perish. I only made this +extract to show how much lower we are held, and how much more cruel we +are treated by the Americans, than were the children of Jacob, by the +Egyptians. We will notice the sufferings of Israel some further, under +<i>heathen Pharaoh</i>, compared with ours under the <i>enlightened +christians of America</i>.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, thy father and thy +brethren are come unto thee:"</p> + +<p>"The land of Egypt is before thee: in the best of the land +make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen +let them dwell; and if thou knowest any men of activity +among them, then make them rulers over my cattle."<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p></blockquote> + +<p>I ask those people who treat us so <i>well</i>, Oh! I ask them, where is +the most barren spot of land which they have given unto us? Israel had +the most fertile land in all Egypt. Need I mention the very notorious +fact, that I have known a poor man of color, who labored night and +day, to acquire a little money, and having acquired it, he vested it +in a small piece of land, and got him a house erected +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page20" id="page20"></a>[pg 20]</span> +thereon, and +having paid for the whole, he moved his family into it, where he was +suffered to remain but nine months, when he was cheated out of his +property by a white man, and driven out of door!—And is not this the +case generally? Can a man of color buy a piece of land and keep it +peaceably? Will not some white man try to get it from him even if it +is in a <i>mud hole</i>? I need not comment any farther on a subject, which +all, both black and white, will readily admit. But I must, really, +observe that in this very city, when a man of color dies, if he owned +any real estate it must generally fall into the hands of some white +person. The wife and children of the deceased may weep and lament if +they please, but the estate will be kept snug enough by its white +possessors.</p> + +<p>But to prove farther that the condition of the Israelites was better +under the Egyptians than ours is under the whites. I call upon the +professing christians, I call upon the philanthropist, I call upon the +very tyrant himself, to show me a page of history, either sacred or +profane, on which a verse can be found, which maintains, that the +Egyptians heaped the <i>insupportable insult</i> upon the children of +Israel by telling them that they were not of the <i>human family</i>. Can +the whites deny this charge? Have they not, after having reduced us to +the deplorable condition of slaves under their feet, held us up as +descending originally from the tribes of <i>Monkeys</i> or <i>Orang-Outangs</i>? +O! my God! I appeal to every man of feeling—is not this +insupportable? Is it not heaping the most gross insult upon our +miseries, because they have got us under their feet and we cannot help +ourselves? Oh! pity us we pray thee, Lord Jesus, Master.—Has Mr. +Jefferson declared to the world, that we are inferior to the whites, +both in the endowments of our bodies and of minds? It is indeed +surprising, that a man of such great learning, combined with such +excellent natural parts, should speak so of a set of men in chains. I +do not know +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page21" id="page21"></a>[pg 21]</span> +what to compare it to, unless, like putting one wild deer +in an iron cage, where it will be secured, and hold another by the +side of the same, then let it go, and expect the one in the cage to +run as fast as the one at liberty. So far, my brethren, were the +Egyptians from heaping these insults upon their slaves, that Pharaoh's +daughter took Moses, a son of Israel, for her own, as will appear by +the following.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, [Moses' mother] take +this child away, and nurse it for me and I will pay thee thy +wages. And the woman took the child [Moses] and nursed it.</p> + +<p>"And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's +daughter and he became her son. And she called his name +Moses: and she said because I drew him out of the water."<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p></blockquote> + +<p>In all probability, Moses would have become Prince Regent to the +throne, and no doubt, in process of time but he would have been seated +on the throne of Egypt. But he had rather suffer shame, with the +people of God, than to enjoy pleasures with that wicked people for a +season. O! that the colored people were long since of Moses' excellent +disposition, instead of courting favor with, and telling news and lies +to our <i>natural enemies</i>, against each other—aiding them to keep +their hellish chains of slavery upon us. Would we not long before this +time, have been respectable men, instead of such wretched victims of +oppression as we are? Would they be able to drag our mothers, our +fathers, our wives, our children and ourselves, around the world in +chains and hand-cuffs as they do, to dig up gold and silver for them +and theirs? This question, my brethren, I leave for you to digest; and +may God Almighty force it home to your hearts. Remember that unless +you are united, keeping your tongues within your teeth, you will be +afraid to trust your secrets to each other, and thus perpetuate our +miseries +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page22" id="page22"></a>[pg 22]</span> +under the <i>christians!!!!!</i> ☞ +<span class="smcap">Addition</span>,—Remember, also to lay humble at the feet of our +Lord and Master Jesus Christ, with prayers and fastings. Let +our enemies go on with their butcheries, and at once fill up their +cup. Never make an attempt to gain our freedom or <i>natural right</i>, +from under our cruel oppressors and murderers, until you see your way +clear; when that hour arrives and you move, be not afraid or dismayed; +for be you assured that Jesus Christ the king of heaven and of earth +who is the God of justice and of armies, will surely go before you. +And those enemies who have for hundreds of years stolen our <i>rights</i>, +and kept us ignorant of Him and His divine worship, he will remove. +Millions of whom, are this day, so ignorant and avaricious, that they +cannot conceive how God can have an attribute of justice, and show +mercy to us because it pleased Him to make us black—which color, Mr. +Jefferson calls unfortunate!!!!!! As though we are not as thankful to +our God for having made us as it pleased himself, as they (the whites) +are for having made them white. They think because they hold us in +their infernal chains of slavery that we wish to be white, or of their +color—but they are dreadfully deceived—we wish to be just as it +pleased our Creator to have made us, and no avaricious and unmerciful +wretches, have any business to make slaves of or hold us in slavery. +How would they like for us to make slaves of, or hold them in cruel +slavery, and murder them as they do us? But is Mr. Jefferson's +assertion true? viz. "that it is unfortunate for us that our Creator +has been pleased to make us black." We will not take his say so, for +the fact. The world will have an opportunity to see whether it is +unfortunate for us, that our Creator <i>has made us</i> darker than the +<i>whites</i>.</p> + +<p>Fear not the number and education of our <i>enemies</i>, against whom we +shall have to contend for our lawful right; guaranteed to us by our +Maker; for why should we be afraid, when God is, and will +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page23" id="page23"></a>[pg 23]</span> +continue +(if we continue humble) to be on our side?</p> + +<p>The man who would not fight under our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, in +the glorious and heavenly cause of freedom and of God—to be delivered +from the most wretched, abject and servile slavery, that ever a people +was afflicted with since the foundation of the world, to the present +day—ought to be kept with all of his children or family, in slavery, +or in chains, to be butchered by his <i>cruel enemies</i>. ☜</p> + +<p>I saw a paragraph, a few years since, in a South Carolina paper, +which, speaking of the barbarity of the Turks it said: "The Turks are +the most barbarous people in the world—they treat the Greeks more +like <i>brutes</i> than human beings." And in the same paper was an +advertisement, which said: "Eight well built Virginia and Maryland +<i>Negro fellows</i> and four <i>wenches</i> will positively be <i>sold</i> this day +<i>to the highest bidder!</i>" And what astonished me still more was, to +see in this same <i>humane</i> paper!! the cuts of three men, with clubs +and budgets on their backs, and an advertisement offering a +considerable sum of money for their apprehension and delivery. I +declare it is really so <i>funny</i> to hear the Southerners and Westerners +of this country talk about <i>barbarity</i>, that it is positively, enough +to make a man <i>smile</i>.</p> + +<p>The sufferings of the Helots among the Spartans, were somewhat severe, +it is true, but to say that theirs were as severe as ours among the +Americans I do most strenuously deny—for instance, can any man show +me an article on a page of ancient history which specifies, that, the +Spartans chained, and hand-cuffed the Helots, and dragged them from +their wives and children, children from their parents, mothers from +their sucking babes, wives from their husbands, driving them from one +end of the country to the other? Notice the Spartans were heathens, +who lived long before our Divine Master made his appearance in the +flesh. Can Christian Americans +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page24" id="page24"></a>[pg 24]</span> +deny these barbarous cruelties? Have +you not Americans, having subjected us under you, added to these +miseries, by insulting us in telling us to our face, because we are +helpless that we are not of the human family? I ask you, O! Americans, +I ask you, in the name of the Lord, can you deny these charges? Some +perhaps may deny, by saying, that they never thought or said that we +were not men. But do not actions speak louder than words?—have they +not made provisions for the Greeks, and Irish? Nations who have never +done the least thing for them, while <i>we</i> who have enriched their +country with our blood and tears—have dug up gold and silver for them +and their children, from generation to generation, and are in more +miseries than any other people under heaven, are not seen, but by +comparatively a handful of the American people? There are indeed, more +ways to kill a dog besides choaking it to death with butter. Further. +The Spartans or Lacedemonians, had some frivolous pretext for +enslaving the Helots, for they (Helots) while being free inhabitants +of Sparta, stirred up an intestine commotion, and were by the Spartans +subdued, and made prisoners of war. Consequently they and their +children were condemned to perpetual slavery.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> + +<p>I have been for years troubling the pages of historians to find out +what our fathers have done to the <i>white Christians of America</i>, to +merit such condign punishment as they have inflicted on them, and do +continue to inflict on us their children. But I must aver, that my +researches have hitherto been to no effect. I have therefore come to +the immovable conclusion, that they (Americans) have, and do continue +to punish us for nothing else, but for enriching them and their +country. For I cannot conceive of any thing else. Nor will I ever +believe otherwise until the Lord shall convince me.</p><p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page25" id="page25"></a>[pg 25]</span> +</p> + +<p>The world knows, that slavery as it existed among the Romans, (which +was the primary cause of their destruction) was, comparatively +speaking, no more than a <i>cypher</i>, when compared with ours under the +Americans. Indeed, I should not have noticed the Roman slaves, had not +the very learned and penetrating Mr. Jefferson said, "When a master +was murdered, all his slaves in the same house or within hearing, were +condemned to death."<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a>—Here let me ask Mr. Jefferson, (but he is +gone to answer at the bar of God, for the deeds done in his body while +living,) I therefore ask the whole American people, had I not rather +die, or be put to death than to be a slave to any tyrant, who takes +not only my own, but my wife and children's lives by the inches? Yea, +would I meet death with avidity far! far!! in preference to such +<i>servile submission</i> to the murderous hands of tyrants. Mr. +Jefferson's very severe remarks on us have been so extensively argued +upon by men whose attainments in literature, I shall never be able to +reach, that I would not have meddled with it, were it not to solicit +each of my brethren, who has the spirit of a man, to buy a copy of Mr. +Jefferson's "Notes on Virginia," and put it in the hand of his son. +For let no one of us suppose that the refutations which have been +written by our white friends are enough—they are <i>whites</i>—we are +<i>blacks</i>. We, and the world wish to see the charges of Mr. Jefferson +refuted by the blacks <i>themselves</i>, according to their chance: for we +must remember that what the whites have written respecting this +subject, is other men's labors and did not emanate from the blacks. I +know well, that there are some talents and learning among the coloured +people of this country, which we have not a chance to develope, in +consequence of oppression; but our oppression ought not to hinder us +from acquiring all we can.—For we will have a chance to develope them +by and by. God will not suffer us, always to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page26" id="page26"></a>[pg 26]</span> +be oppressed. Our +sufferings will come to an <i>end</i>, in spite of all the Americans this +side of <i>eternity</i>. Then we will want all the learning and talents +among ourselves, and perhaps more, to govern ourselves.—"Every dog +must have its day," the American's is coming to an end.</p> + +<p>But let us review Mr. Jefferson's remarks respecting us some further. +Comparing our miserable fathers, with the learned philosophers of +Greece, he says:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Yet notwithstanding these and other discouraging +circumstances among the Romans, their slaves were often +their rarest artists. They excelled too in science, insomuch +as to be usually employed as tutors to their master's +children; Epictetus, Terence and Phædrus, were slaves,—but +they were of the race of whites. It is not their <i>condition</i> +then, but <i>nature</i>, which has produced the distinction."<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p></blockquote> + +<p>See this, my brethren!! Do you believe that this assertion is +swallowed by millions of the whites? Do you know that Mr. Jefferson +was one of as great characters as ever lived among the whites? See his +writings for the world, and public labors for the United States of +America. Do you believe that the assertions of such a man, will pass +away into oblivion unobserved by this people and the world? If you do +you are much mistaken—See how the American people treat us—have we +souls in our bodies? are we men who have any spirits at all? I know +that there are many <i>swell-bellied</i> fellows among us whose greatest +object is to fill their stomachs. Such I do not mean—I am after those +who know and feel, that we are <span class="smcap">men</span> as well as other people; +to them, I say, that unless we try to refute Mr. Jefferson's arguments +respecting us, we will only establish them.</p> + +<p>But the slaves among the Romans. Every body who has read history, +knows, that as soon as a slave among the Romans obtained his freedom, +he could rise to the greatest eminence in the State, and there +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page27" id="page27"></a>[pg 27]</span> +was no +law instituted to hinder a slave from buying his freedom. Have not the +Americans instituted laws to hinder us from obtaining our freedom. Do +any deny this charge? Read the laws of Virginia, North Carolina, &c. +Further: have not the Americans instituted laws to prohibit a man of +colour from obtaining and holding any office whatever, under the +government of the United States of America? Now, Mr. Jefferson tells +us that our condition is not so hard, as the slaves were under the +Romans!!!!</p> + +<p>It is time for me to bring this article to a close. But before I close +it, I must observe to my brethren that at the close of the first +Revolution in this country with Great Britain, there were but thirteen +States in the Union, now there are twenty-four, most of which are +slave-holding States, and the whites are dragging us around in chains +and hand-cuffs to their new States and Territories to work their mines +and farms, to enrich them and their children, and millions of them +believing firmly that we being a little darker than they, were made by +our creator to be an inheritance to them and their children +forever—the same as a parcel of <i>brutes</i>!!</p> + +<p>Are we <span class="smcap">men</span>!!—I ask you, O my brethren! are we <b>MEN</b>? Did our +creator make us to be slaves to dust and ashes like ourselves? Are +they not dying worms as well as we? Have they not to make their +appearance before the tribunal of heaven, to answer for the deeds done +in the body, as well as we? Have we any other master but Jesus Christ +alone? Is he not their master as well as ours?—What right then, have +we to obey and call any other master, but Himself? How we could be so +<i>submissive</i> to a gang of men, whom we cannot tell whether they are as +<i>good</i> as ourselves or not, I never could conceive. However, this is +shut up with the Lord and we cannot precisely tell—but I declare, we +judge men by their works.</p> + +<p>The whites have always been an unjust, jealous +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page28" id="page28"></a>[pg 28]</span> +unmerciful, avaricious +and blood thirsty set of beings, always seeking after power and +authority.—We view them all over the confederacy of Greece, where +they were first known to be any thing, (in consequence of education) +we see them there, cutting each other's throats—trying to subject +each other to wretchedness and misery, to effect which they used all +kinds of deceitful, unfair and unmerciful means. We view them next in +Rome, where the spirit of tyranny and deceit raged still higher.—We +view them in Gaul, Spain and in Britain—in fine, we view them all +over Europe, together with what were scattered about in Asia and +Africa, as heathens, and we see them acting more like devils than +accountable men. But some may ask, did not the blacks of Africa, and +the mulattoes of Asia, go on in the same way as did the whites of +Europe. I answer no—they never were half so avaricious, deceitful and +unmerciful as the whites, according to their knowledge.</p> + +<p>But we will leave the whites or Europeans as heathens and take a view +of them as Christians, in which capacity we see them as cruel, if not +more so than ever. In fact, take them as a body, they are ten times +more cruel avaricious and unmerciful than ever they were; for while +they were heathens they were bad enough it is true, but it is +positively a fact that they were not quite so audacious as to go and +take vessel loads of men, women and children, and in cold blood and +through devilishness, throw them into the sea, and murder them in all +kind of ways. While they were heathens, they were too ignorant for +such barbarity. But being Christians, enlightened and sensible, they +are completely prepared for such hellish cruelties. Now suppose God +were to give them more sense, what would they do. If it were possible +would they not <i>dethrone</i> Jehovah and seat themselves upon his throne? +I therefore, in the name and fear of the Lord God of heaven and of +earth, divested of prejudice either on the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page29" id="page29"></a>[pg 29]</span> +side of my colour or that +of the whites, advance my suspicion of them, whether they are <i>as good +by nature</i> as we are or not. Their actions, since they were known as a +people, have been the reverse, I do indeed suspect them, but this, as +I before observed, is shut up with the Lord, we cannot exactly tell, +it will be proved in succeeding generations.—The whites have had the +essence of the gospel as it was preached by my master and his +apostles—the Ethiopians have not, who are to have it in its meridian +splendor—the Lord will give it to them to their satisfaction. I hope +and pray my God, that they will make good use of it, that it may be +well with them.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> See Genesis, chap. xli. v. 40.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> v. 41.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> v. 44.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> v. 45</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Genesis, chap. xlvii. v. 5, 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> See Exodus, chap. ii. v. 9, 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> See Dr. Goldsmith's History of Greece—page 9. See also +Plutarch's lives. The Helots subdued by Agis, king of Sparta.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> See his notes on Virginia, page 210.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> See his notes on Virginia, page 211.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="ARTICLE_II" id="ARTICLE_II"></a>ARTICLE II.</h2> + +<p class="heading"><span class="smcap">our wretchedness in consequence of ignorance.</span></p> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p>Ignorance, my brethren, is a mist, low down into the very dark and +almost impenetrable abyss of which, our fathers for many centuries +have been plunged. The christians, and enlightened of Europe, and some +of Asia, seeing the ignorance and consequent degradation of our +fathers, instead of trying to enlighten them, by teaching them that +religion and light with which God had blessed them, they have plunged +them into wretchedness ten thousand times more intolerable, than if +they had left them entirely to the Lord, and to add to their miseries, +deep down into which they have plunged them, tell them, that they are +an <i>inferior</i> and <i>distinct race</i> of beings, which they will be glad +enough to recall and swallow by and by. Fortune and misfortune, two +inseparable companions, lay rolled up in the wheel of events, which +have from the creation of the world, and will continue to take place +among men until God shall dash worlds together.</p> + +<p>When we take a retrospective view of the arts +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page30" id="page30"></a>[pg 30]</span> +and sciences—the wise +legislators—The Pyramids, and other magnificent buildings—the +turning of the channel of the river Nile, by the sons of Africa or of +Ham, among whom learning originated, and was carried thence into +Greece, where it was improved upon and refined. Thence among the +Romans, and all over the then enlightened parts of the world, and it +has been enlightening the dark and benighted minds of men from then, +down to this day. I say, when I view retrospectively, the renown of +that once mighty people, the children of our great progenitor, I am +indeed cheered. Yea further, when I view that mighty son of Africa, +<span class="smcap">Hannibal</span>, one of the greatest generals of antiquity, who +defeated and cut off so many thousands of the white Romans or +murderers, and who carried his victorious arms, to the very gate of +Rome, and I give it as my candid opinion, that had Carthage been well +united and had given him good support, he would have carried that +cruel and barbarous city by storm. But they were disunited, as the +colored people are now, in the United States of America, the reason +our natural enemies are enabled to keep their feet on our throats.</p> + +<p>Beloved brethren—here let me tell you, and believe it, that the Lord +our God, as true as he sits on his throne in heaven, and as true as +our Saviour died to redeem the world, will give you a Hannibal, and +when the Lord shall have raised him up, and given him to you for your +possession, O my suffering brethren! remember the divisions and +consequent sufferings of <i>Carthage</i> and of <i>Hayti</i>. Read the history +particularly of Hayti, and see how they were butchered by the whites, +and do you take warning. The person whom God shall give you, give him +your support and let him go his length, and behold in him the +salvation of your God. God will indeed, deliver you through him from +your deplorable and wretched condition under the Christians of +America. I charge you this day before my God to lay no obstacle in his +way, but let him go.</p><p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page31" id="page31"></a>[pg 31]</span> +</p> + +<p>The whites want slaves, and want us for their slaves, but some of them +will curse the day they ever saw us. As true as the sun ever shine in +its meridian splendor, my colour will root some of them out of the +very face of the earth. They shall have enough of making slaves of, +and butchering, and murdering us in the manner which they have. No +doubt some may say that I write with a bad spirit, and that I being a +black, wish these things to occur. Whether I write with a bad or a +good spirit, I say if these things do not occur in their proper time, +it is because the world in which we live does not exist, and we are +deceived with regard to its existence. It is immaterial however to me, +who believe, or who refuse—though I should like to see the whites +repent peradventure God may have mercy on them, some however, have +gone so far that their cup must be filled.</p> + +<p>But what need have I to refer to antiquity, when Hayti, the glory of +the blacks and terror of tyrants, is enough to convince the most +avaricious and stupid of wretches—which is at this time, and I am +sorry to say it, plagued with that scourge of nations, the Catholic +religion; but I hope and pray God that she may yet rid herself of it, +and adopt in its stead the Protestant faith; also, I hope that she may +keep peace within her borders and be united, keeping a strict look out +for tyrants, for if they get the least chance to injure her, they will +avail themselves of it, as true as the Lord lives in heaven. But one +thing which gives me joy is, that they are men who would be cut off to +a man, before they would yield to the combined forces of the whole +world—in fact, if the whole world was combined against them, it could +not do any thing with them, unless the Lord delivers them up.</p> + +<p>Ignorance and treachery one against the other—a servile and abject +submission to the lash of tyrants, we see plainly, my brethren, are +not the natural elements of the blacks, as the Americans try to make + +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page32" id="page32"></a>[pg 32]</span> +us believe; but these are misfortunes which God has suffered our +fathers to be enveloped in for many ages, no doubt in consequence of +their disobedience to their Maker, and which do, indeed, reign at this +time among us, almost to the destruction of all other principles: for +I must truly say, that ignorance, the mother of treachery and deceit, +gnaws into our very vitals. Ignorance, as it now exists among us, +produces a state of things, Oh my Lord! too horrible to present to the +world. Any man who is curious to see the full force of ignorance +developed among the colored people of the United States of America, +has only to go into the southern and western states of this +confederacy, where, if he is not a tyrant, but has the feelings of a +human being, who can feel for a fellow creature, he may see enough to +make his very heart bleed! He may see there, a son take his mother, +who bore almost the pains of death to give him birth, and by the +command of a tyrant, strip her as naked as she came into the world, +and apply the cow-hide to her, until she falls a victim to death in +the road! He may see a husband take his dear wife, not unfrequently in +a pregnant state, and perhaps far advanced, and beat her for an +unmerciful wretch, until his infant falls a lifeless lump at her feet! +Can the Americans escape God Almighty? If they do, can he be to us a +God of Justice? God is just, and I know it—for he has convinced me to +my satisfaction—I cannot doubt him. My observer may see fathers +beating their sons, mothers their daughters, and children their +parents, all to pacify the passions of unrelenting tyrants. He may +also, see them telling news and lies, making mischief one upon +another. These are some of the productions of ignorance, which he will +see practised among my dear brethren, who are held in unjust slavery +and wretchedness, by avaricious and unfeeling tyrants, to whom, and +their hellish deeds, I would suffer my life to be taken before I would +submit. And when my curious observer comes to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page33" id="page33"></a>[pg 33]</span> +take notice of those +who are said to be free (which assertion I deny) and who are making +some frivolous pretensions to common sense, he will see that branch of +ignorance among the slaves assuming a more cunning and deceitful +course of procedure. He may see some of my brethren in league with +tyrants, selling their own brethren into <i>hell upon earth</i>, not +dissimilar to the exhibitions in Africa but in a more secret, servile +and abject manner. Oh Heaven! I am full!!! I can hardly move my pen!!! +As I expect some one will try to put me to death, to strike terror +into others, and to obliterate from their minds the notion of freedom, +so as to keep my brethren the more secured in wretchedness where they +will be permitted to stay but a short time (whether tyrants believe it +or not,) I shall give the world a development of facts which are +already witnessed in the courts of heaven. My observer may see some of +those ignorant and treacherous creatures (colored people) sneaking +about in the large cities, endeavoring to find out all strange colored +people, where they work and where they reside, asking them questions +and trying to ascertain whether they are runaways or not, telling +them, at the same time, that they always have been, are, and always +will be, friends to their brethren; and perhaps, that they themselves +are absconders, and a thousand such treacherous lies to get the better +information of the more ignorant!! There have been and are at this day +in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, coloured men, who +are in league with tyrants, and receive a great portion of their daily +bread, of the moneys which they acquire from the blood and tears of +their more miserable brethren whom they scandalously delivered into +the hands of our <i>natural enemies!!!!</i></p> + +<p>To show the force of degraded ignorance and deceit among us some +further, I will give here an extract from a paragraph, which may be +found in the Columbian Centinel of this city, for September 9, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page34" id="page34"></a>[pg 34]</span> + 1829, +on the first page of which the curious may find an article, headed</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="heading">"AFFRAY AND MURDER."</p> + +<p class="center"><i>"Portsmouth, (Ohio) Aug. 22, 1829.</i></p> + +<p>"A most shocking outrage was committed in Kentucky, about +eight miles from this place, on the 14th inst. A negro +driver, by the name of Gordon, who had purchased in Maryland +about sixty negroes, was taking them, assisted by an +associate named Allen and the wagoner who conveyed the +baggage, to the Mississippi. The men were hand-cuffed and +chained together, in the usual manner for driving these poor +wretches, while the women and children were suffered to +proceed without incumbrance. It appears that, by means of a +file the negroes unobserved had succeeded in separating the +irons which bound their hands, in such a way as to be able +to throw them off at any moment. About 8 o'clock in the +morning, while proceeding on the state road leading from +Greenup to Vanceburg, two of them dropped their shackles and +commenced a fight, when the wagoner (Petit) rushed in with +his whip to compel them to desist. At this moment, every +negro was found to be perfectly at liberty; and one of them +seizing a club, gave Petit a violent blow on the head and +laid him dead at his feet; and Allen, who came to his +assistance, met a similar fate from the contents of a pistol +fired by another of the gang. Gordon was then attacked, +seized and held by one of the negroes, whilst another fired +twice at him with a pistol, the ball of which each time +grazed his head, but not proving effectual, he was beaten +with clubs, and left for dead They then commenced pillaging +the wagon and with an axe split open the trunk of Gordon and +rifled it of the money, about $2,490. Sixteen of the negroes +then took to the woods; Gordon, in the mean time, not being +materially injured was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page35" id="page35"></a>[pg 35]</span> +enabled, by the assistance of one of +the women, to mount his horse and flee; pursued, however, by +one of the gang on another horse, with a drawn pistol; +fortunately he escaped with his life, barely arriving at a +plantation, as the negro came in sight; who then turned +about and retreated.</p> + +<p>"The neighborhood was immediately rallied, and a hot pursuit +given—which, we understand, has resulted in the capture of +the whole gang and the recovery of the greatest part of the +money.—Seven of the negro men and one woman, it is said +were engaged in the murder, and will be brought to trial at +the next court in Greenupsburg."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Here my brethren, I want you to notice particularly in the above +article, the ignorant and <i>deceitful actions</i> of this colored woman. I +beg you to view it carefully, as for <span class="smcap">eternity</span>!!! Here a +<i>notorious wretch</i>, with two other confederates had <span class="smcap">sixty</span> of +them in a gang, driving them like <i>brutes</i>—the men all in chains and +hand-cuffs, and by the help of God they got their chains and +hand-cuffs thrown off and caught two of the wretches and put them to +death, and beat the other until they thought he was dead, and left him +for dead; however he deceived them, and rising from the ground, this +<i>servile woman</i> helped him upon his horse and he made his escape. +Brethren what do you think of this? Was it the natural <i>fine feelings</i> +of this woman, to save such a wretch alive? I know that the blacks, +take them half enlightened and ignorant, are more humane and merciful +than the most enlightened and refined Europeans that can be found in +all the earth. Let no one say that I assert this because I am +prejudiced on the side of my color, and against the whites or +Europeans. For what I write, I do it candidly, for my God and the good +of both parties: Natural observations have taught me these things; +there is a solemn awe in the hearts of the blacks, as it respects +<i>murdering</i> men:<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> whereas the whites (though they are great +cowards) where they have the advantage, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page36" id="page36"></a>[pg 36]</span> +or think that there are any +prospects of getting it, they murder all before them, in order to +subject men to wretchedness and degradation under them. This is the +natural result of pride and avarice.—But I declare, the actions of +this black woman are really insupportable. For my own part, I cannot +think it was any thing but servile deceit, combined with the most +gross ignorance: for we must remember that <i>humanity</i>, <i>kindness</i> and +the <i>fear of the Lord</i>, does not consist in protecting <i>devils</i>. Here +is a set of wretches, who had <span class="smcap">sixty</span> of them in a gang, +driving them around the country like <i>brutes</i>, to dig up gold and +silver for them, (which they will get enough of yet.) Should the lives +of such creatures be spared? Is <span class="smcap">God</span> and Mammon in league? +What has the Lord to do with a gang of desperate wretches, who go +<i>sneaking about the country like robbers</i>—light upon his people +wherever they can get a chance, binding them with chains and +hand-cuffs, beat and murder them as they would <i>rattle-snakes</i>? Are +they not the Lord's enemies? Ought they not to be destroyed? Any +person who will save such wretches from destruction, is fighting +against the Lord, and will receive his just recompense. The black men +acted like <i>blockheads</i>. Why did they not make sure of the wretch? He +would have made sure of them if he could. It is just the way with +black men—eight white men can frighten fifty of them; whereas, if you +can only get courage into the blacks, I do declare it, that one good +black man can put to death six white men; and I give it as a fact, let +twelve black men get well armed for battle, and they will kill and put +to flight fifty whites. The reason is, the blacks, once you get them +started, they glory in death. The whites have had us under them for +more than three centuries, murdering, and treating us like brutes; +and, as Mr. Jefferson wisely said, they have never <i>found us +out</i>—they do not know, indeed, that there is an unconquerable +disposition in the breasts of the blacks, which when it +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page37" id="page37"></a>[pg 37]</span> +is fully +awakened and put in motion, will be subdued, only with the destruction +of the animal existence. Get the blacks started, and if you do not +have a gang of lions and tigers to deal with, I am a deceiver of the +blacks and the whites. How sixty of them could let that wretch escape +unkilled, I cannot conceive—they will have to suffer as much for the +two whom they secured, as if they had put one hundred to death: if you +commence, make sure work—do not trifle, for they will not trifle with +you—they want us for their slaves, and think nothing of murdering us +in order to subject us to that wretched condition—therefore, if there +is an <i>attempt</i> made by us, kill or be killed. Now, I ask you had you +not rather be killed than to be a slave to a tyrant, who takes the +life of your mother, wife, and dear little children? Look upon your +mother, wife and children, and answer God Almighty; and believe this, +that it is no more harm for you to kill a man, who is trying to kill +you, than it is for you to take a drink of water when thirsty; in +fact, the man who will stand still and let another murder him, is +worse than an infidel, and if he has common sense, ought not to be +pitied.—The actions of this deceitful and ignorant coloured woman, in +saving the life of a desperate man, whose avaricious and cruel object +was to drive her and her companions in miseries, through the country +like cattle, to make his fortune on their carcasses, are but too much +like that of thousands of our brethren in these states: if any thing +is whispered by one, which has any allusion to the melioration of +their dreadful condition, they run and tell tyrants, that they may be +enabled to keep them the longer in wretchedness and miseries. Oh! +coloured people of these United States, I ask you, in the name of that +God who made us, have we, in consequence of oppression, nearly lost +the spirit of man, and, in no very trifling degree, adopted that of +brutes? Do you answer, No?—I ask you, then, what set of men can you +point me +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page38" id="page38"></a>[pg 38]</span> +to, in all the world, who are so abjectly employed by their +oppressors as we are by our <i>natural enemies</i>? How can, Oh! how can +those enemies but say that we and our children are not of the +<span class="smcap">human family</span>, but were made by our creator to be an +inheritance to them and theirs forever? How can the slave-holders but +say that they can bribe the best coloured person in the country, to +sell his brethren for a trifling sum of money, and take that atrocity +to confirm them in their avaricious opinion, that we were made to be +slaves to them and their children? How could Mr. Jefferson but +say,<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p> + +<blockquote><p>"I advance it therefore as a suspicion only, that the +blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or made distinct +by time and circumstances, are <i>inferior</i> to the whites in +the endowments both of body and mind?" "It," says he, "is +not against experience to suppose, that different species of +the same genus, or varieties of the same species, may +possess different qualifications."</p></blockquote> + +<p>[Here, my brethren listen to him.]</p> + +<blockquote><p>☞ "Will not a lover of natural history then, one who +views the gradations in all the races of <i>animals</i> with the +eye of philosophy, excuse an effort to keep those in the +department of <span class="smcap">man</span> as <i>distinct</i> as nature has +formed them?"</p></blockquote> + +<p>I hope you will try to find out the meaning of this verse—its widest +sense and all its bearings: whether you do or not, remember the whites +do. This very verse, brethren, having emanated from Mr. Jefferson, a +much greater philosopher the world never afforded, has in truth +injured us more, and has been as great a barrier to our emancipation +as any thing that has ever been advanced against us. I hope you will +not let it pass unnoticed. He goes on further, and says:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"This <i>unfortunate</i> difference of colour, and <i>perhaps</i> of +<i>faculty</i>, is a powerful obstacle to the emancipation of +these people. Many of their advocates, while they wish to +vindicate the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page39" id="page39"></a>[pg 39]</span> +liberty of human nature are anxious also to +preserve its <i>dignity</i> and <i>beauty</i>. Some of these, +embarrassed by the question, 'What further is to be done +with them? join themselves in opposition with those who are +actuated by sordid avarice only."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Now I ask you candidly, my suffering brethren in time, who are +candidates for the eternal worlds, how could Mr. Jefferson but have +given the world these remarks respecting us, when we are so submissive +to them, and so much servile deceit prevails among ourselves—when we +so <i>meanly</i> submit to their murderous lashes, to which neither the +Indians or any other people under heaven would submit? No, they could +die to a man, before they would suffer such things from men who are no +better than themselves, and <i>perhaps not so good</i>. Yes, how can our +friends but be embarrassed, as Mr. Jefferson says, by the question, +"What further is to be done with these people?" for while they are +working for our emancipation, we are, by our treachery, wickedness and +deceit, working against ourselves and our children—helping ours, and +the enemies of God, to keep us and our dear little children, in their +infernal chains of slavery!! Indeed, our friends cannot but relapse +and join themselves with those who are actuated by <i>sordid avarice</i> +only!!!!' For my part, I am glad Mr. Jefferson has advanced his +position for your sake; for you will either have to contradict or +confirm him by your own actions and not by what our friends have said +or done for us; for those things are other men's labors and do not +satisfy the Americans who are waiting for us to prove to them +ourselves that we are <span class="smcap">men</span> before they will be willing to +admit the fact; for I pledge you my sacred word of honor that Mr. +Jefferson's remarks respecting us have sunk deep into the hearts of +millions of the whites and never will be removed this side of +eternity. For how can they, when we are confirming him every day by +our <i>groveling submissions</i> and <i>treachery</i>?</p><p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page40" id="page40"></a>[pg 40]</span> +</p> + +<p>I aver that when I look upon these United States and see the ignorant +deceptions and consequent wretchedness of my brethren, I am brought +oft-times solemnly to a stand, and in the midst of my reflections I +exclaim to my God, 'Lord didst thou make us to be slaves to our +brethren, the whites?' But when I reflect that God is just, and that +millions of my wretched brethren would meet death with glory—yea, +more, would plunge into the very mouths of cannons and be torn into +particles as minute as the atoms which compose the elements of the +earth, in preference to a mean submission to the lash of tyrants, I am +with streaming eyes, compelled to shrink back into nothingness before +my Maker, and exclaim again, thy will be done, O Lord God Almighty.</p> + +<p>Men of colour, who are also of sense, for you particularly is my +appeal designed. Our more ignorant brethren are not able to penetrate +its value. I call upon you therefore to cast your eyes upon the +wretchedness of your brethren and to do your utmost to enlighten +them—<i>go to work and enlighten your brethren!</i>—let the Lord see you +doing what you can to rescue them and yourselves from degradation. Do +any of you say that you and your family are free and happy and what +have you to do with wretched slaves and other people? So can I say, +for I enjoy as much freedom as any of you, if I am not quite as well +off as the best of you. Look into our freedom and happiness and see of +what kind they are composed!! They are of the very lowest kind—they +are the very <i>dregs!</i>—they are the most servile and abject kind, that +ever a people was in possession of! If any of you wish to know how +<span class="smcap">free</span> you are, let one of you start and go thro' the southern +and western States of this country, and unless you travel as a slave +to a white man (a servant is a <i>slave</i> to the man whom he serves,) or +have your free papers (which if you are not careful they will get from +you) if they do not take you up +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page41" id="page41"></a>[pg 41]</span> +and put you in jail, and if you +cannot give evidence of your freedom, sell you into eternal slavery, I +am not a living man; or any man of color, immaterial who he is or +where he came from, if he is not the 4th from the "<i>Negro race</i>," (as +we are called,) the white christians of America will serve him the +same, they will sink him into wretchedness & degradation forever while +he lives. And yet some of you have the hardihood to say that you are +free & happy! May God have mercy on your freedom and happiness! I met +a colored man in the street a short time since, with a string of boots +on his shoulder; we fell into conversation, and in course of which I +said to him, what a miserable set of people we are! He asked +why?—Said I, we are so subjected under the whites, that we cannot +obtain the comforts of life, but by cleaning their boots and shoes, +old clothes, waiting on them, shaving them, etc. Said he, (with the +boots on his shoulders,) "I am completely happy!!! I never want to +live any better or happier than when I can get a plenty of boots and +shoes to clean!!!" Oh! how can those who are actuated by avarice only, +but think that our creator made us to be an inheritance to them +forever, when they see that our greatest glory is centered in such +mean and low objects? Understand me, brethren, I do not mean to speak +against the occupations by which we acquire enough and sometimes +scarcely that, to render ourselves and families comfortable through +life. I am subjected to the same inconvenience, as you all. My +objections are, to our <i>glorying</i> and being <i>happy</i> in such low +employments; for if we are men, we ought to be thankful to the Lord +for the past, and for the future. Be looking forward with thankful +hearts to higher attainments than <i>wielding the razor</i> and <i>cleaning +boots and shoes</i>. The man whose aspirations are not <i>above</i>, and even +<i>below</i> these, is indeed, ignorant and wretched enough. I advance it +therefore to you, not as a <i>problematical</i>, but as an unshaken and +forever immoveable <i>fact</i>, that your full glory and happiness, as well +as all other colored people under +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page42" id="page42"></a>[pg 42]</span> +heaven, shall never be fully +consummated, but with the <i>entire emancipation of your enslaved +brethren all over the world</i>. You may therefore, go to work and do +what you can to rescue, or join in with tyrants to oppress them and +yourselves, until the Lord shall come upon you all like a thief in the +night. For I believe it is the will of the Lord that our greatest +happiness shall consist in working for the salvation of our whole +body. When this is accomplished a burst of glory will shine upon you, +which will indeed astonish you and the world. Do any of you say this +will never be done? I assure you that God will accomplish it—if +nothing else will answer, he will hurl tyrants and devils into <i>atoms</i> +and make way for his people. But O my brethren! I say unto you again, +you must go to work and <i>prepare the way</i> of the Lord.</p> + +<p>There is a great work for you to do, as trifling as some of you may +think of it. You have to prove to the Americans and the world, that we +are <span class="smcap">men</span>, and not <i>brutes</i> as we have been represented, and by +millions treated. Remember, to let the aim of your labours among your +brethren, and particularly the youths, be the dissemination of +education and religion. It is lamentable, that many of our children go +to school, from four until they are eight or ten, and sometimes +fifteen years of age, and leave school knowing but a little more about +the grammar of their language than a horse does about handling a +musket—and not a few of them are really so ignorant, that they are +unable to answer a person correctly, general questions in geography, +and to hear them read would only be to disgust a man who has a taste +for reading; which, to do well, as trifling as it may appear to some, +(to the ignorant in particular) is a great part of learning. Some few +of them, may make out to scribble tolerably well, over a half sheet of +paper, which I believe has hitherto been a powerful obstacle in our +way, to keep us from acquiring knowledge. An ignorant father, who +knows +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page43" id="page43"></a>[pg 43]</span> +no more than what nature has taught him, together with what +little he acquires by the senses of hearing and seeing, finding his +son able to write a neat hand, sets it down for granted that he has as +good learning as any body; the young, ignorant gump, hearing his +father or mother, who perhaps may be ten times more ignorant, in point +of literature, than himself, extolling his learning, struts about in +the full assurance, that his attainments in literature are sufficient +to take him through the world, when, in fact, he has scarcely any +learning at all!!!!</p> + +<p>I promiscuously fell in a conversation once, with an elderly colored +man on the topics of education, and of the great prevalency of +ignorance among us: Said he, "I know that our people are very ignorant +but my son has a good education: he can write as well as any white +man, and I assure you that no one can fool him," etc. Said I, what +else can your son do, besides writing a good hand? Can he post a set +of books in a mercantile manner? Can he write a neat piece of +composition in prose or in verse? To these interrogations he answered +in the negative. Said I, Did your son learn, while he was at school, +the width and depth of English Grammar? to which he also replied in +the negative, telling me his son did not learn those things. Your son, +said I, then, has hardly any learning at all—he is almost as +ignorant, and more so, than many of those who never went to school one +day in their lives. My friend got a little put out, and so walking off +said that his son could write as well as any white man.—Most of the +coloured people, when they speak of the education of one among us who +can write a neat hand, and who perhaps knows nothing but to scribble +and puff pretty fair on a small scrap of paper, immaterial whether his +words are grammatical, or spelt correctly, or not; if it only looks +beautiful, they say he has as good an education as any white man—he +can write as well as any white man, etc. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page44" id="page44"></a>[pg 44]</span> + The poor, ignorant creature, +hearing this, he is ashamed, forever after, to let any person see him +humbling himself to another for knowledge but going about trying to +deceive those who are more ignorant than himself, he at last falls an +ignorant victim to death in wretchedness. I pray that the Lord may +undeceive my ignorant brethren, and permit them to throw away +pretensions, and seek after the substance of learning. I would crawl +on my hands and knees through mud and mire, to the feet of a learned +man, where I would sit and humbly supplicate him to instil into me, +that which neither devils nor tyrants could remove, only with my +life—for the Africans to acquire learning in this country, makes +tyrants quake and tremble on their sandy foundation. Why what is the +matter? Why, they know that their infernal deeds of cruelty will be +made known to the world. Do you suppose one man of good sense and +learning would submit himself, his father, mother, wife and children, +to be slaves to a wretched man like himself, who, instead of +compensating him for his labours, chains, handcuffs and beats him and +family almost to death, leaving life enough in them, however, to work +for, and call him master? No! no! he would cut his devilish throat +from ear to ear, and well do slaveholders know it. The bare name of +educating the coloured people, scares our cruel oppressors almost to +death. But if they do not have enough to be frightened for yet, it +will be, because they can always keep us ignorant, and because God +approbates their cruelties, with which they have been for centuries +murdering us. The whites shall have enough of the blacks, yet, as true +as God sits on his throne in heaven.</p> + +<p>Some of our brethren are so very full of learning that you cannot +mention any thing to them which they do not know better than +yourself!!—nothing is strange to them!!—they knew every thing years +ago!—if any thing should be mentioned in company +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page45" id="page45"></a>[pg 45]</span> +where they are, +immaterial how important it is respecting us or the world, if they had +not divulged it; they make light of it, and affect to have known it +long before it was mentioned, and try to make all in the room, or +wherever you may be, believe that your conversation is nothing—not +worth hearing!! All this is the result of ignorance and ill-breeding; +for a man of good breeding, sense, and penetration, if he had heard a +subject told twenty times over and should happen to be in company +where one should commence telling it again, he would wait with +patience on its narrator, and see if he would tell it as it was told +in his presence before—paying the most strict attention to what is +said, to see if any more light will be thrown on the subject; for all +men are not gifted alike in telling, or even hearing the most simple +narration. These ignorant, vicious, and wretched men, contribute +almost as much injury to our body as tyrants themselves, by doing so +much for the promotion of ignorance amongst us; for they, making such +pretensions to knowledge, such of our youth as are seeking after +knowledge, and can get access to them, take them as criterions to go +by, who will lead them into a channel, where, unless the Lord blesses +them with the privilege of seeing their error, they will be +irretrievably lost forever, while in time!!</p> + +<p>I must close this article by narrating the very heart-rending fact, +that I have examined school-boys and young men of colour in different +parts of the country, in the most simple parts of Murray's English +Grammar, and not more than one in thirty was able to give a correct +answer to my interrogations. If any one contradicts me, let him step +out of his door into the streets of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, or +Baltimore, (no use to mention any other, for the Christians are too +charitable further south or west!)—I say, let him who disputes me, +step out of his door into the streets of either of those four cities, + +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page46" id="page46"></a>[pg 46]</span> +and promiscuously collect one hundred school boys or young men of +colour, <i>who have been to school</i>, and who are considered by the +coloured people to have received an excellent education, because, +perhaps, some of them can write a good hand, but who notwithstanding +their neat writing, may be almost as ignorant, in comparison, as +horses. And, I say it, he will hardly find (in this enlightened day, +and in the midst of this <i>charitable</i> people) five in one hundred, who +are able to correct the false grammar of their language. The cause of +this almost universal ignorance amongst us, I appeal to our +school-masters to declare. Here is a fact, which I this very minute +take from the mouth of a young coloured man, who has been to school in +this state (Massachusetts) nearly nine years, and who knows grammar +this day, <i>nearly</i> as well as he did the day he first entered the +school-house, under a white master. This young man says—"My master +would never allow me to study grammar."—I asked him why? "The school +committee," said he, "forbid the colored children learning +grammar—they would not allow any but the white children to study +grammar."</p> + +<p>It is a notorious fact that the major part of the white Americans +have, ever since we have been among them, tried to keep us ignorant +and make us believe that God made us and our children to be slaves to +them and theirs. <i>Oh! my God, have mercy on Christian Americans!!</i></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Which is the reason the whites take the advantage of +us.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> See his Notes on Virginia, page 213.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="ARTICLE_III" id="ARTICLE_III"></a>ARTICLE III.</h2> + +<p class="heading"><span class="smcap">our wretchedness in consequence of the preachers of the religion +of jesus christ.</span></p> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Religion</span>, my brethren, is a substance of deep consideration +among all nations of the earth. The Pagans have a kind, as well as the +Mahometans, the Jews and the Christians. But pure and undefiled + +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page47" id="page47"></a>[pg 47]</span> +religion, such as was preached by Jesus Christ and his apostles, is +hard to be found in all the earth. God, through his instrument, Moses, +handed a dispensation of his divine will to the children of Israel +after they had left Egypt for the land of Canaan, or of Promise, who +through hypocrisy, oppression, and unbelief, departed from the faith. +He then, by his apostles handed a dispensation of his, together with +the will of Jesus Christ, to the Europeans in Europe, who, in open +violation of which, have made <i>merchandize</i> of us, and it does appear +as though they take this very dispensation to aid them in their +infernal depredations upon us. Indeed, the way in which religion was +and is conducted by the Europeans and their descendants, one might +believe it was a plan fabricated by themselves and the <i>devils</i> to +oppress us. But hark! my master has taught me better than to believe +it—he has taught me that his gospel as it was preached by himself and +his apostles remains the same, notwithstanding Europe has tried to +mingle blood and oppression with it.</p> + +<p>It is well known to the Christian world that Bartholomew Las Casas, +that very notoriously avaricious Catholic priest or preacher, and +adventurer with Columbus in his second voyage, proposed to his +countrymen, the Spaniards in Hispaniola, to import the Africans from +the Portuguese settlement in Africa, to dig up gold and silver, and +work their plantations for them, to effect which, he made a voyage +thence to Spain, and opened the subject to his master, Ferdinand, then +in declining health, who listened to the plan; but who died soon +after, and left it in the hands of his successor, Charles V.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a>—This +wretch, ("Las Cassas, the Preacher,") succeeded so well in his plans +of oppression, that in 1503, the first blacks had been imported into +the new world. Elated with this success, and stimulated by sordid +avarice only, he importuned Charles V. in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page48" id="page48"></a>[pg 48]</span> + 1511, to grant permission +to a Flemish merchant to import 4000 blacks at one time. Thus we see, +through the instrumentality of a pretended preacher of the gospel of +Jesus Christ our common master, our wretchedness first commenced in +America—where it has been continued from 1503 to this day, 1829. A +period of three hundred and twenty-six years. But two hundred and +nine, from 1620—when twenty of our fathers were brought into +Jamestown, Virginia, by a Dutch man-of-war, and sold off like brutes +to the highest bidders; and there is not a doubt in my mind, but that +tyrants are in hopes to perpetuate our miseries under them and their +children until the final consummation of all things. But if they do +not get dreadfully, deceived, it will be because God has forgotten +them.</p> + +<p>The Pagans, Jews and Mahometans try to make proselytes to their +religions, and whatever human beings adopt their religions, they +extend to them their protection. But Christian Americans not only +hinder their fellow creatures, the Africans, but thousands of them +will <i>absolutely beat a coloured person nearly to death, if they catch +him on his knees, supplicating the throne of grace</i>. This barbarous +cruelty was by all the heathen nations of antiquity, and is by the +Pagans, Jews and Mahometans of the present day, left entirely to +Christian Americans to inflict on the Africans and their descendants +that their cup which is nearly full may be completed. I have known +tyrants or usurpers of human liberty in different parts of this +country take their fellow creatures, the colored people, and beat them +until they would scarcely leave life in them; what for? Why they say,</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The black devils had the audacity to be found <i>making +prayers and supplications to the God who made them!!!</i>"</p></blockquote> + +<p>Yes, I have known small collections of coloured people to have +convened together, for no other purpose than to worship God Almighty, +in spirit and in truth, to the best of their knowledge; when tyrants, +calling +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page49" id="page49"></a>[pg 49]</span> +themselves <i>patrols</i>, would also convene and wait almost in +breathless silence for the poor coloured people to commence singing +and praying to the Lord our God, and as soon as they had commenced the +wretches would burst in upon them and drag them out and commence +beating them as they would rattle-snakes—many of whom, they would +beat so unmercifully, that they would hardly be able to crawl for +weeks and sometimes for months.—Yet the American ministers send out +missionaries to convert the heathen, while they keep us and our +children sunk at their feet in the most abject ignorance and +wretchedness that ever a people was afflicted with since the world +began. Will the Lord suffer this people to proceed much longer? Will +he not stop them in their career? Does he regard the heathens abroad, +more than the heathens among the Americans? Surely the Americans must +believe that God is partial, notwithstanding his Apostle Peter, +declared before Cornelius and others that he has no respect to +persons, but in every nation he that feareth God and worketh +righteousness is accepted with him.—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The word," said he, "which God sent unto the children of +Israel, preaching peace, by Jesus Christ, (he is the Lord of +all.")<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p></blockquote> + +<p>Have not the Americans the Bible in their hands? Do they believe it? +Surely they do not. See how they treat us in open violation of the +Bible!! They no doubt will be greatly offended with me, but if God +does not awaken them, it will be, because they are superior to other +men, as they have represented themselves to be. Our divine Lord and +Master said</p> + +<blockquote><p>"all things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, +do ye even so unto them."</p></blockquote> + +<p>But an American minister, with the Bible in his hand, holds us and our +children in the most abject slavery and wretchedness. Now I ask them, +would they like for us to hold them and their children in abject +slavery and wretchedness? No says one, that never +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page50" id="page50"></a>[pg 50]</span> +can be done—you +are too abject and ignorant to do it—you are not men—you were made +to be slaves to us, to dig up gold and silver for us and our children. +Know this, my dear sirs, that although you treat us and our children +now, as you do your domestic beasts—yet the final result of all +future events are known but to God Almighty alone, who rules in the +armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and who +dethrones one earthly king and sits up another, as it seemeth good in +his holy sight. We may attribute these vicissitudes to what we please, +but the God of armies and of justice rules in heaven and in earth, and +the whole American people shall see and know it yet, to their +satisfaction. I have known pretended preachers of the gospel of my +Master, who not only held us as their natural inheritance, but treated +us with as much rigor as any Infidel or Deist in the world—just as +though they were intent only on taking our blood and groans to glorify +the Lord Jesus Christ. The wicked and ungodly, seeing their preachers +treat us with so much cruelty, they say: our preachers, who must be +right, if any body are, treat them like brutes, and why cannot +we?—They think it is no harm to keep them in slavery and put the whip +to them, and why cannot we do the same!—They being preachers of the +gospel of Jesus Christ, if it were any harm, they would surely preach +against their oppression and do their utmost to erase it from the +country; not only in one or two cities, but one continual cry would be +raised in all parts of this confederacy, and would cease only with the +complete overthrow of the system of slavery, in every part of the +country. But how far the American preachers are from preaching against +slavery and oppression, which have carried their country to the brink +of a precipice; to save them from plunging down the side of which, +will hardly be effected, will appear in the sequel of this paragraph, +which I shall narrate just as it transpired. I remember a Camp Meeting +in South Carolina, for which I embarked +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page51" id="page51"></a>[pg 51]</span> +in a Steam Boat at +Charleston, and having been five or six hours on the water, we at last +arrived at the place of hearing, where was a very great concourse of +people, who were no doubt, collected together to hear the word of God, +(that some had collected barely as spectators to the scene, I will not +here pretend to doubt, however, that is left to themselves and their +God.) Myself and boat companions, having been there a little while, we +were all called up to hear; I among the rest, went up and took my +seat—being seated, I fixed myself in a complete position to hear the +word of my Saviour and to receive such as I thought was authenticated +by the Holy Scriptures; but to my no ordinary astonishment, our +Reverend gentleman got up and told us (colored people) that slaves +must be obedient to their masters—must do their duty to their masters +or be whipped—the whip was made for the backs of fools, &c. Here I +pause for a moment, to give the world time to consider what was my +surprise, to hear such preaching from a minister of my Master, whose +very gospel is that of peace and not of blood and whips, as this +pretended preacher tried to make us believe. What the American +preachers can think of us, I aver this day before my God, I have never +been able to define. They have newspapers and monthly periodicals, +which they receive in continual succession, but on the pages of which, +you will scarcely ever find a paragraph respecting slavery, which is +ten thousand times more injurious to this country than all the other +evils put together; and which will be the final overthrow of its +government, unless something is very speedily done; for their cup is +nearly full.—Perhaps they will laugh at, or make light of this; but I +tell you Americans! that unless you speedily alter your course, <i>you</i> +and your <i>Country are gone!!!!!!</i> For God Almighty will tear up the +very face of the earth!!!! Will not that very remarkable passage of +Scripture be fulfilled on Christian Americans? Hear it Americans!!</p> + +<blockquote><p>"He that is unjust, let him be unjust still:—and be which +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page52" id="page52"></a>[pg 52]</span> + +is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is +righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, +let him be holy still."<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p></blockquote> + +<p>I hope that the Americans may hear, but I am afraid that they have +done us so much injury, and are so firm in the belief that our Creator +made us to be an inheritance to them forever, that their hearts will +be hardened, so that their destruction may be sure.—This language, +perhaps is too harsh for the American's delicate ears. But Oh +Americans! Americans!! I warn you in the name of the Lord, (whether +you will hear, or forbear,) to repent and reform, or you are +ruined!!!!!! Do you think that our blood is hidden from the Lord, +because you can hide it from the rest of the world by sending out +missionaries, and by your charitable deeds to the Greeks, Irish, &c.? +Will he not publish your secret crimes on the house top? Even here in +Boston, pride and prejudice have got to such a pitch, that in the very +houses erected to the Lord, they have built little places for the +reception of colored people, where they must sit during meeting, or +keep away from the house of God; and the preachers say nothing about +it—much less, go into the hedges and highways seeking the lost sheep +of the house of Israel, and try to bring them in, to their Lord and +Master. There are hardly a more wretched, ignorant, miserable, and +abject set of beings in all the world, than the blacks in the Southern +and Western sections of this country, under tyrants and devils. The +preachers of America cannot see them, but they can send out +missionaries to convert the heathens, notwithstanding. Americans! +unless you speedily alter your course of proceeding, if God Almighty +does not stop you, I say it in his name, that you may go on and do as +you please for ever, both in time and eternity—never fear any evil at +all!!!!!!!!</p> + +<p>☞ <span class="smcap">Addition.</span>—The preachers and people of the +United States form societies against Free Masonry +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page53" id="page53"></a>[pg 53]</span> +and Intemperance, +and write against Sabbath breaking, Sabbath mails, Infidelity, &c. &c. +But the fountain head,<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> compared with which all those other evils +are comparatively nothing, and from the bloody and murderous head of +which, they receive no trifling support, is hardly noticed by the +Americans. This is a fair illustration of the state of society in this +country—it shows what a bearing <i>avarice</i> has upon a people, when +they are nearly given up by the Lord to a hard heart and a reprobate +mind, in consequence of afflicting their fellow creatures. God suffers +some to go on until they are ruined for ever!! Will it be the case +with our brethren the whites of the United States of America? We hope +not—we would not wish to see them destroyed, notwithstanding they +have and do now treat us more cruel than any people have treated +another, on this earth since it came from the hands of its creator +(with the exception of the French and the Dutch, they treat us nearly +as bad as the Americans of the United States.) The will of God must +however, in spite of us, <i>be done</i>.</p> + +<p>The English are the best friends the colored people have upon earth. +Tho' they have oppressed us a little, and have colonies now in the +West Indies, which oppress us <i>sorely</i>,—Yet notwithstanding they (the +English) have done one hundred times more for the melioration of our +condition, than all the other nations of the earth put together. The +blacks cannot but respect the English as a nation, notwithstanding +they have treated us a little cruel.</p> + +<p>There is no intelligent <i>black man</i> who knows any thing, but esteems a +real English man, let him see him in what part of the world he +will—for they are the greatest benefactors we have upon earth. We +have here and there, in other nations, good friends. But as a nation, +the English are our friends. ☜</p> + +<p>How can the preachers and people of America believe the Bible? Does it +teach them any distinction on account of a man's color? Hearken, +Americans! +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page54" id="page54"></a>[pg 54]</span> + to the injunctions of our Lord and Master, to his humble +followers.</p> + +<blockquote><p><a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a>"And Jesus came and spake unto them saying, all power is +given unto me in heaven and in earth.</p> + +<p>"Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in +the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy +Ghost,</p> + +<p>"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have +commanded you; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the +end of the world. Amen."</p></blockquote> + +<p>I declare, that the very face of these injunctions appears to be of +God and not of man. They do not show the slightest degree of +distinction.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Go ye, therefore," (says my divine Master) and teach all +nations," (or in other words, all people) "baptizing them in +the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy +Ghost."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Do you understand the above, Americans? We are a people, +notwithstanding many of you doubt it. You have the Bible in your +hands, with this very injunction. Have you been to Africa, teaching +the inhabitants thereof the words of the Lord Jesus?</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, +and of the Holy Ghost."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Have you not, on the contrary, entered among us, and learnt us the art +of throat-cutting, by setting us to fight, one against another, to +take each other as prisoners of war, and sell to you for small bits of +calicoes, old swords, knives, &c. to make slaves for you and your +children? This being done, have you not brought us among you, in +chains and handcuffs, like brutes, and treated us with all the +cruelties and rigour your ingenuity could invent, consistent with the +laws of your country, which (for the blacks) are tyrannical enough? +Can the American preachers appeal unto God, the Maker and Searcher of +hearts, and tell him, with the Bible in their hands, that they make no +distinction on account of men's colour? +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page55" id="page55"></a>[pg 55]</span> + Can they say, O God! thou +knowest all things—thou knowest that we make no distinction between +thy creatures to whom we have to preach thy Word? Let them answer the +Lord; and if they cannot do it in the affirmative, have they not +departed from the Lord Jesus Christ, their master? But some may say, +that they never had or were in possession of a religion, which makes +no distinction, and of course they could not have departed from it. I +ask you then, in the name of the Lord, of what kind can your religion +be? Can it be that which was preached by our Lord Jesus Christ from +Heaven? I believe you cannot be so wicked as to tell him that his +Gospel was that of <i>distinction</i>. What can the American preachers and +people take God to be?—Do they believe his words? If they do, do they +believe that he will be mocked? Or do they believe because they are +whites and we blacks, that God will have respect to them? Did not God +make us as it seemed best to himself? What right, then, has one of us, +to despise another and to treat him cruel, on account of his colour, +which none but the God who made it can alter? Can there be a greater +absurdity in nature, and particularly in a free republican country? +But the Americans, having introduced slavery among them, their hearts +have become almost seared, as with an hot iron, and God has nearly +given them up to believe a lie in preference to the truth!!! and I am +awfully afraid that pride, prejudice, avarice and blood, will, before +long, prove the final ruin of this happy republic, or land of +liberty!!! Can any thing be a greater mockery of religion than the way +in which it is conducted by the Americans? It appears as though they +are bent only on daring God Almighty to do his best—they chain and +handcuff us and our children and drive us around the country like +brutes, and go into the house of the God of justice to return Him +thanks for having aided him in their infernal cruelties inflicted upon +us. Will the Lord suffer this people to go on much longer, taking his + +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page56" id="page56"></a>[pg 56]</span> +holy name in vain? Will he not stop them, <span class="smcap">preachers</span> and all? +O Americans! Americans!! I call God—I call angels—I call men, to +witness, that your <span class="smcap">destruction</span> <i>is at hand</i>, and will be +speedily consummated unless you <b>REPENT</b>.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> See Butler's History of the United States, vol. 1, page +24. See also, page 25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> See the Acts of the Apostles, chap. x. v.—25—26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> See Revelation, chap. xxii. v. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Slavery and oppression.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> See St. Matthew's Gospel, chap, xxviii. v. 18—19—20. +After Jesus was risen from the dead.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="ARTICLE_IV" id="ARTICLE_IV"></a>ARTICLE IV.</h2> + +<p class="heading"><span class="smcap">our wretchedness in consequence of the colonizing plan.</span></p> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p>My dearly beloved brethren:—This is a scheme on which so many able +writers, together with that very judicious colored Baltimorean, have +commented, that I feel my delicacy about touching it. But as I am +compelled to do the will of my master, I declare, I will give you my +sentiments upon it. Previous, however, to giving my sentiments, either +for or against it, I shall give that of Mr. Henry Clay together with +that of Mr. Elias B. Caldwell, Esq. of the District of Columbia, as +extracted from the National Intelligencer, by Dr. Torrey, author of a +series of "Essays on Morals, and the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge."</p> + +<p>At a meeting which was convened in the District of Columbia, for the +express purpose of agitating the subject of colonizing us in some part +of the world, Mr. Clay was called to the chair, and having been seated +a little while, he rose and spake in substance, as follows: Says +he—<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> + +<blockquote><p>"That class of the mixt population of our country [coloured +people] was peculiarly situated; they neither enjoyed the +immunities of freemen, nor were they subjected 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 colour, they +never could amalgamate with the free whites of this country. +It +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page57" id="page57"></a>[pg 57]</span> +was desirable, therefore, as it respected them, and the +residue of the population of the country, to drain them off. +Various schemes of colonization had been thought of, and a +part of our continent, it was supposed by some, might +furnish a suitable establishment for them. But, for his +part, Mr. C. said, 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 +in the introduction into that extensive quarter of the +globe, of the arts, civilization, and Christianity."</p></blockquote> + +<p>[Here I ask Mr. Clay, what kind of Christianity? Did he mean such as +they have among the Americans—distinction, whip, blood and +oppression? I pray the Lord Jesus Christ to forbid it.]</p> + +<blockquote><p>"There," said he, "was a peculiar, a moral fitness, in +restoring them to the land of their fathers, and if instead +of the evils and sufferings which we had been the innocent +cause of inflicting upon the inhabitants of Africa, we can +transmit to her the blessings of our arts, our civilization, +and our religion. May we not hope that America will +extinguish a great portion of that moral debt which she has +contracted to that unfortunate continent? Can there be a +nobler cause than that which, whilst it proposes, &c. * * * * * +[you know what this means.] contemplates the spreading of +the arts of civilized life, and the possible redemption from +ignorance and barbarism of a benighted quarter of the +globe?"</p></blockquote> + +<p>Before I proceed any further, I solicit your notice, brethren, to the +foregoing part of Mr. Clay's speech, in which he says, (☞ look +above)</p> + +<blockquote><p>"and if, instead of the evils and sufferings, which we had +been the innocent cause of inflicting,"</p></blockquote> + +<p>&c. What this very learned statesman could have been thinking about, +when he said in his speech, "we had been the innocent cause of +inflicting," etc., I have never been able to conceive. Are Mr. Clay +and the rest of the Americans, innocent of the blood +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page58" id="page58"></a>[pg 58]</span> +and groans of +our fathers and us, their children? Every individual may plead +innocence, if he pleases, but God will, before long, separate the +innocent from the guilty, unless something is speedily done—which I +suppose will hardly be, so that their destruction may be sure. Oh +Americans! let me tell you, in the name of the Lord, it will be good +for you, if you listen to the voice of the Holy Ghost, but if you do +not you are ruined!!!! Some of you are good men; but the will of my +God must be done. Those avaricious and ungodly tyrants among you, I am +awfully afraid will drag down the vengeance of God upon you.—When God +Almighty commences his battle on the continent of America, for the +oppression of his people, tyrants will wish they never were born.</p> + +<p>But to return to Mr. Clay, whence I digressed. He says,</p> + +<blockquote><p>"It was proper and necessary distinctly to state, that he +understood it constituted no part of the object of this +meeting, to touch or agitate in the slightest degree, a +delicate question, connected with another portion of the +coloured population of our country. It was not proposed to +deliberate upon or consider at all, any question of +emancipation, or that which was connected with the abolition +of slavery. It was upon that condition alone, he was sure, +that many gentlemen from the South and the West, whom he saw +present, had attended, or could be expected to co-operate. +It was on that condition only, that he himself had +attended."</p></blockquote> + +<p>—That is to say, to fix a plan to get those of the coloured people, +who are said to be free, away from among those of our brethren whom +they unjustly hold in bondage, so that they may be enabled to keep +them the more secure in ignorance and wretchedness, to support them +and their children, and consequently they would have the more obedient +slaves. For if the free are allowed to stay among the slaves, they +will have intercourse together, and, of course, the free will learn +the slaves <i>bad habits</i>, by teaching them that they +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page59" id="page59"></a>[pg 59]</span> +are <b>MEN</b>, as +well as other people, and certainly <i>ought</i>, and <i>must</i> be <b>FREE</b>.</p> + +<p>I presume, that every intelligent man of colour must have some idea of +Mr. Henry Clay, originally of Virginia, but now of Kentucky; they know +too, perhaps, whether he is a friend, or a foe, to the coloured +citizens of this country, and of the world. This gentleman, according +to his own words, had been highly favoured and blessed of the Lord, +though he did not acknowledge it; but to the contrary, he acknowledged +men, for all the blessings which God had favoured him. At a public +dinner given him at Fowler's Garden, Lexington, Kentucky, he delivered +a public speech to a very large concourse of people—in the concluding +clause of which, he says,</p> + +<blockquote><p>"And now, my friends and fellow citizens, I cannot part from +you, on possibly the last occasion of my ever publicly +addressing you, without reiterating the expression of my +thanks, from a heart overflowing with gratitude. I came +among you, now more than thirty years ago, an orphan boy +pennyless, a stranger to you all, without friends, without +the favour of the great, you took me up, cherished me, +protected me, honoured me, you have constantly poured upon +me a bold and unabated stream of innumerable favors, time +which wears out every thing has increased and strengthened +your affection for me. When I seemed deserted by almost the +whole world, and assailed by almost every tongue, and pen, +and press, you have fearlessly and manfully stood by me, +with unsurpassed zeal and undiminished friendship. When I +felt as if I should sink beneath the storm of abuse and +detraction, which was violently raging around me, I have +found myself upheld and sustained by your encouraging voices +and approving smiles. I have doubtless, committed many +faults and indiscretions, over which you have thrown the +broad mantle of your charity. But I can say, and in the +presence of God and this assembled multitude, I will say, +that I have honestly and faithfully served +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page60" id="page60"></a>[pg 60]</span> +my country—that +I have never wronged it—and that, however unprepared, I +lament that I am to appear in the Divine presence on other +accounts, I invoke the stern justice of his judgment on my +public conduct without the slightest apprehension of his +displeasure."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Hearken to this statesman indeed, but no philanthropist, whom God sent +into Kentucky, an orphan boy, pennyless and friendless, where he not +only gave him a plenty of friends and the comforts of life, but raised +him almost to the very highest honour in the nation, where his great +talents, with which the Lord has been pleased to bless him, has gained +for him the affection of a great portion of the people with whom he +had to do. But what has this gentleman done for the Lord, after having +done so much for him? The Lord has a suffering people, whose moans and +groans at his feet for deliverance from oppression and wretchedness, +pierce the very throne of Heaven, and call loudly on the God of +Justice, to be revenged. Now what this gentleman who is so highly +favored of the Lord, has done to liberate those miserable victims of +oppression, shall appear before the world, by his letters to Mr. +Gallatin, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Great +Britain, dated June 19, 1826. Though Mr. Clay was writing for the +states, yet nevertheless, it appears, from the very face of his +letters to that gentleman, that he was as anxious, if not more so, to +get those free people and sink them into wretchedness, as his +constituents for whom he wrote.</p> + +<p>The Americans of North and of South America, including the West India +Islands—no trifling portion of whom were, for stealing, murdering, +&c. compelled to flee from Europe, to save their necks or banishment, +have effected their escape to this continent, where God blessed them +with all the comforts of life—He gave them a plenty of every thing +calculated to do them good—not satisfied with this, however, they +wanted slaves, and wanted us for their slaves, who belong to the Holy +Ghost, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page61" id="page61"></a>[pg 61]</span> +no other, who we shall have to serve instead of tyrants. I +say, the Americans want us, the property of the Holy Ghost, to serve +them. But there is a day fast approaching when (unless there is a +universal repentance on the part of the whites, which will scarcely +take place—they have got to be so hardened in consequence of our +blood, and so wise in their own conceit.) To be plain and candid with +you, Americans! I say that the day is fast approaching when there will +be a greater time on the continent of America than ever was witnessed +upon this earth since it came from the hands of its Creator. Some of +you have done us so much injury that you will never be able to repent. +Your cup must be filled. You want us for your slaves and shall have +enough of us—God is just, <i>who will give you your fill of us</i>. But +Mr. Henry Clay, speaking to Mr. Gallatin respecting coloured people +who had effected their escape from the U. States (or to them <i>hell +upon earth!!</i>) to the hospitable shores of Canada<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> from whence it +would cause more than the lives of the Americans to get them, to +plunge into wretchedness—he says:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The General Assembly of Kentucky, one of the states which +is most affected by the escape of slaves into Upper Canada, +has again, at their session which has just terminated, +invoked the interposition of the General Government. In the +treaty which has been recently concluded with the United +Mexican States, and which is now under the consideration of +the Senate, provision is made for the restoration of +fugitive slaves. As it appears from your statements of what +passed on that subject with the British Plenipotentiaries, +that they admitted the correctness of the principle of +restoration, it is hoped that you will be able to succeed in +making satisfactory arrangements."</p></blockquote> + +<p>There are a series of these letters, all of which are to the same +amount; some however presenting a face more of his own responsibility. +I wonder what would this gentleman think if the Lord should give +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page62" id="page62"></a>[pg 62]</span> +him +among the rest of his blessings enough of slaves? Could he blame any +other being but himself? Do we not belong to the Holy Ghost? What +business has he or any body else, to be sending letters about the +world respecting us? Can we not go where we want to, as well as other +people, only if we obey the voice of the Holy Ghost? This gentleman, +(Henry Clay) not only took an active part in this colonizing plan, but +was absolutely chairman of a meeting held at Washington the 21st day +of December, 1816<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> to agitate the subject of colonizing us in +Africa.—Now I appeal and ask every citizen of these United States and +of the world, both <i>white</i> and <i>black</i>, who has any knowledge of Mr. +Clay's public labors for these States—I want you candidly to answer +the Lord, who sees the secrets of your hearts, Do you believe that Mr. +Henry Clay, late Secretary of State, and now in Kentucky, is a friend +to the blacks, further than his personal interest extends? Is it not +his greatest object and glory upon earth to sink us into miseries and +wretchedness by making slaves of us, to work his plantation to enrich +him and his family? Does he care a pinch of snuff about +Africa—whether it remains a land of Pagans and of blood, or of +Christians, so long as he gets enough of her sons and daughters to dig +up gold and silver for him? If he had no slave, and could obtain them +in no other way if it were not repugnant to the laws of his country, +which prohibit the importation of slaves, (which act was indeed more +through apprehension than humanity) would he not try to import a few +from Africa to work his farm? Would he work in the hot sun to earn his +bread if he could make an African work for nothing, particularly if he +could keep him in ignorance and make him believe that God made him for +nothing else but to work for him? Is not Mr. Clay a white man, and too +delicate to work in the hot sun? Was he not made by his Creator to sit +in the shade, and make the blacks work without remuneration +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page63" id="page63"></a>[pg 63]</span> +for their +services, to support him and his family? I have been for some time +taking notice of this man's speeches and public writings, but never to +my knowledge have I seen any thing in his writings which insisted on +the emancipation of slavery, which has almost ruined his country. Thus +we see the depravity of men's hearts, when in pursuit only of +gain—particularly when they oppress their fellow creatures to obtain +that gain—God suffers some to go on until they are lost for ever. +This same Mr. Clay wants to know what he has done to merit the +disapprobation of the American people. In a public speech delivered by +him, he asked:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Did I involve my country in an unnecessary war?"</p></blockquote> + +<p>to merit the censure of the Americans—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Did I bring obloquy upon the nation, or the people whom I +represented—did I ever lose an opportunity to advance the +fame, honor and prosperity of this State and the Union?"</p></blockquote> + +<p>How astonishing it is, for a man who knows so much about God and his +ways, as Mr. Clay, to ask such frivolous questions. Does he believe +that a man of his talents and standing in the midst of a people, will +get along unnoticed by the penetrating and all-seeing eye of God who +is continually taking cognizance of the hearts of men? Is not God +against him, for advocating the murderous cause of slavery? If God is +against him, what can the Americans, together with the whole world do +for him? Can they save him from the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ?</p> + +<p>I shall now pass in review the speech of Mr. Elias B. Caldwell, Esq. +of the District of Columbia, extracted from the same page on which Mr. +Clay's will be found. Mr. Caldwell, giving his opinion respecting us, +at that ever memorable meeting, he says:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The more you improve the condition of these people, the +more you cultivate their minds, the more miserable you make +them in their present state. You give them a higher relish +for those privileges which they can never attain, and turn +what we intend for a blessing into a curse."</p></blockquote><p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page64" id="page64"></a>[pg 64]</span> +</p> + +<p>Let me ask this benevolent man, what he means by a blessing intended +for us? Did he mean sinking us and our children into ignorance and +wretchedness, to support him and his family? What he meant will appear +evident and obvious to the most ignorant in the world. ☞ See +Mr. Caldwell's intended blessings for us, O! my Lord!!!</p> + +<blockquote><p>"No," said he, "if they must remain in their present +situation, keep them in the <i>lowest state of degradation and +ignorance</i>. The nearer you bring them to the condition of +brutes, the better chance do you give them of possessing +their <i>apathy</i>."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Here I pause to get breath, having labored to extract the above clause +of this gentleman's speech, at that colonizing meeting. I presume that +every body knows the meaning of the word "<i>apathy</i>"—if they do not, +let him get Sheridan's Dictionary, where he will find it explained in +full. I solicit the attention of the world to the foregoing part of +Mr. Caldwell's speech, that they may see what man will do with his +fellow men, when he has them under his feet. To what length will not +man go in iniquity, when given up to a hard heart and reprobate mind, +in consequence of blood and oppression? The last clause of this +speech, which was written in a very artful manner and which will be +taken for the speech of a friend, without close examination and deep +penetration, I shall now present. He says,</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Surely Americans ought to be the last people on earth to +advocate such slavish doctrines, to cry peace and +contentment to those who are deprived of the privileges of +civil liberty, they who have so largely partaken of its +blessings, who know so well how to estimate its value, ought +to be among the foremost to extend it to others."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The real sense and meaning of the last part of Mr. Caldwell's speech +is, get the free people of colour away to Africa, from among the +slaves, where they may at once be blessed and happy, and our slaves +will be contented to rest in ignorance and wretchedness, to dig up +gold and silver for us and our children. Men have indeed, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page65" id="page65"></a>[pg 65]</span> +got to be +so cunning, these days, that it would take the eye of a Solomon to +penetrate and find them out.</p> + +<p>Extract from the speech of Mr. John Randolph, of Roanoke.</p> + +<p>Said he:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"It had been properly observed by the Chairman, as well as +by the gentlemen from this District (meaning Messrs. Clay +and Caldwell) that there was nothing in the proposition +submitted to consideration which in the smallest degree +touches another very important and delicate question, which +ought to be left as much out of view as possible, (Negro +Slavery.)<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> + +<p>"There was no fear, Mr. R. said, that this proposition would +alarm the slave-holders; they had been accustomed to think +seriously of the subject. There was a popular work on +agriculture, by John Taylor of Carolina, which was widely +circulated, and much confided in, in Virginia. In that book, +much read because coming from a practical man, this +description of people, [referring to us half free ones,] +were pointed out as a great evil. They had indeed been held +up as the greater bug-bear to every man who feels an +inclination to emancipate his slaves, not to create in the +bosom of his country so great a nuisance. If a place could +be provided for their reception, and a mode of sending them +hence, there were hundreds, nay thousands of citizens, who +would, by manumitting their slaves, relieve themselves from +the cares attendant on their possession. The great +slave-holder, Mr. R. said, was frequently a mere sentry at +his own door—bound to stay on his plantation to see that +his slaves were properly +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page66" id="page66"></a>[pg 66]</span> +treated, &c. Mr. R. concluded by +saying that he had thought it necessary to make these +remarks, being a slave-holder himself, to show that, so far +from being connected with abolition of slavery, the measure +proposed would prove one of greatest securities to enable +the master to keep in possession his own property."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Here is a demonstrative proof, of a plan got up by a gang of +slave-holders to select the free people of colour from among the +slaves, that our more miserable brethren may be the better secured in +ignorance and wretchedness, to work their farms and dig their mines, +and thus go on enriching the christians with their blood and groans. +What our brethren could have been thinking about, who have left their +native land and home and gone away to Africa I am unable to say. This +country is as much ours as it is the whites, whether they will admit +it now or not, they will see and believe it by and by. They tell us +about prejudice—what have we to do with it? Their prejudices will be +obliged to fall like lightning to the ground, in succeeding +generations; not, however with the will and consent of all the whites, +for some will be obliged to hold on to the old adage, viz.: the blacks +are not men, but were made to be an inheritance to us and our children +forever!!!!!! I hope the residue of the coloured people will stand +still and see the salvation of God, and the miracle which he will work +for our delivery from wretchedness under the christians!!!!!!</p> + +<p>☞ <span class="smcap">Addition.</span>—If any of us see fit to go away, go to +those who have been for many years, and are now our greatest earthly +friends and benefactors—the English. If not so, go to our brethren, +the Haytians, who, according to their word, is bound to protect and +comfort us. The Americans say that we are ungrateful—but I ask them +for heaven's sake, what we should be grateful to them for—for +murdering our fathers and mothers?—Or do they wish us to return +thanks to them for chaining and handcuffing us, branding us, cramming +fire down our +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page67" id="page67"></a>[pg 67]</span> +throats, or for keeping us in slavery, and beating us +nearly or quite to death to make us work in ignorance and miseries, to +support them and their families. They certainly think that we are a +gang of fools. Those among them, who have volunteered their services +for our redemption, though we are unable to compensate them for their +labors, we nevertheless thank them from the bottom of our hearts, and +have our eyes steadfastly fixed upon them, and their labors of love +for God and man. But do slave-holders think that we thank them for +keeping us in miseries, and taking our lives by the inches? ☜</p> + +<p>Before I proceed further with this scheme, I shall give an extract +from the letter of that truly Reverend Divine, (Bishop Allen,) of +Philadelphia, respecting this trick. At the instance of the Editor of +the Freedom's Journal, he says,<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p> + +<blockquote><p>"Dear Sir, I have been for several years trying to reconcile +my mind to the Colonizing of Africans in Liberia, but there +have always been, and there still remain great and +insurmountable objections against the scheme. We are an +unlettered people, brought up in ignorance, not one in a +hundred can read or write, not one in a thousand has a +liberal education; is there any fitness for such to be sent +into a far country, among heathens, to convert or civilize +them, when they themselves are neither civilized or +christianized? See the great bulk of the poor, ignorant +Africans in this country, exposed to every temptation before +them: all for the want of their morals being refined by +education and proper attendance paid unto them by their +owners, or those who had the charge of them. It is said by +the Southern slave-holders, that the more ignorant they can +bring up the Africans, the better slaves they make, 'go and +come.' Is there any fitness for such people to be colonized +in a far country, to be their own rulers? Can we not discern +the project of sending the free people of colour away from +their country? Is it not for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page68" id="page68"></a>[pg 68]</span> +the interest of the +slave-holders to select the free people of colour out of the +different states, and send them to Liberia? Will it not make +their slaves uneasy to see free men of colour enjoying +liberty? It is against the law, in some of the southern +states, that a person of colour should receive an education, +under a severe penalty. Colonizationists speak of America +being first colonized, but is there any comparison between +the two? America was colonized by as <i>wise</i>, <i>judicious</i> and +<i>educated</i> men as the world afforded. <span class="smcap">William Penn</span> +did not want for <i>learning</i>, <i>wisdom</i>, <i>or intelligence</i>. If +all the people in Europe and America were as ignorant, and +in the same situation as our brethren, what would become of +the world? where would be the principle or piety that would +govern the people? We were <i>stolen</i> from our mother country, +and brought <i>here</i>. We have <i>tilled</i> the ground and made +fortunes for thousands, and still they are not weary of our +services. <i>But they who stay to till the ground must be +slaves.</i> Is there not land enough in America, or 'corn +enough in Egypt?' Why should they send us into a far country +to die? See the thousands of foreigners emigrating to +America every year: and if there be ground sufficient for +them to cultivate, and bread for them to eat; why would they +wish to send the <i>first tillers</i> of the land away? Africans +have made fortunes for thousands, who are yet unwilling to +part with their services; but the free must be sent away, +and those who remain must be <i>slaves</i>. I have no doubt that +there are many good men who do not see as I do, and who are +for sending us to Liberia; but they have not duly considered +the subject—they are not men of colour. This land which we +have watered with our <i>tears</i> and <i>our blood</i>, is now our +<i>mother country</i>, and we are well satisfied to stay where +wisdom abounds and the gospel is free."</p> + +<p class="author">"<b>RICHARD ALLEN</b>,</p> + +<p class="letterClose1">"<i>Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in the +United States</i>."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page69" id="page69"></a>[pg 69]</span></p> + +<p>I have given you, my brethren, an extract verbatim from the letter of +that godly man as you may find it on the aforementioned page of +Freedom's Journal. I know that thousands and perhaps millions of my +brethren in these States, have never heard of such a man as Bishop +Allen—a man whom God many years ago raised up among his ignorant and +degraded brethren, to preach Jesus Christ and him crucified to +them—who notwithstanding, had to wrestle against principalities and +the powers of darkness to diffuse that gospel with which he was +endowed, among his brethren—but who having overcome the combined +powers of devils and wicked men has under God planted a church among +us which will be as durable as the foundation of the earth on which it +stands. Richard Allen! O my God!! the bare recollection of the labours +of this man, and his ministers among his deplorably wretched brethren +(rendered so by the whites,) to bring them to a knowledge of the God +of heaven, fills my soul with all those very high emotions which would +take the pen of an Addison to portray. It is impossible, my brethren, +for me to say much in this work respecting that man of God. When the +Lord shall raise up coloured historians in succeeding generations, to +present the crimes of this nation to the then gazing world, the Holy +Ghost will make them do justice to the name of Bishop Allen, of +Philadelphia. Suffice it for me to say, that the name of this very man +(Richard Allen,) though now in obscurity and degradation, will +notwithstanding stand on the pages of history among the greatest +divines who have lived since the apostolic age, and among the +African's, Bishop Allen's will be entirely pre-eminent. My brethren, +search after the character and exploits of this godly man among his +ignorant and miserable brethren, to bring them to a knowledge of the +truth as it is in our Master. Consider upon the tyrants and false +christians against whom he had to contend in order to get access to +his brethren. See him and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page70" id="page70"></a>[pg 70]</span> +his ministers in the states of New York, +New Jersey, Penn. Delaware and Maryland, carrying the gladsome tidings +of free and full salvation to the colored people. Tyrants and false +christians however, would not allow him to penetrate far into the +South for fear that he would awaken some of his ignorant brethren, +whom they held in wretchedness and miseries—for fear, I say it, that +he would awaken and bring them to a knowledge of their Maker. O my +Master! my Master! I cannot but think upon Christian Americans!! What +kind of people can they be? Will not those who were burnt up in Sodom +and Gomorrah rise up in judgment against Christian Americans with the +Bible in their hands, and condemn them? Will not the Scribes and +Pharisees of Jerusalem, who had nothing but the laws of Moses and the +Prophets to go by, rise up in judgment against Christian Americans, +and condemn them<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> who in addition to these have a revelation from +Jesus Christ the son of the living God? In fine, will not the +Antediluvians, together with the whole heathen world of antiquity, +rise up in judgment against Christian Americans and condemn them? The +Christians of Europe and America go to Africa, bring us away, and +throw us into the seas, and in other ways murder us, as they would +wild beasts. The Antediluvians and heathens never dreamed of such +barbarities. Now the Christians believe because they have a name to +live, while they are dead, that God will overlook such things. But if +he does not deceive them, it will be because he has overlooked it sure +enough. But to return to this godly man, Bishop Allen. I do hereby +openly affirm it to the world, that he has done more in a spiritual +sense for his ignorant and wretched brethren than any other man of +colour has, since the world began. And as for the greater part of the + +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page71" id="page71"></a>[pg 71]</span> +whites, it has hitherto been their greatest object and glory to keep +us ignorant of our Maker, so as to make us believe that we were made +to be slaves to them and their children to dig up gold and silver for +them. It is notorious that not a few professing christians among the +whites who profess to love our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, have +assailed this man and laid all the obstacles in his way they possibly +could, consistent with their profession—and what for? Why, their +course of proceeding and his, clashed exactly together—they trying +their best to keep us ignorant that we might be the better and more +obedient slaves—while he on the other hand, doing his very best to +enlighten us and teach us a knowledge of the Lord. And I am sorry that +I have it to say, that many of our brethren have joined in with our +oppressors, whose dearest objects are only to keep us ignorant and +miserable, against this man to stay his hand. However, they have kept +us in so much ignorance that many of us know no better than to fight +against ourselves, and by that means strengthen the hands of our +natural enemies, to rivet their infernal chains of slavery upon us and +our children. I have several times called the white Americans our +<i>natural enemies</i>—I shall here define my meaning of the phrase. Shem, +Ham, and Japheth, together with their father Noah and wives, I believe +were not natural enemies to each other. When the ark rested after the +flood upon Mount Arrarat in Asia, they (eight) were all the people +which could be found alive in all the earth—in fact if scriptures be +true (which I believe are) there were no other living men in all the +earth, notwithstanding some ignorant creatures hesitate not to tell +us, that we, (the blacks) are the seed of Cain, the murderer of his +brother Abel. But where those ignorant and avaricious wretches could +have got their information, I am unable to declare. Did they receive +it from the Bible? I have searched the Bible as well as they, if I am +not as well learned as they are, and have never seen a verse which +testifies +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page72" id="page72"></a>[pg 72]</span> +whether we are the seed of Cain or of Abel.—Yet those men +tell us that we are of the seed of Cain and that God put a dark stain +upon us, that we might be known as their slaves!!! Now I ask those +avaricious and ignorant wretches, who act more like the seed of Cain, +by murdering, the whites or the blacks? How many vessel loads of human +beings have the blacks thrown into the seas? How many thousand souls +have the blacks murdered in cold blood to make them work in wretchedness +and ignorance, to support them and their families?<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a>—However, let +us be the seed of Cain, Harry, Dick or Tom!!! God will show the whites +what we are yet. I say, from the beginning, I do not think that we +were natural enemies to each other. But the whites having made us so +wretched, by subjecting us to slavery, and having murdered so many +millions of us in order to make us work for them, and out of +devilishness—and they taking our wives, whom we love as we do +ourselves—our mothers who bore the pains of death to give us +birth—our fathers & dear little children, and ourselves, and strip +and beat us one before the other—chain, handcuff and drag us about +like rattle-snakes—shoot us down like wild bears, before each other's +faces, to make us submissive to and work to support them and their +families. They (the whites) know well if we are <i>men</i>—and there is a +secret monitor in their hearts which tells them we are—they know, I +say, if we <i>are</i> men, and see them treating us in the manner they do, +that there can be nothing in our hearts but death alone, for them; +notwithstanding we may appear cheerful, when we see them murdering our +dear mothers and wives, because we cannot help ourselves. Man, in all +ages and all nations of the earth, is the same. Man is a peculiar +creature—he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page73" id="page73"></a>[pg 73]</span> +is the image of his God, though he may be subjected to +the most wretched condition upon earth, yet that spirit and feeling +which constitute the creature man, can never be entirely erased from +his breast, because the God who made him after his own image, planted +it in his heart; he cannot get rid of it. The whites knowing this, +they do not know what to do; they are afraid that we, being men, and +not brutes, will retaliate, and woe will be to them; therefore, that +dreadful fear, together with an avaricious spirit, and the natural +love in them to be called masters, (which term we will yet honour them +with to their sorrow) bring them to the resolve that they will keep us +in ignorance and wretchedness, as long as they possibly can<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> and +make the best of their time while it lasts. Consequently they, +themselves, (and not us) render themselves our natural enemies, by +treating us so cruel. They keep us miserable now, and call us their +property, but some of them will have enough of us by and by—their +stomachs shall run over with us; they want us for their slaves, and +shall have us to their fill. (We are all in the world together!!) I +said above, because we cannot help ourselves, (viz. we cannot help the +whites murdering our mothers and our wives) but this statement is +incorrect—for we can help ourselves; for, if we lay aside abject +servility, and be determined to act like +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page74" id="page74"></a>[pg 74]</span> +men, and not brutes—the +murderers among the whites would be afraid to show their cruel heads. +But O, my God!—in sorrow I must say it, that my colour, all over the +world, have a mean, servile spirit. They yield in a moment to the +whites, let them be right or wrong—the reason the whites are able to +keep their feet on our throats. Oh! my coloured brethren, all over the +world, when shall we arise from this death-like apathy?—And be men!! +You will notice, if ever we become men (I mean <i>respectable</i> men, such +as other people are,) we must exert ourselves to the full. For +remember, that it is the greatest desire and object of the greater +part of the whites, to keep us ignorant, and make us work to support +them and their families.—Here now, in the Southern and Western +Sections of this country, there are at least three coloured persons +for one white, why is it, that those few weak, good-for-nothing +whites, are able to keep so many able men, one of whom, can put to +flight a dozen whites, in wretchedness and misery? It shows at once, +what the blacks are, we are ignorant, abject, servile, and mean—and +the whites know it—they know that we are too servile to assert our +rights as men—or they would not fool with us as they do. Would they +fool with any other people as they do with us? No, they know too well +that they would get themselves ruined. Why do they not bring the +inhabitants of Asia to be body servants to them? They know they would +get their bodies rent and torn from head to foot. Why do they not get +the Aboriginies of this country to be slaves to them and their +children, to work their farms and dig their mines? They know well that +the Aboriginies of this country, (or Indians) would tear them from the +earth. The Indians would not rest day or night, they would be up all +times of night, cutting their cruel throats. But my colour, (some, not +all,) are willing to stand still and be murdered by the cruel whites. +In some of the West-India Islands, and over a large part of South +America, there are six or eight coloured persons for one +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page75" id="page75"></a>[pg 75]</span> +white. Why +do they not take possession of those places? Who hinders them? it is +not the avaricious whites—for they are too busily engaged in laying +up money—derived from the blood and tears of the blacks. The fact is +they are too servile, they love to have Masters too well!!!!!! Some of +our brethren, too, who seeking more after self aggrandizement, than +the glory of God, and the welfare of their brethren, join in with our +oppressors, to ridicule and say all manner of evils falsely against +our Bishop. They think, that they are doing great things, when they +get in company with the whites, to ridicule and make sport of those +who are labouring for their good. Poor ignorant creatures, they do not +know that the sole aim and object of the whites, are only to make +fools and slaves of them and put the whip to them, and make them work +to support them and their families. But I do say, that no man can well +be a despiser of Bishop Allen, for his public labors among us, unless +he is a despiser of God and Righteousness. Thus, we see, my brethren, +the two very opposite positions of those great men, who have written +respecting this "Colonizing Plan," (Mr. Clay and his slave holding +party,) men who are resolved to keep us in eternal wretchedness, are +also bent upon sending us to Liberia. While the Reverend Bishop Allen, +and his party, men who have the fear of God, and the welfare of their +brethren at heart. The Bishop in particular, whose labors for the +salvation of his brethren, are well known to a large part of those, +who dwell in the United States, are completely opposed to the +plan—and advise us to stay where we are. Now we have to determine +whose advice we will take respecting this all important matter, +whether we will adhere to Mr. Clay and his slave-holding party, who +have always been our oppressors and murderers, and who are for +colonizing us, more through apprehension than humanity, or to this +godly man who has done so much for our benefit, together with the +advice of all the good and wise +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page76" id="page76"></a>[pg 76]</span> +among us and the whites. Will any of +us leave our homes and go to Africa? I hope not.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> Let them commence +their attack upon us as they did on our brethren in Ohio, driving and +beating us from our country, and my soul for theirs, they will have +enough of it. Let no man of us budge one step, and let slave-holders +come to beat us from our country. America is more our country, than it +is the whites—we have enriched it with our <i>blood and tears</i>. The +greatest riches in all America have arisen from our blood and +tears:—and will they drive us from our property and homes, which we +have earned with our <i>blood</i>? They must look sharp or this very thing +will bring swift destruction upon them. The Americans have got so fat +upon our blood and groans, that they have almost forgotten the God of +armies. But let them go on.</p> + +<p>How cunning slave-holders think they are!!!!—How much like the king +of Egypt, who after he saw plainly that God was determined to bring +out his people, in spite of him and his, as powerful as they were. He +was willing that Moses, Aaron and the Elders of Israel, but not all +the people should go and serve the Lord. But God deceived him as he +will christian Americans, unless they are very cautious how they move. +What would have become of the United States of America, was it not for +those among the whites, who not in words barely, but in truth and in +deed, love and fear the Lord Our Lord and Master said:—<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> + +<blockquote><p>"Whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe +in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged +about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depths of +the sea."</p></blockquote> + +<p>But the Americans with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page77" id="page77"></a>[pg 77]</span> +this very threatening of the Lord's, not only +beat his little ones among the Africans, but many of them they put to +death or murder. Now the avaricious Americans think that the Lord +Jesus Christ will let them off, because his words are no more than the +words of a man! In fact, many of them are so avaricious and ignorant +that they do not believe in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Tyrants +may think they are so skilful in State affairs is the reason that the +government is preserved. But I tell you, that this country would have +been given up long ago, was it not for the lovers of the Lord. They +are indeed, the salt of the earth. Remove the people of God among the +whites, from this land of blood, and it will stand until they cleverly +get out of the way. I adopt the language of the Rev. S.E. Cornish, of +N. York, editor of the Rights of All, and say:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Any colored man of common intelligence who gives his +countenance and influence to that colony further than its +missionary object and interest extend, should be considered +as a traitor to his brethren, and discarded by every +respectable man of colour: and every member of that society, +however pure his motive, whatever may be his religious +character and moral worth, should in his efforts to remove +the coloured population from their rightful soil, the land +of their birth and nativity, be considered as acting +gratuitously unrighteous and cruel."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Let me make an appeal brethren, to your hearts, for your cordial +co-operation in the circulation of "The Rights of All," among us. The +utility of such a vehicle, if rightly conducted, cannot be estimated. +I hope that the well informed among us, may see the absolute necessity +of their co-operation in its universal spread among us. If we should +let it go down, never let us undertake any thing of the kind again, +but give up at once and say that we are really so ignorant and +wretched that we cannot do any thing at all! As far as I have seen the +writings of its editor, I believe he is not seeking to fill his +pockets with money, but has the welfare +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page78" id="page78"></a>[pg 78]</span> +of his brethren truly at +heart. Such men, brethren, ought to be supported by us.</p> + +<p>But to return to the colonizing trick. It will be well for me to +notice here at once, that I do not mean indiscriminately to condemn +all the members and advocates of this scheme, for I believe that there +are some friends to the sons of Africa, who are laboring for our +salvation, not in words only but in truth and in deed, who have been +drawn into this plan. Some, more by persuasion than any thing else; +while others, with humane feelings and lively zeal for our good, +seeing how much we suffer from the afflictions poured upon us by +unmerciful tyrants, are willing to enroll their names in any thing +which they think has for its ultimate end our redemption from +wretchedness and miseries; such men, with a heart truly overflowing +with gratitude for their past services and zeal in our cause, I humbly +beg to examine this plot minutely, and see if the end which they have +in view will be completely consummated by such a course of procedure. +Our friends who have been imperceptibly drawn into this plot I view +with tenderness, and would not for the world injure their feelings, +and I have only to hope for the future, that they will withdraw +themselves from it; for I declare to them, that the plot is not for +the glory of God, but on the contrary the perpetuation of slavery in +this country, which will ruin them and the country forever, unless +something is immediately done.</p> + +<p>Do the colonizationists think to send us off without first being +reconciled to us? Do they think to bundle us up like brutes and send +us off, as they did our brethren of the State of Ohio? Have they not +to be reconciled to us, or reconcile us to them, for the cruelties +with which they have afflicted our fathers and us? Methinks +colonizationists think they have a set of brutes to deal with, sure +enough. Do they think to drive us from our country and homes, after +having enriched it with our blood and tears, and keep back millions of +our dear brethren, sunk in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page79" id="page79"></a>[pg 79]</span> +most barbarous wretchedness, to dig up +gold and silver for them and their children? Surely, the Americans +must think that we are brutes, as some of them have represented us to +be. They think that we do not feel for our brethren, whom they are +murdering by the inches, but they are dreadfully deceived. I +acknowledge that there are some deceitful and hypocritical wretches +among us, who will tell us one thing while they mean another, and thus +they go on aiding our enemies to oppress themselves and us. But I +declare this day before my Lord and Master, that I believe there are +some true-hearted sons of Africa, in this land of oppression, but +pretended <i>liberty!!!!!</i>—who do in reality feel for their suffering +brethren, who are held in bondage by tyrants. Some of the advocates of +this cunningly devised plot of Satan represent us to be the greatest +set of cut throats in the world, as though God, wants, us to take his +work out of his hand before he is ready. Does not vengeance belong to +the Lord? Is he not able to repay the Americans for their cruelties, +with which they have afflicted Africa's sons and daughters, without +our interference, unless we are ordered? Is it surprising to think +that the Americans, having the bible in their hands, do not believe +it. Are not the hearts of all men in the hands of the God of battles? +And does he not suffer some, in consequence of cruelties, to go on +until they are irrecoverably lost? Now, what can be more aggravating, +than for the Americans, after having treated us so bad, to hold us up +to the world as such great throat cutters? It appears to me as though +they are resolved to assail us with every species of affliction that +their ingenuity can invent. (☞ See the African Repository and +Colonial Journal, from its commencement to the present day—see how we +are, through the medium of that periodical, abused and held up by the +Americans, as the greatest nuisance to society, and throat-cutters +in the world.) But the Lord sees their actions. Americans! +notwithstanding you have and do continue to treat us more cruel +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page80" id="page80"></a>[pg 80]</span> +than +any heathen nation ever did a people it had subjected to the same +condition that you have us. Now let us reason—I mean you of the +United States, whom I believe God designs to save from destruction, if +you will hear. For I declare to you, whether you believe it or not, +that there are some on the continent of America, who will never be +able to repent. God will surely destroy them, to show you his +disapprobation of the murders they and you have inflicted on us. I +say, let us reason; had you not better take our body, while you have +it in your power, and while we are yet ignorant and wretched, not +knowing but a little, give us education, and teach us the pure +religion of our Lord and Master, which is calculated to make the lion +lay down in peace with the lamb, and which millions of you have beaten +us nearly to death for trying to obtain since we have been among you, +and thus, at once, gain our affection, while we are ignorant? Remember +Americans, that we must and shall be free, and enlightened as you are, +will you wait until we shall, under God, obtain our liberty by the +crushing arm of power? Will it not be dreadful for you? I speak +Americans for your good. We must and shall be free I say, in spite of +you. You may do your best to keep us in wretchedness and misery, to +enrich you and your children but God will deliver us from under you. +And wo, wo, will be to you if we have to obtain our freedom by +fighting. Throw away your fears and prejudices then, and enlighten us +and treat us like men, and we will like you more than we do now hate +you,<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> and tell us now no more about colonization, for America is as +much our country, as it is yours.—Treat us like men, and there is no +danger but we will all live in peace and happiness together. For we +are not like you, hard hearted, unmerciful, and unforgiving. What a +happy country this will be, if the whites will listen. What nation +under heaven, will be able to do any thing with us, unless God gives + +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page81" id="page81"></a>[pg 81]</span> +us up into his hand? But Americans, I declare to you, while you keep +us and our children in bondage, and treat us like brutes, to make us +support you and your families, we cannot be your friends. You do not +look for it, do you? Treat us then like men, and we will be your +friends. And there is not a doubt in my mind, but that the whole of +the past will be sunk into oblivion, and we yet, under God, will +become a united and happy people. The whites may say it is impossible, +but remember that nothing is impossible with God.</p> + +<p>The Americans may say or do as they please, but they have to raise us +from the condition of brutes to that of respectable men, and to make a +national acknowledgement to us for the wrongs they have inflicted on +us. As unexpected, strange, and wild as these propositions may to some +appear, it is no less a fact, that unless they are complied with, the +Americans of the United States, though they may for a little while +escape, God will yet weigh them in a balance, and if they are not +superior to other men, as they have represented themselves to be, he +will give them wretchedness to their very heart's content.</p> + +<p>And now brethren, having concluded these four Articles, I submit them, +together with my Preamble, dedicated to the Lord for your inspection, +in language so very simple, that the most ignorant, who can read at +all, may easily understand—of which you may make the best you +possibly can.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> Should +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page82" id="page82"></a>[pg 82]</span> +tyrants take it into their heads to +emancipate any of you, remember that your freedom is your natural +right. You are men, as well as they, and instead of returning thanks +to them for your freedom, return it to the Holy Ghost, who is your +rightful owner. If they do not want to part with your labours, which +have enriched them, let them keep you, and my word for it, that God +Almighty, will break their strong band. Do you believe this my +brethren?—See my Address delivered before the General Coloured +Association of Massachusetts, which may be found in Freedom's Journal, +for Dec. 20, 1828.—See the last clause of that Address. Whether you +believe it or not, I tell you that God will dash tyrants, in +combination with devils, into atoms, and will bring you out from your +wretchedness and miseries, under these <i>Christian People!!!!!!</i></p> + +<p>Those philanthropists and lovers of the human family, who have +volunteered their services for our redemption from wretchedness, have +a high claim on our gratitude, and we should always view them as our +greatest earthly benefactors.</p> + +<p>If any are anxious to ascertain who I am, know the world, that I am +one of the oppressed, degraded and wretched sons of Africa, rendered +so by the avaricious and unmerciful, among the whites.—If any wish to +plunge me into the wretched incapacity of a slave, or murder me for +the truth, know ye, that I am in the hand of God, and at your +disposal. I count my life not dear unto me, but I am ready to be +offered at any moment. For what is the use of living when in fact I am +dead. But remember, Americans, that as miserable, wretched, degraded +and abject as you have made us in preceding, and in this generation, +to support you and your families, that some of you (whites) on the +continent of America, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page83" id="page83"></a>[pg 83]</span> +will yet curse the day that you ever were born. +You want slaves, and want us for your slaves!!! My colour will yet, +root some of you out of the very face of the earth!!!!!! You may doubt +it if you please. I know that thousands will doubt—they think they +have us so well secured in wretchedness, to them and their children, +that it is impossible for such things to occur. So did the +antideluvians doubt Noah, until the day in which the flood came and +swept them away. So did the Sodomites doubt, until Lot had got out of +the City, and God rained down fire and brimstone from heaven, upon +them and burnt them up. So did the king of Egypt doubt the very +existence of a God, he said, "who is the Lord, that I should let +Israel go?" Did he not find to his sorrow, who the Lord was, when he +and all his mighty men of war, were smothered to death in the Red +Sea?—So did the Romans doubt, many of them were really so ignorant, +that they thought the world of mankind were made to be slaves to them; +just as many of the Americans think now, of my colour.—But they got +dreadfully deceived. When men got their eyes opened, they made the +murderers scamper. The way in which they cut their tyrannical throats, +was not much inferior to the way the Romans or murderers, served them, +when they held them in wretchedness and degradation under their feet. +So would Christian Americans doubt, if God should send an Angel from +heaven to preach their funeral sermon. The fact is, the Christians +having a name to live, while they are dead, think that God will screen +them on that ground.</p> + +<p>See the hundreds and thousands of us that are thrown into the seas by +Christians, and murdered by them in other ways. They cram us into +their vessel holds in chains and in hand-cuffs—men, women and +children, all together!! O! save us, we pray thee, thou God of heaven +and of earth, from the devouring hands of the white Christians!!!!!!</p><p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page84" id="page84"></a>[pg 84]</span> +</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Oh! thou Alpha and Omega!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The beginning and the end,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Enthron'd thou art, in Heaven above,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Surrounded by angels there:<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">From whence thou seest the miseries<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To which we are subject;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The whites have murder'd us, O God!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And kept us ignorant of thee.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Not satisfied with this, my Lord!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They throw us in the seas:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Be pleas'd, we pray, for Jesus' sake,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To save us from their grasp.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">We believe that, for thy glory's sake,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thou wilt deliver us;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But that thou may'st effect these things,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thy glory must be sought.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<hr class="short" /> + +<p>In conclusion, I ask the candid and unprejudiced of the whole world, +to search the pages of historians diligently, and see if the +Antediluvians—the Sodomites—the Egyptians—the Babylonians—the +Ninevites—the Carthagenians—the Persians—the Macedonians—the +Greeks—the Romans—the Mahometans—the Jews—or devils, ever treated +a set of human beings, as the white Christians of America do us, the +blacks, or Africans.—I also ask the attention of the world of mankind +to the declaration of these very American people, of the United +States.</p> + +<hr class="tiny" /> + +<p class="center"><i>A Declaration made July 4, 1776.</i></p> + +<p>It says,<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> + +<blockquote><p>"When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary +for one people to dissolve the political bands which have +connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers +of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the +laws of nature and of nature's God entitle +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page85" id="page85"></a>[pg 85]</span> +them, a decent +respect for the opinions of mankind requires that they +should declare the causes which impel them to the +separation. We hold these truths to be self evident, that +all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their +Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these +are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to +secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, +deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; +that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of +these ends it is the right of the people to alter or to +abolish it, and to institute a new government laying its +foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in +such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their +safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that +governments long established should not be changed for light +and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath +shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils +are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the +forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of +abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, +evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it +is their right, it is their duty to throw off such +government, and to provide new guards for their future +security."</p></blockquote> + +<p>See your declaration, Americans!! Do you understand your own language? +Hear your language, proclaimed to the world, July 4, 1776—</p> + +<blockquote><p>☞ "We hold these truths to be self evident—that +<i>ALL</i> <b><span class="smcap">MEN are created EQUAL!</span></b> <i>that they are +endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; +that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of +happiness!!</i>"</p></blockquote> + +<p>Compare your own language above, extracted from your Declaration of +Independence, with your cruelties and murders inflicted by your cruel +and unmerciful fathers on ourselves on our fathers and on us, men who +have +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page86" id="page86"></a>[pg 86]</span> +never given your fathers or you the least provocation!!!</p> + +<p>Hear your language further!</p> + +<blockquote><p>☞ "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, +pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to +reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their <i>right</i>, +it is their <i>duty</i>, to throw off such government, and to +provide new guards for their future security."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Now, Americans! I ask you candidly, was your sufferings under Great +Britain one hundredth part as cruel and tyrannical as you have +rendered ours under you? Some of you, no doubt, believe that we will +never throw off your murderous government, and "provide new guards for +our future security." If Satan has made you believe it, will he not +deceive you?<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> Do the whites say, I being a black man, ought to be +humble, which I readily admit? I ask them, ought they not to be as +humble as I? or do they think they can measure arms with Jehovah? Will +not the Lord yet humble them? or will not these very coloured people, +whom they now treat worse than brutes, yet under God, humble them low +down enough? Some of the whites are ignorant enough to tell us, that +we ought to be submissive to them, that they may keep their feet on +our throats. And if we do not submit to be beaten to death by them, we +are bad creatures and of course must be damned, &c. If any man wishes +to hear this doctrine openly preached to us by the American preachers, +let him go into the Southern and Western sections of this country—I +do not speak from hearsay—what I have written, is what I have seen +and heard myself. No man may think that my book is made up of +conjecture—I have travelled and observed nearly the whole of those +things myself, and what little I did not get by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page87" id="page87"></a>[pg 87]</span> +my own observation, I +received from those among the whites and blacks, in whom the greatest +confidence may be placed.</p> + +<p>The Americans may be as vigilant as they please, but they cannot be +vigilant enough for the Lord, neither can they hide themselves, where +he will not find and bring them out.</p> + +<hr class="short" /> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">1 Thy presence why withdraw'st thou, Lord?<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Why hid'st thou now thy face,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">When dismal times of deep distress<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Call for thy wonted grace?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">2 The wicked, swell'd with lawless pride,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Have made the poor their prey;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">O let them fall by those designs<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Which they for others lay.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">3 For straight they triumph, if success<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Their thriving crimes attend;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And sordid wretches, whom God hates,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Perversely they commend.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">4 To own a pow'r above themselves<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Their haughty pride disdains;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And, therefore, in their stubborn mind<br /></span> +<span class="i4">No thought of God remains.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">5 Oppressive methods they pursue,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">And all their foes they slight;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Because thy judgements, unobserved,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Are far above their sight.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">6 They fondly think their prosp'rous state<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Shall unmolested be;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">They think their vain designs shall thrive,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">From all misfortune free.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">7 Vain and deceitful is their speech,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">With curses fill'd, and lies;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">By which the mischief of their heart<br /></span> +<span class="i4">They study to disguise.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">8 Near public roads they lie conceal'd,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">And all their art employ,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The innocent and poor at once<br /></span> +<span class="i4">To rifle and destroy.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">9 Not lions crouching in their dens,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Surprise their heedless prey<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With greater cunning, or express<br /></span> +<span class="i4">More savage rage than they.<br /></span><p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page88" id="page88"></a>[pg 88]</span> +</p> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">10 Sometimes they act the harmless man,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">And modest looks they wear;<br /></span> +<span class="i3">That so, deceiv'd, the poor may less<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Their sudden onset fear<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="heading">PART II.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">11 For God, they think, no notice takes<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Of their unrighteous deeds;<br /></span> +<span class="i3">He never minds the suff'ring poor,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Nor their oppression heeds.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">12 But thou, O Lord, at length arise,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Stretch forth thy mighty arm,<br /></span> +<span class="i3">And by the greatness of thy pow'r,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Defend the poor from harm.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">13 No longer let the wicked vaunt,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">And, proudly boasting, say,<br /></span> +<span class="i3">"Tush, God regards not what we do;<br /></span> +<span class="i6">He never will repay."—<i>Common Prayer Book.</i><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<hr class="short" /> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">1 Shall I for fear of feeble man,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The Spirit's coarse in me restrain?<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Or, undismay'd in deed and word.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Be a true witness of my Lord.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">2 Aw'd by mortal's frown shall I<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Conceal the word of God Most High!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">How then before thee shall I dare<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To stand, or how thine anger bear?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">3 Shall I, to sooth th' unholy throng,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Soften the troth, or smooth my tongue,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To gain earth's gilded toys, or flee<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The cross endur'd, my Lord, by thee?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">4 What then is he whose scorn I dread?<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Whose wrath or hate makes me afraid<br /></span> +<span class="i2">A man! an heir of death! a slave<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To sin! a bubble on the wave!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">5 Yea, let men rage: since thou wilt spread<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Thy shadowing wings around my head:<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Since in all pain thy tender love<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Will still my sure refreshment prove.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i14"><i>Wesley's Collection.</i><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> See Dr. Torrey's Portraiture of Domestic Slavery in the +United States, page 85-86.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Among the English, our real friends and benefactors.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> In the first edition of this work, it should read 1816, +as above, and not 1826, as it there appears.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> "Niger" is a word derived from the Latin, which was used +by the old Romans to designate inanimate beings which were black, such +as soot, pot, wood, house, &c. Also, of animals which they considered +inferior to the human species, as a black horse, cow, hog, bird, dog, +&c. The white Americans have applied this term to Africans, by way of +reproach for our color, to aggravate and heighten our miseries, +because they have their feet on our throats, and we cannot help +ourselves.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> See Freedom's Journal for Nov. 2d, 1827—vol. 1, No. +34.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> I mean those whose labors for the good, or rather +destruction of Jerusalem, and the Jews. Ceased before our Lord entered +the Temple, and over turned the tables of the Money Changers.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> How many millions souls of the human family have the +blacks, beat nearly to death, to keep them from learning to read the +Word of God and from writing. And telling lies about them, by holding +them up to the world as a tribe of TALKING APES, void of <i>intellect!!! +incapable</i> of LEARNING, &c.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> And still hold us up with indignity as being incapable +of acquiring knowledge!!! See the inconsistency of the assertions of +those wretches—they beat us inhumanly, sometimes almost to death, for +attempting to inform ourselves, by reading the <i>Word</i> of our Maker, +and at the same time tell us, that we are beings <i>void of +intellect!!!!!</i> How admirably their practices agree with their +professions in this case. Let me cry shame upon you Americans, for +such outrages upon human nature!!! If it were possible for the whites +always to keep us ignorant and miserable, and make us work to enrich +them and their children, and insult our feelings by representing us as +<i>talking Apes</i>, what would they do? But glory honour and praise to +Heaven's King, that the sons and daughters of Africa, will, in spite +of all the opposition of their enemies, stand forth in all the dignity +and glory that is granted by the Lord to his creature man.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Those who are ignorant enough to go to Africa, the +coloured people ought to be glad to have them go, for if they are +ignorant enough to let the whites <i>fool</i> them off to Africa, they +would be no small injury to us if they reside in this country.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> See St. Mathew's Gospel, chap, xviii. v. 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> You are not astonished at my saying we hate you, for if +we are men, we cannot but hate you, while you are treating us like +dogs.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Some of my brethren, who are sensible, do not take an +interest in enlightening the minds of our more ignorant brethren +respecting this <i>Book</i>, and in reading it to them, just as though they +will not have either to rise or fall by what is written in this book. +Do they believe that I would be so foolish as to put out a book of +this kind, without strict—ah! very strict commandments of the +Lord!—Surely the blacks and whites must think that I am ignorant +enough. Do they think that I would have the audacious wickedness to +take the name of my God in vain? +</p><p> +Notice, I said in the concluding clause of Article 3—I call God, I +call Angels, I call men to witness, that the destruction of the +Americans is at hand, and will be speedily consumated unless they +repent. Now I wonder if the world think that I would take the name of +God in this way in vain? What do they think I take God to be? Do they +suppose that I would trifle with that God who will not have his holy +name taken in vain?—He will show you and the world, in due time, +whether this book is for his glory, or written by me through envy to +the whites, as some have represented.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> See the Declaration of Independence of the United +States.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> The Lord has not taught the Americans that we will not +some day or other throw off their chains and hand-cuffs, from our +hands and feet, and their devilish lashes (which some of them shall +have enough of yet) from off our backs.</p></div></div> + +<br /> +<hr /> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page89" id="page89"></a>[pg 89]</span> +</p> + +<p> +<a name="ADDRESS_TO_THE_SLAVES_OF_THE_US" id="ADDRESS_TO_THE_SLAVES_OF_THE_US"></a> +</p> + +<p class="fm5">AN ADDRESS</p> +<p class="fm3 spaced">TO THE SLAVES OF THE UNITED<br /> +STATES OF AMERICA</p> +<p class="fm1">(REJECTED BY THE NATIONAL CONVENTION, 1843.)</p> +<p class="fm3">BY HENRY HIGHLAND GARNET.</p> + +<hr class="short" /> + +<p class="heading">PREFACE.</p> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p>The following Address was first read at the National Convention held +at Buffalo, N.Y., in 1843. Since that time it has been slightly +modified, retaining, however, all of its original doctrine. The +document elicited more discussion than any other paper that was ever +brought before that, or any other deliberative body of colored +persons, and their friends. Gentlemen who opposed the Address, based +their objections on these grounds. 1. That the document was war-like, +and encouraged insurrection; and 2. That if the Convention should +adopt it, that those delegates who lived near the borders of the slave +states, would not dare to return to their homes. The Address was +rejected by a small majority; and now in compliance with the earnest +request of many who heard it, and in conformity to the wishes of +numerous friends who are anxious to see it, the author now gives it to +the public, praying God that this little book may be borne on the four +winds of heaven, until the principles it contains shall be understood +and adopted by every slave in the Union.</p> + +<p class="author">H.H.G.</p> +<p>Troy, N.Y., April 15, 1848.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page90" id="page90"></a>[pg 90]</span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>ADDRESS TO THE SLAVES OF THE U.S.</h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">Brethren and Fellow Citizens:</span></p> + +<p>Your brethren of the north, east, and west have been accustomed to +meet together in National Conventions, to sympathize with each other, +and to weep over your unhappy condition. In these meetings we have +addressed all classes of the free, but we have never until this time, +sent a word of consolation and advice to you. We have been contented +in sitting still and mourning over your sorrows, earnestly hoping that +before this day, your sacred liberties would have been restored. But, +we have hoped in vain. Years have rolled on, and tens of thousands +have been borne on streams of blood, and tears, to the shores of +eternity. While you have been oppressed, we have also been partakers +with you; nor can we be free while you are enslaved. We therefore +write to you as being bound with you.</p> + +<p>Many of you are bound to us, not only by the ties of a common +humanity, but we are connected by the more tender relations of +parents, wives, husbands, children, brothers, and sisters, and +friends. As such we most affectionately address you.</p> + +<p>Slavery has fixed a deep gulf between you and us, and while it shuts +out from you the relief and consolation which your friends would +willingly render, it afflicts and persecutes you with a fierceness +which we might not expect to see in the fiends of hell. But still the +Almighty Father of Mercies has left to us a glimmering ray of hope, +which shines out like a lone star in a cloudy sky. Mankind are +becoming wiser, and better—the oppressor's power is fading, and you, +every day, are becoming better informed, and more numerous. Your +grievances, brethren, are many. We shall not attempt, in this short +address, to present to the world, all the dark catalogue of this +nation's sins, which have been committed upon an innocent people. Nor +is it indeed, necessary, for you feel them from day to day, and all +the civilized world look upon them with amazement.</p> + +<p>Two hundred and twenty-seven years ago, the first of our injured race +were brought to the shores of America. They came not with glad spirits +to select their homes, in the New World. They came not with their own +consent, to find an unmolested enjoyment of the blessings of this +fruitful soil. The first dealings which they had with those calling +themselves Christians, exhibited to them the worst features of corrupt +and sordid hearts; and convinced them that no cruelty is too great, no +villainy, and no robbery +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page91" id="page91"></a>[pg 91]</span> +too abhorrent for even enlightened men to +perform, when influenced by avarice, and lust. Neither did they come +flying upon the wings of Liberty, to a land of freedom. But, they came +with broken hearts, from their beloved native land, and were doomed to +unrequited toil, and deep degradation. Nor did the evil of their +bondage end at their emancipation by death. Succeeding generations +inherited their chains, and millions have come from eternity into +time, and have returned again to the world of spirits, cursed, and +ruined by American Slavery.</p> + +<p>The propagators of the system, or their immediate ancestors very soon +discovered its growing evil, and its tremendous wickedness, and secret +promises were made to destroy it. The gross inconsistency of a people +holding slaves, who had themselves "ferried o'er the wave," for +freedom's sake, was too apparent to be entirely overlooked. The voice +of Freedom cried, "emancipate your Slaves." Humanity supplicated with +tears, for the deliverance of the children of Africa. Wisdom urged her +solemn plea. The bleeding captive plead his innocence, and pointed to +Christianity who stood weeping at the cross. Jehovah frowned upon the +nefarious institution, and thunderbolts, red with vengeance, struggled +to leap forth to blast the guilty wretches who maintained it. But all +was vain. Slavery had stretched its dark wings of death over the land, +the Church stood silently by—the priests prophesied falsely, and the +people loved to have it so. Its throne is established, and now it +reigns triumphantly.</p> + +<p>Nearly three millions of your fellow citizens, are prohibited by law, +and public opinion, (which in this country is stronger than law), from +reading the Book of Life. Your intellect has been destroyed as much as +possible, and every ray of light they have attempted to shut out from +your minds. The oppressors themselves have become involved in the +ruin. They have become weak, sensual, and rapacious. They have cursed +you—they have cursed themselves—they have cursed the earth which +they have trod. In the language of a Southern statesman, we can truly +say, "even the wolf, driven back long since by the approach of man, +now returns after the lapse of a hundred years, and howls amid the +desolations of slavery."</p> + +<p>The colonists threw the blame upon England. They said that the mother +country entailed the evil upon them, and that they would rid +themselves of it if they could. The world thought they were sincere, +and the philanthropic pitied them. But time soon tested +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page92" id="page92"></a>[pg 92]</span> +their +sincerity. In a few years, the colonists grew strong and severed +themselves from the British Government. Their Independence was +declared, and they took their station among the sovereign powers of +the earth. The declaration was a glorious document. Sages admired it, +and the patriotic of every nation reverenced the Godlike sentiments +which it contained. When the power of Government returned to their +hands, did they emancipate the slaves? No; they rather added new links +to our chains. Were they ignorant of the principles of Liberty? +Certainly they were not. The sentiments of their revolutionary orators +fell in burning eloquence upon their hearts, and with one voice they +cried, <span class="smcap">Liberty or Death</span>. O, what a sentence was that! It ran +from soul to soul like electric fire, and nerved the arm of thousands +to fight in the holy cause of Freedom. Among the diversity of opinions +that are entertained in regard to physical resistance, there are but a +few found to gainsay that stern declaration. We are among those who do +not.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Slavery!</span> How much misery is comprehended in that single word. +What mind is there that does not shrink from its direful effects? +Unless the image of God is obliterated from the soul, all men cherish +the love of Liberty. The nice discerning political economist does not +regard the sacred right, more than the untutored African who roams in +the wilds of Congo. Nor has the one more right to the full enjoyment +of his freedom than the other. In every man's mind the good seeds of +liberty are planted, and he who brings his fellow down so low, as to +make him contented with a condition of slavery, commits the highest +crime against God and man. Brethren, your oppressors aim to do this. +They endeavor to make you as much like brutes as possible. When they +have blinded the eyes of your mind—when they have embittered the +sweet waters of life—when they have shut out the light which shines +from the word of God—then, and not till then has American slavery +done its perfect work.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">To such degradation it is sinful in the extreme for you to make +voluntary submission.</span> The divine commandments, you are in duty +bound to reverence, and obey. If you do not obey them you will surely +meet with the displeasure of the Almighty. He requires you to love him +supremely, and your neighbor as yourself—to keep the Sabbath day +holy—to search the Scriptures—and bring up your children with +respect for his laws, and to worship no other God but him. But slavery +sets all these at naught +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page93" id="page93"></a>[pg 93]</span> +and hurls defiance in the face of Jehovah. +The forlorn condition in which you are placed does not destroy your +moral obligation to God. You are not certain of Heaven, because you +suffer yourselves to remain in a state of slavery, where you cannot +obey the commandments of the Sovereign of the universe. If the +ignorance of slavery is a passport to heaven, then it is a blessing, +and no curse, and you should rather desire its perpetuity than its +abolition. God will not receive slavery, nor ignorance, nor any other +state of mind, for love, and obedience to him. Your condition does not +absolve you from your moral obligation. The diabolical injustice by +which your liberties are cloven down, <span class="smcap">neither God, nor angels, or +just men, command you to suffer for a single moment. Therefore it is +your solemn and imperative duty to use every means, both moral, +intellectual, and physical, that promise success.</span> If a band of +heathen men should attempt to enslave a race of Christians, and to +place their children under the influence of some false religion, +surely, heaven would frown upon the men who would not resist such +aggression, even to death. If, on the other hand, a band of Christians +should attempt to enslave a race of heathen men and to entail slavery +upon them, and to keep them in heathenism in the midst of +Christianity, the God of heaven would smile upon every effort which +the injured might make to disenthral themselves.</p> + +<p>Brethren, it is as wrong for your lordly oppressors to keep you in +slavery, as it was for the man thief to steal our ancestors from the +coast of Africa. You should therefore now use the same manner of +resistance, as would have been just in our ancestors, when the bloody +foot prints of the first remorseless soul thief was placed upon the +shores of our fatherland. The humblest peasant is as free in the sight +of God, as the proudest monarch that ever swayed a sceptre. Liberty is +a spirit sent out from God, and like its great Author, is no respecter +of persons.</p> + +<p>Brethren, the time has come when you must act for yourselves. It is an +old and true saying, that "if hereditary bondmen would be free, they +must themselves strike the blow." You can plead your own cause, and do +the work of emancipation better than any others. The nations of the +old world are moving in the great cause of universal freedom, and some +of them at least, will ere long, do you justice. The combined powers +of Europe have placed their broad seal of disapprobation upon the +African slave trade. But in the slave holding parts of the United +States, the trade is as brisk as ever. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page94" id="page94"></a>[pg 94]</span> + They buy and sell you as +though you were brute beasts. The North has done much—her opinion of +slavery in the abstract is known. But in regard to the South, we adopt +the opinion of the New York Evangelist—"We have advanced so far, that +the cause apparently waits for a more effectual door to be thrown open +than has been yet." We are about to point you to that more effectual +door. Look around you, and behold the bosoms of your loving wives, +heaving with untold agonies! Hear the cries of your poor children! +Remember the stripes your fathers bore. Think of the torture and +disgrace of your noble mothers. Think of your wretched sisters, loving +virtue and purity, as they are driven into concubinage, and are +exposed to the unbridled lusts of incarnate devils. Think of the +undying glory that hangs around the ancient name of Africa:—and +forget not that you are native-born American citizens, and as such, +you are justly entitled to all the rights that are granted to the +freest. Think how many tears you have poured out upon the soil which +you have cultivated with unrequited toil, and enriched with your +blood; and then go to your lordly enslavers, and tell them plainly, +that <span class="smcap">you are determined to be free</span>. Appeal to their sense of +justice, and tell them that they have no more right to oppress you, +than you have to enslave them. Entreat them to remove the grievous +burdens which they have imposed upon you, and to remunerate you for +your labor. Promise them renewed diligence in the cultivation of the +soil, if they will render to you an equivalent for your services. +Point them to the increase of happiness and prosperity in the British +West Indies, since the act of Emancipation. Tell them in language +which they cannot misunderstand, of the exceeding sinfulness of +slavery, and of a future judgment, and of the righteous retributions +of an indignant God. Inform them that all you desire, is +<span class="smcap">Freedom</span>, and that nothing else will suffice. Do this, and for +ever after cease to toil for the heartless tyrants, who give you no +other reward but stripes and abuse. If they then commence the work of +death, they, and not you, will be responsible for the consequences. +You had far better all die—<i>die immediately</i>, than live slaves, and +entail your wretchedness upon your posterity. If you would be free in +this generation, here is your only hope. However much you and all of +us may desire it, there is not much hope of Redemption without the +shedding of blood. If you must bleed, let it all come at once—rather, +<i>die freemen, than live to be slaves</i>. It is impossible, like the +children of Israel, to make a grand Exodus from the land of bondage. +<span class="smcap">The Pharaohs are on both sides of the blood-red +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page95" id="page95"></a>[pg 95]</span> +waters!</span> You +cannot remove en masse, to the dominions of the British Queen—nor can +you pass through Florida, and overrun Texas, and at last find peace in +Mexico. The propagators of American slavery are spending their blood +and treasure, that they may plant the black flag in the heart of +Mexico, and riot in the halls of the Montezumas. In the language of +the Rev. Robert Hall, when addressing the volunteers of Bristol, who +were rushing forth to repel the invasion of Napoleon, who threatened +to lay waste the fair homes of England, "Religion is too much +interested in your behalf, not to shed over you her most gracious +influences."</p> + +<p>You will not be compelled to spend much time in order to become inured +to hardships. From the first moment that you breathed the air of +heaven, you have been accustomed to nothing else but hardships. The +heroes of the American Revolution were never put upon harder fare, +than a peck of corn, and a few herrings per week. You have not become +enervated by the luxuries of life. Your sternest energies have been +beaten out upon the anvil of severe trial. Slavery has done this, to +make you subservient to its own purposes; but it has done more than +this, it has prepared you for any emergency. If you receive good +treatment, it is what you could hardly expect; if you meet with pain, +sorrow, and even death, these are the common lot of the slaves.</p> + +<p>Fellow-men! patient sufferers! behold your dearest rights crushed to +the earth! See your sons murdered, and your wives, mothers, and +sisters, doomed to prostitution! In the name of the merciful God! and +by all that life is worth, let it no longer be a debateable question, +whether it is better to choose <b>LIBERTY</b> or <b>DEATH</b>!</p> + +<p>In 1822, Denmark Veazie, of South Carolina, formed a plan for the +liberation of his fellow men. In the whole history of human efforts to +overthrow slavery, a more complicated and tremendous plan was never +formed. He was betrayed by the treachery of his own people, and died a +martyr to freedom. Many a brave hero fell, but History, faithful to +her high trust, will transcribe his name on the same monument with +Moses, Hampden, Tell, Bruce, and Wallace, Touissaint L'Overteur, +Lafayette and Washington. That tremendous movement shook the whole +empire of slavery. The guilty soul thieves were overwhelmed with fear. +It is a matter of fact, that at that time, and in consequence of the +threatened revolution, the slave states talked strongly of +emancipation. But they blew but one blast of the trumpet of freedom, +and then laid it aside. As these men became quiet, the slaveholders +ceased to talk about emancipation: and now, behold your condition +to-day! Angels sigh over it, and humanity has long since exhausted her +tears in weeping on your account!</p> + +<p>The patriotic Nathaniel Turner followed Denmark Veazie. He was goaded +to desperation by wrong and injustice. By Despotism, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page96" id="page96"></a>[pg 96]</span> +his name has +been recorded on the list of infamy, but future generations will +number him among the noble and brave.</p> + +<p>Next arose the immortal Joseph Cinque, the hero of the Amistad. He was +a native African, and by the help of God he emancipated a whole +ship-load of his fellow men on the high seas. And he now sings of +liberty on the sunny hills of Africa, and beneath his native palm +trees, where he hears the lion roar, and feels himself as free as that +king of the forest. Next arose Madison Washington, that bright star of +freedom, and took his station in the constellation of freedom. He was +a slave on board the brig Creole, of Richmond, bound to New Orleans, +that great slave mart, with a hundred and four others. Nineteen struck +for liberty or death. But one life was taken, and the whole were +emancipated, and the vessel was carried into Nassau, New Providence. +Noble men! Those who have fallen in freedom's conflict, their memories +will be cherished by the true hearted, and the God-fearing, in all +future generations; those who are living, their names are surrounded +by a halo of glory.</p> + +<p>We do not advise you to attempt a revolution with the sword, because +it would be <span class="smcap">inexpedient</span>. Your numbers are too small, and +moreover the rising spirit of the age, and the spirit of the gospel, +are opposed to war and bloodshed. But from this moment cease to labor +for tyrants who will not remunerate you. Let every slave throughout +the land do this, and the days of slavery are numbered. You cannot be +more oppressed than you have been—you cannot suffer greater cruelties +than you have already. <span class="smcap">Rather die freemen, than live to be +slaves.</span> Remember that you are <b>THREE MILLIONS</b>. +</p> + +<p>It is in your power so to torment the God-cursed slaveholders, that +they will be glad to let you go free. If the scale was turned, and +black men were the masters, and white men the slaves, every +destructive agent and element would be employed to lay the oppressor +low. Danger and death would hang over their heads day and night. Yes, +the tyrants would meet with plagues more terrible than those of +Pharaoh. But you are a patient people. You act as though you were made +for the special use of these devils. You act as though your daughters +were born to pamper the lusts of your masters and overseers. And worse +than all, you tamely submit, while your lords tear your wives from +your embraces, and defile them before your eyes. In the name of God we +ask, are you men? Where is the blood of your fathers? Has it all run +out of your veins? Awake, awake; millions of voices are calling you! +Your dead fathers speak to you from their graves. Heaven, as with a +voice of thunder, calls on you to arise from the dust.</p> + +<p>Let your motto be <span class="smcap"><b>resistance! resistance! resistance!</b></span>—No +oppressed people have ever secured their liberty without resistance. +What kind of resistance you had better make, you must decide by the +circumstances that surround you, and according to the suggestion of +expediency. Brethren, adieu. Trust in the living God. Labor for the +peace of the human race, and remember that you are three millions.</p><p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page97" id="page97"></a>[pg 97]</span> +</p> +<hr class="full" /> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Walker's Appeal, with a Brief Sketch +of His Life, by David Walker and Henry Highland Garnet + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WALKER'S APPEAL, WITH A *** + +***** This file should be named 16516-h.htm or 16516-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/5/1/16516/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Richard J. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Walker's Appeal, with a Brief Sketch of His Life + And Also Garnet's Address to the Slaves of the United States of America + +Author: David Walker and Henry Highland Garnet + +Release Date: August 12, 2005 [EBook #16516] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WALKER'S APPEAL, WITH A *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Richard J. Shiffer, and the PG +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +Transcriber's Note: This book includes several pointing hand symbols. +A hand pointing to the left is represented as [<-Hand] and a hand +pointing to the right is represented as [Hand->]. + + + + +WALKER'S APPEAL, + +WITH A BRIEF SKETCH OF HIS LIFE. + +BY + +HENRY HIGHLAND GARNET. + +AND ALSO + +GARNET'S ADDRESS + +TO THE SLAVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + + +NEW-YORK: +Printed by J.H. Tobitt, 9 Spruce st +1848. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +Such is the very high esteem which is entertained for the memory of +DAVID WALKER, and so general is the desire to preserve his +"Appeal," that the subscriber has undertaken, and performed the task +of re-publication, with a brief notice of his life, having procured +permission from his widow, Mrs. Dewson. + +The work is valuable, because it was among the first, and was actually +the boldest and most direct appeal in behalf of freedom, which was +made in the early part of the Anti-Slavery Reformation. When the +history of the emancipation of the bondmen of America shall be +written, whatever name shall be placed first on the list of heroes, +that of the author of the Appeal will not be second. + +_Troy, N.Y., April 12, 1848._ + + + + +A BRIEF SKETCH + +OF THE + +LIFE AND CHARACTER OF DAVID WALKER. + + +It is generally the desire of the reader of any intellectual +production, to know something of the character and the life of the +author. The character of _David Walker_ is indicated in his writings. +In regard to his life, but a few materials can be gathered; but what +is known of him, furnishes proof to the opinion which the friends of +man have formed of him--that he possessed a noble and a courageous +spirit, and that he was ardently attached to the cause of liberty. + +Mr. Walker was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, Sept. 28, 1785. His +mother was a free woman, and his father was a slave. His innate hatred +to slavery was very early developed. When yet a boy, he declared that +the slaveholding South was not the place for him. His soul became so +indignant at the wrongs which his father and his kindred bore, that he +determined to find some portion of his country where he would see less +to harrow up his soul. Said he, "If I remain in this bloody land, I +will not live long. As true as God reigns, I will be avenged for the +sorrow which my people have suffered. This is not the place for +me--no, no. I must leave this part of the country. It will be a great +trial for me to live on the same soil where so many men are in +slavery; certainly I cannot remain where I must hear their chains +continually, and where I must encounter the insults of their +hypocritical enslaver. Go, I must." + +The youthful Walker embraced his mother, and received a mother's +blessings, and turned his back upon North Carolina. His father died a +few months before his birth; and it is a remarkable coincidence, that +the son of the subject of this Memoir, was a posthumous child. + +After leaving home, David Walker travelled rapidly towards the North, +shaking off the dust of his feet, and breathing curses upon the system +of human slavery, America's darling institution. As might be expected, +he met with trials during his journey; and at last he reached Boston, +Mass., where he took up his permanent residence. There he applied +himself to study, and soon learned to read and write, in order that he +might contribute something to the cause of humanity. Mr. Walker, like +most of reformers, was a poor man--he lived poor, and died poor. + +In 1827 be entered into the clothing business in Brattle street, in +which he prospered; and had it not been for his great liberality and +hospitality, he would have become wealthy. In 1828, he married Miss +Eliza ----. He was emphatically a self-made man, and he spent all his +leisure moments in the cultivation of his mind. Before the +Anti-Slavery Reformation had assumed a form, he was ardently engaged +in the work. His hands were always open to contribute to the wants of +the fugitive. His house was the shelter and the home of the poor and +needy. Mr. Walker is known principally by his "APPEAL," but it was in +his private walks, and by his unceasing labors in the cause of +freedom, that he has made his memory sacred. + +With an overflowing heart, he published his "Appeal" in 1829. This +little book produced more commotion among slaveholders than any volume +of its size that was ever issued from an American press. They saw that +it was a bold attack upon their idolatry, and that too by a black man +who once lived among them. It was merely a smooth stone which this +David took up, yet it terrified a host of Goliaths. When the fame of +this book reached the South, the poor, cowardly, pusillanimous +tyrants, grew pale behind their cotton bags, and armed themselves to +the teeth. They set watches to look after their happy and contented +slaves. The Governor of GEORGIA wrote to the Hon. Harrison Grey Otis, +the Mayor of Boston, requesting him to suppress the Appeal. His Honor +replied to the Southern Censor, that he had no power nor disposition +to hinder Mr. Walker from pursuing a lawful course in the utterance of +his thoughts. A company of Georgia men then bound themselves by an +oath, that they would eat as little as possible until they had killed +the youthful author. They also offered a reward of a thousand dollars +for his head, and ten times as much for the live Walker. His consort, +with the solicitude of an affectionate wife, together with some +friends, advised him to go to Canada, lest he should be abducted. +Walker said that he had nothing to fear from such a pack of coward +blood-hounds; but if he did go, he would hurl back such thunder across +the great lakes, that would cause them to tremble in their strong +holds. Said he, "I will stand my ground. _Somebody must die in this +cause._ I may be doomed to the stake and the fire, or to the scaffold +tree, but it is not in me to falter if I can promote the work of +emancipation." He did not leave the country, but was soon laid in the +grave. It was the opinion of many that he was hurried out of life by +the means of poison, but whether this was the case or not, the writer +is not prepared to affirm. + +He had many enemies, and not a few were his brethren whose cause he +espoused. They said that he went too far, and was making trouble. So +the Jews spoke of Moses. They valued the flesh-pots of Egypt more than +the milk and honey of Canaan. He died 1830 in Bridge street, at the +hopeful and enthusiastic age of 34 years. His ruling passion blazed up +in the hour of death, and threw an indescribable grandeur over the +last dark scene. The heroic young man passed away without a struggle, +and a few weeping friends + + "Saw in death his eyelids close, + Calmly, as to a night's repose, + Like flowers at set of sun." + +The personal appearance of Mr. Walker was prepossessing, being six +feet in height, slender and well proportioned. His hair was loose, and +his complexion was dark. His son, the only child he left, is now 18 +years of age, and is said to resemble his father; he now resides at +Charlestown, Mass., with his mother, Mrs. Dewson. Mr. Walker was a +faithful member of the Methodist Church at Boston, whose pastor is the +venerable father Snowden. + +The reader thus has a brief notice of the life and character of David +Walker. + + + + +WALKER'S + +APPEAL, + +IN FOUR ARTICLES, + +TOGETHER WITH + +A PREAMBLE, + +TO THE + +COLORED CITIZENS OF THE WORLD, + +BUT IN PARTICULAR, AND VERY EXPRESSLY TO THOSE OF THE + +UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +_Written in Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, Sept. 28, 1829._ + + +SECOND EDITION, WITH CORRECTIONS, &c. + +BY DAVID WALKER. + +1830. + + + + +APPEAL. &c. + +PREAMBLE. + + +_My dearly beloved Brethren and Fellow Citizens:_ + +Having travelled over a considerable portion of these United States, +and having, in the course of my travels taken the most accurate +observations of things as they exist--the result of my observations +has warranted the full and unshakened conviction, that we, (colored +people of these United States) are the most degraded, wretched, and +abject set of beings that ever lived since the world began, and I pray +God, that none like us ever may live again until time shall be no +more. They tell us of the Israelites in Egypt, the Helots in Sparta, +and of the Roman Slaves, which last, were made up from almost every +nation under heaven, whose sufferings under those ancient and heathen +nations were, in comparison with ours, under this enlightened and +christian nation, no more than a cypher--or in other words, those +heathen nations of antiquity, had but little more among them than the +name and form of slavery, while wretchedness and endless miseries were +reserved, apparently in a phial, to be poured out upon our fathers, +ourselves and our children by _christian_ Americans! + +These positions, I shall endeavour, by the help of the Lord, to +demonstrate in the course of this _appeal_, to the satisfaction of the +most incredulous mind--and may God Almighty who is the father of our +Lord Jesus Christ, open your hearts to understand and believe the +truth. + +The _causes_, my brethren, which produce our wretchedness and +miseries, are so very numerous and aggravating, that I believe the pen +only of a Josephus or a Plutarch, can well enumerate and explain them. +Upon subjects, then, of such incomprehensible magnitude, so +impenetrable, and so notorious, I shall be obliged to omit a large +class of, and content myself with giving you an exposition of a few of +those, which do indeed rage to such an alarming pitch, that they +cannot but be a perpetual source of terror and dismay to every +reflecting mind. + +I am fully aware, in making this appeal to my much afflicted and +suffering brethren, that I shall not only be assailed by those whose +greatest earthly desires are, to keep us in abject ignorance and +wretchedness, and who are of the firm conviction that heaven has +designed us and our children to be slaves and _beasts of burden_ to +them and their children.--I say, I do not only expect to be held up to +the public as an ignorant, impudent and restless disturber of the +public peace, by such avaricious creatures, as well as a mover of +insubordination--and perhaps put in prison or to death, for giving a +superficial exposition of our miseries, and exposing tyrants. But I am +persuaded, that many of my brethren, particularly those who are +ignorantly in league with slave-holders or tyrants, who acquire their +daily bread by the blood and sweat of their more ignorant +brethren--and not a few of those too, who are too ignorant to see an +inch beyond their noses, will rise up and call me cursed--Yea, the +jealous ones among us will perhaps use more abject subtlety by +affirming that this work is not worth perusing; that we are well +situated and there is no use in trying to better our condition, for we +cannot. I will ask one question here.--Can our condition be any +worse?--Can it be more mean and abject? If there are any changes, will +they not be for the better, though they may appear for the worse at +first? Can they get us any lower? Where can they get us? They are +afraid to treat us worse, for they know well, the day they do it they +are gone. But against all accusations which may or can be preferred +against me, I appeal to heaven for my motive in writing--who knows +that my object is, if possible, to awaken in the breasts of my +afflicted, degraded and slumbering brethren, a spirit of enquiry and +investigation respecting our miseries and wretchedness in this +_Republican Land of Liberty!!!!!_ + +The sources from which our miseries are derived and on which I shall +comment, I shall not combine in one, but shall put them under distinct +heads and expose them in their turn; in doing which, keeping truth on +my side, and not departing from the strictest rules of morality, I +shall endeavor to penetrate, search out, and lay them open for your +inspection. If you cannot or will not profit by them, I shall have +done _my_ duty to you, my country and my God. + +And as the inhuman system of _slavery_, is the _source_ from which +most of our miseries proceed, I shall begin with that _curse to +nations_; which has spread terror and devastation through so many +nations of antiquity, and which is raging to such a pitch at the +present day in Spain and in Portugal. It had one tug in England, in +France, and in the United States of America; yet the inhabitants +thereof, do not learn wisdom, and erase it entirely from their +dwellings and from all with whom they have to do. The fact is, the +labor of slaves comes so cheap to the avaricious usurpers, and is (as +they think) of such great utility to the country where it exists, that +those who are actuated by sordid avarice only, overlook the evils, +which will as sure as the Lord lives, follow after the good. In fact, +they are so happy to keep in ignorance and degradation, and to receive +the homage and the labor of the slaves, they forget that God rules in +the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, having +his ears continually open to the cries, tears and groans of his +oppressed people; and being a just and holy Being will at one day +appear fully in behalf of the oppressed, and arrest the progress of +the avaricious oppressors; for although the destruction of the +oppressors God may not effect by the oppressed, yet the Lord our God +will bring other destructions upon them--for not unfrequently will he +cause them to rise up one against another, to be split and divided, +and to oppress each other, and sometimes to open hostilities with +sword in hand. Some may ask, what is the matter with this enlightened +and happy people?--Some say it is the cause of political usurpers, +tyrants, oppressors, &c. But has not the Lord an oppressed and +suffering people among them? Does the Lord condescend to hear their +cries and see their tears in consequence of oppression? Will he let +the oppressors rest comfortably and happy always? Will he not cause +the very children of the oppressors to rise up against them, and +oftimes put them to death? "God works in many ways his wonders to +perform." + +I will not here speak of the destructions which the Lord brought upon +Egypt, in consequence of the oppression and consequent groans of the +oppressed--of the hundreds and thousands of Egyptians whom God hurled +into the Red Sea for afflicting his people in their land--of the +Lord's suffering people in Sparta or Lacedemon, the land of the truly +famous Lycurgus--nor have I time to comment upon the cause which +produced the fierceness with which Sylla usurped the title, and +absolutely acted as dictator of the Roman people--the conspiracy of +Cataline--the conspiracy against, and murder of Caesar in the Senate +house--the spirit with which Marc Antony made himself master of the +commonwealth--his associating Octavius and Lipidus with himself in +power,--their dividing the provinces of Rome among themselves--their +attack and defeat on the plains of Phillipi the last defenders of +their liberty, (Brutus and Cassius)--the tyranny of Tiberius, and from +him to the final overthrow of Constantinople by the Turkish Sultan, +Mahomed II., A.D. 1453. I say, I shall not take up time to speak of +the _causes_ which produced so much wretchedness and massacre among +those heathen nations, for I am aware that you know too well, that God +is just, as well as merciful!--I shall call your attention a few +moments to that _christian_ nation, the Spaniards, while I shall leave +almost unnoticed that avaricious and cruel people, the Portuguese, +among whom all true hearted christians and lovers of Jesus Christ, +must evidently see the judgments of God displayed. To show the +judgments of God upon the Spaniards I shall occupy but little time, +leaving a plenty of room for the candid and unprejudiced to reflect. + +All persons who are acquainted with history, and particularly the +Bible, who are not blinded by the God of this world, and are not +actuated solely by avarice--who are able to lay aside prejudice long +enough to view candidly and impartially, things as they were, are, and +probably will be, who are willing to admit that God made man to serve +him _alone_, and that man should have no other Lord or Lords but +himself--that God Almighty is the _sole proprietor_ or _master_ of the +WHOLE human family, and will not on any consideration admit of a +colleague, being unwilling to divide his glory with another.--And who +can dispense with prejudice long enough to admit that we are men, +notwithstanding our _improminent noses_ and _woolly heads_, and +believe that we feel for our fathers, mothers, wives and children as +well as they do for theirs.--I say, all who are permitted to see and +believe these things, can easily recognize the judgments of God among +the Spaniards. Though others may lay the cause of the fierceness with +which they cut each other's throats, to some other circumstances, yet +they who believe that God is a God of justice, will believe that +SLAVERY _is the principal cause_. + +While the Spaniards are running about upon the field of battle cutting +each other's throats, has not the Lord an afflicted and suffering +people in the midst of them whose cries and groans in consequence of +oppression are continually pouring into the ears of the God of +justice? Would they not cease to cut each others throats if they +could? But how can they? The very support which they draw from +government to aid them in perpetrating such enormities, does it not +arise in a great degree from the wretched victims of oppression among +them? And yet they are calling for _Peace!--Peace!!_ Will any peace be +given unto them? Their destruction may indeed be procrastinated +awhile, but can it continue long while they are oppressing the Lord's +people? Has He not the hearts of all men in His hand? Will he suffer +one part of his creatures to go on oppressing another like brutes +always, with impunity? And yet those avaricious wretches are calling +for _Peace!!!!_ I declare it does appear to me, as though some nations +think God is asleep, or that he made the Africans for nothing else but +to dig their mines and work their farms, or they cannot believe +history, sacred or profane. I ask every man who has a heart and is +blessed with the privilege of believing--Is not God a God of justice +to all his creatures? Do you say he is? Then if he gives peace and +tranquility to tyrants, and permits them to keep our fathers, our +mothers, ourselves and our children in eternal ignorance and +wretchedness to support them and their families, would he be to us a +God of _justice_? I ask O ye _christians!!!_ who hold us and our +children, in the most abject ignorance and degradation, that ever a +people were afflicted with since the world began--I say, if God gives +you peace and tranquility, and suffers you thus to go on afflicting +us and our children, who have never given you the least +provocation,--Would he be to us _a God of justice_? If you will allow +that we are MEN, who feel for each other, does not the blood of our +fathers and of us their children, cry aloud to the Lord of Sabaoth +against you, for the cruelties and murders with which you have, and do +continue to afflict us. But it is time for me to close my remarks on +the suburbs, just to enter more fully into the interior of this system +of cruelty and oppression. + + + + +ARTICLE I. + +OUR WRETCHEDNESS IN CONSEQUENCE OF SLAVERY. + + +My beloved brethren: The Indians of North and of South America--the +Greeks--the Irish subjected under the king of Great Britain--the Jews +that ancient people of the Lord--the inhabitants of the islands of the +sea--in fine, all the inhabitants of the earth, (except however, the +sons of Africa) are called _men_, and of course are, and ought to be +free. But we, (coloured people) and our children are _brutes!!_ and of +course are and ought to be SLAVES to the American people and their +children forever! to dig their mines and work their farms; and thus go +on enriching them, from one generation to another with our blood and +our tears!! + +I promised in a preceding page to demonstrate to the satisfaction of +the most incredulous, that we, (colored people of these United States +of America) are the _most wretched, degraded_ and abject set of beings +that ever _lived_ since the world began, and that the white Americans +having reduced us to the wretched state of _slavery_, treat us in that +condition _more cruel_ (they being an enlightened and Christian +people) than any heathen nation did any people whom it had reduced to +our condition. These affirmations are so well confirmed in the minds +of all unprejudiced men who have taken the trouble to read histories, +that they need no elucidation from me. But to put them beyond all +doubt, I refer you in the first place to the children of Jacob, or of +Israel in Egypt, under Pharaoh and his people. Some of my brethren do +not know who Pharaoh and the Egyptians were--I know it to be a fact +that some of them take the Egyptians to have been a gang of _devils_, +not knowing any better, and that they (Egyptians) having got +possession of the Lord's people, treated them _nearly_ as cruel as +_christians Americans_ do us, at the present day. For the information +of such, I would only mention that the Egyptians, were Africans or +colored people, such as we are--some of them yellow and others dark--a +mixture of Ethiopians and the natives of Egypt--about the same as you +see the colored people of the United States at the present day,--I +say, I call your attention then, to the children of Jacob, while I +point out particularly to you his son Joseph among the rest, in Egypt. + + "And Pharaoh, said unto Joseph, thou shalt be over my house, + and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled; + only in the throne will I be greater than thou."[1] + + "And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, see, I have set thee over all + the land of Egypt."[2] + + "And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without + thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land + of Egypt."[3] + +Now I appeal to heaven and to earth, and particularly to the American +people themselves who cease not to declare that our condition is not +_hard_, and that we are comparatively satisfied to rest in +wretchedness and misery, under them and their children. Not, indeed, +to show me a colored President, a Governor, a Legislator, a Senator, a +Mayor, or an Attorney at the Bar.--But to show me a man of color, who +holds the low office of a Constable, or one who sits in a Juror Box, +even on a case of one of his wretched brethren, throughout this great +Republic!!--But let us pass Joseph the son of Israel a little further +in review, as he existed with that heathen nation. + + "And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he + gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest + of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt."[4] + +Compare the above, with the American institutions. Do they not +institute laws to prohibit us from marrying among the whites? I would +wish, candidly, however, before the Lord, to be understood, that I +would not give _a pinch of snuff_ to be married to any white person I +ever saw in all the days of my life. And I do say it, that the black +man, or man of color, who will leave his own color (provided he can +get one who is good for any thing) and marry a white woman, to be a +double slave to her just because she is _white_, ought to be treated +by her as he surely will be, viz; as a NIGER!!! It is not indeed what +I care about intermarriages with the whites, which induced me to pass +this subject in review; for the Lord knows, that there is a day coming +when they will be glad enough to get into the company of the blacks, +notwithstanding, we are, in this generation, levelled by them almost +on a level with the brute creation; and some of us they treat even +worse than they do the brutes that perish. I only made this extract to +show how much lower we are held, and how much more cruel we are +treated by the Americans, than were the children of Jacob, by the +Egyptians. We will notice the sufferings of Israel some further, under +_heathen Pharaoh_, compared with ours under the _enlightened +christians of America_. + + "And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, thy father and thy + brethren are come unto thee:" + + "The land of Egypt is before thee: in the best of the land + make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen + let them dwell; and if thou knowest any men of activity + among them, then make them rulers over my cattle."[5] + +I ask those people who treat us so _well_, Oh! I ask them, where is +the most barren spot of land which they have given unto us? Israel had +the most fertile land in all Egypt. Need I mention the very notorious +fact, that I have known a poor man of color, who labored night and +day, to acquire a little money, and having acquired it, he vested it +in a small piece of land, and got him a house erected thereon, and +having paid for the whole, he moved his family into it, where he was +suffered to remain but nine months, when he was cheated out of his +property by a white man, and driven out of door!--And is not this the +case generally? Can a man of color buy a piece of land and keep it +peaceably? Will not some white man try to get it from him even if it +is in a _mud hole_? I need not comment any farther on a subject, which +all, both black and white, will readily admit. But I must, really, +observe that in this very city, when a man of color dies, if he owned +any real estate it must generally fall into the hands of some white +person. The wife and children of the deceased may weep and lament if +they please, but the estate will be kept snug enough by its white +possessors. + +But to prove farther that the condition of the Israelites was better +under the Egyptians than ours is under the whites. I call upon the +professing christians, I call upon the philanthropist, I call upon the +very tyrant himself, to show me a page of history, either sacred or +profane, on which a verse can be found, which maintains, that the +Egyptians heaped the _insupportable insult_ upon the children of +Israel by telling them that they were not of the _human family_. Can +the whites deny this charge? Have they not, after having reduced us to +the deplorable condition of slaves under their feet, held us up as +descending originally from the tribes of _Monkeys_ or _Orang-Outangs_? +O! my God! I appeal to every man of feeling--is not this +insupportable? Is it not heaping the most gross insult upon our +miseries, because they have got us under their feet and we cannot help +ourselves? Oh! pity us we pray thee, Lord Jesus, Master.--Has Mr. +Jefferson declared to the world, that we are inferior to the whites, +both in the endowments of our bodies and of minds? It is indeed +surprising, that a man of such great learning, combined with such +excellent natural parts, should speak so of a set of men in chains. I +do not know what to compare it to, unless, like putting one wild deer +in an iron cage, where it will be secured, and hold another by the +side of the same, then let it go, and expect the one in the cage to +run as fast as the one at liberty. So far, my brethren, were the +Egyptians from heaping these insults upon their slaves, that Pharaoh's +daughter took Moses, a son of Israel, for her own, as will appear by +the following. + + "And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, [Moses' mother] take + this child away, and nurse it for me and I will pay thee thy + wages. And the woman took the child [Moses] and nursed it. + + "And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's + daughter and he became her son. And she called his name + Moses: and she said because I drew him out of the water."[6] + +In all probability, Moses would have become Prince Regent to the +throne, and no doubt, in process of time but he would have been seated +on the throne of Egypt. But he had rather suffer shame, with the +people of God, than to enjoy pleasures with that wicked people for a +season. O! that the colored people were long since of Moses' excellent +disposition, instead of courting favor with, and telling news and lies +to our _natural enemies_, against each other--aiding them to keep +their hellish chains of slavery upon us. Would we not long before this +time, have been respectable men, instead of such wretched victims of +oppression as we are? Would they be able to drag our mothers, our +fathers, our wives, our children and ourselves, around the world in +chains and hand-cuffs as they do, to dig up gold and silver for them +and theirs? This question, my brethren, I leave for you to digest; and +may God Almighty force it home to your hearts. Remember that unless +you are united, keeping your tongues within your teeth, you will be +afraid to trust your secrets to each other, and thus perpetuate our +miseries under the _christians!!!!!_ [Hand->] ADDITION,--Remember, +also to lay humble at the feet of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, +with prayers and fastings. Let our enemies go on with their +butcheries, and at once fill up their cup. Never make an attempt to +gain our freedom or _natural right_, from under our cruel oppressors +and murderers, until you see your way clear; when that hour arrives +and you move, be not afraid or dismayed; for be you assured that Jesus +Christ the king of heaven and of earth who is the God of justice and +of armies, will surely go before you. And those enemies who have for +hundreds of years stolen our _rights_, and kept us ignorant of Him and +His divine worship, he will remove. Millions of whom, are this day, so +ignorant and avaricious, that they cannot conceive how God can have an +attribute of justice, and show mercy to us because it pleased Him to +make us black--which color, Mr. Jefferson calls unfortunate!!!!!! As +though we are not as thankful to our God for having made us as it +pleased himself, as they (the whites) are for having made them white. +They think because they hold us in their infernal chains of slavery +that we wish to be white, or of their color--but they are dreadfully +deceived--we wish to be just as it pleased our Creator to have made +us, and no avaricious and unmerciful wretches, have any business to +make slaves of or hold us in slavery. How would they like for us to +make slaves of, or hold them in cruel slavery, and murder them as they +do us? But is Mr. Jefferson's assertion true? viz. "that it is +unfortunate for us that our Creator has been pleased to make us +black." We will not take his say so, for the fact. The world will have +an opportunity to see whether it is unfortunate for us, that our +Creator _has made us_ darker than the _whites_. + +Fear not the number and education of our _enemies_, against whom we +shall have to contend for our lawful right; guaranteed to us by our +Maker; for why should we be afraid, when God is, and will continue +(if we continue humble) to be on our side? + +The man who would not fight under our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, in +the glorious and heavenly cause of freedom and of God--to be delivered +from the most wretched, abject and servile slavery, that ever a people +was afflicted with since the foundation of the world, to the present +day--ought to be kept with all of his children or family, in slavery, +or in chains, to be butchered by his _cruel enemies_. [<-Hand] + +I saw a paragraph, a few years since, in a South Carolina paper, +which, speaking of the barbarity of the Turks it said: "The Turks are +the most barbarous people in the world--they treat the Greeks more +like _brutes_ than human beings." And in the same paper was an +advertisement, which said: "Eight well built Virginia and Maryland +_Negro fellows_ and four _wenches_ will positively be _sold_ this day +_to the highest bidder!_" And what astonished me still more was, to +see in this same _humane_ paper!! the cuts of three men, with clubs +and budgets on their backs, and an advertisement offering a +considerable sum of money for their apprehension and delivery. I +declare it is really so _funny_ to hear the Southerners and Westerners +of this country talk about _barbarity_, that it is positively, enough +to make a man _smile_. + +The sufferings of the Helots among the Spartans, were somewhat severe, +it is true, but to say that theirs were as severe as ours among the +Americans I do most strenuously deny--for instance, can any man show +me an article on a page of ancient history which specifies, that, the +Spartans chained, and hand-cuffed the Helots, and dragged them from +their wives and children, children from their parents, mothers from +their sucking babes, wives from their husbands, driving them from one +end of the country to the other? Notice the Spartans were heathens, +who lived long before our Divine Master made his appearance in the +flesh. Can Christian Americans deny these barbarous cruelties? Have +you not Americans, having subjected us under you, added to these +miseries, by insulting us in telling us to our face, because we are +helpless that we are not of the human family? I ask you, O! Americans, +I ask you, in the name of the Lord, can you deny these charges? Some +perhaps may deny, by saying, that they never thought or said that we +were not men. But do not actions speak louder than words?--have they +not made provisions for the Greeks, and Irish? Nations who have never +done the least thing for them, while _we_ who have enriched their +country with our blood and tears--have dug up gold and silver for them +and their children, from generation to generation, and are in more +miseries than any other people under heaven, are not seen, but by +comparatively a handful of the American people? There are indeed, more +ways to kill a dog besides choaking it to death with butter. Further. +The Spartans or Lacedemonians, had some frivolous pretext for +enslaving the Helots, for they (Helots) while being free inhabitants +of Sparta, stirred up an intestine commotion, and were by the Spartans +subdued, and made prisoners of war. Consequently they and their +children were condemned to perpetual slavery.[7] + +I have been for years troubling the pages of historians to find out +what our fathers have done to the _white Christians of America_, to +merit such condign punishment as they have inflicted on them, and do +continue to inflict on us their children. But I must aver, that my +researches have hitherto been to no effect. I have therefore come to +the immovable conclusion, that they (Americans) have, and do continue +to punish us for nothing else, but for enriching them and their +country. For I cannot conceive of any thing else. Nor will I ever +believe otherwise until the Lord shall convince me. + +The world knows, that slavery as it existed among the Romans, (which +was the primary cause of their destruction) was, comparatively +speaking, no more than a _cypher_, when compared with ours under the +Americans. Indeed, I should not have noticed the Roman slaves, had not +the very learned and penetrating Mr. Jefferson said, "When a master +was murdered, all his slaves in the same house or within hearing, were +condemned to death."[8]--Here let me ask Mr. Jefferson, (but he is +gone to answer at the bar of God, for the deeds done in his body while +living,) I therefore ask the whole American people, had I not rather +die, or be put to death than to be a slave to any tyrant, who takes +not only my own, but my wife and children's lives by the inches? Yea, +would I meet death with avidity far! far!! in preference to such +_servile submission_ to the murderous hands of tyrants. Mr. +Jefferson's very severe remarks on us have been so extensively argued +upon by men whose attainments in literature, I shall never be able to +reach, that I would not have meddled with it, were it not to solicit +each of my brethren, who has the spirit of a man, to buy a copy of Mr. +Jefferson's "Notes on Virginia," and put it in the hand of his son. +For let no one of us suppose that the refutations which have been +written by our white friends are enough--they are _whites_--we are +_blacks_. We, and the world wish to see the charges of Mr. Jefferson +refuted by the blacks _themselves_, according to their chance: for we +must remember that what the whites have written respecting this +subject, is other men's labors and did not emanate from the blacks. I +know well, that there are some talents and learning among the coloured +people of this country, which we have not a chance to develope, in +consequence of oppression; but our oppression ought not to hinder us +from acquiring all we can.--For we will have a chance to develope them +by and by. God will not suffer us, always to be oppressed. Our +sufferings will come to an _end_, in spite of all the Americans this +side of _eternity_. Then we will want all the learning and talents +among ourselves, and perhaps more, to govern ourselves.--"Every dog +must have its day," the American's is coming to an end. + +But let us review Mr. Jefferson's remarks respecting us some further. +Comparing our miserable fathers, with the learned philosophers of +Greece, he says: + + "Yet notwithstanding these and other discouraging + circumstances among the Romans, their slaves were often + their rarest artists. They excelled too in science, insomuch + as to be usually employed as tutors to their master's + children; Epictetus, Terence and Phaedrus, were slaves,--but + they were of the race of whites. It is not their _condition_ + then, but _nature_, which has produced the distinction."[9] + +See this, my brethren!! Do you believe that this assertion is +swallowed by millions of the whites? Do you know that Mr. Jefferson +was one of as great characters as ever lived among the whites? See his +writings for the world, and public labors for the United States of +America. Do you believe that the assertions of such a man, will pass +away into oblivion unobserved by this people and the world? If you do +you are much mistaken--See how the American people treat us--have we +souls in our bodies? are we men who have any spirits at all? I know +that there are many _swell-bellied_ fellows among us whose greatest +object is to fill their stomachs. Such I do not mean--I am after those +who know and feel, that we are MEN as well as other people; to them, I +say, that unless we try to refute Mr. Jefferson's arguments respecting +us, we will only establish them. + +But the slaves among the Romans. Every body who has read history, +knows, that as soon as a slave among the Romans obtained his freedom, +he could rise to the greatest eminence in the State, and there was no +law instituted to hinder a slave from buying his freedom. Have not the +Americans instituted laws to hinder us from obtaining our freedom. Do +any deny this charge? Read the laws of Virginia, North Carolina, &c. +Further: have not the Americans instituted laws to prohibit a man of +colour from obtaining and holding any office whatever, under the +government of the United States of America? Now, Mr. Jefferson tells +us that our condition is not so hard, as the slaves were under the +Romans!!!! + +It is time for me to bring this article to a close. But before I close +it, I must observe to my brethren that at the close of the first +Revolution in this country with Great Britain, there were but thirteen +States in the Union, now there are twenty-four, most of which are +slave-holding States, and the whites are dragging us around in chains +and hand-cuffs to their new States and Territories to work their mines +and farms, to enrich them and their children, and millions of them +believing firmly that we being a little darker than they, were made by +our creator to be an inheritance to them and their children +forever--the same as a parcel of _brutes_!! + +Are we MEN!!--I ask you, O my brethren! are we MEN? Did our creator +make us to be slaves to dust and ashes like ourselves? Are they not +dying worms as well as we? Have they not to make their appearance +before the tribunal of heaven, to answer for the deeds done in the +body, as well as we? Have we any other master but Jesus Christ alone? +Is he not their master as well as ours?--What right then, have we to +obey and call any other master, but Himself? How we could be so +_submissive_ to a gang of men, whom we cannot tell whether they are as +_good_ as ourselves or not, I never could conceive. However, this is +shut up with the Lord and we cannot precisely tell--but I declare, we +judge men by their works. + +The whites have always been an unjust, jealous unmerciful, avaricious +and blood thirsty set of beings, always seeking after power and +authority.--We view them all over the confederacy of Greece, where +they were first known to be any thing, (in consequence of education) +we see them there, cutting each other's throats--trying to subject +each other to wretchedness and misery, to effect which they used all +kinds of deceitful, unfair and unmerciful means. We view them next in +Rome, where the spirit of tyranny and deceit raged still higher.--We +view them in Gaul, Spain and in Britain--in fine, we view them all +over Europe, together with what were scattered about in Asia and +Africa, as heathens, and we see them acting more like devils than +accountable men. But some may ask, did not the blacks of Africa, and +the mulattoes of Asia, go on in the same way as did the whites of +Europe. I answer no--they never were half so avaricious, deceitful and +unmerciful as the whites, according to their knowledge. + +But we will leave the whites or Europeans as heathens and take a view +of them as Christians, in which capacity we see them as cruel, if not +more so than ever. In fact, take them as a body, they are ten times +more cruel avaricious and unmerciful than ever they were; for while +they were heathens they were bad enough it is true, but it is +positively a fact that they were not quite so audacious as to go and +take vessel loads of men, women and children, and in cold blood and +through devilishness, throw them into the sea, and murder them in all +kind of ways. While they were heathens, they were too ignorant for +such barbarity. But being Christians, enlightened and sensible, they +are completely prepared for such hellish cruelties. Now suppose God +were to give them more sense, what would they do. If it were possible +would they not _dethrone_ Jehovah and seat themselves upon his throne? +I therefore, in the name and fear of the Lord God of heaven and of +earth, divested of prejudice either on the side of my colour or that +of the whites, advance my suspicion of them, whether they are _as good +by nature_ as we are or not. Their actions, since they were known as a +people, have been the reverse, I do indeed suspect them, but this, as +I before observed, is shut up with the Lord, we cannot exactly tell, +it will be proved in succeeding generations.--The whites have had the +essence of the gospel as it was preached by my master and his +apostles--the Ethiopians have not, who are to have it in its meridian +splendor--the Lord will give it to them to their satisfaction. I hope +and pray my God, that they will make good use of it, that it may be +well with them. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] See Genesis, chap. xli. v. 40. + +[2] v. 41. + +[3] v. 44. + +[4] v. 45 + +[5] Genesis, chap. xlvii. v. 5, 6. + +[6] See Exodus, chap. ii. v. 9, 10. + +[7] See Dr. Goldsmith's History of Greece--page 9. See also Plutarch's +lives. The Helots subdued by Agis, king of Sparta. + +[8] See his notes on Virginia, page 210. + +[9] See his notes on Virginia, page 211. + + + + +ARTICLE II. + +OUR WRETCHEDNESS IN CONSEQUENCE OF IGNORANCE. + + +Ignorance, my brethren, is a mist, low down into the very dark and +almost impenetrable abyss of which, our fathers for many centuries +have been plunged. The christians, and enlightened of Europe, and some +of Asia, seeing the ignorance and consequent degradation of our +fathers, instead of trying to enlighten them, by teaching them that +religion and light with which God had blessed them, they have plunged +them into wretchedness ten thousand times more intolerable, than if +they had left them entirely to the Lord, and to add to their miseries, +deep down into which they have plunged them, tell them, that they are +an _inferior_ and _distinct race_ of beings, which they will be glad +enough to recall and swallow by and by. Fortune and misfortune, two +inseparable companions, lay rolled up in the wheel of events, which +have from the creation of the world, and will continue to take place +among men until God shall dash worlds together. + +When we take a retrospective view of the arts and sciences--the wise +legislators--The Pyramids, and other magnificent buildings--the +turning of the channel of the river Nile, by the sons of Africa or of +Ham, among whom learning originated, and was carried thence into +Greece, where it was improved upon and refined. Thence among the +Romans, and all over the then enlightened parts of the world, and it +has been enlightening the dark and benighted minds of men from then, +down to this day. I say, when I view retrospectively, the renown of +that once mighty people, the children of our great progenitor, I am +indeed cheered. Yea further, when I view that mighty son of Africa, +HANNIBAL, one of the greatest generals of antiquity, who defeated and +cut off so many thousands of the white Romans or murderers, and who +carried his victorious arms, to the very gate of Rome, and I give it +as my candid opinion, that had Carthage been well united and had given +him good support, he would have carried that cruel and barbarous city +by storm. But they were disunited, as the colored people are now, in +the United States of America, the reason our natural enemies are +enabled to keep their feet on our throats. + +Beloved brethren--here let me tell you, and believe it, that the Lord +our God, as true as he sits on his throne in heaven, and as true as +our Saviour died to redeem the world, will give you a Hannibal, and +when the Lord shall have raised him up, and given him to you for your +possession, O my suffering brethren! remember the divisions and +consequent sufferings of _Carthage_ and of _Hayti_. Read the history +particularly of Hayti, and see how they were butchered by the whites, +and do you take warning. The person whom God shall give you, give him +your support and let him go his length, and behold in him the +salvation of your God. God will indeed, deliver you through him from +your deplorable and wretched condition under the Christians of +America. I charge you this day before my God to lay no obstacle in his +way, but let him go. + +The whites want slaves, and want us for their slaves, but some of them +will curse the day they ever saw us. As true as the sun ever shine in +its meridian splendor, my colour will root some of them out of the +very face of the earth. They shall have enough of making slaves of, +and butchering, and murdering us in the manner which they have. No +doubt some may say that I write with a bad spirit, and that I being a +black, wish these things to occur. Whether I write with a bad or a +good spirit, I say if these things do not occur in their proper time, +it is because the world in which we live does not exist, and we are +deceived with regard to its existence. It is immaterial however to me, +who believe, or who refuse--though I should like to see the whites +repent peradventure God may have mercy on them, some however, have +gone so far that their cup must be filled. + +But what need have I to refer to antiquity, when Hayti, the glory of +the blacks and terror of tyrants, is enough to convince the most +avaricious and stupid of wretches--which is at this time, and I am +sorry to say it, plagued with that scourge of nations, the Catholic +religion; but I hope and pray God that she may yet rid herself of it, +and adopt in its stead the Protestant faith; also, I hope that she may +keep peace within her borders and be united, keeping a strict look out +for tyrants, for if they get the least chance to injure her, they will +avail themselves of it, as true as the Lord lives in heaven. But one +thing which gives me joy is, that they are men who would be cut off to +a man, before they would yield to the combined forces of the whole +world--in fact, if the whole world was combined against them, it could +not do any thing with them, unless the Lord delivers them up. + +Ignorance and treachery one against the other--a servile and abject +submission to the lash of tyrants, we see plainly, my brethren, are +not the natural elements of the blacks, as the Americans try to make +us believe; but these are misfortunes which God has suffered our +fathers to be enveloped in for many ages, no doubt in consequence of +their disobedience to their Maker, and which do, indeed, reign at this +time among us, almost to the destruction of all other principles: for +I must truly say, that ignorance, the mother of treachery and deceit, +gnaws into our very vitals. Ignorance, as it now exists among us, +produces a state of things, Oh my Lord! too horrible to present to the +world. Any man who is curious to see the full force of ignorance +developed among the colored people of the United States of America, +has only to go into the southern and western states of this +confederacy, where, if he is not a tyrant, but has the feelings of a +human being, who can feel for a fellow creature, he may see enough to +make his very heart bleed! He may see there, a son take his mother, +who bore almost the pains of death to give him birth, and by the +command of a tyrant, strip her as naked as she came into the world, +and apply the cow-hide to her, until she falls a victim to death in +the road! He may see a husband take his dear wife, not unfrequently in +a pregnant state, and perhaps far advanced, and beat her for an +unmerciful wretch, until his infant falls a lifeless lump at her feet! +Can the Americans escape God Almighty? If they do, can he be to us a +God of Justice? God is just, and I know it--for he has convinced me to +my satisfaction--I cannot doubt him. My observer may see fathers +beating their sons, mothers their daughters, and children their +parents, all to pacify the passions of unrelenting tyrants. He may +also, see them telling news and lies, making mischief one upon +another. These are some of the productions of ignorance, which he will +see practised among my dear brethren, who are held in unjust slavery +and wretchedness, by avaricious and unfeeling tyrants, to whom, and +their hellish deeds, I would suffer my life to be taken before I would +submit. And when my curious observer comes to take notice of those +who are said to be free (which assertion I deny) and who are making +some frivolous pretensions to common sense, he will see that branch of +ignorance among the slaves assuming a more cunning and deceitful +course of procedure. He may see some of my brethren in league with +tyrants, selling their own brethren into _hell upon earth_, not +dissimilar to the exhibitions in Africa but in a more secret, servile +and abject manner. Oh Heaven! I am full!!! I can hardly move my pen!!! +As I expect some one will try to put me to death, to strike terror +into others, and to obliterate from their minds the notion of freedom, +so as to keep my brethren the more secured in wretchedness where they +will be permitted to stay but a short time (whether tyrants believe it +or not,) I shall give the world a development of facts which are +already witnessed in the courts of heaven. My observer may see some of +those ignorant and treacherous creatures (colored people) sneaking +about in the large cities, endeavoring to find out all strange colored +people, where they work and where they reside, asking them questions +and trying to ascertain whether they are runaways or not, telling +them, at the same time, that they always have been, are, and always +will be, friends to their brethren; and perhaps, that they themselves +are absconders, and a thousand such treacherous lies to get the better +information of the more ignorant!! There have been and are at this day +in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, coloured men, who +are in league with tyrants, and receive a great portion of their daily +bread, of the moneys which they acquire from the blood and tears of +their more miserable brethren whom they scandalously delivered into +the hands of our _natural enemies!!!!_ + +To show the force of degraded ignorance and deceit among us some +further, I will give here an extract from a paragraph, which may be +found in the Columbian Centinel of this city, for September 9, 1829, +on the first page of which the curious may find an article, headed + + "AFFRAY AND MURDER." + + _Portsmouth, (Ohio) Aug. 22, 1829._ + + "A most shocking outrage was committed in Kentucky, about + eight miles from this place, on the 14th inst. A negro + driver, by the name of Gordon, who had purchased in Maryland + about sixty negroes, was taking them, assisted by an + associate named Allen and the wagoner who conveyed the + baggage, to the Mississippi. The men were hand-cuffed and + chained together, in the usual manner for driving these poor + wretches, while the women and children were suffered to + proceed without incumbrance. It appears that, by means of a + file the negroes unobserved had succeeded in separating the + irons which bound their hands, in such a way as to be able + to throw them off at any moment. About 8 o'clock in the + morning, while proceeding on the state road leading from + Greenup to Vanceburg, two of them dropped their shackles and + commenced a fight, when the wagoner (Petit) rushed in with + his whip to compel them to desist. At this moment, every + negro was found to be perfectly at liberty; and one of them + seizing a club, gave Petit a violent blow on the head and + laid him dead at his feet; and Allen, who came to his + assistance, met a similar fate from the contents of a pistol + fired by another of the gang. Gordon was then attacked, + seized and held by one of the negroes, whilst another fired + twice at him with a pistol, the ball of which each time + grazed his head, but not proving effectual, he was beaten + with clubs, and left for dead They then commenced pillaging + the wagon and with an axe split open the trunk of Gordon and + rifled it of the money, about $2,490. Sixteen of the negroes + then took to the woods; Gordon, in the mean time, not being + materially injured was enabled, by the assistance of one of + the women, to mount his horse and flee; pursued, however, by + one of the gang on another horse, with a drawn pistol; + fortunately he escaped with his life, barely arriving at a + plantation, as the negro came in sight; who then turned + about and retreated. + + "The neighborhood was immediately rallied, and a hot pursuit + given--which, we understand, has resulted in the capture of + the whole gang and the recovery of the greatest part of the + money.--Seven of the negro men and one woman, it is said + were engaged in the murder, and will be brought to trial at + the next court in Greenupsburg." + +Here my brethren, I want you to notice particularly in the above +article, the ignorant and _deceitful actions_ of this colored woman. I +beg you to view it carefully, as for ETERNITY!!! Here a _notorious +wretch_, with two other confederates had SIXTY of them in a gang, +driving them like _brutes_--the men all in chains and hand-cuffs, and +by the help of God they got their chains and hand-cuffs thrown off and +caught two of the wretches and put them to death, and beat the other +until they thought he was dead, and left him for dead; however he +deceived them, and rising from the ground, this _servile woman_ helped +him upon his horse and he made his escape. Brethren what do you think +of this? Was it the natural _fine feelings_ of this woman, to save +such a wretch alive? I know that the blacks, take them half +enlightened and ignorant, are more humane and merciful than the most +enlightened and refined Europeans that can be found in all the earth. +Let no one say that I assert this because I am prejudiced on the side +of my color, and against the whites or Europeans. For what I write, I +do it candidly, for my God and the good of both parties: Natural +observations have taught me these things; there is a solemn awe in the +hearts of the blacks, as it respects _murdering_ men:[10] whereas the +whites (though they are great cowards) where they have the advantage, +or think that there are any prospects of getting it, they murder all +before them, in order to subject men to wretchedness and degradation +under them. This is the natural result of pride and avarice.--But I +declare, the actions of this black woman are really insupportable. For +my own part, I cannot think it was any thing but servile deceit, +combined with the most gross ignorance: for we must remember that +_humanity_, _kindness_ and the _fear of the Lord_, does not consist in +protecting _devils_. Here is a set of wretches, who had SIXTY of them +in a gang, driving them around the country like _brutes_, to dig up +gold and silver for them, (which they will get enough of yet.) Should +the lives of such creatures be spared? Is GOD and Mammon in league? +What has the Lord to do with a gang of desperate wretches, who go +_sneaking about the country like robbers_--light upon his people +wherever they can get a chance, binding them with chains and +hand-cuffs, beat and murder them as they would _rattle-snakes_? Are +they not the Lord's enemies? Ought they not to be destroyed? Any +person who will save such wretches from destruction, is fighting +against the Lord, and will receive his just recompense. The black men +acted like _blockheads_. Why did they not make sure of the wretch? He +would have made sure of them if he could. It is just the way with +black men--eight white men can frighten fifty of them; whereas, if you +can only get courage into the blacks, I do declare it, that one good +black man can put to death six white men; and I give it as a fact, let +twelve black men get well armed for battle, and they will kill and put +to flight fifty whites. The reason is, the blacks, once you get them +started, they glory in death. The whites have had us under them for +more than three centuries, murdering, and treating us like brutes; +and, as Mr. Jefferson wisely said, they have never _found us +out_--they do not know, indeed, that there is an unconquerable +disposition in the breasts of the blacks, which when it is fully +awakened and put in motion, will be subdued, only with the destruction +of the animal existence. Get the blacks started, and if you do not +have a gang of lions and tigers to deal with, I am a deceiver of the +blacks and the whites. How sixty of them could let that wretch escape +unkilled, I cannot conceive--they will have to suffer as much for the +two whom they secured, as if they had put one hundred to death: if you +commence, make sure work--do not trifle, for they will not trifle with +you--they want us for their slaves, and think nothing of murdering us +in order to subject us to that wretched condition--therefore, if there +is an _attempt_ made by us, kill or be killed. Now, I ask you had you +not rather be killed than to be a slave to a tyrant, who takes the +life of your mother, wife, and dear little children? Look upon your +mother, wife and children, and answer God Almighty; and believe this, +that it is no more harm for you to kill a man, who is trying to kill +you, than it is for you to take a drink of water when thirsty; in +fact, the man who will stand still and let another murder him, is +worse than an infidel, and if he has common sense, ought not to be +pitied.--The actions of this deceitful and ignorant coloured woman, in +saving the life of a desperate man, whose avaricious and cruel object +was to drive her and her companions in miseries, through the country +like cattle, to make his fortune on their carcasses, are but too much +like that of thousands of our brethren in these states: if any thing +is whispered by one, which has any allusion to the melioration of +their dreadful condition, they run and tell tyrants, that they may be +enabled to keep them the longer in wretchedness and miseries. Oh! +coloured people of these United States, I ask you, in the name of that +God who made us, have we, in consequence of oppression, nearly lost +the spirit of man, and, in no very trifling degree, adopted that of +brutes? Do you answer, No?--I ask you, then, what set of men can you +point me to, in all the world, who are so abjectly employed by their +oppressors as we are by our _natural enemies_? How can, Oh! how can +those enemies but say that we and our children are not of the HUMAN +FAMILY, but were made by our creator to be an inheritance to them and +theirs forever? How can the slave-holders but say that they can bribe +the best coloured person in the country, to sell his brethren for a +trifling sum of money, and take that atrocity to confirm them in their +avaricious opinion, that we were made to be slaves to them and their +children? How could Mr. Jefferson but say,[11] + + "I advance it therefore as a suspicion only, that the + blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or made distinct + by time and circumstances, are _inferior_ to the whites in + the endowments both of body and mind?" "It," says he, "is + not against experience to suppose, that different species of + the same genus, or varieties of the same species, may + possess different qualifications." + +[Here, my brethren listen to him.] + + [Hand->] "Will not a lover of natural history then, one who + views the gradations in all the races of _animals_ with the + eye of philosophy, excuse an effort to keep those in the + department of MAN as _distinct_ as nature has formed them?" + +I hope you will try to find out the meaning of this verse--its widest +sense and all its bearings: whether you do or not, remember the whites +do. This very verse, brethren, having emanated from Mr. Jefferson, a +much greater philosopher the world never afforded, has in truth +injured us more, and has been as great a barrier to our emancipation +as any thing that has ever been advanced against us. I hope you will +not let it pass unnoticed. He goes on further, and says: + + "This _unfortunate_ difference of colour, and _perhaps_ of + _faculty_, is a powerful obstacle to the emancipation of + these people. Many of their advocates, while they wish to + vindicate the liberty of human nature are anxious also to + preserve its _dignity_ and _beauty_. Some of these, + embarrassed by the question, 'What further is to be done + with them? join themselves in opposition with those who are + actuated by sordid avarice only." + +Now I ask you candidly, my suffering brethren in time, who are +candidates for the eternal worlds, how could Mr. Jefferson but have +given the world these remarks respecting us, when we are so submissive +to them, and so much servile deceit prevails among ourselves--when we +so _meanly_ submit to their murderous lashes, to which neither the +Indians or any other people under heaven would submit? No, they could +die to a man, before they would suffer such things from men who are no +better than themselves, and _perhaps not so good_. Yes, how can our +friends but be embarrassed, as Mr. Jefferson says, by the question, +"What further is to be done with these people?" for while they are +working for our emancipation, we are, by our treachery, wickedness and +deceit, working against ourselves and our children--helping ours, and +the enemies of God, to keep us and our dear little children, in their +infernal chains of slavery!! Indeed, our friends cannot but relapse +and join themselves with those who are actuated by _sordid avarice_ +only!!!!' For my part, I am glad Mr. Jefferson has advanced his +position for your sake; for you will either have to contradict or +confirm him by your own actions and not by what our friends have said +or done for us; for those things are other men's labors and do not +satisfy the Americans who are waiting for us to prove to them +ourselves that we are MEN before they will be willing to admit the +fact; for I pledge you my sacred word of honor that Mr. Jefferson's +remarks respecting us have sunk deep into the hearts of millions of +the whites and never will be removed this side of eternity. For how +can they, when we are confirming him every day by our _groveling +submissions_ and _treachery_? + +I aver that when I look upon these United States and see the ignorant +deceptions and consequent wretchedness of my brethren, I am brought +oft-times solemnly to a stand, and in the midst of my reflections I +exclaim to my God, 'Lord didst thou make us to be slaves to our +brethren, the whites?' But when I reflect that God is just, and that +millions of my wretched brethren would meet death with glory--yea, +more, would plunge into the very mouths of cannons and be torn into +particles as minute as the atoms which compose the elements of the +earth, in preference to a mean submission to the lash of tyrants, I am +with streaming eyes, compelled to shrink back into nothingness before +my Maker, and exclaim again, thy will be done, O Lord God Almighty. + +Men of colour, who are also of sense, for you particularly is my +appeal designed. Our more ignorant brethren are not able to penetrate +its value. I call upon you therefore to cast your eyes upon the +wretchedness of your brethren and to do your utmost to enlighten +them--_go to work and enlighten your brethren!_--let the Lord see you +doing what you can to rescue them and yourselves from degradation. Do +any of you say that you and your family are free and happy and what +have you to do with wretched slaves and other people? So can I say, +for I enjoy as much freedom as any of you, if I am not quite as well +off as the best of you. Look into our freedom and happiness and see of +what kind they are composed!! They are of the very lowest kind--they +are the very _dregs!_--they are the most servile and abject kind, that +ever a people was in possession of! If any of you wish to know how +FREE you are, let one of you start and go thro' the southern and +western States of this country, and unless you travel as a slave to a +white man (a servant is a _slave_ to the man whom he serves,) or have +your free papers (which if you are not careful they will get from you) +if they do not take you up and put you in jail, and if you cannot +give evidence of your freedom, sell you into eternal slavery, I am not +a living man; or any man of color, immaterial who he is or where he +came from, if he is not the 4th from the "_Negro race_," (as we are +called,) the white christians of America will serve him the same, they +will sink him into wretchedness & degradation forever while he lives. +And yet some of you have the hardihood to say that you are free & +happy! May God have mercy on your freedom and happiness! I met a +colored man in the street a short time since, with a string of boots +on his shoulder; we fell into conversation, and in course of which I +said to him, what a miserable set of people we are! He asked +why?--Said I, we are so subjected under the whites, that we cannot +obtain the comforts of life, but by cleaning their boots and shoes, +old clothes, waiting on them, shaving them, etc. Said he, (with the +boots on his shoulders,) "I am completely happy!!! I never want to +live any better or happier than when I can get a plenty of boots and +shoes to clean!!!" Oh! how can those who are actuated by avarice only, +but think that our creator made us to be an inheritance to them +forever, when they see that our greatest glory is centered in such +mean and low objects? Understand me, brethren, I do not mean to speak +against the occupations by which we acquire enough and sometimes +scarcely that, to render ourselves and families comfortable through +life. I am subjected to the same inconvenience, as you all. My +objections are, to our _glorying_ and being _happy_ in such low +employments; for if we are men, we ought to be thankful to the Lord +for the past, and for the future. Be looking forward with thankful +hearts to higher attainments than _wielding the razor_ and _cleaning +boots and shoes_. The man whose aspirations are not _above_, and even +_below_ these, is indeed, ignorant and wretched enough. I advance it +therefore to you, not as a _problematical_, but as an unshaken and +forever immoveable _fact_, that your full glory and happiness, as well +as all other colored people under heaven, shall never be fully +consummated, but with the _entire emancipation of your enslaved +brethren all over the world_. You may therefore, go to work and do +what you can to rescue, or join in with tyrants to oppress them and +yourselves, until the Lord shall come upon you all like a thief in the +night. For I believe it is the will of the Lord that our greatest +happiness shall consist in working for the salvation of our whole +body. When this is accomplished a burst of glory will shine upon you, +which will indeed astonish you and the world. Do any of you say this +will never be done? I assure you that God will accomplish it--if +nothing else will answer, he will hurl tyrants and devils into _atoms_ +and make way for his people. But O my brethren! I say unto you again, +you must go to work and _prepare the way_ of the Lord. + +There is a great work for you to do, as trifling as some of you may +think of it. You have to prove to the Americans and the world, that we +are MEN, and not _brutes_ as we have been represented, and by millions +treated. Remember, to let the aim of your labours among your brethren, +and particularly the youths, be the dissemination of education and +religion. It is lamentable, that many of our children go to school, +from four until they are eight or ten, and sometimes fifteen years of +age, and leave school knowing but a little more about the grammar of +their language than a horse does about handling a musket--and not a +few of them are really so ignorant, that they are unable to answer a +person correctly, general questions in geography, and to hear them +read would only be to disgust a man who has a taste for reading; +which, to do well, as trifling as it may appear to some, (to the +ignorant in particular) is a great part of learning. Some few of them, +may make out to scribble tolerably well, over a half sheet of paper, +which I believe has hitherto been a powerful obstacle in our way, to +keep us from acquiring knowledge. An ignorant father, who knows no +more than what nature has taught him, together with what little he +acquires by the senses of hearing and seeing, finding his son able to +write a neat hand, sets it down for granted that he has as good +learning as any body; the young, ignorant gump, hearing his father or +mother, who perhaps may be ten times more ignorant, in point of +literature, than himself, extolling his learning, struts about in the +full assurance, that his attainments in literature are sufficient to +take him through the world, when, in fact, he has scarcely any +learning at all!!!! + +I promiscuously fell in a conversation once, with an elderly colored +man on the topics of education, and of the great prevalency of +ignorance among us: Said he, "I know that our people are very ignorant +but my son has a good education: he can write as well as any white +man, and I assure you that no one can fool him," etc. Said I, what +else can your son do, besides writing a good hand? Can he post a set +of books in a mercantile manner? Can he write a neat piece of +composition in prose or in verse? To these interrogations he answered +in the negative. Said I, Did your son learn, while he was at school, +the width and depth of English Grammar? to which he also replied in +the negative, telling me his son did not learn those things. Your son, +said I, then, has hardly any learning at all--he is almost as +ignorant, and more so, than many of those who never went to school one +day in their lives. My friend got a little put out, and so walking off +said that his son could write as well as any white man.--Most of the +coloured people, when they speak of the education of one among us who +can write a neat hand, and who perhaps knows nothing but to scribble +and puff pretty fair on a small scrap of paper, immaterial whether his +words are grammatical, or spelt correctly, or not; if it only looks +beautiful, they say he has as good an education as any white man--he +can write as well as any white man, etc. The poor, ignorant creature, +hearing this, he is ashamed, forever after, to let any person see him +humbling himself to another for knowledge but going about trying to +deceive those who are more ignorant than himself, he at last falls an +ignorant victim to death in wretchedness. I pray that the Lord may +undeceive my ignorant brethren, and permit them to throw away +pretensions, and seek after the substance of learning. I would crawl +on my hands and knees through mud and mire, to the feet of a learned +man, where I would sit and humbly supplicate him to instil into me, +that which neither devils nor tyrants could remove, only with my +life--for the Africans to acquire learning in this country, makes +tyrants quake and tremble on their sandy foundation. Why what is the +matter? Why, they know that their infernal deeds of cruelty will be +made known to the world. Do you suppose one man of good sense and +learning would submit himself, his father, mother, wife and children, +to be slaves to a wretched man like himself, who, instead of +compensating him for his labours, chains, handcuffs and beats him and +family almost to death, leaving life enough in them, however, to work +for, and call him master? No! no! he would cut his devilish throat +from ear to ear, and well do slaveholders know it. The bare name of +educating the coloured people, scares our cruel oppressors almost to +death. But if they do not have enough to be frightened for yet, it +will be, because they can always keep us ignorant, and because God +approbates their cruelties, with which they have been for centuries +murdering us. The whites shall have enough of the blacks, yet, as true +as God sits on his throne in heaven. + +Some of our brethren are so very full of learning that you cannot +mention any thing to them which they do not know better than +yourself!!--nothing is strange to them!!--they knew every thing years +ago!--if any thing should be mentioned in company where they are, +immaterial how important it is respecting us or the world, if they had +not divulged it; they make light of it, and affect to have known it +long before it was mentioned, and try to make all in the room, or +wherever you may be, believe that your conversation is nothing--not +worth hearing!! All this is the result of ignorance and ill-breeding; +for a man of good breeding, sense, and penetration, if he had heard a +subject told twenty times over and should happen to be in company +where one should commence telling it again, he would wait with +patience on its narrator, and see if he would tell it as it was told +in his presence before--paying the most strict attention to what is +said, to see if any more light will be thrown on the subject; for all +men are not gifted alike in telling, or even hearing the most simple +narration. These ignorant, vicious, and wretched men, contribute +almost as much injury to our body as tyrants themselves, by doing so +much for the promotion of ignorance amongst us; for they, making such +pretensions to knowledge, such of our youth as are seeking after +knowledge, and can get access to them, take them as criterions to go +by, who will lead them into a channel, where, unless the Lord blesses +them with the privilege of seeing their error, they will be +irretrievably lost forever, while in time!! + +I must close this article by narrating the very heart-rending fact, +that I have examined school-boys and young men of colour in different +parts of the country, in the most simple parts of Murray's English +Grammar, and not more than one in thirty was able to give a correct +answer to my interrogations. If any one contradicts me, let him step +out of his door into the streets of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, or +Baltimore, (no use to mention any other, for the Christians are too +charitable further south or west!)--I say, let him who disputes me, +step out of his door into the streets of either of those four cities, +and promiscuously collect one hundred school boys or young men of +colour, _who have been to school_, and who are considered by the +coloured people to have received an excellent education, because, +perhaps, some of them can write a good hand, but who notwithstanding +their neat writing, may be almost as ignorant, in comparison, as +horses. And, I say it, he will hardly find (in this enlightened day, +and in the midst of this _charitable_ people) five in one hundred, who +are able to correct the false grammar of their language. The cause of +this almost universal ignorance amongst us, I appeal to our +school-masters to declare. Here is a fact, which I this very minute +take from the mouth of a young coloured man, who has been to school in +this state (Massachusetts) nearly nine years, and who knows grammar +this day, _nearly_ as well as he did the day he first entered the +school-house, under a white master. This young man says--"My master +would never allow me to study grammar."--I asked him why? "The school +committee," said he, "forbid the colored children learning +grammar--they would not allow any but the white children to study +grammar." + +It is a notorious fact that the major part of the white Americans +have, ever since we have been among them, tried to keep us ignorant +and make us believe that God made us and our children to be slaves to +them and theirs. _Oh! my God, have mercy on Christian Americans!!_ + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[10] Which is the reason the whites take the advantage of us. + +[11] See his Notes on Virginia, page 213. + + + + +ARTICLE III. + +OUR WRETCHEDNESS IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE PREACHERS OF THE RELIGION +OF JESUS CHRIST. + + +RELIGION, my brethren, is a substance of deep consideration among all +nations of the earth. The Pagans have a kind, as well as the +Mahometans, the Jews and the Christians. But pure and undefiled +religion, such as was preached by Jesus Christ and his apostles, is +hard to be found in all the earth. God, through his instrument, Moses, +handed a dispensation of his divine will to the children of Israel +after they had left Egypt for the land of Canaan, or of Promise, who +through hypocrisy, oppression, and unbelief, departed from the faith. +He then, by his apostles handed a dispensation of his, together with +the will of Jesus Christ, to the Europeans in Europe, who, in open +violation of which, have made _merchandize_ of us, and it does appear +as though they take this very dispensation to aid them in their +infernal depredations upon us. Indeed, the way in which religion was +and is conducted by the Europeans and their descendants, one might +believe it was a plan fabricated by themselves and the _devils_ to +oppress us. But hark! my master has taught me better than to believe +it--he has taught me that his gospel as it was preached by himself and +his apostles remains the same, notwithstanding Europe has tried to +mingle blood and oppression with it. + +It is well known to the Christian world that Bartholomew Las Casas, +that very notoriously avaricious Catholic priest or preacher, and +adventurer with Columbus in his second voyage, proposed to his +countrymen, the Spaniards in Hispaniola, to import the Africans from +the Portuguese settlement in Africa, to dig up gold and silver, and +work their plantations for them, to effect which, he made a voyage +thence to Spain, and opened the subject to his master, Ferdinand, then +in declining health, who listened to the plan; but who died soon +after, and left it in the hands of his successor, Charles V.[12]--This +wretch, ("Las Cassas, the Preacher,") succeeded so well in his plans +of oppression, that in 1503, the first blacks had been imported into +the new world. Elated with this success, and stimulated by sordid +avarice only, he importuned Charles V. in 1511, to grant permission +to a Flemish merchant to import 4000 blacks at one time. Thus we see, +through the instrumentality of a pretended preacher of the gospel of +Jesus Christ our common master, our wretchedness first commenced in +America--where it has been continued from 1503 to this day, 1829. A +period of three hundred and twenty-six years. But two hundred and +nine, from 1620--when twenty of our fathers were brought into +Jamestown, Virginia, by a Dutch man-of-war, and sold off like brutes +to the highest bidders; and there is not a doubt in my mind, but that +tyrants are in hopes to perpetuate our miseries under them and their +children until the final consummation of all things. But if they do +not get dreadfully, deceived, it will be because God has forgotten +them. + +The Pagans, Jews and Mahometans try to make proselytes to their +religions, and whatever human beings adopt their religions, they +extend to them their protection. But Christian Americans not only +hinder their fellow creatures, the Africans, but thousands of them +will _absolutely beat a coloured person nearly to death, if they catch +him on his knees, supplicating the throne of grace_. This barbarous +cruelty was by all the heathen nations of antiquity, and is by the +Pagans, Jews and Mahometans of the present day, left entirely to +Christian Americans to inflict on the Africans and their descendants +that their cup which is nearly full may be completed. I have known +tyrants or usurpers of human liberty in different parts of this +country take their fellow creatures, the colored people, and beat them +until they would scarcely leave life in them; what for? Why they say, + + "The black devils had the audacity to be found _making + prayers and supplications to the God who made them!!!_" + +Yes, I have known small collections of coloured people to have +convened together, for no other purpose than to worship God Almighty, +in spirit and in truth, to the best of their knowledge; when tyrants, +calling themselves _patrols_, would also convene and wait almost in +breathless silence for the poor coloured people to commence singing +and praying to the Lord our God, and as soon as they had commenced the +wretches would burst in upon them and drag them out and commence +beating them as they would rattle-snakes--many of whom, they would +beat so unmercifully, that they would hardly be able to crawl for +weeks and sometimes for months.--Yet the American ministers send out +missionaries to convert the heathen, while they keep us and our +children sunk at their feet in the most abject ignorance and +wretchedness that ever a people was afflicted with since the world +began. Will the Lord suffer this people to proceed much longer? Will +he not stop them in their career? Does he regard the heathens abroad, +more than the heathens among the Americans? Surely the Americans must +believe that God is partial, notwithstanding his Apostle Peter, +declared before Cornelius and others that he has no respect to +persons, but in every nation he that feareth God and worketh +righteousness is accepted with him.-- + + "The word," said he, "which God sent unto the children of + Israel, preaching peace, by Jesus Christ, (he is the Lord of + all.")[13] + +Have not the Americans the Bible in their hands? Do they believe it? +Surely they do not. See how they treat us in open violation of the +Bible!! They no doubt will be greatly offended with me, but if God +does not awaken them, it will be, because they are superior to other +men, as they have represented themselves to be. Our divine Lord and +Master said + + "all things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, + do ye even so unto them." + +But an American minister, with the Bible in his hand, holds us and our +children in the most abject slavery and wretchedness. Now I ask them, +would they like for us to hold them and their children in abject +slavery and wretchedness? No says one, that never can be done--you +are too abject and ignorant to do it--you are not men--you were made +to be slaves to us, to dig up gold and silver for us and our children. +Know this, my dear sirs, that although you treat us and our children +now, as you do your domestic beasts--yet the final result of all +future events are known but to God Almighty alone, who rules in the +armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and who +dethrones one earthly king and sits up another, as it seemeth good in +his holy sight. We may attribute these vicissitudes to what we please, +but the God of armies and of justice rules in heaven and in earth, and +the whole American people shall see and know it yet, to their +satisfaction. I have known pretended preachers of the gospel of my +Master, who not only held us as their natural inheritance, but treated +us with as much rigor as any Infidel or Deist in the world--just as +though they were intent only on taking our blood and groans to glorify +the Lord Jesus Christ. The wicked and ungodly, seeing their preachers +treat us with so much cruelty, they say: our preachers, who must be +right, if any body are, treat them like brutes, and why cannot +we?--They think it is no harm to keep them in slavery and put the whip +to them, and why cannot we do the same!--They being preachers of the +gospel of Jesus Christ, if it were any harm, they would surely preach +against their oppression and do their utmost to erase it from the +country; not only in one or two cities, but one continual cry would be +raised in all parts of this confederacy, and would cease only with the +complete overthrow of the system of slavery, in every part of the +country. But how far the American preachers are from preaching against +slavery and oppression, which have carried their country to the brink +of a precipice; to save them from plunging down the side of which, +will hardly be effected, will appear in the sequel of this paragraph, +which I shall narrate just as it transpired. I remember a Camp Meeting +in South Carolina, for which I embarked in a Steam Boat at +Charleston, and having been five or six hours on the water, we at last +arrived at the place of hearing, where was a very great concourse of +people, who were no doubt, collected together to hear the word of God, +(that some had collected barely as spectators to the scene, I will not +here pretend to doubt, however, that is left to themselves and their +God.) Myself and boat companions, having been there a little while, we +were all called up to hear; I among the rest, went up and took my +seat--being seated, I fixed myself in a complete position to hear the +word of my Saviour and to receive such as I thought was authenticated +by the Holy Scriptures; but to my no ordinary astonishment, our +Reverend gentleman got up and told us (colored people) that slaves +must be obedient to their masters--must do their duty to their masters +or be whipped--the whip was made for the backs of fools, &c. Here I +pause for a moment, to give the world time to consider what was my +surprise, to hear such preaching from a minister of my Master, whose +very gospel is that of peace and not of blood and whips, as this +pretended preacher tried to make us believe. What the American +preachers can think of us, I aver this day before my God, I have never +been able to define. They have newspapers and monthly periodicals, +which they receive in continual succession, but on the pages of which, +you will scarcely ever find a paragraph respecting slavery, which is +ten thousand times more injurious to this country than all the other +evils put together; and which will be the final overthrow of its +government, unless something is very speedily done; for their cup is +nearly full.--Perhaps they will laugh at, or make light of this; but I +tell you Americans! that unless you speedily alter your course, _you_ +and your _Country are gone!!!!!!_ For God Almighty will tear up the +very face of the earth!!!! Will not that very remarkable passage of +Scripture be fulfilled on Christian Americans? Hear it Americans!! + + "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still:--and be which + is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is + righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, + let him be holy still."[14] + +I hope that the Americans may hear, but I am afraid that they have +done us so much injury, and are so firm in the belief that our Creator +made us to be an inheritance to them forever, that their hearts will +be hardened, so that their destruction may be sure.--This language, +perhaps is too harsh for the American's delicate ears. But Oh +Americans! Americans!! I warn you in the name of the Lord, (whether +you will hear, or forbear,) to repent and reform, or you are +ruined!!!!!! Do you think that our blood is hidden from the Lord, +because you can hide it from the rest of the world by sending out +missionaries, and by your charitable deeds to the Greeks, Irish, &c.? +Will he not publish your secret crimes on the house top? Even here in +Boston, pride and prejudice have got to such a pitch, that in the very +houses erected to the Lord, they have built little places for the +reception of colored people, where they must sit during meeting, or +keep away from the house of God; and the preachers say nothing about +it--much less, go into the hedges and highways seeking the lost sheep +of the house of Israel, and try to bring them in, to their Lord and +Master. There are hardly a more wretched, ignorant, miserable, and +abject set of beings in all the world, than the blacks in the Southern +and Western sections of this country, under tyrants and devils. The +preachers of America cannot see them, but they can send out +missionaries to convert the heathens, notwithstanding. Americans! +unless you speedily alter your course of proceeding, if God Almighty +does not stop you, I say it in his name, that you may go on and do as +you please for ever, both in time and eternity--never fear any evil at +all!!!!!!!! + +[Hand->] ADDITION.--The preachers and people of the United States +form societies against Free Masonry and Intemperance, and write +against Sabbath breaking, Sabbath mails, Infidelity, &c. &c. But the +fountain head,[15] compared with which all those other evils are +comparatively nothing, and from the bloody and murderous head of +which, they receive no trifling support, is hardly noticed by the +Americans. This is a fair illustration of the state of society in this +country--it shows what a bearing _avarice_ has upon a people, when +they are nearly given up by the Lord to a hard heart and a reprobate +mind, in consequence of afflicting their fellow creatures. God suffers +some to go on until they are ruined for ever!! Will it be the case +with our brethren the whites of the United States of America? We hope +not--we would not wish to see them destroyed, notwithstanding they +have and do now treat us more cruel than any people have treated +another, on this earth since it came from the hands of its creator +(with the exception of the French and the Dutch, they treat us nearly +as bad as the Americans of the United States.) The will of God must +however, in spite of us, _be done_. + +The English are the best friends the colored people have upon earth. +Tho' they have oppressed us a little, and have colonies now in the +West Indies, which oppress us _sorely_,--Yet notwithstanding they (the +English) have done one hundred times more for the melioration of our +condition, than all the other nations of the earth put together. The +blacks cannot but respect the English as a nation, notwithstanding +they have treated us a little cruel. + +There is no intelligent _black man_ who knows any thing, but esteems a +real English man, let him see him in what part of the world he +will--for they are the greatest benefactors we have upon earth. We +have here and there, in other nations, good friends. But as a nation, +the English are our friends. [<-Hand] + +How can the preachers and people of America believe the Bible? Does it +teach them any distinction on account of a man's color? Hearken, +Americans! to the injunctions of our Lord and Master, to his humble +followers. + + [16]"And Jesus came and spake unto them saying, all power is + given unto me in heaven and in earth. + + "Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in + the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy + Ghost, + + "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have + commanded you; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the + end of the world. Amen." + +I declare, that the very face of these injunctions appears to be of +God and not of man. They do not show the slightest degree of +distinction. + + "Go ye, therefore," (says my divine Master) "and teach all + nations," (or in other words, all people) "baptizing them in + the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy + Ghost." + +Do you understand the above, Americans? We are a people, +notwithstanding many of you doubt it. You have the Bible in your +hands, with this very injunction. Have you been to Africa, teaching +the inhabitants thereof the words of the Lord Jesus? + + "Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Ghost." + +Have you not, on the contrary, entered among us, and learnt us the art +of throat-cutting, by setting us to fight, one against another, to +take each other as prisoners of war, and sell to you for small bits of +calicoes, old swords, knives, &c. to make slaves for you and your +children? This being done, have you not brought us among you, in +chains and handcuffs, like brutes, and treated us with all the +cruelties and rigour your ingenuity could invent, consistent with the +laws of your country, which (for the blacks) are tyrannical enough? +Can the American preachers appeal unto God, the Maker and Searcher of +hearts, and tell him, with the Bible in their hands, that they make no +distinction on account of men's colour? Can they say, O God! thou +knowest all things--thou knowest that we make no distinction between +thy creatures to whom we have to preach thy Word? Let them answer the +Lord; and if they cannot do it in the affirmative, have they not +departed from the Lord Jesus Christ, their master? But some may say, +that they never had or were in possession of a religion, which makes +no distinction, and of course they could not have departed from it. I +ask you then, in the name of the Lord, of what kind can your religion +be? Can it be that which was preached by our Lord Jesus Christ from +Heaven? I believe you cannot be so wicked as to tell him that his +Gospel was that of _distinction_. What can the American preachers and +people take God to be?--Do they believe his words? If they do, do they +believe that he will be mocked? Or do they believe because they are +whites and we blacks, that God will have respect to them? Did not God +make us as it seemed best to himself? What right, then, has one of us, +to despise another and to treat him cruel, on account of his colour, +which none but the God who made it can alter? Can there be a greater +absurdity in nature, and particularly in a free republican country? +But the Americans, having introduced slavery among them, their hearts +have become almost seared, as with an hot iron, and God has nearly +given them up to believe a lie in preference to the truth!!! and I am +awfully afraid that pride, prejudice, avarice and blood, will, before +long, prove the final ruin of this happy republic, or land of +liberty!!! Can any thing be a greater mockery of religion than the way +in which it is conducted by the Americans? It appears as though they +are bent only on daring God Almighty to do his best--they chain and +handcuff us and our children and drive us around the country like +brutes, and go into the house of the God of justice to return Him +thanks for having aided him in their infernal cruelties inflicted upon +us. Will the Lord suffer this people to go on much longer, taking his +holy name in vain? Will he not stop them, PREACHERS and all? O +Americans! Americans!! I call God--I call angels--I call men, to +witness, that your DESTRUCTION _is at hand_, and will be speedily +consummated unless you REPENT. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[12] See Butler's History of the United States, vol. 1, page 24. See +also, page 25. + +[13] See the Acts of the Apostles, chap. x. v.--25--26. + +[14] See Revelation, chap. xxii. v. 11. + +[15] Slavery and oppression. + +[16] See St. Matthew's Gospel, chap, xxviii. v. 18--19--20. After +Jesus was risen from the dead. + + + + +ARTICLE IV. + +OUR WRETCHEDNESS IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE COLONIZING PLAN. + + +My dearly beloved brethren:--This is a scheme on which so many able +writers, together with that very judicious colored Baltimorean, have +commented, that I feel my delicacy about touching it. But as I am +compelled to do the will of my master, I declare, I will give you my +sentiments upon it. Previous, however, to giving my sentiments, either +for or against it, I shall give that of Mr. Henry Clay together with +that of Mr. Elias B. Caldwell, Esq. of the District of Columbia, as +extracted from the National Intelligencer, by Dr. Torrey, author of a +series of "Essays on Morals, and the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge." + +At a meeting which was convened in the District of Columbia, for the +express purpose of agitating the subject of colonizing us in some part +of the world, Mr. Clay was called to the chair, and having been seated +a little while, he rose and spake in substance, as follows: Says +he--[17] + + "That class of the mixt population of our country [coloured + people] was peculiarly situated; they neither enjoyed the + immunities of freemen, nor were they subjected 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 colour, they + never could amalgamate with the free whites of this country. + It was desirable, therefore, as it respected them, and the + residue of the population of the country, to drain them off. + Various schemes of colonization had been thought of, and a + part of our continent, it was supposed by some, might + furnish a suitable establishment for them. But, for his + part, Mr. C. said, 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 + in the introduction into that extensive quarter of the + globe, of the arts, civilization, and Christianity." + +[Here I ask Mr. Clay, what kind of Christianity? Did he mean such as +they have among the Americans--distinction, whip, blood and +oppression? I pray the Lord Jesus Christ to forbid it.] + + "There," said he, "was a peculiar, a moral fitness, in + restoring them to the land of their fathers, and if instead + of the evils and sufferings which we had been the innocent + cause of inflicting upon the inhabitants of Africa, we can + transmit to her the blessings of our arts, our civilization, + and our religion. May we not hope that America will + extinguish a great portion of that moral debt which she has + contracted to that unfortunate continent? Can there be a + nobler cause than that which, whilst it proposes, &c * * * * * + [you know what this means.] contemplates the spreading of + the arts of civilized life, and the possible redemption from + ignorance and barbarism of a benighted quarter of the + globe?" + +Before I proceed any further, I solicit your notice, brethren, to the +foregoing part of Mr. Clay's speech, in which he says, ([Hand->] look +above) + + "and if, instead of the evils and sufferings, which we had + been the innocent cause of inflicting," + +&c. What this very learned statesman could have been thinking about, +when he said in his speech, "we had been the innocent cause of +inflicting," etc., I have never been able to conceive. Are Mr. Clay +and the rest of the Americans, innocent of the blood and groans of +our fathers and us, their children? Every individual may plead +innocence, if he pleases, but God will, before long, separate the +innocent from the guilty, unless something is speedily done--which I +suppose will hardly be, so that their destruction may be sure. Oh +Americans! let me tell you, in the name of the Lord, it will be good +for you, if you listen to the voice of the Holy Ghost, but if you do +not you are ruined!!!! Some of you are good men; but the will of my +God must be done. Those avaricious and ungodly tyrants among you, I am +awfully afraid will drag down the vengeance of God upon you.--When God +Almighty commences his battle on the continent of America, for the +oppression of his people, tyrants will wish they never were born. + +But to return to Mr. Clay, whence I digressed. He says, + + "It was proper and necessary distinctly to state, that he + understood it constituted no part of the object of this + meeting, to touch or agitate in the slightest degree, a + delicate question, connected with another portion of the + coloured population of our country. It was not proposed to + deliberate upon or consider at all, any question of + emancipation, or that which was connected with the abolition + of slavery. It was upon that condition alone, he was sure, + that many gentlemen from the South and the West, whom he saw + present, had attended, or could be expected to co-operate. + It was on that condition only, that he himself had + attended." + +--That is to say, to fix a plan to get those of the coloured people, +who are said to be free, away from among those of our brethren whom +they unjustly hold in bondage, so that they may be enabled to keep +them the more secure in ignorance and wretchedness, to support them +and their children, and consequently they would have the more obedient +slaves. For if the free are allowed to stay among the slaves, they +will have intercourse together, and, of course, the free will learn +the slaves _bad habits_, by teaching them that they are MEN, as +well as other people, and certainly _ought_, and _must_ be FREE. + +I presume, that every intelligent man of colour must have some idea of +Mr. Henry Clay, originally of Virginia, but now of Kentucky; they know +too, perhaps, whether he is a friend, or a foe, to the coloured +citizens of this country, and of the world. This gentleman, according +to his own words, had been highly favoured and blessed of the Lord, +though he did not acknowledge it; but to the contrary, he acknowledged +men, for all the blessings which God had favoured him. At a public +dinner given him at Fowler's Garden, Lexington, Kentucky, he delivered +a public speech to a very large concourse of people--in the concluding +clause of which, he says, + + "And now, my friends and fellow citizens, I cannot part from + you, on possibly the last occasion of my ever publicly + addressing you, without reiterating the expression of my + thanks, from a heart overflowing with gratitude. I came + among you, now more than thirty years ago, an orphan boy + pennyless, a stranger to you all, without friends, without + the favour of the great, you took me up, cherished me, + protected me, honoured me, you have constantly poured upon + me a bold and unabated stream of innumerable favors, time + which wears out every thing has increased and strengthened + your affection for me. When I seemed deserted by almost the + whole world, and assailed by almost every tongue, and pen, + and press, you have fearlessly and manfully stood by me, + with unsurpassed zeal and undiminished friendship. When I + felt as if I should sink beneath the storm of abuse and + detraction, which was violently raging around me, I have + found myself upheld and sustained by your encouraging voices + and approving smiles. I have doubtless, committed many + faults and indiscretions, over which you have thrown the + broad mantle of your charity. But I can say, and in the + presence of God and this assembled multitude, I will say, + that I have honestly and faithfully served my country--that + I have never wronged it--and that, however unprepared, I + lament that I am to appear in the Divine presence on other + accounts, I invoke the stern justice of his judgment on my + public conduct without the slightest apprehension of his + displeasure." + +Hearken to this statesman indeed, but no philanthropist, whom God sent +into Kentucky, an orphan boy, pennyless and friendless, where he not +only gave him a plenty of friends and the comforts of life, but raised +him almost to the very highest honour in the nation, where his great +talents, with which the Lord has been pleased to bless him, has gained +for him the affection of a great portion of the people with whom he +had to do. But what has this gentleman done for the Lord, after having +done so much for him? The Lord has a suffering people, whose moans and +groans at his feet for deliverance from oppression and wretchedness, +pierce the very throne of Heaven, and call loudly on the God of +Justice, to be revenged. Now what this gentleman who is so highly +favored of the Lord, has done to liberate those miserable victims of +oppression, shall appear before the world, by his letters to Mr. +Gallatin, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Great +Britain, dated June 19, 1826. Though Mr. Clay was writing for the +states, yet nevertheless, it appears, from the very face of his +letters to that gentleman, that he was as anxious, if not more so, to +get those free people and sink them into wretchedness, as his +constituents for whom he wrote. + +The Americans of North and of South America, including the West India +Islands--no trifling portion of whom were, for stealing, murdering, +&c. compelled to flee from Europe, to save their necks or banishment, +have effected their escape to this continent, where God blessed them +with all the comforts of life--He gave them a plenty of every thing +calculated to do them good--not satisfied with this, however, they +wanted slaves, and wanted us for their slaves, who belong to the Holy +Ghost, and no other, who we shall have to serve instead of tyrants. I +say, the Americans want us, the property of the Holy Ghost, to serve +them. But there is a day fast approaching when (unless there is a +universal repentance on the part of the whites, which will scarcely +take place--they have got to be so hardened in consequence of our +blood, and so wise in their own conceit.) To be plain and candid with +you, Americans! I say that the day is fast approaching when there will +be a greater time on the continent of America than ever was witnessed +upon this earth since it came from the hands of its Creator. Some of +you have done us so much injury that you will never be able to repent. +Your cup must be filled. You want us for your slaves and shall have +enough of us--God is just, _who will give you your fill of us_. But +Mr. Henry Clay, speaking to Mr. Gallatin respecting coloured people +who had effected their escape from the U. States (or to them _hell +upon earth!!_) to the hospitable shores of Canada[18] from whence it +would cause more than the lives of the Americans to get them, to +plunge into wretchedness--he says: + + "The General Assembly of Kentucky, one of the states which + is most affected by the escape of slaves into Upper Canada, + has again, at their session which has just terminated, + invoked the interposition of the General Government. In the + treaty which has been recently concluded with the United + Mexican States, and which is now under the consideration of + the Senate, provision is made for the restoration of + fugitive slaves. As it appears from your statements of what + passed on that subject with the British Plenipotentiaries, + that they admitted the correctness of the principle of + restoration, it is hoped that you will be able to succeed in + making satisfactory arrangements." + +There are a series of these letters, all of which are to the same +amount; some however presenting a face more of his own responsibility. +I wonder what would this gentleman think if the Lord should give him +among the rest of his blessings enough of slaves? Could he blame any +other being but himself? Do we not belong to the Holy Ghost? What +business has he or any body else, to be sending letters about the +world respecting us? Can we not go where we want to, as well as other +people, only if we obey the voice of the Holy Ghost? This gentleman, +(Henry Clay) not only took an active part in this colonizing plan, but +was absolutely chairman of a meeting held at Washington the 21st day +of December, 1816[19] to agitate the subject of colonizing us in +Africa.--Now I appeal and ask every citizen of these United States and +of the world, both _white_ and _black_, who has any knowledge of Mr. +Clay's public labors for these States--I want you candidly to answer +the Lord, who sees the secrets of your hearts, Do you believe that Mr. +Henry Clay, late Secretary of State, and now in Kentucky, is a friend +to the blacks, further than his personal interest extends? Is it not +his greatest object and glory upon earth to sink us into miseries and +wretchedness by making slaves of us, to work his plantation to enrich +him and his family? Does he care a pinch of snuff about +Africa--whether it remains a land of Pagans and of blood, or of +Christians, so long as he gets enough of her sons and daughters to dig +up gold and silver for him? If he had no slave, and could obtain them +in no other way if it were not repugnant to the laws of his country, +which prohibit the importation of slaves, (which act was indeed more +through apprehension than humanity) would he not try to import a few +from Africa to work his farm? Would he work in the hot sun to earn his +bread if he could make an African work for nothing, particularly if he +could keep him in ignorance and make him believe that God made him for +nothing else but to work for him? Is not Mr. Clay a white man, and too +delicate to work in the hot sun? Was he not made by his Creator to sit +in the shade, and make the blacks work without remuneration for their +services, to support him and his family? I have been for some time +taking notice of this man's speeches and public writings, but never to +my knowledge have I seen any thing in his writings which insisted on +the emancipation of slavery, which has almost ruined his country. Thus +we see the depravity of men's hearts, when in pursuit only of +gain--particularly when they oppress their fellow creatures to obtain +that gain--God suffers some to go on until they are lost for ever. +This same Mr. Clay wants to know what he has done to merit the +disapprobation of the American people. In a public speech delivered by +him, he asked: + + "Did I involve my country in an unnecessary war?" + +to merit the censure of the Americans-- + + "Did I bring obloquy upon the nation, or the people whom I + represented--did I ever lose an opportunity to advance the + fame, honor and prosperity of this State and the Union?" + +How astonishing it is, for a man who knows so much about God and his +ways, as Mr. Clay, to ask such frivolous questions. Does he believe +that a man of his talents and standing in the midst of a people, will +get along unnoticed by the penetrating and all-seeing eye of God who +is continually taking cognizance of the hearts of men? Is not God +against him, for advocating the murderous cause of slavery? If God is +against him, what can the Americans, together with the whole world do +for him? Can they save him from the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ? + +I shall now pass in review the speech of Mr. Elias B. Caldwell, Esq. +of the District of Columbia, extracted from the same page on which Mr. +Clay's will be found. Mr. Caldwell, giving his opinion respecting us, +at that ever memorable meeting, he says: + + "The more you improve the condition of these people, the + more you cultivate their minds, the more miserable you make + them in their present state. You give them a higher relish + for those privileges which they can never attain, and turn + what we intend for a blessing into a curse." + +Let me ask this benevolent man, what he means by a blessing intended +for us? Did he mean sinking us and our children into ignorance and +wretchedness, to support him and his family? What he meant will appear +evident and obvious to the most ignorant in the world. [Hand->] See +Mr. Caldwell's intended blessings for us, O! my Lord!!! + + "No," said he, "if they must remain in their present + situation, keep them in the _lowest state of degradation and + ignorance_. The nearer you bring them to the condition of + brutes, the better chance do you give them of possessing + their _apathy_." + +Here I pause to get breath, having labored to extract the above clause +of this gentleman's speech, at that colonizing meeting. I presume that +every body knows the meaning of the word "_apathy_"--if they do not, +let him get Sheridan's Dictionary, where he will find it explained in +full. I solicit the attention of the world to the foregoing part of +Mr. Caldwell's speech, that they may see what man will do with his +fellow men, when he has them under his feet. To what length will not +man go in iniquity, when given up to a hard heart and reprobate mind, +in consequence of blood and oppression? The last clause of this +speech, which was written in a very artful manner and which will be +taken for the speech of a friend, without close examination and deep +penetration, I shall now present. He says, + + "Surely Americans ought to be the last people on earth to + advocate such slavish doctrines, to cry peace and + contentment to those who are deprived of the privileges of + civil liberty, they who have so largely partaken of its + blessings, who know so well how to estimate its value, ought + to be among the foremost to extend it to others." + +The real sense and meaning of the last part of Mr. Caldwell's speech +is, get the free people of colour away to Africa, from among the +slaves, where they may at once be blessed and happy, and our slaves +will be contented to rest in ignorance and wretchedness, to dig up +gold and silver for us and our children. Men have indeed, got to be +so cunning, these days, that it would take the eye of a Solomon to +penetrate and find them out. + +Extract from the speech of Mr. John Randolph, of Roanoke. + +Said he:-- + + "It had been properly observed by the Chairman, as well as + by the gentlemen from this District (meaning Messrs. Clay + and Caldwell) that there was nothing in the proposition + submitted to consideration which in the smallest degree + touches another very important and delicate question, which + ought to be left as much out of view as possible, (Negro + Slavery.)[20] + + "There was no fear, Mr. R. said, that this proposition would + alarm the slave-holders; they had been accustomed to think + seriously of the subject. There was a popular work on + agriculture, by John Taylor of Carolina, which was widely + circulated, and much confided in, in Virginia. In that book, + much read because coming from a practical man, this + description of people, [referring to us half free ones,] + were pointed out as a great evil. They had indeed been held + up as the greater bug-bear to every man who feels an + inclination to emancipate his slaves, not to create in the + bosom of his country so great a nuisance. If a place could + be provided for their reception, and a mode of sending them + hence, there were hundreds, nay thousands of citizens, who + would, by manumitting their slaves, relieve themselves from + the cares attendant on their possession. The great + slave-holder, Mr. R. said, was frequently a mere sentry at + his own door--bound to stay on his plantation to see that + his slaves were properly treated, &c. Mr. R. concluded by + saying that he had thought it necessary to make these + remarks, being a slave-holder himself, to show that, so far + from being connected with abolition of slavery, the measure + proposed would prove one of greatest securities to enable + the master to keep in possession his own property." + +Here is a demonstrative proof, of a plan got up by a gang of +slave-holders to select the free people of colour from among the +slaves, that our more miserable brethren may be the better secured in +ignorance and wretchedness, to work their farms and dig their mines, +and thus go on enriching the christians with their blood and groans. +What our brethren could have been thinking about, who have left their +native land and home and gone away to Africa I am unable to say. This +country is as much ours as it is the whites, whether they will admit +it now or not, they will see and believe it by and by. They tell us +about prejudice--what have we to do with it? Their prejudices will be +obliged to fall like lightning to the ground, in succeeding +generations; not, however with the will and consent of all the whites, +for some will be obliged to hold on to the old adage, viz.: the blacks +are not men, but were made to be an inheritance to us and our children +forever!!!!!! I hope the residue of the coloured people will stand +still and see the salvation of God, and the miracle which he will work +for our delivery from wretchedness under the christians!!!!!! + +[Hand->] ADDITION.--If any of us see fit to go away, go to those who +have been for many years, and are now our greatest earthly friends and +benefactors--the English. If not so, go to our brethren, the Haytians, +who, according to their word, is bound to protect and comfort us. The +Americans say that we are ungrateful--but I ask them for heaven's +sake, what we should be grateful to them for--for murdering our +fathers and mothers?--Or do they wish us to return thanks to them for +chaining and handcuffing us, branding us, cramming fire down our +throats, or for keeping us in slavery, and beating us nearly or quite +to death to make us work in ignorance and miseries, to support them +and their families. They certainly think that we are a gang of fools. +Those among them, who have volunteered their services for our +redemption, though we are unable to compensate them for their labors, +we nevertheless thank them from the bottom of our hearts, and have our +eyes steadfastly fixed upon them, and their labors of love for God and +man. But do slave-holders think that we thank them for keeping us in +miseries, and taking our lives by the inches? [<-Hand] + +Before I proceed further with this scheme, I shall give an extract +from the letter of that truly Reverend Divine, (Bishop Allen,) of +Philadelphia, respecting this trick. At the instance of the Editor of +the Freedom's Journal, he says,[21] + + "Dear Sir, I have been for several years trying to reconcile + my mind to the Colonizing of Africans in Liberia, but there + have always been, and there still remain great and + insurmountable objections against the scheme. We are an + unlettered people, brought up in ignorance, not one in a + hundred can read or write, not one in a thousand has a + liberal education; is there any fitness for such to be sent + into a far country, among heathens, to convert or civilize + them, when they themselves are neither civilized or + christianized? See the great bulk of the poor, ignorant + Africans in this country, exposed to every temptation before + them: all for the want of their morals being refined by + education and proper attendance paid unto them by their + owners, or those who had the charge of them. It is said by + the Southern slave-holders, that the more ignorant they can + bring up the Africans, the better slaves they make, 'go and + come.' Is there any fitness for such people to be colonized + in a far country, to be their own rulers? Can we not discern + the project of sending the free people of colour away from + their country? Is it not for the interest of the + slave-holders to select the free people of colour out of the + different states, and send them to Liberia? Will it not make + their slaves uneasy to see free men of colour enjoying + liberty? It is against the law, in some of the southern + states, that a person of colour should receive an education, + under a severe penalty. Colonizationists speak of America + being first colonized, but is there any comparison between + the two? America was colonized by as _wise_, _judicious_ and + _educated_ men as the world afforded. WILLIAM PENN did not + want for _learning_, _wisdom_, _or intelligence_. If all the + people in Europe and America were as ignorant, and in the + same situation as our brethren, what would become of the + world? where would be the principle or piety that would + govern the people? We were _stolen_ from our mother country, + and brought _here_. We have _tilled_ the ground and made + fortunes for thousands, and still they are not weary of our + services. _But they who stay to till the ground must be + slaves._ Is there not land enough in America, or 'corn + enough in Egypt?' Why should they send us into a far country + to die? See the thousands of foreigners emigrating to + America every year: and if there be ground sufficient for + them to cultivate, and bread for them to eat; why would they + wish to send the _first tillers_ of the land away? Africans + have made fortunes for thousands, who are yet unwilling to + part with their services; but the free must be sent away, + and those who remain must be _slaves_. I have no doubt that + there are many good men who do not see as I do, and who are + for sending us to Liberia; but they have not duly considered + the subject--they are not men of colour. This land which we + have watered with our _tears_ and _our blood_, is now our + _mother country_, and we are well satisfied to stay where + wisdom abounds and the gospel is free." + + "RICHARD ALLEN, + + "_Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in the + United States_." + +I have given you, my brethren, an extract verbatim from the letter of +that godly man as you may find it on the aforementioned page of +Freedom's Journal. I know that thousands and perhaps millions of my +brethren in these States, have never heard of such a man as Bishop +Allen--a man whom God many years ago raised up among his ignorant and +degraded brethren, to preach Jesus Christ and him crucified to +them--who notwithstanding, had to wrestle against principalities and +the powers of darkness to diffuse that gospel with which he was +endowed, among his brethren--but who having overcome the combined +powers of devils and wicked men has under God planted a church among +us which will be as durable as the foundation of the earth on which it +stands. Richard Allen! O my God!! the bare recollection of the labours +of this man, and his ministers among his deplorably wretched brethren +(rendered so by the whites,) to bring them to a knowledge of the God +of heaven, fills my soul with all those very high emotions which would +take the pen of an Addison to portray. It is impossible, my brethren, +for me to say much in this work respecting that man of God. When the +Lord shall raise up coloured historians in succeeding generations, to +present the crimes of this nation to the then gazing world, the Holy +Ghost will make them do justice to the name of Bishop Allen, of +Philadelphia. Suffice it for me to say, that the name of this very man +(Richard Allen,) though now in obscurity and degradation, will +notwithstanding stand on the pages of history among the greatest +divines who have lived since the apostolic age, and among the +African's, Bishop Allen's will be entirely pre-eminent. My brethren, +search after the character and exploits of this godly man among his +ignorant and miserable brethren, to bring them to a knowledge of the +truth as it is in our Master. Consider upon the tyrants and false +christians against whom he had to contend in order to get access to +his brethren. See him and his ministers in the states of New York, +New Jersey, Penn. Delaware and Maryland, carrying the gladsome tidings +of free and full salvation to the colored people. Tyrants and false +christians however, would not allow him to penetrate far into the +South for fear that he would awaken some of his ignorant brethren, +whom they held in wretchedness and miseries--for fear, I say it, that +he would awaken and bring them to a knowledge of their Maker. O my +Master! my Master! I cannot but think upon Christian Americans!! What +kind of people can they be? Will not those who were burnt up in Sodom +and Gomorrah rise up in judgment against Christian Americans with the +Bible in their hands, and condemn them? Will not the Scribes and +Pharisees of Jerusalem, who had nothing but the laws of Moses and the +Prophets to go by, rise up in judgment against Christian Americans, +and condemn them[22] who in addition to these have a revelation from +Jesus Christ the son of the living God? In fine, will not the +Antediluvians, together with the whole heathen world of antiquity, +rise up in judgment against Christian Americans and condemn them? The +Christians of Europe and America go to Africa, bring us away, and +throw us into the seas, and in other ways murder us, as they would +wild beasts. The Antediluvians and heathens never dreamed of such +barbarities. Now the Christians believe because they have a name to +live, while they are dead, that God will overlook such things. But if +he does not deceive them, it will be because he has overlooked it sure +enough. But to return to this godly man, Bishop Allen. I do hereby +openly affirm it to the world, that he has done more in a spiritual +sense for his ignorant and wretched brethren than any other man of +colour has, since the world began. And as for the greater part of the +whites, it has hitherto been their greatest object and glory to keep +us ignorant of our Maker, so as to make us believe that we were made +to be slaves to them and their children to dig up gold and silver for +them. It is notorious that not a few professing christians among the +whites who profess to love our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, have +assailed this man and laid all the obstacles in his way they possibly +could, consistent with their profession--and what for? Why, their +course of proceeding and his, clashed exactly together--they trying +their best to keep us ignorant that we might be the better and more +obedient slaves--while he on the other hand, doing his very best to +enlighten us and teach us a knowledge of the Lord. And I am sorry that +I have it to say, that many of our brethren have joined in with our +oppressors, whose dearest objects are only to keep us ignorant and +miserable, against this man to stay his hand. However, they have kept +us in so much ignorance that many of us know no better than to fight +against ourselves, and by that means strengthen the hands of our +natural enemies, to rivet their infernal chains of slavery upon us and +our children. I have several times called the white Americans our +_natural enemies_--I shall here define my meaning of the phrase. Shem, +Ham, and Japheth, together with their father Noah and wives, I believe +were not natural enemies to each other. When the ark rested after the +flood upon Mount Arrarat in Asia, they (eight) were all the people +which could be found alive in all the earth--in fact if scriptures be +true (which I believe are) there were no other living men in all the +earth, notwithstanding some ignorant creatures hesitate not to tell +us, that we, (the blacks) are the seed of Cain, the murderer of his +brother Abel. But where those ignorant and avaricious wretches could +have got their information, I am unable to declare. Did they receive +it from the Bible? I have searched the Bible as well as they, if I am +not as well learned as they are, and have never seen a verse which +testifies whether we are the seed of Cain or of Abel.--Yet those men +tell us that we are of the seed of Cain and that God put a dark stain +upon us, that we might be known as their slaves!!! Now I ask those +avaricious and ignorant wretches, who act more like the seed of Cain, +by murdering, the whites or the blacks? How many vessel loads of human +beings have the blacks thrown into the seas? How many thousand souls +have the blacks murdered in cold blood to make them work in +wretchedness and ignorance, to support them and their +families?[23]--However, let us be the seed of Cain, Harry, Dick or +Tom!!! God will show the whites what we are yet. I say, from the +beginning, I do not think that we were natural enemies to each other. +But the whites having made us so wretched, by subjecting us to +slavery, and having murdered so many millions of us in order to make +us work for them, and out of devilishness--and they taking our wives, +whom we love as we do ourselves--our mothers who bore the pains of +death to give us birth--our fathers & dear little children, and +ourselves, and strip and beat us one before the other--chain, handcuff +and drag us about like rattle-snakes--shoot us down like wild bears, +before each other's faces, to make us submissive to and work to +support them and their families. They (the whites) know well if we are +_men_--and there is a secret monitor in their hearts which tells them +we are--they know, I say, if we _are_ men, and see them treating us in +the manner they do, that there can be nothing in our hearts but death +alone, for them; notwithstanding we may appear cheerful, when we see +them murdering our dear mothers and wives, because we cannot help +ourselves. Man, in all ages and all nations of the earth, is the same. +Man is a peculiar creature--he is the image of his God, though he may +be subjected to the most wretched condition upon earth, yet that +spirit and feeling which constitute the creature man, can never be +entirely erased from his breast, because the God who made him after +his own image, planted it in his heart; he cannot get rid of it. The +whites knowing this, they do not know what to do; they are afraid that +we, being men, and not brutes, will retaliate, and woe will be to +them; therefore, that dreadful fear, together with an avaricious +spirit, and the natural love in them to be called masters, (which term +we will yet honour them with to their sorrow) bring them to the +resolve that they will keep us in ignorance and wretchedness, as long +as they possibly can[24] and make the best of their time while it +lasts. Consequently they, themselves, (and not us) render themselves +our natural enemies, by treating us so cruel. They keep us miserable +now, and call us their property, but some of them will have enough of +us by and by--their stomachs shall run over with us; they want us for +their slaves, and shall have us to their fill. (We are all in the +world together!!) I said above, because we cannot help ourselves, +(viz. we cannot help the whites murdering our mothers and our wives) +but this statement is incorrect--for we can help ourselves; for, if we +lay aside abject servility, and be determined to act like men, and +not brutes--the murderers among the whites would be afraid to show +their cruel heads. But O, my God!--in sorrow I must say it, that my +colour, all over the world, have a mean, servile spirit. They yield in +a moment to the whites, let them be right or wrong--the reason the +whites are able to keep their feet on our throats. Oh! my coloured +brethren, all over the world, when shall we arise from this death-like +apathy?--And be men!! You will notice, if ever we become men (I mean +_respectable_ men, such as other people are,) we must exert ourselves +to the full. For remember, that it is the greatest desire and object +of the greater part of the whites, to keep us ignorant, and make us +work to support them and their families.--Here now, in the Southern +and Western Sections of this country, there are at least three +coloured persons for one white, why is it, that those few weak, +good-for-nothing whites, are able to keep so many able men, one of +whom, can put to flight a dozen whites, in wretchedness and misery? It +shows at once, what the blacks are, we are ignorant, abject, servile, +and mean--and the whites know it--they know that we are too servile to +assert our rights as men--or they would not fool with us as they do. +Would they fool with any other people as they do with us? No, they +know too well that they would get themselves ruined. Why do they not +bring the inhabitants of Asia to be body servants to them? They know +they would get their bodies rent and torn from head to foot. Why do +they not get the Aboriginies of this country to be slaves to them and +their children, to work their farms and dig their mines? They know +well that the Aboriginies of this country, (or Indians) would tear +them from the earth. The Indians would not rest day or night, they +would be up all times of night, cutting their cruel throats. But my +colour, (some, not all,) are willing to stand still and be murdered by +the cruel whites. In some of the West-India Islands, and over a large +part of South America, there are six or eight coloured persons for one +white. Why do they not take possession of those places? Who hinders +them? it is not the avaricious whites--for they are too busily engaged +in laying up money--derived from the blood and tears of the blacks. +The fact is they are too servile, they love to have Masters too +well!!!!!! Some of our brethren, too, who seeking more after self +aggrandizement, than the glory of God, and the welfare of their +brethren, join in with our oppressors, to ridicule and say all manner +of evils falsely against our Bishop. They think, that they are doing +great things, when they get in company with the whites, to ridicule +and make sport of those who are labouring for their good. Poor +ignorant creatures, they do not know that the sole aim and object of +the whites, are only to make fools and slaves of them and put the whip +to them, and make them work to support them and their families. But I +do say, that no man can well be a despiser of Bishop Allen, for his +public labors among us, unless he is a despiser of God and +Righteousness. Thus, we see, my brethren, the two very opposite +positions of those great men, who have written respecting this +"Colonizing Plan," (Mr. Clay and his slave holding party,) men who are +resolved to keep us in eternal wretchedness, are also bent upon +sending us to Liberia. While the Reverend Bishop Allen, and his party, +men who have the fear of God, and the welfare of their brethren at +heart. The Bishop in particular, whose labors for the salvation of his +brethren, are well known to a large part of those, who dwell in the +United States, are completely opposed to the plan--and advise us to +stay where we are. Now we have to determine whose advice we will take +respecting this all important matter, whether we will adhere to Mr. +Clay and his slave-holding party, who have always been our oppressors +and murderers, and who are for colonizing us, more through +apprehension than humanity, or to this godly man who has done so much +for our benefit, together with the advice of all the good and wise +among us and the whites. Will any of us leave our homes and go to +Africa? I hope not.[25] Let them commence their attack upon us as they +did on our brethren in Ohio, driving and beating us from our country, +and my soul for theirs, they will have enough of it. Let no man of us +budge one step, and let slave-holders come to beat us from our +country. America is more our country, than it is the whites--we have +enriched it with our _blood and tears_. The greatest riches in all +America have arisen from our blood and tears:--and will they drive us +from our property and homes, which we have earned with our _blood_? +They must look sharp or this very thing will bring swift destruction +upon them. The Americans have got so fat upon our blood and groans, +that they have almost forgotten the God of armies. But let them go on. + +How cunning slave-holders think they are!!!!--How much like the king +of Egypt, who after he saw plainly that God was determined to bring +out his people, in spite of him and his, as powerful as they were. He +was willing that Moses, Aaron and the Elders of Israel, but not all +the people should go and serve the Lord. But God deceived him as he +will christian Americans, unless they are very cautious how they move. +What would have become of the United States of America, was it not for +those among the whites, who not in words barely, but in truth and in +deed, love and fear the Lord Our Lord and Master said:--[26] + + "Whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe + in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged + about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depths of + the sea." + +But the Americans with this very threatening of the Lord's, not only +beat his little ones among the Africans, but many of them they put to +death or murder. Now the avaricious Americans think that the Lord +Jesus Christ will let them off, because his words are no more than the +words of a man! In fact, many of them are so avaricious and ignorant +that they do not believe in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Tyrants +may think they are so skilful in State affairs is the reason that the +government is preserved. But I tell you, that this country would have +been given up long ago, was it not for the lovers of the Lord. They +are indeed, the salt of the earth. Remove the people of God among the +whites, from this land of blood, and it will stand until they cleverly +get out of the way. I adopt the language of the Rev. S.E. Cornish, of +N. York, editor of the Rights of All, and say: + + "Any colored man of common intelligence who gives his + countenance and influence to that colony further than its + missionary object and interest extend, should be considered + as a traitor to his brethren, and discarded by every + respectable man of colour: and every member of that society, + however pure his motive, whatever may be his religious + character and moral worth, should in his efforts to remove + the coloured population from their rightful soil, the land + of their birth and nativity, be considered as acting + gratuitously unrighteous and cruel." + +Let me make an appeal brethren, to your hearts, for your cordial +co-operation in the circulation of "The Rights of All," among us. The +utility of such a vehicle, if rightly conducted, cannot be estimated. +I hope that the well informed among us, may see the absolute necessity +of their co-operation in its universal spread among us. If we should +let it go down, never let us undertake any thing of the kind again, +but give up at once and say that we are really so ignorant and +wretched that we cannot do any thing at all! As far as I have seen the +writings of its editor, I believe he is not seeking to fill his +pockets with money, but has the welfare of his brethren truly at +heart. Such men, brethren, ought to be supported by us. + +But to return to the colonizing trick. It will be well for me to +notice here at once, that I do not mean indiscriminately to condemn +all the members and advocates of this scheme, for I believe that there +are some friends to the sons of Africa, who are laboring for our +salvation, not in words only but in truth and in deed, who have been +drawn into this plan. Some, more by persuasion than any thing else; +while others, with humane feelings and lively zeal for our good, +seeing how much we suffer from the afflictions poured upon us by +unmerciful tyrants, are willing to enroll their names in any thing +which they think has for its ultimate end our redemption from +wretchedness and miseries; such men, with a heart truly overflowing +with gratitude for their past services and zeal in our cause, I humbly +beg to examine this plot minutely, and see if the end which they have +in view will be completely consummated by such a course of procedure. +Our friends who have been imperceptibly drawn into this plot I view +with tenderness, and would not for the world injure their feelings, +and I have only to hope for the future, that they will withdraw +themselves from it; for I declare to them, that the plot is not for +the glory of God, but on the contrary the perpetuation of slavery in +this country, which will ruin them and the country forever, unless +something is immediately done. + +Do the colonizationists think to send us off without first being +reconciled to us? Do they think to bundle us up like brutes and send +us off, as they did our brethren of the State of Ohio? Have they not +to be reconciled to us, or reconcile us to them, for the cruelties +with which they have afflicted our fathers and us? Methinks +colonizationists think they have a set of brutes to deal with, sure +enough. Do they think to drive us from our country and homes, after +having enriched it with our blood and tears, and keep back millions of +our dear brethren, sunk in the most barbarous wretchedness, to dig up +gold and silver for them and their children? Surely, the Americans +must think that we are brutes, as some of them have represented us to +be. They think that we do not feel for our brethren, whom they are +murdering by the inches, but they are dreadfully deceived. I +acknowledge that there are some deceitful and hypocritical wretches +among us, who will tell us one thing while they mean another, and thus +they go on aiding our enemies to oppress themselves and us. But I +declare this day before my Lord and Master, that I believe there are +some true-hearted sons of Africa, in this land of oppression, but +pretended _liberty!!!!!_--who do in reality feel for their suffering +brethren, who are held in bondage by tyrants. Some of the advocates of +this cunningly devised plot of Satan represent us to be the greatest +set of cut throats in the world, as though God, wants, us to take his +work out of his hand before he is ready. Does not vengeance belong to +the Lord? Is he not able to repay the Americans for their cruelties, +with which they have afflicted Africa's sons and daughters, without +our interference, unless we are ordered? Is it surprising to think +that the Americans, having the bible in their hands, do not believe +it. Are not the hearts of all men in the hands of the God of battles? +And does he not suffer some, in consequence of cruelties, to go on +until they are irrecoverably lost? Now, what can be more aggravating, +than for the Americans, after having treated us so bad, to hold us up +to the world as such great throat cutters? It appears to me as though +they are resolved to assail us with every species of affliction that +their ingenuity can invent. ([Hand->] See the African Repository and +Colonial Journal, from its commencement to the present day--see how we +are, through the medium of that periodical, abused and held up by the +Americans, as the greatest nuisance to society, and throat-cutters in +the world.) But the Lord sees their actions. Americans! +notwithstanding you have and do continue to treat us more cruel than +any heathen nation ever did a people it had subjected to the same +condition that you have us. Now let us reason--I mean you of the +United States, whom I believe God designs to save from destruction, if +you will hear. For I declare to you, whether you believe it or not, +that there are some on the continent of America, who will never be +able to repent. God will surely destroy them, to show you his +disapprobation of the murders they and you have inflicted on us. I +say, let us reason; had you not better take our body, while you have +it in your power, and while we are yet ignorant and wretched, not +knowing but a little, give us education, and teach us the pure +religion of our Lord and Master, which is calculated to make the lion +lay down in peace with the lamb, and which millions of you have beaten +us nearly to death for trying to obtain since we have been among you, +and thus, at once, gain our affection, while we are ignorant? Remember +Americans, that we must and shall be free, and enlightened as you are, +will you wait until we shall, under God, obtain our liberty by the +crushing arm of power? Will it not be dreadful for you? I speak +Americans for your good. We must and shall be free I say, in spite of +you. You may do your best to keep us in wretchedness and misery, to +enrich you and your children but God will deliver us from under you. +And wo, wo, will be to you if we have to obtain our freedom by +fighting. Throw away your fears and prejudices then, and enlighten us +and treat us like men, and we will like you more than we do now hate +you,[27] and tell us now no more about colonization, for America is as +much our country, as it is yours.--Treat us like men, and there is no +danger but we will all live in peace and happiness together. For we +are not like you, hard hearted, unmerciful, and unforgiving. What a +happy country this will be, if the whites will listen. What nation +under heaven, will be able to do any thing with us, unless God gives +us up into his hand? But Americans, I declare to you, while you keep +us and our children in bondage, and treat us like brutes, to make us +support you and your families, we cannot be your friends. You do not +look for it, do you? Treat us then like men, and we will be your +friends. And there is not a doubt in my mind, but that the whole of +the past will be sunk into oblivion, and we yet, under God, will +become a united and happy people. The whites may say it is impossible, +but remember that nothing is impossible with God. + +The Americans may say or do as they please, but they have to raise us +from the condition of brutes to that of respectable men, and to make a +national acknowledgement to us for the wrongs they have inflicted on +us. As unexpected, strange, and wild as these propositions may to some +appear, it is no less a fact, that unless they are complied with, the +Americans of the United States, though they may for a little while +escape, God will yet weigh them in a balance, and if they are not +superior to other men, as they have represented themselves to be, he +will give them wretchedness to their very heart's content. + +And now brethren, having concluded these four Articles, I submit them, +together with my Preamble, dedicated to the Lord for your inspection, +in language so very simple, that the most ignorant, who can read at +all, may easily understand--of which you may make the best you +possibly can.[28] Should tyrants take it into their heads to +emancipate any of you, remember that your freedom is your natural +right. You are men, as well as they, and instead of returning thanks +to them for your freedom, return it to the Holy Ghost, who is your +rightful owner. If they do not want to part with your labours, which +have enriched them, let them keep you, and my word for it, that God +Almighty, will break their strong band. Do you believe this my +brethren?--See my Address delivered before the General Coloured +Association of Massachusetts, which may be found in Freedom's Journal, +for Dec. 20, 1828.--See the last clause of that Address. Whether you +believe it or not, I tell you that God will dash tyrants, in +combination with devils, into atoms, and will bring you out from your +wretchedness and miseries, under these _Christian People!!!!!!_ + +Those philanthropists and lovers of the human family, who have +volunteered their services for our redemption from wretchedness, have +a high claim on our gratitude, and we should always view them as our +greatest earthly benefactors. + +If any are anxious to ascertain who I am, know the world, that I am +one of the oppressed, degraded and wretched sons of Africa, rendered +so by the avaricious and unmerciful, among the whites.--If any wish to +plunge me into the wretched incapacity of a slave, or murder me for +the truth, know ye, that I am in the hand of God, and at your +disposal. I count my life not dear unto me, but I am ready to be +offered at any moment. For what is the use of living when in fact I am +dead. But remember, Americans, that as miserable, wretched, degraded +and abject as you have made us in preceding, and in this generation, +to support you and your families, that some of you (whites) on the +continent of America, will yet curse the day that you ever were born. +You want slaves, and want us for your slaves!!! My colour will yet, +root some of you out of the very face of the earth!!!!!! You may doubt +it if you please. I know that thousands will doubt--they think they +have us so well secured in wretchedness, to them and their children, +that it is impossible for such things to occur. So did the +antideluvians doubt Noah, until the day in which the flood came and +swept them away. So did the Sodomites doubt, until Lot had got out of +the City, and God rained down fire and brimstone from heaven, upon +them and burnt them up. So did the king of Egypt doubt the very +existence of a God, he said, "who is the Lord, that I should let +Israel go?" Did he not find to his sorrow, who the Lord was, when he +and all his mighty men of war, were smothered to death in the Red +Sea?--So did the Romans doubt, many of them were really so ignorant, +that they thought the world of mankind were made to be slaves to them; +just as many of the Americans think now, of my colour.--But they got +dreadfully deceived. When men got their eyes opened, they made the +murderers scamper. The way in which they cut their tyrannical throats, +was not much inferior to the way the Romans or murderers, served them, +when they held them in wretchedness and degradation under their feet. +So would Christian Americans doubt, if God should send an Angel from +heaven to preach their funeral sermon. The fact is, the Christians +having a name to live, while they are dead, think that God will screen +them on that ground. + +See the hundreds and thousands of us that are thrown into the seas by +Christians, and murdered by them in other ways. They cram us into +their vessel holds in chains and in hand-cuffs--men, women and +children, all together!! O! save us, we pray thee, thou God of heaven +and of earth, from the devouring hands of the white Christians!!!!!! + + Oh! thou Alpha and Omega! + The beginning and the end, + Enthron'd thou art, in Heaven above, + Surrounded by angels there: + + From whence thou seest the miseries + To which we are subject; + The whites have murder'd us, O God! + And kept us ignorant of thee. + + Not satisfied with this, my Lord! + They throw us in the seas: + Be pleas'd, we pray, for Jesus' sake, + To save us from their grasp. + + We believe that, for thy glory's sake, + Thou wilt deliver us; + But that thou may'st effect these things, + Thy glory must be sought. + + * * * * * + +In conclusion, I ask the candid and unprejudiced of the whole world, +to search the pages of historians diligently, and see if the +Antediluvians--the Sodomites--the Egyptians--the Babylonians--the +Ninevites--the Carthagenians--the Persians--the Macedonians--the +Greeks--the Romans--the Mahometans--the Jews--or devils, ever treated +a set of human beings, as the white Christians of America do us, the +blacks, or Africans.--I also ask the attention of the world of mankind +to the declaration of these very American people, of the United +States. + + _A Declaration made July 4, 1776._ + +It says,[29] + + "When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary + for one people to dissolve the political bands which have + connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers + of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the + laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent + respect for the opinions of mankind requires that they + should declare the causes which impel them to the + separation. We hold these truths to be self evident, that + all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their + Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these + are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to + secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, + deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; + that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of + these ends it is the right of the people to alter or to + abolish it, and to institute a new government laying its + foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in + such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their + safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that + governments long established should not be changed for light + and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath + shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils + are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the + forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of + abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, + evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it + is their right, it is their duty to throw off such + government, and to provide new guards for their future + security." + +See your declaration, Americans!! Do you understand your own language? +Hear your language, proclaimed to the world, July 4, 1776-- + + [Hand->] "We hold these truths to be self evident--that + _ALL_ MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL! _that they are endowed by + their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among + these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness!!_" + +Compare your own language above, extracted from your Declaration of +Independence, with your cruelties and murders inflicted by your cruel +and unmerciful fathers on ourselves on our fathers and on us, men who +have never given your fathers or you the least provocation!!! + +Hear your language further! + + [Hand->] "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, + pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to + reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their _right_, + it is their _duty_, to throw off such government, and to + provide new guards for their future security." + +Now, Americans! I ask you candidly, was your sufferings under Great +Britain one hundredth part as cruel and tyrannical as you have +rendered ours under you? Some of you, no doubt, believe that we will +never throw off your murderous government, and "provide new guards for +our future security." If Satan has made you believe it, will he not +deceive you?[30] Do the whites say, I being a black man, ought to be +humble, which I readily admit? I ask them, ought they not to be as +humble as I? or do they think they can measure arms with Jehovah? Will +not the Lord yet humble them? or will not these very coloured people, +whom they now treat worse than brutes, yet under God, humble them low +down enough? Some of the whites are ignorant enough to tell us, that +we ought to be submissive to them, that they may keep their feet on +our throats. And if we do not submit to be beaten to death by them, we +are bad creatures and of course must be damned, &c. If any man wishes +to hear this doctrine openly preached to us by the American preachers, +let him go into the Southern and Western sections of this country--I +do not speak from hearsay--what I have written, is what I have seen +and heard myself. No man may think that my book is made up of +conjecture--I have travelled and observed nearly the whole of those +things myself, and what little I did not get by my own observation, I +received from those among the whites and blacks, in whom the greatest +confidence may be placed. + +The Americans may be as vigilant as they please, but they cannot be +vigilant enough for the Lord, neither can they hide themselves, where +he will not find and bring them out. + + * * * * * + + 1 Thy presence why withdraw'st thou, Lord? + Why hid'st thou now thy face, + When dismal times of deep distress + Call for thy wonted grace? + + 2 The wicked, swell'd with lawless pride, + Have made the poor their prey; + O let them fall by those designs + Which they for others lay. + + 3 For straight they triumph, if success + Their thriving crimes attend; + And sordid wretches, whom God hates, + Perversely they commend. + + 4 To own a pow'r above themselves + Their haughty pride disdains; + And, therefore, in their stubborn mind + No thought of God remains. + + 5 Oppressive methods they pursue, + And all their foes they slight; + Because thy judgements, unobserved, + Are far above their sight. + + 6 They fondly think their prosp'rous state + Shall unmolested be; + They think their vain designs shall thrive, + From all misfortune free. + + 7 Vain and deceitful is their speech, + With curses fill'd, and lies; + By which the mischief of their heart + They study to disguise. + + 8 Near public roads they lie conceal'd, + And all their art employ, + The innocent and poor at once + To rifle and destroy. + + 9 Not lions crouching in their dens, + Surprise their heedless prey + With greater cunning, or express + More savage rage than they. + + 10 Sometimes they act the harmless man, + And modest looks they wear; + That so, deceiv'd, the poor may less + Their sudden onset fear + + PART II. + + 11 For God, they think, no notice takes + Of their unrighteous deeds; + He never minds the suff'ring poor, + Nor their oppression heeds. + + 12 But thou, O Lord, at length arise, + Stretch forth thy mighty arm, + And by the greatness of thy pow'r, + Defend the poor from harm. + + 13 No longer let the wicked vaunt, + And, proudly boasting, say, + "Tush, God regards not what we do; + He never will repay."--_Common Prayer Book._ + + * * * * * + + 1 Shall I for fear of feeble man, + The Spirit's coarse in me restrain? + Or, undismay'd in deed and word. + Be a true witness of my Lord. + + 2 Aw'd by mortal's frown shall I + Conceal the word of God Most High! + How then before thee shall I dare + To stand, or how thine anger bear? + + 3 Shall I, to sooth th' unholy throng, + Soften the troth, or smooth my tongue, + To gain earth's gilded toys, or flee + The cross endur'd, my Lord, by thee? + + 4 What then is he whose scorn I dread? + Whose wrath or hate makes me afraid + A man! an heir of death! a slave + To sin! a bubble on the wave! + + 5 Yea, let men rage: since thou wilt spread + Thy shadowing wings around my head: + Since in all pain thy tender love + Will still my sure refreshment prove. + + _Wesley's Collection._ + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[17] See Dr. Torrey's Portraiture of Domestic Slavery in the United +States, page 85-86. + +[18] Among the English, our real friends and benefactors. + +[19] In the first edition of this work, it should read 1816, as above, +and not 1826, as it there appears. + +[20] "Niger" is a word derived from the Latin, which was used by the +old Romans to designate inanimate beings which were black, such as +soot, pot, wood, house, &c. Also, of animals which they considered +inferior to the human species, as a black horse, cow, hog, bird, dog, +&c. The white Americans have applied this term to Africans, by way of +reproach for our color, to aggravate and heighten our miseries, +because they have their feet on our throats, and we cannot help +ourselves. + +[21] See Freedom's Journal for Nov. 2d, 1827--vol. 1, No. 34. + +[22] I mean those whose labors for the good, or rather destruction of +Jerusalem, and the Jews. Ceased before our Lord entered the Temple, +and over turned the tables of the Money Changers. + +[23] How many millions souls of the human family have the blacks, beat +nearly to death, to keep them from learning to read the Word of God +and from writing. And telling lies about them, by holding them up to +the world as a tribe of TALKING APES, void of _intellect!!! incapable_ +of LEARNING, &c. + +[24] And still hold us up with indignity as being incapable of +acquiring knowledge!!! See the inconsistency of the assertions of +those wretches--they beat us inhumanly, sometimes almost to death, for +attempting to inform ourselves, by reading the _Word_ of our Maker, +and at the same time tell us, that we are beings _void of +intellect!!!!!_ How admirably their practices agree with their +professions in this case. Let me cry shame upon you Americans, for +such outrages upon human nature!!! If it were possible for the whites +always to keep us ignorant and miserable, and make us work to enrich +them and their children, and insult our feelings by representing us as +_talking Apes_, what would they do? But glory honour and praise to +Heaven's King, that the sons and daughters of Africa, will, in spite +of all the opposition of their enemies, stand forth in all the dignity +and glory that is granted by the Lord to his creature man. + +[25] Those who are ignorant enough to go to Africa, the coloured +people ought to be glad to have them go, for if they are ignorant +enough to let the whites _fool_ them off to Africa, they would be no +small injury to us if they reside in this country. + +[26] See St. Mathew's Gospel, chap, xviii. v. 6. + +[27] You are not astonished at my saying we hate you, for if we are +men, we cannot but hate you, while you are treating us like dogs. + +[28] Some of my brethren, who are sensible, do not take an interest in +enlightening the minds of our more ignorant brethren respecting this +_Book_, and in reading it to them, just as though they will not have +either to rise or fall by what is written in this book. Do they +believe that I would be so foolish as to put out a book of this kind, +without strict--ah! very strict commandments of the Lord!--Surely the +blacks and whites must think that I am ignorant enough. Do they think +that I would have the audacious wickedness to take the name of my God +in vain? + +Notice, I said in the concluding clause of Article 3--I call God, I +call Angels, I call men to witness, that the destruction of the +Americans is at hand, and will be speedily consumated unless they +repent. Now I wonder if the world think that I would take the name of +God in this way in vain? What do they think I take God to be? Do they +suppose that I would trifle with that God who will not have his holy +name taken in vain?--He will show you and the world, in due time, +whether this book is for his glory, or written by me through envy to +the whites, as some have represented. + +[29] See the Declaration of Independence of the United States. + +[30] The Lord has not taught the Americans that we will not some day +or other throw off their chains and hand-cuffs, from our hands and +feet, and their devilish lashes (which some of them shall have enough +of yet) from off our backs. + + + + +AN ADDRESS + +TO THE SLAVES OF THE UNITED +STATES OF AMERICA + +(REJECTED BY THE NATIONAL CONVENTION, 1843.) + +BY HENRY HIGHLAND GARNET. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The following Address was first read at the National Convention held +at Buffalo, N.Y., in 1843. Since that time it has been slightly +modified, retaining, however, all of its original doctrine. The +document elicited more discussion than any other paper that was ever +brought before that, or any other deliberative body of colored +persons, and their friends. Gentlemen who opposed the Address, based +their objections on these grounds. 1. That the document was war-like, +and encouraged insurrection; and 2. That if the Convention should +adopt it, that those delegates who lived near the borders of the slave +states, would not dare to return to their homes. The Address was +rejected by a small majority; and now in compliance with the earnest +request of many who heard it, and in conformity to the wishes of +numerous friends who are anxious to see it, the author now gives it to +the public, praying God that this little book may be borne on the four +winds of heaven, until the principles it contains shall be understood +and adopted by every slave in the Union. + + H.H.G. +Troy, N.Y., April 15, 1848. + + + + +ADDRESS TO THE SLAVES OF THE U.S. + + +BRETHREN AND FELLOW CITIZENS: + +Your brethren of the north, east, and west have been accustomed to +meet together in National Conventions, to sympathize with each other, +and to weep over your unhappy condition. In these meetings we have +addressed all classes of the free, but we have never until this time, +sent a word of consolation and advice to you. We have been contented +in sitting still and mourning over your sorrows, earnestly hoping that +before this day, your sacred liberties would have been restored. But, +we have hoped in vain. Years have rolled on, and tens of thousands +have been borne on streams of blood, and tears, to the shores of +eternity. While you have been oppressed, we have also been partakers +with you; nor can we be free while you are enslaved. We therefore +write to you as being bound with you. + +Many of you are bound to us, not only by the ties of a common +humanity, but we are connected by the more tender relations of +parents, wives, husbands, children, brothers, and sisters, and +friends. As such we most affectionately address you. + +Slavery has fixed a deep gulf between you and us, and while it shuts +out from you the relief and consolation which your friends would +willingly render, it afflicts and persecutes you with a fierceness +which we might not expect to see in the fiends of hell. But still the +Almighty Father of Mercies has left to us a glimmering ray of hope, +which shines out like a lone star in a cloudy sky. Mankind are +becoming wiser, and better--the oppressor's power is fading, and you, +every day, are becoming better informed, and more numerous. Your +grievances, brethren, are many. We shall not attempt, in this short +address, to present to the world, all the dark catalogue of this +nation's sins, which have been committed upon an innocent people. Nor +is it indeed, necessary, for you feel them from day to day, and all +the civilized world look upon them with amazement. + +Two hundred and twenty-seven years ago, the first of our injured race +were brought to the shores of America. They came not with glad spirits +to select their homes, in the New World. They came not with their own +consent, to find an unmolested enjoyment of the blessings of this +fruitful soil. The first dealings which they had with those calling +themselves Christians, exhibited to them the worst features of corrupt +and sordid hearts; and convinced them that no cruelty is too great, no +villainy, and no robbery too abhorrent for even enlightened men to +perform, when influenced by avarice, and lust. Neither did they come +flying upon the wings of Liberty, to a land of freedom. But, they came +with broken hearts, from their beloved native land, and were doomed to +unrequited toil, and deep degradation. Nor did the evil of their +bondage end at their emancipation by death. Succeeding generations +inherited their chains, and millions have come from eternity into +time, and have returned again to the world of spirits, cursed, and +ruined by American Slavery. + +The propagators of the system, or their immediate ancestors very soon +discovered its growing evil, and its tremendous wickedness, and secret +promises were made to destroy it. The gross inconsistency of a people +holding slaves, who had themselves "ferried o'er the wave," for +freedom's sake, was too apparent to be entirely overlooked. The voice +of Freedom cried, "emancipate your Slaves." Humanity supplicated with +tears, for the deliverance of the children of Africa. Wisdom urged her +solemn plea. The bleeding captive plead his innocence, and pointed to +Christianity who stood weeping at the cross. Jehovah frowned upon the +nefarious institution, and thunderbolts, red with vengeance, struggled +to leap forth to blast the guilty wretches who maintained it. But all +was vain. Slavery had stretched its dark wings of death over the land, +the Church stood silently by--the priests prophesied falsely, and the +people loved to have it so. Its throne is established, and now it +reigns triumphantly. + +Nearly three millions of your fellow citizens, are prohibited by law, +and public opinion, (which in this country is stronger than law), from +reading the Book of Life. Your intellect has been destroyed as much as +possible, and every ray of light they have attempted to shut out from +your minds. The oppressors themselves have become involved in the +ruin. They have become weak, sensual, and rapacious. They have cursed +you--they have cursed themselves--they have cursed the earth which +they have trod. In the language of a Southern statesman, we can truly +say, "even the wolf, driven back long since by the approach of man, +now returns after the lapse of a hundred years, and howls amid the +desolations of slavery." + +The colonists threw the blame upon England. They said that the mother +country entailed the evil upon them, and that they would rid +themselves of it if they could. The world thought they were sincere, +and the philanthropic pitied them. But time soon tested their +sincerity. In a few years, the colonists grew strong and severed +themselves from the British Government. Their Independence was +declared, and they took their station among the sovereign powers of +the earth. The declaration was a glorious document. Sages admired it, +and the patriotic of every nation reverenced the Godlike sentiments +which it contained. When the power of Government returned to their +hands, did they emancipate the slaves? No; they rather added new links +to our chains. Were they ignorant of the principles of Liberty? +Certainly they were not. The sentiments of their revolutionary orators +fell in burning eloquence upon their hearts, and with one voice they +cried, LIBERTY OR DEATH. O, what a sentence was that! It ran from soul +to soul like electric fire, and nerved the arm of thousands to fight +in the holy cause of Freedom. Among the diversity of opinions that are +entertained in regard to physical resistance, there are but a few +found to gainsay that stern declaration. We are among those who do +not. + +SLAVERY! How much misery is comprehended in that single word. What +mind is there that does not shrink from its direful effects? Unless +the image of God is obliterated from the soul, all men cherish the +love of Liberty. The nice discerning political economist does not +regard the sacred right, more than the untutored African who roams in +the wilds of Congo. Nor has the one more right to the full enjoyment +of his freedom than the other. In every man's mind the good seeds of +liberty are planted, and he who brings his fellow down so low, as to +make him contented with a condition of slavery, commits the highest +crime against God and man. Brethren, your oppressors aim to do this. +They endeavor to make you as much like brutes as possible. When they +have blinded the eyes of your mind--when they have embittered the +sweet waters of life--when they have shut out the light which shines +from the word of God--then, and not till then has American slavery +done its perfect work. + +TO SUCH DEGRADATION IT IS SINFUL IN THE EXTREME FOR YOU TO MAKE +VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION. The divine commandments, you are in duty +bound to reverence, and obey. If you do not obey them you will surely +meet with the displeasure of the Almighty. He requires you to love him +supremely, and your neighbor as yourself--to keep the Sabbath day +holy--to search the Scriptures--and bring up your children with +respect for his laws, and to worship no other God but him. But slavery +sets all these at naught and hurls defiance in the face of Jehovah. +The forlorn condition in which you are placed does not destroy your +moral obligation to God. You are not certain of Heaven, because you +suffer yourselves to remain in a state of slavery, where you cannot +obey the commandments of the Sovereign of the universe. If the +ignorance of slavery is a passport to heaven, then it is a blessing, +and no curse, and you should rather desire its perpetuity than its +abolition. God will not receive slavery, nor ignorance, nor any other +state of mind, for love, and obedience to him. Your condition does not +absolve you from your moral obligation. The diabolical injustice by +which your liberties are cloven down, NEITHER GOD, NOR ANGELS, OR +JUST MEN, COMMAND YOU TO SUFFER FOR A SINGLE MOMENT. THEREFORE IT IS +YOUR SOLEMN AND IMPERATIVE DUTY TO USE EVERY MEANS, BOTH MORAL, +INTELLECTUAL, AND PHYSICAL, THAT PROMISE SUCCESS. If a band of +heathen men should attempt to enslave a race of Christians, and to +place their children under the influence of some false religion, +surely, heaven would frown upon the men who would not resist such +aggression, even to death. If, on the other hand, a band of Christians +should attempt to enslave a race of heathen men and to entail slavery +upon them, and to keep them in heathenism in the midst of +Christianity, the God of heaven would smile upon every effort which +the injured might make to disenthral themselves. + +Brethren, it is as wrong for your lordly oppressors to keep you in +slavery, as it was for the man thief to steal our ancestors from the +coast of Africa. You should therefore now use the same manner of +resistance, as would have been just in our ancestors, when the bloody +foot prints of the first remorseless soul thief was placed upon the +shores of our fatherland. The humblest peasant is as free in the sight +of God, as the proudest monarch that ever swayed a sceptre. Liberty is +a spirit sent out from God, and like its great Author, is no respecter +of persons. + +Brethren, the time has come when you must act for yourselves. It is an +old and true saying, that "if hereditary bondmen would be free, they +must themselves strike the blow." You can plead your own cause, and do +the work of emancipation better than any others. The nations of the +old world are moving in the great cause of universal freedom, and some +of them at least, will ere long, do you justice. The combined powers +of Europe have placed their broad seal of disapprobation upon the +African slave trade. But in the slave holding parts of the United +States, the trade is as brisk as ever. They buy and sell you as +though you were brute beasts. The North has done much--her opinion of +slavery in the abstract is known. But in regard to the South, we adopt +the opinion of the New York Evangelist--"We have advanced so far, that +the cause apparently waits for a more effectual door to be thrown open +than has been yet." We are about to point you to that more effectual +door. Look around you, and behold the bosoms of your loving wives, +heaving with untold agonies! Hear the cries of your poor children! +Remember the stripes your fathers bore. Think of the torture and +disgrace of your noble mothers. Think of your wretched sisters, loving +virtue and purity, as they are driven into concubinage, and are +exposed to the unbridled lusts of incarnate devils. Think of the +undying glory that hangs around the ancient name of Africa:--and +forget not that you are native-born American citizens, and as such, +you are justly entitled to all the rights that are granted to the +freest. Think how many tears you have poured out upon the soil which +you have cultivated with unrequited toil, and enriched with your +blood; and then go to your lordly enslavers, and tell them plainly, +that YOU ARE DETERMINED TO BE FREE. Appeal to their sense of justice, +and tell them that they have no more right to oppress you, than you +have to enslave them. Entreat them to remove the grievous burdens +which they have imposed upon you, and to remunerate you for your +labor. Promise them renewed diligence in the cultivation of the soil, +if they will render to you an equivalent for your services. Point them +to the increase of happiness and prosperity in the British West +Indies, since the act of Emancipation. Tell them in language which +they cannot misunderstand, of the exceeding sinfulness of slavery, and +of a future judgment, and of the righteous retributions of an +indignant God. Inform them that all you desire, is FREEDOM, and that +nothing else will suffice. Do this, and for ever after cease to toil +for the heartless tyrants, who give you no other reward but stripes +and abuse. If they then commence the work of death, they, and not you, +will be responsible for the consequences. You had far better all +die--_die immediately_, than live slaves, and entail your wretchedness +upon your posterity. If you would be free in this generation, here is +your only hope. However much you and all of us may desire it, there is +not much hope of Redemption without the shedding of blood. If you must +bleed, let it all come at once--rather, _die freemen, than live to be +slaves_. It is impossible, like the children of Israel, to make a +grand Exodus from the land of bondage. THE PHARAOHS ARE ON BOTH SIDES +OF THE BLOOD-RED WATERS! You cannot remove en masse, to the dominions +of the British Queen--nor can you pass through Florida, and overrun +Texas, and at last find peace in Mexico. The propagators of American +slavery are spending their blood and treasure, that they may plant the +black flag in the heart of Mexico, and riot in the halls of the +Montezumas. In the language of the Rev. Robert Hall, when addressing +the volunteers of Bristol, who were rushing forth to repel the +invasion of Napoleon, who threatened to lay waste the fair homes of +England, "Religion is too much interested in your behalf, not to shed +over you her most gracious influences." + +You will not be compelled to spend much time in order to become inured +to hardships. From the first moment that you breathed the air of +heaven, you have been accustomed to nothing else but hardships. The +heroes of the American Revolution were never put upon harder fare, +than a peck of corn, and a few herrings per week. You have not become +enervated by the luxuries of life. Your sternest energies have been +beaten out upon the anvil of severe trial. Slavery has done this, to +make you subservient to its own purposes; but it has done more than +this, it has prepared you for any emergency. If you receive good +treatment, it is what you could hardly expect; if you meet with pain, +sorrow, and even death, these are the common lot of the slaves. + +Fellow-men! patient sufferers! behold your dearest rights crushed to +the earth! See your sons murdered, and your wives, mothers, and +sisters, doomed to prostitution! In the name of the merciful God! and +by all that life is worth, let it no longer be a debateable question, +whether it is better to choose LIBERTY or DEATH! + +In 1822, Denmark Veazie, of South Carolina, formed a plan for the +liberation of his fellow men. In the whole history of human efforts to +overthrow slavery, a more complicated and tremendous plan was never +formed. He was betrayed by the treachery of his own people, and died a +martyr to freedom. Many a brave hero fell, but History, faithful to +her high trust, will transcribe his name on the same monument with +Moses, Hampden, Tell, Bruce, and Wallace, Touissaint L'Overteur, +Lafayette and Washington. That tremendous movement shook the whole +empire of slavery. The guilty soul thieves were overwhelmed with fear. +It is a matter of fact, that at that time, and in consequence of the +threatened revolution, the slave states talked strongly of +emancipation. But they blew but one blast of the trumpet of freedom, +and then laid it aside. As these men became quiet, the slaveholders +ceased to talk about emancipation: and now, behold your condition +to-day! Angels sigh over it, and humanity has long since exhausted her +tears in weeping on your account! + +The patriotic Nathaniel Turner followed Denmark Veazie. He was goaded +to desperation by wrong and injustice. By Despotism, his name has +been recorded on the list of infamy, but future generations will +number him among the noble and brave. + +Next arose the immortal Joseph Cinque, the hero of the Amistad. He was +a native African, and by the help of God he emancipated a whole +ship-load of his fellow men on the high seas. And he now sings of +liberty on the sunny hills of Africa, and beneath his native palm +trees, where he hears the lion roar, and feels himself as free as that +king of the forest. Next arose Madison Washington, that bright star of +freedom, and took his station in the constellation of freedom. He was +a slave on board the brig Creole, of Richmond, bound to New Orleans, +that great slave mart, with a hundred and four others. Nineteen struck +for liberty or death. But one life was taken, and the whole were +emancipated, and the vessel was carried into Nassau, New Providence. +Noble men! Those who have fallen in freedom's conflict, their memories +will be cherished by the true hearted, and the God-fearing, in all +future generations; those who are living, their names are surrounded +by a halo of glory. + +We do not advise you to attempt a revolution with the sword, because +it would be INEXPEDIENT. Your numbers are too small, and moreover the +rising spirit of the age, and the spirit of the gospel, are opposed to +war and bloodshed. But from this moment cease to labor for tyrants who +will not remunerate you. Let every slave throughout the land do this, +and the days of slavery are numbered. You cannot be more oppressed +than you have been--you cannot suffer greater cruelties than you have +already. RATHER DIE FREEMEN, THAN LIVE TO BE SLAVES. Remember +that you are THREE MILLIONS. + +It is in your power so to torment the God-cursed slaveholders, that +they will be glad to let you go free. If the scale was turned, and +black men were the masters, and white men the slaves, every +destructive agent and element would be employed to lay the oppressor +low. Danger and death would hang over their heads day and night. Yes, +the tyrants would meet with plagues more terrible than those of +Pharaoh. But you are a patient people. You act as though you were made +for the special use of these devils. You act as though your daughters +were born to pamper the lusts of your masters and overseers. And worse +than all, you tamely submit, while your lords tear your wives from +your embraces, and defile them before your eyes. In the name of God we +ask, are you men? Where is the blood of your fathers? Has it all run +out of your veins? Awake, awake; millions of voices are calling you! +Your dead fathers speak to you from their graves. Heaven, as with a +voice of thunder, calls on you to arise from the dust. + +Let your motto be RESISTANCE! RESISTANCE! RESISTANCE!--No oppressed +people have ever secured their liberty without resistance. What kind +of resistance you had better make, you must decide by the +circumstances that surround you, and according to the suggestion of +expediency. Brethren, adieu. Trust in the living God. Labor for the +peace of the human race, and remember that you are three millions. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Walker's Appeal, with a Brief Sketch +of His Life, by David Walker and Henry Highland Garnet + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WALKER'S APPEAL, WITH A *** + +***** This file should be named 16516.txt or 16516.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/5/1/16516/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Richard J. 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