diff options
Diffstat (limited to '21093.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 21093.txt | 20781 |
1 files changed, 20781 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/21093.txt b/21093.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..850b76d --- /dev/null +++ b/21093.txt @@ -0,0 +1,20781 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Journal of Negro History, Volume 4, 1919, by Various + +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: The Journal of Negro History, Volume 4, 1919 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: April 15, 2007 [EBook #21093] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEGRO HISTORY *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Richard J. Shiffer and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: Every effort has been made to replicate this +text as faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant +spellings and other inconsistencies. Text that has been changed to +correct an obvious error is noted at the end of this ebook. Also, the +transcriber added the Table of Contents.] + + + + +THE JOURNAL + +OF + +NEGRO HISTORY + +Volume IV + +1919 + + + + + Table of Contents + + Vol IV--January, 1919--No. 1 + + Primitive Law and the Negro ROLAND G. USHER + Lincoln's Plan for Colonizing Negroes CHARLES H. WESLEY + Lemuel Haynes W. H. MORSE + The Anti-Slavery Society of Canada FRED LANDON + Documents + Benjamin Franklin and Freedom + Proceedings of a Mississippi Migration Convention in 1879 + How the Negroes were Duped + Remarks on this Exodus by Federick Douglass + The Senate Report on the Exodus of 1879 + Some Undistinguished Negroes + Book Reviews + Notes + + + Vol IV--April, 1919--No. 2 + + The Conflict and Fusion of Cultures ROBERT E. PARK + The Company of Royal Adventurers GEORGE F. ZOOK + Book Reviews + Notes + + + Vol IV--July, 1919--No. 3 + + Negroes in the Confederate Army CHARLES H. WESLEY + Legal Status of Negroes in Tennessee WILLIAM LLOYD IMES + Negro Life and History in our Schools C. G. WOODSON + Gregoire's Sketch of Angelo Solimann F. HARRISON HOUGH + Documents + Letters of Negro Migrants of 1916-1918 + Book Reviews + Notes + + Vol IV--October, 1919--No. 4 + + Labor Conditions in Jamaica Prior to 1917 E. ETHELRED BROWN + The Life of Charles B. Ray M. N. WORK + The Slave in Upper Canada W. R. RIDDELL + Documents + Notes on Slavery in Canada + Additional Letters of Negro Migrants of 1916-1918 + Book Reviews + Notes + Biennial Meeting of Association + + + + +THE JOURNAL + +OF + +NEGRO HISTORY + +VOL. IV--JANUARY, 1919--No. I + + + + +PRIMITIVE LAW AND THE NEGRO + + +The psychology of large bodies of men is a surprisingly difficult +topic and it is often true that we are inclined to seek the +explanation of phenomena in too recent a period of human development. +The truth seems to be that ideas prevail longer than customs, habits +of dress or the ordinary economic processes of the community, and the +ideas are the controlling factors. The attitude of the white man in +this country toward the Negro is the fact perhaps of most consequence +in the Negro problem. Why is it that still there lingers a certain +unwillingness, one can hardly say more, in the minds of the best +people to accept literally the platform of the Civil War? Why were the +East St. Louis riots possible? I am afraid that a good many of the +Negro race feel that there is a distinct personal prejudice or +antipathy which can be reached or ought to be reached by logic, by +reason, by an appeal to the principles of Christianity and of +democracy. For myself I have always felt that if the premises of +Christianity were valid at all, they placed the Negro upon precisely +the same plane as the white man; that if the premises of democracy +were true for the white man, they were true for the black. There +should be no artificial distinction created by law, and what is much +more to the purpose, by custom simply because the one man has a skin +different in hue than the other. Nor should the law, once having been +made equal, be nullified by a lack of observance on the part of the +whites nor be abrogated by tacit agreements or by further legislation +subtly worded so as to avoid constitutional requirements. Each man and +woman should be tested by his qualities and achievements and valued +for what he is. I am sure no Negro asks for more, and yet I am afraid +it is true, as many have complained, that in considerable sections of +this country he receives far less. + +I have long believed that we are concerned in this case with no +reasoned choice and with no explainable act, but with an unconscious +impulse, a subconscious impulse possibly, with an illogical, +unreasonable but powerful and in-explainable reaction of which the +white man himself is scarcely conscious and yet which he feels to be +stronger than all the impulses created in him by reason and logic. +What is its origin? Is there such a force? I think most will agree +there is such an instinctive aversion or dislike. + +I am inclined to carry it back into the beginnings of the race, back +to the period of pre-historic law and to that psychological origin +which antedates the records of history, in the strict sense, to that +part of racial history indeed where men commonly act rather than +write. The idea of prehistoric law is that obligation exists only +between people of the same blood. Originally, charitable and decent +conduct was expected only of people of the same family. Even though +the family was by fact or fiction extended to include some hundreds or +even thousands of people, the fact was still true. The law which bound +a man limited his good conduct to a relatively few people. Outside the +blood kin he was not bound. He must not steal from his relatives, but +if he stole from another clan, his relatives deemed it virtue. If he +committed murder, he should be punished within his clan, but +protected, if possible, by his clan, if he murdered someone outside +it. The blood kin became the definite limitation of the ideas of right +and responsibility. This was true between whites. All whites were not +members of any one man's blood kin. + +Palpably more true was this distinction between the Negro and the +white man. The Negro could not by any fiction be represented as one of +the blood kin. The Romans extended the legal citizenship to cover all +white men in their dominions. It was the fictitious tie of the blood +kin, but its plausibility was due to the fact that they were all +white. I do not remember to have seen any proof that the Negro +inhabitants of the Roman African colonies were considered Roman +citizens. This is one of the oldest psychological lines in human +history; the rights which a man must concede to another are limited by +the relationship of blood. _Prima facie_ there could be no blood +relationship between the Negro and the white man. There could +therefore be no obligation on the white man's part to the Negro in +prehistoric law. This notion has, I think, endured in many ways down +to the present day as a subconscious, unconscious factor behind many +very vital notions and ideas. Is it not true that international law +has been, more often than not, a law between white men? + +The next point I hesitate somewhat to make because it is difficult to +state without over-emphasis and without saying more than one means. I +think it probable that in one way or another the idea of Christianity +became connected with the notion of the blood kin and in that sense +limited to the blood kin of those to whom Jesus came. Everyone is +familiar with the Jewish notion that Jesus was their own particular +Messiah, and that the Gentiles were foreclosed claims upon him. As +Christianity grew, it grew still among the white nations, and the +notion of it was not, I think, extended for a good many centuries to +any except white people. The premises of Christianity unquestionably +included the Negro, but the notion of the blood kin excluded him, and +Christianity, like other religious ideas, was limited to the people +who first created it and to those who were actually or by some +plausible fiction their kin in blood. The idea of the expansion of the +blood kin by adoption either of an individual or of a community of +individuals was very old and thoroughly well established, but I think +the idea never was applied to Negroes, Indians, or Chinamen except in +unfrequent cases of individuals. A volume would be required to bring +forward all the available evidence regarding this idea, and another +perhaps to examine and develop it, to consider and weigh the _pros_ +and meet the _cons_. But it will perhaps suffice for present purposes +to throw out the idea for consideration without an attempt at more +considerable defense. + +Another fact which has been most difficult to explain has been the +continued lynchings of Negroes not merely for crimes against women, +but for all sorts of other crimes, large and small. Here the traces of +primitive law are very much clearer. Lynching is after all nothing +more nor less than the old self-help. The original notion was that the +individual should execute the law himself when he could, and that he +was entitled in case of crime to assistance from the community in the +execution of the law upon the offender. Murder, arson, rape and the +theft of cattle were the particular crimes for which self-help by the +individual and by the community in his assistance were authorized by +primitive law. The preliminaries and formularies were very definite, +but they do not look to us of the present day like procedure. It is +true, however, that there are very few lynchings in which these +formulas have not been unconsciously followed. There must be a hue and +cry and pursuit along the trail. The murderer must be immediately +pursued. The person against whom the crime is committed or his next of +kin must raise an immediate outcry, and they and the neighbors must +proceed at once in pursuit. If they caught the criminal within a +reasonable distance or within a reasonable time, they then were +endowed by primitive law with the right to execute justice upon him +themselves. Commonly the criminal was hanged (even for theft) when +caught in the act, but barbarous punishments were not uncommon. That +was legal procedure, provided the cry was raised, the pursuit +undertaken, and the criminal caught within a reasonable number of +hours or days as the case might be. The mob had the right to execute +the law, and it is not often that lynchings take place long periods +after the commission of the crime. Such for many centuries was the law +in Europe for whites. Self-help applied in particular to men of +different tribes or communities who were not of the same blood kin. + +If self-help applied under certain conditions within the blood kin as +it unquestionably did, that is to say, within the law, it applied with +greater force to all classes and offenders who were outside the blood +kin and were outside the law. If a stranger or an alien came within +the community bounds and did not sound his horn, community law +sanctioned his instant killing by anyone who met him. Men could not +peaceably enter the precincts of the German tribes as late as the year +500 or 600 A.D. without being liable to instant death unless they +complied with certain definite formularies. Until within five hundred +years, the stranger was practically without rights in any country but +his own, and might be dealt with violently by individuals or bodies of +citizens. One has but to remember the tortures visited upon the Jews +in all European countries with impunity to realize the truth of the +doctrine of self-help when applied to strangers. There was literally +no law to govern the situation. The courts did not deal with it, no +penalties were provided for the restraining of individuals or of the +community at large, dealing with strangers until a relatively recent +time. + +Is it not true that the difference in blood between the Negro and the +white man has caused a survival of this notion of self-help, today +illogical, unreasonable, absurd, but powerful none the less despite +its technical infraction of the law of the land? Is not the lynching +of a Negro or of a white man simply the old primitive self-help with +the hue and cry and the execution of the victim when caught by the mob +or by the sheriff's posse? There is perhaps no field of speculation so +fascinating as this of the survival of bygone customs, traditions, and +notions, in present society. At the same time he will be a poor and +uncritical student who will not recognize the ease of erecting vast +structures upon slender foundations. My purpose in this article is +not to allege the necessary truth of this proposition, but, if +possible, to stimulate along different lines than has been common the +researches of those who are interested in the psychological attitude +of the white man toward the Negro. + +There will be no doubt those who will exclaim that if I am right in +this analysis of the problem--indeed, if there be any reasonable +modicum of truth in what I say--then the solution of the problem will +be difficult in the extreme. The whole method of attack upon it will +be altered. A long educational campaign will become the main feature, +intended to expose the true basis of the white man's denial of real +equality to the Negro race. It will look like a battle too long to be +waged with courage because the victory will be far in the future. I do +not agree. The attack, if properly directed, and vigorously followed +up, will, like the assault of the woman suffragists upon equally +ancient instinctive promptings, be unexpectedly successful. The walls +of the fortress are thin and the defenders the wraiths of a dim past. + + ROLAND G. USHER. + + + + +LINCOLN'S PLAN FOR COLONIZING THE EMANCIPATED NEGROES[1] + + +The colonization of the emancipated slaves had been one of the +remedies for the difficulties created by the presence of freedmen in +the midst of slave conditions. The American Colonization Society was +founded in 1816 with the object of promoting emancipation by sending +the freedmen to Africa. Some of the slave States, moreover, had laws +compelling the freedmen to leave the State in which they had formerly +resided as slaves. With an increasingly large number securing legal +manumission, the problem caused by their presence became to the +slaveholding group a most serious one. The Colonization Society, +therefore, sought to colonize the freedmen on the west coast of +Africa, thus definitely removing the problem which was of such concern +to the planters in slaveholding States. + +The colony of Liberia, on the west coast of Africa, was chosen as a +favorable one to receive the group of freed slaves. Branches of the +Colonization Society were organized in many States and a large +membership was secured throughout the country. James Madison and Henry +Clay were among its Presidents. Many States made grants of money and +the United States Government encouraged the plan by sending to the +colony slaves illegally imported. But to the year 1830 only 1,162 +Negroes had been sent to Liberia. The full development of the cotton +gin, the expansion of the cotton plantation and the consequent rise in +the price of slaves forced many supporters of both emancipation and +colonization to lose their former ardor. + +As the antebellum period of the fifties came on these questions loomed +larger in the public view. The proposition for colonizing free Negroes +grew in favor as the slavery question grew more acute between the +sections. Reformers favored it, public men of note urged its adoption +and finally, as the forensic strife between the representatives of the +two sections of the country developed in intensity, even distinguished +statesmen began to propose and consider the adoption of colonization +schemes.[2] + +Abraham Lincoln, as early as 1852, gave a clear demonstration of his +interest in colonization by quoting favorably in one of his public +utterances an oft-repeated statement of Henry Clay,--"There is a moral +fitness in the idea of returning to Africa her children, whose +ancestors have been torn from her by the ruthless hand of fraud and +violence."[3] In popular parlance, however, Lincoln is not a +colonizationist. He has become not only the Great Emancipator but the +Great Lover of the Negro and promoter of his welfare. He is thought +of, popularly always, as the champion of the race's equality. A visit +to some of our emancipation celebrations or Lincoln's birthday +observances is sufficient to convince one of the prevalence of this +sentiment. Yet, although Lincoln believed in the destruction of +slavery, he desired the complete separation of the whites and blacks. + +Throughout his political career Lincoln persisted in believing in the +colonization of the Negro.[4] In the Lincoln-Douglas debates the +beginning of this idea may be seen. Lincoln said: "If all earthly +power were given me, I should not know what to do as to the existing +institution. My first impulse would be to free all the slaves and send +them to Liberia--to their own native land. But a moment's reflection +would convince me that, whatever of high hope (as I think there is) +there may be in this, in the long run its sudden execution is +impossible. If they were all landed there in a day, they would all +perish in the next ten days; and there are not surplus shipping and +surplus money enough in the world to carry them there in many times +ten days. What then? Free them all and keep them among us as +underlings? Is it quite certain that this betters their condition? I +think that I would not hold one in slavery at any rate, yet the point +is not clear enough for me to denounce people upon. What next? Free +them and make them politically and socially our equals? My own +feelings will not admit of this, and if mine would, we well know that +those of the great mass of whites will not. Whether this feeling +accords with sound judgment is not the sole judgment, if indeed it is +any part of it."[5] + +A few years later in a speech in Springfield, Lincoln said:[6] "The +enterprise is a difficult one, but where there is a will there is a +way, and what colonization needs most is a hearty will. Will springs +from the two elements of moral sense and self-interest. Let us be +brought to believe it is morally right, and at the same time favorable +to, or at least not against our interests to transfer the African to +his native clime, and we shall find a way to do it, however great the +task may be."[7] It is apparent, therefore, that before coming to the +presidency, Lincoln had quite definite views on the matter of +colonization. His interest arose not only with the good of the +freedmen in view, but with the welfare of the white race in mind, as +he is frank enough to state. + +After being made President, the question of colonization arose again. +Large numbers of slaves in the Confederate States not only became +actually free by escape and capture but also legally free through the +operation of the confiscation acts. In this new condition, their +protection and care was to a considerable extent thrown upon the +government. To solve this problem Lincoln decided upon a plan of +compensated emancipation which would affect the liberation of slaves +in the border States, and he further considered the future of the +recently emancipated slaves and those to be freed.[8] + +Taking up this question in his first annual message, he said: "It +might be well to consider, too, whether the free colored people +already in the United States could not so far as individuals may +desire be included in such colonization," (meaning the colonization of +certain persons who were held by legal claims to the labor and service +of certain other persons, and by the act of confiscating property used +for insurrectory purposes had become free, their claims being +forfeited). "To carry out the plan of colonization may involve the +acquiring of territory, and also the appropriation of money beyond +that to be expended in the territorial acquisition. Having practiced +the acquisition of territory for nearly sixty years, the question of +constitutional power to do so is no longer an open one to us.... On +this whole proposition, including the appropriation of money with the +acquisition of territory, does not the expediency amount to absolute +necessity--that without which the government itself cannot be +perpetuated?"[9] + +Congress responded to this recommendation in separate acts, providing +in an act, April 16, 1862, for the release of certain persons held to +service or labor in the District of Columbia, including those to be +liberated by this act, as may desire to emigrate to the Republic of +Hayti or Liberia, or such other country beyond the limits of the +United States, as the President may determine, provided the +expenditure does not exceed one hundred dollars for each +immigrant.[10] The act provided that the sum of $100,000 out of any +money in the Treasury should be expended under the direction of the +President to aid the colonization and settlement of such persons of +African descent now residing in the District of Columbia.[11] It +further provided that later, on July 16, an additional appropriation +of $500,000 should be used in securing the colonization of free +persons.[12] A resolution directly authorizing the President's +participation provided "that the President is hereby authorized to +make provision for the transportation, colonization and settlement in +some tropical country beyond the limits of the United States, of such +persons of the African race, made free by the provisions of this act, +as may be willing to emigrate, having first obtained the consent of +the government of said country to their protection and settlement +within the same, with all the rights and privileges of freemen."[13] +The consent of Congress was given under protest and opposition from +some individual members. Charles Sumner in and out of Congress +attacked the plan with vigor,[14] but in spite of this opposition the +recommendation was carried. + +On several occasions Lincoln seized the opportunity to present his +views and plans to visiting groups and committees. On July 16, 1862, +when the President was desirous of securing the interest of the border +State representatives in favor of compensated emancipation the plan +for colonization came to light. His appeal to these representatives +was: "I do not speak of emancipation at once but of a decision to +emancipate gradually. Room in South America for colonization can be +obtained cheaply and in abundance, and when numbers shall be large +enough to be company and encouragement to one another the freed people +will not be so reluctant to go."[15] + +Again on the afternoon of August 14, 1862, the President gave an +audience to a committee of men of color at the White House. They were +introduced by Rev. J. Mitchell, Commissioner of Emigration. E. M. +Thomas, the chairman, remarked that they were there by invitation to +hear what the executive had to say to them. Having all been seated the +President informed them that a sum of money had been appropriated by +Congress and placed at his disposal for the purpose of aiding +colonization in some country, of the people, or a portion of those of +African descent, thereby making it his duty as it had been for a long +time his inclination to favor that cause. "And why," he asked, "should +the people of your race be colonized and where? Why should they leave +this country? You and we are different races. We have between us a +broader difference than exists between almost any other two races. +Whether it is right or wrong I need not discuss, but this physical +difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think. Your race +suffer very greatly, many of them, by living among us, while ours +suffer from your presence. In a word we suffer on each side. If this +is admitted it affords a reason why we should be separated. If we deal +with those who are not free at the beginning and whose intellects are +clouded by slavery we have very poor material to start with. If +intelligent colored men, such as are before me, would move in this +matter much might be accomplished. It is exceedingly important that we +have men at the beginning capable of thinking as white men and not +those who have been systematically opposed." + +The place the President proposed at this time was a colony in Central +America, seven days' run from one of the important Atlantic ports by +steamer. He stated that there was great evidence of rich coal mines, +excellent harbors, and that the new colony was situated on the +highways from the Atlantic or Caribbean to the Pacific Oceans. He told +this delegation of men to take their full time in making a reply to +him. The delegation withdrew, and we are unable to discover any +information regarding the reply. Evidently the group of men never +returned to make reply to the appeal of the President.[16] + +In the Second Annual Message December 1, 1862, more practical +suggestions were made to Congress by the President. Says he: +"Applications have been made to me by many free Americans of African +descent to favor their emigration, with a view to such colonization as +was contemplated in recent acts of Congress. Other parties at home and +abroad--some upon interested motives, others upon patriotic +considerations, and still others influenced by philanthropic +sentiments have suggested similar measures; while on the other hand +several of the Spanish American Republics have protested against the +sending of such colonies to their respective territories. Under these +circumstances I have declined to move any such colony to any State +without first obtaining the consent of the government, with an +agreement on its part to receive and protect such emigrants in all the +rights of freemen. I have at the same time offered to several States +situated within the tropics, or having colonies there to negotiate +with them, subject to the advice and consent of the Senate, to favor +the voluntary emigration of persons of that class to their respective +territories upon conditions which shall be equal, just and humane. +Liberia and Hayti are as yet the only countries to which colonies of +African descent from here could go with certainty of being received +and adopted as citizens; and I regret to say such persons +contemplating colonization do not seem so willing to go to those +countries as to some others, nor so willing as I think their interest +demands. I believe, however, opinion among them in this respect is +improving; and that ere long there will be an augmented and +considerable migration to both countries from the United States." + +Later in the same message Congress is requested to appropriate money +and prepare otherwise for colonizing free colored persons with their +own consent at some place without the United States. The President +continues: "I cannot make it better known than it already is, that I +strongly favor colonization and yet I wish to say there is an +objection urged against free colored persons remaining in the country, +which is largely imaginary, if not sometimes malicious. It is insisted +that their presence would injure and displace white labor and white +laborers. Is it true then that colored people can displace any more +white labor by being free than by remaining slaves? If they stay in +their old places they jostle no white laborers; if they leave their +old places they leave them open to white laborers. Logically then +there is neither more nor less of it. Emancipation even without +deportation would probably enhance the wages of white labor and very +surely would not reduce them. Reduce the supply of black labor by +colonizing the black laborer out of the country and by precisely so +much you increase the demand for and wages of white labor."[17] + +Pursuant to the power given the President, negotiations were begun +with the foreign powers having territory or colonies within the +tropics, through the Secretary of State, W. H. Seward, mainly to +ascertain if there was any desire on the part of these governments for +entering into negotiation on the subject of colonization. Negotiations +were to be begun only with those powers which might desire the benefit +of such emigration. It was suggested that a ten years' treaty should +be signed between the United States and the countries desiring +immigration. The latter were required to give specific guarantees for +"the perpetual freedom, protection and equal rights of the colonies +and their descendants." Before and after the transmission of the +proposals to foreign countries, propositions came from the Danish +Island of St. Croix in the West Indies, the Netherland Colony of St. +Swinam, the British Colony of Guiana, the British Colony of Honduras, +the Republic of Hayti, the Republic of Liberia, New Granada and +Ecuador. The Republics of Central America, Guatemala, Salvador, Costa +Rica, and Nicaragua, objected to such emigration as undesirable.[20] + +Great Britain rejected the proposal as a governmental proposition on +the ground that it might involve the government in some difficulty +with the United States government because of fugitives, and therefore +expressed her disagreement with such a convention. Seward had asserted +that there was no objection to voluntary emigration; the government of +British Honduras and Guiana then appointed immigration agents who were +to promote the immigration of laborers by using Boston, New York and +Philadelphia as emigration ports. + +The President came to be of the firm opinion that emigration must be +voluntary and without expense to those who went. This was repeatedly +asserted according to reports of the Cabinet meeting by Gideon +Wells.[21] The Netherlands sought to secure a labor supply for the +colony of Swinan for a term of years, using the freedmen as hired +laborers. Seward objected to the acceptance of such a proposal. + +Of all the propositions offered President Lincoln seemed satisfied +with two--one was for the establishment of a colony in the harbor of +Chiriqui in the northeastern section of the State of Panama,[22] near +the republics of New Granada and Costa Rica. The situation seemed +favorable not only because of the ordinary advantages of soil and +climate but also because of its proximity to a proposed canal across +the Isthmus of Darien and because of its reputedly rich coal fields. +There were two objections to this plan. One was the existence of a +dispute over territory between the republics of Costa Rica and +Granada. The other grew out of a specific examination of the coal +fields by Professor Henry of the Smithsonian Institute.[23] His report +doubted the value of the coal bed and advised a more thorough +examination before closing the purchase. Before the project could be +examined a more acceptable proposition appeared. In addition it also +developed that there was opposition to Negro emigration from several +of the States of Central America.[24] + +An effort was then made to establish a colony on the island of A'Vache +in the West Indies. This colony was described in a letter to the +President by Bernard Kock, represented to be a business man. This site +was described as the most beautiful, healthy and fertile of all the +islands belonging to the Republic of Hayti, and in size of about one +hundred square miles. "As would be expected," writes Kock, "in a +country like this, soil and climate are adapted for all tropical +production, particularly sugar, coffee, indigo, and more especially +cotton which is indigenous. Attracted by its beauty, the value of its +timber, its extreme fertility and its adaptation for cultivation, I +prevailed on President Geffrard of Hayti to concede to me the island, +the documentary evidence of which has been lodged with the Secretary +of the Interior."[25] + +On December 31, 1862, there was signed a contract by which, for a +compensation of $50 per head, Kock agreed to colonize 5,000 Negroes, +binding himself to furnish the colonies with comfortable homes, garden +lots, churches, schools and employ them four years at varying rates. +He further agreed to obtain from the Haytian government a guarantee +that all such emigrants and their posterity should forever remain +free, and in no case be reduced to bondage, slavery or involuntary +servitude except for crimes; and they should specially acquire, hold +and transmit property and all other privileges of persons common to +inhabitants of a country in which they reside. It would be further +stipulated that in case of indigence resulting from injury, sickness +or age, any such emigrants who should become pauperous should not +thereupon be suffered to perish or come to want, but should be +supported and cared for as is customary with similar inhabitants of +the country in which they should be residents.[26] + +Kock also proposed a scheme to certain capitalists in New York and +Boston. This had nothing to do with the contract with the President. +He proposed to transport 500 of these emigrants at once, begin work on +the plantations, and by the end of the following September--a period +of eight or nine months--he estimated that this group could raise a +crop of 1,000 bales of cotton. It was planned that the colonists +should secure from the island a profit of more than 600 per cent in +nine months. Kock estimated his necessary expenses as $70,000, and all +expense incurred by freighting ships and collecting immigrants was to +be borne by the government. It soon became known to the government +that Kock had sought the aid of capitalists and money makers. +Suspicion as to the honesty of his purposes was then aroused. It was +finally discovered also that he was in league with certain +confederates to hand over slaves to him as captured runaways on the +condition of receiving a price for their return. Lincoln investigated +the matter and discovered that Kock was a mere adventurer and the +agreement with him was cancelled.[27] + +A certain group of capitalists, whose names are not mentioned, then +secured the lease from Kock and entered into contract with the +government through the Secretary of the Interior, April 6, 1863.[28] +Under this agreement a shipload of colonists from the contrabands at +Fortress Monroe, said to number 411-435, were embarked.[29] An +infectious disease broke out through the presence on board of patients +from the military hospital on Craney Island and from twenty to thirty +died. On the arrival in the colony no hospitals were ready, no houses +were provided, and the resulting conditions were appalling. Kock was +sent along as Governor, and he is said to have put on the air of a +despot and by his neglect of the sick and needy to have made himself +obnoxious. + +Rumors of the situation came to the President and he sent a special +agent, D. C. Donnohue, who investigated the matter and made a report. +Donnohue elaborately described the deplorable situation of the +inhabitants, the wretched condition of the small houses and the +prevalence of sickness. He further reported that the Haytian +government was unwilling that emigrants should remain upon the island +and that the emigrants themselves desired to return to the United +States. Acting upon the report, the President ordered the Secretary of +War to dispatch a vessel to bring home the colonists desiring to +return.[30] On the fourth of March the vessel set sail and landed at +the Potomac River opposite Alexandria on the twentieth of the same +month. On the twelfth of March, 1864, a report was submitted to the +Senate showing what portion of the appropriation for colonization had +been expended and the several steps which had been taken for the +execution of the acts of Congress.[31] On July 2, 1864, Congress +repealed its appropriation and no further effort was made at +colonization.[32] + +The failure of this project did not dim the vision of the successful +colonization of the freed slaves in the mind of President Lincoln. As +late as April, 1865, according to report, the following conversation +is said to have ensued between the President and General Benjamin F. +Butler: "But what shall we do with the Negroes after they are free?" +inquired Lincoln. "I can hardly believe that the South and North can +live in peace unless we get rid of the Negroes. Certainly they cannot, +if we don't get rid of the Negroes whom we have armed and disciplined +and who have fought with us, to the amount, I believe, of some 150,000 +men. I believe that it would be better to export them all to some +fertile country with a good climate, which they could have to +themselves. You have been a staunch friend of the race from the time +you first advised me to enlist them at New Orleans. You have had a +great deal of experience in moving bodies of men by water--your +movement up the James was a magnificent one. Now we shall have no use +for our very large navy. What then are our difficulties in sending the +blacks away?... I wish you would examine the question and give me your +views upon it and go into the figures as you did before in some degree +as to show whether the Negroes can be exported." Butler replied: "I +will go over this matter with all diligence and tell you my +conclusions as soon as I can." The second day after that Butler called +early in the morning and said: "Mr. President, I have gone very +carefully over my calculations as to the power of the country to +export the Negroes of the South and I assure you that, using all your +naval vessels and all the merchant marines fit to cross the seas with +safety, it will be impossible for you to transport to the nearest +place that can be found fit for them--and that is the Island of San +Domingo, half as fast as Negro children will be born here."[33] + +This completes all of the evidence obtainable concerning Lincoln's +thought and plan for the colonization of the slaves freed by his +proclamation. From the earliest period of his public life it is easily +discernable that Abraham Lincoln was an ardent believer and supporter +of the colonization idea. It was his plan not only to emancipate the +Negro, but to colonize him in some foreign land. His views were +presented not only to interested men of the white race, but to persons +of color as well. As may have been expected, the plan for colonization +failed, both because in principle such a plan would have been a great +injustice to the newly emancipated race, and in practice it would have +proved an impracticable and unsuccessful solution of the so-called +race problem. + + CHARLES H. WESLEY. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Cf. Chapter XVII, Nicolay and Hay, _Abraham Lincoln, a History_. + +[2] President Fillmore in his last message to Congress proposed a plan +for Negro colonization and advocated its adoption. This part of his +message was suppressed on the advice of his cabinet; but even had this +not been done, there is no reason to suppose that the plan would have +been adopted. President Buchanan made arrangements with the American +Colonization Society for the transportation of a number of slaves +captured on the slaver, Echo, in 1858. + +[3] Eulogy on Henry Clay, delivered in the State House at Springfield, +Illinois, July 16, 1852. The quotation here noted is taken from a +speech by Henry Clay before the American Colonization Society, 1827. +Lincoln continued: "If as friends of colonization hope, the present +and coming generations of our countrymen shall by any means succeed in +freeing our land from the dangerous presence of slavery, and at the +same time in restoring a captive people to their long lost fatherland +with bright prospects for the future, and this too so gradually that +neither races nor individuals shall have suffered by the change, it +will be a glorious consummation." _The Works of Abraham Lincoln_, +Federal Edition, edited by A.B. Lapsley, VIII, pp. 173-174. + +[4] "The political creed of Abraham Lincoln embraced among other +tenets, a belief in the value and promise of colonization as one means +of solving the great race problem involved in the existence of slavery +in the United States.... Without being an enthusiast, Lincoln was a +firm believer in Colonization." Nicolay and Hay, _Abraham Lincoln--A +History_, VI, p. 354. + +[5] Speech at Peoria, Ill., in reply to Douglas. _Life and Works of +Abraham Lincoln_, II, Early Speeches. Centenary Edition, edited by +M.M. Miller. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates, October 16, 1854; p. 74. + +[6] In the same speech, Lincoln said: "I have said that the separation +of the races is the only perfect preventive of amalgamation.... Such +separation, if ever effected at all, must be effected by +Colonization." _The Works of Abraham Lincoln_, Federal Edition, edited +by A. B. Lapsley, II, p. 306. + +[7] Nicolay and Hay, _Speeches, Letters and State Papers, Abraham +Lincoln_, I, p. 235. Lincoln's Springfield Speech, June 26, 1857. + +[8] _Ibid._, VI, p. 356. + +[9] Richardson, _Messages and Papers of the Presidents_, VI, p. 54. +First Annual Message, December 3, 1861. + +[10] Section XI of Act approved April 16, 1862. + +[11] Nicolay and Hay, _Abraham Lincoln_, VI, p. 356. Act approved July +16, 1862. + +[12] Raymond, _Life, Public Services and State Papers_, p. 504. + +[13] Nicolay and Hay, _Abraham Lincoln_, VI, p. 357. + +[14] Charles Sumner in a speech before a State Committee in +Massachusetts, said: "A voice from the west--God save the +west--revives the exploded theory of colonization, perhaps to divert +attention from the great question of equal rights. To that voice, I +reply, first, you ought not to do it, and secondly, you cannot do it. +You ought not to do it, because besides its intrinsic and fatal +injustice, you will deprive the country of what it most needs, which +is labor. Those freedmen on the spot are better than mineral wealth. +Each is a mine, out of which riches can be drawn, provided you let him +share the product, and through him that general industry will be +established which is better than anything but virtue, and is, indeed, +a form of virtue. It is vain to say that this is a white man's +country. It is the country of man. Whoever disowns any member of the +human family as brother disowns God as father, and thus becomes +impious as well as inhuman. It is the glory of republican institutions +that they give practical form to this irresistible principle. If +anybody is to be sent away, let it be the guilty and not the +innocent."--_Charles Sumner's Complete Works_, XII, Section 3, p. 334. + +[15] Nicolay and Hay, _Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln_, II, p. 205. +Nicolay and Hay, _A History of Abraham Lincoln_, VI, p. 356. + +[16] Raymond, _Life, Public Services and State Papers of Abraham +Lincoln_, p. 504. Nicolay and Hay, _Complete Works of Abraham +Lincoln_, VIII, p. 1. + +[17] Richardson, _The Messages and Papers of the President, +1789-1897_, p. 127. _Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln_, VIII, p. 97. + +[18] A section of the emancipation proclamation states that it is the +President's purpose upon the next meeting of Congress to recommend the +adoption of a practical measure so that the effort to "colonize +persons of African decent with their consent, upon this continent or +elsewhere with the previously obtained consent of the governments +existing there," will be continued. Nicolay and Hay, _A History_, VI, +p. 168. + +[19] It is interesting to note that the colored population seemed very +little in favor of colonization. "It is something singular that the +colored race--those in reality most interested in the future destinies +of Africa--should be so lightly affected by the evidences continually +being presented in favor of colonization." _The National +Intelligencer_, October 23, 1850. But an address issued by the +National Emigration Convention of Colored people held at Cleveland, +Ohio, urged the colored inhabitants of the United States seriously to +consider the question of migrating to some foreign clime. See also +JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY, "Attitude of Free Negro on African +Colonization," I. + +[20] _Diplomatic Correspondence_, Part I, p. 202. Nicolay and Hay. +_Complete Works_, p. 357. + +[21] "Mr. Bates was for compulsory deportation. The Negro would not," +he said, "go voluntary." "He had great local attachment but no +enterprise or persistency. The President objected unequivocally to +compulsion. The emigration must be voluntary and without expense to +themselves. Great Britain, Denmark and perhaps other powers would take +them. I remarked there was no necessity for a treaty which had been +suggested. Any person who desired to leave the country could do so +now, whether white or black, and it was best to have it so--a +voluntary system; the emigrant who chose to leave our shores could and +would go where there were the best inducements." _Diary of Gideon +Wells_, I, p. 152. + +[22] Cf. Account by Charles K. Tuckerman, _Magazine of American +History_, October, 1886. + +[23] Joseph Henry said to Assistant Secretary of State, September 5, +1862: "I hope the government will not make any contracts in regard to +the purchase of the Chiriqui District until it has been thoroughly +examined by persons of known capacity and integrity. A critical +examination of all that has been reported on the existence of valuable +beds of coal in that region has failed to convince me of the fact." +Chiriqui is described in report Number 148, House of Representatives, +37th Congress, Second Session, July 16, 1862, by John Evans, +geologist. + +[24] "There was an indisposition to press the subject of Negro +Emigration to Chiriqui at the meeting of the Cabinet against the +wishes and remonstrances of the states of Central America." _Diary of +Gideon Wells_, I, p. 162. + +[25] Manuscript Archives of the Department of the Interior. + +[26] Nicolay and Hay, _A History_, VI, p. 361. + +[27] Richardson, _Message and Papers of the President_, I, p. 167. + +[28] Nicolay and Hay, _A History_, VI, p. 362. + +[29] Complete records to substantiate this statement have not been +discovered. + +[30] Lincoln addressed thus the Secretary of War, February 1, 1864: +"Sir; You are directed to have a transport ... sent to the colored +colony of San Domingo to bring back to this country such of the +colonists there as desire to return. You will have a transport +furnished with suitable supplies for that purpose and detail an +officer of the quartermaster department, who under special +instructions to be given shall have charge of the business. The +colonists will be brought to Washington unless otherwise hereafter +directed to be employed and provided for at the camps for colored +persons around that city. Those only will be brought from the island +who desire to return and their effects will be brought with them." + +[31] Nicolay and Hay, _Complete Works_, II, p. 477. + +[32] _Statutes at Large_, XIII, p. 352. + +[33] Butler's _Reminiscences_, pp. 903-904. + + + + +LEMUEL HAYNES + + +Lemuel Haynes was born July 18, 1753, at West Hartford, Conn. He was a +man of color, his father being of "unmingled African extraction, and +his mother a white woman of respectable ancestry in New England." She +was then a hired girl in the employ of a farmer who had a neighbor to +whom belonged the Negro to whom the woman became attached. Haynes took +neither the name of his father nor of his mother, but probably that of +the man in whose home he was born. It is said that his mother, in a +fit of displeasure with her host for some supposed neglect, called her +child by the farmer's name. Mr. Haynes took the young mother to task, +and while yet the baby was but a few days old, she disappeared. As she +was the daughter of a Tolland County farmer, Mr. Haynes shielded the +family from disgrace by having the child take his name with that of +Lemuel which in Hebrew signifies "consecrated to God." The mother +never had anything to do with her child, and it is said she married a +white man, and lived a respectable life. Lemuel providentially met his +mother once in an adjoining town, at the house of a relative, fondly +expecting that he would receive some kind attentions from her. He was +sadly disappointed, however, for she eluded the interview. Catching a +glimpse of her at length when she was attempting to escape from him he +accosted her in the language of severe but merited rebuke. + +Mr. Haynes kept Lemuel till he was five months old, and then had him +"bound out" to Deacon David Rose, of Granville, Massachusetts, a man +of singular piety. There Lemuel grew up, and lived for thirty-two +years. One condition of his indenture was that, in common with other +children, he should enjoy the usual advantage of a district school +education. Yet, as schools of that section were decidedly backward, +his early opportunities for instruction were very limited. Like other +farmer boys, however, he was instructed in the fundamentals of +education and the principles of religion. His duties often kept him +from school, or caused him to arrive at a late hour. Yet he said, "As +I had the advantage of attending a common school equal with other +children, I was early taught to read, to which I was greatly attached +and could vie with almost any of my age."[1] He soon formed the habit +of studying the Bible and early made a profession of faith in the +Christian religion. While young he was baptized by the Reverend +Jonathan Huntington. + +He quickly mastered the studies of the district school but he +struggled forward, becoming his own teacher and subjecting his mind to +unremitting and severe discipline. The scarcity of books was one of +the severest difficulties which he had to encounter. There was no +public library in the place. The Bible, Psalter, spelling-book, and +perhaps a volume or two of sermons, comprised the library of the +intellectual people of those towns. But says he: "I was constantly +inquiring after books, especially in theology. I was greatly pleased +with the writings of Watts and Doddridge, and with Young's _Night +Thoughts_. My good master encouraged me in the matter."[2] + +There came a turning point in Haynes's life when in 1775 the excellent +and pious Mrs. Rose died. She had been more to him than an employer. +Adopting him as her own son in early infancy, she tenderly trained him +up to intellectual and Christian manhood. Speaking of this, Haynes +said: "Soon after I came of age, God was pleased to take my mistress +away, to my inexpressible sorrow. It caused me bitter mourning and +lamentation."[3] Prostrated thus, he sought relief from his affliction +in the service of the continental army. + +Lemuel Haynes was a patriot of the Revolution. He early imbibed those +great principles respecting "the rights of man," in defense of which +the colonies fought Great Britain. In 1774 he enlisted as a minute +man. Under the regulations of this enlistment he was required to spend +one day in the week in manual exercises, and to hold himself in +readiness for actual service, but soon after the battle at Lexington +the following year he joined the regular army at Roxbury. The next +year he volunteered to join the expedition to Ticonderoga to expel the +enemy. Referring to this service in an address some years later Haynes +said: "Perhaps it is not ostentatious in the speaker to observe that +in early life he devoted all for the sake of freedom and independence, +and endured frequent campaigns in their defense, and has never viewed +the sacrifice too great. And should an attack be made on this sacred +ark, the poor remains of life would be devoted to its defense." + +After the close of his northern campaign he returned to his former +home to engage in agricultural pursuits. But while thus engaged he +little anticipated the designs of Providence concerning him. Improving +his leisure hours, he had made considerable progress in the study of +theology. At length he selected his text, and composed a sermon, +without education or teacher. It happened thus: In the family of +Deacon Rose, the evening preceding the Sabbath was customarily devoted +to family instruction and religious worship. Haynes was occasionally +asked to read from the sermons of Watts, Whitefield, Doddridge or +Davies. Called upon to read as usual one evening, he slipped into the +book his own sermon which he had written, and read it to the family. +Greatly delighted and edified by this sermon read with unusual +vivacity and feeling, Deacon Rose, who was then blind, inquired: +"Lemuel, whose work is that which you have been reading? Is it +Davies's sermon, or Watts's, or Whitefield's?" Haynes blushed and +hesitated, but at last was obliged to confess the truth--"It's +Lemuel's sermon."[4] + +It was then discovered that in this young man was the promise of +usefulness. The community encouraged him to look forward to the +Christian ministry. Referring to this, he said: "I was solicited by +some to obtain a collegiate education, with a view to the gospel +ministry. A door was opened for it at Dartmouth College, but I shrunk +at the thought. Reverend Mr. Smith encouraged me with many others. I +was at last persuaded to attend to studying the learned languages. I +was invited (1779) by the Reverend Daniel Farrand, of Canaan, +Connecticut, to visit him. I accordingly did. With him I resided some +time, studying the Latin language."[5] + +How long he studied under Mr. Farrand is not known. He devoted a part +of his time to belles lettres and the writing of sermons. While with +Mr. Farrand, Haynes composed a poem which was surreptitiously taken +from his desk and afterward delivered by a plagiarist at a certain +college on the day of commencement. During these years he labored in +the field to defray the expense of board and tuition, but the mind of +this student underwent unusual development for which Mr. Haynes +retained to the end of life a grateful remembrance of his friend and +patron. + +After making an extensive study of the Latin language, he felt a +desire to study Greek that he might read the New Testament in the +original, but he had no means to prosecute this study. While in doubt +as to how he could attain so desirable an end the Reverend William +Bradford, of Wintonbury, a small parish composed, as its name imports, +of a part of three towns, Winsor, Farmington and Symsbury, offered to +instruct him in the Greek language. This benefactor promised also to +secure there for Mr. Haynes a school paying him sufficient money to +defray his expenses. Mr. Haynes said: "I exerted myself to the utmost +to instruct the children of my school, and found I gave general +satisfaction. The proficiency I made in studying the Greek language I +found greatly exceeded the expectations of my preceptor."[6] He was +thus serving as a "spiritual teacher in a respectable and enlightened +congregation in New England, where he had been known from infancy only +as a servant boy, and under all the disabilities of his humble +extraction." "That reverence which it was the custom of the age to +accord to ministers of the gospel," says his biographer, "was +cheerfully rendered to Mr. Haynes."[7] All classes and ages were +delighted with the sweet, animated eloquence of the man. In +consideration of his talents Middlebury College later conferred upon +him the degree of master of arts.[8] + +This led friends to advise that he should be licensed to preach, and +on November 29, 1780, after "an examination in the languages, +sciences, doctrines and experimental religion," he was licensed and +preached intelligently from Psalm 96:1. He was ordained soon +thereafter. Then came an early call to begin his ministry at the +Congregational meeting house at Middle Granville, where he labored +five years, preaching eloquently with zeal. The time was one of moral +darkness with intemperance, profanity and infidelity rife. Strange +doctrines intruded. Vice came boldly forward, but, like a rock, the +young minister stood by his Lord and faith. + +Among the pious in the church was Bessie Babbitt. She was a woman of +considerable education and was engaged as a teacher in her town. +Looking to Heaven for guidance, she was led, with consistent delicacy, +to offer her heart to her pastor. He commended the proposal to God in +prayer, and consulted other ministers. Knowing his birth and race, he +sought their counsel. They advised in favor, and on September 22, +1773, they were married. There began then their happy married life +which was blessed with nine children.[9] + +From his small retired parish, among the companions of his childhood, +he was called to Torrington, Connecticut, where he continued preaching +two years to large audiences.[10] It is said that at Torrington a +leading citizen was much displeased that the church should have "a +nigger minister," and, to show his disrespect, this man went to church +and sat with his hat on his head. "He hadn't preached far," said he, +"when I thought I saw the whitest man I ever knew in that pulpit, and +I tossed my hat under the pew." + +The number of communicants increased during the term of his residence +in Torrington. Some of the most respectable families from adjoining +towns, particularly from Goshen, became his warmest friends, who +constantly attended on his ministry. His biographer says: "The aged +refer to his ministry with many delightful recollections. He was held +in high estimation, especially by the church, and was esteemed by all +classes as "an apt and very ready man in the pulpit." The mere mention +of his name even now, after the lapse of half a century, seems to +renew in their minds interesting associations. The church and society +were strengthened by his labors, and many wished to retain him as +their permanent pastor. The sensibility of a few individuals +prevented, it is said, the accomplishment of their desires. + +His eloquence and Christian nobility won him much attention and led to +his being called to the pastorate of the Congregational Church in West +Rutland, Vermont. The town was a country seat, and the church was one +of importance. Then in the meridian of life, rich with the spirit and +devoted to his calling, he was singularly successful; and while there +were those who saw in him "that colored minister," all knew his pure +white soul. The first year of his pastorate he received forty-two +members by profession. In 1803 there came a great revival, and there +were one hundred and three conversions, together with one hundred and +fifty in the adjoining town of Pittsfield. Five years later there was +another revival and Haynes received one hundred and nine. Naturally he +was in demand by other churches as a revival preacher. + +At this time New England was in a very backward state. The genial +influence of science and religion had not been generally felt. There +was no college in Vermont and its only academy was the one at Norwich, +near Dartmouth College. There were not more than four or five +Congregational ministers on the west side of the Green Mountains. A +religious revival of considerable extent, under the preaching of +Reverend Jacob Wood and others, had resulted in the formation of small +churches. Certain parts of Connecticut were not much more advanced. In +1804 the Connecticut Missionary Society, therefore, appointed Mr. +Haynes to labor in the destitute sections of Vermont. In 1809 he was +appointed to a similar service by the Vermont Missionary Society. In +this capacity Haynes became a great factor in the religious awakening +throughout New England at that time. + +In 1814 he was fraternal delegate from the Vermont to the Connecticut +Ministers' Association at Fairfield. On his way thither he stopped on +Sunday at New Haven, where, at the Blue Church (formerly Dr. +Edwards'), he preached a sermon to a crowded house, having in the +audience President Dwight of Yale and many distinguished people. At +Fairfield the association insisted on his preaching the annual sermon. + +Haynes soon exhibited evidences of being no ordinary man. He readily +engaged in the heated theological discussion of his time, taking first +rank as a theologian.[11] His most interesting debate was that with +the famous Hosea Ballou, whom Haynes vanquished in his famous sermon +based on the text, _Ye shall not surely die_. Many strange doctrines +were then abroad. A writer says: "The Stoddardian principle of +admitting moral persons, without credible evidence of grace, to the +Lord's Supper, and the half-way covenant by which parents, though not +admitted to the Lord's Supper, were encouraged to offer their children +in baptism, prevailed in many of the churches. Great apathy was +prevalent among professing Christians, and the ruinous vices of +profaneness, Sabbath-breaking and intemperance were affectingly +prevalent among all classes. The spark of evangelical piety seemed to +be nearly extinct in the churches. Revivals of religion were scarcely +known except in the recollections of a former age. Some of the +essential doctrines of grace were not received even by many in the +churches.[12] Respecting the operations of the Holy Spirit, Mr. Haynes +adopted the same principles as Edwards and Whitefield. He became +effective in dispelling some of these clouds of doubt, bringing the +people back to a more righteous conduct. Out of it he emerged a man of +fame. + +Happy as was this apostle in his work at Rutland the violent political +controversy of his time was divided between two militant parties with +one of which every freeman felt that he should be allied. Imbued with +the spirit of the American Revolution, Haynes could not be neutral. +"In principle," says his biographer, "he was a disciple of Washington +and, therefore, favored those measures conducive of national +government."[13] As party spirit rapidly developed into deeply rooted +rancor, sharp differences of opinion led to controversy in his parish. +Invited to preach on political occasions and in some cases to the +public through the press, he discussed political affairs with such +keenness and sarcasm that unprincipled parasites in his community were +much disturbed. In one of his discourses he used the following +expression: "A dissembler is one proud of applause--will advertise +himself for office--dazzling the public man with high pretext, like +aspiring Absolom, 'Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every +man might come unto me and I would do him justice.' Such subjects to +applause and hypocrisy will, even when the destinies of their country +are at stake, be to a commonwealth what Arnold was to American freedom +or Robespierre to a French Republic."[14] + +It was not long before political excitement disturbed the harmony +between the pastor and the people in West Rutland. On certain +occasions Haynes was treated with unkindness and even with abuse by +unprincipled men. Scandalous reports concerning him were circulated +and he was denounced with profane language. But he gloried in +tribulations, knowing that "tribulations worketh patience and patience +experience and experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed." Observing +the signs of the times, therefore, and governed by prayerful +deliberation he felt that he should sever his connection with his +church in Rutland. Accordingly, on the 27th of April, 1818, at a +council convened to consider the serious question the pastoral +relation was by mutual consent dissolved. + +Haynes was then invited to preach in Manchester, Vermont, a desirable +town west of the Green Mountains. Because of his reputation as a +preacher here Haynes had the helpful contact of the Honorable Richard +Skinner, who in early life was elected a member of Congress and +afterwards served as a judge of the Supreme Court and finally as +Governor of Vermont. He associated also with Joseph Burr, the liberal +benefactor of several literary and religious institutions. + +In 1822 Haynes removed from Manchester to Granville, New York. He had +enjoyed the support of the best people in that New England community +and had usually found them a generous and enlightened people. Under +his ministration at Manchester the church was much enlarged, but he +was now declining in intellectual vivacity and realized that, although +there was entire harmony between him and the people in Manchester, +they should have a younger man. His church accordingly yielded to the +desire of the Congregational Church in Granville, New York, and he +took leave of Vermont to preach in another State. + +In going to Granville, Haynes connected with the renowned Deacon Elihu +Atkins, of Granville, with whom he had corresponded for more than +thirty years. There had been a cherished intimacy between them from +their youth. Atkins had for years relied upon the convincing +instruction which he endeavored to obtain through correspondence with +Haynes. These letters show the tenderness and the watchfulness of a +pastor over a flock, which reminds one of the relation existing +between Paul and the aged Philemon. During the eleven years which he +spent at Granville, his congregation was decidedly edified. Thousands +of persons giving evidence of their piety, joined the church and lived +above reproach. While laboring among these people he died in the year +1833. + +Thus passed away the man who was regarded by those who knew him as a +worker of unusual ability and a preacher of power. Says his +biographer: "Although the tincture of his skin, and all his features +bore strong indications of his paternal original, yet in his early +life there was a peculiar expression which indicated the finest +qualities of mind. Many, on seeing him in the pulpit, have been +reminded of the inspired expression, 'I am black, but comely.' In his +case the remarkable assemblage of grace which was thrown around his +semi-African complexion, especially his eye, could not fail to +prepossess the stranger in his favor."[15] + +He was a man of a feeling heart, always sensibly affected at the sight +of human suffering. His sensibility knew no bounds. He exhibited +quickness of perception and had the advantage of a never-failing +memory. The confidence generally reposed in him by both ministers and +the people credit him with having mature judgment. Although lacking in +what is commonly known as classical education, as he never penetrated +very far into the Greek and Latin classics, his mind was decidedly +literary. He read the Latin language fairly well but had never read +more than the Greek testament and Septuagint. He was well read, +however, in the English classics and his discourses show taste for the +beauties of poetry and elegant composition. + +Haynes was always industrious, his early habits having been formed in +the rigid pursuits of business. At home he was a man of the highest +domestic virtue. His family government was strictly parental, based on +reason and principle, not on passion or blind indulgence. He was +always strict, ever adhering to a standard of the most Puritanic +order. Having early formed the high ideals of uprightness, no man +could ever bring against him the charge of dishonesty. Above all he +was a man of consistent piety and resignation to the will of God. + +His dying testimony was: "I love my wife, I love my children, but I +love my Saviour better than all." A plain marble marks his grave. On +it is this inscription, prepared by himself: + + "Here lies the dust of a poor hell-deserving sinner, who ventured + into eternity trusting wholly on the merits of Christ for + salvation. In the full belief of the great doctrines he preached + while on earth, he invites his children and all who read this, to + trust their eternal interest on the same foundation." + +So lived and died one of the noblest of the New England Congregational +ministers of a century ago. Of illegitimate birth, and of no +advantageous circumstances of family, rank or station, he became one +of the choicest instruments of Christ. His face betrayed his race and +blood, and his life revealed his Lord. + + W. H. MORSE. + HARTFORD, CONN. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Cooley, _Sketches of the Life and Character of the Rev. Lemuel +Haynes_, p. 36. + +[2] _Ibid._, p. 38. + +[3] The pious Deacon Rose lived some years thereafter and had the +pleasure of seeing Lemuel a distinguished man. See Cooley, _Sketches +of the Life and Character of the Rev. Lemuel Haynes_, p. 40. + +[4] Cooley, _Sketches of the Life and Character of the Rev. Lemuel +Haynes_, p. 48. + +[5] Cooley, _Sketches of the Life and Character of the Rev. Lemuel +Haynes_, p. 60. + +[6] Cooley, _Sketches of the Life and Character of the Rev. Lemuel +Haynes_, p. 63. + +[7] _Ibid._, p. 66. + +[8] Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 677. + +[9] _Ibid._, p. 678. + +[10] Special Report of the United States Commissioner of Education, +1871, p. 342. + +[11] Woodson, _The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861_, p. 280. + +[12] Cooley, _Sketches of the Life and Character of the Rev. Lemuel +Haynes_, p. 67. + +[13] _Ibid._, p. 169; _Annals of the American Academy of Political and +Social Science_, XLIX, p. 234. + +[14] Cooley, _Sketches of the Life and Character of the Rev. Lemuel +Haynes_, p. 170. + +[15] Cooley, _Sketches of the Life and Character of the Rev. Lemuel +Haynes_, pp. 372-373. + + + + +THE ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY OF CANADA + + +The Anti-Slavery Society of Canada was one of the forms in which the +abolition sentiment of the province of Upper Canada made its +contribution to the final settlement of the great issue in the +neighboring country. Though founded comparatively late in the +struggle, it was, after all, rather the union of forces long active +than the creation of some new weapon to aid the battle. The men and +women who composed its membership were abolitionists long before the +society was founded. Its purpose was solely to bring united effort to +bear upon the great task and the great responsibility that fell upon +Canada when the passing of the Fugitive Slave Bill drove the Negroes +from the North into Canada by the hundreds, if not by the thousands. +With newcomers arriving every day, destitute, friendless and more or +less dazed by the experiences through which they had passed, it was no +small task that these Canadian abolitionists had undertaken to care +for the fugitives, give them opportunities for education and social +advancement and enable them to show by their own efforts that they +were capable of becoming useful citizens. + +The society had its birth in Toronto in February, 1851. There had been +attempts before this to found such an organization but they had come +to nothing. By 1851, however, the situation in the United States had +changed and the effect had at once shown itself in Canada, so that the +time was ripe for the bringing into one body of the various +individuals who had been showing themselves the friends of the slave. +The Society of Canada continued active right through the fifties and +early sixties, not resting until the aim for which it had been founded +had been accomplished. With the close of the Civil War there was a +large emigration of Negroes back to their own land where their freedom +had been bought in blood, and the need of any large organization to +look after their welfare as a race gradually ceased. During its period +of active work, however, the society spread out from Toronto to all +the larger cities and towns where there was a Negro population, and in +both educational and relief work showed itself an energetic body. +Included in its active membership were some of the best-known men in +the province and as its organ it had an outstanding newspaper, _The +Globe_, of Toronto. + +The meeting held in Toronto was large and enthusiastic. _The Globe_ of +Toronto of March 1, gives almost five columns to the report of the +proceedings. The mayor of the city acted as chairman and the opening +prayer was made by Rev. Dr. Michael Willis, the principal of Knox +Presbyterian Theological College. A series of four resolutions were +proposed and endorsed. The first of these declared as a platform of +the society that "slavery is an outrage on the laws of humanity" and +that "its continued practice demands the best exertions for its +extinction." A second resolution, proposed by Dr. Willis, declared the +United States slave laws "at open variance with the best interests of +man, as endowed by our great creator with the privilege of life, +liberty and the pursuit of happiness." A third resolution expressed +sympathy with the abolitionists in the United States, while the fourth +and concluding resolution proposed the formation of the Anti-Slavery +Society of Canada. "The object," it declared, "shall be to aid in the +extinction of slavery all over the world by means exclusively lawful +and peaceable, moral and religious, such as by the diffusing of useful +information and argument, by tracts, newspapers, lectures and +correspondence, and by manifesting sympathy with the houseless and +homeless victims of slavery flying to our soil." + +Rev. Dr. Willis was chosen as the first president, an office which he +filled during the whole of the period of the struggle. Rev. William +McClure, a Methodist clergyman of the New Connection branch, was named +as secretary, with Andrew Hamilton as treasurer and Captain Charles +Stuart, corresponding secretary. A large committee was also named +including, among others, George Brown, editor of _The Globe_, and +Oliver Mowat, later a premier of the province of Ontario. + +The aims of the society, as set forth in the resolution of +organization, called for both educational and relief work. No time was +lost in beginning each of these. Within a month after the founding of +the society it was holding public meetings, both in Toronto and +elsewhere throughout the province. The speakers included George +Thompson, the noted English abolitionist; Fred Douglass, the Negro +orator, and Rev. S. J. May, of Syracuse. Some hostility developed, +_The Patriot_ charging George Thompson with being an abolitionist for +sordid motives, while _The Leader_ called him a "hireling." Thompson, +defending himself, declared that if he had sold his talents, as +charged, he would not be found fighting the slaves' battle but would +be sitting by the side of bloated prostitution in Washington." There +were even some clerical critics of the society and its work. _The +Church_, a denominational publication, took the ground that Canada was +not bound in any way to denounce "compulsory labor." It was quite +sufficient to welcome the slave when he came to Canada. To this _The +Globe_ replied that it was "truly melancholy to find men in the +nineteenth century teaching doctrines which are only fit for the +darkest ages."[1] + +All through these earlier years of the society's history the public +meetings were continued, much use being made of men like Rev. S. R. +Ward and Rev. J. W. Loguen, who had known at first hand what slavery +meant to their race. Rev. S. R. Ward was appointed an agent of the +society in 1851 and traveled the province over, giving the facts with +regard to slavery to awaken Canadian sentiment against it and asking +aid and kindness for the fugitives then coming to the country in large +numbers. Mr. Ward was instrumental in forming branches and auxiliaries +of the society at a number of places and has left on record his own +impressions of the efforts that were put forth on behalf of the +refugees.[2] + +_The Globe_, under Brown as editor, was a stout ally. Brown's personal +interest in the fugitives was marked. His private generosity to the +needy has been recorded by one of his biographers but greater service +was rendered through the columns of his paper. He was outspoken in +denunciation of anything that savored of an alliance with slavery. +Canada, he believed, should stand four square against the whole system +of human bondage. "We, too, are Americans," he declared on one +occasion. "On us, as well as on them, lies the duty of preserving the +honor of the continent. On us, as on them, rests the noble trust of +shielding free institutions."[3] + +Relief work in Toronto was looked after by a Ladies' Auxiliary, this +being the general practice wherever branches were organized. The wives +of the officers of the general or parent society figured largely in +the work at Toronto. During the first year of the work in that city +more than $900 was raised by the Ladies' Auxiliary. The report for +1853-5 says: "During the past inclement winter much suffering was +alleviated and many cases of extreme hardship prevented. Throughout +the year the committee continued to observe the practice of appointing +weekly visitors to examine into the truth of every statement made by +applicants for aid. In this way between 200 and 300 cases have been +attended to, each receiving more or less according to their +circumstances."[4] A night school opened in Toronto gave to the +younger men and women an opportunity to get a little education. + +The Canadian Society, at an early date in its history, entered into +working relations with the anti-slavery societies of Great Britain and +the United States. At the first anniversary meeting, held in March, +1852, a letter was presented from Lewis Tappan, secretary of the +American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, enclosing a resolution of +the executive of the American society to the effect that the committee +had heard of the formation of the Anti-Slavery Society of Canada at +Toronto with much satisfaction, and that they would be pleased to +maintain correspondence with this society and unite their efforts for +the promotion of the great cause of human freedom on this continent +and throughout the world. At the same meeting there were read messages +of greeting from S. H. Gay, secretary of the American Anti-Slavery +Society, and from John Scoble, secretary of the British and Foreign +Anti-Slavery Society.[5] At this first anniversary meeting the society +was able to report a change in public sentiment toward its aims. At +the start there had been coldness and some prejudice but this had +largely disappeared and some who had formerly been hostile were now +supporters. + +The colonization question was before the society in its early period. +In August, 1851, Toronto was visited by Rev. S. Oughten, a Jamaican, +and later by William Wemyss Anderson, also of Jamaica. The question +was also brought to the attention of the government of the province +and the Governor-General asked the executive of the society to tender +its opinion of the plan. Their decision was altogether unfavorable to +colonization whether in Trinidad or Jamaica. With regard to Trinidad +their opinion was that slavery in a modified form still existed there. +Jamaica, they thought, had nothing to attract the refugee more than +Canada, and the society was placed on record as approving the findings +of the Great North American convention of colored people, which had +met in Toronto the preceding September, to the effect that western +Canada was the most desirable place of resort for colored people on +the American continent, and that colored people in the United States +should emigrate to Canada rather than to the West Indies or Africa, +since in Canada they would be better able to assist their brethren +flying from slavery. With regard to the American Colonization Society +the finding of the Canadian Anti-Slavery Society was that its +professions of promoting the abolition of slavery were "altogether +delusive." It had originated with slaveholders and was protected by +them to rid the country of free Negroes. "A colonization and a bitter, +pro-slavery man are almost convertible terms," it was stated.[6] + +The attitude taken by the church bodies in Canada towards this new +movement is of interest. In general there was not much active support. +George Brown brought forward a resolution at the 1852 meeting, +deploring the indifference of some church bodies. Dr. Willis had been +instrumental in getting the Presbyterians in line, a strong stand +having been taken by the synod which declared by resolution that +slavery was "inhuman, unjust and dishonoring to the common creator as +it is replete with wrong to the subjects of such oppression." A second +resolution called upon churches everywhere to testify against +legislation which violated the commands of God and declared that the +synod must condemn any alliance between religion and oppression, no +matter how the latter might be bolstered up by the use of Scripture. + +At the 1857 meeting the attitude of the churches was again to the +front. Dr. Willis thought it was time that every church synod and +conference in Canada should give up one day of its sessions to prayer +and humiliation over the presence of human slavery so nearby. It was +the duty of all the churches to remonstrate on this question. Rev. Dr. +Dick, who followed, declared that the church was "the bulwark of the +system." There were churches in Canada which fraternized with those in +the United States that patronized slavery. He was equally outspoken on +the attitude of the Sons of Temperance in deciding, against his +protest, to shut out Negroes from its membership. There were several +protests at this 1857 meeting against some slight evidences of race +prejudice. Rev. Mr. Barrass said that, as the Negroes in Toronto set +an example to the whites in morality, there was the less reason for +any prejudice. Thomas Henning, the secretary of the society, probably +put the matter right when he pointed out that talk of prejudice must +not be understood as general. Negroes were not excluded from the +schools, and the laws were administered to white and black alike. He +drew attention to the dismissal of a magistrate who had been suspected +of conniving at the return of a fugitive, as also to the case of a +member of Parliament who had sought to have Negro immigration stopped +and had been simply laughed at. + +Necessity for action along industrial lines to provide suitable +employment for the fugitives was emphasized by the Canadian +Anti-Slavery Society and efforts were made to give the black man a +fair chance in his new home. The question of cheap land for the +immigrants was also kept to the front with the idea of making the +refugees more self-dependent and preventing them from congregating in +the cities and towns. Some idea of the extent of the relief work being +carried on at this time may be gained from the statement presented at +the 1857 meeting which showed disbursements of more than $2,200, a +total of over 400 having been relieved. + +Reference has been made to the support given the society by _The +Globe_, of Toronto. For this George Brown was given the credit but it +must be said in justice that no small share of the credit for _The +Globe's_ attitude should go to the lesser known brother, Gordon Brown, +who was regarded by many as really more zealous for abolition than +George Brown. This was tested during the Civil War period when the +turn of sentiment against the North in Canada brought much criticism +upon _The Globe_. There was a disposition on the part of George Brown +to grow lukewarm in his support of the North, but Gordon Brown never +wavered and is said to have threatened on one occasion to leave the +paper if there were any more signs of hauling down the colors. When +the war was over American citizens in Toronto presented Gordon Brown +with a gold watch suitably inscribed, an indication possibly of the +opinion of that day with regard to his services. + +One duty of the American anti-slavery societies which fell but lightly +on the Canadian society was the watching of legislation and the courts +to see that the Negro obtained his rights. It was rare indeed that +anything of this kind called for action in Canada, the only case of +any importance that arose being that of the Negro, Anderson, whose +return to Missouri was sought on a charge of killing his master in +1853. A slave catcher from Missouri recognized him in Canada in 1860 +and had him arrested. The case was fought out in the courts, twice +going against the Negro and then being appealed to the English Court +of Queen's Bench, which granted a writ of habeas corpus. Anderson was +defended by Gerrit Smith and the case attracted great attention +throughout Canada. The executive of the Canadian Anti-Slavery Society +kept the case well under observation and made its position quite clear +by a resolution declaring that principles of right and humanity should +prevail. In the end Anderson was acquitted. + +The sentiment that was created in Canada by the friends of the +fugitive in the decade before the Civil War had its effect when that +struggle began. Sir John Macdonald, premier of Canada, made careful +investigation to find out how many Canadians were in the northern +armies and placed the number at 40,000.[7] The spirit that animated +the youth of the North in this moral struggle was powerful in the +minds of many of these young Canadians. There was present in Canada +not a little of the feeling of responsibility for the honor of the +continent that George Brown voiced and both by peaceful means and by +the sword the people of the British-American province to the North had +their part in striking off the shackles from the slave in the South. + + FRED LANDON. + + PUBLIC LIBRARIAN, + LONDON, CANADA + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _The Globe_, April 1, 1851. + +[2] Ward, _Autobiography of a Fugitive Slave_. + +[3] Lewis, _George Brown_, p. 114. + +[4] Drew, _North Side View of Slavery_, p. 328. + +[5] Anti-Slavery Society of Canada, First Annual Report, p. 10. + +[6] First Annual Report, pp. 12-13. + +[7] _Letters of Goldwin Smith_, p. 377. + + + + +DOCUMENTS + + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND FREEDOM + +Of the fathers of the republic who first saw the evils of slavery, +none made a more forceful argument against the institution than +Benjamin Franklin. A man of lowly estate himself, he could not +sympathize with the man who felt that his bread should be wrung from +the sweat of another's brow. Desiring to see the institution +abolished, Franklin early connected himself with the anti-slavery +forces of Pennsylvania and maintained this attitude of antagonism +toward it until his death. His printing press was placed at the +disposal of the pamphleteers who by their method endeavored to +influence public opinion, and as a means of effecting the liberation +of the blacks he cooperated with others in educating them as a +preparation for citizenship. + +His first effort to promote the education of the Negroes was the +assistance he gave the work established by Dr. Thomas Bray, who passed +a large part of his life in performing deeds of benevolence and +charity. This philanthropist became acquainted at the Hague with M. +D'Allone, who approved and promoted his schemes. M. D'Allone, during +his lifetime, gave to Dr. Bray a considerable sum of money, which was +to be applied to the conversion of Negroes in America. At his death he +left an additional sum of nine hundred pounds for the same object. Dr. +Bray formed an association for the management and proper disposal of +these funds. He died in 1730, and the same trust continued to be +executed by a company of gentlemen, called "Dr. Bray's Associates." +Franklin was for several years one of these workers. + +Writing about this work, he said to a friend: + + I have not yet seen Mr. Beatty, nor do I know where to write to + him. He forwarded your letter to me from Ireland. The paragraph + of your letter, inserted in the papers, related to the negro + school. I gave it to the gentlemen concerned, as it was a + testimony in favor of their pious design. But I did not expect + they would print it with your name. They have since chosen me one + of the Society, and I am at present chairman for the current + year. I enclose you an account of their proceedings.[1] + +Franklin's argument against slavery was economic as well as moral. He +said: + + It is an ill-grounded opinion that, by the labor of slaves, + America may possibly vie in cheapness of manufactures with + Britain. The labor of slaves can never be so cheap here as the + labor of working men is in Britain. Any one may compute it. + Interest of money is in the colonies from six to ten per cent. + Slaves, one with another, cost thirty pounds sterling per head. + Reckon then the interest of the first purchase of a slave, the + insurance or risk on his life, his clothing and diet, expenses in + his sickness and loss of time, loss by his neglect of business + (neglect is natural to the man who is not to be benefited by his + own care or diligence), expense of a driver to keep him at work, + and his pilfering from time to time, almost every slave being by + nature a thief, and compare the whole amount with the wages of a + manufacturer of iron or wool in England, you will see that labor + is much cheaper there than it ever can be by Negroes here. Why + then will Americans purchase slaves? Because slaves may be kept + as long as a man pleases, or has occasion for their labor; while + hired men are continually leaving their masters (often in the + midst of his business and setting up for themselves).[2] + + The Negroes brought into the English sugar islands have greatly + diminished the whites there; the poor are, by this means, + deprived of employment, while a few families acquire vast + estates, which they spend on foreign luxuries, and educating + their children in the habit of those luxuries; the same income is + needed for the support of one that might have maintained one + hundred. The whites who have slaves, not laboring, are enfeebled, + and therefore not so generally prolific; the slaves being worked + too hard, and ill fed, their constitutions are broken and the + deaths among them are more than the births; so that a continual + supply is needed from Africa. The northern colonies, having few + slaves, increase in whites. Slaves also pejorate the families + that use them; the white children become proud, disgusted with + labor, and, being educated in idleness, are rendered unfit to get + a living by industry.[3] + +As the following letter indicates, Franklin was in close touch with +one of the most ardent anti-slavery men of his day, Anthony Benezet, +whose pamphlets he often published: + + + LONDON, 22 August, 1772. + + _Dear Friend_, + + I made a little extract from yours of April 27th, of the number + of slaves imported and perishing, with some close remarks on the + hypocrisy of this country, which encourages such a detestable + commerce by laws for promoting the Guinea trade; while it piqued + itself on its virtue, love of liberty, and the equity of its + courts, in setting free a single Negro. This was inserted in the + _London Chronicle_, of the 20th of June last. + + I thank you for the Virginia address, which I shall also publish + with some remarks. I am glad to hear that the disposition against + keeping Negroes grows more general in North America. Several + pieces have been lately printed here against the practice, and I + hope in time it will be taken into consideration and suppressed + by the legislature. Your labors have already been attended with + great effects. I hope, therefore, you and your friends will be + encouraged to proceed. My hearty wishes of success attend you, + being ever, my dear friend, yours affectionately, + + B. FRANKLIN.[4] + +The same sentiments of Franklin are expressed in the following letter +to Dean Woodward in 1773: + + LONDON, 10 April, 1773. + + _Reverend Sir_, + + Desirous of being revived in your memory, I take this + opportunity, by my good friend Mrs. Blacker, of sending you a + printed piece, and a manuscript, both on a subject you and I + frequently conversed upon with concurring sentiments, when I had + the pleasure of seeing you in Dublin. I have since had the + satisfaction to learn, that a disposition to abolish slavery + prevails in North America, that many of the Pennsylvanians have + set their slaves at liberty, and that even the Virginia Assembly + have petitioned the King for permission to make a law for + preventing the importation of more into that colony. This + request, however, will probably not be granted, as their former + laws of that kind have always been repealed, and as the interest + of a few merchants here has more weight with government than that + of thousands at a distance.[5] + +The following letter from Richard Price attests Franklin's interest +and efforts in behalf of the slaves: + + HACKNEY, 26 September, 1787. + + _My dear Friend_, + + I am very happy when I think of the encouragement which you have + given me to address you under this appellation. Your _friendship_ + I reckon indeed one of the distinctions of my life. I frequently + receive great pleasure from the accounts of you, which Dr. Rush + and Mr. Vaughan send me. But I receive much greater pleasure from + seeing your own hand. + + I have lately been favored with two letters, which have given me + this pleasure, the last of which acquaints me, that my name has + been added to the number of the corresponding members of the + Pennsylvania Society for Abolishing Negro Slavery, of which you + are president, and also brought me a pamphlet containing the + constitution and the laws of Pennsylvania, which relate to the + object of the Society. I hope that you and the Society will + accept my thanks, and believe that I am truly sensible of the + honor done me. As for any services I can do, they are indeed but + small; for I find, that, far from possessing, in the decline of + life, your vigor of body and mind, every kind of business is + becoming more and more an incumbrance to me. At the same time, + the calls of business increase upon me, as you will learn in some + measure from the Report at the end of the Discourse, which you + will receive with this letter. + + A similar institution to yours, for abolishing Negro slavery, is + just formed in London, and I have been desired to make one of the + acting committee, but I have begged to be excused. I have sent + you some of their papers. I need not say how earnestly I wish + success to such institutions. Something, perhaps, will be done + with this view by the convention of delegates. This convention, + consisting of many of the first men, in respect of wisdom and + influence, in the United States, must be a most august and + venerable assembly. May God guide their deliberations. The + happiness of the world depends, in some degree, on the result. I + am waiting with patience for an account of it.[6] + +At the instigation of Franklin, the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting +the Abolition of Slavery and the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully +held in Bondage[7] published this address: + + It is with peculiar satisfaction we assure the friends of + humanity, that, in prosecuting the design of our association, our + endeavours have proved successful, far beyond our most sanguine + expectations. + + Encouraged by this success, and by the daily progress of that + luminous and benign spirit of liberty, which is diffusing itself + throughout the world, and humbly hoping for the continuance of + the divine blessing on our labors, we have ventured to make an + important addition to our original plan, and do therefore + earnestly solicit the support and assistance of all who can feel + the tender emotions of sympathy and compassion or relish the + exalted pleasure of beneficence. + + Slavery is such an atrocious debasement of human nature, that its + very extirpation, if not performed with solicitous care, may + sometimes open a source of serious evils. + + The unhappy man, who has long been treated as a brute animal, too + frequently sinks beneath the common standard of the human + species. The galling chains, that bind his body, do also fetter + his intellectual faculties, and impair the social affections of + his heart. Accustomed to move like a mere machine, by the will of + a master, reflection is suspended; he has not the power of + choice; and reason and conscience have but little influence over + his conduct, because he is chiefly governed by the passion of + fear. He is poor and friendless; perhaps worn out by extreme + labor, age, and disease. + + Under such circumstances, freedom may often prove a misfortune to + himself, and prejudicial to society. + + Attention to emancipated black people, it is therefore to be + hoped, will become a branch of our national policy; but, as far + as we contribute to promote this emancipation, so far that + attention is evidently a serious duty incumbent on us, and which + we mean to discharge to the best of our judgment and abilities. + + To instruct, to advise, to qualify those, who have been restored + to freedom, for the exercise and enjoyment of civil liberty, to + promote in them habits of industry, to furnish them with + employments suited to their age, sex, talents, and other + circumstances, and to procure their children an education + calculated for their future situation in life; these are the + great outlines of the annexed plan, which we have adopted, and + which we conceive will essentially promote the public good, and + the happiness of these our hitherto too much neglected + fellow-creatures. + + A plan so extensive cannot be carried into execution without + considerable pecuniary resources, beyond the present ordinary + funds of the Society. We hope much from the generosity of + enlightened and benevolent freemen, and will gratefully receive + any donations or subscriptions for this purpose, which may be + made to our treasurer, James Starr, or to James Pemberton, + chairman of our committee of correspondence. + + Signed, by order of the Society, + B. FRANKLIN, _President_. + + Philadelphia, 9th of November, 1789. + +Writing to John Wright in London in 1789, Franklin showed that he +never neglected the movement to abolish the slave trade: + + PHILADELPHIA, 4 November, 1789. + + I wish success to your endeavours for obtaining an abolition of + the Slave Trade. The epistle from your Yearly Meeting, for the + year 1768, was not the _first sowing_ of the good seed you + mention; for I find by an old pamphlet in my possession, that + George Keith, near a hundred years since, wrote a paper against + the practice, said to be "given forth by the appointment of the + meeting held by him, at Phillip James's house, in the city of + Philadelphia, about the year 1693"; wherein a strict charge was + given to Friends, "that they should set their Negroes at liberty, + after some reasonable time of service, &c., &c." And about the + year 1728, or 1729, I myself printed a book for Ralph Sandyford, + another of your Friends in this city, against keeping Negroes in + slavery, two editions of which he distributed gratis. And about + the year 1736 I printed another book on the same subject for + Benjamin Lay, who also professed being one of your Friends, and + he distributed the books chiefly among them. By these instances + it appears, that the seed was indeed sown in the good ground of + your profession, though much earlier than the time you mention, + and its springing up to effect at last, though so late, is some + confirmation of Lord Bacon's observation, that _a good motion + never dies_; and it may encourage us in making such, though + hopeless of their taking immediate effect.[8] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _The Works of Benjamin Franklin, Correspondence_, VII, pp. +201-202. + +[2] _Ibid._, II, p. 314. + +[3] _The Works of Benjamin Franklin_, II, p. 316. + +[4] _Ibid._, VIII, pp. 16-17. + +[5] _Works of Benjamin Franklin_, VIII, p. 42. + +[6] _Works of Benjamin Franklin_, X, p. 320. + +[7] _Ibid._, II, p. 515. + +[8] _Works of Benjamin Franklin_, X, p. 403. + + +ON THE SLAVE TRADE + +"Dr. Franklin's name, as President of the Abolition Society, was +signed to the memorial presented to the House of Representatives of +the United States, on the 12th of February, 1789, praying them to +exert the full extent of power vested in them by the Constitution, in +discouraging the traffic of the human species. This was his last +public act. In the debates to which this memorial gave rise, several +attempts were made to justify the trade. In the _Federal Gazette_ of +March 25th, 1790, there appeared an essay, signed Historicus, written +by Dr. Franklin, in which he communicated a Speech, said to have been +delivered in the Divan of Algiers, in 1687, in opposition to the +prayer of the petition of a sect called _Erika_, or Purists, for the +abolition of piracy and slavery. This pretended African speech was an +excellent parody of one delivered by Mr. Jackson, of Georgia. All the +arguments urged in favor of Negro slavery are applied with equal force +to justify the plundering and enslaving of Europeans. It affords, at +the same time, a demonstration of the futility of the arguments in +defense of the slave-trade, and of the strength of mind and ingenuity +of the author, at his advanced period of life. It furnishes, too, a no +less convincing proof of his power of imitating the style of other +times and nations, than his celebrated _Parable against Persecution_. +And as the latter led many persons to search the Scriptures with a +view to find it, so the former caused many persons to search the +bookstores and libraries for the work from which it was said to be +extracted."--Dr. Stuber. + + TO THE EDITOR OF THE FEDERAL GAZETTE.[1] + + March 23d, 1790. + + _Sir_, + + Reading last night in your excellent paper the speech of Mr. + Jackson in Congress against their meddling with the affair of + slavery, or attempting to mend the condition of the slaves, it + put me in mind of a similar one made about one hundred years + since by Sidi Mehemet Ibrahim, a member of the Divan of Algiers, + which may be seen in Martin's Account of his Consulship, anno + 1687. It was against granting the petition of the sect called + _Erika_, or Purists, who prayed for the abolition of piracy and + slavery as being unjust. Mr. Jackson does not quote it; perhaps + he has not seen it. If, therefore, some of its reasonings are to + be found in his eloquent speech, it may only show that men's + interests and intellects operate and are operated on with + surprising similarity in all countries and climates, whenever + they are under similar circumstances. The African's speech, as + translated, is as follows: + + "Allah Bismillah, &c. God is great, and Mahomet is his Prophet. + + "Have these _Erika_ considered the consequences of granting their + petition? If we cease our cruises against the Christians, how + shall we be furnished with the commodities their countries + produce, and which are so necessary for us? If we forbear to make + slaves of their people, who in this hot climate are to cultivate + our lands? Who are to perform the common labors of our city, and + in our families? Must we not then be our own slaves? And is there + not more compassion and more favor due to us as Mussulmen, than + to these Christian dogs? We have now above fifty thousand slaves + in and near Algiers. This number, if not kept up by fresh + supplies, will soon diminish, and be gradually annihilated. If we + then cease taking and plundering the infidel ships, and making + slaves of the seamen and passengers, our lands will become of no + value for want of cultivation; the rents of houses in the city + will sink one half; and the revenue of government arising from + its share of prizes be totally destroyed! And for what? To + gratify the whims of a whimsical sect, who would have us, not + only forbear making more slaves, but even manumit those we + have.[2] + + "But who is to indemnify their masters for the loss! Will the + state do it? Is our treasury sufficient? Will the Erika do it? + Can they do it? Or would they, to do what they think justice to + the slaves, do a greater injustice to the owners? And if we set + our slaves free, what is to be done with them? Few of them will + return to their countries; they know too well the greater + hardships they must there be subject to; they will not embrace + our holy religion; they will not adopt our manners; our people + will not pollute themselves by intermarrying with them. Must we + maintain them as beggars in our streets, or suffer our properties + to be the prey of their pillage? For men accustomed to slavery + will not work for a livelihood when not compelled. And what is + there so pitiable in their present condition? Were they not + slaves in their own countries? + + "Are not Spain, Portugal, France, and the Italian states governed + by despots, who hold all their subjects in slavery, without + exception? Even England treats its sailors as slaves; for they + are, whenever the government pleases, seized, and confined in + ships of war, condemned not only to work, but to fight, for small + wages, or a mere subsistence, not better than our slaves are + allowed by us. Is their condition then made worse by their + falling into our hands? No; they have only exchanged one slavery + for another and I may say a better; for here they are brought + into a land where the sun of Islamism gives forth its light, and + shines in full splendor, and they have an opportunity of making + themselves acquainted with the true doctrine, and thereby saving + their immortal souls. Those who remain at home have not that + happiness. Sending the slaves home then would be sending them out + of light into darkness.[3] + + "I repeat the question, What is to be done with them? I have + heard it suggested, that they may be planted in the wilderness, + where there is plenty of land for them to subsist on, and where + they may flourish as a free state; but they are, I doubt, too + little disposed to labor without compulsion, as well as too + ignorant to establish a good government, and the wild Arabs would + soon molest and destroy or again enslave them. While serving us, + we take care to provide them with everything, and they are + treated with humanity. The laborers in their own country are, as + I am well informed, worse fed, lodged, and clothed. The condition + of most of them is therefore already mended, and requires no + further improvement. Here their lives are in safety. They are not + liable to be impressed for soldiers, and forced to cut one + another's Christian throats, as in the wars of their own + countries. If some of the religious mad bigots, who now tease us + with their silly petitions, have in a fit of blind zeal freed + their slaves, it was not generosity, it was not humanity, that + moved them to the action; it was from the conscious burthen of a + load of sins, and a hope, from the supposed merits of so good a + work, to be excused from damnation.[4] + + "How grossly are they mistaken to suppose slavery to be + disallowed by the Alcoran! Are not the two precepts, to quote no + more, '_Masters, treat your slaves with kindness; Slaves, serve + your masters with cheerfulness and fidelity_,' clear proofs to + the contrary? Nor can the plundering of infidels be in that + sacred book forbidden, since it is well known from it, that God + has given the world, and all that it contains, to his faithful + Mussulmen, who are to enjoy it of right as fast as they conquer + it. Let us then hear no more of this detestable proposition, the + manumission of Christian slaves, the adoption of which would, by + depreciating our lands, and houses, and thereby depriving so many + good citizens of their properties, create universal discontent, + and provoke insurrections, to the endangering of government and + producing general confusion. I have therefore no doubt, but this + wise council will prefer the comfort and happiness of a whole + nation of true believers to the whim of a few _Erika_, and + dismiss their petition." + + The result was, as Martin tells us, that the Divan came to this + resolution: "The doctrine, that plundering and enslaving the + Christians is unjust, is at best _problematical_; but that it is + the interest of this state to continue the practice, is clear; + therefore let the petition be rejected." + + And it was rejected accordingly. + + And since like motives are apt to produce in the minds of men + like opinions and resolutions, may we not, Mr. Brown, venture to + predict, from this account, that the petitions to the Parliament + of England for abolishing the slave-trade, to say nothing of + other legislatures, and the debates upon them, will have a + similar conclusion? I am, Sir, your constant reader and humble + servant, + + HISTORICUS.[5] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _The Works of Benjamin Franklin_, II, p. 517. + +[2] _Ibid._, II, pp. 518-519. + +[3] _The Works of Benjamin Franklin_, II, pp. 519-520. + +[4] _The Works of Benjamin Franklin_, II, pp. 520-521. + +[5] _Ibid._, II, p. 521. + + +THE PROCEEDINGS OF A MISSISSIPPI MIGRATION CONVENTION IN 1879[1] + + The convention of the planters of the Mississippi Valley, which + has attracted the attention of the entire county, ever since the + call for its assembly was published, met in this city, this + morning. Delegates from all sections of the country are present + and more are expected. The original intention was to hold the + meeting of the convention in the Operahouse, but owing to the + large crowd present, and the warm weather, the place of meeting + was changed to the Concert Garden. + + At half past twelve Judge Farrar called the meeting to order, and + requested Gen. W. R. Miles to act as temporary chairman. On + taking the chair the General delivered a short address and then + announced that the convention would proceed to permanent + organization. + + A committee of twenty on permanent organization was appointed. + + While the committee was out the convention was addressed by Judge + H. Simrall, of Mississippi, and Hon. Henry S. Foote, of + Louisiana. + + The following gentlemen were elected permanent officers of the + convention: + + President--Gen. W. R. Miles, of Yazoo county. + + Vice-presidents--T. F. Cassell, of Tennessee; James Hill, of + Jackson, Mississippi; H. B. Robinson, of Arkansas; David Young, + of Louisiana. + + Secretary--A. W. Crandall, Louisiana. + + Assistant Secretaries--Jno. A. Galbreth, Jackson; J. D. Webster, + Washington county. + + Sergeant at Arms--J. B. Pegram, Vicksburg. + + Assistant sergeant at Arms--J. W. Crichloy, Vicksburg; George + Volker, Vicksburg; G. W. Walton, Vicksburg; Wesley Crayton, + Vicksburg. + + After appointing a committee on credentials, the convention took + a recess until three o'clock. + + + SECOND DAY + + The convention was called to order by the president at half past + nine. + + Col. W. L. Nugent, chairman of the committee, presented the + following preamble and resolutions: + + _Mr. President._ Your committee on resolutions beg leave + respectfully to report that they have inquired into the causes + which have given rise to the recent exodus of our colored + population, as far as possible within the limited time allowed, + and while these causes are difficult to ascertain, owing to the + exceptional cases of all kinds brought to their attention, they + believe the following to include those which may be considered + prominent: + + 1st. The low price of cotton and the partial failure of the crop + of the past year. + + 2d. The irrational system of planting adopted in some sections, + whereby labor was deprived of intelligence to direct it, and the + presence of economy to make it profitable. + + 3d. The vicious system of credit fostered by laws permitting + laborers and tenants to mortgage crops before they were grown or + even planted. + + 4th. The apprehension on the part of many colored people, + produced by insidious reports circulated among them, that their + civil and political rights are endangered, or are likely to be. + + 5th. The hurtful and false rumors, diligently disseminated, that + by emigrating to Kansas, the colored people would obtain lands, + mules and money from the government without cost to themselves, + and become independent forever. + + It is a matter of astonishment to your committees that the + colored people could be induced to credit the idle stories + circulated of a promised land, where their wants would be + supplied, and their independence secured, without exertion on + their part. It was going to the extent of ignorance and credulity + to credit them; and yet evidences of an undoubted character was + furnished your committee as to this matter. It is one of the + factors in a movement the end of which we cannot now forecaste. + There are in the State of Mississippi alone five million five + hundred thousand acres of land belonging to the United States now + subject to homestead entries. Any thrifty colored man in the + South can pre-empt one hundred and sixty acres of this land at + the moderate cost of about eighteen dollars. Lands in Kansas + cannot be acquired for less. In no part of the civilized world + can unskilled labor secure a larger return, by honest toil, than + among us, but idleness accompanied by extravagance produces + suffering and want here as elsewhere. + + Your committee believes that the legislation of our States should + be shaped so as to foster habits of industry among the colored + people, elevate the standard of social morals, and improve and + preserve our common school system. + + Diverse views have been expressed by parties equally desirous of + reaching the same conclusion: To ascertain grievances and apply + as far as it can be done by us, the proper redress. If the single + purpose of all was to accomplish this result, without the + influences which our past experiences have engendered to expect + it, this might be done; but it can only be done with full + knowledge of all the facts. That errors have been committed by + the whites and blacks alike as each in turn have controlled the + government of the States here represented, may be safely + admitted. Disregarding the past, burying its dead with it, + standing upon the living present, and looking hopefully to the + future which is before us, your committee think their duty + accomplished when they have adopted and reported these + resolutions: + + Resolved, That the interests of planters and laborers, landlords + and tenants are identical; and that they must prosper or suffer + together; and that it is the duty of the planters and landlords + of the States here represented to devise and adopt some contract + system with laborers and tenants by which both parties will + receive the full benefit of labor governed by intelligence and + economy. + + Resolved, That this convention does affirm that the colored race + has been placed by the constitution of the United States and the + States here represented, of the laws thereof, on a plane of + absolute legal equality with the white race; and does declare + that the colored race shall be accorded the practical enjoyment + of all rights, civil and political, guaranteed by the said + constitution and laws. + + Resolved, That, to this end, the members of this convention + pledge themselves to use whatever of power and influence they + possess, to protect the colored race against all dangers in + respect to the fair expression of their wills at the polls, which + they may apprehend may result from fraud, intimidation or "bull + dozing," on the part of the whites. And as there can be no + liberty of action without freedom of thought, they demand that + all elections shall be fair and free and that no repressive + measure shall be employed by the colored people to deprive their + own race of any part of the fullest freedom in the exercise of + the highest right of citizenship. + + Resolved, That the unrestricted credit system pervading the + States here represented, based upon liens and mortgages on stock + and crops to be grown in the future, followed by a failure of + that crop, has provoked distrust, created unrest, and disturbed + their entire laboring population. All laws authorizing liens on + crops for advances constituted on articles other than those of + prime necessity at moderate profits, where such advances are made + by landlords, planters or merchants, should be discontinued and + repealed. + + Resolved, That this convention call upon the colored people here + represented to contradict the false reports circulated among and + impressed upon the more ignorant and credulous; to instruct them + that no lands nor mules nor money await them in Kansas or + elsewhere without labor or price and to report to the civil + authorities all persons engaging in disseminating any such + reports. + + Resolved, That it is the constitutional right of the colored + people to migrate where they please, and to whatever State they + may select for their residence; but this convention urges them to + proceed on their movement towards migration as reasonable human + beings, providing in advance, by economy and effective labor, the + means for transportation and settlement, and sustain their + reputation for honesty and fair dealing, by preserving intact + until completion the contracts for labor and leasing, which they + have made. If, when they have done this, they still desire to + leave, all obstacles to their departure be removed; all + practicable assistance will be afforded to them, and their places + will be supplied with other and contented labor. + + Your committee believe that if the views employed in the + foregoing resolutions are practically carried out by the people + of both races, in good faith, the disquiet of our people will + subside. We appeal to the people of both races, in the States + here represented, to aid us in carrying these resolutions into + effect, and to report to the authorities all violations of the + laws and all interference with private rights. + + W. L. NUGENT, + _Chairman_. + + Gov. Foote moved to amend by substituting other resolutions, and + addressed the convention in support of his motion. + + Speeches were made in favor of the original resolutions by Judge + Simrall, Hon. James Hill, Capt. W. B. Pittman, Mr. Robinson, of + Arkansas, and Col. Nugent. + + At the conclusion of Col. Nugent's address the resolutions were + adopted unanimously and the convention adjourned sine die. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] These proceedings appeared in _The Vicksburg Commercial Daily +Advertiser_, May 5, 1879. + + +HOW THE NEGROES WERE DUPED[1] + + + WASHINGTON LETTER TO _New York Herald_. + + Gorgeously illuminated chromo-lithographs of Kansas scenes have + been distributed among the blacks. The gentleman who has seen + some of these chromos writes that the most ravishing presentment + of rural life in Kansas is depicted. The Negroes look on the + State as a second paradise, compared with which old Canaan is a + Florida swamp. One of these pictures, entitled "A Freedman's + Home," represents a fine landscape, with fields of ripening grain + stretching away to the setting sun. + + In the foreground, illuminated by a marvelous sunset, stood the + freedman's home. It was a picturesque cottage with gables, dormer + windows and wide verandas. French windows reached down to the + floor, and through the open casements appeared a seductive scene + in the family sitting room. The colored father, who had just + returned from his harvest fields, sat in an easy chair reading a + newspaper, while the children and babies rollicked on the floor + of the piazza. Through the open door of the kitchen the colored + wife could be seen directing the servants and cooks who were + preparing the evening meal. In the parlor, however, was the most + enchanting feature, for at a grand piano was poised the belle of + the household, and beside the piano where she was playing stood + her colored lover, devouring her with his eyes while he + abstractedly turned the leaves of her music. Just to one side of + the dwelling appeared a commodious barn and carriage house and + workmen busily engaged in putting in order their reapers and + mowers for the following day. + + In one of these pictures, "Old Auntie" sits on the veranda + knitting stockings while she gazes on herds of buffalo and + antelope, which are feeding on the prairies beyond the wheat + fields. Approaching the gate a handsome colored man is seen + coming in from the hunt, with a dead buck and a string of wild + turkeys slung over his shoulders. These agricultural cartoons, in + vivid coloring, the writer reports are doing much to influence + the minds of the more ignorant Negroes. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] This appeared in _The Vicksburg Commercial Daily Advertiser_, May +6, 1879. + + +REMARKS ON THIS EXODUS BY FREDERICK DOUGLASS[1] + + + WASHINGTON, May 6. + + Fred. Douglass, marshal of the District, is out in a very strong + letter, published in the _National View_, the new Greenback organ + here, vigorously opposing the emigration of Negroes from the + South. He earnestly advises the colored men to remain at home. + + The letter has caused a good deal of annoyance among the leading + Republicans, who have been vigorously working up this movement, + believing that it was a godsend to them and would be a strong + issue in future campaigns. + + Fred. Douglass winds up his letter as follows: + + "I am opposed to this exodus, because it is an untimely + concession to the idea that white people and colored people + cannot live together in peace and prosperity unless the whites + are a majority and control the legislation and hold the offices + of the State. I am opposed to this exodus, because it will pour + upon the people of Kansas and other Northern States a multitude + of deluded, hungry, homeless people to be supported in a large + measure by alms. I am opposed to this exodus, because it will + enable our political adversaries to make successful appeals to + popular prejudice (as in the case of the Chinese) on the ground + that these people, so ignorant and helpless, have been imported + for the purpose of making the North solid by outvoting + intelligent white Northern citizens. I am opposed to this exodus, + because 'rolling stones gather no moss;' and I agree with Emerson + that the men who made Rome or any other locality worth going to + see stayed there. There is, in my judgment, no part of the United + States where an industrious and intelligent man can serve his + race more wisely and efficiently than upon the soil where he was + born and reared and is known. I am opposed to this exodus because + I see in it a tendency to convert colored laboring men into + traveling tramps, first going North because they are persecuted, + and then returning South because they have been deceived in their + expectations, which will excite against themselves and against + our whole race an increasing measure of popular contempt and + scorn. I am opposed to this exodus because I believe that the + conditions of existence in the Southern States are steadily + improving, and that the colored man there will ultimately realize + the fullest measure of liberty and equality accorded and secured + in any section of our common country. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] This appeared in _The Vicksburg Commercial Daily Advertiser_, May +7, 1879. + + +THE SENATE REPORT ON THE EXODUS OF 1879 + +Hearing of the commotion among the Negroes in Louisiana and +Mississippi in 1879, Senator D. W. Voorhees, of Indiana, offered the +following resolution which was accepted: + + Whereas, large numbers of Negroes from the Southern States, and + especially from the State of North Carolina, are migrating to the + Northern States, and especially to the State of Indiana; and, + + Whereas, it is currently alleged that they are induced to do so + by the unjust and cruel conduct of their white fellow citizens + toward them in the South; therefore, + + _Be it Resolved_, That a committee of five members of this body + be appointed by its presiding officer, whose duty it shall be to + investigate the causes which have led to the aforesaid migration, + and to report the same to the Senate; and said committee shall + have power to send for persons and papers, compelling the defense + of witnesses, and to sit at any time.[1] + +Thereupon Senator William Windom, of Minnesota, offered the following +amendment which led to the discussion of all sorts of phases of the +race problem and finally to a majority and minority report on the +exodus:[2] + + _And Be it Therefore Resolved_, That in case said committee shall + find that said migration of colored people from the South has + been caused by cruel and unjust treatment or by the denial or + abridgement of personal or political rights, have so far inquired + and reported to the Senate, first; what, if any, action of + Congress may be necessary to secure to every citizen of the + United States the full and free enjoyment of all rights + guaranteed by the constitution; second; where the peaceful + adjustment of the colored race of all sectional issues may not be + best secured by the distribution of the colored race through + their partial migration from those States and congressional + districts where, by reason of their numerical majority, they are + not allowed to freely and peacefully exercise the rights of + citizenship; and third; that said committee shall inquire and + report as to the expediency and practicability of providing such + territory or territories as may be necessary for the use and + occupation of persons who may desire to migrate from their + present homes in order to secure the free, full, and peaceful + enjoyment of their constitutional rights and privileges.[2a] + + + REPORT + + _The Select Committee, appointed by the Senate to investigate the + causes which have led to the migration of the Negroes from the + Southern States to the Northern States, having duly considered + the same, beg leave to submit the following report_:[3] + + On the 18th day of December, 1879, the Senate passed the + following resolution: + + Whereas, large numbers of Negroes from the Southern States are + emigrating to the Northern States; and, + + Whereas, it is currently alleged that they are induced to do so + by the unjust and cruel conduct of their white fellow-citizens + towards them in the South, and by the denial or abridgement of + their personal and political rights and privileges; therefore, + + _Be it Resolved_, That a committee of five members of this body + be appointed by its presiding officer, whose duty it shall be to + investigate the causes which have led to the aforesaid + emigration, and to report the same to the Senate; and said + committee shall have power to send for persons and papers, and to + sit at any time. + + In obedience to this resolution the committee proceeded to take + testimony on the 19th day of January, and continuing from time to + time until 153 witnesses had been examined, embracing persons + from the States of North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, + Louisiana, Texas, Missouri, Kansas, and Indiana. Much of this + testimony is of such a character as would not be received in a + court of justice, being hearsay, the opinions of witnesses, &c., + but we received it with a view to ascertaining, if possible, the + real state of facts in regard to the condition of the Southern + colored people, their opinions and feelings, and the feelings and + opinions of their white neighbors. We think it clearly + established from the testimony that the following may be said to + be the causes which have induced this migration of the colored + people from various portions of the South to Northern States, + chiefly to Kansas, and Indiana: That from North Carolina, the + State to which we first directed our attention, was undoubtedly + induced in a great degree by Northern politicians, and by Negro + leaders in their employ, and in the employ of railroad lines. + + Examining particularly into the condition of the colored men in + that State, it was disclosed by the testimony of whites and + blacks, Republicans and Democrats, that the causes of discontent + among those people could not have arisen from any deprivation of + their political rights or any hardship in their condition. A + minute examination into their situation shows that the average + rate of wages, according to the age and strength of the hand for + field labor, was from eight to fifteen dollars per month, + including board and house to live in, garden and truck patches, + around the house, fire-wood, and certain other privileges, all + rent free. + + These, added to the extra labor which could be earned by hands + during the season of gathering turpentine and resin, or of + picking cotton made the general average of compensation for labor + in that State quite equal to if not better than in any Northern + State to which these people were going, to say nothing of the + climate of North Carolina, which was infinitely better adapted to + them. + + The closest scrutiny could detect no outrage or violence + inflicted upon their political rights in North Carolina for many + years past. They all testified that they voted freely; that their + votes were counted fairly; that no improper influence whatsoever + was exerted over them; and many were acquiring real estate, and + were enjoying the same privileges of education for their + children, precisely, that the whites were enjoying. + + It was also disclosed by the testimony that there existed aid + societies in the city of Washington, in the city of Topeka, + Kans., Indianapolis, and elsewhere throughout the West, whose + avowed object was to furnish aid to colored men migrating to the + West and North; and notwithstanding that the agents and members + of these societies generally disclaimed that it was their + intention to induce any colored men to leave their homes, but + only to aid in taking care of them after they had arrived, yet it + was established undeniably, not only that the effect of these + societies and of the aid extended by them operated to cause the + exodus originally, but that they stimulated it directly by + publishing and distributing among the colored men circulars + artfully designed and calculated to stir up discontent. Every + single member, agent, friend, or sympathizer with these societies + and their purposes were ascertained to belong to the Republican + party, and generally to be active members thereof. Some of the + circulars contained the grossest misrepresentation of facts, and + in almost all cases the immigrants expected large aid from the + government of clothes, or land, or money or free transportation, + or something of that kind. Hundreds of them, on given days at + various points in the South, crowded to the depots or to the + steamboat landings upon a rumor that free transportation was to + be furnished to all who would go. It was also disclosed by the + testimony on the part of some very candid and intelligent + witnesses that their object in promoting this exodus of the + colored people was purely political. They thought it would be + well to remove a sufficient number of blacks from the South, + where their votes could not be made to tell, into close States in + the North, and thus turn the scale in favor of the Republican + party. + + Wages, rents, method of cropping on shares, &c., were inquired + into in all of the Southern States mentioned, and the fact + ascertained that the aggregate was about the same as in North + Carolina. In most of the Southern States, where wages were higher + than in North Carolina, expenses were also higher, so that the + aggregate, as before stated, was about the same. + + One cause of complaint alleged as a reason for this exodus of the + colored people from the South was their mistreatment in the + courts of justice. Directing our attention to this the committee + have ascertained that in many of the districts of the South the + courts were under entire Republican control--judges, prosecuting + attorneys, sheriffs, &c., and that there were generally as many + complaints from districts thus controlled as there were from + districts which were under the control of the Democratic + officials; and that the whole of the complaints taken together + might be said to be such as are generally made by the ignorant + who fail to receive in courts what they think is justice. + + Your committee found no State or county in the South, into which + this investigation extended, where colored men were excluded from + juries either in theory or in practice; they found no county or + district in the South where they were excluded, either in theory + or practice, from their share in the management of county affairs + and of the control of county government. On the contrary, + whenever their votes were in a majority we found that the + officers were most generally divided among the black people, or + among white people of their choice. Frequently we found the + schools to be controlled by them, especially that portion of the + school fund which was allotted to their race, and the complaints + which had been so often made of excessive punishment of the + blacks by the courts as compared with the whites upon + investigation in nearly all cases, proved to be either unfounded + in fact or that if there was an apparent excess of punishment of + a black man the cause was ascertained to be in the nature of the + crime with which he was charged, or the attendant circumstances. + + The educational advantages in the South, the committee regret to + say, were found to be insufficient, and far inferior to those of + most of the States of the North, but such as they were we found + in every case that the blacks had precisely the same advantages + that the whites enjoyed; that the school fund was divided among + them according to numbers; that their teachers were quite as + good, and chosen with as much care; that their schools existed as + many months in the year; in short, the same facilities were + afforded to the blacks as were to the whites in this respect; and + that these schools were generally supported by the voluntary + taxation imposed by the legislatures composed of white men, + levied upon their own property for the common benefit. + + With regard to political outrages which have formed the staple of + complaint for many years against the people of the South, your + committee diligently inquired, and have to report that they found + nothing or almost nothing new. Many old stories were revived and + dwelt upon by zealous witnesses, but very few indeed ventured to + say that any considerable violence or outrage had been exhibited + toward the colored people of the South within the last few years, + and still fewer of all those who testified upon this subject, and + who were evidently anxious to make the most of it, testified to + anything as within their own knowledge. It was all hearsay, and + nothing but hearsay, with rare exceptions. + + Many of the witnesses before us were colored politicians, men who + make their living by politics, and whose business it was to stir + up feeling between the whites and blacks; keep alive the embers + of political hatred; and were men of considerable intelligence, + so that what they failed to set forth of outrages perpetrated + against their race may be safely assumed not to exist. Many, on + the contrary, were intelligent, sober, industrious, and + respectable men, who testified to their own condition, the amount + of property that they had accumulated since their emancipation, + the comfort in which they lived, the respect with which they + were regarded by their white neighbors. These universally + expressed the opinion that all colored men who would practice + equal industry and sobriety could have fared equally well; and in + fact their own condition was ample proof of the treatment of the + colored people by the whites of the South, and of their + opportunities to thrive, if they were so determined. Some of + these men owned so much as a thousand acres of real estate in the + best portions of the South; many of them had tenants of their + own, white men, occupying their premises and paying them rent; + and your committee naturally arrived at the conclusion that if + one black man could attain to this degree of prosperity and + respectable citizenship, others could, having the same capacity + for business and practicing the same sobriety and industry. + + Your committee also directed their attention to the complaints + frequently made with regard to the laws passed in various States + of the South relating to landlord and tenant, and to the system + adopted by many planters for furnishing their tenants and + laborers with supplies. We found, upon investigation of these + laws, and of the witnesses in relation to their operation, that + as a general rule they were urgently called for by the + circumstances in which the South found itself after the war. The + universal adoption of homestead and personal property exemption + laws deprived poor men of credit, and the landlord class, for its + own protection, procured the passage of these laws giving them a + lien upon the crop made by the tenant until his rents and his + supplies furnished for the subsistence of the tenant and his + family had been paid and discharged; and while upon the surface + these laws appeared to be hard and in favor of the landlord, they + were, as was actually testified by many intelligent witnesses, + quite as much or more in favor of the tenant, as it enabled him + to obtain credit, to subsist himself and his family, and to make + a crop without any means whatsoever but his own labor. It was + alleged also that in many instances landlords, or if not + landlords then merchants, would establish country stores for + furnishing supplies to laborers and tenants, and the laborer, + having no money to go elsewhere or take the natural advantages of + competition, was forced to buy at these stores at exorbitant + prices. + + Your committee regret to say that they found it to be frequently + the case that designing men, or bad and dishonest men, would take + advantage of the ignorance or necessity of the Negroes to obtain + these exorbitant prices; but at the same time your committee is + not aware of a spot on earth where the cunning and unscrupulous + do not take advantage of the ignorant; and cannot regard it as a + sufficient cause for these black people leaving their homes and + going into distant States and among strangers unless they had a + proper assurance that the State to which they were going + contained no dishonest men, or men who would take such advantage + of them. Your committee feel bound to say, however, in justice to + the planters of the South, that this abuse is not at all general + nor frequent; and that as a general rule while exorbitant prices + are exacted sometimes from men in the situation of the blacks, + yet the excuse for it is the risk which planter and merchant run. + Should a bad crop year come, should the Army worm devour the + cotton, or any other calamity come upon the crop, the landlord is + without his rent, the storekeeper is without his pay, and worse + than all the laborer is without a means of subsistence for the + next year. It is hoped and believed that when the heretofore + disturbed condition of the people of the South settles down into + regularity and order, the natural laws of trade and competition + will assert themselves and this evil will be to a great extent + remedied, whilst the diffusion of education among the colored + people will enable them to keep their own accounts and hold a + check upon those who would act dishonestly towards them. + + On the whole, your committee express the positive opinion that + the condition of the colored people of the South is not only as + good as could have been reasonably expected, but is better than + if large communities were transferred to a colder and more + inhospitable climate, thrust into competition with a different + system of labor, among strangers who are not accustomed to them, + their ways, habits of thought and action, their idiosyncrasies, + and their feelings. While a gradual migration, such as + circumstances dictate among the white races, might benefit the + individual black man and his family as it does those of the white + race, we cannot but regard this wholesale attempt to transfer a + people without means and without intelligence, from the homes of + their nativity in this manner, as injurious to the people of the + South, injurious to the people and the labor system of the State + where they go, and, more than all, injurious to the last degree + to the black people themselves. That there is much in their + condition to be deplored in the South no one will deny; that that + condition is gradually and steadily improving in every respect is + equally true. That there have been clashings of the races in the + South, socially and politically, is never to be denied nor to be + wondered at; but when we come to consider the method in which the + people were freed, as the result of a bitter and desolating civil + war; and that for purposes of party politics these incompetent, + ignorant, landless, homeless people, without any qualifications + of citizenship, without any of the ties of property or the + obligations of education, were suddenly thrown into political + power, and the effort was made not only to place them upon an + equality with their late masters, but to absolutely place them in + front and hold them there by legislation, by military violence, + and by every other means that could possibly be resorted to; when + we consider these things no philosophical mind can behold their + present condition, and the present comparative state of peace and + amity between the two races, without wonder that their condition + is as good as it is. + + No man can behold this extraordinary spectacle of two people + attempting to reconcile themselves in spite of the interference + of outsiders, and to live in harmony, to promote each other's + prosperity in spite of the bitter animosities which the sudden + elevation of the one has engendered, without the liveliest hope + that if left to themselves, the condition of the former subject + race will still more rapidly improve, and that the best results + may be reasonably and fairly expected. + + Your committee is further of the opinion that all the attempts of + legislation; that all the inflammatory appeals of politicians + upon the stump and through the newspapers; that the wild and + misdirected philanthropy of certain classes of our citizens; that + these aid societies, and all other of the influences which are so + industriously brought to bear to disturb the equanimity of the + colored people of the South and to make them discontented with + their position, are doing them a positive and almost incalculable + injury, to say nothing of pecuniary losses which have thus been + inflicted upon Southern communities. + + Your committee is further of opinion that Congress having enacted + all the legislation for the benefit of the colored people of the + South which under the Constitution it can enact, and having seen + that all the States of the South have done the same; that by the + Constitution of the United States and the constitutions of the + various States these people are placed upon a footing of perfect + equality before the law, and given the chance to work out their + own civilization and improvements, any further attempts at + legislation or agitation of the subject will but excite in them + hopes of exterior aid that will be disappointing to them, and + will prevent them from working out diligently and with care their + own salvation; that the sooner they are taught to depend upon + themselves, the sooner they will learn to take care of + themselves; the sooner they are taught to know that their true + interest is promoted by cultivating the friendship of their white + neighbors instead of their enmity, the sooner they will gain that + friendship; and that friendship and harmony once fully attained, + there is nothing to bar the way to their speedy civilization and + advancement in wealth and prosperity, except such as hinder all + people in that great work. + + D. W. VOORHEES. + Z. B. VANCE. + GEO. II. PENDLETON. + + + REPORT OF THE MINORITY + + _The undersigned, a minority of the committee appointed under + resolution of the Senate of December 15, 1879, to investigate the + causes which have led to the emigration of Negroes from the + Southern to the Northern States, submit the following report:_[4] + + In the month of December last a few hundred colored men, women, + and children, discontented with their condition in North + Carolina, and hoping to improve it, were emigrating to Indiana. + + This movement, though utterly insignificant in comparison with + the vastly greater numbers which were moving from other Southern + States into Kansas, seemed to be considered of very much more + importance, in certain quarters, on account of its alleged + political purposes and bearing. The theory upon which the + investigation was asked was that the emigration into the State of + Indiana was the result of a conspiracy on the part of Northern + leaders of the Republican party to colonize that State with + Negroes for political purposes. The utter absurdity of this + theory should have been apparent to everybody, for if the + Republican party, or its leaders, proposed to import Negroes into + Indiana for political purposes, why take them from North + Carolina? Why import them from a State where the Republicans hope + and expect to carry the election, when there were thousands upon + thousands ready and anxious to come from States certainly + Democratic. Why transport them by rail at heavy expense half way + across the continent when they could have taken them from + Kentucky without any expense, or brought them up the Mississippi + River by steamers at merely nominal cost? Why send twenty-five + thousand to Kansas to swell her 40,000 Republican majority, and + only seven or eight hundred to Indiana? These considerations + brand with falsehood and folly the charge that the exodus was a + political movement induced by Northern partisan leaders? And yet + to prove this absurd proposition the committee devoted six months + of hard and fruitless labor, during which they examined one + hundred and fifty-nine witnesses, selected from all parts of the + country, mainly with reference to their supposed readiness to + prove said theory, expended over $30,000 and filled three large + volumes of testimony. + + The undersigned feel themselves authorized to say that there is + no evidence whatever even tending to sustain the charge that the + Republican party, or any of its leaders, have been instrumental, + either directly or indirectly, in aiding or encouraging these + people to come from their homes in the South to any of the + Northern States. A good deal of complaint was made that certain + "aid societies" in the North had encouraged and aided this + migration, and a futile attempt was made to prove that these + societies were acting in the interest of the Republican party. + Upon inquiry, however, it was ascertained that their purposes + were purely charitable and had no connection whatever with any + political motive or movement. They were composed almost wholly of + colored people, and were brought into existence solely to afford + temporary relief to the destitute and suffering emigrants who had + already come into the Northern and Western States. + + In the spring of 1879 thousands of colored people, unable longer + to endure the intolerable hardships, injustice, and suffering + inflicted upon them by a class of Democrats in the South, had, in + utter despair, fled panic-stricken from their homes and sought + protection among strangers in a strange land. Homeless, + penniless, and in rags, these poor people were thronging the + wharves of Saint Louis, crowding the steamers on the Mississippi + River, and in pitiable destitution throwing themselves upon the + charity of Kansas. Thousands more were congregating along the + banks of the Mississippi River, hailing the passing steamers, and + imploring them for a passage to the land of freedom, where their + rights of citizens were respected and honest toil rewarded by + honest compensation. The newspapers were filled with accounts of + their destitution, and the very air was burdened with the cry of + distress from a class of American citizens flying from + persecutions which they could not longer endure. Their piteous + tales of outrage, suffering and wrong touched the hearts of the + more fortunate members of their race in the North and West, and + aid societies, designed to afford temporary relief, and composed + largely, almost wholly, of colored people, were organized in + Washington, Saint Louis, Topeka, and in various other places. + That they were organized to induce migration for political + purposes, or to aid or to encourage these people to leave their + homes for any purpose, or that they ever contributed one dollar + to that end, is utterly untrue, and there is absolutely nothing + in the testimony to sustain such a charge. Their purposes and + objects were purely charitable. They found a race of wretched + miserable people flying from oppression and wrong, and they + sought to relieve their distress. The refugees were hungry, and + they fed them: in rags, and they clothed them; homeless, and they + sheltered them; destitute, and they found employment for + them--only this and nothing more. + + The real origin of the exodus movement and the organizations at + the South which have promoted it are very clearly stated by the + witnesses who have been most active in regard to it. + + Henry Adams, of Shreveport, Louisiana, an uneducated colored + laborer, but a man of very unusual natural abilities, and, so far + as the committee could learn, entirely reliable and truthful, + states that he entered the United States Army in 1866 and + remained in it until 1869; that when he left the Army he returned + to his former home at Shreveport, and, finding the condition of + his race intolerable, he and a number of other men who had also + been in the Army set themselves to work to better the condition + of their people. + + In 1870-- + + He says-- + + a parcel of us got together and said we would organize ourselves + into a committee and look into affairs and see the true condition + of our race, to see whether it was possible we could stay under a + people who held us in bondage or not. + + That committee increased until it numbered about five hundred and + Mr. Adams says: + + Some of the members of the committee was ordered by the committee + to go into every State in the South where we had been slaves, + and post one another from time to time about the true condition + of our race, and nothing but the truth. + + In answer to the question whether they traveled over various + States he said: + + "Yes, sir; and we worked, some of us, worked our way from place + to place, and went from State to State and worked--some of them + did--amongst our people, in the fields, everywhere, to see what + sort of a living our people lived--whether we could live in the + South amongst the people that held us as slaves or not. We + continued that on till 1874. Every one paid his own expenses, + except the one we sent to Louisiana and Mississippi. We took + money out of our pockets and sent him, and said to him you must + now go to work. You can't find out anything till you get amongst + them. You can talk as much as you please, but you got to go right + into the field and work with them and sleep with them to know all + about them." + + I think about one hundred or one hundred and fifty went from one + place or another. + + Q. What was the character of the information that they gave you? + A. Well, the character of the information they brought to us was + very bad, sir. + + * * * * * + + Q. Do you remember any of these reports that you got from members + of your committee?--A. Yes, sir; they said in several parts where + they was that the land rent was still higher there in that part + of the country than it was where we first organized it, and the + people was still being whipped, some of them, by the old owners, + the men that had owned them as slaves, and some of them was being + cheated out of their crops just the same as they was there. + + Q. Was anything said about their personal and political rights in + these reports as to how they were treated?--A. Yes; some of them + stated that in some parts of the country where they voted they + would be shot. Some of them stated that if they voted the + Democratic ticket they would not be injured. + + Q. Now let us understand more distinctly, before we go any + further, the kind of people who composed that association. The + committee, as I understand you, was composed entirely of laboring + people?--A. Yes, sir. + + Q Did it include any politicians of either color, white or + black?--A. No politicianers didn't belong to it, because we + didn't allow them to know nothing about it, because we was + afraid that if we allowed the colored politicianers to belong to + it he would tell it to the Republican politicianers, and from + that the men that was doing all this to us would get hold of it + too, and then get after us. + + * * * * * + + Q. About what time did you lose all hope and confidence that your + condition could be tolerable in the Southern States?--A. Well we + never lost all hopes in the world till 1877. + + Q. Why did you lose all hope in that year?--A. Well, we found + ourselves in such condition that we looked around and we seed + that there was no way on earth, it seemed, that we could better + our condition there, and we discussed that thoroughly in our + organization in May. We said that the whole South--every State in + the South--had got into the hands of the very men that held us + slaves--from one thing to another--and we thought that the men + that held us slaves was holding the reins of government over our + heads in every respect almost, even the constable up to the + governor. We felt we had almost as well be slaves under these + men. In regard to the whole matter that was discussed it came up + in every council. Then we said there was no hope for us and we + had better go. + + Q. You say, then, that in 1877 you lost all hope of being able to + remain in the South, and you began to think of moving somewhere + else?--A. Yes; we said we was going if we had to run away and go + into the woods. + + Q. About how many did this committee consist of before you + organized your council? Give us the number as near as you can + tell.--A. As many as five hundred in all. + + Q. The committee, do you mean? A. Yes; the committee has been + that large. + + Q. What was the largest number reached by your colonization + council, in your best judgment?--A. Well, it is not exactly five + hundred men belonging to the council that we have in our council, + but they all agreed to go with us and enroll their names with us + from time to time, so that they have now got at this time + ninety-eight thousand names enrolled. + + Q. Then through that council, as sort of subscribers to its + purpose and acts and for carrying out its objects, there were + ninety-eight thousand names?--A. Yes; ninety-eight thousand names + enrolled. + + Q. In what parts of the country were these ninety-eight thousand + people scattered?--A. Well some in Louisiana--the majority of + them in Louisiana--and some in Texas, and some in Arkansas. We + joins Arkansas. + + Q. Were there any in Mississippi?--A. Yes, sir; a few in + Mississippi. + + Q. And a few in Alabama?--A. Yes, sir; a few in Alabama, too. + + Q. Did the organization extend at all into other States farther + away?--A. O, yes, sir. + + Q. Have you members in all the Southern States?--A. Not in every + one, but in a great many of the others. + + Q. Are these members of that colonization council in + communication as to the condition of your race, and as to the + best thing to be done to alleviate their troubles?--A. O, yes. + + Q. What do you know about inducements being held out from + politicians of the North, or from politicians anywhere else, to + induce these people to leave their section of country and go into + the Northern or Western States?--A. There is nobody has written + letters of that kind, individually--not no white persons, I know, + not to me, to induce anybody to come. + + Q. Well, to any of the other members of your council?--A. No, I + don't think to any of the members. If they have, they haven't + said nothing to me about it. + + It appears also from the evidence of Samuel L. Perry, of North + Carolina, a colored man, who accompanied most of the emigrants + from that State to Indiana, and who had more to do with the + exodus from that quarter than any other man, that the movement + had its origin as far back as 1872, as the following questions + and answers will show: + + Q. You have heard a good deal of this testimony with reference to + this exodus from North Carolina. Now begin at the beginning and + tell us all you know about it.--A. Well, the beginning, I + suppose, was in this way: The first idea or the first thing was, + we used to have little meetings to talk over these matters. In + 1872 we first received some circulars or pamphlets from O. F. + Davis, of Omaha, Nebraska. + + Q. In 1872?--A. Yes, sir; in 1872--giving a description of + government lands and railroads that could be got cheap; and we + held little meetings then; that is, we would meet and talk about + it Sunday evenings--that is, the laboring class of our + people--the only ones I knew anything about; I had not much to do + with the big professional Negroes, the rich men. I did not + associate with them much, but I got among the workingmen, and + they would take these pamphlets and read them over. + + Mr. Perry says that the feeling in favor of migrating subsided + somewhat, but sprung up again in 1876. From that time down to + 1879 there were frequent consultations upon the subject, much + dissatisfaction expressed respecting their condition, and a + desire to emigrate to some part of the West. He says about "that + time I was a subscriber to the New York Herald, and from an + article in that paper the report was that the people were going + to Kansas, and we thought we could go to Kansas, too; that we + could get a colony to go West. That was last spring. We came back + and formed ourselves into a colony of some hundred men." They did + not, however, begin their westward movements until the fall of + 1879, when it being ascertained by the railroad companies that a + considerable number of people were proposing to migrate from + North Carolina to the West, several railroad companies, notably + the Baltimore and Ohio, offered to certain active and influential + colored men $1 per head for all the passengers they could procure + for the respective competing lines. + + By reference to this evidence, part 3, page 136, it will be seen + that the emigration movement in Alabama originated as far back as + the year 1871, when an organization of colored people, called the + State Labor Union, delegated Hon. George F. Marlow to visit + Kansas, and other parts of the West, for the purpose of examining + that country and reporting back to a future convention his views + as to the expediency of removing thereto. A convention of colored + people was held again in 1872, at which Mr. Marlow made the + following glowing report of the condition of things in Kansas and + the inducements that State offered to the colored people. He + said: + + In August, 1871, being delegated by your president for the + purpose, I visited the State of Kansas, and here give the results + of my observations, briefly stated. + + It is a new State, and as such possesses many advantages over the + old. + + It is much more productive than most other States. + + What is raised yields more profit than elsewhere, as it is raised + at less expense. + + The weather and roads enable you to do more work here than + elsewhere. + + The climate is mild and pleasant. + + Winters short and require little food for stock. + + Fine grazing country; stock can be grazed all winter. + + The population is enterprising, towns and villages spring up + rapidly and great profits arise from all investments. + + Climate dry, and land free from swamps. + + The money paid to doctors in less healthy regions can here be + used to build up a house. + + People quiet and orderly, schools and churches to be found in + every neighborhood, and ample provision for free schools is made + by the State. + + Money, plenty, and what you raise commands a good price. + + Fruits of all kinds easily grown and sold at large profits. + + Railroads are being built in every direction. + + The country is well watered. + + Salt and coal are plentiful. + + It is within the reach of every man, no matter how poor, to have + a home in Kansas. The best lands are to be had at from $2 to $10 + an acre, _on time_. The different railroads own large tracts of + land, and offer liberal inducements to emigrants. You can get + good land in some places for $1.25 an acre. The country is mostly + open prairie, and level, with deep, rich soil, producing from + forty to one hundred bushels of corn and wheat to the acre. The + corn grows about eight or nine feet high, and I never saw better + fruit anywhere than there. + + The report was adopted. + + The feeling of the colored people in that State in 1872 was well + expressed by Hon. Robert H. Knox, of Montgomery, a prominent + colored citizen, who, in addressing the convention, spoke as + follows: + + I have listened with great attention to the report of the + commissioner appointed by authority of the State Labor Union to + visit Kansas, and while I own the inducements held out to the + laboring man in that far-off State are much greater than those + enjoyed by our State, I yet would say let us rest here awhile + longer; let us trust in God, the President, and Congress to give + us what is most needed here, personal security to the laboring + masses, the suppression of violence, disorder, and kukluxism, the + protection which the Constitution and laws of the United States + guarantee, and to which as citizens and men we are entitled. + Failing in these, it is time then, I repeat, to desert the State + and seek homes elsewhere where there may be the fruition of hopes + inaugurated when by the hand of Providence the shackles were + stricken from the limbs of four million men, where there may be + enjoyed in peace and happiness by your own fireside the earnings + of your daily toil. + + Benjamin Singleton, an aged colored man, now residing in Kansas, + swears that he began the work inducing his race to migrate to + that State as early as 1869, and that he has brought mainly from + Tennessee, and located in two colonies--one in Cherokee County, + and another in Lyons County, Kansas--a total of 7,432 colored + people. The old man spoke in the most touching manner of the + sufferings and wrongs of his people in the South, and in the most + glowing terms of their condition in their new homes; and when + asked as to who originated the movement, he proudly asserted, "I + am the father of the exodus." He said that during these years + since he began the movement he has paid from his own pocket over + $600 for circulars, which he has caused to be printed and + circulated all over the Southern States, advising all who can pay + their way to come to Kansas. In these circulars he advised the + colored people of the advantages of living in a free State, and + told them how well the emigrants whom he had taken there were + getting on. He says that the emigrants whom he has taken to + Kansas are happy and doing well. The old man insists with great + enthusiasm that he is the "Whole cause of the Kansas + immigration," and is very proud of his achievement. + + Here, then, we have conclusive proof from the Negroes themselves + that they have been preparing for this movement for many years. + Organizations to this end have existed in many States, and the + agents of such organizations have traveled throughout the South. + One of these organizations alone kept one hundred and fifty men + in the field for years, traveling among their brethren and + secretly discussing this among other means of relief. As stated + by Adams and Perry, politicians were excluded, and the movement + was confined wholly to the working classes. + + The movement has doubtless been somewhat stimulated by circulars + from railroad companies and State emigration societies which have + found their way into the South, but these have had comparatively + little effect. The following specimen of these emigration + documents, which was gotten up and circulated by Indiana + Democrats, printed at a Democratic printing office, and written + by a Democrat, in our judgment appeals more strongly to the + imagination and wants of the Negro than any we have been able to + find: + + _In every county of the State there is an asylum where those who + are unable to work and have no means of support are cared for at + the public expense._ + + Laborers who work by the month or by the year make their own + contract with the employer, and all disputes subsequently arising + are settled by legal processes in the proper courts, _everybody + being equal before the law in Indiana_. The price of farm labor + has varied considerably in the last twenty years. _About $16 per + month may be assumed as about the average per month, and this is + understood to include board and lodging at the farm-house._ This + amount is _paid in current money at the end of each month_, + unless otherwise stipulated in the contract. Occasionally a + tenement house is found on the larger farms, where a laborer + lives with his family, and either rents a portion of the farm or + cultivates it on special contract with the landlord. _With us + there is no class of laborers as such. The young man who today + may be hired as a laborer at monthly wages, may in five years + from now be himself a proprietor, owning the soil he cultivates + and paying wages to laborers. The upward road is open to all_, + and its highest elevation is attainable by industry, economy, and + perseverance. + + Sixteen dollars per month, with board! Everybody equal before the + law! No class of laborers as such! The hired man of today himself + the owner of a farm in five years! No cheating of tenants, but + everything paid in current money. And if all this will not + attract the Negro he is told there is an "asylum in every county" + to which he can go when unable to support himself. The document + also promises to everybody "free schools" in "brick or stone + school-houses," and says they have "2,000,000 greater school fund + than any State in the Union." These Democratic documents have + been circulated by the thousand, and doubtless many of them have + found their way into the Negro cabins of North Carolina. It is + not surprising that the Negro looks with longing eyes to that + great and noble State. + + + CAUSES OF THE EXODUS + + There is surely some adequate cause for such a movement. The + majority of the committee have utterly failed to find it, or, if + found, to recognize it. When it was found that any of their own + witnesses were ready to state causes which did not accord with + their theory they were dismissed without examination, as in the + cases of Ruby and Stafford, and a half dozen others who were + brought from Kansas, but who on their arrival here were found to + entertain views not agreeable to the majority. + + We regret that a faithful and honest discussion of this subject + compels a reference to the darkest, bloodiest, and most shameful + chapter of our political history. Gladly would we avoid it, but + candor compels us to say that the volume which shall faithfully + record the crimes which, in the name of Democracy, have been + committed against the citizenship, the lives, and the personal + rights of these people, and which have finally driven them in + utter despair from their homes, will stand forever without a + parallel in the annals of Christian civilization. In discussing + these sad and shameful events, we wish it distinctly understood + that we do not arraign the whole people nor even the entire + Democratic party of the States in which they have occurred. The + colored and other witnesses all declare that the lawlessness from + which they have suffered does not meet the approval of the better + class of Democrats at the South. They are generally committed by + the reckless, dissolute classes who unfortunately too often + control and dominate the Democratic party and dictate its policy. + We have no doubt there are many Democrats in the South who deeply + regret this condition of things, and who would gladly welcome a + change, but they are in a helpless, and we fear a hopeless, + minority in many sections of that country. + + The unfortunate and inexcusable feature of the case is that, + however much they may deplore such lawlessness, they have never, + so far as we can learn, declined to accept its fruits. They may + regret the violence and crimes by which American citizens are + prevented from voting, but they rejoice in the Democratic + victories which result therefrom. So long as they shall continue + thus to accept the fruits of crime, the criminals will have but + little fear of punishment or restraint, and the lawless conduct + which is depopulating some sections of their laboring classes + will go on. There is another unfortunate feature of this matter. + So long as crimes against American citizenship shall continue to + suppress Republican majorities, and to give a "solid South" to + the Democracy, there will be found enough Democrats at the North + who will shut their eyes to the means by which it is + accomplished, and seek to cover up and excuse the conduct of + their political partisans at the South. + + This is well illustrated by the report of the majority of the + committee. In the presence of most diabolic outrages clearly + proven; in the face of the declaration of thousands of refugees + that they had fled because of the insecurity of their lives and + property at the South, and because the Democratic party of that + section had, by means too shocking and shameful to relate, + deprived them of their rights as American citizens; in the face + of the fact that it has been clearly shown by the evidence that + organizations of colored laborers, one of which numbered + ninety-eight thousand, have existed for many years and extending + into many States of the South, designed to improve their + condition by emigration--in the face of all these facts the + majority of the committee can see no cause for the exodus growing + out of such wrongs, but endeavor to charge it to the Republicans + of the North. + + In view of this fact, it is our painful duty to point out some of + the real causes of this movement. It is, however, quite + impossible to enumerate all or any considerable part of the + causes of discontent and utter despair which have finally + culminated in this movement. To do so would be to repeat a + history of violence and crime which for fifteen years have + reddened with the blood of innocent victims many of the fairest + portions of our country; to do so would be to read the numberless + volumes of sworn testimony which have been carefully corded away + in the crypt and basement of this Capitol, reciting shocking + instances of crime, crying from the ground against the + perpetrators of the deeds which they record. The most which we + can hope to do within the limits of this report is to present a + very few facts which shall be merely illustrative of the + conditions which have driven from their homes, and the graves of + their fathers an industrious, patient, and law-abiding people, + whom we are bound by every obligation of honor and patriotism to + protect in their personal and political rights and privileges. + + We begin with the State of North Carolina because the migration + from that State has been comparatively insignificant, and also + because the conditions there are more favorable to the colored + race than in any of the other cotton States of the South. Owing + to the lack of funds, and to the time employed in the examination + of witnesses called by the majority the Republican members of the + committee summoned no witnesses from the State of North Carolina, + and were obliged to content themselves with such facts as could + be obtained from one or two persons who happened to be in this + city, and such other facts as were brought out upon + cross-examination of the witnesses called by the other side. By + the careful selection of a few well-to-do and more fortunate + colored men from that State, the majority of the committee + secured some evidence tending to show that a portion of the + Negroes of North Carolina are exceptionally well treated and + contented, and yet upon cross-examination of their own witnesses + facts were disclosed which showed that, even there, conditions + exist which are ample to account for the migration of the entire + colored population. + + There are three things in that State which create great + discontent among the colored people: First, the abridgment of + their rights of self-government; second, their disadvantages as + to common schools; third, discriminations against them in the + courts; and, fourth, the memory of Democratic outrages. Prior to + Democratic rule the people of each county elected five + commissioners, who had supervision over the whole county, and who + chose the judges of elections. The Democrats changed the + constitution so as to take this power from the people, and gave + to the general assembly authority to appoint these officers. This + they regard not only as practically depriving them of + self-government, but, as stated by one of the witnesses, Hon. R. + C. Badger, as placing the elections, even in Republican + townships, wholly under the control of the Democrats, who thereby + "have the power to count up the returns and throw out the balance + for any technicality, exactly as Garcelon & Co. did in Maine." + This creates much dissatisfaction, because they believe they are + cheated out of their votes. The Negro values the ballot more than + anything else, because he knows that it is his only means of + defense and protection. A law which places all the returning + boards in the hands of his political opponents necessarily and + justly produces discontent. + + Next to the ballot the Negro values the privileges of common + schools, for in them he sees the future elevation of his race. + The prejudice even in North Carolina against white teachers of + colored schools seems to have abated but little since the war. + Mr. Badger, when cross-examined on this point, said: + + Q. Is there any prejudice still remaining there against white + teachers of colored schools?--A. I think there is. + + Q. Will you explain it?--A. I cannot explain it, except by the + prejudices between the races. + + Q. You mean, white persons teaching a colored school lose social + status?--A. Yes, sir. + + Q. Now, a white lady who comes from the North and teaches a + colored school, to what extent is she tabooed?--A. I don't think + she would have any acquaintances in white society. + + Q. Would she be any quicker invited into white society than a + colored woman?--A. Just about the same. + + This fact contains within itself a volume of testimony. It shows + that the Negro is still regarded as a sort of social and + political pariah, whom no white person may teach without + incurring social ostracism and being degraded to the level of the + social outcast he or she would elevate in the scale of being. Is + it surprising that the Negro is dissatisfied with his condition + and desires to emigrate to some country where his children may + hope for better things? + + The most serious complaints, however, which are made against the + treatment of colored citizens of North Carolina is that justice + is not fairly administered in the courts as between themselves + and the whites. On this point the evidence of Mr. R. C. Badger + reveals a condition of things to which no people can long submit. + Here is his illustration of the manner in which justice is + usually meted out as between the Negroes and the whites: + + Q. How about the discrimination in the courts as between the + whites and blacks?--A. That is principally in matters of larceny. + In such cases the presumption is reversed as to the Negro. A + white man can't be convicted without the fullest proof, and with + the Negroes, in matters between themselves, such as assault and + battery, they get as fair a trial as the whites. At the January + term of our court Judge Avery presided. A white man and a colored + woman were indicted for an affray. The woman was in her husband's + barn getting out corn; they were going to move, and the white man + came down there and said, "You seem to have a good time laughing + here this morning," and she said, yes, she had a right to laugh. + He said, "You are getting that corn out, and you would have made + more if you had stuck to your husband." She seemed to be a sort + of termagant, and she said nobody said that about her unless you + told them. He made some insulting remark, and she made something + in return to him, and he took a billet of wood and struck her on + the shoulder, and he pulled a pistol and beat her with it, and + she went for him to kill him. _They found the man not guilty and + they found her guilty_, but Judge Avery set the verdict aside and + ordered the case _nolle prossed_ against her. + + Q. Do you think that is a fair sample of the justice they + get?--A. Yes, sir. + + Q. Do you think they will convict a colored woman in order to get + a chance to turn loose a white man?--A. Yes, sir. + + Mr. Badger was not our witness. He was called by the majority, + but he is a gentleman of high character, the son of an ex-member + of this body, and thoroughly acquainted with the condition of + things in his State. He puts the case just mentioned as a "fair + sample" of North Carolina justice toward the Negro. It is true + the judge set aside the verdict, but this does not change the + fact that before a North Carolina jury the Negro has but little + hope of justice. + + Back of all these things lies the distrust of Democracy which was + inspired during the days when the "Kuklux," the "White + Brotherhood," the Universal Empire, and the "Stonewall Guard" + spread terror and desolation over the State in order to wrest it + from Republicanism to Democracy. The memory of those dark days + and bloody deeds, the prejudice which still forbids white ladies + to teach colored schools, and denies "even-handed" justice in the + courts, and the usurpations which place the returning boards all + in the hands of Democrats, have inspired a feeling of discontent + which has found expression in the efforts of a few to leave the + State. These facts, taken in connection with the bonus of one + dollar per head offered by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad + Company (a Democratic corporation represented by a Democratic + agent) to leading colored men who would secure passengers for + their road, has led to the emigration of some seven or eight + hundred colored people from that State, and the only wonder is + that thousands instead of hundreds have not gone. + + + LOUISIANA AND MISSISSIPPI + + The States of Louisiana and Mississippi have furnished the larger + portion of the migration to Kansas, and as the conditions which + caused the exodus are the same in both of these States, we may + speak of them together. No single act of wrong has inspired this + movement, but a long series of oppression, injustice, and + violence, extending over a period of fifteen years. These people + have been long-suffering and wonderfully patient, but the time + came when they could endure it no longer and they resolved to go. + We can convey no adequate idea of what they endured before + adopting this desperate resolve, but will mention a few facts + drawn from well authenticated history, from sworn public + documents, and from the evidence taken by the Exodus + Investigating Committee. Writing under date of January 10, 1875, + General P. H. Sheridan, then in command at New Orleans, says: + + Since the year 1866 nearly thirty-five hundred persons, a great + majority of whom were colored men, have been killed and wounded + in this State. In 1868 the official records show that eighteen + hundred and eighty-five were killed and wounded. From 1868 to the + present time no official investigation has been made, and the + civil authorities in all but a few cases have been unable to + arrest, convict or punish the perpetrators. Consequently there + are no correct records to be consulted for information. There is + ample evidence, however, to show that more than twelve hundred + persons have been killed and wounded during this time on account + of their political sentiments. Frightful massacres have occurred + in the parishes of Bossier, Caddo, Catahoula, Saint Bernard, + Saint Landry, Grant, and Orleans. + + He then proceeds to enumerate the political murders of colored + men in the various parishes, and says: + + "Human life in this State is held so cheaply that when men are + killed on account of political opinions, the murderers are + regarded rather as heroes than criminals in the localities where + they reside." + + This brief summary is not by a politician, but by a distinguished + soldier, who recounts the events which have occurred within his + own military jurisdiction. Volumes of testimony have since been + taken confirming, in all respects, General Sheridan's statement, + and giving in detail the facts relating to such murders, and the + times and circumstances of their occurrence. The results of the + elections which immediately followed them disclose the motives + and purposes of their perpetrators. These reports show that in + the year 1868 a reign of terror prevailed over almost the entire + State. In the parish of Saint Landry there was a massacre from + three to six days, during which between two and three hundred + colored men were killed. "Thirteen captives were taken from the + jail and shot, and a pile of twenty-five dead bodies were found + burned in the woods." The result of this Democratic campaign in + the parish was that the registered Republican majority of 1,071 + was wholly obliterated, and at the election which followed a few + weeks later not a vote was cast for General Grant, while Seymour + and Blair received 4,787. + + In the parish of Bossier a similar massacre occurred between the + 20th and 30th of September, 1868, which lasted from three to four + days, during which two hundred colored people were killed. By the + official registry of that year the Republican voters in Bossier + parish numbered 1,938, but at the ensuing election only _one_ + Republican vote was cast. + + In the parish of Caddo during the month of October, 1868, over + forty colored people were killed. The result of that massacre was + that out of a Republican registered vote of 2,894 only one was + cast for General Grant. Similar scenes were enacted throughout + the State, varying in extent and atrocity according to the + magnitude of the Republican majority to be overcome. + + The total summing-up of murders, maimings, and whippings which + took place for political reasons in the months of September, + October and November, 1868, as shown by official sources, is over + one thousand. The net political results achieved thereby may be + succinctly stated as follows: The official registration for that + year in twenty-eight parishes contained 47,923 names of + Republican voters, but at the Presidential election, held a few + weeks after the occurrence of these events but 5,360 Republican + votes were cast, making the net Democratic gain from said + transactions 42,563. + + In nine of these parishes where the reign of terror was most + prevalent out of 11,604 registered Republican votes only 19 were + cast for General Grant. In seven of said parishes there were + 7,253 registered Republican votes, but not one was cast at the + ensuing election for the Republican ticket. + + In the years succeeding 1868, when some restraint was imposed + upon political lawlessness and a comparatively peaceful election + was held, these same Republican parishes cast from 33,000 to + 37,000 Republican votes, thus demonstrating the purpose and the + effects of the reign of murder in 1868. In 1876 the spirit of + violence and persecution, which in parts of the State had been + partially restrained for a time, broke forth again with renewed + fury. It was deemed necessary to carry that State for Tilden and + Hendricks, and the policy which had proved so successful in 1868 + was again invoked and with like results. On the day of general + election in 1876 there were in the State of Louisiana 92,996 + registered white voters and 115,310 colored, making a Republican + majority of the latter of 22,314. The number of white Republicans + was far in excess of the number of colored Democrats. It was, + therefore, well known that if a fair election should be made the + State would go Republican by from twenty-five to forty thousand + majority. The policy adopted this time was to select a few of the + largest Republican parishes and by terrorism and violence not + only obliterate their Republican majorities, but also intimidate + the Negroes in the other parishes. The testimony found in our + public documents, and records shows that the same system of + assassinations, whippings, burnings, and other acts of political + persecution of colored citizens which had occurred in 1868 was + again repeated in 1876 and with like results. + + In fifteen parishes where 17,726 Republicans were registered in + 1876 only 5,758 votes were cast for Hayes and Wheeler, and in one + of them (East Feliciana), where there were 2,127 Republicans + registered, but one Republican vote was cast. By such methods the + Republican majority of the State was supposed to have been + effectually suppressed and a Democratic victory assured. And + because the legally constituted authorities of Louisiana, acting + in conformity with law and justice, declined to count some of the + parishes thus carried by violence and blood, the Democratic + party, both North and South, has ever since complained that it + was fraudulently deprived of the fruits of victory, and it now + proposes to make this grievance the principal plank in the party + platform. + + On the 6th of December, 1876, President Grant in a message to + Congress transmitted the evidence of these horrible crimes + against the colored race, committed in the name and in the + interest of the Democracy. They are not mere estimates nor + conjectures, but the names of the persons murdered, maimed and + whipped, and of the perpetrators of the crimes, the places where + they occurred, and the revolting circumstances under which they + were committed, are all set forth in detail. This shocking record + embraces a period of eight years, from 1868 to 1876, inclusive, + and covers ninety-eight pages of fine type, giving an average of + about one victim to each line. We have not counted the list, but + it is safe to say that it numbers over four thousand. + + These crimes did not end in 1876 with the accession of the + Democracy to control of the State administration. The witnesses + examined by your committee gave numerous instances of like + character which occurred in 1878. Madison Parish may serve as an + illustration. This parish, which furnished perhaps the largest + number of refugees to Kansas, had been exceptionally free from + bull-dozing in former years. William Murrell, one of the + witnesses called by the committee, states the reasons for the + exodus from that parish as follows: + + You have not read of any exodus yet as there will be from that + section this summer, and the reason for it is that, for the first + time since the war in Madison Parish last December, we had + bull-dozing there. Armed bodies of men came into the parish--not + people who lived in the parish, but men from Ouachita Parish and + Richland Parish; and I can name the leader who commanded them. He + was a gentleman by the name of Captain Tibbals, of Ouachita + Parish, who lives in Monroe, who was noted in the celebrated + massacre there in other times. His very name among the colored + people is sufficient to intimidate them almost. He came with a + crowd of men on the 28th of December into Madison Parish, when + all was quiet and peaceable. There was no quarrel, no excitement. + We had always elected our tickets in the parish, and we had put + Democrats on the ticket in many cases to satisfy them. There were + only 238 white voters and about 2,700 colored registered voters. + + Mr. Murrell says that David Armstrong, who was president of third + ward Republican club, a man who stood high in the community, and + against whom no charge was made except that of being a + Republican, made the remark: + + "What right have these white men to come here from Morehouse + Parish, and Richland Parish, and Franklin Parish to interfere + with our election?" And some white men heard of it and got a + squad by themselves and said, "We'll go down and give that nigger + a whipping." So Sunday night, about ten o'clock, they went to his + house to take him out and whip him. They saw him run out the back + way and fired on him. One in the crowd cried out, "Don't kill + him!" "It is too late, now," they said, "he's dead." The Carroll + Conservative, a Democratic newspaper, published the whole thing; + but the reason they did it was because we had one of their men on + our ticket as judge, and they got sore about it, and we beat him. + They killed Armstrong and took him three hundred yards to the + river, in a sheet, threw him in the river, and left the sheet in + the bushes. + + Proceeding with the account of that transaction, Mr. Murrell + swears that the colored people had heard that the bulldozers were + coming from the surrounding parishes, and that he and others + called on some of the leading Democrats in order to prevent it, + but all in vain. He says: + + We waited on Mr. Holmes, the clerk of the court, and we said to + him, "Mr. Holmes, it is not necessary to do any bulldozing here; + you have the counting machinery all in your hands, and we would + rather be counted out than bulldozed; can't we arrange this + thing? I made a proposition to him and said, "You know I am + renominated on the Republican ticket, but I will get out of the + way for any moderate Democrat you may name to save the State and + district ticket. We will not vote for your State ticket; you + cannot make the colored people vote the State ticket; but if you + will let us have our State ticket we will give you the local + offices." We offered them the clerk of the court, not the + sheriff, and the two representatives. We told him we would not + give them the senator, but the district judge and attorney. After + this interview Holmes sent us to Dr. Askew, ex-chairman of the + Democratic committee, and he said to me, "Now, Murrell, there is + no use talking, I advise you to stand from under. When these men + get in here we can't control them. We like you well enough and + would not like to see you hurt. I will see you to-night at Mr. + Holmes." We had an interview with Mr. Holmes and made this + proposition, and Holmes asked me this question: "Murrell, you + know damned well the niggers in this parish won't vote the + Democratic ticket--there is no use to tell me you will give us + the clerk of the court, you know the niggers won't do it. You + can't trust the niggers in politics; all your eloquence and all + the speeches you can make won't make these niggers vote this + ticket or what you suggest, even if we was to accept it. _No, by + God, we are going to carry it._ Why," said he, "_there is more + eloquence in double-barreled shot-guns to convince niggers than + there is in forty Ciceros_." I said to him, "Well, do you suppose + the merchants and planters will back you up," and he said, "O, by + God, they have got nothing to do with it. We have charge of it. + _We three men, the Democratic committee, have full power to + work._" + + The result of this "work" was, as stated by the witness, and not + disputed by any one before the committee, that in this parish, + containing 2,700 registered Republican voters, and only 238 + Democrats, the Democrats returned a majority of 2,300. The + witness, who was a candidate on the Republican ticket, swears + that not more than 360 votes were cast. Democratic shot-gun + eloquence did its "work," as prophesied by Mr. Askew, ex-chairman + of the Democratic committee, but it also served as a wonderful + stimulus to migration from Madison Parish. + + We cite this case for two reasons: First, because it has been + said that the Negroes have not emigrated from bulldozed parishes; + and, secondly, because it serves as an illustration of the many + similar cases which were given to the committee. + + We desire also to invite attention to the evidence of Henry + Adams, a colored witness from Shreveport, La. Adams is a man of + very remarkable energy and native ability. Scores of witnesses + were summoned by the majority of the committee from Shreveport + but none of them ventured to question his integrity or + truthfulness. Though a common laborer, he has devoted much of his + time in traveling through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, + working his way and taking notes of the crimes committed against + his race. His notes, written in terse and simple language, + embraced the names of six hundred and eighty-three colored men + who have been whipped, maimed or murdered within the last eight + years, and his statement of these crimes covers thirty-five pages + of closely printed matter in the report. We are sure no one can + read it without a conviction of its truthfulness, and a feeling + of horror at the barbarous details he relates. Adams is the man + who has organized a colonization council, composed of laboring + colored people, and rigidly excluding politicians, which numbers + ninety-eight thousand who have enrolled themselves with a view to + emigration from that country as early as possible. He details the + character and the purpose of the organization and the efforts it + has made to obtain relief and protection for its members. + "First," he says, "we appealed to the President of the United + States to help us out of our distress, to protect us in our + rights and privileges. Next, we appealed to Congress for a + territory to which we might go and live with our families. + Failing in that," says he, "our other object was to ask for help + to ship us all to Liberia, Africa, somewhere where we could live + in peace and quiet. If that could not be done," he adds, "_our + idea was to appeal to other governments outside of the United + States to help us to get away from the United States and go and + live there under their flag_." What a commentary upon our own + boasted equality and freedom! Finding no relief in any direction, + they finally resolved to emigrate to some of the Northern States. + He says they had some hope of securing better treatment at home + until 1877, when "we lost all hopes and determined to go anywhere + on God's earth, we didn't care where; we said we was going if we + had to run away and go into the woods." Perhaps we can best + summarize the condition of affairs in Louisiana and the causes of + the exodus from that State, as the Negroes themselves regarded + them, by quoting a brief extract from the report of the business + committee to the colored State convention held in New Orleans on + the 21st of April, 1879: + + NEW ORLEANS, April 21, 1879. + + _Mr. President_: Your committee on business have the honor to + submit this their final report. Discussing the general and + widespread alarm among the colored people of Louisiana, including + so potent a fear that in many parishes, and in others perhaps + largely to follow, there is an exodus of agricultural labor which + indicates the prostration and destruction of the productive, and + therefore essentially vital, interests of the State. _The + Committee find that the primary cause of this lies in the absence + of a republican form of government to the people of Louisiana. + Crime and lawlessness existing to an extent that laughs at all + restraint, and the misgovernment naturally induced from a State + administration itself the product of violence, have created an + absorbing and constantly increasing distrust and alarm among our + people throughout the State. All rights of freemen denied and all + claims to a just recompense for labor rendered or honorable + dealings between planter and laborer disallowed, justice a + mockery, and the laws a cheat, the very officers of the courts + being themselves the mobocrats and violators of the law, the only + remedy left the colored citizens in many of parishes of our State + today is to emigrate. The fiat to go forth is irresistible. The + constantly recurring, nay, ever-present, fear which haunts the + minds of these our people in the turbulent parishes of the State + is that slavery in the horrible form of peonage is approaching; + that the avowed disposition of men in power to reduce the laborer + and his interest to the minimum of advantages as freemen and to + absolutely none as citizens has produced so absolute a feat that + in many cases it has become a panic. It is flight from present + sufferings and from wrongs to come._ + + Here are the reasons for the exodus as stated by the colored + people themselves. In view of the facts which we have stated, and + of the terrible history which we cannot here repeat, does any one + believe their statement of grievances is overdrawn? Is there any + other race of freemen on the face of the earth who would have + endured and patiently suffered as they have? Is there any other + government among civilized nations which would have permitted + such acts to be perpetrated against its citizens? + + We will not dwell upon the conditions which have driven these + people from Mississippi. It would be but a repetition of the + intolerance, persecutions, and violence which have prevailed in + Louisiana. The same Democratic "shot-gun eloquence" which was so + potent for the conversion of colored Republicans in the one has + proven equally powerful in the other. The same "eloquence" which + wrested Louisiana from Republicans also converted Mississippi. + And in both the same results are visible in the determination of + the colored people to get away. + + Nearly all the witnesses who were asked as to the causes of the + exodus answered that it was because of a feeling of insecurity + for life and property; a denial of their political rights as + citizens; long-continued persecutions for political reasons; a + system of cheating by landlords and storekeepers which rendered + it impossible for them to make a living no matter how hard they + might work; the inadequacy of school advantages, and a fear that + they would be eventually reduced to a system of peonage even + worse than slavery itself. + + On the latter point they quoted the laws of Mississippi, which + authorize the sheriff to hire the convicts to planters and others + for twenty-five cents a day to work out the fine and cost, and + which provide that for every day lost from sickness he shall work + another to pay for his board while sick. Under these laws they + allege that a colored man may be fined $500 for some trifling + misdemeanor, and be compelled to work five or six years to pay + the fine; and that it is not uncommon for colored men thus hired + out to be worked in a chain gang upon the plantations under + overseers, with whip in hand, precisely as in the days of + slavery. And some of the witnesses declared that if an attempt be + made to escape they are pursued by blood-hounds, as before the + war. + + Henry Ruby, a witness summoned by the majority of the committee, + swore that in Texas, under a law similar to that in Mississippi, + a colored man had been arrested for carrying a "six-shooter" and + fined $65, including costs, and that he had been at work nearly + three years to pay it. The laws of that State do not fix the rate + for hiring, but "county convicts" may be hired at any price the + county judge may determine. He mentioned the case of a colored + woman who was hired out for a quarter of a cent a day. Describing + this process of hiring, he says: + + They call these people county convicts, and if you have got a + farm you can hire them out of the jail. They have got that + system, and the colored men object to it. I know some of these + men who have State convicts that they hire and they work them + under shotguns. A farmer hires so many of the State, and they are + under the supervision of a sergeant with a gun and nigger-hounds + to run them with if they get away. They hire them and put them in + the same gang with the striped suit on, and, if they want, the + guard can bring them down with his shotgun! Then they have these + nigger-hounds, and if one of them gets off and they can't find + him they take the hounds, and from a shoe or anything of the kind + belonging to the convict they trail him down. + + Q. Are these the same sort of blood-hounds they used to have to + run the Negroes with?--A. Yes, sir. + + These things need no comment. To the Negro they are painfully + suggestive of slavery. Is it a wonder that he has resolved to go + where peonage and blood-hounds are unknown? + + Several witnesses were called from Saint Louis and Kansas, who + had conversed with thousands of the refugees, and who swore that + they all told the same story of injustice, oppression and wrong. + Upon the arrival of the first boat-loads at Saint Louis, in the + early spring of 1879, the people of that city were deeply moved + by the evident destitution and distress which they presented, and + thousands of them were interviewed as to the causes which + impelled them to leave their homes at that inclement season of + the year. In the presence of these people, and with a full + knowledge of their condition and of the flight, a memorial to + Congress was prepared, and signed by a large number of the most + prominent and most respectable citizens of Saint Louis, embracing + such names as Mayor Overholtz (a Democrat), Hon. John F. Dillon, + judge of the United States circuit court, ex-United States + Senator J.B. Henderson and nearly a hundred other leading + citizens, in which the condition and grievances of the refugees + are stated as follows: + + The undersigned, your memorialists, respectfully represent that + within the last two weeks there have come by steamboats up the + Mississippi River, from chiefly the States of Louisiana and + Mississippi, and landed at Saint Louis, Mo., a great number of + colored citizens of the United States, not less than twenty + hundred and composed of men and women, old and young, and with + them many of their children. + + This multitude is eager to proceed to Kansas, and without + exception, so far as we have learned, refuse all overtures or + inducements to return South, even if their passage back is paid + for them. + + The condition of the great majority is absolute poverty; they are + clothed in thin and ragged garments for the most part, and while + here have been supported to some extent by public, but mostly by + private charity. + + The older ones are the former slaves of the South; all now + entitled to life and liberty. + + The weather from the first advent of these people in this + Northern city has been unusually cold, attended with ice and + snow, so that their sufferings have been greatly increased, and + if there was in their hearts a single kind remembrance of their + sunny Southern homes they would naturally give it expression now. + + We have taken occasion to examine into the causes they themselves + assign for their extraordinary and unexpected transit, and beg + leave to submit herewith the written statements of a number of + individuals of the refugees, which were taken without any effort + to have one thing said more than another, and to express the + sense of the witness in his own language as nearly as possible. + + The story is about the same in each instance: a great privation + and want from excessive rent exacted for land, connected with + murder of colored neighbors and threats of personal violence to + themselves. The tone of each statement is that of suffering and + terror. Election days and Christmas, by the concurrent testimony, + seem to have been appropriated to killing the smart men, while + robbery and personal violence in one form and another seem to + have run the year round. + + * * * * * + + We submit that the great migration of Negroes from the South is + itself a fact that overbears all contradiction and proves + conclusively that great causes must exist at the South to account + for it. + + Here they are in multitudes, not men alone, but women and + children, old, middle-aged, and young, with common consent + leaving their old homes in a natural climate and facing storms + and unknown dangers to go to Northern Kansas. Why? Among them all + there is little said of hope in the future; it is all of fear in + the past. They are not drawn by the attractions of Kansas; they + are driven by the terrors of Mississippi and Louisiana. Whatever + becomes of them, they are unanimous in their unalterable + determination not to return. + + There are others coming. Those who have come and gone on to + Kansas must suffer even unto death, we fear; at all events more + than any body of people entitled to liberty and law, the + possession of property, the right to vote, and the pursuit of + happiness, should be compelled to suffer under a free government + from terror inspired by robbery, threats, assaults, and murders. + + We protest against the dire necessities that have impelled this + exodus, and against the violation of common right, natural and + constitutional, proven to be of most frequent occurrences in + places named; and we ask such action at the hands of our + representatives and our government as shall investigate the full + extent of the causes leading to this unnatural state of affairs + and protect the people from its continuance, and not only protect + liberty and life, but enforce law and order. + + It is intolerable to believe that with the increased + representation of the Southern States in Congress those shall not + be allowed freely to cast their ballots upon whose right to vote + that representation has been enlarged. We believe no government + can prosper that will allow such a state of injustice to the body + of its people to exist, any more than society can endure where + robbery and murder go unchallenged. + + The occasion is, we think, a fit one for us to protest against a + state of affairs thus exhibited in those parts of the Union from + which these Negroes come, which is not only most barbarous toward + the Negro, but is destructive to the constitutional rights of all + citizens of our common country. + + Accompanying this memorial are numerous affidavits of the + refugees fully confirming all its statements. + + As to the future of the exodus we can only say that every + witness, whose opinion was asked upon this point, declared that + it has only begun, and that what we have seen in the past is + nothing compared to what is to come, unless there shall be a + radical change on the part of Democrats in the South. They say + that the Negro has no confidence in the Democratic party, and + that if a Democratic President shall be elected there will be a + general stampede of the colored race. + + There is but one remedy for the exodus--fair treatment of the + Negro. If the better class of white men in the South would retain + the colored labor, they must recognize his manhood and his + citizenship, and restrain the vicious and lawless elements in + their midst. If Northern Democrats would check the threatened + inundation of black labor into their States, they must recognize + the facts which have produced the exodus and unite with us in + removing its causes. + + We present in conclusion the following brief summary of the + results of the investigation: + + First: This movement was not instigated, aided or encouraged by + Republican leaders at the North. The only aid they have ever + given was purely as a matter of charity, to relieve the distress + of the destitute and suffering emigrants who had already come to + the North. + + Second. Not one dollar has ever been contributed by anybody at + the North to bring these people from their homes. On the + contrary, the only contributions shown to have been made for such + purpose were made by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, a + Democratic corporation which employed agents to work up the + emigration from North Carolina, paying $1 per head therefor. + + Third. It is _not_ proven that the emigrants are dissatisfied in + their new homes and wish to return to the South. On the contrary, + a standing offer to pay their expenses back to the South has not + induced more than about three hundred out of thirty thousand to + return. + + Fourth. It is _not_ proven that there is no demand for their + labor at the North, for nearly all those who have come have found + employment, and even in Indiana hundreds of applications for them + were presented to the committee. + + Fifth. It is _not_ proven that there is any sufficient reason for + the grave political apprehensions entertained in some quarters, + for it was shown by Mr. Dukehart, who sold all the tickets to + those who came from North Carolina, that not more than _two + hundred voters had gone to Indiana_. + + Sixth. The exodus movement originated entirely with the colored + people themselves, who for many years have been organizing for + the purpose of finding relief in that way, and the colored agents + of such organizations have traveled all over the South consulting + with their race on this subject. + + Seventh. A long series of political persecutions, whippings, + maimings and murders committed by Democrats and in the interest + of the Democratic party, extending over a period of fifteen + years, has finally driven the Negro to despair, and compelled him + to seek peace and safety by flight. + + Eighth. In some States a system of convict hiring is authorized + by law, which reinstates the chain-gang, the overseer, and the + bloodhound substantially as in the days of slavery. + + Ninth. A system of labor and renting has been adopted in some + parts of the South which reduces a Negro to a condition but + little better than that of peonage and which renders it + impossible for him to make a comfortable living, no matter how + hard he may work. + + Tenth. The only remedy for the exodus is in the hands of Southern + Democrats themselves, and if they do not change their treatment + of the Negro and recognize his rights as a man and a citizen, the + movement will go on, greatly to the injury of the labor interests + of the South, if not the whole country. + + WILLIAM WINDOM. + HENRY W. BLAIR. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Congressional Record, 46th Congress, 2d Session, X, p. 155. + +[2] _Ibid._, pp. 155-170. + +[2a] Congressional Record, 46th Congress, 2d Session, X, p. 170. + +[3] Reports of Committees of Senate of the United States for the First +and Second Sessions of the Forty-Sixth Congress, 1879-80, VII, pp. +iii-xiii. + +[4] Report of the Committee of the Senate of the United States for the +First and Second Sessions of the Forty-Sixth Congress, 1879-80, VII, +pp. viii-xxv. + + + + +SOME UNDISTINGUISHED NEGROES + + +MR. J. H. LATROBE, corresponding secretary of the Maryland +Colonization Society and later President of the American Colonization +Society, has left the following story: + +"It was while I was reading in the same room with General Harper that +there entered one day a tall, gaunt, square-shouldered, spare, light +mulatto, who announced himself as Abel Hurd. He was a Bostonian by +birth, and a seaman by profession. In a voyage to the East his vessel +had been captured by the Malays, and he alone, if I recollect rightly, +escaped death, owing to his complexion. He had a varied fortune; had +at one time been in Cochin-China, again in Tibet, and, after passing +some twenty years in the East, had returned to America, and was +looking out for employment. Some one had heard how deeply interested +General Harper was in Africa and African colonization, and had sent +Hurd to him. About this time there was a great doubt as to the mouth +of the Niger; whether it was to be found at the bottom of the Bight of +Benin, and whether it was not identical with the Congo, or Zaire, +south of the line. This was a question in which General Harper was +interested, and he determined to fit out Hurd and send him northward +from Liberia until he struck the river, which he was then to follow to +its mouth, and I was deputed to superintend the outfit. + +"Hurd's idea was to take as little baggage with him as possible, and +to rely upon the resources of his wit and ingenuity in making his way +among the interior tribes. He had had a vast experience, and he +directed his own equipment. I do not recollect all that he was +furnished with, but I recollect having devised a hollow cane, in the +top of which was a compass and the tube of which contained papers and +pencils. These were to be resorted to when the compass and materials +openly were lost. I think I wrote, at General Harper's dictation, a +letter of instructions. Had Hurd lived and succeeded, he would have +anticipated the Landers, Richard and John, who explored the Niger in +1832-34. He arrived safely in Liberia, and made several short +excursions into the interior, but he had a theory that it was +necessary to train himself for the great journey. Abstinence was a +part of his training. It was a mistake. He took the acclimating +fever, and, although he recovered from the first attack, he had a +relapse brought on by some imprudence and died."[1] + + * * * * * + +CHARLES H. WEBB.--During the years when the American Colonization +Society was preparing to establish a colony of freedmen in Africa, it +early became evident that the mere transportation of the blacks to +their native home would mean little in establishing them in life. It +was, therefore, necessary to organize schools in which Negroes +desiring to be colonized could be trained in agriculture, mechanical +arts and even in the professions. Among the first to qualify in the +field of medicine was Charles H. Webb. In his examinations he +exhibited evidences of ripe scholarship and much proficiency in his +chosen field. He set sail for Liberia in 1834, after having completed +his medical studies, which he had pursued under the direction of the +American Colonization Society for a number of years. In the following +autumn, however, he fell a victim to the local fever aggravated by +some imprudence on his part and died before he could render his people +much service.[2] + + * * * * * + +A SHREWD NEGRO.--A Kentucky slave, named Jim, with the humiliation of +slavery rankling in his breast, resolved to make an effort to gain +freedom. At last the opportunity came and he started for the Ohio +River. There he told his story to a sympathetic member of his race, +offering him a part of his money, if he would row him across to the +Indiana shore. He was directed to George De Baptist, a free man of +color, who was then living in Madison but removed soon afterwards to +Detroit, Michigan. The master of the slave arrived in town with a +posse and diligently searched it for the Negro. His sympathizers +contrived, however, to avoid the slave hunters and the fugitive was +conducted through the corn fields and byways to a depot of the +Underground Railroad. He rested a few days at the station kept by +William Byrd, of Union County, Indiana. From that point he was +speedily forwarded northward until he reached Canada. + +Appreciating as he had never done before the real value of freedom, he +longed to do something to confer this great boon upon his wife and +children whom he left behind him in Kentucky. He soon found a way to +solve this problem. He said to himself, "I'll go to old Massa's +plantation, and I'll make believe I am tired of freedom. I'll tell +old Massa a story that will please him; then I will go to work hard +and watch for a chance to slip away my wife and children." + +His master was greatly surprised one morning to see Jim return home. +In answer to the many questions propounded to him, he gave the +explanation which he had planned. He told his master that he found +that Canada was no place for Negroes, and that it was too cold and +that they could not earn any money there. He spoke of how the Negroes +were cheated by the whites and subjected to other humiliations, which +made him tired of his freedom. His master was very much pleased with +the story, spoke pleasantly to him and permitted him to work among his +slaves and those of his neighbors as a missionary to convince the +blacks of the folly of escaping to Canada. + +The slave resumed his usual labor, working during that fall and winter +but planning at the same time a second flight. In the spring he +succeeded in bringing together his wife and children and a few of his +slave friends on the Indiana side of the Ohio River. He reached the +first station of the Underground Railway with his party numbering +fourteen and hurried them from point to point until they reached the +home of Levi Coffin in Indiana. They were hotly pursued and had narrow +escapes, but by wise management they made their way through +Spartansburg, Greenville and Mercer County, Ohio, to Sandusky, from +which they crossed over to Canada.[3] + + * * * * * + +B. F. GRANT.[4]--I was born in the State of Pennsylvania, Little +Britain Township, Lancaster County, Sunday morning, August 12, 1838. I +am the son of the late Henry and Charlotte Grant. + +My father was born a slave in the State of Maryland in Cecil County. +He was freed at the age of nineteen, upon the death of his master. My +mother was born of free parents in Harford County, Maryland. Both came +in their youth to Pennsylvania, where they were married. Of that union +there were born twelve children, eight boys and four girls. The +subject of this sketch was the fifth son of the family. + +In 1844 my father moved with his family from Lancaster to York County, +across the Susquehanna River. I was then between five and six years +old. + +The first political event that I remember was the Presidential +campaign of Henry Clay and James K. Polk in 1844. In the fall of that +year each party had a pole raising at Peach Bottom, York County, +Pennsylvania. Mother took us to see the pole raising and then the +people were all shouting for Henry Clay, but soon after that I +remember hearing them singing a song:: + + "Oh poor cooney Clay, + The white house was never made for you + And home you better stay." + +Polk was elected, and soon after the inauguration of President Polk in +1845 the great controversy over the Mexican War and Negro slavery +arose. The Negro question was the topic of the day, both in and out of +Congress and among all classes. This continued until in 1846, when the +war broke out between the United States and Mexico, and lasted two +years. + +When it was over the United States had the victory. Then the +slaveholders of the South, with the copperheads of the North, tried to +force their slaves or their slave influence into every State and +territory of the United States. So great became the agitation and +excitement that the poor slaves became restless and uneasy over their +condition, and they commenced to run away by the thousands from the +Southern States. They made for the free States and Canada. This gave +rise to what was known as the Underground Railroad. + +This brings me to consider what I call my boyhood days. Having passed +my childhood, I now began to think, feel and consider that I was a +human being as well as the white boys who surrounded me, living on +farms just as I lived. Therefore I began to believe that I had the +same God-given rights that they had, and was not born to be kicked +around like a dog any more than they were. + +About this time I began to attend the so-called public school. I well +remember those school days, for they made a lasting impression upon my +mind. If God had not had mercy on the poor little Negro who attended +the public school of Pennsylvania in those days, I know not what would +have become of me; for the poor white trash from the teacher down had +no mercy upon him. They were upon him like vultures upon their prey, +ready to devour him at any time for any cause. + +I will mention only a few things which the little Negro had to endure, +simply because he was a Negro. He was not permitted to drink from the +same bucket or cup as the white children. He was compelled to sit back +in the corner from the fire no matter how cold the weather might be. +There he must wait until the white children had recited. If the cold +became _too_ intense to endure, he must ask permission of the teacher, +stand by the fire a few minutes to warm and then return to the same +cold corner. I have sat in an old log school house with no chinking +between the logs until my heels were frost-bitten and cracked open. +Sometimes we had a poor white trashy skunk that would sit in the +school room and call us "niggers" or "darkeys." If the little Negro +got his lesson at all, he got it; if not, it was all the same. + +For seven long years, 1844 to 1851, my father lived about five miles +from the Maryland line and about one mile from the Susquehanna River. +That is where I saw some of the evils of the institution called +slavery. Sometimes I wondered whether there was any God for the Negro. + +My father was one of the members of the Underground Railroad. I well +remember some of the members of that club which used to meet at our +house. They were Robert Fisher, Lige Sarkey, Isaac Waters, Henry W. +Grant, Isaac Fields, Thomas Clarke and others who used to meet and +make their arrangements to convey the fugitives across the Susquehanna +River. The night was never too dark or the storm never too severe for +those brave, noble-hearted, courageous men to do their work. They did +not fear death. Although they were uneducated men ignorant of the +letter, they were directed by a Higher Power. The hand of God led +them, and so they succeeded in carrying off hundreds, nay I might +truthfully say thousands from the counties of Cecil, Harford and +Baltimore. All lived to be old men. + +After the Mexican War the Southern slaveholders and copperheads of the +North got it into their heads to extend slavery throughout the borders +of the United States. Robt. Toombs, one of the noted fire-eaters of +the South, said he would call the roll of his slaves at the foot of +Bunker Hill Monument. In 1848 came the crisis of the Presidential +election. The Mexican War was over and the country had a vast amount +of territory added to her southern borders. The cotton gin had been +invented, and cotton had come into great demand. It was as good as +gold. The Negro, therefore, was in great demand. + +Presidential nominations were made. The Whigs nominated Gen. Taylor, +and the Democrats nominated Lewis Cass. The Whig candidate was +successful. While Gen. Taylor was a Southern man, he was somewhat +opposed to the extension of slavery, and, therefore, not a favorite of +the nullifiers of the South. He did not live long. Then they got their +dupe, the Vice-President, Millard Fillmore, a northern man, but a +red-hot copperhead who stood in with the South. I can well remember +those times when all the fire-eating leaders of the South and the poor +dirty trash of the North got their desire when that poor dupe of a +President allowed the mischievous fugitive slave act to become a law +of the land. This law was a curse to the nation, an outrage upon the +poor Negro and suffering humanity. This bill gave the poor Negro no +protection in the land of his birth, a country boasting of being the +land of the brave and the home of the free. These terms, however, were +nothing but bombast; they would just come and take a freeman and carry +him into absolute slavery without judge or jury. + +I can well remember the Christiana riot. I was not living far from +there at that time. Those were the days that tried the poor Negro's +soul, and were a disgrace to the white man. I was then about fifteen +years old and we had to suffer everything but death, and sometimes +that; for the slave hunters were like their bloodhounds, always upon +the Negro's track. There were daily riots between the slaves and Negro +hunters. + +While quite young, and claiming to be a Christian, too, I was almost +ready to say with Job, "Cursed was the night wherein I was born, and +the night in which it was said, there is a man child conceived." My +disgust at the treatment given my people made me resolve to leave the +country and to go to Liberia, Africa, because the fugitive slave law +was too obnoxious for me both in principle and practice. Because of +the outbreak of the Civil War, however, I failed to carry out this +plan. + +Now I recall my third Presidential election. The candidates were Gen. +Winfield Scott and Franklin Pierce. Pierce was the Democratic +candidate and he overwhelmingly defeated Gen. Scott, which placed the +Democrats in absolute power. All the fire-eaters of the South with the +copperheads of the North held full sway, arrayed against the +anti-slavery party of the North and East, and backed by the President, +the Supreme Court and Congress. The world knows the condition of the +country at that time. The Negro's condition during all of that +administration recalls to my memory a picture too dark to attempt to +describe. + +During this administration there was a man by the name of Dred Scott, +owned by an army officer named Emerson. He took Scott into a free +territory; this slave, Scott, sued for his freedom; the case was +carried from court to court until it reached the Supreme Court, which +handed down that opinion known throughout the world as the Dred Scott +decision. It meant that a Negro had no rights that a white man was +bound to respect; that he was of an inferior order, and altogether +unfit to associate with the white race either in social or political +relation; and so far inferior that they need not be respected, but +might be reduced to slavery for the white man's benefit. This decision +placed the damnation seal on the poor Negro in the United States. It +left him absolutely without help. + +In 1856 opened the great political drama. The candidates were James +Buchanan, the Democrat, John C. Fremont, Republican, and +ex-Vice-President Millard Fillmore, of the Know Nothing Party. James +Buchanan, the Democrat, was elected; the world knows the consequences +of the next four years in and out of Congress. Death and destruction +were in the path. We had John Brown's insurrection, the Christiana +riot, the tragic death of Lovejoy, and hundreds of other events which +I cannot mention at this time. + +In 1860 the Presidential campaign came off. The candidates were +Abraham Lincoln, Republican, John C. Breckenridge, Southern Democrat, +and S. A. Douglass, Northern Democrat, with John Bell, Union Democrat. +This was a hot contest. Lincoln was elected. + +Then came the Great Rebellion. On April 12, 1862, in company with my +brother, John H. Grant, we left our home in York Co., Pa., for +Washington, D. C., then the center of war activities. Both of us found +employment as teamsters in the Quartermaster's Department. On June 15 +we were transferred into Gen. Pope's Army in Virginia. We were +relieved of our teams and put to herding horses and mules throughout +Gen. Pope's campaign. After Pope was defeated at the second battle of +Bull Run, I returned to Washington and went back to driving my team. +In 1863 I was transferred to the woodcutter department as an outside +clerk and put to measuring wood which was cut every two weeks. I also +looked after the commissary. I was there until the Confederates ran us +out in June. + +I returned to Washington, D. C., and began my Christian and literary +work. I was converted sixty-five years ago, and joined the A. M. E. Z. +Church, then called Wesley Church. Rev. Abner Bishop was the pastor. +The church was in Peach Bottom Township, York County, Pennsylvania. + +I have been always a lover of the Sunday School work. My interest +continues to this day. There is one little incident in my Sunday +School work which I will relate. When I was a boy, with another young +boy like myself, we found that our Sunday School needed some +literature. We succeeded in collecting some money, and Moses Jones and +I found that the nearest place to get the books was Lancaster City, +about twenty-five miles from the church. Undaunted, we took the money +and walked to Lancaster, and back again with the books. Some of those +books remained a great many years in the library of that school. + +I am the man who opened the first free school to colored boys in the +District of Columbia. This was in the basement of the old Mt. Zion +Church in 1863 under the Friends' Association of Philadelphia, of +which Mr. H. M. Laing, of that city, was president. I also opened a +school to freedmen in Fairfax County, Virginia, at Bull Run. After +being there about three months, one of the Freedmen's Bureau Officers +came over from Manassas and placed me and my school back under the +direction of the Friends' Association and the same Mr. Laing was still +its president. I remained there two years. + +When I opened the school it was a little log cabin built as a +headquarters by the Confederates. They were encamped there in the +spring or rather the winter of 1861-62. While I was teaching at Bull +Run, Prof. John M. Langston was appointed to a position in the +Freedmen's Bureau. I became acquainted with him, interested him in my +work and he secured me one hundred and fifty dollars to assist in +building there a house for two purposes, a church and a school. In +this school I gave the founder of the Manasses Industrial School, Miss +Jennie Dean, her first lessons. Now after the lapse of fifty years, +the Bull Run School is still standing as one of the public schools of +Fairfax County, Virginia. + +While teaching in the Bull Run School I was elected a delegate to the +first National Negro Convention after the Civil War. This met in the +Israel Church, Washington, D. C., in 1868. This church was then A. M. +E. Zion, but now C. M. E. There I met some of the leading Negroes of +the world. Among them were Hon. Frederick Douglass, Prof. John M. +Langston, Rev. Henry H. Garnett, C. L. Remond, Robert Purvis, Geo. T. +Downing, Geo. B. Vashon, Rev. Wm. Howard Day, Prof. Bassett, Robt. W. +Elliot, Bishop Henry M. Turner, Prof. Isaac C. Weaver, Richard +Clarke, John Jones, Prof. O. M. Green, Geo. W. White, P. H. Martin, +John R. Lynch, and A. R. Green. These were some of the lights in that +convention. Hon. Fred. Douglass was elected president, with Rev. H. L. +Garnett as vice-president. + +After two years at Bull Run, I returned to the District of Columbia, +where I became acquainted with a white gentleman named Edmond Tewney, +from the State of Maine, who came to the District as one of the +founders of Wayland Seminary. As there was some misunderstanding +between him and some of the other members of the faculty, he left the +school, and organized another, known as the National Theological +Institution for the Instruction of Young Colored Men and Women for +preachers and teachers. + +I became associated with that school, and was an assistant teacher and +a pupil at the same time. It was a Baptist institution, and some of +those who afterward became the most able Baptist preachers in the city +attended that school. Some of them were Rev. John D. Brooks, Rev. +James Jefferson, Rev. Edward Willis, Rev. M. J. Laws, Rev. J. M. +Johnson, Rev. Henry Lee, and many others who did great good for God's +church and for suffering humanity. + +I will return to my church and Sunday School work in the District of +Columbia and its vicinity. I was the Church Clerk for Union Wesley A. +M. E. Z. Church for twenty-five years, and the superintendent of its +Sunday School for thirty years. + +I have been acquainted with all the bishops of that Church and a great +many of its leading elders since I joined the church in 1853, +sixty-five years ago. Some of the worthy prelates and leaders who have +been my warm personal friends are: Bishops J. J. Clinton, J. J. Moore, +C. C. Petty, C. R. Harris, J. W. Hood, J. W. Smith, J. Logan, J. W. +Small, and Elders J. Harvey Anderson, Geo. W. Adams, Thos. Betters, R. +J. Daniels, R. S. G. Dyson, and many others who have gone from my mind +at this writing. I have had much of joy and happiness in my church +life. + +I am still in the Master's service. I am at present District Sunday +School Superintendent of the Washington District of the Philadelphia +and Baltimore Conference of the A. M. E. Z. Church. On August 12, +1918, I was eighty years old. + + MARY L. MASON. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Semmes, John H. B. Latrobe, pp. 140-142. + +[2] _The African Repository_, X, 104, and XII, 18. + +[3] Coffin, _Reminiscences_, pp. 139-144. + +[4] This personal narrative was secured from B.F. Grant, of +Washington, D. C., by Miss Mary L. Mason. + + + + +BOOK REVIEWS + + +_American Negro Slavery._ By ULRICH BONNELL PHILLIPS. A Survey of the +Supply, Employment and Control of Negro Labor as determined by the +Plantation Regime. D. Appleton and Company, New York and London, 1918. +Pp. 529. + +This book is both more and less than a history of slavery in America. +It transcends the limit of the average treatise in this field in that +it shows how the institution influenced the economic history of +America in all its ramifications. It falls far short of being a +complete history of slavery for the reason of the neglect of many +aspects by the author. The book is successful as a compilation or +digest of the sources of the history of slavery cast in the mind of a +man of southern birth and northern environment in manhood. + +The author furnishes adequate background for this work in tracing the +slave trade, beginning with the exploitation of Guinea and proceeding +to a detailed consideration of the maritime traffic. Slavery as it +existed in the West Indies is portrayed in his account of the sugar +industry. In the continental colonies it appears in his treatment of +the tobacco industry, rice culture and the interests of the northern +colonies. He shows how the struggle for the rights of man resulted in +a sort of reaction against slavery in the North and the so-called +prohibition of the African slave trade. + +In his discussion of the introduction of cotton and the domestic slave +trade, there are few facts which cannot be obtained from several +standard works. His treatment of types of plantations, with reference +to their management, labor, social aspects and tendencies, is more +informing. The contrast between town and country slaves, the +discussion of free Negroes, slave crime and the force of the law, do +not give us very much that is new. On the whole, however, the book is +a valuable piece of research giving a more intensive treatment of +economic slavery than any other single volume hitherto published. + +On the other hand, the book falls far short of giving a complete +history of the institution of slavery. In the first place, the book is +too much of a commercial account. The slaves are mentioned as +representing both persons and property, but this treatise lacks +proportion in that it deals primarily with the slaves as property in +the cold-blooded fashion that the southerners usually bartered them +away. Very little is said about the blacks themselves, seemingly to +give more space to the history of the whites, who profited by their +labor, just as one would in writing a history of the New England +fisheries say very little about the species figuring in the industry, +but more about the life of the people participating in it. It is +evident that although a southerner, Mr. Phillips has lived so far from +the Negroes that he knows less about them than those who have +periodically come into contact with them but on certain occasions have +given the blacks serious study. This is evidenced by Mr. Phillips' own +statement when he says in his preface, that "a generation of freedom +has wrought less transformation in the bulk of the blacks than might +casually be supposed." This failure to understand what the Negroes +have thought and felt and done, in other words, the failure to fathom +the Negro mind, constitutes a defect of the work. + +Another neglected aspect of the book is the failure of the author to +treat adequately the anti-slavery movement. It was not necessary for +him to give an extensive treatment of abolition but it is impossible +to set forth exactly what the institution was without giving +sufficient space to this attitude of a militant minority toward it. It +was certainly proper for the author to say more about the northerners +and southerners who arrayed themselves in opposition to the +institution. In his chapter on the economic views of slavery this +aspect was mentioned but not properly amplified. Some references to it +elsewhere, of course, appear in parts of the book but, considering the +importance of this phase of the history of slavery in America, one can +say it has been decidedly neglected. The author, as he says in his +preface, avoided "polemic writings, for their fuel went so much to +heat that their light upon the living conditions is faint." It was not +necessary also to avoid the controversy in which these writers +participated. No one will gainsay the fact that persons who engage in +controversy cannot be depended upon to tell the truth, but if the +slavery dispute largely influenced the history of the country, it +should have adequate treatment in a history of this kind. + + * * * * * + +_John H. B. Latrobe and His Times._ By JOHN E. SEMMES. The Norman, +Remington Company, Baltimore, Maryland. Pp. 595. Price $6.00. + +This is an extensive biography of a man born in Philadelphia and, +after some adventures elsewhere, transplanted to Baltimore, where he +became one of the first citizens of the land. His career as a cadet at +West Point, his study and practice of law, his business interests, his +travels and connections with learned and humanitarian societies all +bespeak the many-sidedness of a useful citizen. The work contains a +Latrobe genealogy and a topical index. It is well illustrated and +exhibits evidences of much effort on the part of the author. + +The part of the book most interesting to students of Negro history, +however, is the chapter on African colonization, a subject which +engaged the attention of Latrobe for many years and for which he +became an influential promoter in serving as corresponding secretary +of the Maryland Colonization Society and as president of the American +Colonization Society. Although only one chapter of the book is devoted +to this aspect of Mr. Latrobe's biography, it figured as largely in +his life as any other public interest. He said: "I cannot now recall +in order all that I did for it. It was the one thing then, and has +ever been the one thing outside of my lawyer's calling, to which I +have devoted myself." His biographer says that he spent about one +quarter of his working hours during ten years of his life in +advocating colonization. Dr. Daniel C. Gilman, President of Johns +Hopkins University, said at a meeting of the Maryland Historical +Society held in Latrobe's memory that "probably his greatest +distinction outside of his professional life was acquired in promoting +the cause of African colonization in ante-bellum days." + +The author, however, instead of informing the reader as to what +Latrobe did for colonization, laments the failure of this enterprise +and endeavors to show that colonization or segregation in some form +must be the solution of the Negro problem. In the chapter mentioned +above he refers to this important work of Latrobe, not to set forth +what he actually accomplished in this field, but to give the author's +views. He proceeds to quote Thomas Jefferson, Henry Clay and Abraham +Lincoln, and finally Horace Grady and Bishop H. M. Turner on +colonization, with a view to convincing the reader that although Mr. +Latrobe's effort at colonizing the Negroes in Africa failed, it must +eventually be brought about since the two races will not happily live +together and then the great work of Latrobe will stand out as an +achievement rather than as a failure. This branching off into opinion +rather than into a scientific treatment of facts renders the biography +incomplete so far as it concerns one of the larger aspects of +Latrobe's life. The reader must, therefore, go to the papers of +Latrobe to trace his connection with colonization with a view to +determining exactly how largely this interest figured in the life of a +successful lawyer and business man and the extent to which he +interested the people throughout the country. The public will, +therefore, welcome a more scholarly biography of J. H. B. Latrobe. + + * * * * * + +_The Mulatto in The United States._ By EDWARD BYRON REUTER. Richard G. +Badger, The Gorham Press, Boston, 1918. Pp. 417. Price $2.50 net. + +This is the first work to deal especially with the people of color and +will, therefore, attract some attention. It is chiefly valuable for +the discussion which it will arouse rather than for the information +given. It is an unscientific compilation of facts collected from a few +sources by a man who has devoted some time to the study of the Negro +but just about enough to misunderstand the race. His chief shortcoming +consists in his misinformation. For scientific purposes the book has +no value. + +In the beginning of the work there is a discussion of mixed blood +races in the old world, concluding with a treatment of the same in the +West Indies and America. Considering the mulatto the key to the race +problem in America, Mr. Reuter undertakes to show the extent of race +mixture, its nature and growth. He discusses the intermarriage of the +races, unlawful polygamy, intermarriage with Indians, intermixture +during slavery and concubinage of black women with white men. He seems +to know nothing of the numerous facts easily accessible in various +works, which show that during slavery there was also a concubinage of +white women with black men. In the next place, the author treats the +Negro of today, depending mainly on a few unreliable sources of +information such as the proceedings of certain Negro conventions, a +Negro newspaper and the few books specially devoted to Negro history. +In this it appears that he does not know that the chief sources of +Negro history are not books bearing such titles, for the history of +the race has not yet been written. + +Mr. Reuter's conclusions are fundamentally wrong for the two reasons +that he does not know who the mulattoes are and, although taking +cognizance of the fact that science has uprooted the idea of racial +inferiority, he is loath to abandon the contention that the mulatto +is superior to the Negro. For example, in his chapter on leading men +of the Negro race, in which he specifies whether they are blacks or +mulattoes, he has classified as mulattoes a large number of Negroes +who have practically no evidences of white blood and are commonly +referred to throughout the country as the blacks of the Negro race. +The title of the book, therefore, should not be _The Mulatto_ but _The +Negro_. It would then establish nothing as it does. Upon the careers +of these black persons he has supported his theories as to the +superiority of the mulatto. This encourages him, therefore, to +intimate that because of their proximity to the racial characteristics +of the white race they are in some respects superior to the blacks. +Here we have the return of the ante-bellum proslavery philosopher +disguised as a scientific investigator. + + * * * * * + +_The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky._ By ASA EARL MARTIN, Assistant +Professor of American History, The Pennsylvania State College. The +Standard Printing Company of Louisville, Kentucky, 1918. Pp. 165. + +In this volume there is an effort to bring out something new in the +history of slavery. The author is mindful of the tendency of most +writers of the history of slavery to direct their attention to the +radical movements associated with the names of the leading +abolitionists. His effort is to treat that neglected aspect of slavery +having to do with the work of the gradual emancipationists. "These +men, unlike the followers of Garrison, who were restricted to the free +States," said he, "were found in all parts of the Union. They embraced +great numbers of leaders in politics, business and education, and +while far more numerous in the free than in the slave States, they +nevertheless included a large and respectable element in Maryland, +Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri." He has in mind here, of +course, the conservative slaveholders of the border States who had for +a number of years felt that slavery was an economic evil of which the +country should rid itself gradually by systematic efforts. Feeling +that they contributed in the end a great deal to the downfall of the +regime and in some respects exercised as much influence as the +abolitionists, he has undertaken to set their story before the world. + +The author begins with the first attack upon slavery, the early +anti-slavery movement in Kentucky, the colonizationist idea, the work +of the anti-slavery societies, and the efforts of the church to +exterminate the evil. In the eighth and ninth chapters he treats more +seriously the main question at issue, namely, exactly how men of that +slave-holding commonwealth persistently endeavored to find a more +rational means of escaping the baneful effects of the institution. His +important contribution, therefore, is that abolition found little +favor in Kentucky while gradual emancipation moved the hearts of men +of both parties and even of slave-holders. How the struggle between +these pro-slavery and anti-slavery parties culminated in 1849 in the +defeat of the latter, is the concluding portion of the book. He shows +that Kentucky exceeded most of the border slave States in permitting +the freer and more extensive discussion of that question than any of +the other commonwealths similarly situated. + +Professor Martin's work, therefore, is a complement of Dr. I. E. +McDougle's _Slavery in Kentucky_. Whereas Professor Martin deals +primarily with the work of the gradual emancipationists, Dr. I. E. +McDougle directs his attention largely to some other aspects of the +question. Both of these works may be read with profit. In them the +whole question has been adequately discussed and there will not soon +be a need for further investigation in this field. + + + + +NOTES + + +Within a few years from the time the United States army will be +reduced to a peace status, the Association for the Study of Negro Life +and History will publish a scientific history of the Negro soldiers in +the great war. As this effort will require a large outlay, it is +earnestly desired that persons interested in the propagation of the +truth will give this movement their support. A campaign for funds has +begun and the encouragement hitherto received indicates that the +amount necessary to finance this enterprise will be secured. + +At present it is impossible to indicate exactly the extent of this +work. It will be first necessary to make an extensive research into +all of the sources of information as to the Negroes' participation in +the war and when the data thus collected will have been properly +digested, a more detailed description of the work may be forecasted. +It is safe to say, however, that the work will consist of several +volumes written by the Director of Research. + + * * * * * + +This same interest is set forth, as follows, in an item appearing in +the December number of the _Crisis_: + + "The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People + has appropriated funds and commissioned the Director of + Publications and Research to collect the data and compile a + history of the Negro in the Great War. + + "Dr. DuBois has invited a number of Negro scholars, soldiers and + officials to form an Editorial Board, which will be able to issue + an authentic, scientific and definitive history of our part in + this war. + + "The personnel of this board will be announced later. Meantime, + we want the active cooeperation of every person who can and will + help. We want facts, letters and documents, narratives and + clippings. Let us all unite to make the record complete. + Correspondence may be directed to this office." + +The following important announcement appeared in the December number +of the _Crisis_: + + +TERCENTENARY + +The husband of Pocahontas wrote in 1619: "_About the last of August +came a Dutch man of warre that sold us twenty Negars_." From this +beginning sprang the present twelve million Americans of Negro +descent. + +Next August will mark the Three Hundredth Anniversary of this vast +transplantation of a race, which ranks easily as one of the most +significant movements of mankind. Such an event can hardly be +"celebrated," for it connoted too much of misery and human sorrow. On +the other hand, it is too stern and meaningful a happening to be +forgotten. For this reason, a group of thirty-three colored men met in +New York, October 19, 1918, at the invitation of a committee appointed +by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. + +They determined to inaugurate "A Solemn Memorial of the Tercentenary +of the Transplanting of the Negro race to the United States." In +order, however, to give all sections and interests of the Negro race +adequate voice and representation in these plans, this committee set +about choosing a Committee of "Three Hundred and More," in whose hands +the Memorial will take final shape. This Committee is now being chosen +and will meet in New York early in January, 1919. + + * * * * * + +The _Linchoten Vereeniging_ has published for Mr. E. C. Godee +Mossbergen two volumes of _Reizen in Zuid-Afrika in de Hollandse +Tijd_. + + * * * * * + +From the press of Longsman two volumes bearing on Africa have been +published. One is by Sir Hugh Clifford, entitled the _German +Colonies_, with special relation to the native population of Africa. +The other, by H. C. O'Neill, is the _War in Africa and the Far East_, +dealing largely with the conquest of the German colonies. + + * * * * * + +Houghton, Mifflin and Company have published a study entitled _Lincoln +in Illinois_ by Miss Octavia Roberts. This work is largely a +compilation of the recollections of his contemporaries. + + * * * * * + +To extend the work of the Association the Director of Research is now +making an effort to secure the cooperation of five persons who, like +Mr. Julius Rosenwald, will contribute $400 annually to the support of +this cause. Mr. Moorfield Storey and Mr. Cleveland H. Dodge have each +pledged themselves to give this amount. It is earnestly hoped that +other philanthropists will subscribe. + + + + +THE JOURNAL + +OF + +NEGRO HISTORY + +VOL. IV--APRIL, 1919--NO. 2 + + + + +THE CONFLICT AND FUSION OF CULTURES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE +NEGRO[1] + + +Under ordinary circumstances the transmission of the social tradition +is from the parents to the children. Children are born into society +and take over its customs, habits, and standards of life simply, +naturally, and without conflict. But it will at once occur to any one +that the life of society is not always continued and maintained in +this natural way, by the succession of parents and children. New +societies are formed by conquest and by the imposition of one people +upon another. In such cases there arises a conflict of cultures and as +a result the process of fusion takes place slowly and is frequently +not complete. New societies are frequently formed by colonization, in +which case new cultures are grafted on to older ones. The work of +missionary societies is essentially one of colonization in this sense. + +Finally we have societies growing up, as in the United States, by +immigration. These immigrants, coming as they do from all parts of the +world, bring with them fragments of divergent cultures. Here again the +process of assimilation is slow, often painful, not always complete. +In the case where societies are formed and maintained by adoption, +that is by immigration, the question arises: How far is it possible +for a people of a different race and a different culture to take over +the traditions and social inheritance of another and an alien people? +What are the conditions which facilitate this transmission and, in +general, what happens when people of different races and cultures are +brought together in the intimate relations of community life? + +These questions have already arisen in connection with the education +of the Negro in America and with the work of foreign missions. If the +schools are to extend and rationalize the work they are already doing +in the Americanization of the immigrant peoples, questions of this +sort may become actual in the field of pedagogy. This paper is mainly +concerned with the Negro, not because the case of the Negro is more +urgent than or essentially different from that of the immigrant, but +because the materials for investigation are more accessible. + +Admitting, as the anthropologists now seem disposed to do, that the +average native intelligence in the races is about the same, we may +still expect to find in different races certain special traits and +tendencies which rest on biological rather than cultural differences. +For example, over and above all differences of language, custom or +historic tradition, it is to be presumed that Teuton and Latin, the +Negro and the Jew--to compare the most primitive with the most +sophisticated of peoples--have certain racial aptitudes, certain +innate and characteristic differences of temperament which manifest +themselves especially in the objects of attention, in tastes and in +talents. Is the Jewish intellectual, for example, a manifestation of +an original and peculiar endowment of the Jewish race or is he rather +a product of traditional interest and emphasis characteristic of +Jewish people--a characteristic which may be explained as an +accommodation to the long-continued urban environment of the race?[2] +Is the Negro's undoubted interest in music and taste for bright +colors, commonly attributed to the race, to be regarded as an inherent +and racial trait or is it merely the characteristic of primitive +people? Is Catholicism to be regarded as the natural manifestation of +the Latin temperament as it has been said that Protestantism is of the +Teutonic? + +Here are differences in the character of the cultural life which can +scarcely be measured quantitatively in terms of gross intellectual +capacity. Historical causes do not, it seems, adequately account for +them. So far as this is true we are perhaps warranted in regarding +them as modifications of transmitted tradition due to innate traits of +the people who have produced them. Granted that civilization, as we +find it, is due to the development of communication and the +possibility of mutual exchange of cultural materials, still every +special culture is the result of a selection and every people borrows +from the whole fund of cultural materials not merely that which it can +use but which, because of certain organic characteristics, it finds +stimulating and interesting. + +The question then resolves itself into this: How far do racial +characteristics and innate biological interests determine the extent +to which one racial group can and will take over and assimilate the +characteristic features of an alien civilization? How far will it +merely take over the cultural forms, giving them a different content +or a different inflection? This problem, so far as it is related to +the lives of primitive peoples, has already been studied by the +ethnologists. Rivers, in his analysis of the cultures of Australian +people, has found that what we have hitherto regarded as primitive +cultures are really fusions of other and earlier forms of culture.[3] +The evidence of this is the fact that the fusion has not been +complete. In the process of interchange it frequently happens that +what Rivers calls the "fundamental structure" of a primitive society +has remained unchanged while the relatively formal and external +elements of alien culture only have been taken over and incorporated +with it. + +There are indications also that, where cultural borrowings have taken +place, the borrowed elements have for the people who have taken them +over a meaning different from what they had for the people from whom +they were borrowed. W.J. McGee, in an article entitled "Piratical +Acculturation," has given an interesting illustration of this fact.[4] +McGee's observations of the Beri Indians go to show that they imitated +the weapons of their enemies, but that they regarded them as magical +instruments and the common people did not even know their names. There +are numerous other illustrations of this so-called "piratical +acculturation" among the observations of ethnologists. It is said that +the Negroes in Africa, when they first came into possession of the +white man's guns, regarded them as magical instruments for making a +noise and used them, as the Germans used the Zeppelins and the +newspapers, merely to destroy the enemy's morale. + +No doubt the disposition of primitive peoples is to conceive +everything mystically, or animistically, to use the language of +ethnology, particularly where it concerns something strange. On the +other hand, when the primitive man has encountered among the cultural +objects to which civilization has introduced him, something which he +has been able to make immediately intelligible to himself, he has at +once formed a perfectly rational conception of it. Some years ago at +Lovedale, South Africa, the seat of one of the first successful +industrial mission schools, there was an important ceremony to which +all the native African chiefs in the vicinity were formally invited. +It was the introduction and demonstration of the use of the plow, the +first one that had ever been seen in those parts. The proceedings were +followed with great interest by a large gathering of natives. When the +demonstration was finished one old chief turned to his followers and +said with great conviction: "This is a great thing which the white man +has brought us. One hoe like that is worth as much as ten wives." An +African chief could hardly have expressed appreciation of this one +fundamental device of our civilization in more pragmatic or less +mystical terms. The wise old chief grasped the meaning of the plow at +once, but this was because he had been pre-adapted by earlier +experience to do so. + +It is the subjective, historic and ultimately, perhaps, racial and +temperamental factor in the lives of peoples which makes it difficult, +though not impossible, perhaps, to transmit political and religious +institutions to people of a different racial type and a different +social tradition. William James' essay, "On a Certain Blindness in +Human Beings," in which he points out how completely we are likely to +miss the point and mistake the inner significance of the lives of +those about us, unless we share their expedience, emphasizes this +fact. If then the transmission and fusion of cultures is slow, +incomplete and sometimes impossible, it is because the external forms, +the formulas, technical devices of every social tradition can be more +easily transmitted than the aims, the attitudes, sentiments and ideals +which attach to them are embodied in them. The former can be copied +and used; the latter must be appreciated and understood. + +For a study of the acculturation process, there are probably no +materials more complete and accessible than those offered by the +history of the American Negro. No other representatives of a primitive +race have had so prolonged and so intimate an association with +European civilization, and still preserved their racial identity. +Among no other people is it possible to find so many stages of culture +existing contemporaneously. It has been generally taken for granted +that the Negro brought a considerable fund of African tradition and +African superstition from Africa to America. One not infrequently +finds in the current literature and even in standard books upon the +Negro, references to voodoo practices among the Negroes in the +Southern States. As a matter-of-fact the last authentic account which +we have of anything approaching a Negro nature worship in the United +States took place in Louisiana in 1884. It is described by George W. +Cable in an article on "Creole Slave Songs" which appeared in the +_Century Magazine_ in 1886. In this case it seems to have been an +importation from the West Indies. I have never found an account of a +genuine instance of voodoo worship elsewhere in the United States, +although it seems to have been common enough in the West Indies at one +time. + +My own impression is that the amount of African tradition which the +Negro brought to the United States was very small. In fact, there is +every reason to believe, it seems to me, that the Negro, when he +landed in the United States, left behind him almost everything but his +dark complexion and his tropical temperament. It is very difficult to +find in the South today anything that can be traced directly back to +Africa. This does not mean that there is not a great deal of +superstition, conjuring, "root doctoring" and magic generally among +the Negroes of the United States. What it does mean is that the +superstitions we do find are those which we might expect to grow up +anywhere among an imaginative people, living in an intellectual +twilight such as exists on the isolated plantations of the Southern +States. Furthermore, this superstition is in no way associated, as it +is in some of the countries of Europe, southern Italy for example, +with religious beliefs and practices. It is not part of Negro +Christianity. It is with him, as it is with us, folk-lore pure and +simple. It is said that there are but two African words that have been +retained in the English language. One of these is the word Buckra, +from which comes Buckra Beach in Virginia. This seems remarkable when +we consider that slaves were still brought into the United States +clandestinely up to 1862.[5] + +The explanation is to be found in the manner in which the Negro slaves +were collected in Africa and the manner in which they were disposed of +after they arrived in this country. The great markets for slaves in +Africa were on the West Coast, but the old slave trails ran back from +the coast far into the interior of the continent, and all the peoples +of Central Africa contributed to the stream of enforced emigration to +the New World. In the West Indies a good deal was known among +slave-traders and plantation owners about the character and relative +value of slaves from different parts of Africa, but in the United +States there was less knowledge and less discrimination. Coming from +all parts of Africa and having no common language and common +tradition, the memories of Africa which they brought with them were +soon lost. + +There was less opportunity in the United States also than in the West +Indies for a slave to meet one of his own people, because the +plantations were considerably smaller, more widely scattered and, +especially, because as soon as they were landed in this country, +slaves were immediately divided and shipped in small numbers, +frequently no more than one or two at a time, to different +plantations. This was the procedure with the very first Negroes +brought to this country. It was found easier to deal with the slaves, +if they were separated from their kinsmen. + +On the plantation they were thrown together with slaves who had +already forgotten or only dimly remembered their life in Africa. +English was the only language of the plantation. The attitude of the +slave plantation to each fresh arrival seems to have been much like +that of the older immigrant towards the greenhorn. Everything that +marked him as an alien was regarded as ridiculous and barbaric.[6] +Furthermore, the slave had in fact very little desire to return to his +native land. I once had an opportunity to talk with an old man living +just outside of Mobile, who was a member of what was known as the +African colony. This African colony represented the cargo of one of +the last slave ships successful in landing in this country just at the +opening of the war. The old man remembered Africa and gave me a very +interesting account of the way in which he was captured and brought to +America. I asked him if he had ever wished to return. He said that a +missionary who had been in their country and spoke their language had +visited them at one time. This missionary offered to send them back to +Africa and even urged them to go. "I told him," said the old man, "I +crossed the ocean once, but I made up my mind then never to trust +myself in a boat with a white man again." + +The fact that the Negro brought with him from Africa so little +tradition which he was able to transmit and perpetuate on American +soil, makes that race unique among all peoples of our cosmopolitan +population. Other peoples have lost, under the disintegrating +influence of the American environment, much of their cultural +heritage. None have been so utterly cut off and estranged from their +ancestral land, traditions and people. It is just because of this that +the history of the Negro offers exceptional materials for determining +the relative influence of temperamental and historical conditions upon +the process by which cultural materials from one racial group are +transmitted to another; for, in spite of the fact that the Negro +brought so little intellectual baggage with him, he has exhibited a +rather marked ethnical individuality in the use and interpretation of +the cultural materials to which he has had access. + +The first, and perhaps the only distinctive institution which the +Negro has developed in this country is the Negro church, and it is in +connection with his religion that we may expect to find, if anywhere, +the indications of a distinctive Afro-American culture. The actual +conditions under which the African slaves were converted to +Christianity have never been adequately investigated. We know, in a +general way, that there was at first considerable opposition to +admitting the Negro into the church because it was feared that it +would impair the master's title to his slaves. History records too +that the house servants were very early admitted to churches and that +in many cases masters went to considerable pains to instruct those +servants who shared with them the intimacy of the household.[7] It was +not, however, until the coming of the new, free and evangelistic types +of Christianity, the Baptists and the Methodists, that the masses of +the black people, that is, the plantation Negroes, found a form of +Christianity that they could make their own. + +How eagerly and completely the Negro did take over the religion of +these liberal denominations may be gathered from some of the +contemporary writings, which record the founding of the first Negro +churches in America. The first Negro church in Jamaica was founded by +George Liele, shortly after the close of the Revolutionary War. George +Liele had been a slave in Savannah, but his master, who was a Tory, +emigrated to Jamaica upon the evacuation of that city. Andrew Bryan in +Savannah was one of Liele's congregation. He was converted, according +to the contemporary record, by Liele's exposition of the text "You +must be born again!" About eight months after Liele's departure, +Andrew began to preach to a Negro congregation, "with a few white." +The colored people had been permitted to erect a building at Yamacraw, +but white people in the vicinity objected to the meetings and Bryan +and some of his associates were arrested and whipped. But he "rejoiced +in his whippings" and holding up his hand declared "he would freely +suffer death for the cause of Jesus Christ." Bryan's master interceded +for him and "was most affected and grieved" at his punishment. He gave +Bryan and his followers a barn to worship in, after Chief Justice +Osbourne had given them their liberty. This was the origin of what was +probably the first Negro church in America. + +George Liele and Andrew Bryan were probably not exceptional men even +for their day. The Rev. James Cook wrote of Bryan: "His gifts are +small but he is clear in the grand doctrines of the Gospel. I believe +him truly pious and he has been the instrument of doing more good +among the poor slaves than all the learned doctors in America."[8] The +significant thing is that, with the appearance of these men, the +Negroes in America ceased to be a mission people. At least, from this +time on, the movement went on of its own momentum, more and more +largely under the direction of Negro leaders. Little Negro +congregations, under the leadership of Negro preachers, sprang up +wherever they Were tolerated. Often they were suppressed, more often +they were privately encouraged. Not infrequently they met in secret. + +In 1787 Richard Allen and Absolom Jones had formed in Philadelphia the +Free African Society, out of which four years later, in 1790, arose +the first separate denominational organization of Negroes, the African +Methodist-Episcopal Church. George Liele, Andrew Bryan, Richard Allen, +and the other founders of the Negro church were men of some education, +as their letters and other writings show. They had had the advantage +of life in a city environment and the churches which they founded were +in all essentials faithful copies of the denominational forms as they +found them in the churches of that period. + +The religion of the Negroes on the plantation was then, as it is +today, of a much more primitive sort. Furthermore, there were +considerable differences in the cultural status of different regions +of the South and these differences were reflected in the Negro +churches. There was at that time, as there is today, a marked contrast +between the Upland and the Sea Island Negroes. Back from the coast the +plantations were smaller, the contact of the master and slave were +more intimate. On the Sea Island, however, where the slaves were and +still are more completely isolated than elsewhere in the South, the +Negro population approached more closely to the cultural status of the +native African. The Sea Islands were taken possession of in the first +years of the war by the Federal forces and it was here that people +from the North first came in contact with the plantation Negro of the +lower South. They immediately became interested in the manners and +customs of the Island Negroes, and from them we have the first +accurate accounts of their folk-lore and sayings. + +The Sea Island Negroes speak a distinct dialect and retain certain +customs which are supposed to be of African origin. It is, however, in +their religious practices that we have the nearest approach to +anything positively African. This has undoubtedly the characteristics +of primitive ritual. But this does not mean that it is African in +origin. It seems to me more likely that it is to be interpreted as a +very simple and natural expression of group emotion, which is just +beginning to crystallize and assume a formal character. The general +tone of these meetings is that of a religious revival in which we +expect a free and uncontrolled expression of religious emotion, the +difference being that in this case the expression of the excitement is +beginning to assume a formal and ritualistic character. + +In the voodoo practices, of which we have not any accurate records, +the incantations that were pronounced by the priests, contain strange, +magic words, scraps of ancient ritual, the meanings of which are +forgotten. Lafcadio Hearne, who knew the Negro life of Louisiana and +Martinique intimately and was keen on the subject of Negro folk-lore, +has preserved for us this scrap from an old Negro folk song in which +some of these magic words have been preserved. Writing to his friend +Edward Krehbiel he says: + + "Your friend is right, no doubt about the + 'Tig, tig, malaborn + La Chelerna che tango + Redjoum!' + + "I asked my black nurse what it meant. She only laughed and shook + her head. 'Mais c'est voodoo, ca; je n'en sais rien!' 'Well,' + said I, 'don't you know anything about Voodoo songs?' 'Yes,' she + answered, 'I know Voodoo songs; but I can't tell you what they + mean.' And she broke out into the wildest, weirdest ditty I ever + heard. I tried to write down the words; but as I did not know + what they meant I had to write by sound alone, spelling the words + according to the French pronunciation."[9] + +So far as I know there are, among the plantation hymns, no such +remains of ancient ritual, mystical words whose meanings are unknown, +no traces whatever of African tradition. If there is anything that is +African about the Negroes' Christianity, it is not African tradition +but the African temperament which has contributed it. I assume, +therefore, that what we find in the most primitive form of Negro +Christianity is not the revival of an older and more barbaric religion +but the inception of a new and original form of Christianity. + +An interesting fact in regard to the religious practices of the +Negroes of the Sea Islands, which has not, so far as I know, been +recorded in any of the descriptions of that people, is the existence +among them of two distinct religious institutions; namely, the church +and the "praise house." The praise house is the earlier institution +and represents apparently a more primitive and more characteristically +Negro or African type. In slavery days, the church was the white man's +place of worship. Negroes were permitted to attend the services and +there was usually a gallery reserved for their use. Churches, however, +were relatively few and not all the slaves on the plantation could +attend at any one time. Those who did attend were usually the house +servants. On every large plantation, however, there was likely to be, +and this was characteristic of the Sea Island plantations, a "praise +house" where the slaves were permitted to worship in their own +peculiar way. It was here that the "shout" took place. After the Civil +War, churches were erected and regular congregations of the Negro +denominations were formed. The Negro churches, however, never wholly +displaced the praise houses on Port Royal and some of the other +islands. It is a singular fact that today, among the Negroes of Port +Royal, at any rate, no one is converted in church. It is only in the +praise houses that Negroes get religion. It is only through the praise +house that one enters the church. The whole process involves, as I +have been informed, not merely an "experience," the precise nature of +which is not clear, but also an examination by the elders to determine +whether the experience is genuine, before candidates are admitted in +good standing as members of the congregation. + +On the whole the plantation Negro's religion was a faithful copy of +the white man's. It was content rather than the form which suffered +sea change in the process of transmission from the white man to the +black. What this content was, what new inflection and color the Negro +slave imparted to the religious forms which he borrowed from his +master we may, perhaps, gather from a study of the plantation hymns. +These folksongs represent, at any rate, the naive and spontaneous +utterance of hopes and aspirations for which the Negro slave had no +other adequate means of expression. The first and most interesting +account we have of these Negro spirituals is that of Col. Thomas +Wentworth Higginson, in his _Army Life in a Black Regiment_.[10] He +collected them from the lips of his own black soldiers as they sang +them about the campfire at night. He was almost the first to recognize +that these rude plantation hymns represented a real literature, the +only literature the American Negro has produced, until very recent +times. + +Col. Higginson has compared the Negro spirituals to the Scotch +ballads and to the folk songs of other races. It is, however, not so +much their similarities as their differences which are interesting and +significant. Negro folk songs are ruder and more primitive. The +verses, often but not always rhymed, are, as in the case of the +example given below, composed almost entirely of single phrases, +followed by a refrain, which is repeated again with slight +modifications, ending, not infrequently, in an exclamation. + + An' I couldn't hear nobody pray, + O Lord! + + Couldn't hear nobody pray. + O--way down yonder + By myself, + I couldn't hear nobody pray. + + In the valley, + Couldn't hear nobody pray, + On my knees, + Couldn't hear nobody pray, + With my burden, + Couldn't hear nobody pray, + An' my Saviour, + Couldn't hear nobody pray. + + O Lord! + I couldn't hear nobody pray, + O Lord! + Couldn't hear nobody pray. + O--way down yonder + By myself, + I couldn't hear nobody pray. + + Chilly waters, + Couldn't hear nobody pray, + In the Jordan, + Couldn't hear nobody pray, + Crossing over, + Couldn't hear nobody pray, + Into Canaan, + Couldn't hear nobody pray. + +In Negro folk songs the music and expression are everything. The +words, often striking and suggestive, to be sure, represent broken +fragments of ideas, thrown up from the depths of the Negroes' +consciousness and swept along upon a torrent of wild, weird and often +beautiful melody. One reason the verses of the Negro folk songs are so +broken and fragmentary is that the Negroes were not yet in secure +possession of the English language. Another explanation is the +conditions under which they were produced. The very structure of these +verses indicate their origin in the communal excitement of a religious +assembly. A happy phrase, a striking bit of imagery, flung out by some +individual was taken up and repeated by the whole congregation. +Naturally the most expressive phrases, the lines that most adequately +voiced the deep unconscious desires of the whole people, were +remembered longest and repeated most frequently. New lines and +variations were introduced from time to time. There was, therefore, a +process of natural selection by which the best, the most +representative verses, those which most adequately expressed the +profounder and more permanent moods and sentiments of the Negro were +preserved and became part of the permanent tradition of the race. + +Negro melodies still spring up on the plantations of the South as they +did in the days of slavery. The Negro is, like the Italian, an +improviser, but the songs he produces today have not, so far as my +knowledge goes, the quality of those he sang in slavery. The schools +have introduced reading, and this, with the reflection which writing +enforces, is destroying the folk songs of the Negro, as it has those +of other races. + +Not only are the Negro folk songs more primitive--in the sense I have +indicated--than the folk songs of other peoples with which we are +familiar but the themes are different. The themes of the Scotch +ballads are love and battles, the adventures and tragedies of a wild, +free life. The Negro songs, those that he has remembered best, are +religious and other worldly. "It is a singular fact," says Krehbiel, +"that very few secular songs--those which are referred to as 'reel +tunes,' 'fiddle songs,' 'corn songs' and 'devil songs,' for which +slaves generally expressed a deep abhorrence, though many of them no +doubt were used to stimulate them while in the fields--have been +preserved while 'shout songs' and other 'speritchils' have been kept +alive by the hundred."[11] + +If it is the plantation melodies that, by a process of natural +selection, have been preserved in the traditions of the Negro people, +it is probably because in these songs they found a free and natural +expression of their unfulfilled desires. In the imagery of these +songs, in the visions which they conjure up, in the themes which they +again and again renew, we may discern the reflection of dawning racial +consciousness, a common racial ideal. + +The content of the Negro folk songs has been made the subject of a +careful investigation by Howard Odum in his _Study of the Social and +Mental Traits of the Negro_. He says: "The Negro's fancies of +'Heaven's bright home' are scarcely exceeded by our fairy tales. There +are silver and golden slippers, crowns of stars, jewels and belts of +gold. There are robes of spotless white and wings all bejeweled with +heavenly gems. Beyond the Jordan the Negro will outshine the sun, moon +and stars. He will slip and slide the golden street and eat the fruit +of the trees of paradise.... With rest and ease, with a golden band +about him and with palms of victory in his hands and beautiful robes, +the Negro will indeed be a happy being.... To find a happy home, to +see all the loved ones and especially the Biblical characters, to see +Jesus and the angels, to walk and talk with them, to wear robes and +slippers as they do, and to _rest forever_, constitute the chief +images of the Negro's heaven. He is tired of the world which has been +a hell to him. Now on his knees, now shouting, now sorrowful and glad, +the Negro comes from 'hanging over hell' to die and sit by the +Father's side."[12] + +In the imagery which the Negro chooses to clothe his hopes and dreams, +we have, as in the musical idiom in which he expresses them, +reflections of the imagination and the temperament of Africa and the +African. On the other hand, in the themes of this rude rhapsodical +poetry--the House of Bondage, Moses, the Promised Land, Heaven, the +apocalyptic visions of Freedom--but freedom confined miraculously and +to another world--these are the reflections of the Negro's experience +in slavery. + +The Negro's songs of slavery have been referred to by Du Bois in his +_Soul of Black-Folk_ as sorrow songs, and other writers have made the +assertion that all the songs of the slaves were in a plaintive minor +key. As a matter of fact, investigation has shown that actually less +than twelve per cent of Negro songs are in a minor.[13] There are no +other folk songs, with the exception of those of Finland, of which so +large a percentage are in the major mood. And this is interesting as +indicating the racial temperament of the Negro. It tends to justify +the general impression that the Negro is temperamentally sunny, +cheerful, optimistic. It is true that the slave songs express longing, +that they refer to "hard trials and great tribulations," but the +dominant mood is one of jubilation, "Going to sing, going to shout, +going to play all over God's heaven." + +Other worldliness is not peculiar to the religion of the slave. It is +a trait which the slave encountered in the religion of his master. But +in the Negro's conception of religion it received a peculiar emphasis. +In fact, these ecstatic visions of the next world, which the Negro +slave songs portrayed with a directness and simplicity that is at once +quaint and pathetic, are the most significant features of the Negro's +songs of slavery. + +It is interesting to note in this connection that nowhere in these +songs do we discover the slightest references to Africa. They reflect +no memories of a far off happier land. Before the Negro gained his +emancipation Africa had, so far as he was concerned, almost ceased to +exist. Furthermore, the whole tone and emphasis of these songs and of +all other religious expressions of the American Negro are in marked +contrast with the tone and emphasis of African religious ideas. The +African knew of the existence of another world, but he was not +interested in it. The world, as the African understood it, was full of +malignant spirits, diseases and forces with which he was in constant +mortal struggle. His religious practices were intended to gain for him +immunity in this world, rather than assurance of the next. But the +Negro in America was in a different situation. He was not living in +his own world. He was a slave and that, aside from the physical +inconvenience, implied a vast deal of _inhibition_. He was, moreover, +a constant spectator of life in which he could not participate; +excited to actions and enterprises that were forbidden to him because +he was a slave. The restlessness which this situation provoked found +expression, not in insurrection and rebellion--although, of course, +there were Negro insurrections--but in his religion and in his dreams +of another and freer world. I assume, therefore, that the reason the +Negro so readily and eagerly took over from the white man his heaven +and apocalyptic visions was because these materials met the demands of +his peculiar racial temperament and furnished relief to the emotional +strains that were provoked in him by the conditions of slavery. + +So far as slavery was responsible for the peculiar individuality of +the Negro's religion we should expect that the racial ideals and +racial religion would take on another and a different character under +the influence of freedom. This, indeed, is what seems to me is taking +place. New ideals of life are expressed in recent Negro literature and +slowly and imperceptibly those ideas are becoming institutionalized +in the Negro church and more particularly in the cultural ideals of +the Negro school. But this makes another chapter in the history of +Negro culture in America. + +I have sought in this brief sketch to indicate the modifications, +changes and fortune which a distinctive racial temperament has +undergone as a result of encounters with an alien life and culture. +This temperament, as I conceive it, consists in a few elementary but +distinctive characteristics, determined by physical organization and +transmitted biologically. These characteristics manifest themselves in +a genial, sunny and social disposition, in an interest and attachment +to external, physical things rather than to subjective states and +objects of introspection; in a disposition for expression rather than +enterprise and action. The changes which have taken place in the +manifestations of this temperament have been actuated by an inherent +and natural impulse, characteristic of all living things, to persist +and maintain themselves in a changed environment. Such changes have +occurred as are likely to take place in any organism in its struggle +to live and to use its environment to further and complete its own +existence. + +The general principle which the Negro material illustrates is that the +racial temperament selects out of the masses of cultural materials, to +which it had access, such technical, mechanical and intellectual +devices as meet its needs at a particular period of its existence. It +clothes and enriches itself with such new customs, habits, and +cultural forms as it is able, or permitted to use. It puts into these +relatively external things, moreover, such concrete meanings as its +changing experience and its unchanging racial individuality demand. + +Everywhere and always the Negro has been interested rather in +expression than in action; interested in life itself rather than in +its reconstruction or reformation. The Negro is, by natural +disposition, neither an intellectual nor an idealist like the Jew, nor +a brooding introspective like the East Indian, nor a pioneer and +frontiersman like the Anglo-Saxon. He is primarily an artist, loving +life for its own sake. His metier is expression rather than action. +The Negro is, so to speak, the lady among the races. + +In reviewing the fortunes of the Negro's temperament as it is +manifested in the external events of the Negro's life in America, our +analysis suggests that this racial character of the Negro has +exhibited itself everywhere in something like the role of the _wish_ +in the Freudian analysis of dream life. The external cultural forms +which he found here, like the memories of the individual, have +furnished the materials in which the racial wish, that is, the Negro +temperament, has clothed itself. The inner meaning, the sentiment, the +emphasis, the emotional color which these forms assumed as the result +of their transference from the white man to the Negro, these have been +the Negro's own. They have represented his temperament--his +temperament modified, however, by his experience and the tradition +which he has accumulated in this country. The temperament is African, +but the tradition is American. + +I present this thesis merely as a hypothesis. As such its value +consists in its suggestion of a point of view and program for +investigation. I may, however, suggest some of the obvious practical +consequences. If racial temperament--particularly when it gets itself +embodied in institutions and in _nationalities_, that is, social +groups based upon race--is so real and obdurate a thing that education +can only enrich and develop it but not dispose of it, then we must be +concerned to take account of it in all our schemes for promoting +naturalization, assimilation, Americanization, Christianization, and +acculturation generally. + +If it is true that the Jew, as has been suggested, just because of his +intellectuality is a natural born idealist, internationalist, +doctrinaire, and revolutionist, while the Negro, because of his +natural attachment to known, familiar objects, places and persons, is +preadapted to conservatism and to local and personal loyalties: if +these things are true, we shall eventually have to take account of +them practically. It is certain that the Negro has uniformly shown a +disposition to loyalty, during slavery to his master, and during +freedom to the South and the country as a whole. He has maintained +this attitude of loyalty, too, under very discouraging circumstances. +I once heard Kelly Miller, the most philosophical of the leaders and +teachers of his race, say in a public speech that one of the greatest +hardships the Negro suffered in this country was due to the fact that +he was not permitted to be patriotic. + +Of course, all these alleged racial characteristics have a positive as +well as a negative significance. Every race, like every individual, +has the vices of its virtues. The question remains still to what +extent so-called racial characteristics are actually racial, that is, +biological, and to what extent they are the effect of environmental +conditions. The thesis of this paper, to state it again, is: (1) That +fundamental temperamental qualities, which are the basis of interest +and attention, act as selective agencies and as such determine what +elements in the cultural environment each race will select, in what +region it will seek and find its vocation, in the larger social +organization; (2) that, on the other hand, technique, science, +machinery, tools, habits, discipline and all the intellectual and +mechanical devices with which the civilized man lives and works, +remain relatively external to the inner core of significant attitudes +and values which constitute what many call the will of the group. This +racial will is, to be sure, largely social, that is modified by social +experience, but it rests ultimately upon a complex of inherited +characteristics, which are racial. + +It follows from what has been said that the individual man is the +bearer of a double inheritance. As a member of a race, he transmits by +interbreeding a biological inheritance. As a member of society or a +social group, on the other hand, he transmits by communication a +social inheritance. The particular complex of inheritable characters, +which characterizes the individuals of a racial group constitutes the +racial temperament. The particular group of habits, accommodations, +sentiments, attitudes and ideals transmitted by communication and +education constitute a social tradition. Between this temperament and +this tradition there is, as has been generally recognized, a very +intimate relationship. My assumption is that temperament is the basis +of the _interests_; that as such it determines in the long run the +general run of attention, and this, eventually, determines the +selection in the case of an individual of his vocation, in the case of +the racial group of its culture. That is to say, temperament +determines what things the individual and the groups will be +interested in; what elements of the general culture, to which they +have access, they will assimilate; what, to state it in pedagogical +terms, they will learn. + +It will be evident at once that where individuals of the same race and +hence the same temperament are associated, the temperamental interests +will tend to reinforce one another, and the attention of members of +the group will be more completely focused upon the specific objects +and values that correspond to the racial temperament. In this way +racial qualities become the basis for nationalities, a nationalistic +group being merely a cultural and eventually a political society +founded on the basis of racial inheritances. On the other hand, when +racial segregation is broken up and members of a racial group are +dispersed and isolated, the opposite effect will take place. This +explains the phenomena which have frequently been the subject of +comment and observation, that the racial characteristics manifest +themselves in an extraordinary way in large homogeneous gatherings. +The contrast between a mass meeting of one race and a similar meeting +of another is particularly striking. Under such circumstances +characteristic racial and temperamental differences appear that would +otherwise pass entirely unnoticed. + +When the physical unity of a group is perpetuated by the succession of +parents and children, the racial temperament, including fundamental +attitudes and values which rest on it, are preserved intact. When +however, society grows and is perpetuated by immigration and +adaptation, there ensues, as a result of miscegenation, a breaking up +of the complex of the biologically inherited qualities which +constitute the temperament of the race. This again initiates changes +in the mores, traditions and eventually in the institutions of the +community. The changes which proceed from modification in the racial +temperament will, however, modify but slightly the external forms of +the social traditions but they will be likely to change profoundly +their content and meaning. Of course, other factors, individual +competition, the formation of classes, and especially the increase of +communication, all cooeperate to complicate the whole situation and to +modify the effects which would be produced by racial factors working +in isolation. All these factors must be eventually taken account of, +however, in any satisfactory scheme of dealing with the problem of +Americanization by education. This is, however, a matter for more +complete analysis and further investigation. + + ROBERT E. PARK + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] This address was delivered before the American Sociological +Society convened in annual session at Richmond in 1918. + +[2] "The City: Suggestions for the Investigation of Human Behavior in +the City Environment," _American Journal of Sociology_, V, 44, March, +1915, p. 589. + +[3] Rivers, "Ethnological Analysis of Cultures," _Nature_, Vol. I, 87, +1911. + +[4] W. J. McGee, _Piratical Acculturation_. + +[5] There is or was a few years ago near Mobile a colony of Africans +who were brought to the United States as late as 1860. It is true, +also, that Major R. R. Moton, who has succeeded Booker T. Washington +as head of Tuskegee Institute, still preserves the story that was told +him by his grandmother of the way in which his great-grandfather was +brought from Africa in a slave ship. + +[6] _Domestic Manners and Social Condition of the White, Coloured and +Negro Population of the West Indies_, by Mrs. Carmichael, Vol. I. +(London, Wittaker, Treacher and Co.), p. 251. + +"Native Africans do not at all like it to be supposed that they retain +the customs of their country and consider themselves wonderfully +civilized by being transplanted from Africa to the West Indies. Creole +Negroes invariably consider themselves superior people, and lord it +over the native Africans." + +[7] The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts was +founded in 1701 and the efforts to Christianize the Negro were carried +on with a great deal of zeal and with some success. + +[8] JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY, Vol. I, 1916, p. 70. + +[9] _Afro-American Folksongs: A Study in Racial and National Music_, +by Henry Edward Krehbiel. (New York and London, G. Schirmer), p. 37. +From a letter of Lafcadio Hearne. + +[10] _Army Life in a Black Regiment_, by Thomas Wentworth Higginson. +Boston, Fields, Osgood and Co., 1870. + +[11] Krehbiel, _Afro-American Folksongs_, p. 16. + +[12] Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law, edited by The +Faculty of Political Science of Columbia University, Vol. 37, New +York, 1910, No. 3--_Social and Mental Traits of the Negro_, by Howard +W. Odum, Ph.D., p. 91. + +[13] Krehbiel, _Afro-American Folksongs_. + + + + +THE COMPANY OF ROYAL ADVENTURERS OF ENGLAND TRADING INTO AFRICA, +1660-1672 + +INTRODUCTION + + +The English commercial companies trading to the west coast of Africa +during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries have practically +escaped the attention of historical students. Doubtless this neglect +is the result of the little importance which has until recently been +attached to African territory since the abolition of the slave trade. +Previous to that time the west coast of Africa vied with the East +Indies for popular attention, and the English African companies often +appeared to be but little less important than the great East India +Company. + +The cause for the popular esteem of the African coast during the +earlier centuries was the intimate connection which the slave trade +had with the development of the English plantations in the West +Indies. About the middle of the seventeenth century the growing of +sugar cane and other products in the West Indies began to open up +enormous possibilities which, it was universally agreed, could be +realized only by the extensive use of Negro slaves. At the restoration +of Charles II in 1660 the English commercial class directly supported +and assisted by the king's courtiers determined to secure as large a +portion of the West African coast as possible. To reach this end they +organized that year The Company of the Royal Adventurers into Africa. +This decision at once brought the company into conflict with the Dutch +West India Company, which, during the twenty years of domestic trouble +in England, had all but monopolized the desirable portion of the West +African coast. + +It happened therefore that the Company of Royal Adventurers played a +very important part in the events which led up to the Anglo-Dutch war +of 1665-67. The war resulted in the financial ruin of the company +which was in existence only about eleven years, at the end of which +time it was succeeded by the much larger and better organized Royal +African Company. + +It has seemed to the author as if the English African companies were a +very profitable field of historical investigation. Therefore, the +present dissertation on the Company of Royal Adventurers will be +followed shortly by a history of the Royal African Company, 1672-1752. + +For assistance in writing the history of the Royal Adventurers Trading +into Africa I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to the librarians, +and officials of the British Record Office, the British Museum, the +Bodleian Library at Oxford, the Rijks Archief at The Hague, and the +Cornell University Library. To Professor R. C. H. Catterall, now +deceased, I am greatly indebted for reading the manuscript of this +book, and for many valuable suggestions. Above all, I wish to express +my deep appreciation to my wife, Susie Zook, for her unfailing +inspiration and her constant assistance in the writing of this book. + + +CHAPTER I + +EARLY DUTCH AND ENGLISH TRADE TO WEST AFRICA + +In 1581 the seven United Provinces of the Netherlands declared their +independence of Spain. As the intrepid Dutch sailors ventured out from +their homeland they met not only the ships of their old master, Philip +II, but those of the Portuguese as well. Since the government of +Portugal had just fallen into the hands of Philip II the Dutch ships +could expect no more consideration from Portuguese than from Spanish +vessels. Notwithstanding the manifest dangers the prospects of +obtaining the coveted products of the Portuguese colonies inspired the +Dutch to such a great extent that in 1595 Bernard Ereckson sailed to +the west coast of Africa, at that time usually called Guinea. There he +and the Dutch who followed him discovered that the Portuguese had long +occupied the trading points along the coast, and had erected forts and +factories wherever it seemed advisable for the purpose of defense and +trade. The Dutch merchants and sailors turned their dangerous +situation into an opportunity to despoil the weakened Portuguese of +their forts and settlements in Africa. + +On August 25, 1611, the Dutch made a treaty with a native prince by +which a place called Mauree was ceded to them. In the following year +they erected a fort at that place which they named Fort Nassau.[1] +Shortly after this, in 1617, they bought the island of Goree at Cape +Verde from the natives in that region. Four years later the West India +Company was formed, its charter including not only the West Indies and +New Amsterdam but also the west coast of Africa. This new organization +found much in the new world to occupy its attention but it did not +neglect the Guinea coast. The Dutch realized that the African trade +was indispensable to their West India colonies as a means of supplying +slave labor. Hostilities, therefore, were continued against the +Portuguese who still had possession of the principal part of the +African trade. In 1625 the Dutch made a vigorous attempt to capture +the main Portuguese stronghold at St. George d'Elmina which had been +founded on the Gold Coast in 1481.[2] They were unsuccessful at that +time but in 1637 Prince Maurice of Nassau with 1,200 men succeeded in +capturing this base of the Portuguese trade.[3] In 1641 a ten years' +truce was signed between Portugal and the United Provinces, but before +the news of the truce had reached the coast of Guinea the Dutch had +taken another of the Portuguese strongholds at Axim which, according +to the terms of the treaty, they were permitted to retain. From these +various places factories were settled along the coast, and treaties +made with the native rulers. Furthermore, in the treaty of peace, +August 6, 1661, the Dutch retained the forts and factories which they +had conquered from the Portuguese on the African coast.[4] After the +truce of 1641 and the peace of 1661, therefore, the Dutch regarded +themselves as having succeeded to the exclusive claims of the +Portuguese to a large portion of the west coast of Africa including a +monopoly of the trade to the Gold Coast.[5] + +Although it was the Dutch who succeeded in depriving the Portuguese of +the most important part of the West African coast, the interest shown +by the English in this region can be traced back to a much earlier +date. In 1481, when two Englishmen were preparing an expedition to the +Guinea coast, John II, king of Portugal, despatched an ambassador to +the English king, to announce the overlordship of Guinea which he had +recently assumed, and to request that the two Englishmen should +refrain from visiting the Guinea coast. Edward IV complied with this +request.[6] Thereafter no English expedition to Guinea was attempted +until 1536 when William Hawkins, father of the famous John Hawkins, +made the first of three voyages to Africa during which he also traded +to Brazil. Again in 1553 Hawkins sent an expedition to the Gold Coast. +Near Elmina the adventurers sold some of their goods for gold, and +then proceeded to Benin where they obtained pepper, or "Guinea +graines," and elephants' teeth. After losing two-thirds of the crew +from sickness the expedition returned to England.[7] In the following +year another expedition under Hawkins' direction secured several +slaves in addition to a large amount of gold and other products.[8] +Also, in the years 1555, 1556, 1557, William Towrson made three +voyages to the Guinea coast in which his ships were harassed by the +Portuguese, who attempted to prevent them from trading. English cloth +and iron wares were in such demand, however, that notwithstanding this +opposition a lucrative trade was obtained.[9] + +Beginning with 1561 Queen Elizabeth lent her influence and assistance +to a series of voyages to the African coast. Not only did she permit +the use of four royal vessels for the first expedition but she spent +five hundred pounds in provisioning them for the voyage. The value of +the goods sent to Africa in these vessels was five thousand pounds. +According to the arrangement Queen Elizabeth received one-third of the +profits, which amounted to one thousand pounds.[10] In the year 1563 +similar arrangements were made with the queen for another voyage to +the Gold Coast, during which there was considerable trouble with the +Portuguese. Notwithstanding this opposition the ships succeeded in +returning to England with a quantity of elephants' teeth and Guinea +grains.[11] In 1564, an expedition composed of three ships, one of +which belonged to Queen Elizabeth, was particularly unfortunate. One +of these ships was blown up, while the other two were attacked by the +Portuguese and probably had to return without obtaining any African +products.[12] + +In these voyages to Guinea the English trade had been in exchange for +gold, elephants' teeth and pepper. Trading for slaves had scarcely +occurred to these early adventurers. Nevertheless, as early as 1562, +John Hawkins sailed for Sierra Leone with three vessels, and there +captured three hundred Negroes whom he sold to the Spaniards in +Hispaniola.[13] The success of this voyage was so great that in 1564 +there was fitted out a second slave raiding expedition in which one of +the queen's ships, the Jesus, was employed. As before, Hawkins sold +his slaves in the West Indies, this time with some difficulty, because +the Spanish officials, who were forbidden to have any trade with +foreigners, regarded the Englishmen as pirates.[14] + +Again, in 1567, Hawkins was on his way to Guinea. By playing off one +set of natives against another he procured about 450 slaves and once +more set out for the Spanish Indies. Although at first the voyage +promised to be successful, he was later set upon by a number of +Spanish ships and barely escaped with his life and one badly wrecked +vessel.[15] + +Hawkins' voyages to Africa are worthy of note because he was the first +Englishman to engage in the slave trade. To be sure, his piratical +seizure of free Negroes broke all the rules of honorable dealing long +recognized on the African coast. As a result of his actions the +natives held all Englishmen in great distrust for a number of +years.[16] The unregulated method of carrying on the African trade, +pursued up to this time, ceased to a certain extent when Queen +Elizabeth granted the first patent of monopoly to the west coast of +Africa, May 3, 1588. + +The charter of 1588 gave to certain merchants of Exeter, London and +other places in England for ten years an exclusive trade to that +portion of West Africa lying between the Senegal and Gambia rivers. +The great slave and gold producing country of the Gold Coast remained +open to all traders. It was therefore evident that, instead of +continuing the slave raiding projects of Hawkins, the company intended +to resume the exchange of English manufactures for African products. +According to its charter the company was not required to pay duties in +England either on imports or exports.[17] Although nothing is known of +the success of this company, the patent was regarded as of sufficient +importance for the earl of Nottingham and others to obtain a +continuation of the monopoly.[18] + +Since the charter of these Senegal adventurers did not prevent anyone +from resorting to the Gold Coast and the regions to the east thereof, +two voyages were made to Benin, one in 1588 and another in 1590.[19] +In 1592 certain English merchants received a patent from the queen +authorizing them to trade to certain specified portions of Africa.[20] +The trade to Africa continued in this desultory fashion until 1618. At +that time a patent comprising the whole explored western coast of +Africa south of the territory of the Barbary Company was granted to +some thirty persons, among whom the most important was Sir William +St. John, who was said to have built the first English fort in +Africa.[21] The early years of their trade, which consisted in the +exchange of English for African products, was especially unfortunate. +Vessels were either lost or brought back small returns. After 1621 it +was difficult to procure fresh additions of capital. To add to this +trying situation, the House of Commons attacked the company's monopoly +and, later, voted it to be a grievance. Thereafter, although the +company sometimes issued licenses for the African trade, the +interlopers who resorted to Africa quite freely, usually did not deem +it necessary to obtain them.[22] + +The moving spirit of the next company, which received a patent in +1631, was Sir Nicholas Crispe, who had been a successful interloper +during the life of the previous company. In 1624 he had built the +first permanent English settlement at Kormentine. Although not +incorporated, this company enjoyed for thirty-one years a monopoly of +trade to all the region lying between Cape Blanco and the Cape of Good +Hope. Just previous to the Civil War Charles I confirmed the charter +for twenty years. The company's monopoly was looked on with disfavor +by the leaders of the Puritan party, however, and in 1649 the company +was summoned before the Council of State, where it was accused of +having procured its charter by undue influences. Later, the company's +case was considered by the committee of trade, and finally, on April +9, 1651, the Council of State recommended that the company's monopoly +to that part of West Africa extending from a point twenty miles north +of Kormentine to within twenty miles of the Sierra Leone River be +continued for fourteen years.[23] + +This company also suffered numerous misfortunes on the African coast. +A factory which the English had set up at Cape Corse in April, 1650, +was seized the following year by some Swedes who for several years +thereafter made it the seat of their trade in Guinea.[24] +Notwithstanding this fact the Swedes permitted the English to retain a +lodge at Cape Corse with which the agents at Kormentine sometimes +traded.[25] Even after the place was seized by Hendrik Carloff, a +Danish adventurer, in 1658, the English seem to have been allowed to +remain at Cape Corse. By this time, however, the English African +Company had become unable to support its factories on the coast of +Guinea. Therefore they were turned over to the English East India +Company, and became occasional stopping places for its vessels on +their way to and from the East Indies. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Jonge, Johan Karel Jakob de, _De Oorsprong van Neerland's +Bezittingen op de Kust van Guinea_, p. 16. + +[2] Gramberg, J. S. G., _Schetsen van Afrika's Westcust_, p. 12. + +[3] Jonge, _Oorsprong van Neerland's Bezittingen_, pp. 18, 19, 20. + +[4] In return for this concession the Dutch evacuated Brazil. Dumont, +J., _Corps Universel Diplomatique du Droit des Gens_, VI, part 2, p. +367. + +[5] De Gids, "Derde Serie," _Zesde Jaargang_, IV, 385. + +[6] Hakluyt, Richard, _The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, +& Discourses of the English Nation_, VI, 123, 124. + +[7] _Ibid._, VI, 145-162. + +[8] _Ibid._, VI, 154-177. + +[9] _Ibid._, VI, 177-252. + +[10] Queen Elizabeth's profit may have been only five hundred pounds, +as it seems likely that the five hundred pounds which she spent in +provisioning the ships should be subtracted from the one thousand +pounds which she received. Scott, W.R., _The Constitution and Finance +of English, Scottish and Irish Joint Stock Companies to 1720_, II, 6. + +[11] Hayluyt, _Principal Navigations_, VI, 258-261. + +[12] _Ibid._, VI, 262. + +[13] _Ibid._, X, 7, 8. + +[14] _Ibid._, X, 9-63. + +[15] _Ibid._, X, 64-74. + +[16] For example, the expedition of George Fenner to Africa in 1566. +He had a great deal of trouble with the natives. Hakluyt, _Principal +Navigations_, VI, 266-284. + +[17] Hakluyt, _Principal Navigations_, VI, 443-450, patent of Queen +Elizabeth, May 3, 1588. + +[18] Scott, _Joint Stock Companies_, II, 10. + +[19] Hakluyt, _Principal Navigations_, VI, 450-458, 461-467. + +[20] _Ibid._, VII, 102. + +[21] Scott, _Joint Stock Companies_, II, 11. + +[22] _Ibid._, II, 12, 13. + +[23] _Ibid._, II, 14-16. + +[24] S. P. (State Papers), Holland, 178, f. 123, undated paper +concerning the title of the English to Cape Corse; A. C. R. (Records +of the African Companies), 169: 69, deposition of Thomas Crispe, +February 5, 1685/6; Dammaert, Journal (Journal gehouden bij Louijs +Dammaert ungewaren met 't schip Prins Willem), September 19, 1652 (N. +S.). + +[25] Remonstrantie, _aen de Ho. Mo. Heeren de Staten Generael der +Vereenighde Nederlanden_, p. 18; Dammaert, _Journal_, September 19, +1652, May 18, 1653, December 7, 19, 1655, April 22 1656 (N. S.). + + +CHAPTER II + +THE ROYAL ADVENTURERS IN ENGLAND + +On account of the collapse of the king's cause at the death of Charles +I, Prince Rupert, with his small fleet of royal vessels, was driven +about from one part of the world to another. In 1562 he sought refuge +in the Gambia River,[1] where he listened to stories told by natives +of rich gold mines in that region. For a number of years the Negroes +had brought gold from the inland of Africa to the Dutch on the Gold +Coast. There seemed every reason to believe that the source of this +gold supply was none other than that described by the natives of the +Gambia River, and that it might be discovered somewhere in that +region. Prince Rupert was so much impressed with the possibility of +finding these mines that his voyage to Guinea was still vivid in his +memory when Charles II assumed the throne in 1660. In the duke of York +and other royal courtiers he found a group of willing listeners who +determined to form a company for the purpose of sending an expedition +to the Gambia to dig for gold. As early as October 3, 1660, the plans +were formulated. Each member was required to invest at least L250 in +the undertaking[2]. On December 18, 1660, the king, who was pleased +with the adventurers for having "undertaken so hopeful an enterprise," +granted them a charter[3] under the name of "The Company of the Royal +Adventurers into Africa."[4] + +By this charter the Royal Adventurers received the land and the +adjacent islands on the west coast of Africa from Cape Blanco to the +Cape of Good Hope, for a period of one thousand years beginning with +"the making of these our Letters Patents if the ... grant (made to +Crispe's company in 1631) be void and determined." If, however, the +former charter was still regarded as in force, the grant to the Royal +Adventurers was to be effective upon the surrender or the expiration +of the former company's privileges.[5] A committee of six men, the +earl of Pembroke, Lord Craven, Sir George Carteret, William Coventry, +Sir Ellis Leighton and Cornelius Vermuyden, was named to have charge +of the company's affairs. No mention was made of the office of +governor or of any court of directors. Apparently it was thought that +the committee of six could direct all of the company's affairs. In +Africa, this committee was empowered to appoint the necessary agents +and officials and to raise and maintain whatever soldiers were +necessary to execute martial law. The company had the right to admit +new members if it desired. The king himself reserved the privilege of +becoming an adventurer at any time and to invest an amount of money +not exceeding one-sixteenth of the company's stock. + +Furthermore, it was provided that the king "shall have, take and +receive two third parts of all the gold mines which shall be seized +possesed and wrought in the parts and places aforesaid, we ... paying +and bearing two third parts of all the charges incident to the working +and transporting of the said gold." The company was to have the other +third and bear the remainder of the expense. That this provision was +not a matter of mere form, as in so many of the royal charters, is +evident from the stimulus which had led to the formation of the +company. Indeed in one part of the charter the purpose of the company +is presented as "the setting forward and furthering of the trade +intended (redwood, hides, elephants' teeth) in the parts aforesaid and +the encouragement of the undertakers in discovering the golden mines +and setting of plantations there." The trade in slaves was not +mentioned in the charter. + +Even before they had obtained this charter the organizers of the new +company induced the king to lend them five of his Majesty's ships. +These vessels, the "Henrietta," "Sophia," "Amity," "Griffin" and +"Kingsale," were loaded with goods, tools and chemicals necessary for +the working of the projected gold mines. Captain Robert Holmes, who +had been with Prince Rupert in 1652, was given charge of the +expedition; but the goods and necessities were consigned to William +Usticke and two other factors of the company.[6] In December, 1660, +the five vessels set out on their voyage to the Gambia River, where +they arrived in the following March. There Holmes seized the island of +St. Andre, then occupied by a feeble number of the subjects of the +duke of Courland. Since the latter place was protected by a small fort +the English began preparations to make it the seat of their operations +in that region. Not long after they arrived, however, a fire destroyed +the fortification and a large part of the goods which had been brought +from England. Under these circumstances they chose to abandon that +island, and to settle on two others which were better situated for +defense and trade. These they named Charles Island and James Island in +honor of their royal patrons. The latter was by far the most +advantageously situated, and became the main stronghold of the English +in the northern part of Africa during all the history of the African +companies. Holmes probably remained on the Gambia until about the +first of May when he departed with one or two of the ships for +England. In July as much of a cargo as possible was loaded on the +"Amity" which finally arrived in England, after its crew had been +depleted by disease.[7] + +Information regarding the success of the mining project of this +expedition is almost totally lacking, but it seems certain that +nothing was done to discover the hoped-for gold mines. The climate +affected the men so adversely, that it is altogether unlikely that +they even attempted to look for the mines. The small cargo carried +back by the various ships, most of which seems to have been on the +"Amity," probably represents the only tangible results of the +expedition. These goods, consisting of elephants' teeth, wax and hides +sold for L1,567.8s.,[8] whereas the outlay for the expedition was +probably between L4,000 and L4,500.[9] + +This sum does not include L2,640.8s.8d. expense which was incurred to +send another of the king's ships, the "Blackamoor," to the Gold Coast, +in June, 1661.[10] The "Blackamoor" was followed in April, 1662, by +the "Swallow" which, together with its cargo, cost the Royal +Adventurers L1,l01.2s.ld.[11] Later in the year the three ships, +"Charles," "James" and "Mary," were sent to the Gold Coast at an +expense of about L5,000.[12] By September, 1662, L17,400 had been +subscribed by various persons to obtain the cargoes for the ships +which had been dispatched to the coast of Guinea. Of this amount L800 +had been promised by the king; L3,600 by the duke of York; L400 by the +queen Mother; L400 by the duchess of Orleans; L800 by Prince Rupert; +and L800 by the duke of Buckingham. Of the L17,400 subscribed all but +about L1,000 had been paid by October 20, 1662. From this investment +the company had received no returns except the L1,567.8s. from the +first expedition, while the three last vessels, the "Charles," "James" +and "Mary" had not yet arrived at the Gold Coast on their ill-fated +voyage.[13] + +Up to this time there had been no uniformity about the amounts +invested, and no definite times at which the several amounts +subscribed, were due. It was assumed that money would be forthcoming +from the members whenever it was needed to dispatch ships to the +coast. About the middle of September, 1662, it was decided to pursue a +more businesslike policy. A list of subscribers for shares at four +hundred pounds each was opened, and by the 15th of January, 1663, the +amount of this second subscription was L17,000.[14] The stimulus for +obtaining this added subscription was the fact that, at the same time, +the company was agitating for a new charter, which was granted by the +king, January 10, 1663.[15] + +Experience had shown that the previous charter was inadequate, not +only respecting the means of raising funds to carry on the company's +business, but also on account of the lack of any other officers to +direct its affairs than the committee of six. By general consent of +the patentees, and those who had later subscribed to the stock, it had +been decided to surrender the charter of 1660 for one conferring more +extensive privileges on the corporation. The charter obtained January +10, 1663, answered these requirements. The name was changed to "The +Company of Royal Adventurers of England Trading into Africa." The +territory included in the charter reached to the Cape of Good Hope as +in the previous patent, but the northern limit was extended from Cape +Blanco to Cape Sallee on the coast of Morocco. + +The new charter contained the same provisions in regard to the +discovery of gold mines as the charter of 1660. By this time, however, +the adventurers had discovered that the Negro trade could be made very +lucrative. In this charter, therefore, they obtained "the whole, +entire and only trade for the buying and selling bartering and +exchanging of for or with any Negroes, slaves, goods, wares and +merchandises whatsoever to be vented or found at or within any of the +Cities" on the west coast of Africa. The charter provided that there +should be no trading on the African coast except by the company in its +corporate capacity, and that any one guilty of transgressing these +rules should be liable to forfeiture of his ship and goods.[16] + +The charter also required the shareholders to elect a governor, +subgovernor, deputy governor and a court of assistants; but that the +routine business of the company should be conducted by a smaller +committee corresponding to the committee of six of the previous +company. The duke of York was elected governor, in which capacity he +continued to serve during the company's entire existence. Thirty-six +men were chosen annually to compose the court of assistants. There +was also an executive committee of seven which was responsible to the +court of assistants.[17] + +While the company was endeavoring to obtain this new charter an +unsuspected difficulty arose. It will be remembered that in 1631 Sir +Nicholas Crispe and others had received a patent to a portion of the +west coast of Africa for thirty-one years. The first charter of +Charles II to the Royal Adventurers in December, 1660, had been +granted a year and a half previous to the expiration of Crispe's +patent. In recognition of this fact the charter of the Royal +Adventurers provided that if the former patent was not void, the new +charter was not to be effective until its surrender or expiration. At +first Crispe made no complaint about the transgression of his rights, +probably because the first expedition under Captain Holmes had gone to +the Gambia region in which place Crispe had no interests. When it +became apparent that the company intended to carry its activities +further south, however, he appeared before the Privy Council on +November 22, 1661, and asked to have his interest confirmed in the +trade and settlements at Kormentine and in the region of the Sierra +Leone and Sherbro rivers.[18] On December 20, 1661, his case was heard +before the Privy Council, at which time the case was referred to the +Lord High Treasurer.[19] The matter was neglected and finally dropped. + +Crispe found it impossible to prevent the ships of the Royal Company +from transgressing the regions mentioned in his charter. About the +time at which his charter expired (June 25, 1662), he agreed to +transfer all his interests in the fortifications at Kormentine and +elsewhere to the Royal Adventurers. Although this agreement has not +been found, there was apparently nothing in it which bound the company +to remunerate Crispe and his associates, because later, August, 1662, +he petitioned the king for compensation for the forts and lodges which +had been transferred to the Royal Adventurers. At first the king was +favorable to Crispe's request in view of the service which he had +rendered in building up the Guinea trade.[20] Later, neither the king +nor the Royal Adventurers seem to have paid any attention to Crispe's +plea for compensation.[21] + +In later years the report was persistently spread that at the time +when the agreement was made with Crispe the Privy Council had ordered +the Royal Adventurers to pay him L20,000 in lieu of all his interests +on the coast, and that the company had "seemed to acquiesce" in the +order.[22] It does not seem possible that this assertion can be true +in view of the foregoing facts, and of the absolute lack of mention of +any such thing in the books of the company. Over a year later, August +15, 1664, Crispe presented a paper of an unknown character to which +the court of assistants refused to give any notice.[23] It seems +likely that this paper had nothing to do with the African forts, but +that it was submitted in connection with a controversy over some +African goods, which were said to belong to the members of Crispe's +company[24]. The entire lack of any other evidence of trouble between +Crispe and the company leads one to think that no contract for such +compensation was ever made[25]. Moreover, that he was not averse to +the success of the Royal Adventurers is shown by the fact that he +himself subscribed L2,000 in 1663 to the stock of the company[26]. + +It is unnecessary to follow in detail the number of ships which were +fitted out for the company's trade after it received its second +charter in January, 1663. Suffice it to say that very active measures +were undertaken, especially by the duke of York, who faithfully +attended the weekly meetings of the court of assistants which were +held in his apartments at Whitehall. The earl of Clarendon voiced the +sentiments of these enthusiastic courtier-merchants when he said that, +providing all went well, the Company of Royal Adventurers would "be +found a Model equally to advance the Trade of England with that of any +other company, even that of the East-Indies[27]." + +If this prediction was to be realized it was necessary to have a +greater stock than the first and second subscriptions had provided. +Therefore a public declaration was issued inviting any of the king's +subjects in England to subscribe for shares of not less than four +hundred pounds each, one-half of each share to be paid by December 1, +1663, and the other one-half by March 1, following. The conditions of +subscription provided that seven years after the first date, a +committee from the adventurers should be chosen to make a fair +valuation of the stock of the company. Each shareholder was then to be +allowed to receive the value of his stock in money if he so desired. +Thereafter this action was to be repeated every three years with the +same privileges of withdrawal from the company.[28] Later, as a means +of inducing those with smaller means to subscribe for stock, the +company permitted subscriptions as small as fifty pounds, providing +they were paid within eight days. Whenever any person subscribed more +than four hundred pounds, he was allowed to pay the excess in eight +quarterly payments beginning with the 24th of June, 1663.[29] By +offering these inducements the third subscription amounted to L34,000 +divided among about forty-five shareholders.[30] + +On the 25th of August of the same year, however, it was necessary to +seek for a fourth subscription which amounted to L29,000,[31] payment +of which could be made in eight quarterly sums if desired. For all +those who would pay the third and fourth subscriptions promptly, a +discount of ten per cent, was offered. By these four subscriptions the +stock of the company appeared on September 4, 1663, to be +L102,000.[32] Of this amount it is probable that about L57,425 had +been paid, which left unpaid subscriptions amounting to L44,775.[33] +In addition to the money obtained by the sale of shares the company +had borrowed about L21,000. With the money obtained from these two +sources approximately twenty-five ships were sent to the coast of +Africa from December, 1662, to September, 1663.[34] From these voyages +there were very unsatisfactory returns, and the company again found +itself in a critical financial condition. + +This unfortunate situation was largely the result of opposition, which +its ships and factors had encountered from the Dutch West India +Company on the coast of Guinea. For a long time this opposition bade +fair to prevent the company from obtaining a share in the African +trade. In view of this situation the king dispatched Sir Robert Holmes +upon a second expedition to Africa in 1663 with orders to protect the +company's rights. As a further means of encouragement Charles II +ordered all gold imported from Africa by the Royal Company to be +coined with an elephant on one side, as a mark of distinction from the +coins then prevalent in England.[35] These coins were called +"Guineas"; they served to increase the reputation and prestige of the +company. Moreover, the king with many of his courtiers made important +additions to their stock in the third and fourth subscriptions.[36] + +From September 4, 1663, to the following March there are no records +of the company, but a petition of the adventurers to the king in +March, 1664,[37] shows that notwithstanding its financial difficulties +the company had during the previous year sent to Africa forty ships +and goods to the value of L160,000.[38] To follow the company's +financial history from this time on is a difficult task in view of +inadequate sources. In the balance sheet of September 4, 1663, the +company's stock was entered as L102,000 and its debts as about +L21,000. When the news of Holmes' great success on the Gold Coast +began to arrive in England, the company increased its preparations to +open an extensive African trade. Therefore on May 10, 1664, an attempt +was made to collect the unpaid stock subscriptions, and an invitation +was extended to all members to lend one hundred pounds to the company +for each share of four hundred pounds which they held. Notwithstanding +the bright prospects which the company had at this time, its strenuous +attempt to raise the loan produced only L15,650.[39] + +In September, 1664, an attempt was made to increase the stock of the +company by L30,000. Although the duke of York and many others added to +their shares on this occasion,[40] only L18,200 was subscribed.[41] By +this addition the stock of the Royal Adventurers amounted to L120,200 +at about which sum it remained during the remainder of the company's +history.[42] + +Although the company had not obtained as much money as had been hoped +for in the last subscription, it anticipated great success in its +trade, until vague rumors began to circulate that Admiral DeRuyter had +been sent to Africa to undo the conquest made by Captain Holmes. In +the last part of December, 1664, these rumors were confirmed. In a +petition to the king of January 2, 1665[43], the company declared that +its trade had already increased to such an extent that over one +hundred ships were employed, and that a yearly return of from two to +three hundred thousand pounds might reasonably be expected[44]. + +On account of the injuries inflicted by DeRuyter on the African coast +much of the anticipated loss of goods and vessels was realized. In +all, the company lost the cargoes of eight ships; of the forts only +Cape Corse remained. Under these ruinous circumstances it was not +thought advisable to dispatch at once the goods which had been +accumulated at Portsmouth[45]. Accordingly the company's vessels were +unloaded and several of them were taken into the King's service.[46] +The duke of York used what little money was on hand to apply on the +company's debt in order that the company's expenses from interest +might be reduced.[47] Because of the Anglo-Dutch war and the fact that +the company had no money, it could do nothing but send an occasional +ship to Africa loaded with some of the goods left at Portsmouth. From +this time on the company's trading activity was confined to such +scattered voyages.[48] + +On January 11, 1666,[49] the court of assistants discussed the +proposition of granting trading licenses to private individuals. While +no action seems to have been taken at that time, it ultimately became +the practise of the company to grant such a freedom of trade. On April +9, 1667, a resolution was adopted empowering the committee of seven to +issue trading licenses in return for a payment of three pounds per +ton.[50] These licenses were obtained by those who desired to carry on +trade in their own ships, and also by officers of the company's ships +who wished to engage in private adventures. During the course of the +war one hears of many such grants to various individuals, among whom +was Prince Rupert.[51] + +The practise of issuing licenses was interrupted for a short time at +the conclusion of the Anglo-Dutch war by a feeble attempt to revive +the company's activities. An effort was made to collect arrears on the +subscriptions,[52] and on August 21, 1667, the general court ordered +that an additional subscription should be opened, and that no more +trading licenses should be granted.[53] The only result of this effort +was that the duke of York and several others accepted stock of the +company in lieu of the bonds which they held.[54] In view of this fact +it was decided, January 20, 1668, to resume the policy of granting +licenses.[55] + +In comparison with the trade conducted by the private adventurers that +of the company became quite insignificant. Since the company had much +difficulty in supporting its agents on the African coast it ordered, +August 28, 1668, that in the future those who received licenses should +agree to carry one-tenth of their cargo for the company's account.[56] +It was difficult for the company to raise the small sum of money +necessary to buy this quota of goods. No one was willing to invest +money in the stock of a bankrupt company, and certainly few were +desirous of making loans to it when there seemed practically no chance +of repayment. In the latter part of 1668 and in the year 1669, several +attempts were made to collect the early subscriptions which remained +unpaid.[57] This effort was attended with very little success, because +the company had ceased to be of importance.[58] + +One of the reasons why the company's business was practically +neglected during these last years was because many of its members +began to trade to Africa as private individuals. A number of men even +went so far as to project an organization entirely separate from the +company. Finally, in 1667, several members offered to raise a stock of +L15,000 to carry on trade to the region of the Gambia River.[59] This +proposal was debated by the general court and finally referred to a +committee with the stipulation that if adopted the company should be +concerned in the stock of the new organization to the extent of +L3,000.[60] This arrangement could not be consummated in 1667,[61] but +on November 27, 1668, a similar proposition was adopted.[62] + +An organization to be known as the Gambia Adventurers was to have the +sole trade to northern Africa for a period of seven years, beginning +with January 1, 1669. For this privilege they were to pay the Company +of Royal Adventurers L1,000 annually, and to be responsible for the +expense of the forts and settlements in that region. These places were +to be kept in good repair by the Gambia Adventurers, who were to +receive compensation from the Royal Company for any settlements.[63] A +suggestion for carrying on the trade to the Gold Coast in a similar +way received no attention from the general court. The Gambia +Adventurers occupied the same house in London with the company, and +there seems little doubt but that its members consisted largely of +those stockholders of the Royal Adventurers who belonged primarily to +the merchant class.[64] It is extremely difficult to estimate the +success of the Gambia Adventurers, since their records, if any were +kept, have not been preserved. In all probability their trade was +largely confined to the important products of the Gambia region, +namely elephants' teeth, hides and wax, although several of their +ships are known to have gone to the West Indies with slaves. + +Since many of the company's stockholders were interested in the Gambia +venture the company's business on the Gold Coast was greatly +neglected. During the year 1669 the company's trade became so +insignificant that, at the suggestion of the king, Secretary Arlington +asked the company if it intended to continue the African trade.[65] In +answer the company recounted the losses incurred in the Anglo-Dutch +war which, it declared, had made it necessary to grant licenses to +private traders in order to maintain the forts and factories in +Africa. It asked the king to assist the company by paying his +subscription, by helping to recover its debts in Barbados, and by +granting royal vessels for the protection of the African coast. With +such encouragement the company declared that it would endeavor to +raise a new stock to carry on the African trade.[66] Receiving no +answer to their appeal the members of the company considered various +expedients, one of which was to lease the right of trade on the Gold +Coast;[67] another was to endeavor to obtain new subscriptions to the +company's stock, which seemed impossible because of the fear that the +money would be used toward paying the company's debts, and not for the +purpose of trade.[68] In fact, it had been only too evident for +several years that no additions could be made to the present worthless +stock of the company. If the company desired to continue its +activities, it would be necessary to have an entirely new stock +unencumbered with the claims of old creditors. The main problem +confronting the company therefor e was to make an agreement with its +clamorous creditors. + +On May 18, 1671, a general court of the adventurers approved of a +proposition to form a new joint stock under the old charter.[69] The +stock of the shareholders, which at this time amounted to L120,200, +was to be valued at ten per cent and so reduced to L12,020; this was +to form the first item in the new stock. In regard to the company's +debts, which amounted to about L57,000, rather severe measures were +attempted. Two-thirds of the debts, or L38,000, was, as in the case of +the stock, reduced to one-tenth, or L3,800, which was to form the +second item in the new stock. The other one-third of the debts, or +L19,000, was to be paid to the creditors in full out of the money +subscribed by the new shareholders.[70] Adding the cash payment of +L19,000 and estimating at par the L3,800 which they were to have in +the new stock, the creditors were to receive a little less than +thirty-five per cent, of their debts. If they did not accept this +arrangement it was proposed to turn over the company's effects to +them, and to secure an entirely new charter from the king. As +anticipated the plan was unsatisfactory to many of the creditors, +because the company proposed to pay the L19,000 in six monthly +installments after the subscription for the new joint stock was +begun.[71] On October 28, 1671, the preamble and articles under which +the new subscription was to be made were approved by the general +court, and notice was given to the refractory creditors that they must +accept the arrangement within ten days or the king would revoke the +company's patent.[72] Although the trouble with the creditors had not +been adjusted, subscriptions on the new stock began November 10, 1671. +A few weeks later there was held a general court of the new +subscribers, at which Sir Richard Ford, one of the most important +members of the company and also of the new subscribers, declared that +"they should not differ for small matters."[73] Thereupon it was +resolved to grant the creditors forty per cent on their debts and the +shareholders, as in the previous plan, ten per cent, on their +stock.[74] This made a total payment of L34,000 divided as follows: +L22,800, forty per cent of the company's debts, which amounted to +L57,000; and L11,200, ten per cent of the paid subscriptions, which +amounted to about L112,000.[75] In lieu of this payment the +stockholders were to cede to the new subscribers the forts and other +property in Africa and all the payments due from the Gambia +Adventurers during the four remaining years of their contract. + +As has been said the articles of subscription were adopted October 28, +1671. They provided for a stock of L100,000 under the old charter, +which should be paid to the treasurer of the company in ten monthly +payments ending September 25, 1672. As a matter of fact the +subscription reached the sum of L110,100. It was also provided that +every new subscriber should have one vote in the general court for +each one hundred pound share, but that no one should be an officer of +the company, unless he had subscribed for four hundred pounds in +shares. The subgovernor and the deputy governor were to be aided by a +court of assistants, reduced to twenty-four in number, and by a select +committee of five instead of the committee of seven as formerly. On +January 10, 1672, there was held a general court of the new +subscribers, at which the duke of York was elected governor; Lord +Ashley, subgovernor; and John Buckworth, deputy governor.[76] The duke +of York and Lord Ashley were well known for their interest in colonial +affairs. According to the terms of the subscription the deputy +governor was to be a merchant and a member of the committee of five, +which provision indicated plainly that the company expected Buckworth +to manage its business affairs. + +Although the new subscription had been made to replace the stock of +the old adventurers, there is little evidence that it was regarded as +necessary to obtain a new charter. Since the creditors still refused +to be satisfied with the concession of forty per cent on their debts, +however, the new subscribers hesitated to pay their money which might +be used to pay off the old debts.[77] It therefore became necessary to +carry out the previous threat against the creditors to induce the king +to grant a new charter to the present subscribers, which was done +September 27, 1672.[78] This action finally convinced the creditors +that they could obtain no better terms than had been offered, and +therefore they agreed to accept them and also to surrender all their +rights to the patentees of the new charter which was being issued. +That the attitude of the creditors was not the only moving force +toward a new charter is probable, because the old charter was not +adequate to meet the needs of the Royal African Company which was to +follow. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] At one time Prince Rupert had been governor of the African company +founded in 1631. Jenkinson, Hilary, "The Records of the English +African Companies." _Transactions of the Royal Historical Society_, +Third Series, VI, 195. + +[2] Pepys, Diary (_The Diary of Samuel Pepys_, edited by Henry B. +Wheatley), I, 253. + +[3] That some expense attached to the procuring of such charters +appears from an item of L133.10s.3d. which the company incurred for +this charter. A. C. R., 1221, April 12, 1661. Wherever possible the +volume and page of the company's books will be given, but since they +have not all been paged the only other method of reference is by +dates. + +[4] Carr, Cecil T., "Select Charters of Trading Companies, 1530-1707," +_Publications of the Selden Society_, XXVIII, 172-177. + +[5] According to the charter of 1660 the former patent had been +granted June 25, 1631. It would therefore expire June 25, 1662, if it +was not surrendered before that time. + +[6] A. C. R., 309, 1221. The records of the first few ventures are to +be found in these two volumes of the company's books. Number 309 is +the original book, the other being practically a copy of it. In some +cases, however, the latter is more complete. These two books have been +practically overlooked in the cataloging of the company's records, one +of them being labelled, "Ship's Journal." They contain the only +information we have of the financial condition of the first company as +kept by Thomas Holder, treasurer of the company. The greater part of +the two books is taken up with lists and costs of various goods which +were sent to Africa. + +[7] Admiralty Papers, Navy Board, In-Letters, 6, loose leaf order of +the factors of the Royal Adventurers on the Gambia River, July 19, +1661. With this order there is a certificate dated January 3, 1661/2, +to the effect that thirty-eight of the crew of the "Amity" had died on +the way to Guinea and during the time they were on the Gambia River. + +[8] A. C. R., 1221, October 20, 1662. + +[9] It is impossible to determine the exact amount which was invested +in goods, etc. + +[10] A. C. R., 1221, June 20, 1661. + +[11] _Ibid._, April 30, 1662. + +[12] _Ibid._, 309, September 26, 1662 + +[13] A. C. R., 309, September 26, October 20, 1662. Only L560 of the +king's subscription of L800 was paid, according to the list found +under the first of the above dates. This may be a slight error, as +warrants were issued for the payment of L580 at various times in 1661 +and 1662. C.S.P., Treas. Bks. (Calendar of State Papers, Treasury +Books), 1660-1667, pp. 312, 314, 383. This does not include a warrant +for L300, which was probably used in the first expedition under +Captain Holmes, but which for some reason is omitted in the company's +books. C. S. P., Treas. Bks., 1660-1667, p. 107. + +[14] A. C. R., 309, October 20, 1662, January 15, 1663. Afterward +L3,200 was added to this, making L20,800 in all in the second +subscription. A. C. R., 309, August 25, 1663. + +[15] Carr, _Select Charters of Trading Companies_, pp. 178-181. + +[16] There were also provisions similar to those contained in the +first charter for the government of the company's "plantations" +(factories) in Africa. The clause allowing the king to subscribe +one-sixteenth of the stock was omitted, but he could become a +shareholder at any time. + +[17] The charter had provided that the executive committee should be +composed of seven men if twenty-four assistants were elected and +thirteen if thirty-six were chosen. A.C.R., 75: 29, 31, 41, 44, 49, +51, 68, 72, 93. + +[18] P.C.R. (Register of the Privy Council), _Charles II_, 2: 451. + +[19] _Ibid._, 2: 502. + +[20] Egerton MSS., 2538, f. 109, C. C. to Secretary Nicholas, August +11, 1662. Folio 110 contains a note without date or signature saying +that the matter was referred to the Lord High Treasurer and others. + +[21] The earl of Clarendon declares in his History of Charles II that, +upon the return of the ships from the first expedition, the company +"compounded" with Sir Nicholas Crispe for his "propriety" in the fort +at Kormentine. This is untrue, since it has just been shown that it +was not until the middle of 1662 that he agreed to transfer his +property to the Royal Adventurers and that it was afterward that +Crispe endeavored to get the king's approval to grant him +compensation. Clarendon may have remembered that the king was +favorable to the proposition and therefore assumed that such a +contract had been made. Hyde, Edward, First Earl of Clarendon. _The +History of the Reign of King Charles the Second, from the Restoration +to the end of the year 1667_ (edited by J. Shebbeare), p. 197. + +[22] This charge was put forward in a pamphlet, probably published in +1709, called _Sir John Crispe's Case in Relation to the Forts in +Africa_. In this pamphlet the assertion is made that the Privy Council +had a full hearing of the matter on July 29, 1662, and ordered the +Royal Adventurers to pay Crispe L20,000 by an export duty of 2-1/2 per +cent on goods sent to Africa. An examination of the Privy Council +Register shows no order of that kind on that date or at any subsequent +time. + +[23] A.C.R., 75, August, 15, 1664. + +[24] In January, 1663, the Royal Adventurers made an agreement with +several members of Crispe's company providing for the transfer to +England of their merchandise and personal effects which were still on +the coast of Africa. Whether this second contract contained anything +about compensation for the forts it is impossible to say, since this +agreement also has not been preserved. Admiralty High Court, +Examinations 134. Answers of Edward M. Mitchell and Ellis Leighton, +May 10, 20, 1664. + +[25] That Sir Nicholas Crispe felt the losses he had incurred in +Guinea appears from his will of 1666, in which he directed the +following inscription to be erected to his memory: "first discovered +and settled the Trade of Gold in Africa and built there the Castle of +Cormentine," and thus "lost out of purse" more than L100,000. Crisp, +Frederick A., _Family of Crispe_, I, 32. + +[26] A. C. R., 309, June 25, September 4, 1663. Upon the latter date +it appears that only L1300 of his subscription was paid. + +[27] Clarendon, _History of the Reign of Charles II_, p. 198. + +[28] _The Several Declarations of the Company of Royal Adventurers of +England trading into Africa_, January 12, 1662 (O. S.). + +[29] _Ibid._ + +[30] A. C. R., 309, June 25, August 25, 1663. + +[31] _Ibid._, 309, August 25, 1663. + +[32] _Ibid._, 309, the balance of the company's books on September 4, +1663. + +[33] These figures are arrived at by a careful examination of the +various sums paid to Thomas Holder, the treasurer. As it is not always +possible to be sure that the payments were made for stock, too much +dependence cannot be put in the figures, especially when the sum +arrived at by adding the items which appear to be owing the company +for stock in the balance of September 4, 1663, amount to L52,000. This +is of course several thousand pounds more than the sum arrived at by +the former computation, but here again it is not possible to estimate +exactly the money owing the company for stock and for other things. + +[34] This number is arrived at by a careful perusal of the first book +kept by the company, number 309. Sometime in 1664 the company +submitted a petition to the king in which it speaks of having sent +over forty ships to the coast during the previous year and of +supplying them with cargoes amounting to more than L160,000. C.O. +(Colonial Office) 1: 17, f. 255, petition of the Royal Adventurers to +(the king, 1664). + +[35] C. S. P., Col. (Calendar of State Papers, Colonial, America and +West Indies), 1661-1668, p. 175, warrant to officers of the king's +mint, December 24, 1663. Another evidence of special favor was a grant +made by the king in 1664 giving the Royal Company the sole privilege +of holding lotteries in the king's dominions for three years. The +company does not seem to have used it. C. S. P., Dom. (Calendar of +State Papers, Domestic), 1666-1667, pp. 531, 532, Blanquefort and +Hamilton to the king, February 25, 1667. + +[36] In the third subscription the king's share was L5,200; in the +fourth, L2,000. A. C. R., 309, June 25, August 25, 1663. The king's +subscription with that of the queen for L400 seem never to have been +paid, although a warrant was issued to the Lord High Treasurer, June +27, 1663, to pay the amount from the customs receipts. + +[37] Upon this date, book number 309 was balanced and the items +carried to another volume, which has been lost. In March, 1664, the +resolutions of the general court and the court of assistants begin in +number 75 of the company's books. While it is fortunate that these +resolutions for the remaining history of this company have been +preserved, they do not furnish adequate information regarding the +company's financial condition at various times. + +[38] C. O. 1: 17, f. 255, petition of the Royal Adventurers to (the +king, March, 1664). + +[39] A. C. R., 75: 7, 8, orders of the general court, May 10, 20, +1664. + +[40] C. S. P., Dom., 1664-1665, p. 7, Robert Lye to Williamson, +September 13, 1664. + +[41] A. C. R., 75: 21, 22. + +[42] The total of the stock is shown by adding the five subscriptions: + + October, 1660, to September, 1662, first subscription L17,400 + October, 1662, to January, 1663, second subscription 20,800 + June, 1663, to August, 1663, third subscription 34,600 + August, 1663, fourth subscription 29,200 + September, 1664, fifth subscription 18,200 + Total L120,200 + +[43] S. P., Dom. (State Papers, Domestic), Charles II, 110, f. 18; C. +O. 1: 19, ff. 7, 8. + +[44] The financial status of the company at this time was as follows: + + Assets: + L s d + Ships and factories in Africa 125,962.6.2 + Debts owing to the company in the colonies 49,895.0.0 + Goods, ammunition, etc., at Portsmouth 48,000.0.0 + Total 223,857.6.2 + Stock of the company: + Amount subscribed 120,200.0.0 + Amount paid (about) 103,000.0.0 + Amount unpaid (about) 17,200.0.0 + Debts, owing on bonds, etc. (about) 100,000.0.0 + Losses: + From DeRuyter at Cape Verde 50,000.0.0 + Anticipated from DeRuyter at other places 125,912.6.2 + Total 175,912.6.2 + +[45] A. C. R., 75: 37, John Berkley and others to ----, November 4, +1665. + +[46] S. P., Dom., _Charles II_, 186: 1. + +[47] A. C. R., 75: 37, Berkley and others to ----, November 4, 1665. + +[48] On April 6, 1666, the king, in response to a petition from the +Royal Adventurers, granted to the company a ship called the "Golden +Lyon" which had been captured from the Dutch by Sir Robert Holmes in +1664. C. S. P., Col., 1661-1668, p. 370, the king to duke of York, +March 28, 1666. + +[49] A. C. R., 75: 40. + +[50] _Ibid._, 75: 52. + +[51] _Ibid._, 75: 57. A part of the debts had been incurred on the +common seal of the company and part on the personal security of the +committee of seven. + +[52] A. C. R., 75: 56, 58. An attempt was made to induce the king to +pay his subscription. On the other hand, the company owed the king a +considerable sum for the ships which it had used from time to time. S. +P., Dom., _Charles II_, 199: 14. + +[53] A. C. R., 75: 58. + +[54] _Ibid._, 75: 59. + +[55] _Ibid._, 75: 70. + +[56] _Ibid._, 75: 77. + +[57] _Ibid._, 75: 85, 88. + +[58] The duke of Buckingham, however, paid his arrears, which led the +duke of York to remark, "I will give the Devil his due, as they say +the Duke of Buckingham hath paid in his money to the Company." Pepys, +_Diary_, VIII, 142. + +[59] A. C. R., 75: 61. + +[60] _Ibid._, 75: 62, 63. + +[61] It seems certain, however, that these men who were interested in +the Gambia trade made some other arrangements at that time by means of +which a certain amount of goods was sent to that place. A. C. R., 75: +82, 83. + +[62] A. C. R., 75: 83. + +[63] _Ibid._, 75: 82. + +[64] As opposed to those who were from the king's court. + +[65] A. C. R., 75:90, 91. + +[66] O. S. P., Dom., 1668-1669, p. 459, August 25, 1669. + +[67] A. C. R., 75: 94. + +[68] C. O. 268: I, charter of the Royal African Company, September 27, +1672. + +[69] In the previous April a bill had been introduced into the House +of Lords to incorporate the company by act of Parliament. On account +of the various plans under consideration there was no procedure with +the bill. L. J. (Journal of the House of Lords), XII: 480; H. M. C. +(Historical Manuscripts Commission), report 9, pt. 2, p. 9b; H. L. +MSS. (House of Lords, Manuscripts), draft act to incorporate the +Company of Royal Adventurers of England Trading into Africa, April 6, +1671. + +[70] A. C. R., 75: 101, 102. See also the proposals for a resettlement +of the company's affairs in S.P., Dom., _Charles II_, 67, ff. 341, +342. + +[71] A. C. R., 75: 106, 107. + +[72] _Ibid._, 75: 108. + +[73] _British Husbandry and Trade_, II, 14. + +[74] A. C. R., 76: 52, the preamble under which the subscriptions were +made as amended December 19, 1671, article 4; _ibid._, 75: 111. + +[75] _Ibid._, 76, October 22, 1674. A report of a committee says that +there was about L22,000 of the old subscriptions which had not been +paid. + +[76] _Ibid._, 100: 50. + +[77] C. O. 268: 1, charter of the Royal African Company, September 27, +1672. + +[78] _Ibid._ + + +CHAPTER III + +ON THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA + +In 1660 all the colonial powers of Europe held the west coast of +Africa in great esteem, not only because it produced gold, but also +because it was regarded as a necessary adjunct to the colonies in the +West Indies for the supply of Negro slaves. During their long war with +Spain and Portugal the Dutch acquired a large portion of the West +African coast, including the main fortress of St. George d'Elmina. +This fact led them to regard themselves as having succeeded to the +exclusive claims of the Portuguese on the Guinea coast[1]. With this +end in view the Dutch agreed in the treaty of August 6, 1661, to +return Brazil to the Portuguese as compensation for the forts and +settlements which they had seized on the coast of Guinea[2]. Although +the Dutch played the most prominent part in depriving the Portuguese +of the trade to Guinea, the English, French, Swedes, Danes, and +Courlanders, all obtained a minor commerce to Africa which they very +jealously guarded. In a country so remote from the laws and +civilization of Europe personal quarrels often arose among the +subjects of these different nations, who were inclined to obtain what +they could by fair means or foul. They magnified these petty +quarrels[3] to such an extent that they continually led to +international complication. + +The European trade in Africa was confined mainly to the regions of the +Gold Coast and the Gambia Iver. Near the mouth of the Gambia River the +subjects of the duke of Courland had bought an island from the natives +in 1651. On this island they built a small fort, called St. Andre, +from which they traded to several factories up the river[4]. Besides +the Courlanders, the French and the Dutch carried on a very precarious +trade on the river. In the early part of 1659, as a result of the war +in the northern part of Europe, the duke of Courland became a prisoner +of the king of Sweden. Under these circumstances the Amsterdam chamber +of the Dutch West India Company[5] induced the Duke's commissioner, +Henry Momber, to enter into a contract turning over to it all the +duke's possessions in the Gambia River. The Dutch were to maintain the +factories and to enjoy the trade until the duke was able to resume +possession. The contract was of very doubtful value, since Momber +himself admitted that he had no power to make it, but notwithstanding +this fact he undertook to carry out its terms[6]. Shortly after the +Dutch took possession of the island belonging to the duke of Courland +it was surprised and plundered by a French pirate who, in return for a +consideration, handed it over to a Groeningen merchant of the Dutch +West India Company. The Groeningen chamber of this company was not +anxious to retain the island and therefore signified to Momber its +willingness to return it to Courland. Momber, who feared to have +caused the displeasure of the duke by his contract, was glad to +regain the island in June, 1660. Notwithstanding this fact, several +ships belonging to the Amsterdam chamber of the West India Company +entered the Gambia River and took possession of the island, keeping +the Courlanders prisoners for a month. The natives, however, +interfered in behalf of the Courlanders and the Dutch were finally +compelled to retire to Cape Verde, leaving Otto Steele, the duke's +commander, in possession[7]. + +It was during this state of affairs on the African coast that the +Company of Royal Adventurers was organized in England. It received its +charter December 18, 1660. In the same month, Captain Robert Holmes +sailed from England in command of the five royal ships which composed +the first expedition. In March, 1661, he arrived at Cape Verde where +he at once informed the Dutch commander that he had orders from +Charles II to warn all persons of whatsoever nation that the right of +trade and navigation from Cape Verde to the Cape of Good Hope belonged +exclusively to the king of England. Holmes ordered the Dutch to vacate +their forts and to abandon the coast within six or seven months[8]. +Thereupon he seized the island of Boa Vista, one of the Cape Verde +group claimed by the Dutch since 1621. Later he sent a frigate into +the mouth of the Gambia. Otto Steele, the Courland commander of Fort +St. Andre, unable to discern whether friend or foe was approaching, +fired upon the frigate. Holmes considered this an insult[9], and two +days later sent a note to Steele requiring him to surrender the island +to the English within ten days. At first Steele refused to obey, +maintaining that the fort was the rightful possession of the duke of +Courland. Thereupon Holmes threatened to level the fort to the +ground. Steele realized that with so few men and supplies resistance +was useless, and therefore he complied with Holmes' demands.[10] The +English assumed possession of the island, but after a fire had +destroyed nearly all the fort and its magazine,[11] they chose to +abandon it, and to settle on two other islands which they named +Charles Island and James Island respectively in honor of their royal +patrons. In this way the English gained their first possessions in the +Gambia River. + +When Captain Holmes left England the Dutch ambassadors in London +informed the States General that he had gone to the "reviere Guijana" +where he would build a fort, establish a trade and search for gold +mines. This announcement was immediately sent to the West India +Company which had received the more authentic advice that the English +ships were on the way to the Gambia River. The West India Company +urged that the Dutch ambassadors in London be instructed to inquire +more fully as to the purposes of the expedition, and to prevent if +possible anything being done to the prejudice of the company.[12] The +ambassadors learned that the English maintained that all nations had a +right to trade on the Gambia River, and that other nations than the +Dutch had forts there.[13] On the other hand, the West India Company +maintained that it had traded on the Gambia River ever since its +formation and that, since the contract with the duke of Courland, it +had been in complete possession of the river.[14] After receiving this +statement the States General requested their ambassadors in London to +see that the company's forts and lodges in the Gambia River were not +disturbed.[15] When the news of Holmes' exploit and his reported +warning to the Dutch commander to evacuate the entire African coast +reached the United Netherlands, the West India Company at once lodged +a complaint with the States General.[16] At their suggestion the Dutch +ambassadors obtained an audience with Charles II, who assured them +that neither he nor his officers had given any order for the injury +which had been done to the subjects of the United Netherlands, much +less to possess any of their forts. The king also assured them that, +if Holmes had committed any unjust action, he and his officers should +be exemplarily punished.[17] Sir George Downing, the English envoy +extraordinary at The Hague, further declared that Holmes had very +strict instructions not to disturb the subjects of the United +Netherlands or those of any other nation, and that, if anything to the +contrary had been done, it was without the least authority.[18] +Finally on August 14, 1661, Charles II declared to the States General +that their friendship was very dear to him and that he would under no +circumstances violate the "Droit de Gens."[19] With all this +extravagant profession of good will no definite assurance was given +the Dutch that the islands of St. Andre and Boa Vista would be +restored to them. On August 16, Downing wrote to the earl of Clarendon +that the island of St. Andre did not belong to the Dutch at all, but +to the duke of Courland, and that an answer to this effect could be +returned to the Dutch ambassadors if they objected to Holmes' actions. +Furthermore, Downing intimated that the duke could probably be induced +to resign his claims to the English.[20] + +Meanwhile, Captain Holmes, who was responsible for this unpleasant +international complication, had returned from Guinea. Since he +suffered no punishment for his violent actions on the African coast +except the loss of his salary,[21] the Dutch ambassadors in London +reminded the king that on August 14, 1661, he had absolutely +disclaimed the proceedings of Holmes.[22] They requested, therefore, +that Holmes be called to account for his actions, that Fort St. Andre +be restored, that reparation for damages be made, and that in the +future the king's subjects observe the laws of nations more +regularly.[23] Holmes was ordered before the Privy Council to answer +to the charges of the ambassadors,[24] but no effort was made to force +him to respond. The duke of York kept him busy with the fleet where he +incurred some official displeasure, by failing to require a Swedish +ship to strike colors to his Majesty's ships in English seas, and was +therefore required to be detained until further order.[25] Having +extricated himself from this trouble Holmes finally appeared before +the Privy Council in January, 1662,[26] where he offered "many +reasons" in justification of his actions in Guinea.[27] He easily +satisfied the king and the members of the Privy Council, which is not +surprising since many of these men had helped to organize and finance +the expedition. + +By this time it had become apparent that Charles II did not intend to +make immediate restitution of St. Andre to the Dutch. This was in +accordance with Downing's advice "to be 6 or 8 months in examining the +matter" before making a decision.[28] The longer the English retained +possession of the island the less likely the Dutch were to regain it. +Finally, the duke of Courland sent a representative, Adolph Wolfratt, +to London to insist upon the restitution of his possessions. +Originally the English had apparently supported the claims of the duke +of Courland, but it developed that they were no more inclined to +return St. Andre to the duke of Courland than to the Dutch. The matter +dragged on until November 17, 1664, when a contract was made between +Charles II and the duke whereby the latter surrendered all his rights +on the Gambia River. In return he received certain trading privileges +there and the island of Tobago in the West Indies.[29] + +When one proceeds from the Cape Verde region to the Gold Coast one +finds that Dutch influence was especially strong. From Elmina and +other forts the Dutch commanded the largest portion of the trade along +this coast. However, the Danes, Swedes and English had long maintained +a commerce on the Gold Coast where they also had established a number +of factories. In 1658, Hendrik Carloff, an adventurer carrying a +Danish commission, attacked and made himself master of Cape Corse +which had been in the possession of the Swedes since 1651. After +entering into friendly relations with the Dutch at Elmina,[30] Carloff +returned to Europe, leaving his lieutenant, Samuel Smits, in charge of +the fort. Fearing that the Swedes and the English, who had entered +into an alliance, might endeavor to regain Cape Corse, Carloff advised +Smits to surrender the fort to Jasper van Heusden, director general of +the West India Company on the Gold Coast. The instructions were +unnecessary, as Smits had surrendered Cape Corse to the Dutch on April +15, 1659. In return for this fort Smits and one of his compatriots +received 5,000 and 4,000 gulden respectively.[31] + +At the time when Hendrik Carloff seized Cape Corse the English had +there[32] a factory to which they traded from their main fort at +Kormentine.[33] On May 1, 1659, very soon after the Dutch obtained +possession of the place, the English factory with all its goods was +burned by the natives, perhaps at the instigation of the Dutch. The +Hollanders, however, were not without misfortunes of their own, for +after disavowing Smits' contract, the Danes sent a new expedition to +Guinea which seized a hill commanding Cape Corse, on which they built +the fort of Fredericksburg. Furthermore, the Swedes who had been +dispossessed of Cape Corse by the Danes with the assistance of +natives, toward the end of 1660, drove the Dutch out of Cape Corse. +Since the Swedes were insignificant in number the fort very shortly +fell into the control of the vacillating Negro inhabitants. + +As soon as the natives obtained possession of Cape Corse they +permitted the English to rebuild their factory at that place. An +agreement was also made by which, upon the payment of a certain sum of +money, the fort was to be surrendered to the English.[34] Since the +Dutch maintained that Cape Corse belonged exclusively to them by +reason of their contract with the Danes, they determined to prevent +the English from obtaining possession of it. Furthermore, in order to +exclude other Europeans from trading to any part of the Gold Coast, +the Dutch declared a blockade on the whole coast, in which Komenda and +other villages as well as Cape Corse were situated. To carry out this +policy they kept several ships plying up and down the coast. + +The Dutch then proceeded to capture the following English ships for +endeavoring to trade on the Gold Coast: the "Blackboy," April, 1661; +the "Daniel," May, 1661; the "Merchant's Delight,"[35] August, 1661; +the "Charles," August, 1661; the "Paragon," October, 1661; the +"Ethiopian," January, 1662. In addition to these injuries the Dutch +forbade the English at Kormentine to trade with the factory at Cape +Corse, which warning was no sooner given than the factory was +mysteriously destroyed by fire a second time, May 22, 1661. The +English bitterly complained that this misfortune was due to the +instigation of the Dutch.[36] + +In like manner the Dutch captured a Swedish ship and interfered with +the trade of the Danes to their fort of Fredericksburg,[37] which +action greatly incensed the Danish African Company. Since voluntary +satisfaction for these injuries could not be expected, Simon de +Petkum, the Danish resident in London, caused the arrest of a Dutch +West India ship, the "Graf Enno," which was one of the main offenders +in seizing Danish as well as English ships on the Guinea coast.[38] +The case was brought before the Admiralty Court, and judgment of +condemnation was rendered in favor of the Danes.[39] + +At The Hague, Sir George Downing now had a great opportunity to vent +his remarkable store of epithets on the Dutch for their violent +actions against English vessels in Guinea. He complained to the States +General "that the people of this contry doe everywhere as oppertunity +offers sett upon, rob and spoyle" the English subjects; and that these +things were being done not only by the West India Company but even by +ships of war belonging to the Dutch government. Downing threatened +that the king would "give order for the seizing of a proportionable +number and value of ships and merchandises belonginge to this contrey +and distribute them amongst them accordinge ... to their respective +losses, and will take care that noe ships bee seized but such as +belong to those provinces, and to such townes in those provinces, to +which the ships belonged that did commit these violences and +robberies."[40] In this way Downing hoped to set the non-maritime +towns and provinces of the Netherlands against those which were +interested in commerce, and thus to secure a cessation of the +seizures. Upon one occasion in the time of Cromwell he had used this +method successfully. Downing declared too that, to obtain justice in +the United Provinces, it was necessary for the Dutch to realize that +his Majesty would have satisfaction for injuries done "if not by faire +means, by force."[41] + +The Dutch ignored Downing's demands, even though on June 6, 1662, he +reminded them of their unjust actions on the Gold Coast.[42] In all +probability they were trusting to obviate all difficulties in the +commercial treaty then being negotiated at London. In August, a new +complaint was made to the States General[43] concerning the seizure of +the English ship, "Content," off the Cape Verde Islands.[44] Shortly +thereafter, the States General declared with respect to the English +ship, "Daniel," seized in 1661, that it was a gross misrepresentation +for the owner to maintain that the master and crew of the ship were +English. Furthermore, the Dutch advanced proof that the ship had been +fitted out with a cargo in Amsterdam, and had afterwards attempted to +pass as an English ship, in order to escape being seized as an +interloper by the West India Company.[45] + +Further consideration regarding these seizures was postponed +indefinitely by the 15th article of the commercial treaty entered into +between the United Provinces and England in September, 1662.[46] In +accordance with its provisions the ships which the Dutch had seized on +the African coast were included in the lists of damages which the +English submitted against the United Provinces. Thereafter the ships +formed no important part in the negotiations between the two nations. + +Thus far the Company of Royal Adventurers which had sent out the +expedition under Captain Robert Holmes had not been more active on the +Gold Coast than numerous private traders of England. The seizure of +ships by the Dutch had been a matter of much apprehension to all the +traders on the coast, but from now on it mainly concerned the Royal +Adventurers. The company was anxious to establish new forts and +factories in Africa in order to build up a lucrative trade. Its agents +therefore began to erect a lodge at Tacorary, a village not far from +Cape Corse. The Dutch, although they had not succeeded in recovering +Cape Corse from the natives, considered that the fort and the +surrounding territory belonged to them. On May 24, 1662, they bade the +English to desist from further invasion of their rights at Tacorary or +any other place under Dutch obedience.[47] The English, however, +disregarded the Dutch protest and notwithstanding their opposition the +factory was completed.[48] In less than a month from this time the +natives drove the Dutch out of their factory in Comany.[49] Thereupon +the Dutch determined to continue even more vigorously their policy of +blockading the whole coast and, by cutting off the trade of the +natives with the English, to force the Negroes into subjection and to +recover Comany and the fort at Cape Corse. + +In October, 1662, two ships of the Royal Adventurers, the "Charles" +and the "James," were prevented from trading to Komenda by the "Golden +Lyon" and two other Dutch men-of-war.[50] When asked as to the reason +for this interruption of trade the Dutch general, Dirck Wilree, +replied that he had caused the ports of Comany and Cape Corse to be +blockaded until the natives rendered satisfaction for the injuries +which they had committed against the Dutch.[51] When the two English +ships continued their effort to trade at Cape Corse and other +villages, the "Golden Lyon" followed them from place to place, and on +one occasion seized a small skiff which was attempting to land some +goods. Discouraged at the treatment accorded to them the English +officers finally gave up the attempt to trade on the Gold Coast, and +returned home with their ships, after delivering to the Dutch a solemn +protest against the injuries which they had suffered.[52] + +When Secretary Williamson informed Sir George Downing of the +misfortunes of the two ships, "Charles" and "James," and asked him to +interfere in behalf of the Royal Company at The Hague, Downing +promised to do what he could, but since he was so well acquainted with +the Dutch method of treating such complaints he did not anticipate +favorable results. "God help them," he declared, "if they (the Royal +Company) depend upon paper relief." With the duke of York at the head +of the Company and the king as well as many of his courtiers greatly +concerned in its welfare, he considered that it would be well cared +for. "Whatever injuries the Dutch do them," he exclaimed, "let them be +sure to do the Dutch greater, & then let me alone to mediate between +them, but without this all other wayes will signify not a rush."[53] + +Downing demanded of the States General whether Dirck Wilree had been +given any authority to blockade the entire coasts of Comany and to +forbid all English trade with the natives.[54] In this way he hoped +either to have the States General disavow Wilree's action or to raise +the question whether the West India Company had a right to institute +such a blockade. In letters to Clarendon and Bennet, Downing +maintained that the Dutch were accustomed both in West Africa and in +the East Indies, to declare war on the natives and to cut them off +from all trade with foreigners until they agreed to sell their goods +only to the Dutch. Downing declared that the English had already lost +a great deal of trade on account of such impositions, and that if they +were continued the East India and African companies would be ruined. +"Pay them in their own kind & sett their subjects a crying as well as +his Majties, & you will have a very faire correspondence, & they will +take heed what they doe, and his Majtie shall be as much honored & +loved here as he hath been dispised, for they love nor honor none but +them that they thinck both can & dare bite them."[54a] After urging +the king to take immediate action concerning their ships the members +of the Royal Company requested Downing "to drive the States to the +most positive reply." They declared that any answer would, at least, +expedite matters, and "if those states will owne that Wilrey had their +orders to warrant his action, wee will hope, it may begett some +parelel resolution of state here. If they disclaim it, and leave +their West India Company to be responcible, they will send us to a +towne where there is noe house, unlesse wee pay ourselves, per legem +talionis."[55] + +In answer to Downing's memorial concerning the "Charles" and the +"James" the West India Company confined itself to a justification of +Wilree's actions, and omitted to say anything about the authority by +which they had been committed.[56] Although Downing insisted that a +definite answer be given him on this point, the States General also +evaded the issue by maintaining that nothing had been done by the +company but what justice and necessity required. They supported the +company in its contention that Cape Corse and Comany were effectually +blockaded, and therefore the ships "Charles" and "James" had no right +to trade there.[57] + +Such a justification of the West India Company's actions could +scarcely be satisfactory to Downing or to those in charge of foreign +affairs in England. The Royal Company was very much concerned also +lest the Dutch would continue to interrupt the ships which it sent to +the Gold Coast. To add to this adverse condition news arrived that, +about the first of June, 1663,[58] the Dutch had at last succeeded in +regaining possession of Cape Corse. At this there was much +satisfaction in Holland. Downing wrote that since the Dutch now had +the two important castles of Elmina and Cape Corse, commanding the +most important trade in all Guinea, they intended to prohibit all +other nations from trading to that region.[59] Over this turn of +events there was great disappointment among the members of the Royal +Company, who had confidently expected to obtain Cape Corse from the +natives. In fact, they had intended to make Cape Corse their main +stronghold and at that place establish their principal trade.[60] + +Charles II decided that it was time to come to the assistance of the +Royal Company, and on September 5, 1663, he lent three of his ships to +it for a voyage to Africa.[61] Later, he also ordered several +additional royal vessels commanded by Sir Robert Holmes to accompany +these ships. The preparation and departure of the fleet was short and +remained a close secret with the officials immediately concerned. + +The king instructed Holmes to protect the company's agents, ships, +goods, and factories from all injury; and to secure a free trade with +the natives. Also, he declared, "If (upon consultacon with such +commandrs as are there present) you judge yourself strong enough to +maintaine the right of his Matie's subjects by force, you are to do +it, and to kill, sink, take, or destroy such as oppose you, & to send +home such ships as you shall so take." If the two ships "Golden Lyon" +and "Christiana," the first of which was the chief assailant of the +company's ships "Charles" and "James" in November, 1662, were +encountered. Holmes was instructed to seize them. All other ships +which had committed such injuries on the vessels of the Royal +Company[62] were likewise to be seized and taken to England. On his +arrival at the mouth of the Gambia River in January, 1664, Holmes +discovered that since his visit in 1661 the relations of the Dutch and +English had been anything but friendly. The English commander on +Charles Island had given Petro Justobaque and other Dutch factors from +Cape Verde permission to trade up and down the river. Holmes heard +that they had endeavored to stir up the native king of Barra against +the English in December, 1661.[63] On the 21st of June, 1662, +Justobaque with a ship again appeared on the Gambia. In order to +compel him to recognize the English rights on the river, the English +commander at James Island fired at the ship. The Dutch ship paid no +heed to the demand of the English and returned the fire until it was a +safe distance away. A few days later when returning to Cape Verde the +English shot away the main mast of the Dutch ship, but Justobaque +managed to escape.[64] + +Although these incidents had happened more than a year and a half +before Holmes' arrival at James Island, he was incensed at the actions +of the Dutch. When it was reported to him that a large Dutch vessel +had arrived at Cape Verde, he assumed that it was the "Golden Lyon" +which had sailed from Holland about the same time as he had departed +from England. Several English ships were expected on the Gambia and +for fear of their capture by the "Golden Lyon," Holmes sailed at once +for Cape Verde where, according to his statement, without any +provocation he was fired upon by the Dutch. Holmes returned the fire, +and after suffering some damage withdrew from the attack. On the +following morning he was surprised, he declared, to see that the Dutch +had hung out a white flag and were sending a boat to him offering to +surrender the fort. He called a council which, after considering the +former hazards of the English trade on the Gambia, decided "that the +better to protect our trade for a tyme and sooner to bring in +Hollander's West India Compa to adjust our nation's damages sustained +by them, and to that end we accepted the surrender of that place."[65] + +Holmes' explanation of the taking of Cape Verde, although simple and +direct, is probably incomplete. His whole career shows him to have +been a man who was likely to take the initiative, so that it is not +surprising to learn from the depositions of various Dutchmen that, +previous to the battle of Cape Verde, Holmes had seized two Dutch +vessels, and that after receiving an unfavorable reply to his demand +to surrender, Holmes attacked the fort at Cape Verde, which +capitulated together with several Dutch vessels.[66] + +From the conflicting statements made by the Dutch and the English it +is difficult to ascertain the truth regarding the events immediately +preceding the attack on Cape Verde, but the fact remains that Holmes +had obtained a number of Dutch vessels and was master of one of their +most important forts on the west coast of Africa. Since he had +discovered the ease with which the Dutch possessions could be seized, +Holmes next set out down the coast toward Elmina. On the way he +despoiled the Dutch factory at Sestos, on the pretext that at that +place the Dutch had stirred up the natives against the English.[67] +Shortly afterwards, he encountered and captured the "Golden Lyon" +which had added to its notorious career by preventing the "Mary," a +ship belonging to the Royal Adventurers, from trading on the Gold +Coast in March, 1663.[68] Finally he seized the Dutch factory at Anta, +on the ground that it was commanded by the former captain of the +"Christiana," one of the Dutch ships designated for seizure in the +king's instructions.[69] + +Before leaving the Gambia, Holmes had been apprised of what had taken +place on the Gold Coast since the Dutch had captured Cape Corse in +June, 1663. After the Dutch had taken possession of this fortress +General Valckenburg despatched a very strong protest to the chief +English factory at Kormentine, in which he maintained that the Dutch +had a right to the exclusive possession of the whole Gold Coast by +reason of their conquest of the Portuguese. He required the English to +leave the lodge which they had recently built at Tacorary and demanded +that they refrain from all trade on the Gold Coast. He even had the +temerity to claim that the English had injured the Dutch trade at Cape +Corse and Tacorary to the extent of sixty marks of gold per month, and +that the Dutch had lost one thousand marks on account of the +interference of English ships such as the "Charles" and the +"James."[70] + +In answer to Valckenburg's sweeping assertions Francis Selwin, the +English chief at Kormentine, and John Stoakes, commander of one of the +English ships, replied that the English had more right to Cape Corse +and other places on the Gold Coast than the Dutch, because they had +first settled and fortified Cape Corse with the consent of the natives +in 1649.[71] As a further indication that they were not intimidated by +the hostile attitude of Valckenburg the English commenced to build +another factory at Anashan in the Fantin region. In September, 1663, +this brought forth another vigorous protest from Valckenburg, who +declared that he would not tolerate the continuance of this +factory.[72] By way of enforcing these threats the Dutch prevented the +"Sampson," another ship belonging to the Royal Adventurers, from +engaging in any trade at the factory of Komenda.[73] Thereupon Stoakes +declared that, although the English greatly desired to live in peace +with the Dutch, they would not under any circumstances abandon their +factory at Anashan.[74] + +At this time the English had factories and settlements at Kormentine, +Komenda, Tacorary, Anto, Anashan, Ardra, and Wiamba. The forts and +lodges of the two companies were all located within a few miles of one +another and for either company to increase the number of its +settlements only made the instances of friction between them more +numerous.[75] It seemed that whichever company was able to overcome +the other would be sure to do so. It was under these circumstances +that Sir Robert Holmes made his appearance on the Gold Coast. The fact +that the Dutch had laid claim to the whole Gold Coast was sufficient +excuse for his interference, although, if we may believe the Dutch +version, Holmes exceeded their claims by reasserting the English right +to the whole of the west coast of Africa, as he had done at Cape Verde +in 1661.[76] + +Be this as it may, according to Holmes' account, Captain Cubitt of the +Royal Company endeavored to induce Valckenburg to come to an amicable +adjustment of the troubles on the Gold Coast. Holmes expected that his +previous seizures would induce such a settlement, but Valckenburg +obstinately refused Holmes' demand to evacuate Cape Corse.[77] Since +he had failed to intimidate the Dutch, Holmes sailed to Cape Corse +where he visited the Danish fort of Fredericksburg. The Dutch fired at +him from Cape Corse, an act which Holmes regarded as the beginning of +war.[78] He called a council of officers and factors of the Royal +Company on May 7, 1664, where, after considering "theire (the Dutch) +unjust possessing of that very castle of Cape Coast indubitably ours, +... wee then resolved att that councell ... for the better securitye +of that trade, our interest in that countrye, and to regaine our +nacion's rights, to reduce that castle of Cape Coast wch accordingly +succeeded."[79] On pretexts of much the same character Holmes seized +the Dutch factories of Agga and Anamabo, together with several ships. +By this time the Dutch were stripped of all their settlements on the +African coast except the main fortress of Elmina. In finishing his +account of the expedition Holmes blandly remarked, "I hope I have nott +exceeded my instructions, they being to concerve our comerce." + +Since it is not essential to follow Holmes across the Atlantic to New +Amsterdam one may return to the negotiations which were proceeding in +Europe subsequent to his departure from England. So closely had the +secret of Holmes' expedition to Africa been guarded that it is even +doubtful if Sir George Downing at The Hague was aware of it.[80] As +far as the purpose of the voyage was concerned nothing could have been +nearer the advice which he had been urging for months. Moreover, +Downing was not alone in his opinion that negotiation regarding +affairs in Africa would be fruitless. The Danish resident at The +Hague, Carisius, who was pressing the Danish claims for the possession +of Cape Corse, confessed to Downing that nothing could be obtained +from the Dutch unless it was "attended with some thing that was reall +& did bite."[81] Since this was the case Downing pointed out that the +Danish fort at Fredericksburg would probably fall into the hands of +the Dutch. To avoid this misfortune he advised the Royal Company to +induce the Danes to transfer Fredericksburg to it, granting them in +return a free commerce at that place. As the Royal Company did not see +fit to follow this suggestion[82] Downing began to form other plans. +In order that Carisius might continue to worry the Dutch with his +claims Downing submitted a memorial to the States General protesting +against the Dutch treatment of the Danes in Guinea.[83] Indeed he was +so friendly toward the Danish pretensions that the king of Denmark +sent him a special letter thanking him for his services.[84] + +In the main, however, Downing was persistently urging the Dutch to +make a settlement of the cases of the Royal Company's two ships, the +"Charles" and the "James," and of the right of the Dutch to blockade +the Gold Coast on the pretext of war with the natives. In December, +1663, at the instigation of the West India Company, the States General +maintained that only a few ships were necessary to blockade the small +native states on the Gold Coast, since in each case there were but one +or two outlets to the sea.[85] On February 1, 1664, Downing obtained a +conference with DeWitt and the representatives of the States General +and the West India Company. The company's representatives boldly +admitted that they had hindered the English ships from trading at +Komenda and Cape Corse, because the natives had burned their factory +at the former place and had seized their fortress at Cape Corse. This +irritating assumption of their ownership of Cape Corse aroused +Downing. So far, he had contented himself in supporting the Danish and +even the Swedish claims to Cape Corse. Now, notwithstanding the +inconsistency of his position, he remarked that, if it was a question +of the ownership of Cape Corse, the English could show more rights to +the place than any one, since they had been the first to settle it +and to trade there; and that even if the Dutch were in possession of +it, the English still had a right to trade to the Danish fort of +Fredericksburg which was located in the same harbor.[86] + +When the discussion turned on the requirements of an effective +blockade the Dutch advocate stoutly maintained that "it is nott for +any other to prescribe how and in what manner the company shall +proceed to retake their places, that if they think that the riding +with a few shipps before a place and that att certaine times onely +whereby to hinder other nations from trading with it, be a sufficient +meanes for the retaking thereof, they have no reason to be att further +charge or trouble." He further declared that a certain sickness in +that region, known as "Serenes," caused by the falling dew, made it +impossible for Europeans to engage in a blockade by land, and +therefore "in this case itt was to be counted sufficient and to be +called a besieging, though the place were onely blocked up by +sea."[87] Downing scoffed at this as an unheard of theory and asked +what would happen if the Royal Company instituted blockades of this +character and pretended "Serenes" whenever it seemed convenient. With +such a display of feeling it is no wonder little could be done toward +adjusting the difficulties. DeWitt suggested a new treaty for the +regulation of such affairs both in Europe and abroad. Downing flatly +refused to consider such a proposition if it was meant thereby to +dispose of the cases of the "Charles" and the "James." He remained +firm in his demand for reparation for these two ships.[88] A few days +after this conference Downing learned of the misfortunes which had +befallen the Royal Company's ship, the "Mary," during the previous +year. On February 16, he apprised the States General of this +additional cause for complaint and demanded satisfaction as in the +case of the other two vessels[89]. + +If Downing was becoming exasperated, the people in England were +scarcely less so when they heard of the troubles of the "Mary" and +other similar occurrences. Secretary Cunaeus declared that the +animosity in England towards Holland was growing exceedingly among the +common people. Led by the duke of York, governor of the Royal Company, +the courtiers had also become exceedingly indignant at the treatment +accorded the company's ships and factories in Africa[90]. One of +Valckenburg's statements regarding the Dutch ownership of the Gold +Coast had been circulated on the Royal Exchange, where it became the +chief topic of conversation. Indeed so great was the sensation it +stirred up that Samuel Pepys declared on April 7, 1664, that everybody +was expecting a war[91]. On the 21st of April the members of the House +of Commons resolved that the damages inflicted by the Dutch in India, +Africa, and elsewhere constituted a very great obstruction to English +trade. They, therefore, petitioned the king for redress for these +various injuries, and promised to support any action he took with +their lives and fortunes. + +At last the Dutch realized that the African situation was becoming +serious, and Downing therefore found it somewhat easier to bring them +to a discussion of the subject. DeWitt proposed that the case of the +three Royal Company's ships as well as that of two East India ships, +the "Bona Esperanza" and the "Henry Bonaventure," should be included +in the list of damages provided for by the treaty of September, 1662. +Downing absolutely refused to consider such a makeshift on the ground +that the ships of the Royal Company had been injured after the treaty +had been signed, and therefore in accordance with its provisions +these losses should be submitted to the Netherlands for +compensation.[92] + +Since he had failed to induce Downing to permit the three ships to be +included in the list of damages, DeWitt had exhausted the last means +of delay. On May 6, 1664, Downing announced in letters to Bennet and +Clarendon that DeWitt had at last consented to accommodate the matter +of the three ships. He was willing, moreover, to enter into an +agreement, for the prevention of all such future troubles, along the +lines which Downing had laid down. Regarding the two East India ships, +however, whose case was quite different from those of the Royal +Company, DeWitt would not alter his stubborn refusal of compensation. +Downing was intent on gaining a complete victory and at once rejoined +that no new commercial regulations could be considered until entire +satisfaction had been rendered for the damages which the Dutch had +committed.[93] + +Although an attempt was made to suppress the first tidings of Holmes' +actions on the Gambia, the rumor of them soon spread. It was not long +until it was well known in London and Amsterdam that he had taken Cape +Verde and captured several Dutch vessels.[94] The West India Company +bitterly accused the English of having covered their designs in Africa +with a cloak of complaints regarding the Royal Company's ships. The +company reminded the States General that this was the same Holmes who, +in 1661, had set up a claim to the whole coast and who was to have +been exemplarily punished on his return by the king of England. Since +it was evident that all the Dutch factories and forts in Guinea were +in danger of capture from Holmes, the company asked the States General +for some vessels of war which should be sent to the African coast for +the protection of its property[95]. + +It was now the turn of the Dutch to seek compensation and restitution +of their property. Since Downing was a very exasperating man with whom +to deal they were undoubtedly pleased when toward the end of May, +1664, he suddenly returned to England[96]. The Dutch, therefore, +decided to send VanGogh to London, with the hope that he could obtain +more satisfactory results there than had ever been possible with +Downing at The Hague. VanGogh was instructed to seek for the +restitution of the West India Company's property; to remind the king +of the unfulfilled promises which he had made regarding Holmes and the +voyage of 1661;[97] and to seek for new commercial regulations which +would prevent future trouble on the African coast[98]. + +Very soon after his arrival in England VanGogh gained an audience with +the king who, in reply to his demands, answered that as yet his +knowledge of the Holmes' affair was very imperfect; that he had not +given Holmes orders to seize Cape Verde; and that in case he had +exceeded his instructions he would be punished upon his return, +according to the exigency of the case[99]. Such a reply sounded too +much like the king's former promise of August 14, 1661, to satisfy +DeWitt. He instructed VanGogh to insist that his Majesty make these +promises in writing[100]. VanGogh answered DeWitt that it was hopeless +to think of inducing the English to return Cape Verde, in view of the +preparations then in progress for carrying on trade to the west coast +of Africa. He declared that already they were boasting in London that +a contract was to be made with the Spanish for the delivery of 4,000 +slaves per annum[101]. As early as the middle of June the Royal +Company had eight ships loading in London with goods worth 50,000 +pounds destined for the Guinea coast[102]. + +In midsummer, 1664, Andries C. Vertholen and other Dutchmen, whom +Holmes had carried from Cape Verde to the Gold Coast, returned to +Holland, where they reported at length Holmes' actions at Cape Verde +and on the way to the Gold Coast[103]. These details did not tend to +DeWitt's peace of mind. Hence it is no wonder, upon Downing's return +to Holland, that the two men "fell very hard upon the busines of Cabo +Verde" in their very first conversation. As he had instructed VanGogh +to do, so DeWitt demanded of Downing that the English king make a +written promise that no more hostilities would be committed on the +Guinea Coast, or the Dutch would be in duty bound to assist their +company. Downing, who now felt the advantage which the success of +Holmes' expedition gave him, replied to DeWitt as follows: "I must +say," that the West India Company has "ever since his Majtye's return +played the devills & pirats, worse thn Argiers, taken 20 English +ships, hindered others, putt out a declaration whereby they claymed al +the coast to thmselves; & was it lawfull for thm so to demean +thmselves & only lawfull for the English to suffer, tht yet his Majty +did not intermeddle, but only the one company against the other, & no +wonder if at last the English did stirr a little; & tht Holms was the +companye's servt & tht should his Majty have given or lent thm an old +ship or two, yet he had nothing to doe in the ordering their designe." +Furthermore, he declared that if the Dutch took it upon themselves to +assist the West India Company "his Majty would find himself equally +obliged to assist his company."[104] + +To every one it now seemed as if an open conflict must come. Toward +the last of July, Pepys declared that all the talk was of a Dutch +war,[105] although even Coventry, a director of the Royal Company, +admitted that there was little real cause for it and that the damage +done to the company, which had brought on Holmes' expedition, did not +exceed the paltry sum of two or three hundred pounds.[106] In Holland, +also, the disposition toward war was increased by the realization that +the next report from Holmes might bring news of the total loss of the +Gold Coast, including the main fortress of Elmina. Under these +circumstances the king's promise to punish Holmes according to the +exigency of the case meant little or nothing. The maritime provinces, +especially Holland, were determined to assist the West India Company +against English aggression in Africa. + +When Downing discussed the situation with DeWitt, however, he was +surprised to hear him still express the possibility of giving +satisfaction for the seizure of the Royal Company's ships, and not "so +hott" for sending a fleet immediately to Guinea as he had been at +first.[107] Even Downing was for the time being deceived. His spy, who +was well within DeWitt's immediate circle, for once was not on duty to +give his usual faithful report to his benefactor. DeWitt was +accustomed to resort to the same trickery and deceitful diplomacy that +was so characteristic of Downing. Indeed it would be difficult to +decide which of these two men was the greater master of this +questionable art. The English had sent Holmes to Africa totally +unknown to the Dutch and had taken half the coast from them before +they were even aware of the expedition. It is little wonder then that +the idea occurred to DeWitt to retaliate in kind on the English and to +keep his plans a profound secret. + +In 1661 the Dutch had sent a fleet under Admiral DeRuyter to the +Mediterranean Sea in conjunction with an English squadron commanded by +Sir John Lawson, for the purpose of punishing the Algerian and other +pirates who had been infesting Dutch and English commerce. DeRuyter +and Lawson had succeeded in making a number of favorable treaties with +the pirates, though the task of quelling them was by no means +complete. DeWitt realized that a fleet could scarcely be dispatched to +Guinea from Holland without being discovered. Therefore, he together +with six of his councillors decided to send secret orders to DeRuyter +to sail at once for the coast of Guinea. On account of a peculiarity +of the Dutch government, however, it was impossible to dispatch these +orders without first securing a resolution of the States General. +DeWitt was well aware that somehow these resolutions of the States +General usually became known to Downing and the English. He therefore +determined that, while the States General should pass the order, he +would arrange the matter so that no one would know of it, except those +who were already in the plan. On August 11, 1664, the secretary of the +States General read the resolution very quickly, during which time +DeWitt and his six cohorts raised so much disturbance by loud +conversation that no one in the room heard what was being read.[108] +The trick succeeded admirably. DeWitt was now in possession of the +necessary authority, and orders were dispatched at once to DeRuyter to +leave his post in the Mediterranean and to sail for the west coast of +Africa without revealing his destination to Lawson, the English +commander. He was instructed to recover for the West India Company +those places which Holmes had seized and to deliver to Valckenburg, +the Dutch general on the Gold Coast, all the effects of the English +which were not necessary for the different factories of the +company.[109] + +In order not to arouse Downing's suspicions by apparent apathy, the +Dutch began to prepare several ships ostensibly for Africa. For the +purpose of misleading Downing still further the Dutch agreed to accept +an offer made by the French for mediation of the difficulties. DeWitt +still insisted, however, that a written promise be given him that the +forts and factories which Holmes had seized on the African coast would +be restored to the West India Company.[110] Later, in the same month +of August, 1664, Downing submitted to the States General the draft of +a proposed agreement for the settling of future disputes in the East +Indies and in Africa.[111] Downing was of the opinion that, although +the Dutch could never be depended on to keep such an agreement, it +would be a good thing in the East Indies because "ye (the English) are +the weaker ther." In Africa the situation appeared different to +Downing, for there the English had the advantage. "I hope in the +meantime," he declared, "while we are (negotiating) Holmes will doe +the work ther," because there "never will be such a opportunity as +this to make clear work in Affrica."[112] A few days later he advised +that everything on the African coast should be done "so as (the) king +of England may not appeare in it, but only (the) Rll Company, & they +takeing occasion from our affront."[113] Still later he asserted that +even in Holland everyone believed that since the king and the Royal +Company had gone so far, they would seize the entire African coast so +that the whole affair might be worth while.[114] + +Although DeWitt had been successful in sending the secret orders to +DeRuyter concerning his voyage to Guinea, he could not long hope to +deceive the ever-watchful Downing. Indeed with all due respect to his +crafty rival one is almost surprised that Downing's suspicions were +not aroused for more than a month after the commands were despatched. +When the possibility of DeRuyter's having been ordered to Africa +dawned on Downing, he at once demanded of DeWitt where DeRuyter was +going when he left Cadiz. Without hesitation DeWitt replied that he +had returned to Algiers and Tunis to ransom some Dutch people.[115] +The bald falsehood disarmed Downing's suspicions and, although he +advised that Sir John Lawson keep a watchful eye on DeRuyter, he +assured Bennet that the report that the latter had gone to Guinea was +without foundation.[116] The report continued to be whispered +about,[117] however, and although two weeks later DeWitt repeated his +falsehood, Downing began to fear that he was being deceived. He +declared that although he was certain that the States General had +given no orders in the usual way for DeRuyter's departure to Guinea, +he was very well aware that the Dutch could find means to do those +things which they deemed necessary. The more he considered the matter, +the likelihood of secret orders having been given to DeRuyter seemed +to him more and more probable. "I am sure if I were in their case, I +would do it," he finally declared, and therefore he again advised +Bennet to have Sir John Lawson watch DeRuyter closely.[118] + +The news of Holmes' success at Cape Verde had stirred up extraordinary +activity in the Royal Company. In September, 1664, the company was +busily enlisting factors and soldiers for the Guinea coast. A number +of ships, several of which belonged to the king, and some of which the +company hired, were being prepared for the voyage to Guinea.[119] To +add to the company's bright prospects, a vessel from the Gold Coast +arrived in England at the end of September,[120] bringing the account +of Holmes' capture of Cape Corse and other factories on the African +coast. The Royal Company now saw itself master of West Africa. Pepys +declared that the news from Holmes would certainly make the Dutch +quite "mad."[121] It did indeed create a very great impression in +Holland, where many had believed that Cape Corse was impregnable. +Downing, of course, rejoiced exceedingly. Oftentimes in the past he +had supported the Danish and Swedish claims to Cape Corse, but now he +found no difficulty in showing Carisius and Appleborne, the Danish and +Swedish representatives at The Hague, that their claims were as +before, against the Dutch. Omitting to say anything of the English +claim to Cape Corse, Downing explained to them that since the Dutch +had been in possession of Cape Corse, Holmes had seized it together +with other places on account of the numerous injuries done to the +Royal Company. "They both replied that they took it so."[122] + +In London, VanGogh lost no time in obtaining an interview with Charles +II concerning Holmes' latest activities. Again the king asserted that +Holmes' violent actions on the African coast were without his +knowledge, especially the affair at Cape Verde, which place he +declared was of no importance and not worth one hundred pounds.[123] +Regarding his responsibility for the capture of Cape Corse he +refrained from committing himself so definitely, but he assured the +Dutch ambassador that Cape Corse belonged to the English; that their +claim to it would be satisfactorily established; and that he intended +to preserve these new acquisitions by sending Prince Rupert with a +fleet to the coast of Africa.[124] On the 28th of October, after +learning of Holmes' capture of New Amsterdam, Charles II boldly threw +aside his reserve and declared that the taking of Cape Corse, as well +as of New Amsterdam, "was done with his knowledge & by his order as +being a business wch properly belonged to the English, that the ground +was theirs & that they had also built upon the same, that the same was +afterwards taken from the English by the Netherlands West India Compa, +& ... that the English will justify & demonstrate their right to all +this."[125] If Holmes' actions in Guinea have so far seemed very +extraordinary, they can hardly be so regarded any longer in view of +the light which the king himself threw over the whole situation in +this remarkable statement. To be sure he had not as yet assumed +responsibility for the capture of Cape Verde. However, his direct +responsibility for the other actions of Holmes, which were much more +important, makes it a matter of little consequence whether the capture +of Cape Verde is to be attributed to him or not. + +It may have seemed to Downing that there was less excuse for the +seizure of Cape Verde than for the other places. At any rate he held +out some hope to DeWitt that it would be restored to the Dutch. This +must have been a bitter sop to DeWitt, who was well aware that as for +Cape Corse he need entertain no such hope.[126] There was one feature +of the situation, however, which somewhat pleased DeWitt,[127] Downing +could no longer maintain that the troubles in Guinea were merely +quarrels between two commercial companies in which the king had no +direct interest or connection. DeWitt would not therefore be at a loss +to find numerous reasons why DeRuyter had been sent to Africa when the +time came for defending that action. + +By this time every one in London and Amsterdam was in a state of +extreme suspense as to whether or not DeRuyter was on the Guinea +coast. On the 14th of October, 1664, news was received both in Holland +and in England from Cadiz to the effect that DeRuyter intended to sail +to Guinea upon his departure from that port.[128] In Amsterdam, +encouraged by this vigorous rumor, the stocks of the West India +Company began to rise from the low point where they had been for some +time.[129] When Downing chided DeWitt about DeRuyter, the latter +replied in a bantering fashion that if he believed the report, +notwithstanding what had been said to the contrary, to continue in the +belief; it could do no harm.[130] In London, the apprehension of +DeRuyter's expedition greatly checked the enthusiasm of the Royal +Company, and caused the king to postpone Prince Rupert's departure to +the African coast. VanGogh reported the cry that was heard everywhere +in London, "Guinea is lost. What now is it possible to do with the +Dutch."[131] The Dutch ambassador, who did not cease to haunt the +king's chambers over Holmes' seizures, found Charles II irritable and +greatly displeased with affairs. When questioned as to whether he +would punish Holmes, the king declared that Holmes did not need to +fear punishment at home since the Dutch had evidently sent forces to +do it themselves.[132] + +The news concerning DeRuyter's successful expedition to the African +coast, which arrived in England just before Christmas, 1664, showed, +as Pepys expressed it, that the English had been "beaten to dirt at +Guinea."[133] Indeed DeRuyter's conquest of the coast in the end was +as complete as that of Holmes.[134] With one exception DeRuyter +captured all the English factories and forts, including Kormentine, +which he delivered with their goods to the agents of the West India +Company. The English retained only Cape Corse, which, because of its +strong position and the loyalty of the natives, DeRuyter decided would +offer a successful resistance.[135] + +Up to the time that DeRuyter departed for the African coast it is +conceivable that by mutual concessions the troublesome questions +existing between England and the United Provinces might have been +amicably settled. The Dutch, however, had decided that this could not +be done with honor and advantage to themselves, and therefore they +chose to answer the warlike actions of Holmes in kind. When the +English learned of DeRuyter's activities on the African coast the +growing animosity between the two countries was so greatly intensified +that war was inevitable. The members of the Royal Company who realized +the gravity of the situation begged the king to come to the company's +assistance.[136] The king, who considered the company to be of great +importance to the colonial trade, and who realized his own intimate +connection with its formation, declared on January 2, 1665, that he +was resolved "to assist, protect & preserve the said company in the +prosecution of their said trade,"[137] a declaration which was +tantamount to war. + +The Anglo-Dutch war of 1665-7 was, therefore, as has long been known, +a war over trade privileges. Furthermore, in the popular mind, it was +the dispute over trading privileges on the West African coast which +"became the Occasion, at least the Popular Pretence of the war with +Holland."[138] In international disputes some facts, although of minor +importance, are often seized upon with great vigor by the contending +parties. It is very probable that both England and the United +Provinces greatly overestimated the value of the African forts and +factories, but, at that time, the possession of them seemed very +important. To many of these places plausible claims were advanced by +both the English and the Dutch. There was plenty of opportunity +therefore for disputes, and the representatives of the two great +commercial companies did not fail to utilize it. + +If the factors of the two companies in Guinea found it impossible to +reconcile their differences, the same observation may be made +concerning Downing and DeWitt at The Hague. One is not inclined to +excuse the deceit of the latter nor to sympathize with the apathetic +neglect with which he met all English claims. On the other hand, +Downing was perhaps the match for DeWitt in cunning and his master in +argument. His contempt for the Dutch made it impossible for him to +deal with them without gaining a complete victory. Compromise is the +basis of most diplomacy, but such a word was scarcely in Downing's +vocabulary. There were men in England who realized that Downing was +slowly but surely leading the two countries into war. Clarendon +reproved him for overzealousness; and Lord Hollis, the English +ambassador in France, informed him that he saw no "causam belli, onely +litigandi," and asked him if he could not temper his speech "by +pouring in oyle & not vinegar," and thus prevent a war if +possible.[139] In Downing's behalf it may be said, however, that his +attitude was the same as that of the mercantile interests in England +which he so well represented. The increasing importance of the +mercantile element, both in England and Holland, and their desire to +encroach on the trade of one another in all parts of the world, +especially in Guinea, was responsible for the war.[140] When the war +was inevitable, representatives of the English commercial interests +assured the government of their loyal support and assistance.[141] As +for the Dutch they, too, entered the conflict with high hopes for they +did not fear Charles II as they had feared Cromwell. + +Sir Robert Holmes who had been so largely responsible for the +difficulties which resulted in the Anglo-Dutch war arrived in England +early in January, 1665. He was ordered to surrender the ships which he +had taken from the Dutch in Guinea to the Royal Company.[142] On the +9th of January, by way of appeasing VanGogh, he was thrown into the +Tower of London,[143] where he was to remain, the king declared, until +he gave a satisfactory account of his actions at Cape Verde. Once more +it appeared as if proceedings were to be taken against him "according +to the exigency of the case."[144] It is interesting to note that his +imprisonment resulted from the capture of the one place, mention of +which was omitted in his instructions. However, Holmes was not long +detained in confinement. Probably on account of the influence of the +duke of York and of Prince Rupert he was again set at liberty toward +the last of January,[145] and VanGogh reported that he was even +enjoying royal favor.[146] Apparently Holmes was unable to render a +satisfactory account of his prizes to the Royal Company, however, and +he was therefore reconfined in the Tower about the 24th of +February.[147] On the third of March he was examined before the Privy +Council in regard to his expedition. His explanation of the various +events was found satisfactory and he was forthwith ordered to be +discharged from the Tower.[148] This order was not executed at once +because he had not even yet rendered a satisfactory account to the +Company.[149] Royal clemency was invoked and a warrant was issued +March 23, 1665, releasing him from all criminal and pecuniary charges +which might be brought against him.[150] The king's intervention in +his behalf brought to an end the connection of Sir Robert Holmes with +the company's affairs on the African coast. + +By concluding the account of the diplomatic relations of England and +the United Provinces with the early part of 1665, it is not intended +to convey the idea that all diplomatic intercourse between the two +countries ceased at that time. Downing remained in The Hague until +August of that year, but neither side thought seriously of attempting +to prevent the struggle in which they were already engaged on the +African coast. DeRuyter arrived at Cape Verde on October 11, 1664, +where he found nine English vessels most of which were in the service +of the Royal Company and had only recently arrived on the Guinea +coast. In response to an inquiry made by the English as to his +intentions DeRuyter replied that he had come to punish the Royal +Company for Holmes' hostile actions. He demanded the surrender of the +company's factors and goods on shore and on the several ships. Since +the English were unable to resist they surrendered the goods of the +Royal Company after which the vessels were permitted to depart. In +this way DeRuyter attempted to show plainly that he was not carrying +on hostilities against the English nation, but was only aiding the +West India Company to recover its property and goods, and to punish +the Royal Company for the actions of Sir Robert Holmes. + +DeRuyter left a Dutch garrison at Cape Verde and started with his +plunder for Elmina. On the way he despoiled the English factory on the +Sierra Leone River. On December 25 he arrived on the Gold Coast and +made an attack on Tacorary where he was temporarily repulsed, but +later he succeeded in blowing up this English factory. He then +proceeded to unload at Elmina the effects which he had taken from the +English. While doing so he received orders from the States General, +dated October 21, 1664, commanding him to seize all English goods and +vessels, whether they belonged to the Royal Company or not. In +accordance with these instructions DeRuyter captured several English +vessels, but he considered his chief duty to be the taking of the +English fort at Kormentine. An agreement was made with the natives of +the neighboring region of Fetu, who acted in conjunction with the +Dutch ships and with the forces which DeRuyter landed. Although many +of the natives remained loyal to the English, Kormentine fell an easy +prey to the attacking party about the first of February, 1665. The +other English factories, with the exception of Cape Corse, were also +occupied without much difficulty. Although DeRuyter had received +special orders to reduce Cape Corse, he considered this impossible, on +account of the ease with which it could be defended and the loyalty of +the Negroes to the English cause in that territory. DeRuyter was +therefore compelled to depart from the Gold Coast on his voyage to +Barbadoes without having taken possession of Cape Corse[151]. + +On April 18, 1667, Lord Hollis and Sir William Coventry, who were +selected as the English envoys to treat for peace between England and +the United Provinces, were instructed to propose that each country +retain whatever places were in its possession on the 25th of the +previous December. On the other hand, the English were also directed +to induce the Dutch to give back Kormentine if possible[152]. How +vigorously the envoys urged the return of Kormentine cannot be +ascertained, but at any rate they were unsuccessful in obtaining it. +When the treaty was concluded at Breda, July 21, 1667, it provided +that each country should retain the territories which it held on the +tenth of the previous May[153]. Thus ended the war which had in so +large a measure been caused by the troubles between the Royal +Adventurers and the West India Company. + +At the conclusion of peace between the two countries, the English +cannot be said to have been in a better position on the Guinea coast +than they were before the war. On the other hand, it would not be +difficult to rebuild new factories at the places which they had lost +during the war. Indeed at the time peace was made factories had +already been settled in several places occupied before DeRuyter's +expedition. Nicolas Villaut, a Frenchman who made a voyage down the +coast of Guinea in the years 1666 and 1667 mentioned an English +factory on one of the islands in the Sierra Leone River, another at +Madra Bomba just north of Cape Mount, and still another just below +Cape Miserado[154]. He also mentioned the strength of the English +fortress at Cape Corse, and declared that, although there was war in +Europe between England and Denmark, the English factors at Cape Corse +and those of the Danes at the neighboring fort of Fredericksburg made +an amicable agreement to commit no acts of hostility against one +another; and that this agreement was so punctually observed that the +soldiers of the two nations mingled freely at all times[155]. Villaut +failed to describe the condition of the company's fort in the Gambia +River, but on October 30, 1667, an attack on it by the natives was +reported to the general court of the company[156]. The Negroes +succeeded in obtaining possession of the island but were presently +dislodged by the company's factors after the loss of a number of white +men[157]. + +Inasmuch as there remain very scanty records of the company's trading +activities and the manner of government instituted at its forts and +factories on the African coast, it is impossible to describe fully +these aspects of the company's history. When the company first sent +agents to the head factory at Kormentine seven men each served a +month's turn as chief factor. As might have been expected trouble +resulted concerning the succession.[158] The company therefore +withdrew this order and directed that one of the factors be given +charge of affairs with the title of chief agent and with a salary of +one hundred pounds per year.[159] After the Dutch captured Kormentine +in 1665, Cape Corse became the chief English factory, under the +direction of Gilbert Beavis, who was replaced by Thomas Pearson in +1667. At the end of the Anglo-Dutch war the company's affairs on the +African coast were at a low ebb, and the uncertainties of the Guinea +trade were at once demonstrated when the former agent, Beavis, in +conjunction with the natives, assaulted Cape Corse, carrying off +Pearson and much of the company's goods. With the assistance of one of +the Royal Company's ships the factors recovered the fort and replaced +Pearson in charge of affairs, where he remained to the year 1671.[160] + +In addition to these difficulties there was also a repetition of the +petty quarrels between the agents of the Royal Company and those of +the West India Company, which had so characterized the years previous +to the war. When the English began to build lodges at Komenda and +Agga, the Dutch general, Dirck Wilree, at once objected, claiming that +the possession of the adjacent fort of Kormentine gave them exclusive +rights to those places.[161] The English denied this claim[162] and +sent home for more supplies to fortify Komenda. At the same time they +advised the company that the licensed private traders who had appeared +on the coast had very greatly injured the trade of the company's +factories, because they sold their goods very much cheaper than the +company's agents could afford to.[163] The renewal of the trouble +between the two companies moved the general court on June 30, 1668, to +ask for the king's assistance.[164] The information lately received +from the company's agents was read in the Privy Council and referred +to the committee for trade.[165] This committee recommended the +appointment of some persons to treat with the Dutch regarding the +possession of the disputed places, and Secretary Morice was therefore +instructed to sound the Dutch ambassadors in London about the matter. +Instructions of a similar nature were to be given to Sir William +Temple, who was about to depart for the United Netherlands as the +English ambassador.[166]At this point the matter seems to have been +dropped without further discussion, and Komenda remained a subject of +possible contention between the English and the Dutch for many years +to come. + +During the latter years of the history of the Company of Royal +Adventurers the factories including Cape Corse fell into great decay, +on account of the failure of the company to send out ships and +supplies. Nearly all the English trade was carried on in the vessels +of private traders, who in return for their licenses, agreed to take +one-tenth of their cargoes free of all freight charges, which goods +were to be used for the maintenance of the company's factories, +especially Cape Corse.[167] Even this provision was not sufficient, +and in the latter part of November, 1670, it was found necessary to +send some additional supplies for the immediate relief of Cape +Corse.[168] The king, who was still indebted to the company for his +subscription to the stock, was induced to pay a part of it, with which +money two ships were despatched for the relief of Cape Corse[169] +which had been in great distress.[170] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] John II of Portugal had assumed the title of Lord of Guinea in +1485. + +[2] Dumont, _Corps Universel Diplomatique_, VI, part 2, p. 367. + +[3] As for instance, in 1659, the seizure of a Dutch ship called the +Vrede by a French captain under the pretense of a Swedish commission. +Lias, West Indien, 1658 tot 1665, Zeeland chamber to the Amsterdam +chamber of W. I. C. (West India Company), March 1, 1660 (N. S.). Also, +in the same year, the Dutch confiscated a Courland ship called the +Pietas for trespassing on Dutch territory. _Ibid._, Amsterdam chamber +of W. I. C. to S. G. (States General), June 23, 1661 (N. S.). Louis +XIV also complained about the disturbance of French commerce on the +Gambia by the Dutch. _Lettres, Memoires et Negociations de Monsieur le +Compte d'Estrades_, I, 185, Louis XIV to d'Estrades, August 13, 1661 +(N. S.). + +[4] Diederichs, pp. 20, 21. (Diederichs, H., _Herzog Jacobs von +Kurland Kolonien an der Westkuste von Afrika_.) + +[5] The West India Company was subdivided into the chambers of +Amsterdam, Groeningen, Zeeland, North Holland and Friesland, and the +Maas. The Amsterdam chamber was much the most important; it was known +therefore as the "presidiale" chamber. + +[6] C. O. 1: 16, f. 191, February 4, 1659 (N. S.). At the same time +Momber advised Steele, the Courland commander at Fort St. Andre, to +pay no attention to the contract if he was in a position to defend +himself, but Steele was unable to resist. Diederichs, pp. 45, 46. + +[7] Diederichs, pp. 46-8; C. O. 1: 16, ff. 193, 195-7. + +[8] Resolution of S. G., July 28, 1661 (N. S.); Aitzema, X, 76. +(Aitzema, Lieuwe van, _Historie of Verhael van Saken van Staet en +Oorlogh_.) + +[9] See the oath taken by Holmes' men dated March 7, 1660/1, enclosed +in the letter of Nassau and others to the estates of H. and W. F. +(Holland and West Friesland), January 17/27, 1662. + +[10] C. O. 1: 16, f. 193, relation of Otto Steele; Diederichs, p. 49. +Holmes afterward admitted that there were but two men and a boy in the +fort when it was taken. C. O. 1: 30, f. 74, Holmes to Sir Edward +Walker, May 20, 1673. + +[11] VanGogh and others to S. G., September 6/16, 1661. + +[12] Lias, West Indien, 1658 tot 1665, Amsterdam chamber of W. I. C. +to S. G., January 10, 1661 (N. S.). + +[13] Resolution of S. G., January 13, 1661 (N. S.). + +[14] Lias, West Indien, 1658 tot 1665, Amsterdam chamber of W. I. C. +to S. G., January 31, 1661 (N. S.). + +[15] Resolution of S. G., February 5, 1661 (N. S.). + +[16] _Ibid._, July 28, 1661 (N. S.). + +[17] Clar. St. Paps. (Clarendon State Papers), 104, f. 211, the Dutch +ambassadors to Ruysch, August 5, 1661 (N. S.). + +[18] _Ibid._, 104, f. 217, Downing to S. G., August 8, 1661. + +[19] Aitzema, X, 78, Charles II to S. G., August 14, 1661. + +[20] Clar. St. Paps., 104: 237, Downing to Clarendon, August 19, 1661 +(N. S.). In another letter Downing declared, "it would be very well to +accept of the Duke his transferring his interest to his Matie, and for +the Dutch ambrs you will do well to be 6 or 8 moneths in examining the +matter and then let them know his Maties mind." Egerton MSS., 2538, f. +12, Downing to Nicholas, January 27, 1661/2. + +[21] He suffered this punishment only because he had taken to Guinea a +number of extra men whose wages the king felt obliged to pay. +Admiralty Papers, Navy Board, In-Letters, 5, James to the Navy Board, +September 10, 1661. + +[22] This seems to be a little too much to say of the king's letter. + +[23] C. O. 1: 15, f. 168, VanGogh and others to S. G., October 19/29, +1661. + +[24] P. C. R., Charles II, 2: 417, October 25, 1661. + +[25] _Ibid._, p. 459, November 27, 1661. + +[26] _Ibid._, pp. 510, 514, January 8, 10, 1662. He may also have been +before the Council in December, as an order was made on December 21, +1661, rescinding the former order to stop his pay. Admiralty Papers, +Navy Board, In-Letters, 6, James to the Navy Board, December 21, 1661. + +[27] Nassau and Hoorn to the estates of H. and W. F., January 17/27, +1662. + +[28] Egerton MSS., 2538, f. 12, Downing to Nicholas, January 27, +1661/2. + +[29] C. O. 1: 18, ff. 310, 311. + +[30] Papieren van Johan de Witt betreffende de Oost en West Indische +compagnie, Carloff to Valckenburg, February 15, 16, 1658 (N. S.). + +[31] Loketkas, Staten Generaal, Sweden, no. 38. + +[32] _Remonstrantie, aen de Ho. Mo. Heeren de Staten Generael der +Veereenighde Nederlanden_, p. 18. + +[33] Dammaert, _Journal_, September 19, 1652, May 18, 1653, December +7, 19, 1655, April 22, 1656 (N. S.). + +[34] S. P., Holland, 178, f. 123, undated paper dealing with the +English title to Cape Corse. + +[35] Afterwards retaken by the English in the West Indies, toward the +last of 1663. Brieven van de Ambassadors in Engeland aan de Staten +Generaal, Downing to S. G., February 3, 1663/4. O. S. + +[36] Admiralty High Court, Libels, 114, no. 231. + +[37] Aitzema, X, 277. + +[38] Admiralty High Court, Libels, 115, no. 124; _ibid._, +Examinations, 74, deposition of Edward Paulstagge, March 7, 1662/3. + +[39] Nassau and Hoorn to the estates of H. and W. F., January +24/February 3, 1662. In March, 1663, Bernard Sparke, owner of the +Paragon which the Dutch had seized on the Gold Coast, arrested a West +India Company ship at Ilfracombe. Sparke asked for the condemnation of +the ship, but on account of a treaty entered into between the English +and the Dutch in September, 1662, the Privy Council refused to detain +the Dutch ship. Cunaeus to the estates of H. and W. F., March 27/April +6, 1663; P. C. R., Charles II, 3: 357, 380. + +[40] Egerton MSS., 2538, ff. 68, 69, Downing to S. G., May 3/13, 1662. + +[41] Clar. St. Paps., 76, ff. 217, 218, Downing to Clarendon, May 9, +1662. O. S. + +[42] Egerton MSS., 2538, f. 73, Downing to S. G., June 6/16, 1662. + +[43] _Ibid._, f. 106, Downing to S. G., August 6/16, 1662. + +[44] Add. MSS. (Additional Manuscripts), 22,919, f. 270. + +[45] Resolution of S. G., August 28, 1662 (N. S.). + +[46] Dumont, _Corps Universel Diplomatique_, VI, part 2, pp. 424, 425. + +[47] Index op het Register en Accorden met de Naturellen, Wilree to +Edmund Young, May 24, 1662 (N. S.). + +[48] S. P., Holland, 176, f. 119. + +[49] Add. MSS., 22,919, f. 262. + +[50] _Ibid._, 22,920, f. 24, affidavit of William Crawford and others, +before the Admiralty High Court, February 13, 1663/4. + +[51] _Ibid._, 22,919, f. 262, Wilree to the officers of the ship +James, November 9, 1662 (N. S.). + +[52] _Ibid._, 22,920, f. 24, affidavit of Crawford and others, +February 13, 1663/4. + +[53] S. P., Holland, 167, f. 251, Downing to Williamson, September 11, +1663. O.S. + +[54] Add. MSS., 22,920, ff. 13, 14, Downing to S. G., September 17/27, +1663. + +[54a] Clar. St. Paps., 106, f. 192, Downing to Clarendon, September +18, 1663. O. S.; S. P., Holland, 167, ff. 271, 272, Downing to Bennet. + +[55] Add. MSS., 22,920, f. 22, Royal Company to Downing, September 25, +1663. + +[56] Clar. St. Paps., 106, f. 223, Downing to Clarendon, October 2, +1663 O. S. + +[57] S. P., Holland, 168, ff. 41, 42. + +[58] _Ibid._, 176, f. 121. + +[59] _Ibid._, 167, f. 284, Downing to Bennet, September 25, 1664 (O. +S.). + +[60] Brieven van de Ambassadors in Engeland aan den Raadpensionaris, +Cunaeus to DeWitt, November 2, 1663 (N. S.). + +[61] C. S. P., Col., 1661-1668, p. 159, warrant to duke of York, Sept. +5, 1663. + +[62] S. P., Dom., Charles II, 114, f. 53. These instructions are not +preserved in their complete form. + +[63] C. O. 1: 16, f. 157, oath of William Quick and others at Charles +Island, June 1, 1662. + +[64] C. O. 1: 18, f. 154, deposition of Stephen Ustick, June 7, 1664; +S. P., Dom., Charles II, 114, ff. 147, 148. + +[65] S. P., Dom., Charles II, 114, f. 148, Holmes' narrative. After +taking the island Holmes sent for as many men as could be spared by +the Royal Company's factors on the Gambia. Accordingly they took +possession of it in the name of the company. C. O. 1: 18, f. 24. + +[66] Aitzema, XI, 294, deposition of Andries C. Vertholen, June 9, +1664 (N. S.); Lias, West Indien, 1658 tot 1665, depositions, June 19 +and July 19, 1664 (N. S.). + +[67] C. O. 1: 18, f. 90, resolution of the council of war on board the +Jersey, April 9, 1664. + +[68] Loketkas, Staten Generaal, Engeland, deposition of John Denn, +commander of the ship Mary, December 3, 1663 (O. S.). + +[69] S. P., Dom., Charles II, 114, f. 149, Holmes' narrative. + +[70] S. P., Holland, 176, ff. 118-123, June 7, 1663 (N. S.). A mark of +gold was supposed to be worth about L28. 16s. + +[71] Index op het Register der Contracten, letters dated June 13, 14, +1663. 1663. + +[72] S. P., Holland, 167, ff. 258-260, September 12, 1663. This +protest with that of Valckenburg of June 7, 1663, was sent to England, +where both were regarded as very important. + +[73] C. O. 1: 17, ff. 153, 154, Mr. Brett to the Royal Company, August +31, 1663; Brieven van de Ambassadors in Engeland aan de Staten +Generaal, Downing to S. G., September 15, 1664 (O. S.). + +[74] Index op het Register der Contracten, September 17, 1663. + +[75] C. O. 1: 17, ff. 153, 154, contains a number of extracts of +letters from factors of the Royal Company to the company dated from +June to September, 1663. They mention many other conflicts with the +Dutch, including the charge that the Dutch had hired the natives to +attack the fort at Kormentine. + +[76] Aitzema, XI, 295, deposition of Andries C. Vertholen, June 9, +1664 (N. S.). + +[77] C. O. 1: 18, f. 39, order of the council of war held on board the +Jersey, May 7, 1664. + +[78] S. P., Dom., Charles II, 114, ff. 51, 52, Holmes' examination. In +his examination before the Privy Council Holmes asserted that in one +of the ships captured from the Dutch, orders had been found from the +States General commanding the Dutch factors to seize the English fort +at Kormentine. There is no evidence to support this assertion and the +States General afterwards characterized the statement as "an errand +invention & a fowle lye." S. P., Holland, 181, f. 10. + +[79] S. P., Dom., Charles II, 114, ff. 150, 151, Holmes' account; C. +O. 1: 18, f. 39, order of the council of war held on board the Jersey, +May 7, 1664. + +[80] S. P., Holland, 174, f. 32, Downing to Bennet, January 10, 1664/5 +(O. S.). This letter, written over a year later, shows that Downing +was not acquainted with Holmes' instructions. + +[81] Lister, Thomas Henry, _Life and Administration of Edward, first +Earl of Clarendon_, III, 259, Downing to Clarendon, November 6, 1663 +(O. S.). + +[82] S. P., Holland, 168, f. 230, Downing to Bennet, December 18, +1663. + +[83] Clar. St. Paps., 107, f. 101, Downing to S. G., February 8, +1663/4 (O. S.). + +[84] Add. MSS., 22,920, f. 26, Schested to Downing, February 10, 1664; +S. P., Denmark, 17, f. 150, Frederick III to Schested, December 15, +1663. + +[85] Loketkas, Staten Generaal, Engeland, W. I. C. to S. G., read +December 1, 1663 (N. S.); _ibid._, S. G. to Downing, December, 1663. + +[86] S. P., Holland, 169, ff. 120, 121, Downing to (Bennet), February +12, 1663/4 (O. S.). + +[87] _Ibid._, f. 121. + +[88] _Ibid._, ff. 122, 124. + +[89] S. P. Holland, 169, f. 132, Downing to S. G., February 16, 1663/4 +(O. S.). + +[90] _Brieven van de Ambassadors in Engeland aan de Staten van H. en +W. F._, Cunaeus to DeWitt, March 11/21, 1664. + +[91] Pepys, _Diary_, IV, 103; Brieven van de Ambassadors in Engeland +aan de Staten van H. en W. F., Cunaeus to DeWitt, (April 8/18, 1664, +N. S.). + +[92] Clar. St. Paps., 107, f. 147, Downing to Clarendon, April 1, 1664 +(O. S.); Dumont, _Corps Universel Diplomatique_, VI, part 2, p. 424, +article XIV. + +[93] S. P., Holland, 170, ff. 16-18, Downing to Bennet, May 6, 1664 +(O. S.); Clar. St. Paps., 107, ff. 195, 196, Downing to Clarendon, May +6, 1664 (O. S.). + +[94] _Brieven van de Ambassadors in Engeland aan de Staten van H. en +W. F._, Cunaeus to DeWitt, May 6/16, 1664; Secretekas, Engeland, no. +123, Cunaeus to the directors of W.I.C., May 6/16, 1664. + +[95] Secretekas, Engeland, no. 123, W. I. C. to S. G., May 23, 1664 +(N. S.). + +[96] S. P., Holland, 173, f. 129, Downing to Bennet, December 30, 1664 +(O. S.). + +[97] Resolution of S. G., June 13, 1664 (N. S.). + +[98] _Ibid._, June 5, 1664 (N. S.). + +[99] S. P., Holland, 171, f. 174, VanGogh to S. G., June 24/July 4, +1664. + +[100] DeWitt, _Brieven_ (DeWitt, Johan, _Brieven, geschreven ende +gewisselt tusschen den Heer Johan de Witt_), IV, 311, DeWitt to +VanGogh, July 11, 1664 (N. S.). + +[101] _Brieven van de Ambassadors in Engeland aan de Staten van H. en +W. F._, VanGogh to DeWitt, July 15/25, 1664. + +[102] P. C. R., Charles II, 4: 122; S.P., Dom., Charles II, 99, f. +170, petition of the Royal Company for a convoy for its ships. It was +also reported that the duke of York was fitting out a frigate at his +own expense to send to Guinea. C. S. P., Dom., 1663-1664, p. 264, +newsletter, September 2, 1663. + +[103] S. P., Holland, 171, f. 238, W. I. C. to S. G., July 21, 1664 +(N. S.). + +[104] Clar. St. Paps., 108, ff. 39-41, Downing to Clarendon, July 22, +1664 (O. S.). + +[105] Pepys, _Diary_, IV, 202. + +[106] _Ibid._, 42, 143. + +[107] Clar. St. Paps., 108, ff. 48, 49, Downing to Clarendon, July 29, +1664 (O. S.). + +[108] Brandt, Gerard, _La Vie de Michel de Ruiter_, pp. 212-213. + +[109] Brandt, _Vie de Ruiter_, pp. 213, 214, 217. + +[110] S. P., Holland, 171, ff. 23, 24, Downing to Bennet, August 4, +1664 (O. S.); _ibid._, ff. 124, 125, Downing to Bennet, August 26, +1664 (O. S.). + +[111] S. P., Holland, 171, ff. 119, 120, Downing to S. G., August 25, +1664 (O. S.). + +[112] _Ibid._, f. 25, Downing to Bennet, August 4, 1664 (O. S.). + +[113] _Ibid._, f. 56, Downing to Bennet, August 12, 1664 (O. S.). + +[114] Clar. St. Paps., 108, ff. 75, 76, Downing to Clarendon, August +26, 1664 (O. S.). + +[115] Lister, _Life of Clarendon_, III, 344, Downing to Clarendon, +September 9, 1664 (O. S.). + +[116] S. P., Holland, 172, f. 171, Downing to Bennet, September 9, +1664 (O. S.). + +[117] Clar. St. Paps., 108, f. 82, Downing to Clarendon, September 16, +1664 (O. S.). + +[118] S. P., Holland, 172, f. 241, Downing to Bennet, September 23, +1664 (O. S.). + +[119] _Brieven van de Ambassadors in Engeland aan de Staten Generaal_, +VanGogh to S. G., September 23/October 3, 1664. + +[120] Pepys, _Diary_, IV, 254; _Brieven van de Ambassadors in Engeland +aan de Staten Generaal_, VanGogh to S. G., September 30/October 10, +1664. + +[121] Pepys, _Diary_, IV, 254. + +[122] S. P., Holland, 172, f. 35, Downing to Bennet, October 7, 1664 +(O. S.). + +[123] _Brieven van de Ambassadors in Engeland aan de Staten van H. en +W. F._, VanGogh to DeWitt, October 3/13, 1664. A few days after this +VanGogh very much annoyed the king by bringing up the Cape Verde +incident again. The king burst out, "And pray, what is Cape Verde? A +stinking place (using these very words): Is this of such importance to +make so much adoe about! As much as I could ever yet learne of it, it +is of noe use at all." S. P., Holland, 172, f. 158, VanGogh to Ruysch, +October 24, 1664 (N. S.). + +[124] _Brieven van de Ambassadors in Engeland aan de Staten van H. en +W. F._, VanGogh to DeWitt, October 3/13, 1664. + +[125] S. P., Holland, 173, f. 178, VanGogh to Ruysch, November 7, 1664 +(N. S.); DeWitt, _Brieven_, IV, 387, 390, VanGogh to DeWitt, October +28/November 7, October 31/November 10, 1664. + +[126] DeWitt, _Brieven_, IV, 390, DeWitt to VanGogh, November 14, 1664 +(N. S.). + +[127] Clar. St. Paps., 108, f. 126, Downing to Clarendon, November 11, +1664 (O. S.). + +[128] _Ibid._, f. 100, Downing to Clarendon, October 14, 1664 (O. S.); +Brieven van de Ambassadors in Engeland aan de Staten Generaal, October +14/24, 1664. + +[129] Clar. St. Paps., 108, f. 108, Downing to Clarendon, October 28, +1664 (O. S.); _ibid._, f. 120, Downing to Clarendon, November 4, 1664 +(O. S.). + +[130] _Ibid._, f. 117, Downing to Clarendon, November 4, 1664 (O. S.). + +[131] _Brieven van de Ambassadors in Engeland aan der +Raadpensionaris_, VanGogh to DeWitt, October 17/27, 1664. + +[132] S. P., Holland, 173, f. 19, VanGogh to Ruysch, December 5, 1654 +(N. S.). The duke of York was known to be very favorable to Holmes at +the same time. S. P., Dom., Charles II, 105, f. 176, Coventry to +Bennet, November 27, 1664. + +[133] Pepys, _Diary_, IV, 312. + +[134] He arrived at Cape Verde October 22, 1664, and left the Gold +Coast February 27, 1665. + +[135] In this account it seems unnecessary to give the details of the +capture of these places. They may be found at length in Brandt, _Vie +de Ruiter_, pp. 223 to 265. + +[136] S. P., Dom., Charles II, 110, f. 19; Condition of Co., Jan. 2 +(1664/5). + +[137] P. C. R., Charles II, 5: 4. + +[138] _The Case of the Royal African Company of England and their +Creditors_, p. 6. + +[139] Add. MSS., 22,920, f. 46, Lord Hollis to (Downing), September +2/12, 1664. + +[140] On October 30, 1664 (N. S.), d'Estrades declared to the king of +France that the real cause of the war then about to begin was the +desire of the king of England to become master of Guinea. _Memoires +d'Estrades_, II, 517. + +[141] See the paper of Sir Richard Ford, one of the prominent members +of the Royal Company. Clar. St. Paps., 83, f. 374. + +[142] C. S. P., Dom., 1664-5, p. 154, warrant to Holmes, January 7, +1654. + +[143] S. P., Holland, 174, f. 138, VanGogh to Ruysch, January 9/19, +1665. + +[144] S. P., Holland, 174, f. 138, VanGogh to Ruysch, January 13/23, +1665. + +[145] _Brieven van de Ambassadors in Engeland aan den Raadpensionaris, +VanGogh to Ruysch_, January 27/February 6, 1665. + +[146] _Ibid._, VanGogh to Ruysch, January 30/February 9, 1665. + +[147] _Ibid._, Cunaeus to ----, February 24/March 6, 1665. + +[148] P. C. R., Charles II, 5:69. + +[149] _Brieven van de Ambassadors in Engeland aan den +Raadpensionaris_, (VanGogh) to Ruysch, February 27/March 9, 1665. + +[150] C. S. P., Dom., 1664-5, p. 268, order to release Holmes, March +23, 1664/5. + +[151] The account of DeRuyter's voyage given here is a digest of what +appears at much greater length in Brandt, _Vie de Ruiter_, pp. +223-265. A short contemporary English account may be found in C.O. 1: +19, ff. 88, 89. + +[152] S. P., Holland, 182, ff. 246, 247. The Dutch had entertained +some hopes of inducing the English to surrender Cape Corse, as is +evident from negotiations which they carried on with the Swedes and +the Danes. In March, 1665, a treaty was drawn up between Sweden and +the United Provinces in which the former country agreed to renounce +her claims of damage against the West India Company and all her rights +to any places on the African coast, for which renunciation the States +General was to pay 140,000 rix dollars. The treaty failed of +approbation on account of the reluctance of the king of Sweden to +withdraw his interests from the coast of Africa. Aitzema, XI, 1102, +1103; S. P., Holland, 174, f. 148, Downing to Bennet, February 17, +1664/5 (O.S.); S. P., Holland, 179, f. 86, Downing to Bennet, March +10, 1665 (March 10, 1664/5. O. S.). + +With the Danes the Dutch had more success. On February 11, 1667, a +treaty was entered into between Frederick III, of Denmark and the +United Provinces, in which it was agreed that the Danes should +surrender all their claims to Cape Corse, retaining, however, the +adjacent fort of Fredericksburg. Dumont, _Corps Universel +Diplomatique_, VI, part 3, p. 74. + +[153] Dumont, _Corps Universel Diplomatique_, VI, part I, pp. 44, 45, +article 3. + +[154] Villaut, _A Relation of the Coasts of Africa called Guinee_, pp. +49, 56, 75. + +[155] _Ibid._, pp. 126, 131, 135. Villaut also speaks of an English +fort at Eniacham (Anashan). + +[156] A. C. R., 75: 60. + +[157] S. P., Dom., Charles II, 217, f. 76, John Lysle to Williamson, +September 16, 1667. + +[158] C. O. 1: 17, f. 243, John Allen to (the Royal Adventurers), +December 18, 1663. + +[159] A. C. R., 75: 3. + +[160] S. P., Dom., Charles II, 380, f. 57; _ibid._, 381, ff. 138, 139. + +[161] C. O. 1: 23, ff. 3, 4, 6, 7, Wilree to Pearson, January +23/February 2, and February 14/24, 1668. + +[162] _Ibid._, 23, f. 5, Pearson to Wilree, n. d. + +[163] C. O. 1: 23, f. 2, Pearson and others to the Royal Adventurers, +February 18, 1667/8. + +[164] A. C. R., 75: 75. + +[165] C. O. 1: 23, f. 1, petition of the Royal Adventurers (July 3), +1668; P. C. R., Charles II, 7: 374, July 3, 1668. + +[166] P. C. R., 7: 378, July 8, 1668. The minutes of the general court +for November 14, 1668, mention a letter intended to be dispatched to +Sir William Temple. A. C. R., 75: 81. + +[167] A. C. R., 100: 47, 48. + +[168] _ibid._, 75: 96. + +[169] C. O. 1: 25, f. 227, estimate of charges for supplies at Cape +Corse, December 19, 1670; A. C. R., 75: 106, 107. + +[170] Foreign Entry Book, 176, minutes of the foreign committee, +January 22, 1671/2. + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE ROYAL ADVENTURERS AND THE PLANTATIONS + +The early trade of the English to the coast of Africa was very largely +in exchange for products which could be sold in England. Among these +may be mentioned elephants' teeth, wax, malaguetta and gold. As has +been shown, the hope of discovering gold mines was the principal cause +of the first expedition sent to Africa by the Royal Adventurers in +December, 1660. When this scheme to mine gold was abandoned the +company's agents traded for gold which was brought down from the +interior or washed out by the slow and laborious toil of the natives. +The other African products, especially elephants' teeth, were brought +to London where they sold quite readily for very good prices. + +Although this direct trade between England and Africa was never +neglected, the slave trade with the English colonies in the West +Indies was destined to absorb the company's attention because the +supply of indentured servants[1] was never great enough to meet the +needs of the rapidly growing sugar and indigo plantations. From the +planters point of view, moreover, slaves had numerous advantages over +white servants as plantation laborers. Slaves and their children after +them were chattel property for life. The danger of rebellion was very +small because often the slaves could not even converse with one +another, since they were likely to be from different parts of Africa +and therefore to speak a different dialect. Finally, neither the +original outlay for slaves nor the cost of feeding and clothing them +was great, and therefore slaves were regarded as more economical than +indentured servants. Moreover, there was much to be said against +encouraging the lower classes of England to come to the plantations, +where they often engaged engaged in disturbances of one kind and +another. Also, after a service of a few years, it was necessary to +allow them to go where they pleased. Nevertheless, with all their +disadvantages, it may be truly said that the planters preferred the +white servants to any others. It was, however, impossible to obtain +the needed supply of labor from this source and therefore it was +always necessary to import slaves from Africa. + +Previous to the accession of Charles II not many slaves were imported +into the English possessions in the West Indies. Of this small number +all but a few had been brought by the ships of the Dutch West India +Company. The Dutch centered their West India trade at the island of +Curacao, whence they could supply not only their own colonies with +slaves but those of the French, English and even the Spanish when +opportunity offered. So great was the demand for slaves and other +necessities procured from the Dutch that the English planters in the +West Indies regarded this trade as highly desirable. For instance, +when the island of Barbadoes surrendered to the Parliamentary forces, +January 11, 1652, it stipulated that it should retain its freedom of +trade and that no company should be formed which would monopolize its +commodities.[2] Nevertheless, by the Navigation Act of 1660 colonial +exports, part of which had to be carried only to England, were +confined to English ships. This was a sufficient limitation of their +former freedom of trade to incense the planters in the West Indies +but, as a matter of greater importance to them, the king granted to +the Company of Royal Adventurers the exclusive trade to the western +coast of Africa, thus limiting their supply of Negro slaves to this +organization. The company therefore undertook this task, realizing +that in the Negro trade it would find by far its most lucrative +returns. Not only did the company supply the planters with slaves, +their greatest necessity, but in exchange for these it took sugar and +other plantation products which it carried to England. It was natural +that the company should endeavor to make a success of its business, +but, on the other hand, it was to be expected that the planters would +regard the company as a monopoly and a nuisance to be outwitted if +possible. + +In 1660 Barbadoes was in much the same condition as is true of every +rapidly expanding new country. The settlers occupied as much land as +they could obtain and directed every effort toward its cultivation and +improvement. The growing of sugar had proved to be very profitable and +every planter saw his gains limited only by the lack of labor to +cultivate his lands. Every possible effort was therefore made to +obtain laborers and machinery. Although the planters had little ready +capital, they made purchases with a free hand, depending upon the +returns from their next year's crop to pay off their debts. As a +result, the planters were continually in debt to the merchants. The +merchants greatly desired that Barbadoes should be made as dependent +on England as possible in order that the constantly increasing amount +of money which the planters owed them might be better secured. +Moreover, they wished to prevent the planters from manipulating the +laws of the island in such a way as to hinder the effective collection +of debts.[3] The planters, on the other hand, appreciated very keenly +the ill effects upon themselves of the laws which were passed in +England for the regulation of commerce. They bitterly complained of +the enumerated article clause of the Navigation Act of 1660, which +provided that all sugars, indigo and cotton-wool should be carried +only to England. Already the planters were very greatly in debt to the +merchants and they saw in this new law the beginning of the +restrictions by which the merchants intended to throttle their trade. +Indeed it seemed to the planters as if they were completely at the +mercy of the merchants, who paid what they pleased for sugar, and +charged excessive prices for Negroes, cattle and supplies.[4] Among +those who were regarded as oppressors were the factors of the Royal +Company, which controlled the Negro supply upon which the prosperity +of the plantations depended. + +Sir Thomas Modyford, speaker of the assembly, also became the agent +for the Royal Adventurers in Barbadoes. Modyford was very enthusiastic +about the company's prospects for a profitable trade in Negroes with +the Spanish colonies. The people of Barbadoes neither shared +Modyford's enthusiasm for this trade nor for the company's monopoly +because they believed that thereby the price of slaves was +considerably increased. On December 18, 1662, the council and assembly +of Barbadoes resolved to ask the king for a free trade to Africa or to +be assured that the factors of the Royal Company would sell their +slaves for the same price as other merchants.[5] Very shortly, the +duke of York, the company's governor, informed Governor Willoughby +that the company had made arrangements to provide Barbadoes and the +Caribbee Islands with 3,000 slaves per annum and that the needs of the +islands would be attended to as conditions changed. Moreover, the +company pledged itself to see that all Negroes imported into the +island should be sold by lots, as had been the custom, at the average +rate of seventeen pounds per head or for commodities of the island +rated at that price.[6] The duke of York also requested Governor +Willoughby to ascertain if possible how many Negroes were desired by +the planters at that rate, and to see that any planters who wished to +become members of the company should be given an opportunity to do +so.[7] + +When the company's factors, Sir Thomas Modyford and Sir Peter +Colleton, began to sell Negroes to the planters they encountered +endless trouble and litigation in the collection of debts. In a vivid +description of their difficulties to the company they declared that +Governor Willoughby did nothing to assist them until he received +several admonitions from the king. To be sure the governor's power in +judicial matters was limited by the council, which in large part was +made up of landholders who naturally attempted to shield the planters +from their creditors. In case an execution on a debt was obtained from +a local court the property remained in the hands of the debtor for +eighty days. During this time the debtor often made away with the +property, if it was in the form of chattel goods. If the judgment was +against real estate the land also remained in the hands of the debtor +for eighty days, during which time a committee, usually neighbors of +the debtor, appraised the land, often above its real value. If this +sum exceeded the debt, the creditor was compelled to pay the +difference. As the factors declared, therefore, it was a miracle if +the creditors got their money.[8] + +In 1664, Sir Thomas Modyford was called from Barbadoes to become +governor of Jamaica.[9] In his place the Royal Adventurers selected +John Reid, who had resided for several years in Spain and was +therefore conversant with the needs of the Spanish colonies concerning +slaves. Reid also obtained the office of sub-commissioner of prizes in +Barbadoes.[10] + +After Modyford's departure from Barbadoes the factors still +experienced great difficulty in collecting the company's debts. Since +Willoughby had not exerted himself in its behalf the company informed +the king that it had supplied the planters liberally with slaves, but +that the planters owed the company L40,000,[11] and that by reason of +the intolerable delays in the courts it was impossible to collect this +sum. Thereupon the earl of Clarendon wrote to Governor Willoughby +admonishing him to take such measures as would make a renewal of the +company's complaints unnecessary. In this letter Clarendon also +declared that while the king had shown great care for the planters by +restraining the company from charging excessive prices for slaves, he +should also protect the interests of the merchants. Willoughby, +therefore, was recommended to see speedy justice given to the company, +and to use his influence in obtaining a better law for the collection +of debts.[12] + +To add to the company's difficulties private traders began to infringe +upon the territory included in the company's charter. As an instance +of this Captain Pepperell, in charge of one of the company's ships, +seized an interloper called the "William" and "Jane" off the coast of +New Callabar in Guinea. When Pepperell appeared at Barbadoes with his +prize, one of the owners of the captured ship brought suit in a common +law court against the company's commander for damages to the extent of +500,000 pounds of sugar. The company's factors at once went bail for +Pepperell. Ordinarily the case would have been tried by a jury of +planters from whom the company's agents could expect no consideration. +The factors, therefore, petitioned to have the case removed from the +common law courts to the admiralty court where the governor was the +presiding officer. A jury of sympathetic islanders would thus be +dispensed with and, if necessary, the case could be appealed to a +higher court in England with greater ease. When Willoughby called the +admiralty court on June 17, 1665, the factors cited the company's +royal charter which justified the seizure of interlopers. +Notwithstanding the clear case which the company's agents seemed to +have the case was adjourned for a week. Fearing that the governor +might take action adverse to the company's interests the factors +succeeded in sending the ship in question to Jamaica where it was not +under the jurisdiction of Lord Willoughby.[13] The bail bonds against +Pepperell were not withdrawn, and therefore he stood in as great +danger of prosecution as ever. When the company learned of this +situation it immediately petitioned Secretary Arlington that +Willoughby be commanded not to permit any further procedures against +Pepperell and to transmit the whole case to the Privy Council. It also +requested that those who had transgressed the company's charter should +be punished.[14] The Privy Council issued an order in accordance with +the company's desires.[15] Willoughby accused the factors of having +reported the case falsely and of having affronted him grossly by +taking the vessel in question away from the island by stealth. +Moreover, he declared that he would have made them understand his +point of view "if they had not been employed by soe Royall a +Compagnie."[16] + +Since Willoughby persistently neglected to send Pepperell's bail bonds +to England, the Royal Company finally reported the matter again to the +king.[17] Once more the case was heard in the Privy Council where it +was referred to the committee on trade and plantations.[18] On January +31, 1668, the Privy Council issued an order to Governor Willoughby, +brother of the former incumbent, commanding him to stop all +proceedings against the Royal Company and commanding him to send +everything in regard to the case to England without delay.[19] Lord +Willoughby replied that so far as he could ascertain all the records +had been sent to England and that if any others were found he would +also despatch them.[20] Thus ended this contest in regard to the +maintenance of the company's privileges. The king had not allowed his +royal prerogative to be interfered with and the company's charter was +regarded as intact. Theoretically the victory was all in favor of the +company, but on account of the losses which it was incurring in the +Anglo-Dutch war, it was impossible for the company to furnish a +sufficient supply of Negroes to Barbadoes, that is, if Lord +Willoughby's heated protests can be trusted. + +Speaking of the general prohibitions on their trade, the governor +exclaimed, May 12, 1666, that he had "come to where itt pinches, and +if yor Maty gives not an ample & speedy redress, you have not onely +lost St. Christophers but you will lose the rest, I (aye) & famous +Barbadoes, too, I feare." In bitter terms he spoke of the poverty of +the island, protesting that anyone who had recommended the various +restraints on the colony's trade was "more a merchant than a good +subject." The restriction on the trade to Guinea, he declared, was one +of the things that had brought Barbadoes to its present condition; and +the favoritism displayed toward the Royal Company in carrying on the +Negro trade with the Spaniards had entirely deprived the colonial +government of an export duty on slaves.[21] + +The decision of the company to issue licenses to private traders did +not allay the storm of criticism that continued to descend on the +company from Barbadoes. The new governor, as his brother had done, +urged a free trade to Guinea for Negroes, maintaining that slaves had +become so scarce and expensive that the poor planters would be forced +to go to foreign plantations for a livelihood.[22] He complained that +the Colletons, father and son, the latter of whom was one of the +company's factors, had helped to bring about this critical +condition.[23] On September 5, 1667, representatives of the whole +colony petitioned the king to throw open the Guinea trade or to force +the company to supply them with slaves at the prices promised in the +early declaration, although even those prices seemed like a canker of +usury to the much abused planters.[24] + +Following these complaints Sir Paul Painter and others submitted a +petition to the House of Commons in which they asserted that an open +trade to Africa was much better than one carried on by a company. They +maintained that previous to the establishment of the Royal Adventurers +Negroes had been sold for twelve, fourteen and sixteen pounds per +head, or 1,600 to 1,800 pounds of sugar, whereas now the company was +selling the best slaves to the Spaniards at eighteen pounds per head, +while the planters paid as high as thirty pounds for those of inferior +grade. This, they declared, had so exasperated the planters that they +often refused to ship their sugar and other products to England in the +company's ships no matter what freight rates the factors offered. + +In reply to the petition of Sir Paul Painter, Ellis Leighton, the +company's secretary, admitted that as a natural result of the +Anglo-Dutch war the price of slaves like all other products in +Barbadoes, had increased considerably. He denied that this increase +could be attributed to the sale of Negroes to the Spaniards since the +company had not disposed of more than 1,200 slaves to them. He +contended that the company had been thrown into a critical financial +condition, partly as the result of the losses incurred from DeRuyter +in Africa, but mostly by the constantly increasing debts which the +planters owed to the company. Notwithstanding these difficulties +Secretary Leighton maintained that since the formation of the company +Barbadoes had been supplied more adequately with slaves than at any +previous time. As for the planters' having refused to ship their goods +on the company's ships, he declared that this was nothing more than +they had consistently done since the formation of the company.[25] + +In answer to the planters' representation of September 5, 1667, Sir +Ellis Leighton admitted that if Barbadoes alone was being considered, +a free trade to Guinea was preferable to any other, but since the +trade of the whole nation had to be given first consideration the idea +was pernicious. He asserted that the company was willing to furnish +the planters with all the Negroes they desired at the rates already +published, seventeen pounds per head, provided security was given for +payment in money or sugar; that instead of a lack of Negroes in +Barbadoes there had been so large a number left on the hands of the +factors that many had died; and that if the planters were sincere in +their complaints they would be willing to agree with the company on a +definite number of slaves which they would take annually.[26] + +Since the importance of the Royal Company was by this time definitely +on the wane Sir Paul Painter succeeded in presenting his petition +regarding affairs in Barbadoes to the House of Commons, in September, +1667. Although the Royal Company was ordered to produce its charter no +further action was taken. The planters were by no means discouraged +and again requested the Privy Council to consider the matter of +granting a free trade to Guinea.[27] Later the people of Barbadoes +once more represented to the king the inconceivable poverty caused by +the lack of free trade to Guinea and other places.[28] Some of the +Barbadoes assemblymen even suggested that all the merchants be +excluded from the island, and that an act be passed forbidding any one +to sue for a debt within four years.[29] + +Finally, on May 12, 1669, in answer to the numerous complaints of +Barbadoes, the Privy Council informed the islanders that the king +would not infringe upon the charter granted to the African Company; +and that sufficient Negroes would be furnished to the planters at +reasonable prices providing the company was assured of payment.[30] +The company was pleased at the king's favorable decision and at once +represented to him its critical financial condition because the +planters refused to pay their just debts.[31] The complaint of the +company was considered in the Council September 28, 1669, at which +time an order was issued requiring that henceforth land as well as +chattel property in Barbadoes might be sold at public auction for the +satisfaction of debts. The governor was directed to see that this +order not only became a law in Barbadoes, but that after it had been +passed it was to be executed.[32] + +Thus it became clear that the planters of Barbadoes could hope for no +relief from the king and, therefore, during the few remaining years in +which the company was in existence they made no other consistent +effort to convince the king of their point of view. On the other hand, +if the company expected the king's instructions to be of great +assistance it was sorely disappointed. On August 2, 1671, John Reid +reported that they had been unable to recover the company's debts,[33] +and further appeals to the king for relief were of no avail.[34] + +It is difficult to ascertain whether Barbadoes was in as great need of +slaves as the planters often asserted. The records kept by the factors +in the island have nearly all disappeared. From an early ledger kept +by the Barbadoes factors it appears that from August 11, 1663, to +March 17, 1664, the usual time for the chief importation of the year, +3,075 Negroes were received by the company's factors. These slaves, +1,051 men, 1,018 women, 136 boys and 56 girls, were sold in return +partly for sugar and partly for money. Estimating 2,400 pounds of +sugar as equal to seventeen pounds it appears that the average price +for these Negroes was a little over sixteen pounds per head.[35] This +comparatively low price is to be accounted for by the fact that the +women and children are averaged with the men, who sold for a higher +price. These figures show therefore that the company's factors were +selling adult slaves at about seventeen pounds each, as the company +had publicly declared that it would do. + +In 1667 the company asserted that it had furnished the plantations +with about 6,000 slaves each year. This statement is to be doubted +since the Anglo-Dutch war had practically disrupted the company's +entire trade on the African coast. On the other hand, there is reason +to think that the need for slaves in Barbadoes was not so pressing as +might be inferred from the statements of the planters.[36] They +naturally insisted on a large supply of slaves in order to keep the +prices as low as possible. There seems no doubt, however, that the +islanders were able to obtain more Negroes than they could pay for and +were therefore hopelessly in debt to the company. On July 9, 1668, +Governor Willoughby estimated the total population of Barbadoes at +60,000, of which 40,000 were slaves.[37] Indeed some merchants +declared that the slaves outnumbered the white men twenty to one.[38] + +As compared to its trade with Barbadoes and Jamaica the company's +trade in slaves to the Leeward Islands was insignificant. The company +located at Nevis a factor who reported to the agents in Barbadoes[39] +and also at Antigua and Surinam where Governor Byam acted as +agent.[40] In Surinam, the lack of slaves was attributed to the +prominent men of Barbadoes who were supposed to be influential with +the Royal Company.[41] Later, during the Anglo-Dutch war, one of the +company's ships in attempting to go to Surinam with Negroes, was +captured by the Dutch.[42] + +After the war the company seems to have neglected the islands +altogether. Upon one occasion the planters of Antigua pleaded +unsuccessfully to have Negroes furnished to them on credit.[43] At +another time they asserted that the company treated them much worse +than it did the planters of Barbadoes because the latter were able to +use their influence with the company to divert the supply of slaves to +Barbadoes. Their condition, they declared, seemed all the more bitter +when they considered the thriving trade in Negroes which the Dutch +carried on from the island of Curacao.[44] + +The history of the slave trade to Jamaica from 1660 to 1672 does not +present the varied number of problems which arose during the same time +in Barbadoes. Jamaica was as yet more sparsely settled than Barbadoes +and therefore unable to take as large a number of Negroes. +Nevertheless, even before 1660, there was a need for servants in +Jamaica,[45] and there, as in Barbadoes, the Dutch had furnished the +planters with Negroes. When a Dutch ship laden with 180 slaves +appeared at the island in June, 1661, Colonel d'Oyley, the governor, +who was desirous of making a personal profit out of the sales, was +strongly in favor of permitting the vessel to land its Negroes. The +Jamaica council, however, realized that the Navigation Act made the +Negro trade with the Dutch illegal, and therefore it refused to accede +to the governor's desire. This action so enraged the governor that on +his own responsibility he purchased the whole cargo of slaves, some of +which he sold to a Quaker in the island, while the others he disposed +of at considerable profit to a Spaniard.[46] Again, in February, 1662, +d'Oyley bought a number of Negroes from another Dutchman. When one of +the king's ships attempted to seize the Dutch vessel for infringing +the Navigation Act, the governor even contrived to get it safely away +from the island.[47] + +When Colonel Modyford became governor of Jamaica in 1664, he was +instructed to do all that he possibly could to encourage the trade +which the Royal Company was endeavoring to set on foot in the West +Indies.[48] In the instructions mention was also made of Modyford's +previous interest in managing the affairs of the Royal Company in +Barbadoes for which company, it was said, he undoubtedly retained +great affection. Shortly thereafter he issued a proclamation +promising extensive freedom of commerce except in the Negro trade +which was in the hands of the Royal Company.[49] + +Although Modyford's proclamation indicated a continued interest in the +company's trade, he gave his first consideration to the welfare of the +colony. This appears from a list of the island's needs which he +submitted to the king, May 10, 1664, in which he asked among other +things that the Royal Company be obliged to furnish annually whatever +Negroes were necessary, and that the poorer planters be accorded easy +terms in paying for them. Furthermore he requested that indentured +servants be sent from England and that the island might have freedom +of trade except in Negroes.[50] His desires for a free trade were +denied, but the Privy Council agreed to consult with the Royal Company +and to recommend that it be obliged to furnish Jamaica with a +sufficient supply of Negroes.[51] + +There is no evidence that the Privy Council called the company's +attention to Modyford's request, nor is there any indication that it +endeavored to send very many Negroes to Jamaica. Modyford attended to +a plantation which the company had bought in Jamaica[52] and he sold a +few slaves to the Spaniards,[53] but all the company's affairs in the +aggregate really amounted to little in that island. There was a +continual call for a greater supply of Negroes than the company +sent.[54] Two ledgers used by the factors show that 690 Negroes were +sold in 1666 and in the following year,[55] 170. Although this number +was inadequate to meet the colony's needs, it is doubtful whether the +company sent any slaves to Jamaica after 1667. + +Under these circumstances Modyford lost interest in the company's +affairs and therefore it resolved, April 6, 1669, to dispense with his +services. Modyford had received a pension of three hundred pounds per +year up to Michaelmas, 1666, but after that time the company's +financial condition no longer warranted this expense. The company does +not seem to have been displeased with Modyford because it requested +that he use his good offices as governor to assist it in every +possible way. At the same time the services of the other factor, Mr. +Molesworth, were discontinued and he was requested to send an +inventory of the company's affairs.[56] + +Modyford thus free from his connection with the company probably +represented the desires of the Jamaica people in a more unbiased +manner. On September 20, 1670, he enumerated a number of needs of the +island and asked Secretary Arlington that licenses to trade to Africa +for Negroes be granted free of charge or at least at more moderate +rates. For this privilege he declared that security could be given +that the slaves would be carried only to Jamaica. The Royal Company +itself could not complain when it realized how much this freedom of +trade would mean toward the prosperity of Jamaica, and thus ultimately +to the entire kingdom.[57] Modyford admitted that the Anglo-Dutch war +had been a great hindrance to Jamaica's prosperity but that the lack +of Negroes since 1665 had been a much greater obstruction.[58] + +The more insistent demands which Governor Modyford made in 1670 for +freedom of trade to Africa show that the company's failure to send +Negroes to Jamaica after 1667 was beginning to be resented. Although +there had been a constant demand for Negroes in Jamaica there was up +to 1670 less need for slaves there than in Barbadoes. At least the +demands made by the planters of Jamaica were not so frequent and so +insistent as they were in Barbadoes. To a certain extent the planters +of Jamaica may have been deterred from representing the lack of labor +supply while Governor Modyford was one of the company's factors. +Modyford had been very much interested in the company's trade, +especially with the Spanish colonies. As soon as it became clear, +however, that the losses incurred in the Anglo-Dutch war, would make +it impossible for the company to continue the slave trade to the West +Indies, Modyford undoubtedly voiced a genuine demand on the part of +the planters for more slaves. By the year 1670 the island was better +developed than it had been ten years before and the need for slaves +was beginning to be acute.[59] + +About the first of March, 1662, two Spaniards made their appearance at +Barbadoes to make overtures for a supply of slaves, which they +intended to transport to Peru. If they received encouragement, the +Spaniards asserted that they would come every fortnight with large +supplies of bullion to pay for the slaves which they exported. Sir +Thomas Modyford, the company's factor and the speaker of the Barbadoes +assembly, was enthusiastic about this proposition and pointed out that +the trade with the Spanish colonies would increase the king's revenue +and at the same time would deprive the Dutch of a lucrative trade.[60] +Since they were well treated on their first visit to Barbadoes the +Spaniards returned in April, 1662, at which time they bought four +hundred Negroes for which they paid from 125 to 140 pieces of +eight.[61] When the Spaniards came to export their Negroes, however, +they found that Governor Willoughby had levied a duty of eleven pieces +of eight on each Negro. The assembly under Modyford's leadership at +once declared the imposition of such a tax illegal. This resolution +was carried to the council where, against the opposition of the +governor, it was also passed. Governor Willoughby, nevertheless, had +the temerity to collect the tax on some of the Negroes then in port, +and a little later when one of the ships of the Royal Adventurers sold +its Negroes to the Spaniards, he again enforced the payment of the +export tax.[62] Notwithstanding the governor's actions, Modyford +despatched one of his own ships with slaves to Cartagena where it +arrived safely and was well treated by the Spaniards.[63] Modyford was +now more than ever convinced of the possibilities of the trade with +the Spanish colonies, but believing that it could not be conducted +successfully by private individuals, he recommended that it be settled +on the Royal Company.[64] + +When the Royal Company learned that the trade in Negroes to the +Spanish colonies offered many possibilities it was very much +interested. A petition was immediately submitted to the king +requesting that, if the Spaniards were allowed to come to Barbadoes +for slaves, the whole trade be conferred on the Royal Company. The +company declared that the planters in the colonies had no reason to +object to this arrangement because they had not engaged in this trade, +and moreover an opportunity was being offered to them to become +members of the company.[65] + +The Privy Council was favorable to the company's proposition, and on +March 13, 1663, the king instructed Lord Willoughby to permit the +Spaniards to trade at Barbadoes for slaves notwithstanding any letters +of marque that had been issued against them, or any provisions of the +Navigation Act. He declared that the Spaniards were to be allowed to +import into Barbadoes only the products of their own colonies, and +were not to be permitted to carry away the produce of the English +colonies. The effect of this provision was that in addition to slaves +the Spaniards might obtain any products imported into Barbadoes from +England.[66] The king settled the question of duties on slaves by +ordering that ten pieces of eight on each Negro should be paid by all +persons who exported slaves from Barbadoes or Jamaica to the Spanish +colonies, except the agents of the Royal Company. The company was to +pay no export duties on Negroes especially when the Spaniards had made +previous contracts for them in England.[67] + +Probably on account of the export duty on slaves which Willoughby had +levied in 1662, the Spaniards were not anxious to return to Barbadoes. +The company's factors therefore sent one of their ships with slaves to +Terra Firma in order to convince the Spaniards that their desire for a +Negro trade was genuine. On this occasion Lord Willoughby and the +council of the island exacted L320 in customs from the factors. When +the company heard of this procedure it immediately asked the king to +enforce the order allowing it to export Negroes free of duty.[68] +Thereupon the king ordered Willoughby to make immediate restitution of +the L320 and to give the company's factors as much encouragement as +possible.[69] Willoughby finally obeyed in a sullen manner. On May 20, +1665 he declared that the company had finally monopolized the Spanish +trade for Negroes and that, because the king refused to permit an +export duty to be levied on them, there was no revenue from that +source.[70] The king's concessions to the Royal Company were of little +avail, however, because the Anglo-Dutch war effectually stopped most +of the company's trade in Negroes including that from Barbadoes to the +Spanish colonies. + +In considering the trade in slaves from Jamaica to the Spanish +colonies it is well to keep in mind that this island lay far to the +west of all other English possessions in the West Indies. It was +located in the very midst of the Spanish possessions from which it had +been wrested in 1655 by the expedition of Sir William Penn and Admiral +Venables. The people of the island realized their isolation and +occasionally attempted to break down the decrees of the Spanish +government, which forbade its colonies to have any intercourse with +foreigners. Although the English government began a somewhat similar +policy with respect to its colonies in the Navigation Act of 1660, it +was generally agreed that some exception should be made for the island +of Jamaica in connection with the Spanish trade. + +When Lord Windsor became governor of Jamaica in 1662 he was instructed +to endeavor to secure a free commerce with the Spanish colonies. If +the governors of the Spanish colonies refused to grant this trade +voluntarily, Lord Windsor and the council of the island were given +permission to compel the Spanish authorities to acquiesce by the use +of force or any other means at their disposal.[71] Accordingly a +letter embodying this request was written to the governors of Porto +Rico and Santo Domingo, but unfavorable replies were received. In +accordance with the king's instructions the Jamaica council determined +to obtain a trade by force.[72] This was done by issuing letters of +marque to privateers for the purpose of preying upon Spanish +ships.[73] + +In the following year, 1663, as has already been mentioned, Charles II +commanded the governors of Barbadoes and Jamaica to permit the +Spaniards to buy goods and Negroes in their respective islands, and to +refrain from charging duties on these Negroes in case they were +reexported by the agents of the Royal Adventurers.[74] This was +followed by a royal order of April 29, 1663, commanding the governor +to stop all hostile measures against the Spaniards. Sir Charles +Lyttleton, the deputy governor, replied that he hoped the attempt to +begin a trade with the Spaniards would be successful, especially in +Negroes, which the Spaniards could not obtain more easily than in +Jamaica.[75] + +When Sir Charles Modyford became governor of Jamaica in 1664, the king +repeated his desire to promote trade and correspondence with the +Spanish plantations. Indeed Modyford's previous success in selling +Negroes to the Spaniards probably influenced his appointment to this +office. As soon as Modyford reached Jamaica he wrote a letter to the +governor of Santo Domingo informing him that the king had ordered a +cessation of hostilities and desired a peaceful commerce with the +Spanish colonies.[76] Modyford instructed the two commissioners by +whom the letter was sent to emphasize the trade in Negroes and to +induce the Spaniards, if possible, to negotiate with him in regard to +this matter.[77] Again the answer of the governor of Santo Domingo was +unfavorable. He pointed out that it was not within his power to order +a commerce with Jamaica, but that this was the province of the +government in Spain. The governor, moreover, complained that the +people of Jamaica had acted in the same hostile manner toward the +Spaniards since the Restoration as they had in Cromwell's time, and +therefore his people were little inclined to begin a trade with +Jamaica. + +The refusal of the Spanish governor to consider Modyford's proposition +seemed all the more bitter since it was well known at that time that +the Spaniards were obtaining many Negroes from the Dutch West India +Company. The Genoese also had a contract with the Spaniards to deliver +24,500 Negroes in seven years nearly all of whom they expected to +obtain from the Dutch at that "cursed little barren island" of +Curacao, as Sir Thomas Lynch called it. Lynch also observed that if +the Royal Company desired to participate in the Spanish trade it would +either have to sell to the Genoese or drive the Dutch out of Africa, +because he did not believe it was possible to call in the privateers +without the assistance of several men-of-war.[78] Just how much weight +should be attached to this opinion is doubtful since Lynch was +probably so much interested in continuing privateering against the +Spaniards, that he cared little how much this would interfere with the +company's attempt to develop the Negro trade. + +Lynch's opinion was not shared by the king, who had heard that the +privateers were continuing their hostilities against the Spaniards. He +therefore informed Modyford that he could not adequately express his +dissatisfaction at the daily complaints made by the Spaniards about +the violence of ships said to belong to Jamaica. Modyford was strictly +commanded to secure and punish any such offenders.[79] The governor +issued a proclamation in accordance with the king's instructions,[80] +and also notified the governor of Havana that offenders against +Spanish commerce would hereafter be punished as pirates.[81] + +After the Anglo-Dutch war began the company imported very few Negroes +to Jamaica for the Spanish trade or for any other purpose. The king's +stringent orders regarding privateers were gradually allowed to go +unnoticed. Modyford again began to issue letters of marque, a +procedure which naturally destroyed all possibility of commerce +between the Spanish colonies and the Royal Company. + +At the time the desultory trade in Negroes was being started with the +Spaniards at Barbadoes, Richard White, of Spain, came to England as an +agent for two Spaniards, Domingo Grillo and Ambrosio Lomoline.[82] +These two men had been granted the assiento in Spain, that is, the +privilege of furnishing the Spanish colonies with Negro slaves. In +order to wrest some of this trade from the Dutch West India Company +the Royal Company entered into a contract with White, in the year +1663, to furnish the Spanish assientists with 3,500 Negroes per year +for a definite number of years. According to this contract the slaves +were to be delivered to the vessels of the assientists in Barbadoes +and Jamaica; one of the company's factors was to be placed on board +such ships; and the necessary safe conducts were to be procured for +their voyage to and from the port of Cadiz.[83] Sir Ellis Leighton, +secretary of the Royal Adventurers, obtained permission for Grillo's +agents to reside in Jamaica and Barbadoes.[84] Sir Martin Noell, one +of the most important West Indian merchants, as well as a prominent +member of the African Company, seems to have been intrusted with the +collection of the money due on this contract.[85] + +Not long after this agreement was made the possibility of a war with +the Dutch began to appear. The company considered ways by which Grillo +might be induced to mitigate the contract.[86] Complications +concerning the security to be given arose, and Grillo complained that +the required number of Negroes was not being furnished to him. Under +the circumstances this was almost impossible because the outbreak of +the Anglo-Dutch war made it very difficult to obtain slaves. +Nevertheless, on May 26, 1665, the company resolved to procure as many +Negroes as possible to fill the contract, providing Grillo made prompt +payments.[87] + +As may be surmised no great number of slaves was exported from +Barbadoes or Jamaica on this contract. Only one ship arrived at +Barbadoes from Cadiz desiring to secure one thousand slaves, but the +company's factors could obtain only eight hundred. Lord Willoughby +carefully reported that he had complied with his Majesty's command not +to exact any export duty for these slaves.[88] In Jamaica fewer +Negroes are known to have been sold on this contract to Spanish ships +which came from Cartagena.[89] There may have been other instances of +sales not recorded, but it is certain that the war interfered to such +an extent that the number of Negroes sold to Grillo fell far short of +what the contract called for. In order to keep the agreement intact +the company resolved, March 23, 1666, to lay the situation before the +king, and to ask him to permit Grillo's agents to buy sufficient +Negroes in the plantations to make up the required number, and that no +export duties be charged on them.[90] The king complied with the +company's request, and the desired orders were sent to the governors +of Jamaica and Barbadoes.[91] Some trouble had arisen in Jamaica, +however, between Grillo's agents and Governor Modyford. Since the +company believed that Grillo's agents were primarily to blame for +this, it resolved in the future to deliver Negroes only at Barbadoes +in return for ready money.[92] + +This was virtually the end of the contract. In 1667 the company spoke +of the agreement as having been broken by the Grillos, and that it was +under no further obligation to carry out its terms. Altogether, it +declared, that no more than 1,200 Negroes had been delivered to +Grillo's agents.[93] Thus this project which the company at first +asserted would bring into the English kingdom 86,000 pounds of Spanish +silver per year[94] ended in this insignificant fashion. + +Although the Grillo contract and the other attempts to begin a slave +trade with the Spanish colonies had proved much less successful than +the Company of Royal Adventurers had hoped, a great deal had been +accomplished toward bringing to light the fundamental difficulties of +this trade. In the first place not much could be accomplished in the +way of developing this trade so long as the Spanish government +maintained its attitude of uncompromising hostility toward all +foreigners notwithstanding the fact that the Spanish colonists would +gladly have welcomed the slave traders. Furthermore, although the +English government had signified its willingness to disregard the +restrictions of the Navigation Acts in this instance, the hostile +attitude assumed by the planters toward the trade in slaves to the +Spanish colonies also had to be taken into consideration. Whenever the +planters were able to do so they endeavored to prevent the exportation +to the Spanish colonies of slaves which they maintained were very much +needed on their own plantations. + +This opposition to the trade in Negroes to the Spanish colonies was +only one of the several ways in which the colonists manifested their +hostility toward the mercantile element in general and the Company of +Royal Adventurers in particular. Freedom of trade with all the world +seemed very desirable to the planters who regarded the restrictions of +the Navigation Acts as gross favoritism and partiality to the rising +mercantile class. The monopoly of supplying the colonies with slaves, +conferred upon the Company of Royal Adventurers, was most cordially +hated on account of the great degree of dependence placed upon slave +labor in the plantations. As a result of this conflict of interests +the planters early resorted to numerous devices such as the laws for +the protection of debtors, to embarrass the company in the exercise of +its monopoly. Since the company had received its exclusive privileges +by a charter from the crown the English planters in the West Indies +soon found that their trouble with the Company of Royal Adventurers +brought them also into direct conflict with the king. In this way the +planters enjoyed the distinction of being among the first to begin the +opposition which later, in the Great Revolution, resulted in the +overthrow of James II and the royal prerogative. + + GEORGE F. ZOOK. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] These were people of the rougher and even criminal classes of the +parent country who, in return for their ocean passage, agreed to work +for some planter during a specified number of years, usually seven. + +[2] C. S. P., Col., 1674-1675, Addenda, p. 86, articles agreed on by +Lord Willoughby and Sir George Ayscue and others, January 11, 1652. + +[3] C. S. P., Col., 1661-1668, p. 14, petitions of merchants and +planters, March 1, 1661. + +[4] C. S. P., Col., 1661-1668, pp. 29, 30, 45, 46, 47, petitions from +Barbadoes, May 11, July 10, 12, 1661. + +[5] _Ibid._, p. 117, minutes of the council and assembly of Barbadoes, +December 18, 1662. + +[6] The pieces of eight were to be accepted at four shillings each, +and 2,400 pounds of muscovado sugar were to be accepted in exchange +for a slave. + +[7] Answer of the Company of Royal Adventurers of England ... to the +Petition ... exhibited ... by Sir Paul Painter, His Royal Highness +(the duke of York) and others to Lord Willoughby, January 10, 1662/3. + +[8] C. O. 1: 18, ff. 85, 86, Modyford and Colleton to the Royal +Adventurers, March 20, 1664. + +[9] A. C. R., 75: 13, 14, J5. + +[10] _Ibid._, 75: 20. + +[11] On January 2, 1665, the company estimated the entire debt which +was owing to it in all the plantations at L49,895. S. P., Dom., +Charles II, 110, f. 18, petition of the Royal Adventurers to the king. + +[12] P. C. R., Charles II, 4: 177, 190-192, August 3, 24, 1664. + +[13] C. O. 1: 19, ff. 234-238, proceedings of the court of admiralty +in Barbadoes, June 17, 24, 1665. + +[14] _Ibid._, f. 232, petition of the Royal Adventurers to Arlington, +September 14, 1665. + +[15] P. C. R., Charles II, 5: 402, Privy Council to Willoughby, April +6, 1666. + +[16] C. O. 1: 20, f. 209, Willoughby to Privy Council, July 16, 1666. + +[17] _Ibid._, f. 335, petition of the Royal Adventurers to the king, +December 7, 1666. + +[18] P. C. R., Charles II, 6: 231, December 7, 1666. + +[19] _Ibid._, 7: 162, 163, Privy Council to Willoughby, January 31, +1668. + +[20] C. O. 1: 22, f. 191, Willoughby to Privy Council, May 30, 1668. + +[21] _Ibid._, 20, f. 149, Willoughby to the king, May 32, 1666. + +[22] _Ibid._, 21, f. 170, Willoughby to the king, July, 1667. + +[23] C. O. 1: 21, f. 222, Willoughby to Williamson, September 17, +1667. + +[24] _Ibid._, f. 209, petition of the representatives of Barbadoes to +the king, September 5, 1667. This document and Willoughby's letter of +September 17, 1667, also urge very strongly that the bars of the +Navigation Acts be let down in order to permit servants to be imported +from Scotland. + +[25] The petition and these answers are printed in a pamphlet +entitled, "Answer of the Company of Royal Adventurers of England +trading into Africa, to the Petition and Paper of certain Heads and +Particulars thereunto relating exhibited to the Honourable House of +Commons by Sir Paul Painter." As to the assertion that the planters +refused to ship their products in the company's ships there seems to +be no very good evidence on either side. Sometimes the company's +vessels were sent home from Barbadoes empty. Upon such occasions the +agents always said that there were no goods with which to load them. + +[26] C. O. 1: 22, f. 42, answer of Sir Ellis Leighton, secretary of +the Royal Adventurers, to the petition from Barbadoes of September 5, +1667; C. O. 1: 22, f. 43, proposal of the Royal Adventurers concerning +the sale of Negroes in Barbadoes, January, 1668 + +[27] C. O. 1: 22, f. 204, address of the merchants and planters of +Barbadoes now in London, read at the committee of trade, June 16, +1668. + +[28] _Ibid._, 23, f. 69, address of the representative of Barbadoes to +the king, August 3, 1668. + +[29] _Ibid._, f. 42, account of affairs in Barbadoes by Lord +Willoughby, July 22, 1668. + +[30] P. C. R., Charles II, 8: 294, May 12, 1669. + +[31] _Ibid._, 8: 402, August 27, 1669. + +[32] _Ibid._, 8: 424, September 28, 1669. + +[33] C. O. 1: 27, f. 24, John Reid to Arlington, August 2, 1671. + +[34] A. C. R., 75: 106, 108, 109, September 11, November 10, 1671. + +[35] These numbers and prices are gleaned from page three of the +Barbadoes ledger. A. C. R., 646. + +[36] Answer of the Company of Royal Adventurers ... to the Petition +... exhibited ... by Sir Paul Painter. + +[37] C. O. 29: 1, f. 116, Willoughby to the Lords of the Council, July +9, 1668. + +[38] _Ibid._, 1: 25, f. 62, memorial of some principal merchants +trading to the plantations, 1670. + +[39] _Ibid._, 18, f. 86, Modyford and Colleton to (the Royal +Adventurers); C. O. 1: 20, f. 168, Michael Smith to Richard Chaundler, +June 11, 1666. + +[40] _Ibid._, 22, f. 89, Willoughby to Arlington, March 2, 1668. + +[41] _Ibid._, 17, f. 219, Renatus Enys to Bennet, November 1, 1663. + +[42] _Ibid._, 29: 1, f. 116, Willoughby to the Lords of the Council, +July 9, 1668. + +[43] _Ibid._, 1: 22, f. 53, proposals of the inhabitants of Antigua to +Governor Willoughby, January 31, 1668. + +[44] C. S. P., Col. 1669-1674, p, 204, William Byam to Willoughby, +1670?; C. O. 1: 25, f. 138, Byam to Willoughby, n. d. + +[45] C. S. P., Col., 1675-1676, Addenda, p. 125, Cornelius Burough to +the Admiralty Commissioners, November 28, 1658. + +[46] _Ibid._, 1661-1668, p. 36, narrative of the buying of a shipload +of Negroes, June 14, 1661. + +[47] C. O. 1: 16, f. 77, Captain Richard Whiting to the officers of +his Majesty's navy, March 10, 1662; C. O. 1: 17, f. 236, petition of +Colonel Godfrey Ashbey and others to the king, 1663. + +[48] _Ibid._, 18, f. 58, instructions to Colonel Modyford, governor of +Jamaica, February 18, 1664. + +[49] C. O. 1: 18, f. 81, declaration of Sir Thomas Modyford, March 2, +1664. + +[50] _Ibid._, f. 135, Modyford to Bennet, May 10, 1664. + +[51] _Ibid._, f. 208, report of the Privy Council on Jamaica affairs, +August 10, 1664. + +[52] A. C. R., 75: 89. + +[53] Add. MSS., 12,430, f. 31, Beeston, Journal, February 1, 1664/5. + +[54] C. O. 1: 19, f. 31, Lynch to Bennet, February 12, 1665; _ibid._, +f. 189, John Style to (Bennet), July 24, 1665. + +[55] A. C. R., 869, entries from January 1, 1665/6 to December 31, +1666; _ibid._, 870: 62. + +[56] A. C. R., 75: 14, 89. + +[57] C. O. 1: 25, f. 127, Modyford to Arlington, (September 20, 1670). + +[58] C. S. P., Col., 1669-1674, p. 107, additional propositions made +to the Privy Council about Jamaica by Charles Modyford by order of Sir +Thomas Modyford, (September 28, 1670). + +[59] C. O. 1: 14, f. 56, proposal by Lord Marlborough, 1663. + +[60] _Ibid._, 17, f. 28, Thomas Modyford? to his brother, March 30, +1662. + +[61] _Ibid._, f. 29, Thomas Modyford? to his brother, April 30, 1662. + +[62] C. O. 1: 17, ff. 29, 30, Thomas Modyford to his brother, May 26, +1662. + +[63] _Ibid._, f. 32, Thomas Modyford to his brother, September 3, 13, +1662. + +[64] _Ibid._, f 32, Thomas Modyford to his brother, September 13, +1662. + +[65] _Ibid._, f. 20, petition of the Royal Adventurers to the king, +January, 1663. + +[66] C. O. 1: 17, f. 136, instructions to Lord Willoughby, June 16, +1663. + +[67] _Ibid._, f. 227 (the king to the governors of Barbadoes and +Jamaica). March 30, 1663. That there was some trouble in deciding just +what provisions to make regarding the Spanish trade appears from +several unsigned and undated letters to Willoughby with conflicting +provisions, but they nearly all mention the exception made in favor of +the Royal Company in the letter of March 13, 1663. C. O. 1: 17, f. 22; +C. O. 1: 17, ff. 24, 25; C. O. 1: 17, ff. 26, 27; P. C. R., Charles +II, 3: 336-338. + +[68] C. O. 1: 17, ff. 225, 226, petition of the Royal Adventurers to +the king, November, 1663. + +[69] Willoughby made a restitution of the L320 in March, 1664. C. O. +1: 18, f. 86, Modyford and Colleton to (the Royal Adventurers), March +31, 1664. + +[70] C. O. 1: 19, f. 124, Willoughby to the king, May 20, 1665. + +[71] C. O. 1: 16, f. 112, additional instructions to Lord Windsor, +governor of Jamaica, April 8, 1662. + +[72] C. S. P., Col., 1661-1668, p. 106, minutes of the council of +Jamaica, August 20, 1662. + +[73] A full description of privateering by the English against the +Spaniards from the year 1660 to 1670 may be found in an article by +Miss Violet Barbour in the American Historical Review, XVI: 529-566. + +[74] C. S. P., Col., 1661-1668, p. 125 (the king to the governors of +Barbadoes and Jamaica), March 13, 1663. + +[75] C. O. 1: 17, f. 199, Sir Charles Lyttleton, deputy governor, to +Bennet, October 15, 1663. + +[76] _Ibid._, 18, f. 137, Modyford to the governor of Santo Domingo, +April 30, 1664. + +[77] _Ibid._, f. 139, Modyford's instructions to Colonel Cary and +Captain Perrott, May 2, 1664. + +[78] C. O. 1: 18, ff. 152, 153, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Lynch to +Bennet. May 25, 1664. + +[79] C. S. P., Col., 1661-1668, p. 215, the king to Modyford, June 15, +1664. + +[80] _Ibid._, p. 220, proclamation by Sir Thomas Modyford, governor of +Jamaica, June 15, 1664. + +[81] _Ibid._, p. 228, minutes of the council of Jamaica, August 19-22, +1664. + +[82] C. S. P., Dom., 1663-1664, p. 168, Richard White to Captain Weld, +June 11, 1663. + +[83] As this contract cannot be discovered it is difficult to say just +when it was made or what were its conditions. Georges Scelle in his +book, La Traite Negriere aux Indes de Castille, 1: 524, gives the date +of this contract as February 28, 1663, and says it was for 35,000 +Negroes which were to be delivered at the rate of 5,000 per year. This +may be true, but on the other hand the company distinctly declares in +one place that the contract was for the annual delivery of 3,500 +Negroes per year. C. O. 1: 19, ff. 7, 8, brief narrative of the trade +and present condition of the Royal Adventurers, 1664/5. + +[84] C. O. 1: 17, f. 189, memorial of Sir Ellis Leighton to the duke +of York, 1663. + +[85] _Ibid._, ff. 244, 247; A. C. R., 75: 48. + +[86] A. C. R., 75: 15, August 5, 1664. + +[87] _Ibid._, 75: 34, May 26, 1665. + +[88] C. O. 1: 18, f. 165, Willoughby to the king, June 17, 1664. + +[89] Add. MSS., 12,430, f. 31, Beeston, Journal, April 8, 1665. + +[90] A. C. R., 75: 43, March 23, 1665/6. + +[91] P. C. R., Charles II, 5: 396, March 30, 1666. + +[92] A. C. R., 75: 46; Add. MSS., 12,430, f. 31, Beeston, Journal, +February 7, 1664/5. + +[93] Answer of the Company of Royal Adventurers ... to the Petition +... exhibited ... by Sir Paul Painter. + +[94] C. O. 1: 19, ff. 7, 8, brief narrative of the trade and present +condition of the Royal Adventurers, 1664/5. + + + + +BOOK REVIEWS + + +_Below the James. A Plantation Sketch._ By WILLIAM CABELL BRUCE. The +Neale Publishing Company, New York, 1918. Pp. 157. + +This book is, as its title imports, a plantation sketch dealing with +that sort of life in Virginia just after the Civil War. While it is a +mere story and hardly a dramatic one, it throws light on the Negro as +a constituent part of the southern society of that day. As a student +at Harvard before the War a southerner comes into contact with a +fellow student from Massachusetts, to whom he becomes bound by such +strong ties that the four years of bloody conflict between the +sections are not sufficient to sever this connection. Some years after +this upheaval friend thinks of friend and soon the northerner finds +himself on his way to visit the southern friend. + +Coming to the South at the time when the Negroes as a new class in +their different situation were endeavoring to readjust themselves +under difficult circumstances, the observations of the traveler are of +much value to the historian. He not only saw much to admire in the +colonial seats of prominent southerners like Patrick Henry and John +Randolph, but showed an appreciation of the simple life of the +Negroes. Their new position as freemen taking a part in the +government, the role of the carpetbagger, and the undesirable +conditions of that regime play some part in the story. + +As to the Negroes themselves, however, the most interesting +revelations are those dealing with the inner life of the blacks. In +the language used to impersonate the blacks the reader sees a +philosophy of life; in their mode of living appears the virtue of a +noble peasantry; and in their worship of divinity there is the +striving of a righteous people willing to labor and to wait. In this +respect the book is valuable. We have known too little of the +plantation, too little of the life of the Negro before the Civil War, +too little of how he during the Reconstruction developed into +something above and beyond the hewer of wood and drawer of water. +While not primarily historical then and falling far short of being an +historical novel, this book is unconsciously informing and therefore +interesting and valuable to the student of Negro life and history. + + * * * * * + +_The Emancipated and Freed in American Sculpture. A Study in +Interpretation._ By FREEMAN HENRY MORRIS MURRAY. Murray Brothers, +incorporated, Washington, D. C., 1916. Pp. 228. + +This work is to some extent a compilation of matter which on former +occasions have been used by the author in lectures and addresses +bearing on the Negroes in art. There is in it, however, much that is +new, for even in this formerly used material the author has +incorporated additional facts and more extensive comment. This work is +not given out as the last word. It is one of a series to appear under +the caption of the "Black Folk in Art" or an effort to set forth the +contributions of the blacks to art in ancient and modern times. This +work itself is, as the author calls it, "A Study in Interpretation." +His purpose, he says, is to indicate as well as he can, what he thinks +are the criteria for the formation of judgment in these matters. Yet +his interpretation is to be different from technical criticism, as his +effort is primarily directed toward intention, meaning and effect. +This thought is the keynote to the comments on the various sculptures +illustrated in the work. While one may not agree with the author in +his arrangement and may differ from his interpretation, it must be +admitted that the book contains interesting information and is a bold +step in the right direction. It is a portraiture of freedom as a +motive for artistic expression and an effort to symbolize this desire +for liberation to animate the citizenry in making. It brings to light +numerous facts as to how the thought of the Negro has been dominant in +the minds of certain artists and how in the course of time race +prejudice has caused the pendulum to swing the other way in the +interest of those who would forget what the blacks have thought and +felt and done. + +The many illustrations constitute the chief value of the work. There +appears _The Greek Slave_ by Hiram Powers, _Freedom_ on the dome of +the Capitol, _The Libyan Sibyl_ by W. W. Story, _The Freedman_ by J. +I. A. Ward, _The Freedwoman_ by Edmonia Lewis, _Emancipation_ in +Washington by Thomas Ball, _Emancipation_ in Edinburgh, Scotland, by +George E. Bissell, _Emancipation_ panel on the Military Monument in +Cleveland by Levi T. Scofield, _Emancipation_ by Meta Warrick Fuller, +_The Beecher Monument_ in Brooklyn by J. I. A. Ward, _Africa_ by +Randolph Rogers, _Africa_ by Daniel C. French, _The Harriet Tubman +Tablet, The Frederick Douglass Monument_ in Rochester, _The Attucks +Monument_ in Boston by Robert Kraus, _The Faithful Slaves Monument_ in +Fort Mill, South Carolina, _l'Africane_ by E. Caroni, _l'Abolizione_ +by R. Vincenzo, _Ethiopia_ and _Toussaint L'Ouverture_ by Anne +Whitney, _The Slave Auction_, _The Fugitive's Story_, _Taking the Oath +and Drawing Rations_, _The Wounded Scout_, and _Uncle Ned's School_ by +John Rogers, _The Slave Memorial_ by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and _The +Death of Major Montgomery_. + + * * * * * + +_The Question Before Congress. A consideration of the Debates and +final action by Congress upon various Phases of the Race Question in +the United States._ By GEORGE W. MITCHELL. The A. M. E. Book Concern, +Philadelphia, 1918. Pp. 237. + +This book contains little which has not been extensively treated in +various other works of standard authors. It goes over the ground +covered in books easily accessible in most local libraries. Yet there +is in it something which the historian does not find in these other +works. It is this same drama of history as it appears to an +intelligent man of color well read in the history of this country +although lacking the attitude of a scientific investigator. Whether he +has written an accurate book is of little value here. These facts are +already known. He has enabled the public to know the Negro's reaction +on these things and that in itself is a contribution to history. + +As to exactly what the author has treated little needs to be said. He +begins with the slavery question in the Federal Convention of 1787 +which framed the Constitution of the United States. Then comes the +treatment of the slave trade, the debate on the Missouri Compromise, +the exclusion of abolition literature from the mails, the attack on +the right of petition, the exodus of antislavery men from the South, +the murder of Lovejoy, the coming of Giddings to Congress, the Wilmot +Proviso, the formation of the Free Soil party, antislavery men in +Congress, the effort to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, +the slavery question in California, the Fugitive Slave Act, the Kansas +Nebraska trouble, the organization of the Republican Party, the Dred +Scott Decision, John Brown's Raid and the election of Abraham Lincoln. + +Then follows a discussion of facts still more familiar. The author +takes up the upheaval of the Civil War and the difficulty with which +the Negroes effected a readjustment because of the large number of +refugees. He next discusses the role of the Negro in politics during +the Reconstruction period, the outrages which followed and the failure +of the carpetbagger regime. The remaining portion of the book is +devoted to the treatment of the Negroes in freedom and the problem of +social justice. In fact, almost every phase of Negro political history +from the formation of the Union to the present time has been treated +by the author. + + * * * * * + +_Negro Population: 1790-1915._ By JOHN CUMMINGS, Ph.D., Expert Special +Agent, Bureau of Census. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1918. +Pp. 844. + +This volume is unique in that never before in the history of the +Bureau of the Census has it devoted a whole volume to statistics +bearing on the Negro. This work, moreover, is more important than the +average census report in that it covers a period of 125 years. The +compiler has used not only previously published documents but various +unpublished schedules, tables and manuscripts which give this work a +decidedly historical value. Never before has the public been given so +many new figures concerning the development and progress of the +Negroes in this country. It is a cause of much satisfaction then that +these facts are available so that many questions which have hitherto +been puzzling because of the lack of such statistics may now be easily +cleared up. + +What the work comprehends is interesting. It is a statistical account +of the "growth of the Negro population from decade to decade; its +geographical distribution at each decennial enumeration; its migratory +drift westward in the early decades of the last century, when Negroes +and whites were moving forward into the East and West South Central +States as cultivators of virgin soil; its drift northward and +cityward, and in more recent decades southward out of the "black +belt," in response to the universal gravity pull of complex economic +and social forces; its widespread dispersion on the one hand, and on +the other its segregation with reference to the white population; its +sex and age composition and marital condition; its fertility, as +indicated by the proportion of children to women of child-bearing age +in different periods--again, under social conditions varying from the +irresponsible relations of slavery to the more exacting institutions +of freedom; its intermixture with other races, as shown by the +increase in the proportion mulatto; its annual mortality in the +registration area; its educational progress since emancipation, in so +far as it can be measured by elementary schooling and by increasing +literacy; its criminality, dependency, and physical and mental +defectiveness--those characteristics of individual degeneracy which +Negroes manifest in common with other racial classes in all civilized +communities; finally, its economic progress, as indicated by +increasing ownership of homes, by entrance into skilled trades and +professions, and primarily and fundamentally by the rapid development +of Negro agriculture." + +Although this report goes as far back as 1790 most of the facts herein +assembled bear on the life of the Negro since emancipation. This is +not due, however, to the tendency to neglect the early period, but to +the fact that earlier in our history statistics concerning Negroes +were not considered valuable. It is only recently that public +officials have directed attention to the importance of keeping these +records and in many parts of the South certain statistics regarding +Negroes are not yet considered worth while. The United States +Government, however, as this volume indicates, has taken this matter +seriously and from such volumes as this the public will expect more +valuable information. + + + + +NOTES + + +To increase our circulation and the membership of the Association the +management has employed as Field Agent Mr. J. E. Ormes, formerly +connected with the business department of Wilberforce University. Mr. +Ormes will appoint agents to sell books and solicit subscriptions to +the JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY. He will also organize clubs for the +study of Negro life and history. + +Any five persons desiring to prosecute studies in this field +intensively may organize a club and upon the payment of two dollars +each will be entitled not only to receive free of further charge the +JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY, but may call on the Director for such +instruction as can be given by mail. Members will be supplied with a +quarterly outline study of the current numbers of the JOURNAL OF NEGRO +HISTORY and with a topical outline of the contents of the back +numbers. + +Clubs will be left free to work out their own organization and plans. +The management, however, follows the plan of a group working under the +simplest restrictions. There should be elected a president, a +secretary, a treasurer, and an instructor. The last named official +should be the most intelligent and the best informed member of the +group. + + * * * * * + +E. Payen's _Belgique et Congo_ and P. Daye's _Les Conquetes +Africaniques des Belge_ have been published by Berger-Levrault in +Paris. + +The Cornhill Publishing Company has brought out _Twenty-five Years in +the Black Belt_ by W. J. Edwards. + +P. A. Means has published through Marshall Jones _Racial Factors in a +Democracy_. + +The following significant articles have appeared in recent numbers of +periodicals: _The Worth of an African_, by R. Keable in the July +number of the International Review of Missions; _How Germany treats +the Natives_ by Evans Lewis and M. Montgomery-Campbell; _Germany and +Africa_ by Ethel Jollie in the June number of the United Empire; +_International Interference in African Affairs_ by Sir. H. H. Johnson +in the April number of the Journal of Comparative Legislation and +International Law; _The Native Question in British East Africa_ in the +April number of the Contemporary Review; and _The Christian Occupation +of Africa_ in the Proceedings of the African Conference. + + + + +THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY + +VOL. IV--JULY, 1919--NO. 3 + + + + +THE EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY + + +The problem of arming the slaves was of far greater concern to the +South, than to the North. It was fraught with momentous consequences +to both sections, but pregnant with an influence, subtle yet powerful, +which would affect directly the ultimate future of the Confederate +Government. The very existence of the Confederacy depended upon the +ability of the South to control the slave population. At the outbreak +of the Civil War great fear as to servile insurrection was aroused in +the South and more restrictive measures were enacted.[1] + +Most of the Negro population was living in the area under rebellion, +and in many cases the slaves outnumbered the whites. To arm these +slaves would mean the lighting of a torch which, in the burning, might +spread a flame throughout the slave kingdom. If the Negro in the midst +of oppression had been in possession of the facts regarding the war, +whether the slaves would have remained consciously faithful would have +been a perplexing question.[2] + +The South had been aware of its imminent danger and with its +traditional methods strove to prevent the arming of the Negroes. With +the memories of Negro insurrections ever fresh in the public mind, +quite a change of front would be required to bring the South to view +with favor such a radical measure. The South, however, was not alone +in its unwillingness to employ Negroes as soldiers. For the first two +years of the war, the North represented by President Lincoln and +Congress refused to consider the same proposal. In the face of +stubborn opposition loyal Negroes had been admitted into the Engineer +and Quartermaster Departments of the Union armies, but their +employment as soldiers under arms was discountenanced during the first +years of the war. + +In the North this discrimination caused much discontent among the +Negroes but those living in the States in rebellion did not understand +the issues in the war, and of necessity could not understand until the +Union forces had invaded the hostile sections and spread the +information which had gradually developed the point of view that the +war was for the extermination of the institution of slavery. It may be +recalled that during the opening days of the war, slaves captured by +the Union forces were returned to their disloyal masters. Here there +is sufficient evidence in the concrete that slavery was not the avowed +cause of the conflict.[3] If there was this uncertain notion of the +cause of the war among northern sympathizers, how much more befogged +must have been the minds of the southern slaves in the hands of men +who imagined that they were fighting for the same principles involved +in our earlier struggle with Great Britain! To the majority of the +Negroes, as to all the South, the invading armies of the Union seemed +to be ruthlessly attacking independent States, invading the beloved +homeland and trampling upon all that these men held dear[4]. + +The loyalty of the slave while the master was away with the fighting +forces of the Confederacy has been the making of many orators of an +earlier day, echoes of which we often hear in the present[5]. The +Negroes were not only loyal in remaining at home and doing their duty +but also in offering themselves for actual service in the Confederate +army. Believing their land invaded by hostile foes, they were more +than willing under the guidance of misguided southerners to offer +themselves for the service of actual warfare. So that during the early +days of the war, Negroes who volunteered were received into the +fighting forces by the rebelling States, and particularly during those +years in which the North was academically debating the advisability +of arming the Negro.[6] + +In the first year of the war large numbers were received into the +service of the Confederate laboring units. In January, a dispatch from +Mr. Riordan at Charleston to Hon. Percy Walker at Mobile stated that +large numbers of Negroes from the plantations of Alabama were at work +on the redoubts. These were described as very substantially made, +strengthened by sand-bags and sheet-iron.[7] Negroes were employed in +building fortifications, as teamsters and helpers in army service +throughout the South.[8] In 1862, the Florida Legislature conferred +authority upon the Governor to impress slaves for military purposes, +if so authorized by the Confederate Government. The owners of the +slaves were to be compensated for this labor, and in turn they were to +furnish one good suit of clothes for each of the slaves impressed. The +wages were not to exceed twenty-five dollars a month.[9] The +Confederate Congress provided by law in February, 1864, for the +impressment of 20,000 slaves for menial service in the Confederate +army.[10] President Davis was so satisfied with their labor that he +suggested, in his annual message, November, 1864, that this number +should be increased to 40,000[11] with the promise of emancipation at +the end of their service. + +Before the outbreak of the war and the beginning of actual +hostilities, the local authorities throughout the South had permitted +the enrollment for military service of organizations formed of free +Negroes, although no action had been taken or suggested by the +Confederate Government. It is said that some of these troops remained +in the service of the Confederacy during the period of the war, but +that they did not take part in any important engagements.[12] There +may be noted typical instances of the presence of Negroes in the State +Militia. In Louisiana, the Adjutant-General's Office of the Louisiana +Militia issued an order stating that "the Governor and the +Commander-in-Chief relying implicitly upon the loyalty of the free +colored population of the city and State, for the protection of their +homes, their property and for southern rights, from the pollution of a +ruthless invader, and believing that the military organization which +existed prior to February 15, 1862, and elicited praise and respect +for the patriotic motives which prompted it, should exist for and +during the war, calls upon them to maintain their organization and +hold themselves prepared for such orders as may be transmitted to +them."[13] + +These "Native Guards" joined the Confederate forces but they did not +leave the city with these troops, when they retreated before General +Butler, commanding the invading Union army. When General Butler +learned of this organization after his arrival in New Orleans, he sent +for several of the most prominent colored men of the city and asked +why they had accepted service "under the Confederate Government which +was set up for the purpose of holding their brethren and kindred in +eternal slavery." The reply was that they dared not to refuse; that +they had hoped, by serving the Confederates, to advance nearer to +equality with the whites; and concluded by stating that they had +longed to throw the weight of their class with the Union forces and +with the cause in which their own dearest hopes were identified[14]. + +An observer in Charleston at the outbreak of the war noted the +preparation for war, and called particular attention to "the thousand +Negroes who, so far from inclining to insurrections, were grinning +from ear to ear at the prospect of shooting the Yankees[15]." In the +same city, one of the daily papers stated that on January 2, 150 free +colored men had gratuitously offered their services to hasten the work +of throwing up redoubts along the coast[16]. At Nashville, Tennessee, +April, 1861, a company of free Negroes offered their services to the +Confederate Government and at Memphis a recruiting office was +opened[17]. The Legislature of Tennessee authorized Governor Harris, +on June 28, 1861, to receive into the State military service all male +persons of color between the ages of fifteen and fifty. These soldiers +would receive eight dollars a month with clothing and rations. The +sheriff of each county was required to report the names of these +persons and in case the number of persons tendering their services was +not sufficient to meet the needs of the county, the sheriff was +empowered to impress as many persons as were needed[18]. In the same +State, a procession of several hundred colored men marching through +the streets attracted attention. They marched under the command of +Confederate officers and carried shovels, axes, and blankets. The +observer adds, "they were brimful of patriotism, shouting for Jeff +Davis and singing war songs."[19] A paper in Lynchburg, Virginia, +commenting on the enlistment of 70 free Negroes to fight for the +defense of the State, concluded with "three cheers for the patriotic +Negroes of Lynchburg."[20] + +Two weeks after the firing on Fort Sumter, several companies of +volunteers of color passed through Augusta on their way to Virginia to +engage in actual war. Sixteen well-drilled companies of volunteers and +one Negro company from Nashville composed this group.[21] In November +of the same year, a military review was held in New Orleans. +Twenty-eight thousand troops passed before Governor Moore, General +Lowell and General Ruggles. The line of march covered over seven miles +in length. It is said that one regiment comprised 1,400 free colored +men.[22] _The Baltimore Traveler_ commenting on arming Negroes at +Richmond, said: "Contrabands who have recently come within the Federal +lines at Williamsport, report that all the able-bodied men in that +vicinity are being taken to Richmond, formed into regiments, and armed +for the defense of that city."[23] + +During February, 1862, the Confederate Legislature of Virginia was +considering a bill to enroll all free Negroes in the State for service +with the Confederate forces.[24] The Legislatures of other States +seriously considered the measure. Military and civil leaders, the +Confederate Congress and its perplexed War Department debated among +themselves the relative value of employing the Negroes as soldiers. +Slowly the ranks of those at home were made to grow thin by the calls +to the front. In April, 1862, President Davis was authorized to call +out and place in service all white men between the ages of eighteen +and thirty-five; in September the ages were raised to include the +years of thirty-five and forty-five; and finally in February, 1864, +all male whites between the years of seventeen and fifty were made +liable to military service. The Negroes were liable for impressment in +the work of building fortifications, producing war materials, and the +like.[25] + +The demand became so urgent for men that quite a controversy arose +over the advisability of employing the Negroes as soldiers. Some said +that the Negro belonged to an inferior race and, therefore, could not +be a good soldier; that the Negro could do menial work in the army, +but that fighting was the white man's task. Those who supported the +idea in its incipiency always urged the necessity of employing Negroes +in the army. A native Georgian supported the employment of these +troops in a letter to the Secretary of War, recommending freedom after +the war was over to those who fought, compensation to the owners and +the retention of the institution of slavery by continuing as slaves +"boys and women, and exempted or detailed men." The statement +concludes with "our country requires a quick and stringent remedy. +Don't stop for reforms."[26] + +In November, 1864, Jefferson Davis in his message to the Confederate +Congress recognized that the time might come when slaves would be +needed in the Confederate army: "The subject," said he, "is to be +viewed by us, therefore, solely in the light of policy and our social +economy. When so regarded, I must dissent from those who advise a +general levy and arming of slaves for the duty of soldiers. Until our +white population shall prove insufficient for the armies we require +and can afford to keep the field, to employ as a soldier the Negro, +who has merely been trained to labor, and as a laborer under the white +man, accustomed from his youth to the use of firearms, would scarcely +be deemed wise or advantageous by any; and this is the question before +us. But should the alternative ever be presented of subjugation or of +the employment of the slave as a soldier, there seems no reason to +doubt what should be our decision."[27] In the same month, J. A. +Seddon, Secretary of War, refused permission to Major E. B. Briggs of +Columbus, Georgia, to raise a regiment of Negro troops, stating that +it was not probable that any such policy would be adopted by +Congress.[28] + +In response to an inquiry from Seddon, the Secretary of War, as to the +advisability of arming slaves, General Howell Cobb presented the point +of view of one group of the Confederates, when he opposed the measure +to arm the Negroes. "I think," said he "that the proposition to make +soldiers of our slaves is the most pernicious idea that has been +suggested since the war began ... you cannot make soldiers of slaves +or slaves of soldiers. The moment you resort to Negro soldiers, your +white soldiers will be lost to you, and one secret of the favor with +which the proposition is received in portions of the army is the hope +when Negroes go into the army, they (the whites) will be permitted to +retire. It is simply a proposition to fight the balance of the war +with Negro troops. You can't keep white and black troops together and +you can't trust Negroes by themselves.... Use all the Negroes you can +get for all purposes for which you need them but don't arm them. The +day you make soldiers of them is the beginning of the end of the +revolution. If slaves make good soldiers, our whole theory of slavery +is wrong."[29] General Beauregard, Commander of the Department of +Georgia, South Carolina and Florida, wrote to a friend in July, 1863, +that the arming of the slaves would lead to the atrocious consequences +which have ever resulted from the employment of "a merciless servile +race as soldiers."[30] General Patton Anderson declared that the idea +of arming the slaves was a "monstrous proposition revolting to +southern sentiment, southern pride and southern honor."[31] + +The opposite point of view was expressed by the group of southerners +led by General Pat Cleburne who in a petition presented to General +Joseph E. Johnson by several Confederate Officers wrote: "Will the +slaves fight?--the experience of this war has been so far, that +half-trained Negroes have fought as bravely as many half-trained +Yankees."[32] J. P. Benjamin, Secretary of State, urged that the slave +would be certainly made to fight against them, if southerners failed +to arm them for southern defense. He advocated also the emancipation +of those who would fight; if they should fight for southern freedom. +According to Benjamin, they were entitled to their own. In keeping +with the necessity of increasing the army, the editor of a popular +newspaper in Charleston, South Carolina, was besought to commence a +discussion on this point in his paper so that "the people might learn +the lesson which experience was sternly teaching."[33] + +In a letter to President Davis, another argued that since the Negro +had been used from the outset of the war to defend the South by +raising provisions for the army, that the sword and musket be put in +his hands, and concluding the correspondent added: "I would not make a +soldier of the Negro if it could be helped, but we are reduced to this +last resort."[34] Sam Clayton of Georgia wrote: "The recruits should +come from our Negroes, nowhere else. We should away with pride of +opinion, away with false pride, and promptly take hold of all the +means God has placed within our reach to help us through this +struggle--a war for the right of self-government. Some people say that +Negroes will not fight. I say they will fight. They fought at Ocean +Pond (Olustee, Fla.), Honey Hill and other places. The enemy fights us +with Negroes, and they will do very well to fight the Yankees."[35] + +The pressure to fill the depleted ranks of the Confederate forces +became greater as the war continued. It was noted above that Congress +and the State legislatures had called into service all able-bodied +whites between the ages of seventeen and fifty years; later the ages +were extended both ways to sixteen and sixty years. Grant remarked +that the Confederates had robbed "the cradle and the grave" in order +to fill the armies[36]. Jefferson Davis began to see the futility of a +hypothetical discussion as to the advisability or values in the use of +Negroes as soldiers and in a letter to John Forsythe, February, 1865, +stated "that all arguments as to the positive advantage or +disadvantage of employing them are beside the question, which is +simply one of relative advantage between having their fighting element +in our ranks or in those of the enemy."[37] + +A strong recommendation for the use of Negroes as soldiers was sent to +Senator Andrew Hunter at Richmond by General Robert E. Lee, in +January, 1865. "I think, therefore," said he, "we must decide whether +slavery shall be extinguished by our enemies and the slaves be used +against us, or use them ourselves at the risk of the effects which may +be produced upon our social institutions. My own opinion is that we +should employ them without delay. I believe that with proper +regulations they may be made efficient soldiers. They possess the +physical qualifications in a marked degree. Long habits of obedience +and subordination coupled with the moral influence which in our +country the white man possesses over the black, furnish an excellent +foundation for that discipline which is the best guaranty of military +efficiency. Our chief aim should be to secure their fidelity. There +have been formidable armies composed of men having no interest in the +cause for which they fought beyond their pay or the hope of plunder. +But it is certain that the surest foundation upon which the fidelity +of an army can rest, especially in a service which imposes hardships +and privations, is the personal interest of the soldier in the issue +of the contest. Such an interest we can give our Negroes by giving +immediate freedom to all who enlist, and freedom at the end of the war +to the families of those who discharge their duties faithfully +(whether they survive or not), together with the privilege of residing +at the South. To this might be added a bounty for faithful +service."[38] This was an influential word, coming as it did from the +Commander-in-Chief of the Confederate forces. The Confederate Congress +did not act immediately upon this suggestion, but even if this had +been done, the measure would have been enacted too late to be of any +avail.[39] + +The Confederate Senate refused on February 7, 1865, to pass a +resolution calling on the committee on military affairs to report a +bill to enroll Negro soldiers. Later in the same month the Senate +indefinitely postponed the measure.[40] As the House and Senate met in +secret session much of the debate can not be found. General Lee wrote +Representative Barksdale of Mississippi another letter in which the +employment of Negro soldiers was declared not only expedient but +necessary. He reiterated his opinion that they would make good +soldiers as had been shown in their employment in the Union +armies.[41] With recommendations from General Lee and Governor Smith +of Virginia, and with the approval of President Davis an act was +passed by the Congress, March 13, 1865, enrolling slaves in the +Confederate army.[42] Each State was to furnish a quota of the total +300,000.[43] The Preamble of the act reads as follows: + +"An Act to increase the Military Force of the Confederate States: The +Congress of the Confederate States of America so enact, that, in order +to provide additional forces to repel invasion, maintain the rightful +possession of the Confederate States, secure their independence and +preserve their institution, the President be, and he is hereby +authorized to ask for and accept from the owners of slaves, the +services of such number of able-bodied Negro men as he may deem +expedient, for and during the war, to perform military service in +whatever capacity he may direct...." The language used in other +sections of the act seems to imply also that volunteering made one a +freedman.[44] + +After the passage of the measure by the Confederate Congress, General +Lee cooeperated in every way with the War Department in facilitating +the recruiting of Negro troops.[45] Recruiting officers were appointed +in each State. Lieutenant John L. Cowardin, Adjutant, 19th Batallion, +Virginia Artillery was ordered to proceed on April 1, 1865, to +recruiting Negro troops according to the act. On March 30, 1865, +Captain Edward Bostick was ordered to raise four companies in South +Carolina. Others were ordered to raise companies in Alabama, Florida, +and Virginia.[46] Lee and Johnson, however, surrendered before this +plan could be carried out. If the Confederate Congress could have +accepted the recommendation in the fall of 1864, the war might have +been prolonged a few months, to say the least, by the use of the Negro +troops. It was the opinion of President Davis, on learning of the +passage of the act, that not so much was accomplished as would have +been, if the act had been passed earlier so that during the winter the +slaves could have been drilled and made ready for the spring campaign +of 1865. + +Under the guidance of the local authorities, thousands of Negroes were +enlisted in the State Militias and in the Confederate Army. They +served with satisfaction, but there is no evidence that they took part +in any important battles. The Confederate Government at first could +not bring itself to acknowledge the right or the ability of the man +who had been a slave to serve with the white man as a soldier. +Necessity forced the acceptance of the Negro as a soldier. In spite of +the long years of controversy with its arguments of racial +inferiority,[47] out of the muddle of fact and fancy came the +deliberate decision to employ Negro troops. This act, in itself, as a +historical fact, refuted the former theories of southern statesmen. +The Negro was thus a factor in both the Union and Confederate armies +in the War of the Rebellion. These facts lead to the conclusion that +the Negro is an American not only because he lives in America, but +because his life is closely connected with every important movement in +American history. + + CHARLES H. WESLEY. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Davis, _The Civil War and Reconstruction in Florida_, p. 220. + +[2] For summary of such, legislation to prevent this, see J.C. Kurd, +_The Law of Freedom and Bondage in the United States_, Vol. II. In +Florida, 1827, a law was enacted to prevent trading with Negroes. In +1828, death was declared the penalty for inciting insurrection among +the slaves and in 1840 there was passed an act prohibiting the use of +firearms by Negroes. In Virginia as early as 1748 there was enacted a +measure declaring that even the free Negroes and Indians enlisted in +the militia should appear without arms; but in 1806 the law was +modified to provide that free Negroes should not carry arms without +first obtaining a license from the county or corporation court. One +who was caught with firearms in spite of this act was to forfeit the +weapon to the informer and receive thirty-nine lashes at the +whipping-post. Hening, _Statutes-at-Large_, Vol. V, p. 17; Vol. XVI, +p. 274. + +[3] General W. S. Harney, commanding in Missouri, responded to the +claims of slaveholders for the return of runaway slaves with the +words: "Already, since the commencement of these unhappy disturbances, +slaves have escaped from their owners and have sought refuge in the +camps of the United States troops from the Northern States, and +commanded by a Northern General. They were carefully sent back to +their owners." General D. C. Buell, commanding in Tennessee, in reply +to the same demands stated: "Several applications have been made to me +by persons whose servants have been found in our camps; and in every +instance that I know of, the master has removed his servant and taken +him away." William Wells Brown, _The Negro in the Rebellion_, pp. +57-58. + +[4] Secretary Seddon, War Department, wrote: "They [the Negroes] have, +besides, the homes they value, the families they love, and the masters +they respect and depend on to defend and protect against the savagery +and devastation of the enemy."--_Official Rebellion Records_, Series +IV, Vol. Ill, pp. 761-762. + +[5] Governor Walker of Florida, himself a former slaveholder, said +before the State legislature in 1865 that "the world had never seen +such a body of slaves, for not only in peace but in war they had been +faithful to us. During much of the time of the late unhappy +difficulties, Florida had a greater number of men in her army than +constituted her entire voting population. This, of course, stripped +many districts of their arms-bearing inhabitants and left our females +and infant children almost exclusively to the protection of our +slaves. They proved true to their trust. Not one instance of insult, +outrage, or indignity has ever come to my knowledge. They remained at +home and made provisions for the army." John Wallace, _Carpet-Bag Rule +in Florida_, p. 23. + +[6] "For more than two years, Negroes had been extensively employed in +belligerent operations by the Confederacy. They had been embodied and +drilled as rebel soldiers and had paraded with white troops at a time +when this would not have been tolerated in the armies of the +Union."--Greely, _The American Conflict_, Vol. II, p. 524. + +"It was a notorious fact that the enemy were using Negroes to build +fortifications, drive teams and raise food for the army. Black hands +piled up the sand-bags and raised the batteries which drove Anderson +out of Sumter. At Montgomery, the Capital of the Confederacy, Negroes +were being drilled and armed for military duty."--W. W. Brown, _The +Negro in the Rebellion_, p. 59. + +[7] _Ibid._, Vol. II, p. 521. + +[8] Jones, _A Rebel War Clerk's Diary_, Vol. I, p. 237; Schwab, _The +Confederate States of America_, p. 194. + +[9] _Laws of Florida, 12th Session, 1862_, Chap. 1378. + +[10] _Confederate War Department, Bureau of Conscription_, Circular +No. 36, December 12, 1864. _Off. Reds. Reb._, Series IV, Vol. III, p. +933. + +[11] _Off. Reds. Reb._, Series IV, Vol. Ill, p. 780. Journals of +Congress, IV, 260. + +[12] Washington, _The Story of the Negro_, Vol. II, p. 321. + +[13] _Order No. 426. Adjutant-General's Office, Headquarters Louisiana +Militia, March 24, 1862._ _Cf._ Brown, _The Negro in the Rebellion_, +pp. 84-85. + +[14] Parton, _History of the Administration of the Gulf_, 1862-1864; +_General Butler in New Orleans_, p. 517. + +[15] Greely, _The American Conflict_, p. 521. + +[16] _The Charleston Mercury_, January 3, 1861. + +[17] The announcement of the recruiting read: "Attention, volunteers: +Resolved by the Committee of Safety that C. Deloach, D. R. Cook and +William B. Greenlaw be authorized to organize a volunteer company +composed of our patriotic free men of color, of the city of Memphis, +for the service of our common defense. All who have not enrolled their +names will call at the office of W. B. Greenlaw & Co." F. W. Forsythe, +Secretary. F. Titus, President. Williams, _History of the Negro_, Vol. +II, p. 277. + +[18] Greely, _The American Conflict_, Vol. II, p. 521. + +[19] _Memphis Avalanche_, September 3, 1861. + +[20] Greely, _The American Conflict_, Vol. II, p. 522. + +[21] _Ibid._, p. 277. + +[22] _Ibid._, Vol. II, p. 522. + +[23] _The Baltimore Traveler_, February 4, 1862. + +[24] Greely, _The American Conflict_, Vol. II, p. 522. + +[25] Schwab, _The Confederate States of America_, p. 193. Moore, +_Rebellion Records_, Vol. VII, p. 210. Jones, _Diary_, Vol. I, p. 381. + +[26] An indorsement from the Secretary of War reads: "If all white men +capable of bearing arms are put in the field, it would be as large a +draft as a community could continuously sustain, and whites are better +soldiers than Negroes. For war, when existence is staked, the best +material should be used."--_Off. Reds. Rebell._, Series IV, Vol. III, +pp. 693-694. + +[27] _Off. Reds. Rebell._, Series IV, Vol. III, p. 799. + +[28] _Ibid._, Series IV, Vol. III, p. 846. J. A. Seddon to Maj. E. B. +Briggs, Nov. 24, 1864. + +[29] _Ibid._, Series IV, Vol. III, p. 1009. + +[30] _Off. Reds. Rebell._, Series I, Vol. XXVIII, Pt. 2, p. 13. + +[31] _Ibid._, Series I, Vol. LII, Pt. 2, p. 598. + +[32] Davis, _Civil War and Reconstruction in Florida_, p. 226. + +[33] _Off. Reds. Rebell._, Series IV, Vol. III, pp. 959-960. + +[34] _Ibid._, p. 227. + +[35] _Off. Reds. Rebell._, Series IV, Vol. III, pp. 1010-1011. + +[36] Rhodes, _History of the United States since the Compromise of +1850_, Vol. IV, p. 525. + +[37] _Off. Reds. Rebell._, Series IV, Vol. VIII, p. 1110. + +[38] _Off. Reds. Rebell._, Series IV, Vol. VIII, p. 1013. + +[39] Williams, _Negro Troops in the War of the Rebellion_, Journals of +Congress, Vol. IV, pp. 572-573. + +In the _American Historical Review_, January, 1913, N.W. Stephenson +has an article upon "The Question of Arming the Slaves." The article +is concerned particularly with the debate in the Confederate Congress +upon this perplexing question and with the psychology of the +statements made by President Davis, Secretary Benjamin, General Lee +and by various Congressmen. The author has searched the Journals of +the Confederate Congress, newspaper files and personal recollections +and gives conclusions which show that "the subject was discussed +during the last winter of the Confederate regime," and by inference +the dissertation shows that the fear of the consequences of arming the +slaves was alike in the minds of all southern people. The treatise is +a study in historical psychology; and, as in similar works by men of +the type of the author, the point of view of the South and of the +Confederacy is presented and the Negro and his actual employment as a +soldier is neglected. The author contends that a few southern leaders +attempted to force the arming of the blacks upon an unwilling southern +public. He neglects the evidence contained in the action of local +authorities in arming the Negroes who were free and their attitude +concerning those who were slaves. He neglects also the sentiment of +southern leaders who favored the measure. The Journals of the +Confederate Congress, therefore, will be more valuable to those +desiring information concerning the debates on this question. + +[40] _Journal of Congress of Confederate States_, Vol. IV, p. 528 and +Vol. VII, p. 595; Jones, _Diary_, Vol. II, p. 431. + +[41] _Richmond Dispatch_, February 24, 1865; Jones _Diary_, Vol. II, +p. 432. + +[42] _Journal of Congress of Confederate States_, Vol. VII, p. 748. + +[43] _Richmond Examiner_, December 9, 1864--Gov. Smith's Message. +Jones, _Diary_, Vol. II, p. 43; pp. 432-433. Schwab, _The Confederate +States of America_, p. 194. + +[44] _Off. Reds. Rebell., Series_ IV, Vol. III, p. 1161. + +_Ibid._, Series III, Vol. V, pp. 711-712; Davis, _Confederate +Government_, Vol. II, p. 660. + +[45] Rhodes, _History of U. S._, Vol. V, 1864-1865, p. 81. + +[46] _Off. Reds. Rebell._, Series IV, Vol. III, pp. 1193-1194 and +Appendix. + +[47] _Cf. Southern Correspondence throughout the Rebellion Records._ + + + + +THE LEGAL STATUS OF FREE NEGROES AND SLAVES IN TENNESSEE + + +In 1790, the free colored population of Tennessee was 361, while the +slave numbered 3,417.[1] In 1787, three years previous, Davidson +County, which then, as now, comprised the most important and thickly +settled part of the Cumberland Valley, had a population of 105 Negroes +between the ages of 1 and 60.[2] Nashville was just a rough community +in the wilderness with a few settlers from the older districts of the +East, living in several hewed and framed log-houses and twenty or more +rough cabins. The census of 1790 gives Davidson County 677 Negroes, a +figure which compared with the 3,778 Negroes in the entire State at +that enumeration, means that this frontier region had already grown +important enough to draw to it nearly one-fifth of the Negro +population of the commonwealth. In 1800, there were in the State +13,893 Negroes, of whom 3,104, or nearly one fourth, were in Davidson +County. Thereafter, although the ratio between the county and State +did not increase in favor of the county, still it kept up so that by +1850 Davidson had the largest Negro population of any county in the +State. During the decade 1850-60 Shelby County, containing the +important center, Memphis, gained the ascendency in number of Negro +inhabitants, which it has since that time maintained. The likely cause +of this shifting was the steady growth of cotton-raising districts and +their rapid expansion toward the West and South. A general +intimidation of the Negroes of Nashville and vicinity occurred in +1856, probably having some influence on the decline of population for +that period in question. This cause, however, is not sufficient to +explain the constant superiority of numbers in the Southwestern +Tennessee region thereafter. + +As slavery expanded from this small territory into all parts of the +State, the attitude of the people of the Commonwealth with respect to +the nation and slavery at various times may be shown. After Tennessee +had been ceded to the United States in 1790 by North Carolina, she had +a most unusual method of throwing off her territorial government for +nearly three months in 1796, and existed in absolute independence for +that period before being admitted into statehood by the Federal +Government.[3] Nevertheless in the period of the Civil War this State +was the last to secede and the first to comply with the terms of +readmission. With respect to slavery the early attitude of Tennessee +toward the national government was peculiar. The cession act of North +Carolina provided: "That no regulation made or to be made by Congress +shall tend to emancipate slaves."[4] Probably because of this fact +Lincoln did not mention Tennessee in the Emancipation Proclamation. + +Yet Tennessee did have a strong anti-slavery sentiment, beginning with +the outspoken protest of some of the King's Mountain heroes, also +expressing itself in the work of many petitioners to the State +legislature in the period 1800-1820. Then in 1834, in the State +constitutional convention of that year, the anti-slavery feeling +developed to proportions little appreciable at the present day, since +we know the general opposition to such feeling and sentiment. Any +antagonism to a so strongly fixed social convention then meant unusual +courage in the midst of a majority of persons of adverse opinion. + +The burning question of human rights for the black inhabitants of the +State still became more ardent as the years passed, and the signs of +its greater intensity were clearly seen in the Anti-Slavery Convention +which met in London in 1843. The chronicle of proceedings contains a +speech of Joshua Leavitt of Boston, who made the interesting +statement that "The people of East Tennessee, a race of hardy +mountaineers, find their interests so little regarded by the dominant +slave-holders of other parts of the state that they are taking +measures to become a separate state. They are holding anti-slavery +meetings, and meetings of political associations with great freedom, +discussing their questions, rousing up the people and showing how +slavery curses them, in order to bring them to the point of +action."[5] At this time it was well known that both Tennessee and +Kentucky were "exporting slaves largely."[6] + +In 1820, Elihu Embree,[7] at Jonesboro, Tennessee, the county seat of +Washington County, in the far eastern section, began to publish _The +Emancipator_, an abolition journal. Later, there came from this same +county a man who easily became the leader of anti-slavery sentiment in +the Constitutional Convention of 1834 at Nashville, Matthew +Stephenson. It may have been that as a young man Stephenson was fired +with the zeal of Embree. The period of Embree's activity was also one +of large interest in the North and South in behalf of emancipation. In +this same year the Missouri Compromise was passed in the national +legislature. The concessions made both by pro-slavery and anti-slavery +adherents at this time show the relative strength of the two forces +and the remarkable fact is that there could be such near-equality of +fighting strength on both sides.[8] Tennessee seems to have had an +epitome of this national situation within her borders. Not only the +zealous work of Embree indicates this, but the general feeling of the +people of eastern Tennessee toward slavery. It is interesting here to +point out that _The Emancipator_ was the first abolition journal in +the United States.[9] + +The outcome of this anti-slavery feeling in Tennessee was that when +the State Constitutional Convention met at Nashville in 1834 to +consider important changes in the Constitution of 1796, there was such +an outburst of sentiment against slavery that it was only with +considerable resistance of the pro-slavery convention delegates that +the State did not abolish it by providing for the gradual emancipation +of slaves over a period of twenty years, when all should have been +emancipated.[10] So significant is the public opinion of that time in +Tennessee history, and so well calculated to give large insight into +the Negro's condition then in the State, that it will hardly be amiss +in this paper to enter into a somewhat detailed discussion of the work +of the convention, and the sentiments there displayed. + +The legal enactments of the slave code of Tennessee prior to 1834 will +give us the right perspective here. One of the earliest enactments of +the commonwealth was the absolute denial to slaves of the right to own +property. Property held by them, such as horses, cattle, or anything +of personal value was to be sold and one half of the proceeds given to +the informer, the other half to the county.[11] Another law forbade +the slave to go about armed unless he was the huntsman of the +plantation. Small penalties were provided.[12] Still another made it +unlawful for slaves to sell "any article whatever without permission +from owner or overseer." The penalty for breaking this law was a +maximum of "39 lashes on his, her, or their bare backs."[13] Many +other matters were rigidly prescribed in the early statutes, chiefly +concerning the slave's right to go or not to go from place to place, +and to conduct himself under certain circumstances. Among slaves +perjury was punished by mutilation and whipping. The brutality of the +former was all the more disgusting because defended by law.[14] The +slaying of a black or mulatto slave, however, was actually deemed +murder and made punishable with death. It has not yet been +ascertained, as far as the writer knows, whether any white citizen of +Tennessee was ever indicted under the provision of this law. We do +have a case of a famous old slave-holder in a community not far from +Nashville being tied to his gate post and severely whipped by his +neighbors, because of his brutal murder of one of his slaves.[15] + +In the early laws the "hiring of one's own time," for a slave, was +expressly forbidden. This practice was that of the master's allowing a +slave to purchase his time for a certain amount of money, usually paid +per annum. The law forbidding it was later rather generally evaded, +although we cannot be sure of the evasion during the years 1796-1834. +But during the later decades of the period under discussion, +especially from 1840-60, there is absolute agreement among the +testimonies of ex-slaves that evasion was the rule and not the +exception. Various forms of this law were later enacted, but the +penalties were usually light, and it may have been this fact together +with the case of evasion that caused the disregard of it to become +general. An ex-slave of Wilson County explains that the usual method +of evasion was the declaration of the employer of the slave that he +had hired the slave from the slave's master. Sometimes the owner would +pretend to keep the wages of the slave, but really was holding them at +the slave's disposal. In this way numbers of slaves bought themselves. + +There were other laws affecting masters in regard to their treatment +of their slaves and privileges of the latter. One provided that if the +slave should steal food or clothing because ill-fed or destitute of +apparel, the master should pay for the stolen property.[16] By the +provisions of another, slaves were allowed to give testimony in trials +of other slaves; the jurors, however, had to be "housekeepers" and +"owners of slaves."[17] The beating or abuse of a slave without +sufficient cause (no indication given as to what were the limits of +"sufficient cause") was an indictable offence, and the person +committing a crime of this sort was liable to the same penalties as +for the commission of a similar offense on the body of a white +person.[18] + +Various laws of the early codes, 1813, 1819, 1829, restricting the +slave from selling or vending articles under conditions apart from +desire or knowledge of his owner are all evidence of his complete +subjection by law to the will of his master, even in the smallest +things and affairs of personal life, and disposal of belongings. Great +care was taken to state specifically in these early laws that there +should be no sale of liquor or any intoxicant to slaves.[19] + +The provisions concerning larger questions of a slave's activity and +privilege are all interesting, and it will be of value to regard, +first of all, that for bringing slaves into the State. Slaves were not +to be brought into Tennessee unless for use, or procured by descent, +devise, or marriage.[20] This enactment was made in 1826, and prepared +the way for far more severe measures later. The idea of all +legislation of this nature argues clearly the discouragement of +slavery as a prevailing institution, by means of preventing fresh +importations for sale. Tennessee was not to be, if it could be +prevented, a slave market, like Mississippi. + +A citizen holding slaves might petition the county court and +emancipate a slave. Bond and security were required of the owner, and +the slave thus set at liberty became free to go where he chose +provided that, if he became a pauper, he should be brought to the +county in which he had been set free, and there taken care of at +public expense.[21] But occasionally there would arise a situation +which required special enactment of the legislature as in the +instance of one, Pompey Daniels, a slave, who died before the +emancipation of his two children, Jeremiah and Julius, whom he had +purchased. This required a special act of the legislature, as there +seems to have been no law covering such a case.[22] Years before, in +1801, there was enacted a law, giving power of emancipation to the +owner, as we have just seen before, but not to any slave who might +essay to deliver another from bondage.[23] + +Once free, the Negro's status was rather precarious in some respects. +He was required to have papers filled out by the clerk of the county +in which he lived, specifying personal details and information +intended to identify the person thoroughly. He must without fail have +these emancipation records with him at any time and place in order to +prove his freedom. In 1831 a law was passed which made it obligatory +for the slave to leave upon his emancipation, and persons intending to +emancipate their slaves were then compelled to give bond for their +speedy removal.[24] Another clause of the same law stipulates that +free Negroes should not be allowed to enter the State.[25] Fine and +imprisonment were specified as penalties for remaining in the State as +long as twenty days. This was a reaction from the provisions of State +laws of 1825 when free colored persons immigrating into the State +might have papers of freedom registered there, when proof of their +absolute freedom had been made. Before the enactment of 1831, the +increase of free Negroes was not so actively discouraged by the State, +and many having their residence there, the laws concerning this class +were quite as important and nearly as well detailed as the provisions +of the slave code. + +Among the early laws is one exacting a penalty of $500 fine for +selling a "free person of color."[26] A free person imported and sold +as a slave under the law might recover double the price of his sale +from the seller, who might be held until he should give bond.[27] This +marks a high degree of feeling of justice toward the freeman, and yet +it is worthy of notice that this was not always adequate to obtaining +actual justice. Record is given of three young colored men, seamen and +free, "carried to Mobile and New Orleans in the steamer _New Castle_ +and taken ashore by the captain to the city prison on pretext of +getting hemp for the vessel, but really taken by the captain to the +city prison as his slaves and sold by the jailor to three persons who +carried them into Tennessee."[28] It is further stated that these +unfortunates remained in slavery. One, however, was freed by the +diligent work of the Friends, who had agents in the South busy +gathering information concerning slavery, and planning means of +combating it. + +The free person of color was exempted from military duty and from the +payment of a poll-tax. In accordance with an amendment to the Public +Works act of 1804, he was expected to give service on public roads and +highways just as other citizens.[29] It is doubtful whether any +freeman of color voted under the constitution of 1796, but it seems to +have been possible. The new constitution of 1834 restricted the right +of voting to "free men who should be competent witnesses against a +white man in a court of justice." In the courts free Negroes were +legal witnesses in certain cases among their own people, but might +themselves be testified against by slaves, even, if the defendants +were only freedmen.[30] Otherwise slaves were not allowed to be +witnesses against free men of color. Writs of error were granted to +both freemen and slaves. + +There were numerous small observances regarding the personal conduct +of freemen. Life was at best for them a strange and circumscribed +affair. They were "neither bond nor free," and probably suffered more +from the provisions of the law and their ambiguous position than did +their slave brothers. The freeman was not to entertain any slave over +night in his home, or on the Sabbath. A small fine was the +penalty.[31] Intermarriage of free persons and slaves without consent +of the master of the slave was strictly forbidden. Breach of this law, +also, was punishable by fine. There were penalties for whites and free +Negroes alike for being in "unlawful assembly" with slaves. The word +"unlawful" here seems to have had a special judicial meaning, +signifying primarily for the purpose of instigating rebellion or +insurrection. A law providing for voluntary enslavement of a free +person of color, to any person whom he might choose, introduces a most +interesting situation which probably indicates that there were more +than a few free Negroes who preferred slavery to the condition of a +creature living in a sort of limbo between freedom and bondage. + +By an act of the legislature in 1819, encouragement was given to +European immigrants to come into the State, with the idea that they +would become home builders and land-tillers, and make good citizens. +The colored population already had a general reputation for thrift, +but the sentiment of racial sympathy in the white population just then +favored more the immigrant. For a period the tide of public opinion +was on this side, and it was considered best for the Negro to be taken +in charge by the Tennessee Colonization Society. The State +appropriated $10 for every black man removed from the State, an +expense finally sanctioned by a law of 1833.[32] + +Two years prior to the year of the Tennessee Constitutional Convention +of 1834, Virginia in her State Legislature, had witnessed an exciting +scene of debate on the question of slavery. In the District of +Columbia, also, there was sent to Congress in the session of 1827-28 a +petition requesting the "prospective abolition" of slavery in that +district, and the repeal of certain laws authorizing the sale of +runaways. Similarly in Tennessee the outbreak of antislavery +sentiment, long fostered in the eastern part of the State, came into +the Convention of 1834. The few details presented here concerning the +convention show conclusively that there was a strong, even violent +opposition to human slavery in the State. Certain representatives of +counties from East Tennessee were conspicuous for their protest +against the system, and maintained their convictions despite the +failure to win their point at that time. + +Many memorialists in the State had addressed the legislature on the +question of emancipation both pro and con prior to the convention, and +finally, in the convention, on June 18, Wm. Blount of Montgomery +County, Northern Tennessee, offered a memorial that on the subject of +slavery the General Assembly should have no power or authority to pass +laws for the emancipation of slaves without the consent of their +owners or without paying their owners.[33] The memorial further prayed +that, the legislature should not discourage the foreign immigration +into the State and that certain laws providing for the owners of +slaves to emancipate them should be made with the restriction that +beforehand such manumitted persons should be assuredly prevented from +becoming a charge to any county. + +There were presented other memorials respecting the slave population +at this time. Hess, of Gibson and Dyer counties, wanted no +emancipation of slaves except by individual disposition of their +masters as the latter saw fit, or at least never unless the price of +the slave was paid, provided the master did not freely give +manumission, and the good of the State seemed to demand the liberation +of the slave. But memorials of a different sentiment also were coming +in. On May 26, McNeal presented a memorial of sundry citizens of +McMinn County, asking for the emancipation of slaves in Tennessee, and +on the same date, Senter of Rhea County also brought a petition from +"sundry citizens" of his district asking for emancipation.[34] On the +28th, a memorial was given by Stephenson of Washington County from +citizens unhesitatingly favoring emancipation. It was read and tabled. + +On May 30, Stephenson introduced a resolution to have a committee of +thirteen, one from each congressional district "appointed to take in +consideration the propriety of designating some period from which +slavery shall not be tolerated in this state, and that all memorials +on that subject that have or may be presented to the convention be +referred to said committee to consider and report thereon."[35] This +resolution passed without trouble. + +Stephenson was conspicuous for adherence to emancipation principles. +It will be observed that he came from Washington County, in the far +eastern portion of the State, the region already famous for its +declaration of enmity toward slavery within Tennessee borders +especially. An article in the _Knoxville Register_ of the year 1831, +just a few years prior to this Nashville Convention, denounces slavery +in no uncertain terms, but also grows bitter at the thought of free +men of color even remaining in the State. "Shall Tennessee" it asks, +"be made the receptacle of the vicious and desperate slave as well as +the depraved and corrupting free man of color?"[36] + +But while a great number of those of East Tennessee probably wanted +the abolition of slavery in order to rid the State of all people of +color, there were those who through their delegates expressed their +opinions otherwise in this convention, as has been intimated in the +three memorials from "sundry citizens" of Washington and McMinn and +Rhea Counties. Finally, the report of the Committee of Thirteen was +given by John A. McKinney, of Hawkins County. It will be noted as an +exception to the rule that this representative of an eastern county +did not vigorously stand for the emancipation of the slave, but in his +report spoke at length to attempt the justification of the system +prevailing at that time in the State. Some of the most interesting +points of his argument are: that slavery is an evil, but hard to +remove, that the physiognomy of the slave is the great barrier to +successful adjustment socially as far as white citizens think and +feel, that the condition of the free man of color is tragic, that +beset with temptations, and denied his oath in a court of justice, he +is unable to have wrongs of whites against him redressed, that any +interference with slavery at this time would cause a speedy removal of +Tennessee population since slave-owners would seek other States with +their slaves, and that if Tennessee should free all her slaves, there +would be a greater concentration of all the slaves of the United +States, giving slaves more advantage in case of uprising. + +Since the slave population in 1830 was 142,530, a fair estimate for +1834 would be 150,000, and this host of newly-made freedmen, thought +he, would jeopardize the social safety of the white population of +Tennessee, and incite the slave inhabitants of adjoining States to +sedition. Slavery would not always exist, he believed, but Tennessee +could abolish it then without dire results. Colonization was +difficult, but possible and practicable. + +This report was given on June 19. A few days later a motion was made +by a Bedford County delegate to strike out that part of the report +referring to the condition of the free man of color as "tragic." This +did not prevail. Still later Stephenson in a set speech protested +vigorously against the acceptance of the report of the Committee of +Thirteen. He declared that the report was "an apology for slavery," +and did not show the convention willing to discharge its duty to the +memorialists, and to the people whose protests could not there be +heard. His principal argument was that the principles guiding this +committee in its decision were subversive of the principles of true +republicanism; that they were also against the principles of the +Bible. Since the committee had admitted the evil of slavery, he +contended, the failure to find a remedy is unworthy of the +representatives of the people of the State. He maintained that there +is no soundness in the argument that because of the physical +differences, the black man should be deprived of the "common rights of +man," and that it is not better to have slavery distributed over a +large area of country than to concentrate it, if slavery is an evil, +since the spread of any evil cannot be better than its limitation.[37] + +As an indirect blow at any possible suffrage right of any persons of +color under the new constitution, Marr, delegate from Weakley and +Obion, introduced a resolution at this time intended to restrict +suffrage permanently and definitely to white males, specifically +prohibiting all "mulattoes, negroes, and Indians." This was referred +to the committee of the whole, but, oddly enough, failed of +adoption.[38] The intermittent debate on the subject of emancipation, +led on the one side by Stephenson, and on the other by McKinney, was +resumed a few days later when the latter gave an additional report. He +stated that the memorials with their signatures had been examined and +the names attached to them had numbered 1804 in all. 105 purported to +be slave-holders, said he, but by inquiry the committee had +ascertained that the aggregate number of slaves in their possession +was not greater than 500. He admitted that there were several counties +from which memorials had come, but charged that there had been a +signing of more than one memorial in some counties by the same +persons, so that there was a doubling of names without a proportional +increase of individual signers. He depreciated Stephenson's statement +that these memorials had come from almost every part of the State as +ill-founded; for the sixteen counties of Tennessee which had sent +representatives with memorials favorable to the idea of emancipation +were not from widely scattered portions of the State. Only five +extended westward beyond the longitude of Chattanooga, and there were +none of the more western counties represented. The two sections of the +State seemed to bear no hostility toward each other, but decidedly +disagreed on the slavery question. The question was largely an +economic one with the Tennesseans of the Mississippi Valley. Cotton +was coming into greater and greater importance every year. It could, +they thought, be most profitably raised by large groups of workmen +whose labor was cheap. The slave was the logical person, and they +fastened on him the burden. + +Lest the impression has been made that the only portion of the State +from which the sentiment of an anti-slavery nature came was East +Tennessee, it will be well to refer to the vigorous speech of Kincaid, +a delegate from Bedford County, who flung a parting reply to the +friends and sympathizers of the Committee of Thirteen which had +succeeded in thwarting any official action upon the matter proposed by +the memorialists.[39] Bedford County, in the central portion of the +State, represented both economically and socially a type of citizen +different from that of the mountaineer stock. Yet Kincaid fearlessly +defended the plain human rights of the colored population in his +speech as much as Stephenson had done, and scathingly denounced the +Committee of Thirteen for its attitude toward slavery. + +The pro-slavery faction, however, successfully contended that the +emancipation party had no definite plan for emancipation, as those in +Washington County and other districts were divided in their ideas on +this subject. There were about thirty memorials besides the one from +this county, one half of them asking that all children born in the +State after 1835 should be free and that all slaves should be freed in +1855 and sent out of the State. The other half of the memorials +favored making the slaves free in 1866 and having them colonized. As +a matter of fact, Tennessee did emancipate its slaves three years +earlier than this date. By the Committee of Thirteen these statements +were given to show that there could be no virtue in acting in accord +with the wishes of the memorialists, as they were hopelessly divided +in their recommendations. The report of the committee was tabled, but +the debate was by no means ended. Further detail is not of use to us +here save to point out that there was no vote in the matter and that +Stephenson bitterly upbraided the convention as a whole, stating that +it had not made an effort to answer the prayer of the memorialists. +The survey of this prolonged and unprofitable struggle shows how +divided were the people of Tennessee on the question of abolishing +slavery.[40] + +Later in the convention there occurred some incidents which throw +light on the situation of the Negro. The Bill of Rights in the amended +constitution, sec. 26, provided: "That free white men of this state +have a right to keep and bear arms in their own defence."[41] A +delegate from Sevier County objected to the word "white" and moved +that it be stricken from the record. Another member from Green County +moved that the word "citizens" be inserted instead of "free white +men," but this was rejected by a vote of 19 to 30, Stephenson and and +others from East Tennessee voting with the ayes, and the Committee of +Thirteen with others defeating the motion. A resolution was then +brought forward by a delegate from Dyer County intended to prohibit +the general assembly from having power to pass laws for the +emancipation of slaves without consent of owners.[42] Immediately a +memorialist sympathizer moved to lay this on the table until January, +1835. His effort was lost, and the resolution passed. Thus was the day +completely won for the anti-emancipation faction. + +There had been considerable discussion as to the status of free men of +color, and although one provision of the constitution seemed to give +the right of suffrage to all free men, yet there was a restriction +limiting the privilege of voting to those who were "competent +witnesses in a court of justice against a white person."[43] One +commentator upon his unusual provision observes that one cannot tell +how many Negroes were entitled to vote under this provision.[44] But +whatever present-day students may make of this, it was recognized by +the members of this convention that the free Negro had no suffrage +right, for near the close of the convention there was submitted a +resolution providing that since "free men of color were denied +suffrage by the constitution," the apportionment of senators and +representatives from their respective districts should be based on the +white population alone.[45] The revised constitution contains this +provision, but with different wording. + +The general tendency of the whole body of legal enactments in the +period 1834-65 was toward restricting the slave more and more, and at +the same time, eliminating the element known as free Negroes. Probably +this had an effect upon the percentage of free Negroes in the total +population as seen in the years 1820 and 1850. The national percentage +for these years in question was in each case six tenths of one per +cent.[46] But as the total Negro population increased despite the +migration southward from Tennessee, the ratio for Tennessee in 1820 +was 3 per cent, and for 1850, 2.4 per cent, a period of greater +repression, showing decrease, although very slight. + +A general law of 1839 forbade the slave to act as a free person, that +is, to hire his own time from his master, or to have merchandisable +property and trade therewith.[47] Runaways were to be punished by +being made to labor on the streets or alleys of towns, as well as by +imprisonment. Several laws show the tendency to class free Negroes +with slaves by stating that all capital offences for slaves were also +capital offences for free Negroes.[48] Another plainly provides that +all offences made capital in the code of that time for slaves, should +also be capital for "free persons of color."[49] Further, "no free +person of color might keep a grocery or tippling house" under pain of +a heavy fine. It will be seen that the attitude thus was plainly more +and more adverse to the free Negro. An act of 1842 had made it +possible to amend all laws relating to "free persons of color," and +this was freely done.[50] + +Free Negroes of "good character," either resident in the State prior +to 1836 or having removed to the State before that year, and +preferring, in their respective county courts, petitions to remain in +the same, might do so, but otherwise must leave the State under severe +penalties of imprisonment and hard labor, as provided under the law of +1831, prior to the new constitution. The subjects of this legal +provision were to renew this court proceeding every three years, under +the same penalty for failing to perform the renewal.[51] The laws of +registry of free Negroes were kept in force and made, if anything, +more rigid. One provision of these enactments was that there should be +in the registration papers specification of any "peculiar physical +marks on the person" so registered.[52] This practice, defended by +law, is exceedingly interesting to the student who compares it with +what has long been common knowledge regarding the practices of +slave-buyers in the markets. And here we have a measure of the +complete humiliation of the "free person of color," for every free +Negro or mulatto residing in any county of the State was compelled to +undergo this examination before officers of the county court and be +duly registered thereafter as a free person.[53] + +As might be expected, the law of 1831 was followed up by enactments +strictly requiring the emancipation of slaves, when allowed by the +State, to be followed closely by the removal of the freedmen from the +State. Also instructions for the transportation of certain Negroes to +Africa were given in the same code. Those who had acquired freedom +after 1836, or who should do so, together with slaves successfully +suing for freedom, also free Negroes unable to give bond for good +behavior although having right to reside in the State, were all to be +transported to Africa, unless they went elsewhere out of the State, +according to provision by law.[54] + +The word "mulatto" is found often in the laws of this period, showing +that this type was becoming an important factor in the race relations +of white and black. As far as is known, there is no way of obtaining +even the approximate proportion of white mothers to white fathers, but +because of the overwhelming evidence by personal testimony of +ex-slaves as to the relations of the masters and overseers of +plantations to the slave women, and the corresponding power of the +dominant race to prevent, at least in large degree, similar physical +marriages between Negroes and the women of their race, we may be said +rightly to infer that the proportion of white mothers of colored +offspring to white fathers was then, as it has always been, very +small. In Maryland, according to Brackett, the child of a white father +and a mulatto slave could not give testimony in court against a white +person, whereas the child of a white mother and a black man would be +disqualified in this regard only during his term of service.[55] "A +free mulatto was good evidence," says he, "against a white +person."[56] The mulatto of Tennessee had no such social or legal +position as either of these cases indicate, although here again +personal testimony brings to light notable exceptions of the social +behavior of individuals in certain localities, where this type, that +is, the colored offspring of white motherhood, was regarded as a +separate class, above the ordinary person of color.[57] + +It is likely that in East Tennessee there was considerable prevalence +of such amalgamation of African and Scotch-Irish race stocks, with +white motherhood.[58] The reasons were largely economic. Many of the +whites who came to live in the lower farm lands down from their first +holdings on the rocky slopes and unfertile soil, were driven from +these more productive lowlands by the rich white land owners who +preferred to have large plantations with great numbers of blacks to +raise the crops, rather than to rent or sell to small farmers. For +these poorer white neighbors there was no recourse but to take to the +mountains and to cultivate there the less desirable lands. The life +they had to live was necessarily very rough and hard; their principal +diet was corn, and often the rocky soil only yielded them that +grudgingly and scantily. They frequently came in contact with the +slaves, and the latter were known to steal provisions from their +masters' storehouses and bring to these hill-country people appetizing +additions to their meager provisions. And the slaves were also known +to mingle with them in the quilting, husking, barn-raisings, and other +rural festivities, being undoubtedly made welcome. It requires no +immoderate imagination to state here the likelihood of much racial +intermixure, as we know, from testimony, of more than a few specific +cases, and we have, in this rather strange way, the account of social +intermingling and the secret gifts of the black men who visited these +mountain homes. + + WILLIAM LLOYD IMES. + + PHILADELPHIA, PA. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Compendium, U. S. Census (1870), pp. 13-15. + +[2] The _Nashville American_, "City of Nashville" booklet, p. 20. + +[3] Garrett and Goodpasture, _History of Tennessee_, pp. 249 sqq. + +[4] _Ibid._, pp. 245-246. + +[5] _Proceedings of the Anti-Slavery Convention_, London, 1843. + +[6] _Ibid._, p. 300. + +[7] See paper of E. E. Hoss, Tenn. Hist. Soc., Nashville. + +[8] Greely, Horace, _The American Conflict_, p. 79, New York, 1864. + +[9] _Journal of The Constitutional Convention_, State of Tennessee, +1834. + +[10] _Journal of Constitutional Convention_, 1834. + +[11] Haywood and Cobb, _Statute Laws of Tenn._, 1779, Ch. 5. + +[12] _Ibid._, 1741, Ch. 21. + +[13] _Ibid._, 1788, Ch. 7. + +[14] _Ibid._, 1799, Ch. 9. + +[15] R. T. Q., Jr., State Archives, Capitol Library, Tennessee. + +[16] This is most natural, of course, but is inserted to emphasize the +absolute quality of ownership, for the master was held responsible for +the deed just as if he himself had committed it, and the slaves were +morally irresponsible. But for other breaches of social good conduct +the slave was the direct victim of the penalty, thus at once being +slave and man, property and human being. + +[17] _Statute Laws of Tenn._, 1819, Chap. 35. + +[18] Acts, 2d Session Gen. Assembly (Knoxville), 1809. + +[19] _Statute Laws_, 1813, Chap. 135. + +[20] _Ibid._, 1826, Ch. 22, Sec. 1. + +[21] _Ibid._, 1801, Ch. 27, Sec. 1. + +[22] _Acts of Gen. Assembly_ (Tenn.), 1822, Ch. 102. + +[23] Cf. 1 and 2. + +[24] _Statute Laws_, 1831, Ch. 102, Sec. 2. + +[25] _Ibid._, Sec. 2. + +[26] _Statute Laws_, 1826, Ch. 22, Sec. 6. + +[27] _Ibid._, 1741, Ch. 24, Sec. 23. + +[28] _Proceedings of the Anti-Slavery Convention_, London, 1843. + +[29] _Acts of the Gen. Assembly, Tennessee_, 1821, Chap. 26. + +[30] _Statute Laws, Tenn._, Chap. 6, Sec. 2. Laws of 1787. + +[31] _Statute Laws, Tenn._, Chap. 6, Sec. 2, Laws of 1787. + +[32] _Ibid._, 1833, Chap. 4, Sec. 1. + +[33] _Tenn. Constitutional Convention Journal_, 1834. + +[34] _Tenn. Constitutional Convention Journal_, pp. 31-40. + +[35] _Ibid._, p. 53. + +[36] _Southern Statesman_ (clipping from _Knoxville Register_, Oct., +1831). + +[37] _Tenn. Constitutional Convention Journal_, 1834, pp. 102-104. + +[38] _Ibid._, pp. 125-126. + +[39] Journal Const. Conv., _op. cit._, pp. 214 et seq. + +[40] _Tennessee Constitutional Journal_, 1834, pp. 126 et seq. + +[41] _Ibid._, pp. 184 et seq. + +[42] _Ibid._, p. 200, p. 209. + +[43] Constitution of Tenn., 1834, Art. 3, Sec. 1. + +[44] Code of Tenn. '57, '58, Sec. 3809. + +[45] Stephenson, _Race Distinctions in American Law_, p. 284. _Tenn. +Const. Conv. Journal_, 1834, _op. cit._, p. 209. + +[46] Bureau of the Census, "A Century of Pop. Growth," p. 82. +Washington, 1909. + +[47] _Acts of Tenn._, 1846, Chap. 47 (Nicholson). + +[48] Code of 1858, Tenn., Art. IV, See. 2725. + +[49] _Ibid._, Sec. 2725. + +[50] _Ibid._, Sec. 2728. + +[51] Nicholson, _Acts of Tenn._, 1846, Chap. 191, Sec. 1. + +[52] Code of Tenn., _op. cit._, Sec. 2714. + +[53] _Ibid._, Sec. 2793-2794. Cf. Statute Laws here. + +[54] _Statute Laws, Tenn._, 1846, Ch. 191. + +[55] Brackett, "The Negro in Maryland," _Johns Hopkins Studies_, Ch. +V, p. 191. + +[56] _Ibid._, pp. 191-192. + +[57] Personal Testimony, B. S.; J. P. Q. E.; E. S. M. Nashville, 1912. + +[58] {Transcriber's Note: Missing footnote text in original.} + + + + +NEGRO LIFE AND HISTORY IN OUR SCHOOLS + + +The study of the ethnology and the history of the Negro has not yet +extended far beyond the limit of cold-blooded investigation. Prior to +the Civil War few Americans thought seriously of studying the Negro in +the sense of directing their efforts toward an acquisition of +knowledge of the race as one of the human family; and this field was +not more inviting to Europeans, for the reduction of the Negro to the +status of a tool for exploitation began in Europe. The race did +receive attention from pseudo-scientists, a few historians pointed out +the possibilities of research in this field, and others brought +forward certain interesting sketches of distinguished Negroes +exhibiting evidences of the desirable qualities manifested by other +races. + +There was a new day for the Negro in history after the Civil War. This +rending of the nation was such an upheaval that American historians +eagerly applied themselves to the study of the ante-bellum period to +account for the economic, social, and political causes leading up to +this struggle. In their treatment of slavery and abolition, they had +to give the Negro some attention. In some cases, therefore, the +historians of that day occasionally departed from the scientific +standard to give personal sketches of Negroes indicating to some +extent the feeling, thought and the aspiration of the whole race. +Writers deeply interested in the Negroes at that time wrote eulogistic +biographies of distinguished Negroes and of white persons who had +devoted their lives to the uplift of the despised race. The attitude +in most cases was that the Negroes had been a very much oppressed +people and that their enslavement was a disgrace of which the whole +country should be made to feel ashamed. As it was the people of the +South who had to bear the onus of this criticism and they were not at +that time sufficiently enlightened to produce historians like +Hildreth, Bancroft, Prescott, Redpath and Parkman, the world largely +accepted the opinions of those historians who sympathized with the +formerly persecuted Negroes. + +During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, however, there came +about a change in the attitude of American scholarship effected +largely by political movements. Because of the unpopularity and the +blunders of the southern States reconstructed on the basis of +universal suffrage and mainly under the dictation of white adventurers +from the North, the majority of the influential men of the country +reached the conclusion that the southern white man, in spite of his +faults as a slaveholder, had not been properly treated. This +unsatisfactory regime, therefore, was speedily overthrown and the +freedman was gradually reduced to the status of the free Negro prior +to the Civil War on the grounds that it had been proved that he was +not a white man with a black skin. + +Following immediately thereupon came a new day for education in the +South. Many of its ambitious young men went North to study in the +leading universities then devoting much attention to the preparation +of scholars for scientific investigation. The investigators from the +South directed their attention primarily toward the vindication of the +slavery regime and the overthrow of the Reconstruction governments. As +a result there have appeared a number of studies on slavery and the +Reconstruction. All of this task was not done by southerners and was +not altogether confined to the universities, but resulted no doubt +largely from the impetus given it in these centers, especially at +Johns Hopkins and Columbia. It was influenced to a great extent by the +attitude of southern scholars. Ingle, Weeks, Bassett, Cooley, Steiner, +Munford, Trexler, Bracket, Ballagh, Tremain, McCrady, Henry, and +Russell directed their attention to the study of slavery. With the +works of Deane, Moore, Needles, Harris, Washburn, Dunn, Bettle, +Davidson, Hickok, Pelzer, Morgan, Northrop, Smith, Wright, and Turner +dealing with slavery in the North, the study of the institution by +States has been considered all but complete. In a general way the +subject of slavery has been treated by A. B. Hart, H. E. von Holst, +John W. Burgess, James Ford Rhodes, and U. B. Phillips. + +The study of the Reconstruction has proceeded with renewed impetus and +has finally been seemingly exhausted in a way peculiar to the recent +investigators. Among these studies are those of Matthews, Garner, +Ficklen, Eckenrode, Hollis, Flack, Woolley, Ramsdell, Davis, Hamilton, +Thompson, Reynolds, Burgess, Pearson, and Hall, most of whom received +their inspiration at Johns Hopkins University or Columbia. The same +period has been treated in a general way by W. A. Dunning, John W. +Burgess, James Schouler, J. B. MacMaster, James Ford Rhodes and W. L. +Fleming. Most of these studies deal with social and economic causes as +well as with the political and some of them are in their own way well +done. Because of the bias in several of them, however, John R. Lynch +and W.E.B. DuBois have endeavored to answer certain adverse criticisms +on the record of the Negroes during the Reconstruction period. + +Speaking generally, however, one does not find in most of these works +anything more than the records of scientific investigators as to facts +which in themselves do not give the general reader much insight as to +what the Negro was, how the Negro developed from period to period, and +the reaction of the race on what was going on around it. There is +little effort to set forth what the race has thought and felt and done +as a contribution to the world's accumulation of knowledge and the +welfare of mankind. While what most of these writers say may, in many +respects, be true, they are interested in emphasizing primarily the +effect of this movement on the white man, whose attitude toward the +Negro was that of a merchant or manufacturer toward the materials he +handled and unfortunately whose attitude is that of many of these +gentlemen writing the history in which the Negroes played a part as +men rather than as coal and iron. + +The multiplication of these works adversely critical of the Negro race +soon had the desired result. Since one white man easily influences +another to change his attitude toward the Negro, northern teachers of +history and correlated subjects have during the last generation +accepted the southern white man's opinion of the Negro and endeavor to +instill the same into the minds of their students. Their position +seems to be that because the American Negro has not in fifty years +accomplished what the master class achieved in fifty centuries the +race cannot be expected to perform satisfactorily the functions of +citizenship and must, therefore, be treated exceptionally in some such +manner as devised by the commonwealths of the South. This change of +sentiment has been accelerated too by southern teachers, who have +established themselves in northern schools and who have gained partial +control of the northern press. Coming at the time when many Negroes +have been rushing to the North, this heresy has had the general effect +of promoting the increase of race prejudice to the extent that the +North has become about as lawless as the South in its treatment of the +Negro. + +Following the multiplication of Reconstruction studies, there appeared +a number of others of a controversial nature. Among these may be +mentioned the works of A. H. Stone and Thomas Pierce Bailey adversely +criticizing the Negro and those of a milder form produced by Edgar +Gardner Murphy, and Walter Hines Page. Then there are the writings of +William Pickens, and W. E. B. DuBois. These works are generally +included among those for reference in classes studying Negro life, but +they throw very little light on the Negro in the United States or +abroad. In fact, instead of clearing up the situation they deeply +muddle it. The chief value of such literature is to furnish facts as +to sentiment of the people, which in years to come will be of use to +an investigator when the country will have sufficiently removed itself +from race prejudice to seek after the truth as to all phases of the +situation. + +The Negro, therefore, has unfortunately been for some time a +negligible factor in the thought of most historians, except to be +mentioned only to be condemned. So far as the history of the Negro is +concerned, moreover, the field has been for some time left largely to +those sympathetically inclined and lacking scientific training. Not +only have historians of our day failed to write books on the Negro, +but this history has not been generally dignified with certain brief +sketches as constitute the articles appearing in the historical +magazines. For example, the _American Historical Review_, the leading +magazine of its kind in the United States, published quarterly since +1895, has had very little material in this field. Running over the +files one finds Jernagan's _Slavery and Conversion in the American +Colonies_, Siebert's _Underground Railway_, Stevenson's _The Question +of Arming the Slaves_, DuBois's _Reconstruction and its Benefits_, and +several economic studies of the plantation and the black belt by A. H. +Stone and U.B. Phillips. It has been announced, however, that the +Carnegie Institution for Historical Research will in the future direct +attention to this neglected field. + +In schools of today the same condition unfortunately obtains. The +higher institutions of the Southern States, proceeding doubtless on +the basis that they know too much about the Negro already, have not +heretofore done much to convert the whites to the belief that the one +race should know more about the other. Their curricula, therefore, as +a general thing carry no courses bearing on Negro life and history. + +In the North, however, the situation is not so discouraging. Some +years ago classes in history in northern colleges and universities +made a detailed study of slavery and abolition in connection with the +regular courses in American history. There has been much neglect in +this field during the last generation, since many teachers of history +in the North have been converted to the belief in the justice of the +oppression of the Negro, but there are still some sporadic efforts to +arrive at a better understanding of the Negro's contribution to +history in the United States. This is evidenced by the fact that Ohio +State University offers in its history department a course on the +_Slavery Struggles in the United States_, and the University of +Nebraska one on the _Negro Problem under Slavery and Freedom_. + +This study in the northern universities receives some attention in the +department of sociology. Leland Stanford University offers a course on +_Immigration and the Race Problems_, the University of Oklahoma +another known as _Modern Race Problems_. The University of Missouri +and the University of Chicago offer _The Negro in America_; the +University of Minnesota, _The American Negro_; and Harvard University, +_American Population Problems: Immigration and the Negro_. This study +of the race problem, however, has in many cases been unproductive of +desirable results for the reason that instead of trying to arrive at +some understanding as to how the Negro may be improved, the work has +often degenerated into a discussion of the race as a menace and the +justification of preventative measures inaugurated by the whites. + +A few Negro schools sufficiently advanced to prosecute seriously the +study of social sciences have had courses in sociology and history +bearing on the Negro. Tuskegee, Atlanta, Fiske, Wilberforce and Howard +have undertaken serious work in this field. They have been +handicapped, however, by the lack of teachers trained to do advanced +work and by the dearth of unbiased literature adequate to the desired +illumination. The work under these circumstances, therefore, has been +in danger of becoming such a discussion of the race problem as would +be expected of laymen expressing opinions without data to support +them. In the reconstruction which these schools are now undergoing, +history and sociology are given a conspicuous place and the tendency +is to assign this work to well-informed and scientifically trained +instructors. These schools, moreover, are now not only studying what +has been written but have undertaken the preparation of scholars to +carry on research in this neglected field. + +The need for this work is likewise a concern to the enlightened class +of southern whites. Seeing that a better understanding of the races is +now necessary to maintain that conservatism to prevent this country +from being torn asunder by Socialism and Bolshevism, they are now +making an effort to effect a closer relation between the blacks and +whites by making an intensive study of the Negro. Fortunately too this +is earnestly urged by the group of rising scholars of the new South. +To carry out this work a number of professors from various southern +universities have organized what is called the University Commission +on Southern Race Questions. They are calling the attention of the +South to the world-wide reconstruction following in the wake of the +World War, which will necessarily affect the country in a peculiar +way. They point to the fact that almost 400,000 Negroes were called +into the military service and thousands of others to industrial +centers of the North. Knowing too that the demobilization of the +Negroes and whites in the army will bring home a large number of +remade men who must be adapted anew to life, they are asking for a +general cooeperation of the whites throughout the South in the interest +of the Negro and the welfare of the land. + +These gentlemen are directing this study toward the need of making the +South realize the value of the Negro to the community, to inculcate a +sympathy for the Negro and to enable the whites to understand that the +race cannot be judged by the shortcomings of a few of the group. They +are appealing to the country and especially to the scholarly men of +the South for more justice and fair play for the Negroes in view of +the fact that, in spite of the radical aliens who set to work among +the Negroes to undermine their loyalty, the Negroes maintained their +morale and supported the war. Men of thought then are boldly urged to +engage in this movement for a large measure of thoughtfulness and +consideration, for the control of "careless habits of speech which +give needless offense and for the practice of just relations. To seek +by all practicable means to cultivate a more tolerant spirit, a more +generous sympathy, and a wider degree of cooeperation between the best +elements of both races, to emphasize the best rather than the worst +features of interracial relations, to secure greater publicity for +those whose views are based on reason rather than prejudice--these, +they believe are essential parts of the Reconstruction program by +which it is hoped to bring into the world a new era of peace and +democracy. Because college men are rightly expected to be molders of +opinion, the Commission earnestly appeals to them to contribute of +their talents and energy in bringing this program to its +consummation." + +Among these are James J. Doster, Professor of Education, University of +Alabama; David Y. Thomas, Professor of Political Science and History, +University of Arkansas; James M. Farr, Professor of English, +University of Florida; R. P. Brooks, Professor of History, University +of Georgia; William O. Scroggs, Professor of Economics and Sociology, +Louisiana State University; William L. Kennon, Professor of Physics, +University of Mississippi; E. C. Branson, Professor of Rural +Economics, University of North Carolina; Josiah Morse, Professor of +Philosophy, University of South Carolina; James D. Hoskins, Dean of +the University of Tennessee; William S. Sutton, Professor of +Education, University of Texas; and William M. Hunley, Professor of +Economics and Political Science, Virginia Military Institute. + + C. G. WOODSON. + + + + +GREGOIRE'S SKETCH OF ANGELO SOLIMANN + + +The historical setting of this sketch is the life of the author +himself. Abbe Gregoire was born in 1750 and died in 1831. He was +educated at the Jesuit College at Nancy. He then became Cure and +teacher at the Jesuit school at Pont-a-Mousson. In this position he +had the opportunity to apply himself to study and soon attained some +distinction as a scholar. In 1783 he was crowned by the Academy of +Nancy for his _Eloge de La poesie_ and in 1788 by that of Metz for an +_Essai sur la Regeneration physique et morale des Juifs_. Throughout +his career he exhibited evidences of a breadth of mind and interest in +the man far down. When the French Revolution broke out, therefore, he +easily became a factor in the upheaval, but endeavored always to +restrain the people from fury and vandalism. In 1789, he was elected +by the clergy of the bailliage of Nancy to the States-General, where +he cooeperated with the group of deputies of Jansenist or Gallican +sympathies. + +He was among the first of the clergy to join the third estate and +contributed largely to the union of the three orders. He took an +active part in the abolition of the privileges of the nobles of the +church and under the new constitution he was one of the first to take +oath. In taking this stand, however, he lost the support of most of +his fellow churchmen, who, unlike Abbe Gregoire, did not think that +the Catholic religion is reconcilable with modern conceptions of +political liberty. Because of the changing fortunes of the +revolutionists, therefore, Abbe Gregoire finally found himself often +deserted and sometimes almost reduced to poverty. + +To the end of his career, however, he maintained his attitude of +benevolence toward the oppressed. Differing widely from most white +men, who although willing to take radical measures to make democracy +safe for themselves, are reluctant to extend its benefits to those of +color, Abbe Gregoire earnestly labored in the Constituent Assembly to +bring about the emancipation of the Negroes in the French colonies. +His interest in persons of African blood, moreover, was not restricted +to the mere abolition of slavery because it was a stain on the +character of the whites but he endeavored also to elevate the slaves +to the full status of citizenship. It was largely through his efforts +that men of color in the French colonies were soon after their +emancipation admitted to the same civil and political rights as the +whites in those dependencies. + +He made an effort, moreover, to influence public opinion in behalf of +the Negroes in other lands. Having read in Jefferson's _Notes on +Virginia_ his references to the so-called inferiority of the Negroes, +Gregoire sent him a copy of his _De la Litterature des Negres_. +Replying to the communication transmitting this publication Jefferson +expressed himself in diplomatic and flattering terms, apparently +indicating that he had expressed the opinion of inferiority with much +hesitation and that the argument to establish the doctrine was after +all rather weak. Writing a few days later to Joel Barlow, Jefferson no +doubt expressed his real opinion as to what he thought of the +inferiority of the Negro and Gregoire's evidences to the contrary. The +pamphlet no doubt had some effect for, "As to Bishop Gregoire," says +he, "I wrote him a very soft answer. It was impossible for doubt to +have been more tenderly or hesitatingly expressed than there was in +the _Notes on Virginia_ and nothing was or is further from my +intentions than to enlist myself as the champion of a fixed opinion +where I have only expressed a doubt." + +In later years, however, Abbe Gregoire's _De la Litterature des +Negres_ fell into the hands of a more sympathetic man. This was D. B. +Walden of Brooklyn, New York, then secretary to the legation at Paris. +Interested in the abolition of the slave trade and the welfare of the +blacks, Walden translated Gregoire's _De la Litterature des Negres_, +that friends of the race unacquainted with the French language might +have additional information as to what the Negro had done to +demonstrate that the race is not intellectually inferior to others. +This translation, however, is unfortunate because of the numerous +faults throughout the work and largely on account of its omissions. +Exactly why the translator did not desire to bring before the American +public all of the facts set forth in this book has never been exactly +cleared up. It has been said, however, that the facts omitted were too +favorable to the Negro race to be received by the American public at +that time. The whole work should be translated as soon as some scholar +can direct his attention to it, but, in the absence of such an effort, +I am submitting herewith a translation of the most striking omission, +chapter five, which gives an interesting sketch of the career of +Angelo Solimann. + + +BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE NEGRO ANGELO SOLIMANN + + Although Angelo Solimann has published nothing[1] he deserves, + because of his extensive learning and still more by the morality + and excellence of his character, one of the first places among + the Negroes who have distinguished themselves by a high degree of + culture. + + He was the son of an African prince. The country subject to the + latter's domination was called Gangusilang; the family, + Magni-Famori. Besides the little Mmadi-Make (this was Angelo's + name in his native country) his parents had another younger + child, a daughter. He remembered with what respect his father, + surrounded by a large number of servants, was treated; he had, + like every prince's child of that country, certain marks + imprinted on his two legs, and for a long time he hoped that he + would be sought for, and recognized by these marks. + + Even in his old age, the memories of his childhood, of his first + practice in shooting arrows, in which he surpassed his comrades, + the memory of the simple customs and the beautiful blue sky of + his native country, often recurred to his mind with a pleasure + not unmixed with sorrow. He could not sing, without being + profoundly affected, those songs of his native land which his + good memory had very well conserved. + + It appears, from Angelo's reminiscences, that his tribe already + had some civilization. His father possessed many elephants, and + even some horses which were rare in those countries; money was + unknown, but trade by barter was carried on regularly and by + auction. Stars were worshipped; circumcision was usual. Two white + families lived in the country. + + Some writers who have published accounts of their voyages, speak + of the perpetual wars between some tribes of Africa, of which the + purpose was sometimes vengeance or robbery, sometimes the most + ignominious kind of avarice, because the victor took the + prisoners to the nearest slave market in order to sell them to + the whites. One day as the boy, then seven years old, was + standing at the side of his mother who was nursing his sister, a + war of this kind of a danger that his father did not suspect + broke out against the tribe of Mmadi-Makee. Suddenly there were + heard the frightful clashing of arms and howlings of the wounded. + Mmadi-Make's grandfather, struck by fear, ran into the cabin + crying: "There is the enemy." Fatuma, frightened, arose. The + father hastily sought his weapon; and the little boy, terrified, + ran away as quickly as an arrow. His mother called loudly: "Where + are you going Mmadi-Make?" The child answered: "Wherever God + wishes me to go." In his old age he often reflected upon the + great significance of these words. When he was out of the cabin, + he looked back and saw his mother and many of his father's men + fall under the blows of the enemy. He cowered down with another + boy under a tree. Struck with fear, he covered his eyes with his + hands. The fight continued. The enemy, believing themselves + already victorious, seized him, and held him aloft as a sign of + joy. At this sight, the fellow-countrymen of Mmadi-Make cheered + their forces and rallied to save the son of their king. The + fighting began again, and while it lasted the boy was still + raised aloft. Finally the enemies were conquerors and he was + positively their prize. His master exchanged him for a fine black + horse, which another Negro gave him, and the child was taken to + the place of embarkation. There he found many of his + fellow-countrymen, all like himself, prisoners, all condemned to + slavery. With sorrow they recognized him, but they could do + nothing for him. They were even forbidden to speak to him. + + When the prisoners, being taken on small boats, reached the + seashore, Mmadi-Make saw with surprise several large vessels, on + one of which he was received with his third master. He supposed + that it was a Spanish vessel. After suffering a storm, they + landed on a coast, and the master promised the child that he + would take him to his mother. The latter, delighted, quickly saw + his hope disappear, finding instead of his mother, his master's + wife, who, moreover, received him very well, kissed him and + treated him with much kindness. Her husband named him Andrew, and + directed him to take the camels to the pasture, and watch them. + + It is impossible to say of what nationality this man was, or how + long Angelo, who has now been dead twelve years, lived at his + home. This short memoir has been written down recently from the + story of his friends. But it is known that after a reasonably + long stay, his master announced to him his intention of + transporting him to a country where he would be better off. + Mmadi-Make was greatly pleased with this. His mistress parted + from him with regret. They embarked and arrived at Messina, where + he was conducted to the home of a wealthy lady, who, it appeared, + was expecting to receive him. She treated him kindly, gave him an + instructor to teach him the language of the country, which he + learned with ease. His good nature won for him the friendship of + the numerous servants, among whom he singled out a Negress, named + Angelina, because of her gentleness, and her kindly attitude + towards him. He became dangerously ill; the Marchioness, his + mistress, gave him all the care of a mother, even to the point of + sitting up with him part of the night. The most skillful + physicians were called in and his bed was surrounded by a crowd + of persons who awaited his orders. The Marchioness had long + wished that he would be baptized. After repeated refusals, one + day, during his convalescence, he himself asked for baptism. His + mistress, very much delighted, ordered the most elaborate + preparations. In a parlor there was erected over a stately bed a + canopy richly embroidered. The entire family and all the friends + of the house were present. Mmadi-Make, lying on this bed, was + asked concerning the name he desired to have. Because of + gratitude and his friendship for the Negress Angelina, he wished + to be named Angelo. His desire was granted, and as a family name + he was given that of Solimann. He was accustomed to celebrate + piously the day of his entrance into Christianity, the eleventh + of September, as though it were his birthday. + + His goodness, his kindness, and his sense of justice made him + dear to every one. The Prince Lobkowitz, then in Sicily in the + capacity of imperial general, frequented the house where this + child lived. He experienced for him such an affection that he + made the most earnest entreaties that he be given to him. Because + of her affection for Angelo, the Marchioness could not easily + grant his request. She finally yielded to the considerations of + advantage and prudence which impelled her to make this gift to + the general. How she wept when she parted with the little Negro + who entered with repugnance the service of a new master. + + The duties of the prince did not permit a long stay in this + country. He loved Angelo, but his manner of life and perhaps the + spirit of the time caused him to give very little attention to + his education. Angelo became wild and ill-tempered. He passed his + days in idleness, and children's sports. An old steward of the + prince, realizing his good heart and excellent qualities, in + spite of his thoughtlessness, procured for him a teacher, under + whom Angelo learned in seventeen days to write German. The tender + affection of the child, and his rapid progress in all the + branches of instruction, repaid the good old man for his trouble. + + Thus Angelo grew up in the house of the prince. He accompanied + him on all his tours, and shared with him the perils of war. He + fought side by side with his master, whom one day he carried + wounded, on his shoulders, from the field of battle. Angelo + distinguished himself on these occasions, not only as a servant + and faithful friend, but also as an intrepid warrior, as an + experienced officer, especially in tactics, although he never had + military rank. The field marshall Lascy, who esteemed him highly, + gave, before a group of officers, a most creditable eulogy upon + his bravery, presented him with a splendid Turkish sabre, and + offered him the command of a company, which he refused. + + His master died. By his will he left Angelo to the Prince + Wenceslas de Lichtenstein, who for a long time, had desired to + have him. This man asked Angelo if he were satisfied with this + arrangement and if he were willing to come to his home. To this + Angelo agreed, and made the preparations for the change necessary + in his manner of living. In the meanwhile, Emperor Francis I + called him to him, and made the same offer, with very flattering + terms. But the word of Angelo was sacred. He remained at the home + of Prince Lichtenstein. Here, as at the home of General + Lobkowitz, the tutelar genius of unhappy persons, he was + accustomed to convey to the prince the requests of those who + wished to obtain some favor. His pockets were always filled with + notes and petitions. Never being able or willing to ask favors + for himself, he fulfilled with equal zeal and success this duty + in favor of others. + + Angelo followed his master on his journeys, and to Frankfort, at + the time of the coronation of Emperor Joseph, as king of the + Romans. One day, at the instigation of his prince, he tried his + luck at chance and won twenty thousand florins. He played another + game with his opponents, who again lost twenty-four thousand + florins; in playing the second game, Angelo knew how to arrange + the play so finely that the loser regained the last amount. This + fine trait of Angelo won for him admiration, and gained for him + numerous congratulations. The transient favor of chance did not + dazzle him; on the contrary, apprehending his fickleness, he + never again ventured any big sum. He amused himself with chess + and had the reputation of being one of the best players of this + game of his time. + + At the age of ---- he married a widow, Madame de Christiani, nee + Kellerman, of Belgium origin. The prince did not know of this + marriage. Perhaps Angelo had reasons for concealing it. A later + event has justified his silence. The Emperor Joseph II, who had a + lively interest in everything concerning Angelo and who, as a + mark of distinction, even walked arm in arm with him, made known + to Prince Lichtenstein one day, without foreseeing the + consequences, Angelo's secret. The latter called Angelo, and + questioned him. Angelo admitted his marriage. The prince + announced that he would banish him from his house, and erase his + name from his will. He had intended to give him some diamonds of + considerable value, with which Angelo was accustomed to being + decked when he followed his master on festive days. + + Angelo, who had asked favors so often for others, did not say one + word for himself. He left the palace to live in a distant suburb, + in a small house bought a long time before, and transferred to + his wife. He lived with her in this retreat, enjoying domestic + happiness. The most careful education of his only daughter, + Madame the Baroness of Houechters-leoeen, who is no longer living, + the cultivation of his garden, the social intercourse of several + learned and estimable men, were his occupations and his + pleasures. + + About two years after the death of Prince Wenceslas of + Lichtenstein, his nephew and heir, the Prince Francis, saw Angelo + in the street. He ordered his carriage to be stopped, had him + enter it, and told him that, being convinced of his innocence, he + was resolved to make amends for the injustice of his uncle. + Consequently he assigned to Angelo an income revertible after his + death to Madam Solimann. The only thing which the prince asked of + Angelo was to supervise the education of his son, Louis of + Lichtenstein. + + Angelo fulfilled punctiliously the duties of his new vocation, + and he went daily to the prince's home, in order to watch over + the pupil recommended to his care. The Prince, seeing that the + long walk might be difficult for Angelo, especially in inclement + weather, offered him a residence. There again was Angelo settled, + for the second time, in the Lichtenstein palace; but he took with + him his family. He lived there in retreat as before in the + company of some friends, in that of scholars, and devoted to + "belles lettres" which he constantly cultivated with zeal. His + favorite study was history. His excellent memory aided him + greatly. He could cite the names, dates, year of birth of all + illustrious persons, and noteworthy events. + + His wife, who for a long time had been declining, was kept alive + several years longer, through the tender care of a husband who + lavished upon her all the aid of science; but finally she died. + From that time on Angelo made several changes in his household. + He no longer invited friends to dine with him. He never drank + anything except water as an example for his daughter, whose + education, then finished, was entirely his work. Perhaps, also, + he wished, by a strict economy to make sure the fortune of this + only daughter. + + Angelo, esteemed and loved everywhere, still did much traveling + at an advanced age, sometimes in the interests of others, + sometimes to attend to his own affairs. People have recalled his + acts of kindness, and the favors that he had shown. Circumstances + having taken him to Milan, the late Archduke Ferdinand, who was + governor there, overwhelmed him with demonstrations of + friendship. + + He enjoyed, to the end of his career, a robust constitution; his + appearance showed hardly any signs of old age, which caused + several mistakes and friendly disputes; for often people who had + not seen him for twenty or thirty years, mistook him for his son, + and treated him according to this error. + + Suffering a stroke of apoplexy in the street, at the age of + seventy-five, people hastened to give him succor which was + useless. He died, November 21, 1796, mourned by all his friends, + who cannot think of him without emotion, and without tears. The + esteem of all men of consequence has followed him to the tomb. + + Angelo was of medium stature, slender and well proportioned. The + regularity of his features and the nobleness of his carriage, + form, by their beauty, a contrast with the unfavorable opinion + generally held concerning the Negro physiognomy. An unusual + suppleness in all bodily exercises gave to his carriage and to + his movements grace and ease. Combining with all the fineness of + virtue a good judgment, ennobled by extensive and thorough + knowledge, he knew six languages, Italian, French, German, Latin, + Bohemian, and English, and besides spoke especially the first + three fluently. + + Like all his fellow countrymen, he was born with an impetuous + temper. His unchangeable calmness and good nature were + consequently so much the more admirable, as they were the result + of hard fighting and many victories won over himself. He never + allowed, even when someone had irritated him, an improper + expression to escape his lips. Angelo was pious without being + superstitious. He carefully observed all religious rites, not + believing that it was beneath him to give in this way an example + to his family. His word and decisions, to which he had come after + careful consideration, were unchangeable, and nothing could + swerve him from his intention. He always wore the costume of his + country. This was a kind of very simple garment in Turkish + fashion almost always of dazzling whiteness, which accentuated to + advantage the black and shining color of his skin. His picture, + engraved at Augsburg, is found in the art gallery of + Lichtenstein. + + F. HARRISON HOUGH. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] I discharge a duty in disclosing to the public the names of the +persons to whom I am indebted for the biography of this estimable +African, concerning whom Dr. Gall was the first to speak to me. Upon +the request of my fellow-citizens, D'Hautefort, attache to the +embassy, and Dudon, First Secretary to the French legation in Austria, +they hastened to satisfy my curiosity. Two estimable ladies of Vienna, +Mme. Stief and Mme. Picler, worked at it with great zeal. All the +details furnished by the defunct Angelo's friends were carefully +collected. From this material has been written the interesting account +which follows. In the French translation it loses in delicacy of +style, for Mme. Picler, who wrote it down in German, possesses the +rare talent of writing equally well in prose and in poetry. I take +great pleasure in expressing to these kind persons my just gratitude. + + + + +DOCUMENTS + +LETTERS OF NEGRO MIGRANTS OF 1916-1918[1] + + +The exodus of the Negroes during the World War, the most significant +event in our recent internal history, may be profitably studied by +reading the letters of the various migrants. The investigator has been +fortunate in finding letters from Negroes of all conditions in almost +all parts of the South and these letters are based on almost every +topic of concern to humanity. These documents will serve as a guide in +getting at the motive dominant in the minds of these refugees and at +the real situation during the upheaval. As a whole, these letters +throw much light on all phases of Negro life and, in setting forth the +causes of unrest in the South, portray the character of the whites +with whom the blacks have had to do. + +These letters are of further value for information concerning the +Negroes in the North. From these reliable sources the student can +learn where the Negroes settled, what they engaged in, and how they +have readjusted themselves in a new situation. Here may be seen the +effects of the loss resulting from the absence of immigrants from +Europe, the conflict of the laboring elements, the evidences of racial +troubles and the menace of mob rule. + +LETTERS ASKING FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE NORTH + + + GALVESTON, TEXAS, + this 24th day of May, 1917. + + _Sir_: Please inform me of a situation, please ans. if fill out + or not so I will no. answer at once. + + + DALLAS, TEX., + April 23, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: Having been informed through the Chicago Defender + paper that I can secure information from you. I am a constant + reader of the Defender and am contemplating on leaving here for + some point north. Having your city in view I thought to inquire + of you about conditions for work, housing, wages and everything + necessary. I am now employed as a laborer in a structural shop, + have worked for the firm five years. + + I stored cars for Armour packing co. 3 years, I also claims to + know something about candy making, am handy at most anything for + an honest living. I am 31 yrs. old have a very industrious wife, + no children. If chances are available for work of any kind let me + know. Any information you can give me will be highly appreciated. + + + SAVANNAH, GA., April 24, 1917. + + _Sir_: I saw an advertisement in the Chicago Ledger where you + would send tickets to any one desireing to come up there. I am a + married man with a wife only, and I am 38 years of age, and both + of us have so far splendid health, and would like very much to + come out there provided we could get good employment regarding + the advertisement. + + + WINSTON-SALEM, N. N., April 23, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: Colored people of this place who know you by note of + your great paper the Age and otherwise desire to get information + from you of jobs of better opportunities for them and better + advantages. + + You will do us a great favor to answer us in advance. + + + MOBILE, ALA., June 11, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: Will you please send me the name of the society in + Chicago that cares for colored emigrants who come north + seeking-employment sometime ago I saw the name of this society in + the defender but of late it does not appear in the paper so I + kindly as you please try and get the name of this society and + send the same to me at this city. + + + MOBILE, ALA., April 27, 1917. + + _Sir_: Your advertisement appearing in the Chicago Defender have + influenced me to write to you with no delay. For seven previous + years I bore the reputation of a first class laundress in Selma. + I have much experience with all of the machines in this laundry. + This laundry is noted for its skillful work of neatness and ect. + We do sample work for different laundries of neighboring cities, + viz. Montgomery, Birmingham and Mobile once or twice a year. At + preseant I do house work but would like to get in touch with the + Chicago ----. I have an eager desire of a clear information how + to get a good position. I have a written recommendation from the + foreman of which I largely depend upon as a relief. You will do + me a noble favor with an answer in the earliest possible moment + with a description all about the work. + + + JACKSONVILLE, FLA., 4-25-17. + + _Dear Sir_: in reading a copy of the Chicago defender note that + if i get in touch with you you would assist me in getting + imployment. i am now imployed in Florida East coast R R service + road way department any thing in working line myself and friends + would be very glad to get in touch with as labors. We would be + more than glad to do so and would highly appreciate it the very + best we can advise where we can get work to do, fairly good wages + also is it possible that we could get transportation to the + destination. We are working men with familys. Please answer at + once, i am your of esteem. We are not particular about the + electric lights and all i want is fairly good wages and steady + work. + + + Pensacola, Fla., April 28, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: I seen in the Chicago Defender where men was wanted + in small towns near Chicago at fair wages. As i want to lokate in + the north i thought it very nessary to consult you in the + direction of this work, hoping to receive from you full + pertikulars i a wate a reply. + + + ATLANTA, GA., April 30, 1917. + + _Sir_: I would thank you kindly to explain to me how you get work + and what term I am comeing to Chicago this spring and would like + to know jest what to do would thank and appreciate a letter from + you soon telling me the thing that I wont to know. + + + VICKSBURG, MISS., May the 5th, 1917. + + _Sir_: Just wants you to give me a few words of enfermation of + labor situations in your city or south Dakota grain farms what is + their offers and their adress. Will thank you for any enfermation + given of same. + + + FULLERTON, LA., April 28, 1917. + + _Dear sir_: I was reading about you was neading labor ninety + miles of Chicago what is the name of the place and what R R + extends ther i wants to come north and i wants a stedy employment + ther what doe you pay per day i dont no anything about molding + works but have been working around machinery for 10 years. Let me + no what doe you pay for such work and can you give me a job of + that kind or a job at common labor and let me no your prices and + how many hours for a day. + + + MARCEL, MISS., 10/4/17. + + _Dear Sir_: Although I am a stranger to you but I am a man of the + so called colored race and can give you the very best or + reference as to my character and ability by prominent citizens of + my community by both white and colored people that knows me + although am native of Ohio whiles I am a northern desent were + reared in this state of Mississippi. Now I am a reader of your + paper the Chicago Defender. After reading your writing ever wek I + am compell & persuade to say that I know you are a real man of my + color you have I know heard of the south land & I need not tell + you any thing about it. I am going to ask you a favor and at the + same time beg you for your kind and best advice. I wants to come + to Chicago to live. I am a man of a family wife and 1 child I can + do just any kind of work in the line of common labor & I have for + the present sufficient means to support us till I can obtain a + position. Now should I come to your town, would you please to + assist me in getting a position I am willing to pay whatever you + charge I dont want you to loan me not 1 cent but _help_ me to + find an occupation there in your town now I has a present + position that will keep me employed till the first of Dec. 1917. + now please give me your best advice on this subject. I enclose + stamp for reply. + + + BEAUMONT, TEX., May 14, 1917. + + _My dear Sir_: Please write me particulars concerning emigration + to the north. I am a skilled machinist and longshoreman. + + + ST. PETERSBURG, FLA., May 31, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: pleas inform me of the best place in the north for + the colored people of the South, I am coming north and I want to + know of a good town to stop in. I enclose stamp for reply. + + + SANFORD, FLA., April 27, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: I have seen through the Chicago Defender that you and + the people of Chicago are helping newcomers. I am asking you for + some information about conditions in some small town near + Chicago. + + There are some families here thinking of moving up, and are + desirous of knowing what to expect before leaving. Please state + about treatment, work, rent and schools. Please answer at some + spare time. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., April 30, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: Seeing you ad in the defender I am writing you to + please give me some information concerning positions--unskilled + labor or hotel work, waiter, porter, bell boy, clothes cleaning + and pressing. I am experienced in those things, especially in the + hotel line. am 27 years of age, _good health_--have a wife--wish + you could give me information as I am not ready to come up at + present. would be thankful if you could arrange with some one who + would forward transportation for me and wife. would be very glad + to hear from you as soon as convenient. Thanking you in advance + for interest shown me. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., April 23, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: Reading a article in the 21st issue of the Chicago + Defender about the trouble you had to obtain men for work out of + Chicago and also seeing a advertisement for men in Detroit saying + to apply to you I beg to state to you that if your could secure + me a position in or around Chicago or any northern section with + fairly good wages & good living conditions for myself and family + I will gladly take same and if ther could be any ways of sending + me transportation I will gladly let you or the firm you get me + position with deduct transportation fee out of my salary. as I + said before I will gladly take position in northern city or + county where a mans a man here are a few positions which I am + capable of holding down. Laborer, expirance porter, butler or + driver of Ford car. Thaking you in advance for your kindness, beg + to remain. + + + CEDAR GROVE, LA., April 23, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: to day I was advise by the defendent offices in your + city to communicate with you in regards to the labor for the + colored of the south as I was lead to beleave that you was in + position of firms of your city & your near by surrounding towns + of Chicago. Please state me how is the times in & around Chicago + for the colored laboring man of the south & the average salary of + the labor man & the rates of room & ordanary board. Kindly state + to me just in every prticly that you no of that I have asked. I + will be in your city on or before six weeks from date above and + desire to becom a citizen of same. Please reply me at wonce. i + enclos stamp for quick action. When i arive you city i will be + more than glad to apply at your place as i wish to thank you in + advance for any asistance that you will do for me or tell me. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., 5-5-17. + + _Dear Sir_: Am applying for a position in your city if there be + any work of my trade. I am a water pipe corker and has worked + foreman on subservice drainage and sewer in this city for ten + (10) years. I am now out of work and want to leave this city. I + am a man of family therefore I am very anxious for an immediate + reply. Please find enclosed self addressed envelop for return + answer. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., 5-5-17. + + _Dear Sirs_: I was advised by the Chicago Defender to get in + touch with you if I desired to locate in or around Chicago. I + write this to find out what kind of work that you have on slate. + I expect to locate in or around Chicago by the first of June. + + + ANNISTON, ALA., April 29, 1918. + + _Dear sir_: I read a peas in the defender about the member com + north I shall be vary glad to com in touch with you, as am + planing on coming north and I riting you that you mite no of som + good town in that secson I am a carpenter by traid and I would + like for you to locate in me as I should not like to com in that + secson with out no enfremation. + + + CHARLESTON, S. C., Feb. 10, 1917. + + _Gentlemen_: Upon reading the N. Y. age, have seen where there + are need of employees in some sugar concern in New York. Kindly + answer this letter, and tell me the nature of the work. + + As I am from the south and it is an average difficulty for a + southerner to endure the cold without being climatize. If it is + possiable for you to get any other job for me regardless to its + nature just since the work is indoor I'll appreciate the same. + + As it is understood the times in the south is very hard and one + can scarcely live. Kindly take the matters into consideration, + and reply to my request at your earliest convenience. + + + CHARLESTON, S. C., May 25, 1917. + + _Sir_: Having been informed that you can secure jobs for people + who desire to leave the south, I would like to get information + about the conditions and wages either in Niagra or Detroit. I + would prefer work in a factory in either town. Also advise as to + climate. + + + _Dear Sirs_: Having heard of you through a friend of mine, I + thought that I would write asking you to please send me full + information as to conditions and chances for the advancement of + the negro in the north. + + I am seeking for the opportunity and chance of advancement as far + as my ability is capable as I am a negro my self. + + I would like very much to get in touch with you if think that you + can give me some assistance along the line which I have spoken. + + + MIAMI, FLA., May 4, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: Some time ago down this side it was a rumour about + the great work going on in the north. But at the present time + every thing is quite there, people saying that all we have been + hearing was false until I caught hold of the Chicago Defender I + see where its more positions are still open. Now I am very + anxious to get up there. I follows up cooking. I also was a + stevedor. I used to have from 150 to 200 men under my charge. + They thought I was capable in doing the work and at the meantime + I am willing to do anything. I have a wife and she is a very good + cook. She has lots of references from the north and south. Now + dear sir if you can send me a ticket so I can come up there and + after I get straightened out I will send for my wife. You will + oblige me by doing so at as early date as possible. + + _Dear Sirs_: I am now looking for a location and am a man hunting + work and there is so many has left the South for the north and + Seemes as they are all gone to one place now please send the + names of some firms that wants labor i am a Man who Beleave in + right and Beleave in work and has worked all of my days and mean + to work till i die and Never been No kind of trouble and never + has to be made work. + + Now i will Cloes, hoping to here from you Soon Yours Very Truly, + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., 4/24/17 + + _Dear Sirs_: Being desirous of leaving the South for the + beterment of my condition generaly and seeking a Home Somewhere + in Ill' Chicago or some other prosperious Town I am at sea about + the best place to locate having a family dependent on me for + support. I am informed by the Chicago Defender a very valuable + paper which has for its purpose the Uplifting of my race, and of + which I am a constant reader and real lover, that you were in + position to show some light to one in my condition. + + Seeking a Northern Home. If this is true Kindly inform me by next + mail the next best thing to do Being a poor man with a family to + care for, I am not coming to live on flowry Beds of ease for I am + a man who works and wish to make the best I can out of life I do + not wish to come there hoodwinked not knowing where to go or what + to do so I Solicite your help in this matter and thanking you in + advance for what advice you may be pleased to Give I am yours for + success. + + P.S. I am presently imployed in the I C RR. Mail Department at + Union Station this city. + + + PALESTINE, TEX., Mar. 11th, 1917. + + _Sirs_: this is somewhat a letter of information I am a colored + Boy aged 15 years old and I am talented for an artist and I am in + search of some one will Cultivate my talent I have studied + Cartooning therefore I am a Cartoonist and I intend to visit + Chicago this summer and I want to keep in touch with your + association and too from you knowledge can a Colored boy be an + artist and make a white man's salary up there I will tell you + more and also send a fiew samples of my work when I rec an answer + from you. + + + TOPEKA, KANSAS, May 1st, 1917. + + _The Editor of The Chicago Defender._ + + _My Dear Sir_: Being a regular reader of your most valuable paper + (The Defender) I am impressed with the seeming unlimited interest + that paper is taking in the welfare of the army of emigrants + comeing from the south. + + This alone without the knowledge of its incomparable service as a + link in the chain that should bind our people together more + closely through out the country, should demand its presence in + every negro home of this country. In keeping in touch with the + doings of our people in the east and northern states through the + Defender. To the Majority of the Middle western race people it + seem quite improbable that opportunities for good wage earning + positions such as factory work and too a chance for advancement + would be given to the workers of our race. + + Such conditions in this part of the country to my knowledge is + rare. Noteing in the issue of last weeks paper through the + investigation into certain matter concerning our people some + appearantly well organized league found openings for negro + workmen in some parts of Wis. and Ill. that could not be filled. + + As I for one that am not satisfied to content myself with little + and to remain in the same old rut for the sake of lengthy + assiation and fair treatment I am making My appeal to you in your + wide aquaintence with conditions to help me to take advangage of + an oppertunity that I might other wise miss. + + I am mechanically inclined also with the advantage of a course + with the International Correspondance School in Automobile work + and with several years experience. I am not afraid of any kind of + work that pays. + + Will kindly ask you to help me all you can at my expense and I + will be very grateful to you. + + + GONZALES, TEXAS, May 28, 1917. + + NEW YORK AGE, New York, N. Y. + + _Gentlemen_: I wish to know if a man from the south come north, + such as common laborer, stationery engineer, gasoline engineer, + fireman or janitor able to care for heating plants ets. and able + to pay his own way there, is there a likelihood of finding + lucrative employment? + + I would be plased to have you advise me on the same as myself and + several other men of good morals and sober habits and who are + able to bear our own expenses would like to better our conditions + by coming North. + + If you can advise us or Know of any one or place that we can get + the desired information please give us the benefit of the same. + + Find stamp enclosed for answer. + + + HOUSTON, TEXAS, April 20, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: wanted to leave the South and Go and Place where a + man will Be any thing Except A Ker I thought would write you for + Advise As where would be a Good Place for a Comporedly young man + That want to Better his Standing who has a very Promising young + Family. + + I am 30 years old and have Good Experence in Freight Handler and + Can fill Position from Truck to Agt. + + would like Chicago or Philadelphia But I dont Care where so long + as I Go where a man is a man Hopeing hear of you soon as I want + to leave on or about 15 day of May I am yours as Ever. + + + TEMPLE, TEXAS, April 29, 1917. + + MR. T. ARNOLD HILL, 3719 State St., Chicago, Ill. + + _Dear Sir_: Being a reader of the Defender and young man seeking + to better my conditions in the business world, I have decided to + leave this State for North or West. I would like to get in touch + with a person or firm that I might know where I can secure steady + work. I would certainly appericate any information you might be + able to give. I finished the course in Blacksmithing and + horseshoeing at Prairie View College this State and took special + wood working in Hampton Institute Hampton Va. Have been in + practical business for several years also I am specializing auto + work. I am a married man a member of the church. Thanking you in + advance for any favors Am very truly + + + ROME, GA., 5/16/17 + + _Dear Sir_: "Ive" just read your ad in the Chicago Definder on + getting employment. So I will now ask you to do the best you can + for me. Now, Mr. ----, I am not a tramp by any means, I am a high + class churchman and business man. + + I am the Daddy of the Transfer Business in this city. And carried + it on for teen years. Seven years ago I sold out to a white + Concern. + + I prefer a job in a Retail furniture store if I can be placed + "Ill' now name a few things that I do. Viz I can repair and + Finish furniture, I am an Exspert packer & Crater of furniture, I + pack China, Cut Glass & Silver ware. + + I can Enamel, Grain & paint furniture. I can repair Violins, + Guitars, & Mandolins, I am a first-class Umbrella Man, I can do + any thing that can be do to Umbrella & parasol, I can manage a + Transfer Business, I understand all about Shipping H. H. Goods & + gurniture, I can make out Bills of Lading & write tags for the + same. + + Now if you can place me on any of these Trades it will be all + O.K. + + + HOUSTON TEX April., 30, 1917. + + _Sir_: I read in the Chicago Defender April the 28 inst that you + wonted men to labor in mills sir Eff you Cand Get me a joB to doo + it will be Hiley orpresheAted I am A masster firman I cand handle + oil or I cand Burn Cole Keep up my pumps in Good order and i is + A no. 1 masheane helper I cand doo moste eny thange around the + mill and if you cand Get me a joB I Will hiley orpresheate it + + And I Will Ask you to send me a pass for self and wife and when I + Come take out my fare out off my work so pleas let me here from + You at once I wonter com at once Cand Come recker-mended pleaS + oBlige + + + ATLANTA, GA., May 1/1917. + + MR. ARNOLD HILL. + + _Dear Sire_: I am a glazer and want information on My line of + work. I am a cutter and can do anything in a glazing room. + + I reads the Defender and like it so much, hoping to hear from you + soon + + + BROOK HAVEN, MISS., 4/24/1917. + + CHICAGO URBAN LEAGUE. + + _Sirs_: I was reading in the defender that theare was good + openings for Men in Smalle towns near Chicago would like to know + if they are seeking loborers or mechanics I am going to come + north in a few days and would rather try to have me a position in + view would you kindly advise me along this line as I am not + particular about locateing in the city all I desire is a good + position where I can earn a good liveing I am experienced in + plumbing and all kinds of metal roofing and compositeon roofing + an ans from you on this subject would certainly be appreciated + find enclosed addressed envelop for reply I wait your early reply + as I want to leave here not later than May 8th I remain + respectfully yours, + + P. S. will say that I am a Man of family dont think that I am + picking my Job as any position in any kind of shop would be + appreciated have had 12 years experience in pipe fitting. + + + PINE BLUFF, ARK., 4/23-17. + + MR. R. S. ABBOTT + + _Kine frind_: I am riting you asting you to see if you can get me + a job with some of the ship bilders I am a carpenter & can Do + most iny thing so if you can get me a job pleas rite me at once. + + + PENSACOLA, FLA., 4-29/17. + + _Dear Sir_: I was looking over The Chicago Defender & I saw where + you wanting mins to work & the meantime was advanceing + transportation if it is so i would thank you kindly if you will + aid me with a Transportation that i may come and get some of + thoes jobs thae i am a painter by traid but i will & can do eny + kind of worke i am a sober and hard working Man my weight is 179 + Lbs heigth 6 ft 2 in i see where you can use sum moulders i am + not a Moulder but I am a moulder son I can do that worke till the + Moulder Come very skilful at eny kind of work Hoping to here from + you Soon for more rezult. + + + PATTERSON, LA., May 1, 1917. + + _Kind Sir_: I saw your ad in the Defender for Laborers I am + anxious to get north to do something I am a Cleaner and Presser + by Trade exprence Hoffman Pressing mashine oppreator of this + Trade is Not in your line. I would be very glad if you could get + me a Transportation Advanced from Chicago to woek with the + Molders I am anxious to lean That Trade I hope you with them and + I would like to learn the Trade. + + I hope you will attend to the above matter as I am in Eanest + about this matter. + + + ATLANTA, GA. + + TO THE URBAN COMMITTY-- + + _Dear Sir_: I am comming north and have read advice in the + Chicago Defender and I would be very much obliged to you if you + would direct me to some firm that is in need of brick layers for + that is my Professical trade and can do any class of work and if + I can't get Brick Work now I will consider any other good Job as + I want to come right away I have 3 in fambly and I have no + objection to work in other small towns I will be very glad to + hear from you right away as I have never been north and advice + will be excepted yours truly and friend of the race. + + + HATTIESBURG, MISS., 12/4/16. + + HON. JOHN T. CLARK, _Sec. National League on Urban Conditions_, + New York City, N.Y. + + _Sir_: I am writing you on matters pertaining to work and + desirable locations for industrous and trust worthy laborers. Me + for myself and a good number of Friends especially thousand of + our people are moving out from this section of whom all can be + largely depended upon for good service, for the past 15 years I + have been engaged in insurance work of which I am at the head of + one now, And have a large host of people at my command. I have + had a deal of experience in the lumbering business, Hotel, Agency + of most any kind. Any information as to employment and desirable + locations especially for good School Conditions Church Etc., will + be appreciated. + + + FAYETTE, GA., January 17, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: I have learned of the splendid work which you are + doing in placing colored men in touch with industrial + opportunities. I therefore write you to ask if you have an + opening anywhere for me. I am a college graduate and understand + Bookkeeping. But I am not above doing hard labor in a foundry or + other industrial establishment. Please let me know if you can + place me. + + + NATCHEZ, MISS., Sept. 22-17. + + MR. R. S. ABBOTT, _Editor_. + + _Dear Sir_: I thought that you might help me in Some way either + personally or through your influence, is why I am worrying you + for which I beg pardon. + + I am a married man having wife and mother to support, (I mention + this in order to properly convey my plight) conditions here are + not altogether good and living expenses growing while wages are + small. My greatest desire is to leave for a better place but am + unable to raise the money. + + I can write short stories all of which potray negro characters + but no burlesque can also write poems, have a gift for cartooning + but have never learned the technicalities of comic drawing, these + things will never profit me anything here in Natchez. Would like + to know if you could use one or two of my short stories in serial + form in your great paper they are very interesting and would + furnish good reading matter. By this means I could probably leave + here in short and thus come in possession of better employment + enabling me to take up my drawing which I like best. + + Kindly let me hear from you and if you cannot favor me could you + refer me to any Negro publication buying fiction from their race. + + + BATON ROUGE, LA., 4/26/17. + + _Dear Sir_: I saw your advertisement in the Chicago Defender. I + am planning to move North this summer. I am one of the R. F. D. + Mail Carriers of Baton Rouge. As you are in the business of + securing Jobs for the newcomers, I thought possibly you could + give some information concerning a transfer or a vacancy, in the + government service, such, as city carrier, Janitor, or something + similar that requires an ordinary common school education. + Possibly you could give me information about some good firm, that + pays from, $3.50 upwards. If I could get a Job with a good + reliable firm I would not mind quitting the government service, I + have been a Mail carrier for 11 years. + + I want to buy property and locate in Chicago permently with my + family. + + Please let me know what are your charges for securing positions. + + + DECATUR, ALA., 4/25/17. + + THE CHICAGO URBAN LEAGUE + + _Gentlemen_: Gentlemens desious of Settling in some Small + Northern Town With a modrate Population & also Where a Colored + man may open a business Also where one may receive fairly good + wedges for a While ontill well enough, azainted with Place to do + a buiseness in other words Wonts to locate in Some Coming town + Were agoodly no, of colard People is. Wonts to Work At Some + occupation ontill I can arrange for other buiseness Just Give Me + information As to the best placers for a young buiseness Negro to + locate & make good. in. Any Northern State + + Thanking you inavance any information you may give in regards to + Laber & buiseness Location Also when good Schools or in opration + Please adress + + P. S. answer this at once as I plain to leave the South by May + the 3rd. I can furnish best reffreces. + + + DYERSBURG, TENNESSEE, 5/20, 1917. + + THE DEFENDER, NEGRO NEWS JOURNAL, + + _My dear Sir_: Please hand this letter to the Agency of the negro + Employment Bureau--connected with your department--that I may + receive a reply from the same--I am a practical fireman--, or + stoker as the yankee people call it--have a good knowledge of + operating machinery--have been engaged in such work for some 20 + yrs--will be ready to call--or come on demand--I am a married + man--just one child, a boy about 15 yrs--of--age--a member of the + Methodist Episcopal Church--and aspire to better my condition in + life--Do me the kindness to hand this to the agent. + + + JACKSONVILLE, FLA. + + I seen your advertisement in the Chicago defender where you would + direct men with families where to go in order to find good work. + I am a Southern cook, butler or Janitor I have two boys age 15 + yrs & 13 yrs, and wife that does maid work now I would like for + you to help me locate myself & family some where up there for + work I can furnish reference to thirteen years of service at one + place I am anxious to come right away. + + + LEXINGTON, MISS., May 12-17. + + _My dear Mr. H----:_--I am writing to you for some information + and assistance if you can give it. + + I am a young man and am disable, in a very great degree, to do + hard manual labor. I was educated at Alcorn College and have been + teaching a few years: but ah: me the Superintendent under whom we + poor colored teachers have to teach cares less for a colored man + than he does for the vilest beast. I am compelled to teach 150 + children without any assistance and receives only $27.00 a month, + the white with 30 get $100. + + I am so sick I am so tired of such conditions that I sometime + think that life for me is not worth while and most eminently + believe with Patrick Henry "Give me liberty or give me death." If + I was a strong able bodied man I would have gone from here long + ago, but this handicaps me and, I must make inquiries before I + leap. + + Mr. H----, do you think you can assist me to a position I am good + at stenography typewriting and bookkeeping or any kind of work + not to rough or heavy. I am 4 feet 6 in high and weigh 105 + pounds. + + I will gladly give any other information you may desire and will + greatly appreciate any assistance you may render me. + + + PASCA GOULA, MISS., May the 8, 1917. + + _Dear Sir & frend:_ as understand that you ar the man for me to + con for to & i want to Com to you & my frend & i has not got the + money to Com Will you pleas Sir send me & my frend a ticket to + Com an if you will I will glad La Com at onC & will worK et out + will Be glad to do so I will not ask you to send the redey Casch + for you dont nae me & if you Will Send me 2 tickets i will gladly + take the, & i will Com Jest now hoping to hear from you by re + torn male Yors Evor. + + + MEMPHIS, TENN., May 5, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: I saw your add in the Chicago Defender papa and me + being a firman and a all around man I thought I would write you. + prehaps You might could do me lots of good, and if you can use me + any way write me and let me No. in my trade or in foundry work. + all so I got a boy 19 years old he is pretty apt in Learning I + would Like to get him up there and Learn him a trade and I have + several others would come previding if there be an opening for + them. So this is all ans. soon + + + ALGIERS, LA., May 16-17. + + _Sir_: I saw sometime ago in the Chicago Defender, that you + needed me for different work, would like to state that I can + bring you all the men that you need, to do anything of work. or + send them, would like to Come my self Con recomend all the men I + bring to do any kind of work, and will give satisfaction; I have + bin foreman for 20 yrs over some of these men in different work + from R. R. work to Boiler Shop machine shop Blacksmith shop + Concreet finishing or puting down pipe or any work to be did. + they are all hard working men and will work at any kind of work + also plastering anything in the labor line, from Clerical work + down, I will not bring a man that is looking for a easy time only + hard working men, that want good wages for there work, let me + here from you at once, + + + ELLISVILLE, MISS., 5/1/17. + + _Kind Sir_: I have been takeing the Defender 4 months I injoy + reading it very much I dont think that there could be a grander + paper printed for the race, then the defender. Dear Editor I am + thinking of leaving for Some good place in the North or West one + I dont Know just which I learn that Nebraska was a very good + climate for the people of the South. I wont you to give me some + ideas on it, Or Some good farming country. I have been public + working for 10 year. I am tired of that, And want to get out on a + good farm. I have a wife and 5 children and we all wont to get + our from town a place an try to buy a good home near good Schools + good Churchs. I am going to leave here as soon as I get able to + work. Some are talking of a free train May 15 But I dont no + anything of that. So I will go to work an then I will be sure, of + my leaving Of course if it run I will go but I am not depending + on it Wages here are so low can scarcely live We can buy enough + to eat we only buy enough to Keep up alive I mean the greater + part of the Race. Women wages are from $1.25 Some time as high + as $2.50. just some time for a whole week. + + Hoping Dear Editor that I will get a hearing from you through + return mail, giving me Some ideas and Some Sketches on the + different Climate suitable for our health. + + P. S. You can place my letter in Some of the Defender Colums but + done use my name in print, for it might get back down here. + + + TALLADEGA, ALA., Apri 29, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: I am a subscriber for the Chicago Defender and have + been reading in your paper of occupations waiting to be filled. + And as I understand you want the person writting to state just + what kind of work they can do. I can car petter work and have + been off and own for some years. I am not a finished up + carpenter, I can do ware-house work, I can work in a wholesale, I + have not sufficient money to come on will you be obliging to send + me my transportation. I am near thirty eight (38) years old and + weighs about one hundred and ninety five (195) pounds. If you + will send a transportation please write me at once at Talladega. + + + MOBILE, ALA., April 21. 17. + + _Dear Sirs_: I am a man that would like to get work in some place + where I can elevate my self & family & I think some where in the + north is the place for me & I would like to get you gentlemen to + advise me in getting a location my trade is cook rail Road camp + cars pre fered but will do enything els that I can do. so if you + all can help me out in eny way I will Sure take it as a favor. + + + PALESTINE, TEX., Mar. 24, 17. + + MR. EDITOR-- + + _My dear Sir_: I have been reading your paper for some time my + farther is a subscriber for the New York age I have read a few + letters in your paper asking for help of securing a position in + the North I am trying to make a man of myself I can get any work + down here in the South and owing to prejudice I cant get a start + I am 18 yrs. of age weighs 152 lbs. and any position that you can + get me will work at any job--untill I can get better I am asking + how can I get transportation from here it can be deducted from + salary and I will certainly appreciate any thing you do for me + toward helping me leave the south a gol any where in the + north--please help me if you possible can + + I am hoping to hear from you some time soon Your agent of + Palestine Mr. ---- is a cousin to me my farther is principle of + D---- School but refuses to help me any I havent any special + trade a little expierence in stage work and drawing. + + + BESSEMER, ALA., 5/14/17. + + _Sirs_: Noticing an ad in Chicago Defender of your assitance to + those desiring employment there I thought mayhaps you could help + me secure work in your Windy City I'm a married man have one + child. I have common school education this is my hand write. I am + presently employed as a miner has been for 14 years but would + like a Change I'm apt to learn would like to get where I could go + on up and support myself and family. You know more about it than + I but in your opinion could I make anything as pullman porter + being inexsperienced? I'd be so grateful to U. to place me in + something Ive worked myself too hard for nothing. I'm sober and + can adjust my life with any kind and am a quiet Christian man. + + + NEW ORLEANS, 4/25/17. + + _Kind Sir_: I noticed in last weeks Defender an issieu relating + to ocupations in your territory I am a Laborer of N.O. and desire + to get information concerning Best ways and means of securing a + Position I am absolutely willing to do manual Labor any-where + will you--Kindly inform me as to what step can be taken for + further reference if necessary apply to ---- Hoping this will + meet with your generous approval I remain + + + NEW ORLEANS, April 22, 1917. + + under the head lines in the Chicage Defender of Saturday April + 22-17 I red how some of us that goes up north are being treated. + there is a few that have gone from this city north, and came back + a few weeks. some say they came back on account of being to cold + "The others Say they ware to pay so much to get work etc" I would + like to go north. and would rather be in some place. other then + Chicago. or near Chicago. I am a union man" but dont exspect to + work at union only" there is a few of us union men that are + planing to go north and Kindly please write me" all so I mail you + one of my union cards hoping to heare from you soon I am + respectfully, Yours. + + + MEMPHIS, TENN., May 12 8 17. + + _Dear Sir_: I am a constant reader of your paper which can be + purchased here at the Panama Cafe news stand. Mr. ---- at present + I am employed as agent for the Interstate Life and acc'd ins. Co. + but on account of the race people leaving here so very fast my + present job is no longer a profitable one. I have a number of + young friends in your city who are advising me to come to Chicago + and I have just about made up my mind to come. but before leaving + here I wanted to ask Some advice from you along certain lines. I + am buying property here and taking up notes each month on Same + these notes now are aroun $14 per month. and with my present + Salary and the unusual high price on everything I can't possibly + protect myself very long against a foreclosure on above mentioned + property on account of my Salary being less than $50.00 per + month. Mr. ---- do you think I could come to your city with + myself and wife rent this place out here and better my condition + financially? I am strong and able to do anything kind of work so + long as the Salary is O. K. I have a fair experience as a meat + cutter and can furnish the best of reference from business houses + one of them is Swift & Co of this city. I hope you can understand + me clearly, it is my aim to make an honest living and would not + dream of any other method. I am prepared to leave here at any + time and must go Some place but Chicago is the place that impress + me most. and having the confidence in you as a great race man I + am writing you for your honest opinion concerning the facts in + the matter. Many thanks for the information in today's paper + under the Caption ("Know thyself") hoping this will meet with + your hearty Cooperation. + + P. S. What is about the average salaries paid there for unskilled + laborers and what is board and room rent? if I come would it be + advisable to come alone and Secure location and everything and + then have my wife come later? + + + JACKSON, MISS., May 10-17. + + _Kind Sir_: I saw your ad., in the Chicago Defender. Where you + wonted 15 or 20 good men. So I am Writing you asking you do you + still wont them. Also you said that you would send transportation + for them. If you still wont them I can get good steady working + men that wount to work and not gambling no rounders but working + men. I am working man can work at anything not a left hand man + but work both right and left. So please let me hear from you at + once. For I wont to work and wont to work now. So if you Can not + send transportation for all send me one. Please Oblige me. + + P.S. Please let me hear from you at once. + + + MEMPHIS, TENN., May 22nd, 1917. + + _Sir:_ As you will see from the above that I am working in an + office somewhat similar to the one I am addressing, but that is + not the purpose with which I sat out to write. + + What I would like best to know is can you secure me a position + there? I will not say that I am capable of doing any kind of + labor as I am not. Have had an accidental injury to my right + foot; hence I am incapable of running up and down stairs, but can + go up and down by taking my time. I can perform janitors duties, + tend bar, or grocery store, as clerk. I am also a graduate of the + Law Department, Howard University, Washington, D. C. Class of '85 + but this fact has not swelled my head. I am willing to do almost + any thing that I can do that there is a dollar to it. I am a man + of 63 years of age. Lived here all of my life, barring 5 or 6 + years spent in Washington and the East. Am a christian, Bapitst + by affiliation. + + Have been a teacher, clerk in the government department, Law and + Pension offices, for 5 years, also a watchman in the War Dept. + also collector and rental agent for the late R. R. Church, Esq. + Member of Canaan Baptist Church, Covington, Tenn. Now this is the + indictment I plead to. + + _Sir_, If you can place me I will be willing to pay anything in + reason for the service. I have selected a place to stop with a + friend of earlier days at ----, whenever I can get placed there. + An early reply will be appreciated by yours respectfully. + + + PASCOQOULA, MISS., April 8 17, + + _Dear Sir:_ As you have charge of the Urban League, I want to + know if the League can locate work for about 8 or 10 men. We are + all middle-aged men and would like to have our faires paid and + deducted from our wages. + + We will work in any small town in Illinois. All of these men are + property owners and have large families. We'll _leave_ families + 'till later on. + + Any good you can do for us Will be highly appreciated. + + P.S. Some of these men have trades and are capable of working in + railroad shops. + + + HAMLET, N. C., May 29, 1917. + + _Gentlemen:_ I am very desirous of changing my location and am + writing to know whether or not you can find a lucrative opening + for me somewhere in the North. + + I am 42 years old, married, wife and four children and a public + school teacher and printer by profession and trade. Will accept + any kind of work with living wages, on tobacco farm or factory. I + am a sober, steady worker and shall endeavor to render + satisfaction in any position in which I am placed. + + + BEAUMONT, TEXAS, July 16, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I am a colored, am desiring work in New York or some + of the adjoining states. I am not a skilled workman but I can do + most any kind of common labor. I have spent several years in the + plaining mills of the south. I know all about feeding planers and + I can also keep them up very well. I have checked lumber and in + fact, I can do a number of different things. + + Will you be kind enough to put me in correspondence with some one + who would like to employ a good conscientious steady laborer. + + I have a family and I would be glad to come north to live. So + please be so kind as to do me the favor above asked. I have a + little education too if it could be used to any advantage. + + Hoping an early reply. + + + COLLINS, MISS., May 1st, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ By being a Subscriber and reader of the Chicago + Defender, I read an advertisement where they are wanting and + needing help. Needing Moulders and Machinist of course I do not + know anything about the trade. But they Said they would pay men + $2.25 begin with and Learn the trade And transportation forworded + and they would deduct it Out of their wages. + + I am Very Anxious to Come Up North. And I would put all of my + energy and mind on my work. And try in every way to please the + One for whom I am working for. They could get about five men from + here. One that is a Pretty good Machinist I am Writting you as + they Gave two branches for Colored and that you is the head of + the ---- So Any favors extended towards Me will be highly + Appreciated hoping to hear from you at an early Date I remain + yours truly. + + + MCDONOGHVILL, LA., May 1--1917. + + _dear Mr. ----:_ it afford me With pleasur to right to you on + Some infermashian how to get me a transportation to Some town in + the North as i Would like to Come out there to Live and better my + condition as i am A young Man and desire to get With the good + Clase of Laboring people i have not got a trade but i have Work + all My time around oil Mill and Coopper Shop for the Last 8 years + and i cand work at Moust enj thing if i get A Little experence. + + My age is--24--years good healt good behaver goof record in the + south this is all to tell now but if you would Like to no My + record i caNd give it to you from my Lodge--are from my + church--good by + + + HATTIESBURG, MISS., May 27th, 1917. + + _Gentlemen:_ by reading in the defender of the position you are + in for securing jobs. I thought I would write, and see if you + could place me. Now my job pay me well, but as my wife and + Children are anxious to come north I would try and get a job now + I am a yellow Pine Lumber inspector and checker can furnish + recomdation from some reliable Saw Mill Firms as there is in + South Miss. As Gradeing Triming & Checking yellow pine lumber. + + P. S. I know I can make good in any Lumber Yard such as checking + & stowing Lumber if you Will place me write on what terms to-- + + + WINONA, MISS., 4/13/17. + + In reading the defender I saw your advertising for more men I + would like very much to come up their I wants to leave the South + and go whear I can make a support for myself and Family. I have a + wife and six children to take cair of and I would like to bee + whair I could cair for Them my occupation is Carpenter but I can + do most any kind of work will you furnish me a Transportation to + com up thair on + + + GREENWOOD, MISS., Apr. 22nd, 17. + + _Sir:_ I noticed in the Defender about receiving some information + from you about positions up there or rather work and I am very + anxious to know what the chances are for business men. I am very + anxious to leave the South on account of my children but mu + husband doesn't seem to think that he can succeed there in + business, he is a merchant and also knows the barber trade what + are the chances for either? Some of our folks down here have the + idea that this Northern movement means nothing to any body but + those who go out and labor by the day. I am willing to work + myself to get a start. Tell me what we could really do. I will do + most anything to get our family out of _Bam_. Please let this be + confidential. + + + WININA, MISS., Mar the 19 1917. + + _My dear driend:_ it is With murch pleaser that i rite to You to + let You no i reed Your letter & Was glad to hear from you all so + i excepts all you Said that you wood do for me so i am a Painter + and Carter to So i am willing to learn in neything in works kind + So mr. ---- i thank You for Your kindes for all of Your aid so i + am a Barber to so i am a good farmer to al all kind So i am not + Set do Wn at all so if You Can healp pleas do So So i hay niCe + famely so i will tell you i am a Curch member for 38 years i and + all of my famely but 3 children so i am not a de Sever So mr. + ---- i wood ask you for if the monney So i Was so glad to get + your letter dear Sit When I com up thire look for me at your + offes Pleas so mr ---- i all waYs hold gob When i get wone So in + god name pleas healp me up there and i will pay you When i com up + thire mr ---- i Cant raise my famely hear i wanter to So this all + Your friend + + + KNOXVILLE, TENN., Apr. 30, '17. + + _Dear Sir:_ I am anxious to come to Chicago. I have thirteen + years experiance as janitor in large residence apartment house, + am also handy with tools. + + I have a wife and four children. If you can place me where I can + earn a decent living for my family will appreciate it. + + + MONTGOMERY, ALA., Dec. 3rd, 1916. + + _Dear Sir:_ in Reading The Defender I See Where you are Disirious + of Communicating With a better class of working men To supply the + different trades. Please advise Some place by which I could + better my condition North or East. + + I would be glad To come in to a better Knowing by writting you + before Starting + + + JAZOO CITY, MISS., 4/3/17. + + _dear sir:_ I owe in Con sist to write you a few lines as in the + regards of my ability as I am anxus to get some work to do I have + a famely to work for and I habe bin workin as helper and bon do + most any Kind of work. Has been in the Bixness as MoChinest + helper for 7 years and Have fally good ExpernCe in it and would + like for you to Help me out if possibl to do so I Would like to + work in some Shop or Millplant and I Would lik for you to send me + a transpotation and I will pay out of my salry so answer soon and + let me no what yo Can do for me I Will Close. + + + MOBILE, ALA., May the 4, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I write you a few line to find out about the Work and + if I could get you to Send me and Wife and Son a transportation I + am not a loafer and can send references that I will work. + + P. S. Please rite me at once I am anxious to here from you. + + + PENSACOLA, FLA., 30th, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ in answer to your advertisment for labors I am a man + want to work am noes a opertunity Please notiefie me at ane as I + Want to get Job with you I Will Ask a Transportation an will leve + when its reaches me Please take my letter in canceration ans me + at once as I very anxious to from I am stiedy drink no whiskey or + eny thing that is intosicating an can give fot the infomation + Right soon + + + MACON, GA., 4/30/17. + + _Mr. ----:_ i War took and Read the Chicago Defender and i read + for the Wanted laborers and i am rinten to you to let you here + from we all that Wold liKe to taKe a laborers part with this + Manufacturing and We or Willing to do ennery kind of Work and We + or men Will Work and or Glad that me seet With this canne and We + will gladly come if you will Send us transportation fore 9 Mens + and We Will Come at once and these Mens is Men With Famly and We + all or hard work men and i Will Say A Gin that Me Will do enny + Kind of Work dut Me thave a tirde Some us + + + PENSACOLA, FLA., April 29-1917. + + _Sir:_ While sitting reading the Chicago defender I found that + you are in need labering mens that will work sir I am a labering + man and I womts to came but are able to pay my way so I ask you + to send me a transportation and I will come Just as soon as I get + it I am a married man have a wife and six childrens and I wonte + to take car of them but con not here in the south so let me here + from you in return mail. + + + PENSACOLA, FLA., 4-25-17. + + _Dear Sir:_ Having read in the "Chicago Defender" are helping the + negroes of the South to secure employment I am writing you this + note asking you to please put me & my friend in touch with some + firm that are employing men. + + Please do what you can for us. + + + JACKSONVILLE, FLA., June 12, 1917. + + _dear sir:_ I am writing to you for information concerning a Job + I have a wife and 2 children and who so ever my employer may Be I + would ask that they may send trancipertation for me and my family + and I will pay as i work I am a come laber man my wife is a good + launders all So my daughter and My Son is a laber all so I am a + railroad mon By trade please aBlige mr ---- + + + Port Arthur, Texas. + + _Kind sir:_ inclose you will find Just a word to you in reading + the News I found your address and was very glad to see it Kind + sir I write you with my hole heart and I do not mean Just to pass + off time my brothers and I are now writing you to please send 2 + tickets one for ---- and one for ---- + + we are Very Well Experence long many lines so long as publice + work I am now employed in the largest Company in the south it is + the Gulf Refining Co. I have ben Working for them for a number of + years Write soon I remain yours very truly. + + + BEAUMONT, TEXAS, May 7, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I see in one of your recent issue of collored men + woanted in the North I wish you would help me to get a position + in the North I have no trade I have been working for one company + eight years and there is no advancement here for me and I would + like to come where I can better my condition I woant work and not + affraid to work all I wish is a chance to make good. I believe I + would like machinist helper or Molder helper. If you can help me + in any way it will be highly appreciate hoping to hear from you + soon + + + BEAUMONT, TEXAS, May 8th, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I wrote you some time ago, and never received any + answer. I learn you can assist me in bettering my condition. I + would like very much to come North. I have no trade but Im a + willing worker, and the Job I have now I have had it for eight + years and there is no advancement here for me. I can give eight + year refference I would like mechinist helper or some thing where + I could learn a trade I have a fair education and I wish is a + chance I need no transportation Im very well fix financial Im + single and 29 years old if you can help me in any way it will be + highly appreciate. hoping to hear from you soon. + + + HOUSTON, TEXAS, April 21, 17. + + _Dear Sir:_ As I was looking over your great news paper I would + like very mutch to get Some information from you about Comeing to + your great City, I have a famile and Can give you good Referns + about my Self. I am a Working man and will Prove up to what I say + and would be very glad to Know from you, about a Job Allthough I + am at work But, If I Could get Something to do I would be very + glad to leave the South, as I Read in the Chicago Defender about + Some of my Race going north and makeing good.--well I would like + to be on the List not with Standing my reputation is all O.K. + + I thank you. + + + JACKSONVILLE, FLA., May 22, 1917. + + _Chicago Defender:_ I wish to go North haven got money enuff to + come I can do any kind of housework laundress nurse good cook has + cook for northen people I am 27 years of age just my self would + you kindly inderseed for me a job with some rich white people who + would send me a ticket and I pay them back please help me. I am + brown skin just meaden size. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., August 27, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ i am wrighting you for help i haird of you by telling + my troble i was told to right you. I wont to come there and work + i have ben looking for work here for three month and cand find + any i once found a place $1 a week for a 15 year old girl and i + did not take that, now you may say how can that be but New + Orleans is so haird tell some have to work for food and the only + help i have is my mother and she have work 2 week now and she + have four children young then me and i am 15teen and she have + such a hard time tell she is willing for me to go and if you will + sin me a pass you will not be sorry i am not no lazy girl i am + smart i have got very much learning but i can do any work that + come to my hand to do i am set here to day worry i could explane + it to you i have ben out three time to day and it only 12 oclock. + and if you please sire sine me a pass, it more thin i am able to + tell you how i will thank you i have clothes to bring wenter + dress to ware, my grand mama dress me but now she is dead and all + i have is my mother now please sire sin me a pass and you wont be + sorry of it and if you right and speake mean please ancer i will + be glad of that but if you would sin a pass i would be so much + glader i will work and pay for my pass if you sin it i am so + sorry tell i cant talk like i wont to and if you and your famely + dont wont to be worry with me I will stay where i work and will + come and see you all and do any think i can for you all from + little A---- V---- excuse bad righting. + + + JACKSONVILLE, FLA., April 29, 1917. + + _My dear Sir:_ I take grate pleazer in writing you. as I found in + your Chicago Defender this morning where you are secur job for + men as I realey diden no if you can get a good job for me as am a + woman and a widowe with two girls and would like to no if you can + get one for me and the girls. We will do any kind of work and I + would like to hear from you at once not any of us has any + husbands. + + + MOSS POINT, MISS., May 5, 1917. + + _Dear Sirs:_ Will you please send me in formation towards a first + class cookeing job or washing job I want a job as soom as you can + find one for me also I want a job for three young girls ages 13 + to 16 years. Pease oblidge. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., May 7, 1917. + + _Gentlemen:_ I read Defender every week and see so much good + youre doing for the southern people & would like to know if you + do the same for me as I am thinking of coming to Chicago about + the first of June, and wants a position. I have very fine + references if needed. I am a widow of 28. No children, not a + relative living and I can do first class work as house maid and + dining room or care for invalid ladies. I am honest and neat and + refined with a fairly good education. I would like a position + where I could live on places because its very trying for a good + girl to be out in a large city by self among strangers is why I + would like a good home with good people. Trusting to hear from + you. + + + SELMA, ALA., May 19, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I am a reader of the Chicago Defender I think it is + one of the Most Wonderful Papers of our race printed. Sirs I am + writeing to see if You all will please get me a job. And Sir I + can wash dishes, wash iron nursing work in groceries and dry good + stores. Just any of these I can do. Sir, who so ever you get the + job from please tell them to send me a ticket and I will pay + them. When I get their as I have not got enough money to pay my + way. I am a girl of 17 years old and in the 8 grade at Knox + Academy School. But on account of not having money enough I had + to stop school. Sir I will thank you all with all my heart. May + God Bless you all. Please answer in return mail. + + + NATCHEZ, MISS., Oct. 5, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ Now I am writing you to oblige me to put my + application in the papers for me please. I am a body servant or + nice house maid. My hair is black and my eyes are black and + smooth skin and clear and brown, good teeth and strong and good + health and my weight is 136 lb. + + + CORINTH, MISS., April 30, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I am a good cook age 35 years. I can bring my + recermendation with me my name is ---- ----. I am in good health + so I would like for you to send me a transportation I have got a + daughter and baby six months old so she can nurse so I would like + to come up there and get a job of some kind I can wait table + cook housegirl nurse or do any work I am ready to come just as + soon as you send the passes to us I want to bring a box of quilts + and a trunk of clothes so you please send us the passes for me + and daughter. Write me at once I am a negro woman. We will leave + her Sat. if you send the passes if you are not the man please + give me some infamation to whom to write to a negro friend. + + + BILOXI, MISS., April 27, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I would like to get in touch with you a pece of + advise I am unable to under go hard work as I have a fracture + ancle but in the mene time I am able to help my selft a great + dele. I am a good cook and can give good recmendation can serve + in small famly that has light work, if I could get something in + that line I could work my daughters a long with me. She is 21 + years and I have a husban all so and he is a fireman and want a + positions and too small boy need to be in school now if you all + see where there is some open for me that I may be able too better + my condission anser at once and we will com as we are in a land + of starvaten. + + From a willen workin woman. I hope that you will healp me as I + want to get out of this land of sufring I no there is som thing + that I can do here there is nothing for me to do I may be able to + get in some furm where I dont have to stand on my feet all day I + dont no just whah but I hope the Lord will find a place now let + me here from you all at once. + + + JACKSONVILLE, FLA., April 28, 1917. + + _Kind sir:_ I seen your name in the Chicago Defender I am real + anxious to go north I and my family I am a married womon with + family my husbon and 3 children my olders boy 15 younger 13 baby + 4 my sister 20. I can wash chamber mad dish washer nurse or wash + and my boy can work my sister can cook or wash or nurse my + husband is a good work and swift to lern we are collored pepel a + good family wonts a job with good pepel pleas anser soon + + + _Kind Sir:_ We have several times read your noted paper and we + are delighted with the same because it is a thorough Negro paper. + There is a storm of our people toward the North and especially to + your city. We have watched your want ad regularly and we are + anxious for location with good families (white) where we can be + cared for and do domestic work. We want to engage as cook, nurse + and maid. We have had some educational advantages, as we have + taught in rural schools for few years but our pay so poor we + could not continue. We can furnish testimonial of our honesty and + integrity and moral standing. Will you please assist us in + securing places as we are anxious to come but want jobs before we + leave. We want to do any kind of honest labor. Our chance here is + so poor. + + + MOBILE, ALA., April 30, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I after seeing your jobs advertised in the Defender + was moved to write to you for clear information of the ---- ----. + I am a laundress wanting a position in some place where I can get + pay for what I do, work here are too scarce to support me + necessarily so I humbly wish you to favor me with an early answer + stateing the entire nature of the great colored society. Your + answer are daily and impatiently expected by your humble servant. + + + VICKSBURG, MISS., May 7, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ This comes to say to you will you please inform us of + some place of employment. We are working here at starvation wages + and some of us are virtually without employment willing to accept + any kind of work such as cooking, laundering or as domestics no + objection to living in a small town, suburb or country. There are + fifteen wants work. You can just write me and I will notify them + please let me hear from you at your earliest convenience. + + +LETTERS ABOUT CLUBS AND GROUPS FOR THE NORTH + + + SAUK, GA., May 1, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ There are about 15 or 20 of us hard working mans + seeking employment an we would be more than glad if you assis us + in finding work i see here in the Chicago Defender laborers + wanted i am a skill labor at most anything except molder but i am + willing to learn the trade we are hard working mans no lofers + neather crap shooters work is what we want and can not get it + without you assistant, if you will assis us with transportation + please rite and let us no what way to came to you these white + folks here having meeting trying to stop us from going off to + seek work an noing they haven got work nor wagers for us here. + + We have had jobs but loose it and have not the money to get away + if you except my letter please give us some assistant to leave + because is send you a letter Monday but i see afterward that it + was send rong so i send you this one. have you got employment up + there for female if so let us no please if you send me a speciel + please dont put 15 or 20 men and i will under stand if you say 15 + or 20 mans they will put me in jail. please answer just as soon + can as i want to get away as soon as i can there nothing here to + do. some industrious female want employment answer at once + please. + + + MOBILE, ALA., April 21, 1917. + + _Dear Sirs:_ We have a club of 108 good men wants work we are + willing to go north or west but we are not abel to pay rail road + fare now if you can help us get work and get to it please answer + at once. Hope to hear from you. + + + MOBILE, ALA., May 11, 1917. + + _Dear sir and brother:_ on last Sunday I addressed you a letter + asking you for information and I have received no answer, but we + would like to know could 300 or 500 men and women get employment? + and will the company or thoes that needs help send them a ticket + or a pass and let them pay it back in weekly payments? We have + men and women here in all lines of work we have organized a + association to help them through you. + + We are anxiously awaiting your reply. + + + ATLANTA, GA., April 29, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I was reading you advertisement in the Chicago + Defender and it come intresting to me and I thought I would rite + you to get information about it. There are 5 or six families of + us wants to know would you send us a ticket if you would we would + like to heare from you at once and we will explain our statement + in my next letter. I am looking for reply soon. + + + JACKSON, MISS., May the first, 1917. + + _sir:_ I was looking over the Chicago Defender and seen ad for + labers both woman an men it is a great lots of us woud come at + once if we was only abel but we is not abel to come but if you + will send me a pas for 25 women and men I will send them north at + once men an women + + + MOBILE, ALA., April 29, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ In reading the defender I seen where you are acting + as agent for some big concerns and that you are in need of men. + I am a married man and would like to get up there to work but it + seems a hard proposition to get enough money to pay my fare and + there are a lots more men around here that follow the very work + that you want men for but cant get away upon that reason. but if + you could plan to get us up there and let us pay after we got + there we will be very thankful. At present I am employed as a + boiler makers helper and all the men I speak of are boiler makers + and machinists helpers and all are hard working men and have + families but we want to come north. Let me hear from you please + and I can get (12) twelve men at least that have reputation. + Looking for an early reply, I am, Your friend for betterment. + + + CHARLESTON, S. C., April 2, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I saw your want in the paper and I thought i would + right you and find out about it and if you have work for me and + my wife I will be glad to come and if you have no work for her + you can send for me and I will be glad to come and bring along + manny more if you want them. You can let me know at once and i + will be glad to do so. so you can write me at once and I will + know just what to do. + + + MOBILE, ALA., April 23, 1917. + + _Dear Sirs:_ You will find my full name and address from which + please give infermation about jobs and also tell me will you pay + my fare up there and take it out of my work after geting to work + and i can get a great many men and family if you want them. they + wants to come but they cant get no work to do so they can get the + money to come on. I can get men women and families so please + answer and let me me no what you will do if you need them. + + + PASCAGOULA, MISS., May 3, 1917. + + _Dear Sirs:_ Whilse reading over the want adv. of the Defender I + find where you wants bench molders 20 not saying I am one but I + am a labering man and verry apt to lern anything in a short while + and desires to come and give it a trile or something else I can + do eny thing in common labor hoping you will send me a + transportation and give me a trile and I can all so bring you as + meny men as you want if you dont want me to bring eny men send me + a transportation for my self. hopeing to hear from you by return + mail. + + + HATTIESBURG, MISS., April 13, 1917. + + _Sir:_ Please oblige me in getting me a pass to Chicago to some + firm that are in need of labors I have three in family besides + myself I have four or five other men with me now want to know if + you can secure that pass we will come at once this would be about + eight passes, my self and two in family and five men which will + be eight passes. these are able and good work man if you can + arrange this & let the list of passes bear each name so as to + form a club. let hear from you soon. + + + DE RIDDER, LA., April 29, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ there is lots of us southern mens wants + transportation and we want to leave ratway as soon as you let us + here from you some of us is married mens who need work we would + like to bring our wife with us there is 20 head of good mens want + transportation and if you need us let us no by return mail we all + are redy only wants here from you there may be more all of our + peoples wont to leave here and I want you to send as much as 20 + tickets any way I will get you up plenty hands to do most any + kind of work all you have to do is to send for them. looking to + here from you. This is among us collerd. + + + PLAQUEMINE, LA., April 288, 1917. + + _Der sir:_ only a few lines in regards you advertismen this week + Chicago Defender and it verry intresting to me and other that why + Im wrighten you because it my benifit me in the futur I know + about twenty five young men would like to go north but accorden + to present conditions in the south wont allow them to save enough + to go if their a possible chance of you doing enything we all + good worker and think if you will give us a chance will proof to + you that we can work and if you give us transportation we will + work and pay it back from the start. I will close hope you will + kindly except our offer and give it your persinel intrest. + + + NEW ORLEANS, April 27, 1917. + + _Dear Sirs:_ I have been engaged in the hotel business for + eighteen years. And I am personally acquainted with at least + fifty of our leading citizens of your city. And in my home I + would refer you to Mr. ----, asst. Depot Ticket agent of the ---- + R. R. He told me that any corporation that was in need of Labor + and placed passes with them for the same, that they would haul + the people. I could furnish you at least one thousand in the + next sixty days. And you will not have sixty dead beats. I will + furnish the names, and each pass should have the name of the user + on it before leaving Chicago. The greater number that I know have + families and do not wish to leave without them. Let me hear from + you at once. I can give you the business and my people will go + any where sent and do any kind of work, if the wages are right. + + + PATTERSON, LA., May 1, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I was reading one of the Chicago Defender papers and + I seen a splendid opportunity to grasp a good job. Now if you + could fowerd me a pass from New Orleans I would be very glad + because I am a willing worker, write me a letter as soon as + possible and let me know just what job you will put me to, of + cours I dont know any trade but will be willing to learn a good + trade. this aid I seen reads like this: + + Laborers wanted for foundry, warehouse and yard work. Excellent + opportunity for learning trades, paying good money start + $2.50-$2.75 so I would like to learn a trade. I might can get you + some more from here. I will close hope I will hear from you at + once. Before sending the transportation write me a letter. + + + CHATTANOOGA, TENN., May 1, 1917. + + _Dear Sur:_ will you send me a transportation i am a foundry man + i want to come where i can get same pay for my work and you plese + send me a transportation for 4 good hard labore man please send + and i can get you some good mens here i am down here working hard + and gett nothing for it so i hop you will ancer soon and let me + here from you i have had 7 years exprense in foundry works i noes + my jobe well i will expet to here from you rat way so good by. + + + MOBILE, ALA., April 30, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ In answer to your Ad. which apeared in the Chicago + Defender for laborer wanted to work in Foundry warehouse and yard + work I can recruit 15 good honest men whom I believe would make + good and can leave as soon as transportation for same is + provided. Hopeing to hear from you soon I remain Yours truly. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., 4/30/17. + + _Kind sir:_ only a few lines wanting to get some information + concerning of work i want to find out when could you send + transportations for fifteen men eight of them is molders and the + balance of them is experienced warehouse men and experienced + firemen if required i saw your ad in the CHicago Defender. + + This is all at present hopeing to get an early reply. + + + CHATTANOGGA, TENN., 5-2-17. + + _Dear sir:_ i only had the chance to see your ad to day at noon. + i was to glad to see it and hop that i am not to lat to full it i + am fuly sattisfied i can get as many as 10 or 15 reddy by the 7 + or 8 and we will be reddy by that time if you will tret us rite + we will stand by you to the las + + + CHATTANOOGA, TENN., May 2, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I beg to call you tension of some employment in your + country. I has been inform that you will give instruction an get + work any wher in the northern stats. I have some of the best + labor that is in south an some of the best molders if we can get + employment in north we wil go. + + a waiting your reply. + + + SAVANNAH, GA., March 16, 1917. + + _Gentlemen:_ Having learned that you ar short of laborers, I + respectfully offer myself as an applicant for a situation, and + would be glad to get a hearing from you as soon as it would be + convenient for you to reply. There are also many of my friends + that would be glad to get a situation. I am willing to do most + eny kind of earnest work. I am 36 years of age and can read and + wright the english language. and have good experance in busness. + Any communication whitch you may be pleased to make addressed as + above will receive prompt attention. + + + ST. PETERSBURG, FLA., May 1, 1917. + + _Dear sir:_ I am in receipt of your letter of the 16th of April + in reply to a letter I written to you. I will say at this + junction that there are more than 250 men desire to come north + but is not able to come if your manufacture men would like to + have 75 men labores from the south why he can get them for the + fair from here to New York is only 19.00 nineteen dollars and I + do not think that is a high transportation cost to get good + labor. Now there are men here that will work that can and have + 10.00 ten dollars on there fair and for a little assistance they + will come at once for the condishion there is terrible the low + wage and high cost of living and bad treatment is causing all to + want to come north. Now I have a family of 8 only, one boy that + can work in the north for he is 18 years the others is school + children and I would like to get them up there with me for I was + raise in the eastern state Massachusett Cambridge and pass as a + master workman in Denver Colorader making brick. Now if there is + any way to assist why do so now if you can only assist me why + just do it as a brother & friend I have 5 to pay for but I have a + little moeny but not enough to pay all way 3 full and 2 half fair + so you can readily see just where Im at but I got my fare but + rather bring my family with me. + + + ASHFORD, ALA., Dec. 8, 1916. + + _Dear sir_: I take great pleasure in writing you and replying to + your advertiser that you all wanted colored laborers and I want + to come up north and could get you 75 more responsible hands if + you want them so if you please send me 3 passes are as manny as + you like and I garontee you that I will fill them out with + responsible hands and good ones so please let me here from you at + once. + + + ORANGEBURG, S. C., June 14, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: your addess was gave to me this after noon by a young + man by the name of Mr. ---- who is now in Conn. and I write him + to see if he could get me a good job so he said to me on his card + that he was listening for a vacan place to apply for but hesen + found any thing not as yet but he said he wood do his very best + for me. This time of the year most people are now goeing north so + much I thought I wood come two so he told me to write you and see + if I could get you to get me a good job and have the people to + write me and advance me a transportation from Orangeburg to New + York. He said you are the best man in New York to assist good + fellow in to good paying jobs. I will look two here from you very + soon. + + + GRAHAM, LA., May 18, 1917. + + _Dear sir_: a word of infermation and a ancer from you please + there are about 12 or 15 of us with our famlys leaving the south + and we can hear of collored peples leaving the south but we are + not luckey enough to leave hear. Dr. ---- clame to be an agent to + sind peples off and we has bin to him so minnie times and has + fail to get off untill we dont no what to do so if you will place + us about 15 tickets or get some one else to do so we are honest + enough to come at once and labor for you or the one that sind + them untill we pay you if so requir. If we war able we wood sur + leave this torminting place but the job we as got and what we get + it we do well to feed our family so please let me here from you + at once giveing full detale of my requess. + + + SAVANNAH, GA., May 3, 1917. + + _Dare sier:_ I understand that you wont some mens and if you wood + sen me transportation for ten mens wood bee turly glad and please + write to me at wonce and lete me hir form you. + + + MEMPHIS, TENN., May 3, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ Seeing you add in the Chicago definder that you are + in need of labor I write you for full information at once hope + you will please give me. I am willing to come & if you kneed any + more labor I am sufficient to bring them. + + Now my dear sir if you can give me a steady job please send me a + pass hope you will write me at once. + + + SAVANNAH, GA., 4-30-17. + + _Dear sir:_ in reply to the labor wanted I write you let you know + I am a poor afflicted man can not do anything come to hand but am + willing to work and do need something to make a support now will + you please look up a job for me I could sweep or do any thing + light like that could watch act as janitor if you will send me a + transportation when I get there you see my willingness you would + make me a job now if you will except I will get you some men and + bring with me because I know numbers of men want to come and can + get as many as you want. Just give me a trial. + + + JACKSONVILLE, FLA., May 2, 1917. + + _Deer sir:_ i reed in the Chicago Defender that you wanted some + molder in your city i dont no wheather you mene lumber are iron + moulder but i am 4 years experence in lumber but if you mene iron + molder i dont think i will be many days learning the trade if it + is any chance that i can get a good job eith you i would like to + hear from you at once i am maried and would like to get 2 + transportation if i can and if you want some hard working mens + let me no and i will do all that i can for you and bring them on + with me if you will make same range ment to get them there i mean + that i will get you some good men hard working mens like myself + so let me here from you at once Please + + + JACKSONVILLE, FLA., 5/21/17. + + _Dear sir_: i am today righting you a few lines asking you to + please give me some information and that is this if you know of + any one that wants help of any kind men or women and one that + would send a few tickets would you please give me they address i + was told to right to you for information please lead me in the + light as i could get five familys and 8 or 9 good men for any + firm that wanted help, so I am awaiting your promp reply. + + + PORT ARTHUR, TEXAS, 5/5th/17. + + _Dear Sir_: Permitt me to inform you that I have had the pleasure + of reading the Defender for the first time in my life as I never + dreamed that there was such a race paper published and I must say + that its _some_ paper. + + However I can unhesitatingly say that it is extraordinarily + interesting and had I know that there was such a paper in my town + or such being handled in my vicinity I would have been a + subscriber years ago. + + Nevertheless I read every space of the paper dated April 28th + which is my first and only paper at present. Although I am + greatfully anticipating the pleasure of receiving my next + Defender as I now consider myself a full fledged defender fan and + I have also requested the representative of said paper to deliver + my Defender weekly. + + In reading the Defenders want ad I notice that there is lots of + work to be had and if I havent miscomprehended I think I also + understand that the transportation is advanced to able bodied + working men who is out of work and desire work. Am I not right? + with the understanding that those who have been advanced + transportation same will be deducted from their salary after they + have begun work. Now then if this is they proposition I have + about 10 or 15 good working men who is out of work and are dying + to leave the south and I assure you that they are working men and + will be too glad to come north east or west, any where but the + south. + + Now then if this is the proposition kindly let me know by return + mail. However I assure you that it shall be my pleasure to + furnish you with further or all information that you may + undertake to ask or all information necessary concerning this + communication. + + Thanking you in advance for the courtesy of a prompt reply with + much interest, I am + + + COLUMBUS, GA., April 29, 1917. + + _Dear sir_: I seen your adds in the paper & after reading I saw + where I could do some business for you & if you will write & let + me know promply what you will allow me for heads & let me know + right away I can get you as many as thirty at once & I know that + you do not want nothing but able bodied men if you will as soon + as you get this mail let me know by wireing me & I can get the + men ready by Thursday wire me as soon as your early convenence. + will also send you my recamendation that I am a true and reliable + negro if you take the notion to send the ticket send me money + emough to feed them until we get there you can estamate about how + much it will take to feed thirty all of them is anxious to go & + will go at the word from you please return the recamendation + back. + + + MOBILE, ALA., April 21, 1917. + + _Gentlemen_: Please have the kindness to let me know if you can + handle any labor as I wish to come north but would like to know + just who I am going to work for before starting so as to not be + there on expences and in the main time I have other friends that + would like to have a steady imployment while they are unable to + raise the money for transportation. Let me know what disposition + you could make in regards to the same. + + + MOBILE, ALA., May 15, 1917. + + _Dear Sir and Brother_: I am in the information of your labores + league and while in this city I have been asked about the + conditions of work in the north and at the same time we have + about 300 men here in this city of different trades. Some are + farmers, mail men iron and stell workers, mechanics and of all + classes of work. They ask me in their union to find out just the + conditions of the afair. They wants to know if they can go to + work in one or two days after they get there? if so some of them + can pay all of their fair some half and some wants to come on + conditions. will the company send them a pass and let them pay + them back weekly? if so I can send 500 more or less in order that + you may know who I am I will send you some of my papers that you + may know what I stand for and what I have been taking along, + please let me hear from you at once and what you think about it. + + +LETTERS ABOUT LABOR AGENTS + + + MOBILE, ALA., 4-26-17. + + _Dear Sir Bro._: I take great pane in droping you a few lines + hopeing that this will find you enjoying the best of health as it + leave me at this time present. Dear sir I seen in the Defender + where you was helping us a long in securing a posission as + brickmason plaster cementers stone mason. I am writing to you for + advice about comeing north. I am a brickmason an I can do cement + work an stone work. I written to a firm in Birmingham an they + sent me a blank stateing $2.00 would get me a ticket an pay 10 + per ct of my salary for the 1st month and $24.92c would be paid + after I reach Detorit and went to work where they sent me to + work. I had to stay there until I pay them the sum of $24.92c so + I want to leave Mobile for there, if there nothing there for me + to make a support for my self and family. My wife is seamstress. + We want to get away the 15 or 20 of May so please give this + matter your earnest consideration an let me hear from you by + return mail as my bro. in law want to get away to. He is a + carpenter by trade. so please help us as we are in need of your + help as we wanted to go to Detroit but if you says no we go where + ever you sends us until we can get to Detroit. We expect to do + whatever you says. There is nothing here for the colored man but + a hard time wich these southern crackers gives us. We has not had + any work to do in 4 wks. and every thing is high to the colored + man so please let me hear from you by return mail. Please do this + for your brother. + + + ANNINSTON, ALA., April 26, 1917. + + _Dear sir_: Seeing in the Chicago Defender that you wanted men to + work and that you are not to rob them of their half loaf; + interested me very much. So much that I am inquiring for a job; + one for my wife, auntie and myself. My wife is a seamster, my + auntie a cook I do janitor work or comon labor. We all will do + the work you give us. Please reply early. + + + SHREVEPORT, LA., May 22, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: I want to get some infirmation about getting out up + there I did learn that they had a man here agent for to send + people up there I have never seen him yet and I want you to tell + me how to get up there. they are passing people out up there that + are unable to come I would like to hear from you at once from + your unknown friend. + + + DERIDDER, LA., April 18, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: in regards of helth and all so in need that I am + riting you these fue lines to day to you. this few lines leves + famly and I well at the present an doe trus by the help of God + these will find you the same. Now what I want you to doe for me + is this will you please give this letter to the Chicago Defender + printers and I will bee oblige to you. I wood of back this letter + to the Chicago defenders but they never wood of receve it from + here. + + I am to day riting you jus a fue lines for infermasion I wil + state my complant is this. now her is 18 hundred of the colored + race have paid to a man $2.00 to be transfered to Chicago to + work, he tel us that thire is great demand in the north for labor + and wee no it is true bee cors ther is thousands of them going + from Alabama and fla. and Gergia and all so other states and this + white man was to send us to Chicago on the 15 of march and eavery + time we ask him about it he tell us that the companys is not redy + for us and we all wants to get out of the south, wee herd that + this man have fould wee people out of this money, wee has a + duplicate shorn that wee have paid him this money and if ther is + iny compnys that wants these men and will furnis transpertashion + for us wil you please notifie me at once bee cors I am tired of + bene dog as I was a beast and wee will come at wonce. So I will + bee oblige to you if you will help us out of the south. + + + LIVE OAK, FLA., 4-25-17. + + _Dear sir_: I wish to become in touch with you. I have been + thinking of leaving the south and have had several ofers + presented to me if only would say I would go and pay down so + mutch money until a certain date but dont aprove of sutch. Know + would be glad to have you relate to me weather I can get a job in + or near the city. + + I am now working at a commission house. Listen there have been + several crooks out saying they are getting men for difrent works + in the north, all you had to do pay them $2 or $3 dollars and + meet him on a certain day and that would be the last. Will you + relate to me some of the difrent kinds of works & prices. + + Nothing more, I remain. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., April 22, 1917. + + _Dear sir_: with the greatest of pleasure for me to address you a + few lines, concerning of labor as I was reading and advertisement + of yours in the Chicago Defender stateing that those who wish to + locate in smaller towns with fairly good wages and to bring their + children up with the best of education will kindly get in touch + with you. However if you are in a business of that kind it just + fitted me. While I am a man with a very large family most all are + boys and it is my desires to get in touch with some good firms to + works. Kind sir if you are in that kind of position please let me + hear from you at once I've get no confidence in some of these so + called agents. Ill be to glad to hear from you at once. + + + MOBILE, ALA., 12-4-16. + + _Dear Sir_: While reading Sunday's Defender I read where you was + coming south looking for labor I see you want intelligent + industrious men to work in factories so I thought I would write + and get a little information about it. there are a lot of idle + men here that are very anxious to come north. every day they are + fooled about go and see the man. pleanty of men have quit thier + jobs with the expectation of going but when they go the man that + is to take them cant be found. last week there was a preacher + giving lecturers on going. took up collection and when the men + got to the depot he could not be found, so if you will allow me + the privaledge I can get you as many men as you need that are + hard working honest men that will be glad to come. I will send + you these names and address if you will send for them to come. + there is not work here every thing is so high what little money + you make we have to eat it up. so if what I say to you is + agreeable please answer. + + +LETTERS ABOUT THE GREAT NORTHERN DRIVE OF 1917 + + + PENSACOLA, FLA., 4-21-17. + + _Sir_: You will please give us the names of firms where we can + secure employment. Also please explain the Great Northern Drive + for May 15th. We will come by the thousands. Some of us like farm + work. The colored people will leave if you will assist them. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., April 25, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: Would you kindely advise me of a good place where I + can get a good job out in some of the small places from Chicago + about 50 or 60 miles. I am expecting to leave the south about the + 15th of May and will bring my family later on. Answer soon. + + + PASS CHRISTIAN, MISS., April 30, 1917. + + _Sir_: I want to come north on 15th of May, & I would like to get + a job at once. & if you will please locate one for me & let me + know in return mail & oblige. Will except a job on farm or in + town. I have a little education & I am aquainted with work all + right. Hope to here from you soon. + + + MOBILE, ALA., April 25, 1917. + + _Sir_: I was reading in theat paper atoout the Colored race and + while reading it I seen in it where cars would be here for the 15 + of May which is one month from to day. Will you be so kind as to + let me know where they are coming to and I will be glad to know + because I am a poor woman and have a husband and five children + living and three dead one single and two twin girls six months + old today and my husband can hardly make bread for them in + Mobile. This is my native home but it is not fit to live in just + as the Chicago Defender say it says the truth and my husband only + get $1.50 a day and pays $7.50 a month for house rent and can + hardly feed me and his self and children. I am the mother of 8 + children 25 years old and I want to get out of this dog hold + because I dont know what I am raising them up for in this place + and I want to get to Chicago where I know they will be raised and + my husband crazy to get there because he know he can get more to + raise his children and will you please let me know where the cars + is going to stop to so that he can come where he can take care of + me and my children. He get there a while and then he can send for + me. I heard they wasnt coming here so I sent to find out and he + can go and meet them at the place they are going and go from + there to Chicago. No more at present. hoping to hear from you + soon from your needed and worried friend. + + + MONTGOMERY, ALA., May 7, 1917. + + _My dear Sir_: I am writing to solicit your aid and advice as to + how I may best obtain employment at my trade in your city. I + shall be coming that way on the 15th of May and I wish to find + immediate employment if possible. + + I have varied experience as a compositor and printer. Job + composition is my hobby. I have not experience as linotype + operator, but can fill any other place in a printing office. + Please communicate with me at the above address at once. Thanking + you in advance for any assistance and information in the matter. + + + ROME, GA., May 13, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: I am writing you in regards to present conditions in + Chicago in getting employment. I am an experienced hotel man--in + all departments, such as bellman, waiter, buss boy, or any other + work pertaining to hotel and would like to know in return could + you furnish me transportation to Chicago as you advertise in the + Chicago Defender. Am good honest and sober worker, can furnish + recermendations if necessary. Have worked at the Palmer House + during year 1911 as bus boy in Cafe. But returned South for + awhile and since the Northern Drive has begun I have decided to + return to Chicago as I am well acquainted with the city. Hope to + hear from you soon on this matter as it is of great importance to + me. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., 4-23-17. + + _Dear Editor_: I am a reader of the Defender and I am askeso much + about the great Northern drive on the 15th of May. We want more + understanding about it for there is a great many wants to get + ready for that day & the depot agents never gives us any + satisfaction when we ask for they dont want us to leave here, I + want to ask you to please publish in your next Saturdays paper + just what the fair will be on that day so we all will know & can + be ready. So many women here are wanting to go that day. They are + all working women and we cant get work here so much now, the + white women tell us we just want to make money to go North and we + do so please kindly ans. this in your next paper if you do I will + read it every word in the Defender, had rather read it then to + eat when Saturday comes, it is my hearts delight & hope your + paper will continue on in the south until every one reads it for + it is a God sent blessing to the Race. Will close with best + wishes. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., May 2, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: Please Sir will you kindly tell me what is meant by + the great Northern Drive to take place May the 15th on tuesday. + It is a rumor all over town to be ready for the 15th of May to go + in the drive. the Defender first spoke of the drive the 10th of + February. My husband is in the north already preparing for our + family but hearing that the excursion will be $6.00 from here + north on the 15 and having a large family, I could profit by it + if it is really true. Do please write me at once and say is there + an excursion to leave the south. Nearly the whole of the south is + getting ready for the drive or excursion as it is termed. Please + write at once. We are sick to get out of the solid south. + + +LETTERS CONCERNING WHICH SECRECY WAS ENJOINED + + + ORANGE CITY, FLA., May 4, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: Being a reader of the Chicago Defender, I finds a + add, stateing laborers wanted. I would like to ask if the add is + refering to persons of that state only. Could a person secure a + position until he could reach said state? + + Now if you would answer this letter of information I would highly + appreciate it. During your letter please give information about + advanced transportation, etc. This is not as a testimony--don't + publish. + + + MEMPHIS, TENN., June 1, 1917. + + _Sir_: as I being one of the readers of your great News paper and + if I am not to imposeing I want to ask you this information as to + what steps I should take to secure a good position as a first + class automobeal blacksmith or any kind pretaining to such and to + say that I have been opporating a first class white shop here for + quite a number of years one of the largest in the south and if I + must say the only colored man in the city that does. + + now I never knew any other way to find out as I want to leave the + south and I feel very much confidential that you would give + information if in your power. So if you know of such why please + inform me at your leasure time. Any charges why notify me in + return but do not publish. + + + VICKSBURG, MISS., May 2, 1917. + + _Sir_: I am a reader of the Chicago Defender I am asking you a + little information. So many people are leaving south for north + and it is too big families and we want to come north or middle + west for better wages. We all have trade and if you think we all + can get position just as we get north if not the middle west. + Better please dont publish this is no paper. here is a stamp + envelop for reply. + + + LAUREL, MISS., 4-30-17. + + _Dear Sir_: In reading your defender paper every week find every + thing so true makes me want to come more every day. so i am + thinking of coming in a few days decided to write you in regards + to getting a job that will suit my age. I am 48 years old am in + very good helth and likes to work just like the days come. Have + farm the biggest position of my life untill seven years ago. i + follow publick work untill now would not like for my name to be + publish in the paper. + + + FULLERTON, LA., May 7, 1917. + + _Dear sir_: This comes to inform you that I would like very much + to come up and locate in your town, but would like to have a + little advise before I leave the sunny south. I am a railroad man + by trade. Of course I am a Colored man but I have been Conductor + for the G. & S. R. Ry. of the past eight years. I have acted as + yard master, and manager of the switch engine and had charge of + the local freight department. Please advise if you think I can + secure a fairly good paying position up there and I am ready to + come up and take hold. I can furnish good reference, and have my + own typewriter and equipment. + + I am not particular about working for the rail-road, but I would + like to get something respectable if possible. + + I think my reference will satisfy the most interogator. Kindly + advise privately and do not publish. + + + GREENVILLE, MISS., May 12, 1917. + + _Dear sir_: Please inform me as to wether there is imployment for + col. insurance agents by Company as industrial writers sick and + acc. and deth if thair is such co. handling coolored agents in + Chicago or suburban towns, please see suptender as to wether he + could youse a good relible live agent. I am contemplating moving + to Ill. This is confidential. + + My experience as ins. agent 15 year industrial and ord. life and + prefered. + + +LETTERS EMPHASIZING RACE WELFARE + + + AUGUST, GA., May 12, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: Just for a little infermation from you i would like + to know wheather or not i could get in tuch with some good people + to work for with a firm because things is afful hear in the south + let me here from you soon as poseble what ever you do dont + publish my name in your paper but i think peple as a race oguht + to look out for one another as Christians friends i am a + schuffur and i cant make a living for my family with small pay + and the people is getting so bad with us black peple down south + hear. now if you ever help your race now is the time to help me + to get my family away. food stuf is so high. i will look for + answer by return mail, dont publish my name if your paper but let + me hear from you at once. + + + DELAND, FLA., 5/1. 17. + + _Dear sir_: I being onknon to you in personnal but by reading the + Chicago Defender I notice in its ad that there is chance for all + kind of imployment that a men that will work can get and as I am + one of the negro race that dont mind working study so it is + understand that you will please let me no as to wheather you can + place me in some of those positions for I sopose to be in this + town about 5 more weeks. after leving her stopping in Savannah my + home city to see my too bro. and mother I will then leve for the + northern states I will thank you for some information. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., May 1, 1917. + + _Dear sir_: i am a reader of the Chicago defender and i seen in + the defender that you are interrested in the well fair of the + colored people those of the classe that is interested in + themselves and coming to the north for a better chance so i take + pleashure in riting to you that i may get some under standing + about conditions of getting work as i see that you are in turch + with the foundrys warehouses and the manufacturing concerns that + is in need of laborers and i thought it was best to rite you and + get some understanding as it is 4 of us expecting to leave here + in a few days to come north but we are not coming for pleasure we + are looking for wirk and better treatment and more money and i + ask your aid in helping us to secure a good position of work as + we are men of familys and we canot aford to loaf and i will be + very glad to hear from you and an my arival i will call at your + place to see you. + + + COLUMBIA, S. C., May 7, 1917. + + _Dir sur_: i saw in one of our colord papers your ad i now seat + my selft to seak work thru your ade of which i beleve is ernest + devotion to our betterment i am a brick layer and plastrer i rite + to no if i can get or you can get work for me please let me know + detales plese. + + + MEMPHIS, TENN., 4-23-17. + + _Gentlemen_: I want to get in tuch with you in regard of a good + location & a job I am for race elevation every way. I want a job + in a small town some where in the north where I can receive verry + good wages and where I can educate my 3 little girls and demand + respect of intelegence. I prefer a job as cabinet maker or any + kind of furniture mfg. if possible. + + Let me hear from you all at once please. State minimum wages and + kind of work. + + + JACKSONVILLE, FLA., May 2, 1917. + + _Dear sir_: I am writing you a few lines seacking information + about some work as i was read a Chicago Defender i saw where + labarers wanted very much I am a labarer now have not no work + here to do i am married man have one child and would like for yo + to give me work to do anything I am well expereinced in ware + house and foundry and if there any way for you to fearnish me a + transportation to come at once do i can go so i can make my + family a desen living you will please let me know and if you + would help a poor need man i am willing to come any time if I had + the money i would pay my own way but i realy ain got it so i am + asking you to please do this for me i am realy in need if you can + do a poor negro any good please do this for me. + + + PENSACOLA, FLA., April 25, 1917. + + _My dear Sir_: I noticed an anticle in the Chicago Defender that + officers and members of your organization officer to assist any + member of the race to secure steady employment in small cities + near Chicago. I am verry anxious to secure a job the year round + at any kind of honest work, trusting that I may hear from you at + an early date, I beg to remain. + + + ATLANTA, GA., April 11, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: I am a reader of you paper and we are all crazy about + it and take it every Saturday and we raise a great howl when we + dont get it. Now since I see and feel that you are for the race + and are willing to assist any one so I will ask you to please + assist me in getting imployment and some place to stop with some + good quiet people or with a family that would take some one to + live with them. I will do any kind of work. I am a hair dresser + but I will do any kind of work I can get to do I am a widow and + have one child a little girl 6 years years old I dont know any + body there so if you can assist me in any way will be greatly + appreciated now this letter is personal please dont print it in + your paper. I hope to hear from you soon. + + + ROME, GA., April 28, 1917. + + _My dear Northern friend_: I saw in the Chicago Defender where + llabors are wanted I am sure a man that wants to get out of the + south and would do most any kind of work I has a wife she works + all the time We has a boy age 13 years he has been working with + me 5 years I has been working at the pipe shop 11 year but I can + do other work you said you will sind a transportation after + labores please send after me I can get 10 more mens if you want + them. ans. soon so that I will no what to do but I hope you will + say yes. hope you will say get the mens and let us sind for you + all I am a man woks all the time I has a wife and 4 childrens. + + + HOUSTON, TEX., April 27, 1917. + + _Dear Sirs_: I am a reader of the Chicago Defender and I seen + where you are in need of men and are also in the position for + firms to seek you. I see where you are in the lines of work for + the betterment of the race. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., April 22, 1917. + + _Dear sir_: in reading the defender I seen where this was an + oportunity for work, for the betterment of the race. Just out of + the city and i thought to get in touch with you to see if their + would be a chance for me an my brother, i dident no if you meant + any one this far from Chicago or not but i rite to find out. but + i hope you will except me please and let me no your wages, i hope + to hear from you and if you will except me i can pick you up some + responseful families mens but if you dont want them take me + because i wants work, so good by. + + + SHERMAN, GA., Nov. 28, 1916. + + _Dear sir_: This letter comes to ask for all infirmations concern + emplyoment in your conection in the warmest climate. Now I am in + a family of (11) eleven more or less boys and girls (men and + women) mixed sizes who want to go north as soon as arrangements + can be made and employment given places for shelter an so en + (etc) now this are farming people they were raised on the farm + and are good farm hands I of course have some experence and + qualefication as a coman school teacher and hotel waiter and + along few other lines. + + I wish you would write me at your first chance and tell me if you + can give us employment at what time and about what wages will you + pay and what kind of arrangement can be made for our shelter. + Tell me when can you best use us now or later. + + Will you send us tickets if so on what terms and at what price + what is the cost per head and by what route should we come. We + are Negroes and try to show ourselves worthy of all we may get + from any friendly source we endeavor to be true to all good + causes, if you can we thank you to help up to come north as soon + as you can. + + + SAVANNAH, GA., 4/21/17/ + + _Dear Sir_: I was very much impressed when I read the Defender + where you are taking so much interest securing jobs for the race + from the south. Please secure a job for man & wife in some small + town and write me all information at once. + + + KISSIMMEE, FLA., May 1, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: I am a subscriber for the Chicago Defender have read + of the good work you are doing in employing help for your large + factories and how you are striving to help get the better class + of people to the north. I am a teacher and have been teaching + five years successful, and as our school here has closed my + cousin and I have decided to go north for the summer who is also + a teacher of this county. I am writing you to secure for us a + position that we could fit and one that would fit us, if there be + any that is vacant. + + We can furnish you with the best of reference. We would not like + to advertise through a paper. Hoping to hear from you at an early + date, I am + + + SANFORD, FLA., 4-29-17. + + _Dear sir_: as a member of the Race who desire to join in and + with and be among the better side of our Race I ask that you + surcue me a job and have me a ticket sent or please send + transportation fees at once. Write soon as I will watch for + answer from you. + + + JACKSONVILLE, FLA., 4/29/17. + + _Dear sir_: i was reading the Chicago Defender to day and i find + that you is mutch enterrested in our negro race i have sevrul + years in laundry business as a wash man and stationery boilers + fireing at this time i have charge of wash room, i am a fire man + and all so a laundry wash man too. hopeing that you will do all + you can for me in getting a plase of theas persisons please giv + this your attenson estateing salery per week pleas let me heare + from you soon i remain yours truly + + + PENSACOLA, FLA., May 1, 1917. + + _dear sirs_: I sene in Defender wher more positions open then men + for them I am colord an do woork hard for my living an dont mind + it is not no bad habits I work but dont get but small wedges I am + up bilder of my colord race an love to help one when he dezirs to + better his condishon I want to ast you for a favor of helping me + to get to you an your office to get me a woork to do I want to + learn a trade and I will pay you to look out for me an get me a + job if you kindly will. Please an send me 3 tickets as we three + good woorking mens make the time you can corleck ever weeak pay + for yo at once be cause we meanse buisness now. + + + MONTGOMERY, ALA., May 19, 1917. + + _Dear sir_: I notice in the Chicago defender that you are working + to better the condiction of the colored people of the south. I am + a member of the race & want too come north for to better the + condiction of my famely I have five children my self and a wife & + I want you to seek for me a job please. I will send you the trade + I follows while here in the south. I works in the packing houses + & also wholesale grocers houses. Either one I can do but I rather + the packing the best. you can get a half of dozen womens from + here that want work & wants information about jobs such as + cooking, nurseing & cleaning up or anything else they can do. + + + PENSACOLA, FLA., April 13, 1917. + + _Dear sur_: I ritting to you in order to get in touch with you + about the work for the betterment of the race I shure want to + better my condeshon in the Chicago Defender I seen whear that you + say those wishing to locate in smaller towns with fairly good + wages that what I want to suner the better for me. Answer at + wonce. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Collected under the direction of Emmett J. Scott. + + + + +BOOK REVIEWS + + +_A Century of Negro Migration._ By CARTER G. WOODSON. The Association +for the Study of Negro Life and History, Washington, D. C. Pp. 221. + +The increasingly numerous articles, inquiries and investigations into +the nature, extent, causes and results of the recent migratory +movement among the Negroes in America demonstrate the great interest +which has been manifested in this subject. At a period when so much +personal opinion, ill-digested information and controversial +literature, on racial problems are being flung at the public, it is a +real pleasure for the sincere student of human affairs to welcome such +an instructive work as this both because of its point of view and its +valuable research. This volume is an unusual contribution in this +field. It is an historical treatise, a study in economic progress and +a survey of contemporary movements. As suggested by its title, the +book examines with scholarly comprehension the continued migrations of +the nineteenth century. The point of view which the volume presents is +that of the new historical school, which holds that movements of the +present have their roots in the past; and the present may not be +properly understood without comprehending the foundations of the past. +The book is replete with facts organized and interpreted with a +scientific spirit, and the discussions are modern and scholarly. + +After reading the book one ceases to speak of "a" migration, or of +"the" migration, for Negro migration ceases to be a new development. +It becomes an old movement, begun a century ago, but now heightened +and intensified by the factors growing out of the World War. The +author in his preface especially disclaims any distinctly new +contribution of fact. The specific value of the volume rests then in +its collection of isolated historical data culled from many known +sources, and its presentation of a new vantage ground from which the +whole subject may be regarded. An introductory section on the +migrations at the close of the eighteenth century and in the opening +years of the nineteenth century leads to the main chapters which +follow under the headings: A Transplantation to the North; Fighting it +out on Free Soil; Colonization as a Remedy for Migration; The +Successful Migrant; Confusing Movements; The Exodus to the West; The +Migration of the Talented Tenth, and The Exodus during the World War. + +In the discussion of the Successful Migrant much information is given +us of individuals who succeeded by sheer grit in making their way to +freedom, and in some cases in building neat fortunes for themselves +and their families. The charge that the Negro appears to be naturally +migratory, an assertion which comes to light in recent studies in +economic progress, is declared untrue. Dr. Woodson asserts that "this +impression is often received by persons who hear of the thousands of +Negroes who move from one place to another from year to year because +of the desire to improve their unhappy condition. In this there is no +tendency to migrate but an urgent need to escape undesirable +conditions. In fact, one of the American Negroes' greatest +shortcomings is that they are not sufficiently pioneering." To the +reviewer, this statement, typical of others, seems to be the more +reasonable conclusion from the facts, which others regard as only +facts and by inference as racial tendencies. In the majority of +instances the author finds, as other investigators have found, that +the migrants belonged to the intelligent laboring class. + +The best discussion is given in the closing chapter on The Exodus +during the World War. This is made to differ from other migrations on +the ground that the Negro has opportunity awaiting him, whereas +formerly he had "to make a place for himself upon arriving among +enemies." The effects upon the whites and the Negroes, North and +South, are noted with unbiased attitude. The perspective of the +trained historian appears to have its influence in this section. The +earlier chapters are concerned primarily with the Negro in the +Northwest, and so completely does the information center in this +section of the country that it appears easily possible to expand this +part into a larger work treating this phase in particular. The +author's comment and criticism are suggestive to both races and +particularly to the Negroes who furnish the subject-matter of the +book. The book will have not only historical interest, but it will +serve to point out the paramount unsettled condition of the race +problem during the past century and the disturbing future which must +face America. The volume is heartily commended to all readers and +students, and it cannot fail to be informing upon this unsettled +aspect of Negro life and history. No serious student should be without +it. + + CHARLES H. WESLEY. + + * * * * * + +_Negro Migration in 1916-17._ By R. H. LEAVELL, T.R. SNAVELY, T. J. +WOOFTER, JR., W. T. B. WILLIAMS, and FRANCIS D. TYSON, with an +introduction by J. H. DILLARD. Government Printing Office, Washington, +D. C., 1919. Pp. 158. + +This is a report of the Department of Labor issued from the office of +the Secretary through the Division of Negro Economics, under the +direction of Dr. George E. Haynes. The task was divided among a number +of investigators. Mr. Leavell directed his attention to the migration +from Mississippi, Mr. Snavely to that from Alabama and North Carolina, +and Mr. Woofter to that from Georgia. Mr. Williams sketches in general +the Exodus from the South and Mr. Tyson gives a survey of the Negro +Migrant in the North. Submitted in this condition the report is much +less valuable than it would have been, had the investigation been +directed by a single man to work out of these individual reports a +scientific presentation of the whole movement. As this was not the +case, there is found throughout the report numerous duplications of +discussions of causes and effects which might have given place to more +valuable information. + +The conclusion of Mr. Leavell, himself a Mississippian, as to measures +for the rehabilitation of Mississippi labor conditions, are very +interesting. He believes that a permanent surplus of Negro laborers +outside of the upper delta can be created by reorganizing agriculture +with emphasis on live stock and forage, that this surplus could then +be directed to the delta and to Arkansas so far as needed for +producing cotton and food stuffs, that the balance of this surplus +labor should be drawn permanently to northern industries, and that the +older communities along the Mississippi could attract the necessary +additional labor from the surplus created in the hills. He believes +also that there should be schools emphasizing education toward the +farm, fair dealing in all business transactions, equal treatment in +the distribution of public utilities, equal treatment in the courts +and the encouragement of Negro farm ownership, the abolition of the +fee system in courts of justice, the insistence of white public +opinion on full settlement with Negroes on plantations, and, above all +else, that the fundamental need is for frequent and confidential +conferences upon community problems and for active cooperation between +the local leaders of the two races. + +Mr. Snavely counts among the causes of the migration from Alabama and +North Carolina, the changed conditions incident to the transition from +the old system of cotton planting to stock raising and the +diversification of crops. Mr. Williams undertakes to estimate the size +of the exodus, some of its effects and the initial remedies for +keeping the Negroes in the South. Some of these are better pay, +greater care for the employees, better educational facilities, the +opportunity to rent and purchase sanitary homes, justice in the +courts, the abolition of "jim crowism" and segregation. + +One of the most interesting parts of the report is that which deals +with the Negro migrant in the North. It is doubtful, however, that the +author has done his task so well as Mr. Epstein did in treating +intensively the same situation in Pittsburgh. This part of the report +is too brief to cover the field adequately. There are few statistics +taken from the censuses of 1900 and 1910 to show the increase of Negro +population in the North during this period. Then comes a rapid survey +of the districts receiving large numbers of Negroes during the +migration. Attention is directed also to the adjustment of the Negroes +to northern industry, race friction and the bearing of the Negro +migration on the labor movement culminating in the riot of East St. +Louis. Delinquency in the migrant population and the reports on the +crime, health and housing conditions of the Negroes in the North are +also discussed. That part of the report on constructive efforts toward +adjustment of the migrant population in the North gives much +information as to how the leading citizens of both races have +cooeperated in trying to solve the problems resulting from this sudden +shifting of large groups of people. + + * * * * * + +_Twenty-Five Years in the Black Belt._ By WILLIAM J. EDWARDS. The +Cornhill Company, Boston, 1918. Pp. 143. + +This is a valuable biographical work in that the reader gets a view of +conditions in the South as experienced and viewed by a Negro educated +at Tuskegee and inspired thereby to spend his life in another part of +the State of Alabama, doing what he learned at this institution. The +author mentions his growth, the founding of the Snow Hill School, the +assistance of the Jeannes Fund, and the ultimate solutions of his more +difficult problems. The book becomes more interesting when he +discusses the Negro problem, the exodus of the blacks and the World +War. + +The aim of the author, however, is to acquaint the public with the +problems and difficulties confronting those who labor for the future +of the Negro race. He complains of the land tenure, the credit system +by which the Negroes become indebted to their landlords, the lack of +educational facilities, and the consequent ignorance of the masses of +the race. To enlist support to remedy these evils wherever this +condition obtains, the life of the author who for twenty-five years +has had to struggle against hardships is hereby presented as typical +of the thousands of teachers white and black now suffering all but +martyrdom in the South that the Negroes may after all have a chance to +toil upward. + +The book is not highly literary. The style is generally rough. +Interesting facts appear here and there, but they did not reach the +stage of organization in passing through the author's mind. The value +of the book, however, is not materially diminished by its style. It +certainly reflects the feelings and chronicles the deeds of a large +group of the American people during one of the most critical periods +of our history and must therefore be read with profit by those +interested in the strivings of the people of low estate. Persons +primarily concerned with industrial education will find this sketch +unusually valuable. To throw further light on this systematic effort +to elevate the Negroes of Alabama the author has given numerous +illustrations. Among these are _Uncle Charles Lee and His Home in the +Black Belt_, _Partial View of the Snow Hill Institute_, _A New Type of +Home in the Black Belt_, _Typical Log Cabin in the Black Belt_, the +_Home of a Snow Hill Graduate_, _Graduates of Snow Hill Institute_ and +_Teachers of Snow Hill Institute_. + + * * * * * + +_Women of Achievement._ By BENJAMIN BRAWLEY. Woman's American Baptist +Home Mission Society, Chicago, 1919. Pp. 92. + +Glancing at the title of this volume one would expect to find therein +the sketches of a number of women of color known to be useful in the +uplift of the Negro race. Instead of this, however, there is the +disappointment in tho restriction of these sketches to Harriet Tubman, +Nora Gordon, Meta Warrick Fuller, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Mary Church +Terrell. No one will question the claims of some of these women to +honorable mention, but when Nora Gordon, an unknown but successful +missionary to Africa, is given precedence to the hundreds of women of +color who have influenced thought and contributed to the common good +of the race and country the historian must call for an explanation. + +It is equally clear that in choosing the other four of these women as +representative of the achievements of their race the biographer has +done other distinguished women of the Negro race considerable +injustice, if his book is to be taken seriously. Harriet Tubman was +truly a great character and her life is an interesting chapter in the +history of this country. Whether Meta Warrick Fuller, Mary McLeod +Bethune and Mary Church Terrell deserve special consideration to the +exclusion of others, however, is debatable. Meta Warrick Fuller has +distinguished herself in art and so have several other women of color. +Mary McLeod Bethune is generally considered an enterprising educator +and public spirited woman, but one can here raise the question as to +whether she leads her companions. Mary Church Terrell has very well +established herself as an acceptable speaker on the race problem and +so have many others. + +In giving the facts which entitle these characters to honorable +mention the author did not do his task well. He mentioned too few +incidents in the lives of these persons to make them interesting. In +other words, instead of presenting facts to speak for themselves the +author too easily yielded to the temptation to indulge in mere eulogy. +These mistakes cannot be excused, even if the book is intended for +children. On the whole, however, the work indicates effort in the +right direction and it is hoped that more extensive and numerous +sketches of women of achievement of the Negro race may be found in the +literature of our day. + + + + +NOTES + + +At the close of this the fourth year of its existence the Association +for the Study of Negro Life and History convened in biennial session +in Washington, D. C., on the 17th and 18th of June at the 12th Street +Branch Y. M. C. A. The reports for the year were heard, new officers +were elected, and the plans for the coming year were formulated. The +proceedings in full will appear in the October number. + +The chief interest of the meeting centered around the informing +addresses on the _Negro in the World War_. Every phase of the war +history which the Negro helped to make was treated. + +The Association worked out also the plans by which it will collect +data to write a scientific _History of the Negro in the World War_ +just as soon as the treaty of peace is signed and documents now +inaccessible because of the proximity to the conflict become +available. The cooeperation of all seekers after the truth is earnestly +solicited. + +During the past two years the Association has been able to move +steadily forward in spite of the difficulties incident to the war. The +subscriptions to the JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY have gradually increased +and a number of philanthropists have liberally contributed to the fund +now being used to extend the work into all parts of the country. This +work is being done by a Field Agent who organizes clubs for the study +of Negro life and history and, through local agents, sells the +publications of the Association and solicits subscriptions to the +JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY. + +In addition to publishing for four years the JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY, +a repository of truth now available in bound form, the association has +brought out also _Slavery in Kentucky_, an interesting portraiture of +the institution in that State; _The Royal Adventurers Trading into +Africa_, one of the best studies of the early slave trade; and _A +Century of Negro Migration_, the only scientific treatment of this +movement hitherto published. + +The circulation of these publications has been extensive. They are +read in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa; they +reach more than three hundred college and public libraries; they are +found in all Negro homes where learning is an objective; they are used +by most social workers to get light on the solution of the problems of +humanity; they are referred to by students and professors conducting +classes carrying on research; and they reach members of the cabinet +and the President of the United States. + + * * * * * + +Carter G. Woodson is not a contributor to the _Official History of the +Negro in the World War_ by Mr. Emmett J. Scott as has been reported +throughout the country. He has given the author several suggestions, +however, and such editorial assistance as the many tasks and +obligations of the Director permitted. + + + + +THE JOURNAL + +OF + +NEGRO HISTORY + + +VOL. IV--OCTOBER, 1919--NO. 4 + + + + +LABOR CONDITIONS IN JAMAICA PRIOR TO 1917 + + +To show the lack of progress in Jamaica since the abolition of slavery +by the gradual process inaugurated in 1833 and its final extermination +in 1838, nothing will better serve the purpose than the review of the +system of apprenticeship established as a substitute for that +institution. According to the portraiture given by Sturge and Harvey +in their work entitled _The West Indies in 1837_ and the conditions +now obtaining in the island, very little progress in the condition of +the laboring man has been made since that time. + +For scarcely any remuneration the Negroes were required by a +compulsory arrangement between their overseers and the Special +Magistrates to give during the crop the time granted them under the +law for their own use and they were on many estates obliged to work a +greater number of hours than was required by law. The apprentices were +compelled to work by spells of eight hours in the field on one day, +and for sixteen hours in and about the boiling house on the next day, +giving up their half Friday, for which amount of extra labor they +received two shillings and one penny or 50 cents a week. On one estate +the wages paid for extra labor during crop was two pence or 4 cents an +hour. The working hours were generally from four to eleven and from +one to five, and it is interesting to note that while it was expected +that on each half Friday given to the apprentices, sufficient food +should be provided by them to last for the succeeding week, yet when +that half day was taken from them five or six herrings were the only +compensation. + +The following case is taken from an agreement made in 1836 by certain +cane hole diggers. Every laborer agreed to dig 405 cane holes in four +and one half days due his master, and to receive ten pounds of salt +fish and a daily allowance of sugar and rum, the salt fish to be +diminished in the ratio of one pound for every forty holes short of +405. In the one day and a half of his own time he was paid three +shillings and four pence or 80 cents for every ninety cane holes. +Under this agreement the maximum work performed was that of an +apprentice who in three weeks of thirteen and one half days dug in his +own time 1,017 holes, for which he received 28 pounds of fish, and in +cash one pound and fifteen shillings or $8.40. By this means it was +possible for the master to have 58 acres of land worked at a total +cost of L147 10s 0d or $708. The cost to him, if the work had been +given out to jobbers, would have been L8 an acre or L464, $2,227.20. +His apprentices were therefore the means of saving for him the sum of +L316 l0d or $1,519.20. + +The following was the scale of wages for transient labor: + + Prime headman 3 pence or 6 cents. + Inferior headman 2 pence or 4 cents. + First gang--able-bodied 1-1/2 pence or 3 cents. + First gang--weakly 1-1/4 pence or 2-1/2 cents. + Second gang--able-bodied 1-1/4 pence or 2-1/2 cents. + Second gang--weakly 1 penny or 2 cents. + Third gang--active 3/4 penny or 1-1/2 cents. + Third gang--lazy 1/2 penny or 1 cent. + +The apprentices were permitted under the law to make application to be +valued, and on the basis of the valuation were entitled to purchase +their freedom. Here again was the system grossly abused. The slaves or +apprentices, as they were at that time called, became at the hour of +valuation very desirable assets; and, in many instances, so valuable +did they suddenly become that it was quite out of their power to carry +out their intention. The system became for this reason a premium on +all the bad qualities of the Negroes and a tax upon all the good. In +spite of this, however, so great was the desire for freedom that +within a period of twenty-eight months, from 1st August, 1834, to 30th +November, 1836, 1,580 apprentices purchased their freedom by valuation +at a cost of L52,215 or $250,632, an average of L33 or $158.40 a head. + +Although seventy-eight years have passed since the total abolition of +slavery, however, the condition of the laborers of Jamaica remains +practically the same as it was then. There has been beyond doubt much +improvement in the island, but the unfortunate fact is this, that the +laborer living in a country much improved in many respects, is himself +no better or very little better off than his forefathers in slavery. +In truth, he is still an economic slave. The conditions under which he +lives and works are such as destroy whatever ambition he may possess, +and reduce his life to a mere drudgery, to a mere animal existence. + +Some progress has been made and there are signs of improvement, but +the majority of laborers, the men and women and children who till the +banana fields and work on the sugar plantations, are no better off +than previously. These are still beasts of burden, still the victims +of an economic system under which they labor not as human beings with +bodies to be fed or clothed, with minds to be cultivated and aspiring +souls to be ministered unto, but as living machines designed only to +plant so many banana suckers in an hour, or to carry so many loads of +canes in a day. After seventy-eight years in this fair island, side by +side, with the progress and improvements above referred to, there are +still hundreds and hundreds of men and women who live like savages in +unfloored huts, huddled together like beasts of the field, without +regard to health or comfort. And they live thus, not because they are +worthless or because they are wholly without ambition or desire to +live otherwise, but because they must thus continue as economic +slaves receiving still the miserable pittance of a wage of eighteen +pence or 36 cents a day that was paid to their forefathers at the dawn +of emancipation. The system is now so well established that the +employers apparently regard it as their sacred right and privilege to +exploit the laborers, and the laborers themselves have been led by +long submission and faulty teaching to believe that the system is a +part of the natural order, a result of divine ordainment. + +This attitude of the poor down-trodden laborers is one of the most +effective blocks in the way of his improvement. But the despair of +every one who dares to tackle this problem of improving the economic +and therefore the social and moral condition of the laborers of this +island is based on the inertness which almost amounts to callous +indifference of the local Government. + +The following letters addressed to me by the Colonial Secretary of +Jamaica deserves to be put on record as evidence of the mind of the +government, in 1913,--of its inability or unwillingness to take the +first step. Letter A was written at the direction of Sir Sydney +Olivier, K.C.M.G., then Governor of Jamaica, who recently expressed +the opinion that the laborers in this island should receive one dollar +a day. That letter is valuable in that it is an official statement of +the maximum wages paid by the government of Jamaica to its own +laborers. Letter B was written at the direction of the then Colonial +Secretary, Mr. P. Cork, and is even more valuable as an official +pronouncement on the important question of a living wage. + + LETTER A. + + "17th January, 1913. + + No. 787/15568 + + With reference to the letter from this office No. 13099/15568 + dated the 6th November last and to previous correspondence in + connection with your suggestion that the Government should raise + the wages of their laborers, I am directed by the Governor to + inform you that it appears from enquiries made by His + Excellency's direction that the average wage now earned by + laborers under the Public Works Department is approximately one + shilling and eight pence half penny (41 cents) for an average day + of ten hours, so that in an average day of ten hours the laborers + would at the same rate of pay earn two shillings and one penny + half penny" (51 cents). + + + LETTER B. + + "8th March, 1913. + + No. 2926/3268 + + The Acting Governor directs me to acknowledge the receipt of your + letter of the 26th ultimo on the subject of the amount of wages + paid to native laborers in the employment of the Government, and + in reply to say that no acknowledgement of the correctness of + your contention that one shilling and sixpence per diem is not a + fair living wage for any laborer to receive, and that the minimum + he ought reasonably to expect to enable him to meet the ordinary + demands of existence is two shillings per diem (48 cents), is to + be inferred from the letter from this office, No. 737/15568 dated + the 17th of January, 1913. + + "2. I am to add that His Excellency is not in a position to + comply with your request that steps should be taken to ensure to + all laborers working under the Public Works Department a minimum + wage of two shillings per diem (48 cents) as from 1st April + next." + +The problem becomes real and serious when the ruling authorities are +unwilling to admit what is absolutely clear to every one who is not +hopelessly prejudiced, namely, that eighteen pence or thirty-six cents +a day, the amount which was paid to the emancipated slaves in 1838, is +not a living wage for his descendants in the year 1913, and when they +are either unable or unwilling to set the pace for other employers of +labor by paying their own laborers a minimum wage of two shillings or +forty-eight cents a day. + +With the labor problem of Jamaica the question of East Indian +Immigration is intimately connected. While, on the one hand, we have +the able-bodied native laborers miserably and cruelly underpaid, and +having in consequence to emigrate in large numbers to other countries, +on the other hand, we have the importation into the island of +indentured immigrants under the conditions which make the economic +improvement of the native laborers an impossibility. On the one side, +the available records inform us that from April 1, 1905, to March 31, +1908, laborers numbering 39,060 emigrated from this island and +deposited with the local Government the sum of L22,217 or $106,641.60 +as required by law. The exodus to Cuba is at present a very serious +comment upon the existing labor conditions. During the month of +December, 1916, 761 persons emigrated from the island, 580 to Cuba and +181 to other places. + +The figures, on the other side, reveal the fact that since the +introduction of East Indian Immigration in 1845 to the present time +35,933 East Indians have been brought into the island; and it is +estimated that there are to-day resident in the island over 20,000 +East Indians, 3,000 of whom are indentured and 17,000 have completed +their term of indenture. These immigrants are distributed to the +several estates by the government at a cost of L20.10.0, or $90.42, +paid in installments: L2 or $9.60, paid on allottment, L2.2.0 or +$10.08 at the end of the first year, and L4.2.0 or $19.68 at the end +of each of the succeeding four years. + +For the years 1891-1908 the cost of this system to the colony is +officially reported as follows: + + Cost of importation L129,692.2.2 $622,522.12 + Administrative expenses L 37,377.0.2 179,409.64 + Return passages 1901-8 L 27,254.5.11 130,820.62 + Gross cost L194,323.83 $932,752.38 + Receipts in hand L143,171.1.1 $687,221.06 + Net cost to colony L 51,152.7.2 $245,531.32 + +or an average of over L3,000 or $14,400 per annum. + +The immigrants are indentured for five years, and are entitled after a +continuous residence of ten years in the colony to one half of the +value of their passage money in the case of men and of one third in +the case of women. For a working day of nine hours the men are paid +one shilling or 24 cents and the women nine pence or 18 cents. A +deduction of two shillings and sixpence or 60 cents a week is made +for rations supplied. They receive free hospital treatment which cost +the Government on the average of two pounds or $9.60 each per annum. + +The system of immigration is a factor contributing to the present +unsatisfactory condition of the labor market in this island. The +immigrants are unfair competitors of the natives. They accept lower +wages, and they lower the standard of life. They are practically +modern slaves. It is not then reasonable with such competitors for the +native laborer to expect a favorable response to his appeal for fairer +treatment. It is asserted that the importation of East Indians is +necessary because the native laborers will not give that reliable and +continuous service which is necessary for the profitable working of +the estates. The answer to this is that these same laborers emigrate +and give their foreign employers the reliable and continuous service +which they consistently withhold from the employer at home because +they are paid more and treated better abroad. + +The solution of the problem in so far as the first steps are concerned +is then two fold. First, the government must at once determine that +this systematic immigration of cheap labor must cease, and must set +about without delay to make the necessary arrangements and adjustments +which will be preparatory to an early discontinuance of the system. +Next, the employers of labor must either by persuasion or legal +coercion be led to induce the native laborers by the offer of better +wages to remain at home. + +With reference to the first it has been discovered that the government +supports the fiction that the importation of East Indians is +necessary. In a report dated October 1, 1908, the Acting Protector of +Immigrants, with the apparent approval of the Governor, wrote: "As a +result of having a nucleus of reliable labor in the shape of +indentured coolies owners of estates have felt themselves justified in +spending large sums of money in extending their cultivations, and in +installing expensive machinery. This has had the effect of providing +employment for a much larger number of creole laborers than formerly, +and of putting a great deal more money in circulation. I think that +instead of the coolie being cursed by the native laborer for taking +away his work he should be blessed for having been the means of +providing employment for him." + +The substance of the statement given above is incorporated by Sir +Sydney Olivier, K.C.M.G., in a chapter of his book entitled _White +Capital and Colored Labor_, in which there occurs this remarkable +assertion: "In Jamaica wages are higher in those districts where +indentured coolies are employed on banana plantations." Coolies who +receive a maximum wage of one shilling or 24 cents a day are +introduced to the world as the wage-raising factor in Jamaica! + +Just prior to the World War the labor question was a very live one in +Jamaica. The weekly exodus of hundreds of laborers to the neighboring +island of Cuba, the murmuring of dissatisfaction among the immigrants, +friction in the working of the Immigration Department,--all have +served to bring this labor problem prominently to public notice. At a +meeting held in the interest of the sugar industry in January, 1917, +there was adopted a suggestive resolution moved by Mr. A. W. +Farquharson, a prominent and successful legal practitioner, and a man +who, though the descendant of an old family of planters, is deeply +interested in the improvement of the laborers. The resolution was: +"That this committee is convinced that the continuous and increasing +exodus of laborers from the colony to seek work in foreign countries +is impeding the development of the resources of the island, and that +it is of urgent importance that early measures should be adopted to +arrest such exodus, by the creation of conditions which will induce an +improvement in the status of the laboring population." + +The _Daily Chronicle_ of that date comments thus on the question: + + "The Sugar Committee has pointed out clearly the precise measures + that are certain to produce better remuneration for the laborer, + and this, as we have been insisting from the start, is the very + essence of the scheme. According to the recommendations forwarded + to the Government and turned down by the Privy Council--some of + whose members have evidently made up their minds that something + akin to the feudal system must, in the interest of a few, be + forever maintained in Jamaica--the Government would go into the + business for the protection of the community against the avidity + of the private capitalist; in other words, to insure a fair + distribution in this island, of the profits derived from the + rehabilitated industry. Under this arrangement the Government + factories would be in a position to set the pace in the matter of + payment of wages to the laborer. Think of what this would mean! A + higher standard of living, better health, more happiness--the + very things which the peasant is being forced to go abroad to + obtain. But the mandamus will have none of this socialism; it is + too broad, too comprehensive, too human for minds unaccustomed to + look beyond self. So they have rejected the Sugar Committee's + proposals, compelling Mr. Farquharson and his friends to appeal + to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. His Excellency the + Governor and his advisors have thus shown their utter inability + to understand the economic needs of the island. Deliberately--we + do not say with malice aforethought--have they decided to + perpetuate conditions which in the past have served to + disintegrate the population of this colony, and will in the + future continue to do this with even more harmful effects than + hitherto unless some well-considered attempt is made to produce + more wealth from our soil for the benefit, not of a few + capitalists, but of the nine hundred thousand inhabitants of + Jamaica." + +One might not wholly endorse this criticism, but it should be +represented that the inaction of the government, whether due to +inability or indifference or to whatever cause, has been the prime +preventing cause of an earlier solution of a long standing problem. It +seemed, however, as if an attempt was at last to be made to do +something. A news article in _The Daily Gleaner_, February, 1917, +announced that the Government had at last realized the urgent need of +improved barrack accommodation on the estates, and of proper medical +supervision of the laborers. It desired to stem the exodus of +laborers, but from its own statement given out to the press in the +article referred to, not so much for the benefit of the ill-paid +laborers, but in consideration for the employers who would soon have +to face a labor market relieved of imported coolies. And so, for the +sake of the employers, it was proposed to ask the native laborer to +agree to be indentured for twelve months at the same miserable wages +of eighteen pence or 36 cents a day, with the addition of a tempting +(?) bonus of two pounds or $9.60 at the end of the term. And this +paternal suggestion was made in order "to improve the local sources of +labor supply that were available" at a time when Cuba was offering +from one dollar to one dollar and a half a day! + +The Labor Problem of Jamaica may then be briefly stated thus: After +seventy-eight years of freedom the laboring population was +economically no better off in 1916 than their forefathers who lived in +the early days of emancipation. The laborers received a daily wage +which was but a small pittance, and they worked under conditions that +were appalling, and that were a disgrace to any community pretending +to be civilized. The government instead of taking steps to improve +these conditions and thus to induce the laborer to give in Jamaica +that reliable and continuous service which hundreds so willingly and +efficiently gave abroad, promoted the perpetuation of those conditions +by spending each year over L3,000 or $14,400 of the taxpayers' money +in establishing and maintaining a system of immigration which +demoralized the best labor market by providing the employers with an +undesirable class of laborers whose standard of life is abnormally +low, and to whom twenty-four cents a day is a considerable sum, and +thereby compelled the native laborer either to accept the +unsatisfactory conditions or to emigrate. + +The following extract from an article entitled, "What Feeding Him +Means," which appeared in _The Daily Gleaner_ of February 7, 1917, +throws more light on the problem: + + "Captain Fist tells us that what the peasant needs to make him a + better worker is better feeding. He also suggests that decent + dwelling places should be put up on the estates and plantations + for the people, and that a small lot of land should be allowed + each family for the cultivation of ground provisions. All this + and more is being done for the Jamaican in Panama. But when we + hear of living places here, it is always 'barracks' that are + spoken of,--a long range of wretched structures where comfort and + privacy are out of the question, and where, as a rule, only + single men can live. But men are not going to work and live as + bachelors to oblige other people. We do not want laborers merely, + we want decent families of men and women and children, and if the + economic situation in this country cannot provide us with these, + so much the worse for the situation and for the whole country. + The fact is that the Jamaica peasant, if he has been decently fed + and is free from disease, is a good worker. Our Government, + therefore, if it is to justify any claim to being intelligent, + progressive and far seeing must take up the question of disease + with a degree of thoroughness never shown before; while the + employer of labor must provide decent living places for his + workers and pay a sufficient wage to enable them to eat enough + nutritious food and become better workers and improved human + beings. Unless something of the sort is done, Jamaica will + continue to lose her best able bodied population. There can be no + restriction of emigration here unless the Government fixes that + minimum at an amount not less than two shillings a day (48 cents) + and then the Government would have to see that the worker got his + money, and also obtained sufficient work to do. Nothing is to be + expected from any scheme of local indenture: the laborer who + indentured himself to work for a year at one shilling and + sixpence a day, (36 cents) even with a bonus of less than a + shilling a week thrown in at the end of a year would be an + exceptional person, a man with no intention of keeping the + contract and what would you do if he did not keep the contract? + No; these schemes are merely moonshine: we might as well dismiss + them from our minds at once. The only way in which the Government + can directly help the laborer is for the Government to start + industries and pay a decent daily or weekly wage. But the + intelligent employer can do a great deal to help himself where + labor is concerned, if he will but understand that better pay and + better conditions are what his workers want and must have; and + he will find that so long as his undertakings pay him well--that + so long as sugar, coconuts and other things bring him a large + profit (as they are doing today) it will be profitable to him to + make the lot of the worker a better one than it is. Now is the + time for employers to set to work on these necessary reforms. + They can afford to do so, and they decidedly ought to do so. + + E. ETHELRED BROWN. + + + + +THE LIFE OF CHARLES B. RAY + + +Charles Bennett Ray was born in Falmouth, Massachusetts, December 25, +1807, and died August 15, 1886. He first attended the school and +academy of his native town and then studied theology at the Wesleyan +Academy of Wilbraham, Massachusetts, and later at Wesleyan University, +Middletown, Connecticut. He became a Congregational minister. His +chief work, however, was in connection with the anti-slavery movement, +the Underground Railroad and as editor of _The Colored American_ from +1839 to 1842. As a national character he did not measure up to the +stature of Ward, Remond and Douglass, and for that reason he is too +often neglected in the study of the history of the Negro prior to the +Civil War. But he was one of the useful workers in behalf of the +Negroes and accomplished much worthy of mention.[1] + +Ray became connected with the anti-slavery movement in 1833, in the +early winter of which the American Anti-Slavery Society was formed. He +proved his fidelity to the sacred cause of liberty by lending +practical aid which men in high places often had neither the time nor +the patience to give and contributed much to the final overthrow of +slavery. "Many a midnight hour," said he, "have I with others walked +the streets, their leader and guide and my home was an almost daily +receptacle for numbers of them at a time."[2] In those days when so +many matters of importance touching the subject of slavery had to be +adjusted, the advocates of freedom often met for an interchange of +views; and Mr. Ray's home became, on several occasions, the scene of +such gatherings where Lewis Tappan, Simeon S. Jocelyn, Joseph Sturge, +the celebrated English philanthropist, and others discussed with +great earnestness the inner workings of that grand moral conflict. + +In cooeperation with wealthy abolitionists whose purse strings were +wont to be loosed at the call of humanity, he assisted in enabling +many a slave to see the light of freedom. Several were taken by him to +the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, which under the inspiration of Henry +Ward Beecher, the fearless champion of the cause, contributed +liberally toward the succor of the oppressed. In 1850, fifteen years +after the formation of the Vigilance Committee of the city of New +York, of which Theodore S. Wright was president, the New York State +Committee was formed with a plan and object similar to those of the +more local organizations. Of this new association Gerrit Smith was +president and Ray, a member of the executive board as well as +corresponding secretary, an office he held also in the older society. +While Ray was not every time the moving spirit of these organizations, +he figured largely in carrying out the plans agreed upon by these +bodies. In the discharge of the trust committed to his hands he +usually acquitted himself with an honorable record.[3] + +In advancing the anti-slavery cause, Ray was among the first to work +with the circle of radical free Negroes who, through the conventions +of the free people of color meeting in Philadelphia and in other +cities of the North from 1830 until the Civil War,[4] did much to make +the freedman stand out as worthy objects of the philanthropy of the +anti-slavery societies. During this period the American Colonization +Society was doing its best to convince free Negroes of their lack of +opportunity in this country to induce them to try their fortunes in +Africa and because of the rapidity with which some free Negroes +yielded to this heresy, there was a strong probability that the +anti-slavery movement might be weakened by such adherence to faith in +colonization to the extent that the ardor of the militant +abolitionists would be considerably dampened. While not among the +first to start the convention movement among Negroes, Ray in the +course of time became one of its most ardent supporters and no +convention of the free people of color was considered complete without +him. + +His career as a journalist in connection with _The Colored American_ +was highly creditable. This paper was established in 1837 as the +_Weekly Advocate_ with Samuel E. Cornish as editor and Phillip A. Bell +as proprietor. After two months it was decided to change the name of +the publication to _The Colored American_, under the caption of which +it appeared March 4, 1837. Bell then called to his assistance Charles +B. Ray who served him as general agent. Traveling as such he went +through all parts of the North, East, and West writing letters to +present to the public his observations and experiences and lecturing +while speaking of the claims of his paper as the champion of the slave +and the organ of thought for the free Negro.[5] + +Ray rose to the position of one of the proprietors of _The Colored +American_ in 1838 and upon the withdrawal of Bell from the enterprise +the following year, he became the sole editor and continued in that +capacity until 1842 when he suspended publication. He was regarded by +his contemporary, William Wells Brown, as a terse and vigorous writer +and an able and eloquent speaker well informed upon all subjects of +the day. "Blameless in his family relations, guided by the highest +moral rectitude, a true friend to everything that tends to better the +moral, social, religious and political condition of man. Dr. Ray," +says Brown, "may be looked upon as one of the foremost of the leading +men of his race."[6] + +That the paper ceased to be was no reflection on Ray's ability to +conduct the journal, for he manifested evidences of unusual editorial +ability and his writings were always strong in the advocacy of liberty +and justice. The failure of the enterprise was due to the fact that +there were not quite 400,000 free Negroes in the United States at that +time and the small number of readers among them were so unhappily +dispersed throughout the country that it was difficult to secure +enough support for such an enterprise. At this time _The Colored +American_ was the only paper in the United States devoted to the +interest of the Negro published by a man of color. Its objects were +the "more directly moral, social, and political elevation and +improvement of the free colored people; and the peaceful emancipation +of the enslaved." It, therefore, advocated "all lawful as well as +moral measures to accomplish those objects."[7] Feeling that this +journal should not be narrow in restricting its efforts to better the +condition of the people of color in this country, the editor +proclaimed his interest in behalf of such people of all countries of +the universe and his concern in the reforms of the age and whatever +related to common humanity. + +Concerning this paper the _Herald of Freedom_ said the following: + + "_The Colored American_, we are glad to see, has reappeared in + the field, under the conduct of our enterprising and talented + Brother Ray. It will maintain a very handsome rank among the + antislavery periodicals, and we hope will be well sustained and + kept up by both, colored and uncolored patronage. + + "It must be a matter of pride to our colored friends, as it is to + us, that they are already able to vindicate the claims our + enterprise has always made in their behalf,--to an equal + intellectual rank in this heterogeneous (but 'homogeneous') + community. + + "It is no longer necessary for abolitionists to contend against + the blunder of pro-slavery,--that the colored people are inferior + to the whites; for these people are practically demonstrating its + falseness. They have men enough in action now, to maintain the + anti-slavery enterprise, and to win their liberty, and that of + their enslaved brethren,--if every white abolitionist were drawn + from the field: McCune Smith, and Cornish, and Wright and Ray and + a host of others,--not to mention our eloquent brother, Remond, + of Maine, and Brother Lewis who is the stay and staff of field + antislavery in New Hampshire. + + "The people of such men as these cannot be held in slavery. They + have got their pens drawn and tried their voices, and they are + seen to be the pens and voices of human genius; and they will + neither lay down the one, nor will they hush the other, till + their brethren are free. + + "The Calhouns and Clays may display their vain oratory and + metaphysics, but they tremble when they behold the colored man is + in the intellectual field. The time is at hand, when this + terrible denunciation shall thunder in their own race."[8] + +_The Christian Witness_ said the following: + + "_The Colored American._ Returning from the country, we are glad + to find upon our table several copies of this excellent paper, + which has waked up with renewed strength and beauty. It is now + under the exclusive control of Charles B. Ray, a gentleman in + every manner competent to the duties devolving upon him in the + station he occupies. Our colored friends generally, and all those + who can do so, would bestow their patronage worthily by giving it + to _The Colored American_."[9] + +As to the sort of editor Charles B. Ray was, we can best observe by +reading two of his striking editorials on _Prejudice_ and _This +Country, our only Home_. + + PREJUDICE + + "'Prejudice,' said a noble man, 'is an aristocratic hatred of + humble life.' + + "Prejudice, of every character, and existing against whom it may, + is hatred. It is a fruit of our corrupt nature, and has its being + in the depravity of the human heart. It is sin. + + "To hate a man, for any consideration whatever, is murderous; and + to hate him, in any degree, is, in the same degree murderous; and + to hate a man for no cause whatever, magnifies the evil. + 'Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer,' says Holy Writ. + + "There is a kind of aristocracy in our country, as in nearly all + others, a looking down with disdain upon humble life and a + disregard of it. Still, we hear little about prejudice against + any class among us, excepting against color, or against the + colored population of this Union, which so monopolizes this state + of feeling in our country that we hear less of it in its + operations upon others, than in other countries. It is the only + sense in which there is equality; here, the democratic principle + is adopted and all come together as equals, and unite the rich + and the poor, the high and the low, in an equal right to hate the + colored man; and its operations upon the mind and character are + cruel and disastrous, as it is murderous and wicked in itself. + One needs to feel it, and to wither under its effects, to know + it: and the colored men of the United States, wherever found, and + in whatever circumstances, are living epistles, which may be read + by all men in proof of all that is paralyzing to enterprise, + destructive to ambition, ruinous to character, crushing to mind, + and painful to the soul, in the monster, Prejudice. For it is + found equally malignant, active, and strong--associated with the + mechanical arts, in the work-shop, in the mercantile houses, in + the commercial affairs of the country, in the halls of learning, + in the temple of God; and in the highways and hedges. It almost + possesses ubiquity; it is every where, doing its deleterious work + wherever one of the proscribed class lives and moves. + + "Yet prejudice against color, prevalent as it is in the minds of + one class of our community against another, is unnatural, though + habitual. If it were natural, children would manifest it with the + first signs of consciousness; but with them, all are alike + affectionate and beloved. They have not the feeling, because it + is a creature of education and habit. + + "While we write, there are now playing at our right, a few steps + away, a colored and white child, with all the affection and + harmony of feeling, as though prejudice had always been unknown. + + "Prejudice overlooks all that is noble and grand in man's being. + It forgets that, housed in a dark complexion is, equally alike + with the whites, all that is lofty in mind and noble in soul, + that there lies an equal immortality. It reaches to grade mind + and soul, either by the texture of the hair, or the form of the + features, or the color of the skin. This is an education fostered + by prejudice; consequently, an education almost universally + prevalent in our country; an education, too, subverting the + principles of our humanity, and turning away the dictates of our + noble being from what is important, to meaner things.[10] + + + "THIS COUNTRY, OUR ONLY HOME. + + "When we say, 'our home,' we refer to the colored community. When + we say, 'our only home,' we speak in a general sense, and do not + suppose but in individual cases some may, and will take up a + residence under another government, and perhaps in some other + quarter of the globe. We are disposed to say something upon this + subject now, in refutation of certain positions that have been + assumed by a class of men, as the American people are too well + aware, and to the reproach of the Christian church and the + Christian religion, too, viz.: that we never can rise here, and + that no power whatsoever is sufficient to correct the American + spirit, and equalize the laws in reference to our people, so as + to give them power and influence in this country. + + "If we cannot be an elevated people here, in a country the resort + of almost all nations to improve their condition; a country of + which we are native, constituent members; our native home, (as we + shall attempt to show) and where there are more means available + to bring the people into power and influence, and more territory + to extend to them than in any other country; also the spirit and + genius of whose institution we so well understand, being + completely Americanized, as it will be found most of our people + are,--we say, if we can not be raised up in this country, we are + at great loss to know where, all things considered, we can be. + + "If the Colored Americans are citizens of this country, it + follows, of course, that, in the broadest sense, this country is + our home. If we are not citizens of this country, then we cannot + see of what country we are, or can be, citizens; for Blackstone + who is quoted, we believe, as the standard of civil law, tells us + that the strongest claim to citizenship is birthplace. We + understand him to say, that in whatever country or place you may + be born of that country or place you are, in the highest sense, a + citizen; in fine, this appears to us to be too self-evident to + require argument to prove it. + + "Now, probably three-fourths of the present colored people are + American born, and therefore American citizens. Suppose we should + remove to some other country, and claim a foothold there, could + we not be rejected on the ground that we were not of them, + because not born among them? Even in Africa, identity of + complexion would be nothing, neither would it weigh anything + because our ancestry was of that country; the fact of our not + having been born there would be sufficient ground for any civil + power to refuse us citizenship. If this principle were carried + out, it would be seen that we could not be even a cosmopolite, + but must be of nowhere, and of no section of the globe. This is + so absurd that it is as clear as day that we must revert to the + country which gave us birth, as being, in the highest sense, + citizens of it. + + "These points, it appears to us, are true, indisputably true. We + are satisfied as to our claims as citizens here, and as to this + being the virtual and destined home of colored Americans. + + "We reflect upon this subject now, on account of the frequent + agitations, introduced among us, in reference to our emigrating + to some other country, each of which, embodies more or less of + the colonizing principle, and all of which are of bad tendency, + throwing our people into an unsettled state; and turning away our + attention in this country, to uncertain things under another + government, and evidently putting us back. All such agitations + introduced among us, with a view to our emigrating, ought to be + frowned upon by us, and we ought to teach the people that they + may as well come here and agitate the emigration of the Jays, the + Rings, the Adamses, the Otises, the Hancocks, et al., as to + agitate our removal. We are all alike constituents of the same + government, and members of the same rising family. Although we + come up much more slowly, our rise is to be none the less sure. + This subject is pressed upon us, because we not infrequently meet + some of our brethren in this unsettled state of mind, who, though + by no means colonizationists yet adopt the colonization motto, + and say they can not see how or when we are going to rise here. + Perhaps, if we looked only to the selfishness of man, and to him + as absolute, we should think so, too. But while we know that God + lives and governs, and always will; that He is just, and has + declared that righteousness shall prevail; and that one day with + Him is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day; we + believe that, despite all corruption and caste, we shall yet be + elevated with the American people here. + + "It appears to us most conclusive, that our destinies in this + country are for the better, not for the worse, in view of the + many schemes introduced to our notice for emigrating to other + countries having failed; thus teaching us that our rights, hopes, + and prospects, are in this country; and it is a waste of time and + of power to look for them under another government; and also, + that God, in His providence, is instructing us to remain at home, + where are all our interests and claims and to adopt proper + measures and pursue them, and we yet shall participate in all the + immunities and privileges the American nation holds out to her + citizens, and be happy. We are also strongly American in our + character and disposition. + + "We believe, therefore, in view of all the facts, that it is our + duty and privilege to claim an equal place among the American + people; to identify ourselves with American interests, and to + exert all the power and influence we have, to break down all the + disabilities under which we labor, and thus look to become a + happy people in this extensive country."[11] + +Ray rendered equally as valuable services to the Negroes as a promoter +of the Underground Railroad. In fact he was approaching the climax of +his career when the Underground Railroad became an efficient agency in +offering relief to the large number of Negro slaves who found +themselves reduced to the plane of beasts in the rapidly growing +cotton kingdom. One of the striking cases in which he figured was that +of the escape of the Weims family, so well known for the almost +unparalleled deliverance from bondage of the entire family with one +exception. + +Exactly how the freedom of these slaves was obtained appears to better +effect in the language of Ray himself. "But I must say a word about +the younger girl, the price of whom they held as high as we gave for +Catherine. We proposed another method for her freedom and carried it +out, in which the mother acted a good part, as she could; we proposed +to run her off. I was written to, to know whether a draft for three +hundred dollars would be forwarded, conditioned upon the appearance of +Ann Maria in my house or hands--the sum being appropriated to +compensate the one who should deliver her safely in the North. I +answered, of course, in the affirmative."[12] + +The escape of Ann Maria, as proposed by this new plan, can best be +explained by the correspondence between Mr. Ray and Mr. Bigelow in +Washington, who, writing according to a method often adopted in those +days in order the more effectually to secure concealment, designates +Ann Maria as the parcel sent.[13] The letter reads thus: + + + "WASHINGTON, D. C., Nov. 17, 1855. + + "REV. CHAS. B. RAY, + + "_Dear Sir:_ I have a friend passing through the city on his way + to New York, and I mean to avail myself of his kindness to send + to your lady the little parcel she has been so long expecting. + You can name it to her, and I now suggest that as soon as you + find it convenient, you send me by express the wrapper and + covering in which the valuables are packed, for I have another + similar parcel to send and shall find these things exactly + convenient for that purpose. My friend intends to leave here on + Monday morning, with his own conveyance, taking it leisurely, and + may not reach New York before about Thursday, but of this I speak + more exactly before I close. I need not suggest to you how + anxious I shall be to get the earliest news of the arrival of the + package without breakage or injury." + +Also he adds as follows: + + + "WASHINGTON, D. C., November 22, 1855. + + "REV. CHAS. B. RAY, + "_Dear Sir:_ + + "My last letter will lead you to expect to see the boy Joe to-day + but it was afterwards calculated that he will not arrive till + sometime to-morrow. I am requested for the gratification of Joe's + mother that you will be pleased on his arrival and before he + changes his sex, to have his daguerrotype taken for her use. It + will make up a part of the Record." + +Mr. Ray's narration continues thus: + + "Accordingly, one afternoon upon arriving home I found, sitting + on the sofa at my home, a little boy about ten years old in + appearance and looking rather feminine. I knew at once who it + was, that it was Ann Maria. Upon her arrival I was to take her to + Mr. Tappan, in whose hands the balance of the money was placed. + This I did, and the little boy Joe was taken to her uncle or to + where he could obtain her and finally reached Canada." + +The following incident has often been told in Mr. Ray's family. "One +summer morning, a loud rap with the knocker at the front door arrested +the attention and the door being opened, a man entered, who after +asking, 'Does the Rev. Mr. Ray live here?' and receiving an +affirmative answer, whistled as a signal to attract the notice of his +comrades, then cried out, 'Come on, boys!' and forthwith fourteen men +in all entered, quite alarming the inmates of the house on seeing such +a train of fugitives." + +In the midst of these busy days Mr. Ray also served as a minister. For +twenty years he was the pastor of the Bethesda Congregational Church +in New York City where many learned to wait upon his ministry. He +lived until 1886, long enough to enjoy some of that liberty for which +he so patiently toiled. His more valuable services to his race, +however, were rendered during the period prior to the Civil War. +Although in the midst of this struggle of the subsequent period there +came forward men who towered higher in the public opinion than he did, +the valuable work which he did as an abolitionist, and an editor, +should not be neglected. + + M. N. WORK + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] A very good account of C. B. Ray's literary efforts is given in I. +Garland Penn's _The Afro-American Press_, pp. 32-47. + +[2] Papers in the possession of Ray's family. + +[3] For further information see manuscripts in the possession of Ray's +family. + +[4] This convention movement is well treated in J. W. Cromwell's _The +Negro in American History_, pp. 27-46. + +[5] Penn, _The Afro-American Press_, p. 35. + +[6] Brown, _The Rising Son_, p. 473. + +[7] Penn, _The Afro-American Press_, p. 38. + +[8] Penn, _The Afro-American Press_, pp. 39-40. + +[9] _Ibid._, p. 41. + +[10] Penn, _The Afro-American Press_, pp. 42-43. + +[11] Penn, _The Afro-American Press_, pp. 43-46. + +[12] From papers in the possession of Ray's family. + +[13] These letters are in the possession of the author. + + + + +THE SLAVE IN UPPER CANADA[A] + + +The dictum of Lord Chief Justice Holt: "As soon as a slave enters +England he becomes free"[1] was succeeded by the decision of the Court +of King's Bench to the same effect in the celebrated case of Somerset +_v._ Stewart[2] where Lord Mansfield is reported to have said: "The +air of England has long been too pure for a slave and every man is +free who breathes it."[3] + +James Somerest,[4] a Negro slave of Charles Stewart in Jamaica, had +been brought by his master to England "to attend and abide with him +and to carry him back as soon as his business should be transacted." +The Negro refused to go back, whereupon he was put in irons and taken +on board the ship _Ann and Mary_ lying in the Thames and bound for +Jamaica. Lord Mansfield granted a writ of habeas corpus requiring +Captain Knowles to produce Somerset before him with the cause of the +detainer. On the motion, the cause being stated as above indicated, +Lord Mansfield referred the matter to the Full Court of King's Bench; +whereupon, on June 22, 1772, judgment was given for the Negro. The +basis of the decision, the theme of the argument, was that the only +kind of slavery known to English law was villeinage, that the Statute +of Tenures (1660) (12 Car. 11, c. 24) expressly abolished villeins +regardant to a manor and by implication villeins in gross. The reasons +for the decision would hardly stand fire at the present day. The +investigation of Paul Vinogradoff and others have conclusively +established that there was not a real difference in status between the +so-called villein regardant and villein in gross, and that in any case +the villein was not properly a slave but rather a serf.[5] Moreover, +the Statute of Tenures deals solely with tenure and not with status. + +But what seems to have been taken for granted, namely that slavery, +personal slavery, had never existed in England and that the only +unfree person was the villein, who, by the way was real property, is +certainly not correct. Slaves were known in England as mere personal +goods and chattels, bought and sold, at least as late as the middle of +the twelfth century.[6] However weak the reasons given for the +decision, its authority has never been questioned and it is good law. +But it is good law for England, for even in the Somerset case it was +admitted that a concurrence of unhappy circumstances had rendered +slavery necessary[7] in the American colonies: and Parliament had +recognized the right of property in slaves there.[8] + +When Canada was conquered in 1760, slavery existed in that country. +There were not only Panis[9] or Indian Slaves, but also Negro slaves. +These were not enfranchised by the conqueror, but retained their +servile status. When the united empire loyalists came to this northern +land after the acknowledgment by Britain of the independence of the +revolted colonies, some of them brought their slaves with them: and +the Parliament of Great Britain in 1790 passed an Act authorizing any +"subject of ... the United States of America" to bring into Canada +"any negroes" free of duty having first obtained a license from the +Lieutenant Governor.[10] + +An immense territory formerly Canada was erected into a Government or +Province of Quebec by Royal Proclamation in 1763 and the limits of the +province were extended by the Quebec Act in 1774.[11] This province +was divided into two provinces, Upper Canada and Lower Canada in +1791.[12] At this time the whole country was under the French +Canadian law in civil matters. The law of England had been introduced +into the old Government of the Province of Quebec by the Royal +Proclamation of 1763; but the former French Canadian law had been +reintroduced in 1774 by the Quebec Act in matters of property and +civil rights, leaving the English criminal law in full force. The law, +civil and criminal, had been modified in certain details (not of +importance here) by Ordinances of the Governor and Council of Quebec. + +The very first act of the first Parliament of Upper Canada +reintroduced the English civil law.[13] This did not destroy slavery, +nor did it ameliorate the condition of the slave. Rather the reverse, +for as the English law did not, like the civil law of Rome and the +systems founded on it, recognize the status of the slave at all, when +it was forced by grim fact to acknowledge slavery it had no room for +the slave except as a mere piece of property. Instead of giving him +rights like those of the "servus," he was deprived of all rights, +marital, parental, proprietary, even the right to live. In the English +law and systems founded on it, the slave had no rights which the +master was bound to respect.[14] + +The first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada was Col. John Graves +Simcoe. He hated slavery and had spoken against it in the House of +Commons in England. Arriving in Upper Canada in the summer of 1792, he +was soon made fully aware that the horrors of slavery were not unknown +in his new Province. The following is a report of a meeting of his +Executive Council: + + "At the Council Chamber, Navy Hall, in the County of Lincoln, + Wednesday, March 21st, 1793. + + "PRESENT + + "His Excellency, J. G. Simcoe, Esq., Lieut.-Governor, &c., &c., + The Honble Wm. Osgoode, Chief Justice + The Honble Peter Russell. + + "Peter Martin (a negro in the service of Col. Butler) attended + the Board for the purpose of informing them of a violent outrage + committed by one ---- Fromand, an Inhabitant of this Province, + residing near Queens Town, or the West Landing, on the person of + Chloe Cooley a Negro girl in his service, by binding her, and + violently and forcibly transporting her across the River, and + delivering her against her will to certain persons unknown; to + prove the truth of his Allegation he produced Wm. Grisley (or + Crisley). + + "William Grisley an Inhabitant near Mississague Point in this + Province says: that on Wednesday evening last he was at work at + Mr. Froomans near Queens Town, who in conversation told him, he + was going to sell his Negro Wench to some persons in the States, + that in the Evening he saw the said Negro girl, tied with a rope, + that afterwards a Boat was brought, and the said Frooman with his + Brother and one _Vanevery_, forced the said Negro Girl into it, + that he was desired to come into the boat, which he did, but did + not assist or was otherwise concerned in carrying off the said + Negro Girl, but that all the others were, and carried the Boat + across the River; that the said Negro Girl was then taken and + delivered to a man upon the Bank of the River by ---- Froomand, + that she screamed violently and made resistance, but was tied in + the same manner as when the said William Grisley first saw her, + and in that situation delivered to the man.... Wm. Grisley + farther says that he saw a negro at a distance, he believes to be + tied in the same manner, and has heard that many other People + mean to do the same by their Negroes + + "_Resolved._--That it is necessary to take immediate steps to + prevent the continuance of such violent breaches of the Public + Peace, and for that purpose, that His Majesty's Attorney-General, + be forthwith directed to prosecute the said Fromond. + + "Adjourned."[15] + + + +The Attorney-General was John White[16] an accomplished English +lawyer. He knew that the brutal master was well within his rights in +acting as he did. He had the same right to bind, export, and sell his +slave as to bind, export, and sell his cow. Chloe Cooley had no rights +which Vrooman was bound to respect: and it was no more a breach of the +peace than if he had been dealing with his heifer. Nothing came of the +direction to prosecute and nothing could be done. + +It is probable that it was this circumstance which brought about +legislation. At the Second Session of the First Parliament which met +at Newark, May 31, 1793, a bill was introduced and unanimously passed +the House of Assembly. The trifling amendments introduced by the +Legislative Council were speedily concurred in, the royal assent was +given July 9, 1793, and the bill became law.[17] It recited that it +was unjust that a people who enjoy freedom by law should encourage the +introduction of slaves, and that it was highly expedient to abolish +slavery in the Province so far as it could be done gradually without +violating private property; and proceeded to repeal the Imperial +Statute of 1790 so far as it related to Upper Canada, and to enact +that from and after the passing of the Act, "No Negro or other person +who shall come or be brought into this Province ... shall be subject +to the condition of a slave or to" bounden involuntary service for +life. With that regard for property characteristic of the +English-speaking peoples, the act contained an important proviso which +continued the slavery of every "negroe or other person subjected to +such service" who has been lawfully brought into the Province. It then +enacted that every child born after the passing of the act, of a Negro +mother or other woman subjected to such service should become +absolutely free on attaining the age of twenty-five, the master in the +meantime to provide "proper nourishment and cloathing" for the child, +but to be entitled to put him to work, all issue of such children to +be free whenever born. It further declared any voluntary contract of +service or indenture should not be binding longer than nine years. +Upper Canada was the first British possession to provide for the +abolition of slavery.[18] + +It will be seen that the Statute did not put an end to slavery at +once. Those who were lawfully slaves remained slaves for life unless +manumitted and the statute rather discouraged manumission, as it +provided that the master on liberating a slave must give good and +sufficient security that the freed man would not become a public +charge. But, defective as it was, it was not long without attack. In +1798, Simcoe had left the province never to return,[19] and while the +government was being administered by the time-serving Peter Russell, a +bill was introduced into the Lower House to enable persons "migrating +into the province to bring their negro slaves with them." The bill was +contested at every stage but finally passed on a vote of eight to +four. In the Legislative Council it received the three months' hoist +and was never heard of again.[20] The argument in favor of the bill +was based on the scarcity of labor which all contemporary writers +speak of, the inducement to intending settlers to come to Upper Canada +where they would have the same privileges in respect of slavery as in +New York and elsewhere; in other words the inevitable appeals to +greed. + +After this bill became law, slavery gradually disappeared. Public +opinion favored manumission and while there were not many manumissions +_inter vivos_,[21] in some measure owing to the provisions of the act +requiring security to be given in such case against the freed man +becoming a public charge, there were not a few liberations by +will.[22] + +The number of slaves in Upper Canada was also diminished by what seems +at first sight paradoxical, that is, their flight across the Detroit +River into American territory. So long as Detroit and its vicinity +were British in fact and even for some years later, Section 6 of the +Ordinance of 1787 "that there shall be neither slavery not involuntary +servitude in the said territory otherwise than as the punishment of +crime" was in great measure a dead letter: but when Michigan was +incorporated as a territory in 1805, the ordinance became effective. +Many slaves made their way from Canada to Detroit, a real land of the +free; so many, indeed, that we find that a company of Negro militia +was formed in Detroit in 1806 to assist in the general defence of the +territory, composed entirely of escaped slaves from Canada.[23] + +Almost from the passing of the Canada Act, however, runaway Negroes +began to come to Upper Canada, fleeing from slavery; this influx +increased and never ceased until the American Civil War gave its death +blow to slavery in the United States. Hundreds of blacks thus obtained +their freedom, some having been brought by their masters near to the +international boundary and then clandestinely or by force effecting a +passage; some coming from far to the South, guided by the North Star; +many assisted by friends more or less secretly. The Underground +Railroad was kept constantly running.[24] These refugees joined +settlements with other people of color freeborn or freed in the +western part of the Peninsula, in the counties of Essex and Kent and +elsewhere.[25] Some of them settled in other parts of the province, +either together or more usually sporadically. + +At the time of the outbreak of the Civil War there were many thousands +of black refugees in the province.[26] More than half of these were +manumitted slaves who in consequence of unjust laws had been forced to +leave their State. While some of such freedmen went to the Northern +States, most came to Canada, some returning to the Northern States. +The Negro refugees were superior to most of their race, for none but +those with more than ordinary qualities could reach Canada.[27] + +The masters of runaway slaves did not always remain quiet when their +slave reached this province. Sometimes they followed him in an attempt +to take him back. There are said to have been a few instances of +actual kidnapping, a few of attempted kidnapping.[28] There have been +cases in which criminal charges have been laid against escaped slaves, +and their extradition sought, ostensibly to answer the criminal +charges. It has always been the theory in this province that the +governor has the power independently of statute or treaty to deliver +up alien refugees charged with crime.[29] To make it clear, the +Parliament of Upper Canada in 1833 passed an Act for the apprehension +of fugitive offenders from foreign countries, and delivering them up +to justice.[30] This provides that on the requisition of the executive +of any foreign country the governor of the province on the advice of +his executive council may deliver up any person in the province +charged with "Murder, Forgery, Larceny or other crime which if +committed within the Province would have been punishable with death, +corporal punishment, the Pillory, whipping or confinement at hard +labour." The person charged might be arrested and detained for +inquiry. The Act was permissive only and the delivery up was at the +discretion of the governor. + +When this act was in force Solomon Mosely or Moseby, a Negro slave, +came to the Province across the Niagara River from Buffalo which he +had reached after many days' travel from Louisville, Kentucky. His +master followed him and charged him with the larceny of a horse which +the slave took to assist him in his flight. That he had taken the +horse there was no doubt, and as little that after days of hard riding +he had sold it. The Negro was arrested and placed in Niagara jail; a +_prima facie_ case was made out and an order sent for his extradition. + +The people of color of the Niagara region made Mosely's case their own +and determined to prevent his delivery up to the American authorities +to be taken to the land of the free and the home of the brave, knowing +that there for him to be brave meant torture and death, and that death +alone could set him free. Under the leadership of Herbert Holmes, a +yellow man,[31] a teacher and preacher, they lay around the jail night +and day to the number of from two to four hundred to prevent the +prisoner's delivery up. At length the deputy sheriff with a military +guard brought out the unfortunate man shackled in a wagon from the +jail yard, to go to the ferry across the Niagara River. Holmes and a +man of color named Green grabbed the lines. Deputy Sheriff McLeod from +his horse gave the order to fire and charge. One soldier shot Holmes +dead and another bayoneted Green, so that he died almost at once. +Mosely, who was very athletic, leaped from the wagon and made his +escape. He went to Montreal and afterwards to England, finally +returning to Niagara, where he was joined by his wife, who also +escaped from slavery. + +An inquest was held on the bodies of Holmes and Green. The jury found +"justifiable homicide" in the case of Holmes; "whether justifiable or +unjustifiable there was not sufficient evidence before the jury to +decide" in the case of Green. The verdict in the case of Holmes was +the only possible verdict on the admitted facts. Holmes was forcibly +resisting an officer of the law in executing a legal order of the +proper authority. In the case of Green the doubt arose from the +uncertainty whether he was bayoneted while resisting the officers or +after Mosely had made his escape. The evidence was conflicting and the +fact has never been made quite clear. No proceedings were taken +against the deputy sheriff; but a score or more of the people of color +were arrested and placed in prison for a time. The troublous times of +the Mackenzie Rebellion came on, the men of color were released, many +of them joining a Negro militia company which took part in protecting +the border. + +The affair attracted much attention in the province and opinions +differed. While there were exceptions on both sides, it may fairly be +said that the conservative and government element reprobated the +conduct of the blacks in the strongest terms, being as little fond of +mob law as of slavery, and that the radicals, including the followers +of Mackenzie, looked upon Holmes and Green as martyrs in the cause of +liberty. That Holmes and Green and their fellows violated the law +there is no doubt, but so did Oliver Cromwell, George Washington and +John Brown. Every one must decide for himself whether the occasion +justified in the courts of Heaven an act which must needs be condemned +in the courts of earth.[32] + +In 1842 the well-known Ashburton Treaty was concluded[33] between +Britain and the United States. This by Article X provides that "the +United States and Her Britannic Majesty shall, upon mutual +requisitions ... deliver up to justice all persons ... charged with +murder or assault with intent to commit murder, or piracy or arson or +robbery or forgery or the utterance of forged paper.... Power was +given to judges and other magistrates to issue warrants of arrest, to +hear evidence and if "the evidence be deemed sufficient ... it shall +be the duty of the ... judge or magistrate to certify the same to the +proper executive authority that a warrant may issue for the surrender +of such fugitive." + +It will be seen that this treaty made two important changes so far as +the United States was concerned: (1) It made it the duty of the +executive to order extradition in a proper case and took away the +discretion, (2) it gave the courts jurisdiction to determine whether a +case was made out for extradition.[34] These changes made it more +difficult in many instances for a refugee to escape: but as ever the +courts were astute in finding reasons against the return of slaves. + +The case of John Anderson is well known. He was born a slave in +Missouri. As his master was Moses Burton, he was known as Jack Burton. +He married a slave woman in Howard County, the property of one Brown. +In 1853 Burton sold him to one McDonald living some thirty miles away +and his new master took him to his plantation. In September, 1853, he +was seen near the farm of Brown, when apparently he was visiting his +wife. A neighbor, Seneca T. P. Diggs, became suspicious of him and +questioned him. As his answers were not satisfactory he ordered his +four Negro slaves to seize him, according to the law in the State of +Missouri. The Negro fled, pursued by Diggs and his slaves. In his +attempt to escape the fugitive stabbed Diggs in the breast and Diggs +died in a few hours. Effecting his escape to this province, he was in +1860 apprehended in Brant County, where he had been living under the +name of John Anderson, and three local justices of the peace committed +him under the Ashburton Treaty. A writ of habeas corpus was granted by +the Court of Queen's Bench at Toronto, under which the prisoner was +brought before the Court of Michaelmas Term of 1860. + +The motion was heard by the Full Court.[35] Much of the argument was +on the facts and on the law apart from the form of the papers, but +that was hopeless from the beginning. The law and the facts were too +clear, although Mr. Justice McLean thought the evidence defective. The +case turned on the form of the information and warrant, a somewhat +technical and refined point. The Chief Justice, Sir John Beverley +Robinson, and Mr. Justice Burns agreed that the warrant was not +strictly correct, but that it could be amended: Mr. Justice McLean +thought it could not and should not be amended. + +The case attracted great attention throughout the province, especially +among the Negro population. On the day on which judgment was to be +delivered, a large number of people of color with some whites +assembled in front of Osgoode Hall.[36] While the adverse decision was +announced, there were some mutterings of violence but counsel for the +prisoner[37] addressed them seriously and impressively, reminding them +"It is the law and we must obey it." The melancholy gathering melted +away one by one in sadness and despair. Anderson was recommitted to +the Brantford jail.[38] The case came to the knowledge of many in +England. It was taken up by the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery +Society and many persons of more or less note. An application was made +to the Court of Queen's Bench of England for a writ of habeas corpus, +notwithstanding the Upper Canadian decision, and while Anderson was in +the jail at Toronto, the court after anxious deliberation granted the +writ,[39] but it became unnecessary, owing to further proceedings in +Upper Canada. + +In those days the decision of any court or of any judge in habeas +corpus proceedings was not final. An applicant might go from judge to +judge, court to court[40] and the last applied to might grant the +relief refused by all those previously applied to. A writ of habeas +corpus was taken out from the other Common Law Court in Upper Canada, +the Court of Common Pleas. This was argued in Hilary Term, 1861, and +the court unanimously decided that the warrant of commitment was bad +and that the court could not remand the prisoner to have it +amended.[41] The prisoner was discharged. No other attempts were made +to extradite him or any other escaped slave and Lincoln's Emancipation +Proclamation put an end to any chance of such an attempt being ever +repeated. + + W. R. RIDDELL. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[A] This paper has appeared in _Transactions of the Royal Society of +Canada_, May, 1919. + +[1] Per Hargrave _arguendo_, Somerset _v._ Stewart (1772), Lofft 1, at +p. 4; the speech in the State Trials Report was never actually +delivered. + +[2] (1772) Lofft 1; (1772) 20 St. Trials 1. + +[3] These words are not in Lofft or in the State Trials but will be +found in Campbell's _Lives of the Chief Justices_, Vol. II, p. 419, +where the words are added: "Every man who comes into England is +entitled to the protection of the English law, whatever oppression he +may heretofore have suffered and whatever may be the colour of his +skin. 'Quamvis ille niger, quamvis tu candidus esses'" and certainly +Vergil's verse was never used on a nobler occasion or to nobler +purpose. Verg. E. 2, 19. + +William Cowper in _The Task_, written 1783-1785, imitated this in his +well-known lines: + + "Slaves cannot breathe in England; if their lungs + Receive our air, that moment they are free. + They touch our country and their shackles fall." + +[4] I use the spelling in Lofft; the State Trials and Lord Campbell +have "Somersett" and "Steuart." + +[5] See, _e. g._, Vinogradoff, _Villeinage in England_, passim; +Hallam's _Middle Ages_ (ed. 1827), Vol. 3, p. 256; Pollock & Maitland, +_History of English Law_, Vol. 1, pp. 395 sqq. Holdsworth's _History +of English Law_, Vol. 2, pp. 33, 63, 131; Vol. 3, pp. 167, 377-393. + +[6] See Pollock & Maitland's _History Eng. Law_, Vol. 1, pp. 1-13, +395, 415; Holdworth's _Hist. Eng. Law_, Vol. 2, pp. 17, 27, 30-33, +131, 160, 216. + +[7] "So spake the fiend and with necessity, + The tyrant's plea, excused his devilish deeds." + Paradise Lost, Bk. 4, ll. 393, 394. + +Milton a true lover of freedom well knew the peril of an argument +based upon supposed necessity. Necessity is generally but another name +for greed or worse. + +[8] _E. g._, the Statute of (1732) 5 Geo. II, C. 7, enacted, sec. 4, +"that from and after the said 29th. September, 1732, the Houses, +Lands, Negroes and other Hereditaments and real Estates situate or +being within any of the said (British) Plantations (in America) shall +be liable" to be sold under execution. Note that the Negroes are +"Hereditaments and Real Estate." + +[9] The name _Pani_ or _Panis_, Anglicized into _Pawnee_, was used +generally in Canada as synonymous with "Indian Slave" because these +slaves were usually taken from the Pawnee tribe. Those who would +further pursue this matter will find material in the _Wisconsin +Historical Collections_, Vol. XVIII, p. 103 (note); Lafontaine, +_L'Esclavage in Canada_ cited in the above; _Michigan Pioneer and +Historical Collections_, Vol. XXVII, p. 613 (n); Vol. XXX, pp. 402, +596. Vol. XXXV, p. 548; Vol. XXXVII, p. 541. From Vol. XXX, p. 546, we +learn that Dr. Anthon, father of Prof. Anthon of Classical Text-book +fame, had a "Panie Wench" who when the family had the smallpox "had +them very severe" along with Dr. Anthon's little girl and his "aeltest +boy" "whoever they got all safe over it and are not disfigured." + +Dr. Kingsford in his _History of Canada_, Vol. V, p. 30 (n), cites +from the _Documents of the Montreal Historical Society_, Vol. I, p. 5, +an "ordonnance au sujet des Negres et des sauvages appeles panis, du +15 avril 1709" by "Jacques Raudot, Intendant." "Nous sous le bon +plaisir de Sa Majeste ordonnons, que tous les Panis et Negres qui ont +ete achetes et qui le seront dans la suite, appartiendront en pleine +propriete a ceux qui les ont achetes comme etant leurs esclaves." "We +with the consent of His Majesty enact that all the Panis and Negroes +who heretofore have been or who hereafter shall be bought shall be the +absolute property as their slaves of those who bought them." This +ordinance is quoted (_Mich. Hist. Coll._, XII, p. 511), and its +language ascribed to a (nonexistent) "wise and humane statute of Upper +Canada of May 31, 1798"--a curious mistake, perhaps in copying or +printing. + +There does not seem to have been any distinction in status or rights +or anything but race between the Panis and the other slaves. I do not +know of an account of the numbers of slaves in Canada at the time; in +Detroit, March 31, 1779, there were 60 male and 78 female slaves in a +population of about 2,550 (_Mich. Hist. Coll._, X, p. 326); Nov. 1, +1780, 79 male and 96 female slaves in a somewhat smaller population +(_Mich. Hist. Coll._, XIII, p. 53); in 1778, 127 in a population of +2,144 (_Mich. Hist. Coll._, IX, p. 469); 85 in 1773, 179 in 1782 +(_Mich. Hist. Coll._, VII, p. 524); 78 male and 101 female (_Mich. +Hist. Coll._, XIII, p. 54). The Ordinance of Congress July 13, 1787, +forbidding slavery "northwest of the Ohio River" (passed with but one +dissenting voice, that of a Delegate from New York) was quite +disregarded in Detroit (_Mich. Hist. Coll._, I, 415); and indeed +Detroit and the neighboring country remained British (de facto) until +August, 1796, and part of Upper Canada from 1791 till that date. + +[10] This Act (1790) 30 Geo. III, c. 27, was intended to encourage +"new settlers in His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations in America" +and applied to all "subjects of the United States." It allowed an +importation into any of the Bahama, Bermuda or Somers Islands, the +Province of Quebec (then including all Canada), Nova Scotia and every +other British territory in North America. It allowed the importation +by such American subjects of "negros, household furniture, utensils of +husbandry or cloathing free of duty," the "household furniture, +utensils of husbandry and cloathing" not to exceed in value L50 for +every white person in the family and L2 for each negro, any sale of +negro or goods within a year of the importation to be void. + +[11] The Royal Proclamation is dated 7th October, 1763; it will be +found in Shortt & Doughty, _Documents relating to the Constitutional +History of Canada_ published by the _Archives of Canada_, Ottawa, +1907, pp. 119 sqq. The Proclamation fixes the western boundary of the +(Province or) Government at a line drawn from the south end of Lake +Nipissing to where the present international boundary crosses the +River St. Lawrence. + +The Quebec Act is (1774) 14 Geo. III, C. 83. It extends Quebec south +to the Ohio and west to the Mississippi; Shortt & Doughty, pp. 401 +sqq. + +[12] The division of the Province of Quebec into two provinces, _i. +e._, Upper Canada and Lower Canada, was effected by the Royal +Prerogative, Sec. 31 George III, c. 31, the celebrated Canada of +Constitutional Act. The Message sent to Parliament expressing the +Royal intention is to be found copied in the Ont. Arch. Reports for +1906, p. 158. After the passing of the Canada Act, an Order in Council +was passed August 24, 1791 (Ont. Arch. Rep., 1906, pp. 158 et seq.), +dividing the Province of Quebec into two provinces and under the +provisions of sec. 48 of the act directing a royal warrant to +authorize the Governor or Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of +Quebec or the person administering the government there, to fix and +declare such day as he shall judge most advisable for the commencement +of the effect of the legislation in the new provinces not later than +December 31, 1791. Lord Dorchester (Sir Guy Carleton) was appointed, +September 12, 1791, Captain General and Governor-in-Chief of both +provinces and he received a Royal warrant empowering him to fix a day +for the legislation becoming effective in the new provinces (Ont. +Arch. Rep., 1906, p. 168). In the absence of Dorchester, General +Alured Clarke, Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Quebec, issued +November 18, 1791, a proclamation fixing Monday, December 26, 1791, as +the day for the commencement of the said legislation (Ont. Arch. Rep., +1906, pp. 169-171). Accordingly technically and in law, the new +province was formed by Order in Council, August 24, 1791, but there +was no change in administration until December 26, 1791. + +[13] The first session of the First Parliament of Upper Canada was +held at Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) September 17 to October 15, +1792; the statute referred to is (1792) 32 Geo. III, c. 1 (U. C.). + +[14] Everyone will remember the words of the Chief Justice of the +Supreme Court of the United States in the celebrated Dred Scott case. +In Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1856 (19 How. 354, pp. 404, 405), Chief +Justice Roger B. Taney, speaking of the view taken of the Negro when +the Constitution was framed, says: "They were at that time considered +as a subordinate and inferior class of beings who had been subjugated +by the dominant race and whether emancipated or not, yet remained +subject to their authority and had no rights or privileges but such as +those who held the power and the Government might choose to grant +them" (p. 407). "They had no more than a century before been regarded +as beings of an inferior order ... and so far inferior that they had +no rights which the white man was bound to respect, and that the negro +might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit. He +was bought and sold and treated as an ordinary article of merchandise +and traffic" (p. 411). "All of them had been brought here as articles +of merchandise." + +This repulsive subject now chiefly of historical interest is treated +at large in such works as Cobb's _Law of Slavery_, Philadelphia, 1858; +Hurd's _Law of Freedom and Bondage_, Boston, 1858; Von Holst's _Const. +Hist. U. S._ (1750-1833), Chicago, 1877; the judgments of all the +Judges in the Dred Scott case are well worth reading, especially that +of Mr. Justice Curtis. + +[15] This is copied from the _Canadian Archives Collection_, Q. 282, +pt. I, pp. 212 sqq.; taken from the official report sent to +Westminster by Simcoe. There is the usual amount of uncertainty in +spelling names Grisley or Crisly, Fromand, Frooman, Froomond or +Fromond (in reality Vrooman). + +Osgoode was an Englishman, the first Chief Justice of Upper Canada. +Arriving in this Province in the summer of 1792, he left to become +Chief Justice of Lower Canada in the summer of 1794. Resigning in +1801, he returned to England on a pension which he enjoyed until his +death in 1824. He left no mark on our jurisprudence and never sat in +any but trial courts of criminal jurisdiction. Osgoode Hall, our +Ontario Palais de Justice, is called after him. + +Russell came to Upper Canada also in 1792 as Receiver-General and +Legislative Councillor; he was an Executive Councillor and when Simcoe +left Canada in 1796, he acted as Administrator until the coming of the +new Lieutenant Governor Peter Hunter in 1799. Russell was not noted +for anything but his acquisitiveness but he was a faithful servant of +the Crown in his own way. + +Col. John Butler, born in Connecticut in 1728, became a noted leader +of Indians. He took the Loyalist side, raising the celebrated Butler's +Rangers; he settled at Niagara after the Revolutionary war and proved +himself a useful citizen; he died in 1796. See Cruikshanks' _Butler's +Rangers_, Lundy's Lane Historical Society's publication; Robertson's +_Free Masonry in Canada_, Vol. I, p. 470; Riddell's edition of _La +Rochefoucauld's Travels in Canada_, 1795, published by the Ontario +Archives, 1917, p. 177. + +Navy Hall was in the little town which Simcoe named "Newark," which +before this had been called Niagara, West Niagara, Nassau, Lenox and +Butlersburg, now called Niagara or Niagara-on-the-lake. Navy Hall was +the seat of government from 1792 to 1797. Queens Town is the present +Queenston; Mississagua Point is at the embouchure of the Niagara +River; it is still known by the same name, spelled generally however +with a final "a." Nothing seems to be known of the subsequent fate of +Chloe Cooley. + +The Vroomans and Cryslers (or Chrystlers or Chryslers) the same family +as Chrystler of Chrystler's Farm, the scene of an American defeat, +November 11, 1813, were well-known residents. I am indebted to General +E.A. Cruikshank for the following note: + +"The Vrooman Farm is situated on the west bank of the Niagara, in the +township of Niagara, about a mile below the village of Queenston, and +includes that feature of the river bank generally known as Vrooman's +Point; it was still in the possession of the Vrooman family when I +last visited the place about twelve years ago. The remains of a small +half-moon or redan battery on the point which had been constructed in +the War of 1812, and played a considerable part in the battle of +Queenston were then quite well marked. One of the Vrooraans of that +time was in the militia artillery, and assisted to serve the gun +mounted on the battery. The possessor of the farm was then, I think, +more than eighty years of age, but he was active and in possession of +his memory and other faculties. He stated to me the exact number of +shots which he had been informed by his father, or the Vrooman engaged +in the action, had been fired from this gun, which of course, may or +may not be correct. An Adam Chrysler, who was a lieutenant in the +Indian Department in the Revolutionary War, and before that, a +resident in the Scoharie district, of the Mohawk country, received +lands either in the township of Niagara or the township of Stamford, +near the village of Queenston. His grandson, John Chrysler, some +twenty years ago, then being quite an old man, who is now dead, loaned +me some very interesting documents which had been preserved in the +family, and belonged to this Adam Chrysler. One of them, I remember, +was the original instructions issued to him, and signed by +Lieut.-Colonel John Butler, the deputy superintendent general, +strictly enjoining him to restrain the Indians, with whom he was +acting, from all acts of cruelty upon prisoners and non-combatants. +Some members of his family, ladies, were residing at Niagara Falls, +Ontario, ten years ago, and I presume still are there. I have no doubt +that it was some member of Adam Crysler's family who took part in the +abduction of the Cooley girl. The original spelling of this name was +Kreisler, which is a fairly common German name in the Rhine +Palatinate, from which this family came." + +In the report by Col. John Butler of the Survey of the Settlement at +Niagara, August 25, 1782 (_Can. Arch._, Series B, 169, p. 1), McGregor +Van-Every is named as the head of a family. He was married, without +children, hired men or slaves, had 3 horses, no cows, sheep or hogs, 8 +acres of "clear land" and raised 4 bushels of Indian corn and 40 of +potatoes but no wheat or oats. His neighbor, Thomas McMicken, was +married, had two young sons, one hired man and one male slave. He had +two horses, 1 cow and 20 hogs, and raised ten bushels of Indian corn, +10 of oats and 10 of potatoes (no wheat) on his 8 acres of "clear +land." + +[16] John White called to the Bar in 1785 at the Inner Temple +(probably); he practised for a time but unsuccessfully in Jamaica and +through the influence of his brother-in-law, Samuel Shepherd and of +Chief Justice Osgoode was appointed the first Attorney General of +Upper Canada. He arrived in the Province in the summer of 1792 and was +elected a member of the first House of Assembly for Leeds and +Frontenac. He was an active and useful member. It is probable, but the +existing records do not make it certain, that it was he who introduced +and had charge in the House of Assembly of the Bill for the abolition +of slavery passed in 1793, shortly to be mentioned. In January, 1800, +he was killed in a duel at York, later Toronto, by Major John Small, +Clerk of the Executive Council. His will, drawn by himself after his +fatal wound, is still extant in the Court of Probate records at +Toronto. One clause reads: "I desire to be rolled up in a sheet and +not buried fantastically, and that I may be buried at the back of my +own house." Buried in his garden at his direction, his bones were +accidentally uncovered in 1871 and reverently buried in Toronto. His +manuscript diary is still extant, a copy being in the possession of +the writer. + +[17] The statute is (1793) 33 Geo. III, c. 7, (U. C.). The Parliament +of Upper Canada had two Houses, the Legislative Council, an Upper +House, appointed by the Crown and the Legislative Assembly, a Lower +House or House of Commons, as it was sometimes called, elected by the +people. The Lieutenant Governor gave the royal assent. The bill was +introduced in the Lower House, probably by Attorney General White, as +stated in last note, and read the first time, June 19. It went to the +committee of the whole June 25, and was the same day reported out. On +June 26 it was read the third time, passed and sent up for +concurrence. The Legislative Council read it the same day for the +first time, went into Committee over it the next day, June 28, and +July I, when it was reported out with amendments, passed and sent down +to the Commons July 2. That House promptly concurred and sent the bill +back the same day. See the official reports; _Ont. Arch. Reports_ for +1910 (Toronto, 1911), pp. 25, 26, 27, 28, 32, 33, _Ont. Arch. Rep._ +for 1909 (Toronto, 1911), pp. 33, 35, 36, 38, 41, 42. + +The first Fugitive Slave Law was passed by the United States in 1793. +Three years afterwards occurred an episode, little known and less +commented upon, showing very clearly the views of George Washington on +the subject of fugitive slaves, at least, of those slaves who were his +own. + +A slave girl of his escaped and made her way to Portsmouth, N. H. +Washington, on discovering her place of refuge, wrote concerning her +to Joseph Whipple, the Collector at Portsmouth, November 28, 1796. The +letter is still extant. It is of three full pages and was sold in +London in 1877 for ten guineas (_Magazine of American History_, Vol. +1, December, 1877, p. 759). Charles Sumner had it in his hands when he +made the speech reported in Charles Summer's _Works_, Vol. III, p. +177. Washington in the letter described the fugitive and particularly +expressed the desire of "her mistress," Mrs. Washington, for her +return to Alexandria. He feared public opinion in New Hampshire, for +he added + +"I do not mean however, by this request that such violent measures +should be used as would excite a mob or riot which might be the case +if she has adherents; or even uneasy sensations in the minds of +well-disposed citizens. Rather than either of these should happen, I +would forgo her services altogether and the example also which is of +infinite more importance." + +In other words, "if the slave girl has no friends or 'adherents'" send +her back to slavery--if she has and they would actively oppose her +return, let her go--and even if it only be that "well-disposed +citizens" disapprove of her capture and return, let her remain free. + +There may be some difficulty in justifying Washington's course by the +opinion of Thomas Aquinas (_Summa Theologics_, 1 ma., 2 dae., Quaest. +XCVI, Art. 4), who says that an unjust law is not binding in +conscience "_nisi forte propter vitandum scandalum vel turbationem_." +Aquinas is speaking of an unjust law which may be resisted unless +scandal or tumult would result from resistance. Washington is speaking +of a law which he considers right, but which he would not enforce if +it should occasion such evils. The analogy does not hold as the editor +of Charles Sumner's _Works_ seems to think (Vol. III, p. 178, note). + +Whipple answered from Portsmouth, December 22, 1796: + +"I will now, Sir, agreeably to your desire, send her to Alexandria if +it be practicable without the consequences which you except--that of +exciting a riot or a mob or creating uneasy sensations in the minds of +well disposed persons. The first cannot be calculated beforehand; it +will be governed by the popular opinion of the moment or the +circumstances that may arise in the transaction. The latter may be +sought into and judged of by conversing with such persons without +discovering the occasion. So far as I have had opportunity, I perceive +that different sentiments are entertained on the subject." + +Whipple made enquiry. Public opinion in Portsmouth was adverse to the +return of the fugitive. She was unmolested and lived out a long life +in Portsmouth and Kittery. + +Nothing more clearly and impressively shows the veneration felt by his +countrymen for George Washington than the praise the fearless, +outspoken, uncompromising hater of slavery, Charles Sumner, of the +conduct of the President in this transaction. Sumner considered the +poor slave girl "a monument of the just forbearance of him whom we +aptly call Father of his Country.... While a slaveholder and seeking +the return of a fugitive, he has left in permanent record a rule of +conduct which if adopted by his country will make slave hunting +impossible." With almost any other man, Sumner would have no praise or +reverence for a desire to force a fugitive back into slavery unless +prevented by fear of mob or riot or adverse public opinion. + +In the same letter Washington gives what may be considered a reason or +excuse for his demand. "However well disposed I might be to a gradual +abolition, or even to an entire emancipation of that description of +people, if the latter was itself practicable at this moment, it would +neither be expedient nor just to reward unfaithfulness with a +premature preference and thereby discontent beforehand the minds of +all her fellow servants who by their steady attachment are far more +deserving than herself of favour." + +This is the familiar pretext of the master, private or state. Those +who rebel against oppression and wrong are not to be given any +relief--that would be unjust to those who tamely submit. That very +argument was advanced by the ruler across the sea against the +proposition to come to terms with Washington and his party who had +ventured to oppose the would-be master. + +And it is to be noted that Washington did not free those "who by their +steady attachment are far more deserving ... of favour" till he had +had all the advantage he could from their services--he did indeed free +them by his will, but only after the death of his wife. + +Sumner cannot be said to minimize his merits when he says "He was at +the time a slaveholder--often expressing himself with various degrees +of force against slavery, and promising his suffrage for its +abolition, he did not see this wrong as he saw it at the close of +life." (Sumner's _Works_, Vol. III, pp. 759 sq.) + +[18] Vermont excluded slavery by her Bill of Rights (1777), +Pennsylvania and Massachusetts passed legislation somewhat similar to +that of Upper Canada in 1780; Connecticut and Rhode Island in 1784, +New Hampshire by her Constitution in 1792, Vermont in the same way in +1793: New York began in 1799 and completed the work in 1827, New +Jersey 1829; Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa were +organized as a Territory in 1787 and slavery forbidden by the +Ordinance, July 13, 1787, but it was in fact known in part of the +Territory for a score of years. A few slaves were held in Michigan by +tolerance until far into the nineteenth century notwithstanding the +prohibition of the fundamental law (_Mich. Hist. Coll._, VII, p. 524). +Maine as such, never had slavery having separated from Massachusetts +in 1820 after the Act of 1780, although it would seem that as late as +1833 the Supreme Court of Massachusetts left it open when slavery was +abolished in that State (Commonwealth _v._ Aves, 18 Pick. 193, 209). +(See Cobb's _Slavery_, pp. clxxi, clxxii, 209; Sir Harry H. Johnston's +_The Negro in the New World_, an exceedingly valuable and interesting +work but not wholly reliable in minutiae, pp. 355 et seq.) + +[19] Simcoe was almost certainly the prime mover in the legislation of +1793. When giving the royal assent to the bill he said: "The Act for +the gradual abolition of Slavery in this Colony, which it has been +thought expedient to frame, in no respect meets from me a more +cheerful concurrence than in that provision which repeals the power +heretofore held by the Executive Branch of the Constitution and +precludes it from giving sanction to the importation of slaves, and I +cannot but anticipate with singular pleasure that such persons as may +be in that unhappy condition which sound policy and humanity unite to +condemn, added to their own protection from all undue severity by the +law of the land may henceforth look forward with certainty to the +emancipation of their offspring." (See _Ont. Arch. Rep._ for 1909, pp. +42-43.) I do not understand the allusion to "protection from undue +severity by the Law of the land." There had been no change in the law, +and undue severity to slaves was prevented only by public opinion. It +is practically certain that no such bill as that of 1798 would have +been promoted with Simcoe at the head of the government as his +sentiments were too well known. + +[20] _Ont. Arch. Rep._ for 1909, pp. 64, 69, 70, 71, 74; _ibid._ for +1910, pp. 67, 68, 69, 70. + +The bill was introduced in the Lower House by Christopher Robinson, +member for Addington and Ontario, Ontario being then comprised of the +St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario Islands, and having nothing in common +with the present County of Ontario. He was a Virginian loyalist, who +in 1784 emigrated to New Brunswick, and in 1788 to that part of Canada +later Lower Canada and in 1792 to Upper Canada. He lived in Kingston +till 1798 and then came to York, later Toronto, but died three weeks +afterwards. He was one of the lawyers who took part in the +inauguration of the Law Society of Upper Canada at Wilson's Tavern, +Newark, in July, 1797, and was an active and successful practitioner. +His ability was great, but his fame is swallowed up by that of his +more famous son, Sir John Beverley Robinson, the first Canadian Chief +Justice of Upper Canada, and of his grandson, the much loved and much +admired Christopher Robinson, Q.C., of our own time. Accustomed from +infancy to slavery, he saw no great harm in it--no doubt he saw it in +its best form. + +The chief opponent of the bill was Robert Isaac Dey Gray, the young +solicitor general. John White was not in this the second house. The +son of Major James Gray, a half-pay British Officer, he studied law in +Canada. He was elected member of the House of Assembly for Stormont in +the election of 1796 and again in 1804. He was appointed the first +Solicitor General in 1797 and was drowned in 1804 in the _Speedy_ +disaster. An Indian, Ogetonicut, accused of a murder in the Newcastle +District, was captured on the York Peninsula, now Toronto or Hiawatha +Island, in the Home District, and had to be sent to Newcastle, now +Presqu' Isle Point near Brighton, in the Newcastle District, for +trial. The Government Schooner _Speedy_ sailed for Newcastle with the +Assize Judge Gray; Macdonell, who was to defend the Indian; the Indian +prisoner, Indian interpreters, witnesses, the High Constable of York +and certain inhabitants of York. It was lost, captain, crew and +passengers--_spurlos versenkt_. + +The motion for the three months' hoist in the Upper House was made by +the Honorable Richard Cartwright seconded by the Honorable Robert +Hamilton. These men, who had been partners, generally agreed on public +measures and both incurred the enmity of Simcoe. He called Hamilton a +Republican, then a term of reproach distinctly worse than Pro-German +would be now, and Cartwright was, if anything, worse. But both were +men of considerable public spirit and personal integrity. For +Cartwright see _The Life and Letters of Hon Richard Cartright_, +Toronto, 1876. For Hamilton see Riddell's edition of La +Rochefoucault's _Travels in Canada in 1795_, Toronto, 1817, in _Ont. +Arch. Rep._ for 1916; Miss Carnochan's _Queenstown in Early Years, +Niagara Hist. Soc. Pub._, No. 25; _Buffalo Hist. Soc. Pub._, Vol. 6, +pp. 73-95. + +There was apparently no division in the Upper House although there +were five other Councillors in addition to Cartwright and Hamilton in +attendance that session viz.: McGill, Shaw, Duncan, Baby and Grant; +and the bill passed committee of the whole. + +[21] Slaves were valuable even in those days. A sale is recorded in +Detroit of a "certain Negro man Pompey by name" for L45 New York +Currency ($112.50) in October, 1794; and the purchaser sold him again +January, 1795, for L50 New York Currency ($125.00). (_Mich. Hist. +Coll._, XIV, p. 417.) But it would seem that from 1770 to 1780 the +price ranged to $300 for a man and $250 for a woman (_Mich. Hist. +Coll._, XIV, p. 659). The number of slaves in Detroit is said to have +been 85 in 1773 and 179 in 1782 (_Mich. Hist. Coll._, VII, p. 524). + +The best people in the province continued to hold slaves. On February +19, 1806, the Honourable Peter Russell, who had been administrator of +the government, and therefore head of the State for three years, +advertised for sale at York "A Black woman named Peggy, aged 40 years, +and a Black Boy, her son, named Jupiter, aged about 15 years," both +"his property," "each being servants for life"--the woman for $150 and +the boy for $200, 25 per cent off for cash. William Jarvis, the +secretary, two years later, March 1, 1811, had two of his slaves +brought into court for stealing gold and silver out of his desk. The +boy "Henry commonly called prince" was committed for trial and the +girl ordered back to her master. Other instances will be found in Dr. +Scadding's very interesting work, _Toronto of Old_, Toronto, 1873, at +pp. 292 sqq. + +[22] A number of interesting wills are in the Court of Probate files +at Osgoode Hall, Toronto. One of them only I shall mention, viz.: that +of Robert I.D. Gray, the first solicitor general of the province, +whose tragic death is related above. In this will, dated August 27, +1803, a little more than a year before his death, he releases and +manumits "Dorinda my black woman servant ... and all her children from +the State of Slavery," in consequence of her long and faithful +services to his family. He directs a fund to be formed of L1,200 or +$4,800 the interest to be paid to "the said Dorinda her heirs and +Assigns for ever." To John Davis, Dorinda's son, he gave 200 acres of +land, Lot 17 in the Second Concession of the Township of Whitby and +also L50 or $200. John, after the death of his master whose body +servant and valet he was, entered the employ of Mr., afterwards Chief, +Justice Powell; but he had the evil habit of drinking too much and +when he was drunk he would enlist in the Army. Powell got tired of +begging him off and after a final warning left him with the regiment +in which he had once more enlisted. Davis is said to have been in the +battle of Waterloo. He certainly crossed the ocean and returned later +on to Canada. He survived till 1871, living at Cornwall, Ontario, a +well-known character. With him died the last of all those who had been +slaves in the old Province of Quebec or the Province of Upper Canada. + +[23] _Mich. Hist. Coll._, XIV, p. 659. + +[24] A fairly good account of the Underground Railroad will be found +in William Still's _Underground Railroad_, Philadelphia, 1872, in W.M. +Mitchell's _Underground Railway_, London, 1860; in W.H. Siebert's +_Underground Railway_, New York, 1899; and in a number of other works +on Slavery. Considerable space is given the subject in most works on +slavery. + +One branch of it ran from a point on the Ohio River, through Ohio and +Michigan to Detroit; but there were many divagations, many termini, +many stations: Oberlin was one of these. See Dr. A. M. Ross' _Memoirs +of a Reformer_, Toronto, 1893, and _Mich. Hist. Coll._, XVII, p. 248. + +[25] The Buxton Mission in the County of Kent is well known. The +Wilberforce Colony in the County of Middlesex was founded by free +Negroes; but they had in mind to furnish homes for future refugees. +See Mr. Fred Landon's account of this settlement in the recent (1918) +_Transactions of the London and Middlesex Hist. Soc._, pp. 30-44. For +an earlier account see A. Steward's _Twenty Years a Slave_, Rochester, +N. Y., 1857. + +[26] Ross in his _Memoirs_ gives, on page 111, 40,000, but he may be +speaking for all Canada. The number is rather high for Upper Canada +alone. + +[27] "The Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it +by force." There can be no doubt that the Southern Negro looked upon +Canada as a paradise. I have heard a colored clergyman of high +standing say that of his own personal knowledge, dying slaves in the +South not infrequently expressed a hope to meet their friends in +Canada. + +[28] These being merely traditional and not supported by contemporary +documents are more or less mythical and I do not attempt to collect +the various and varying stories. + +There are several stories more or less well authenticated of masters +bringing slaves into Canada with the intention of taking them back +again as Charles Stewart intended with his slave James Somerset and +the slaves successfully asserting their freedom, resisting removal +with the assistance of Canadians. Of one of the most shocking cases of +wrong, if not quite kidnapping, a citizen of Toronto was the subject. +John Mink, a respectable man with some Negro blood, had a livery +stable on King Street, Toronto. He was also the proprietor of +stage-coach lines and a man of considerable wealth. He had an only +daughter of great personal beauty, and showing little trace of Negro +origin. It was understood that she would marry no one but a white man, +and that the father was willing to give her a handsome dowry on such a +marriage. A person of pure Caucasian stock from the Southern States +came to Toronto, wooed and won her. They were married and the husband +took his bride to his home in the South. Not long afterwards the +father was horrified to learn that the plausible scoundrel had sold +his wife as a slave. He at once went South and after great exertion +and much expense, he succeeded in bringing back to his house the +unhappy woman, the victim of brutal treachery. + +There have been told other stories of the same kind, equally +harrowing, and unfortunately not ending so well, but I have not been +able to verify them. The one mentioned here I owe to the late Sir +Charles Moss, Chief Justice of Ontario. + +[29] The same rule obtained in Lower Canada; (1827) re Joseph Fisher, +1 Stuart's L. C. Rep. 245. + +[30] This is the Act (1833), 3 Will IV, c. 7 (U. C.). This came +forward as cap. 96 in the Consolidated Statutes of Upper Canada 1859, +but was repealed by an Act of (United) Canada (1860), 23 Vic., c. 91 +(Can.). + +[31] To his people he seems to have been known as Hubbard Holmes; he +is always called a yellow man, whether mulatto, quadroon, octoroon or +other does not appear. + +[32] The contemporary accounts of this transaction, _e. g._, in the +_Christian Guardian_ of Toronto, and the _Niagara Chronicle_, are not +wholly consistent. The main facts, however, are clear. Although there +was some doubt as to the time, the military guard were ordered to +fire. Miss Janet Carnochan has given a good account of this in _Slave +Rescue in Niagara, Sixty Years Ago, Niag. Hist. Soc._, Pub. No. 2. It +is said that "the Judge said he must go back," the fact being that the +direction was by the executive and not the courts. The _Reminiscences_ +of Mrs. J. G. Currie, born at Niagara in 1829 and living there at the +time of the trouble, are printed in the _Niagara Hist. Soc._, Pub. No. +20. Mrs. Currie gives a brief account (p. 331) and says that one of +the party, one MacIntyre, had a bullet or bayonet wound in his cheek. +In Miss Carnochan's account, her informant, who was the daughter of a +slave who had escaped in 1802 and was herself born in Niagara in 1824, +says that "the sheriff went up and down slashing with his sword and +keeping the people back. Many of our people had sword cuts in their +necks. They were armed with all kinds of weapons, pitchforks, flails, +sticks, stones. One woman had a large stone in a stocking and many had +their aprons full of stones and threw them too." Mrs. Anna Jameson, in +her _Sketches in Canada_, ed. of 1852, London, on pp. 55-58, gives +another account. She rightly makes the extradition order the +governor's act, but errs in saying that "the law was too expressly and +distinctly laid down and his duty as Governor was clear and imperative +to give up the felon" as "by an international compact between the +United States and our province, all felons are mutually surrendered." +There was nothing in the common law, or in the statute of 1833 which +made it the duty of the governor to order extradition, and there was +no binding compact between the United States and Upper Canada such as +Mrs. Jameson speaks of. No doubt the reason given by her for the order +was that in vogue among the official set with whom she associated, her +husband being vice-chancellor and head (treasurer) of the Law Society. +The _Christian Guardian_, _Niagara Reporter_ and _Niagara Chronicle_ +and _St. Catharines Journal_ of September, October and November, 1837, +contain accounts of and comments upon the occurrences, and sometimes +attacks upon each other. + +Deputy Sheriff Alexander McLeod was a man of some note if not +notoriety. During the rebellion of 1837 and 1838 he was in the Militia +of Upper Canada. He took a creditable part in the defence of Toronto +against the followers of Mackenzie in December, 1837, and was +afterwards stationed on the Niagara frontier. There he claimed to have +taken part in the cutting out of the Steamer _Caroline_ in which +exploit a Buffalo citizen, Amos Durfee, was killed. McLeod, visiting +Lewiston in New York State, in November, 1840, was arrested on the +charge of murder and committed for trial. This arrest was the cause of +a great deal of communication and discussion between the governments +of the United States and of Great Britain, the latter claiming that +what had been done by the Canadian militia was a proper public act and +they demanded the surrender of McLeod. This was refused. McLeod was +tried for murder at Utica, October, 1841, and acquitted, it being +conclusively proved that he was not in the expedition at all. + +[33] Concluded at Washington, August 9, 1842, ratification exchanged +at London, October 13, 1842, proclaimed November 10, 1842; this treaty +put an end to many troublesome questions, amongst them the Maine +boundary which it was found impracticable to settle by Joint +Commissions or by reference to a European crowned head, William, King +of the Netherlands. It will be found in all the collections of +treaties of Great Britain or the United States, and in most of the +treaties on extradition, amongst them the useful work by John G. +Hawley, Chicago, 1893 (see pp. 119 sqq.). + +[34] It was held in this province that the Act of 1883 was superseded +by the Ashburton Treaty in respect to the United States, but that it +remained in force with respect to other countries (Reg. _v._ Tubber, +1854, 1, P. R., 98). Since the treaty, our government has refused to +extradite where the offense charged is not included in the treaty. In +re Laverne Beebe (1863), 3, P. R., 273--a case of burglary. + +The provisions of the treaty were brought into full effect in Canada +(Upper and Lower) by the Canadian Statute of 1849, 12, Vic., c. 19, C. +S. C. (1859), c. 89. + +[35] Chief Justice Sir John Beverley Robinson, Mr. Justice McLean +(afterwards Chief Justice of Upper Canada) and Mr. Justice Burns. + +[36] The seat of the Superior Courts in Toronto, the Palais de Justice +of the Province. + +[37] Mr. Samuel B. Freeman, Q.C., of Hamilton, a man of much natural +eloquence, considerable knowledge of law and more of human nature; he +was always ready and willing to take up the cause of one unjustly +accused and was singularly successful in his defences. + +I have heard it said that it was Mr. M. C. Cameron, Q.C., who so +addressed the gathering, but he does not seem to have been concerned +in the case in the Queen's Bench. + +[38] The case is reported in (1860), 20 Up. Can., Q. B., pp. 124-193. +The warrant is given at pp. 192, 193. + +[39] The case is reported in (1861), 3, Ellis & Ellis Reports, Queen's +Bench, p. 487; 30, _Law Jour._, Q. B., p. 129; 7, _Jurist_, N. S., p. +122; 3, _Law Times_, N. S., p. 622; 9, _Weekly Rep._, p. 255. + +It was owing to this decision that the statute was passed at +Westminster (1862) 25, 26, Vic., c. 20, which by sec. 1 forbids the +courts in England to issue a writ of habeas corpus into any British +possession which has a court with the power to issue such writ. The +court was Lord Chief Justice Cockburn, and Justices Crompton, Hill and +Blackburn, a very strong court. The Counsel for Anderson was the +celebrated but ill-fated Edwin James. The writ was specially directed +to the sheriff at Toronto, the sheriff at Brantford and the +jail-keeper at Brantford. Judgment was given January 15, 1861. + +[40] Common law, of course, not chancery. + +[41] The court was composed of Chief Justice William Henry Draper, +C.B., Mr. Justice Richards, afterwards Chief Justice successively of +the Court of Common Pleas, of the Court of Queen's Bench, and, as Sir +William Buell Richards, of the Supreme Court of Canada, and Mr. +Justice Hagarty, afterwards Chief Justice successively of the Court of +Common Pleas, of the Court of King's Bench, and, as Sir John Hawkins +Hagarty, of Ontario. + +Mr. Freeman was assisted in this argument by Mr. M. C. Cameron, a +lawyer of the highest standing professionally and otherwise, +afterwards Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench, and afterwards, as +Sir Matthew Cameron, Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. +Counsel for the crown on both arguments were Mr. Eccles, Q.C., a man +of deservedly high reputation, and Robert Alexander Harrison, +afterwards Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench, an exceedingly +learned and accurate lawyer. + +The case in the Court of Common Pleas is reported in Vol. 11, Upper +Can., C. P., pp. 1 sqq. + + + + +DOCUMENTS + +NOTES ON SLAVERY IN CANADA[1] + + +The following Notes received from the Canadian Archives Department, +Ottawa, have more or less bearing upon the question of slavery in +Upper Canada: + +1. General James Murray, the first Governor of the new Government of +Quebec, writing to John Watts, of New York, from Quebec, November 2, +1763, and speaking of the promoting of the improvement of agriculture, +says: + + "I must most earnestly entreat your assistance, without servants + nothing can be done, had I the inclination to employ soldiers + which is not the case, they would disappoint me, and Canadians + will work for nobody but themselves. Black Slaves are certainly + the only people to be depended upon, but it is necessary, I + imagine they should be born in one or other of our Northern + Colonies, the Winters here will not agree with a Native of the + torrid zone, pray therefore if possible procure for me two Stout + Young fellows, who have been accustomed to Country Business, and + as I shall wish to see them happy, I am of opinion there is + little felicity without a Communication with the Ladys, you may + buy for each a clean young wife, who can wash and do the female + offices about a farm, I shall begrudge no price, so hope we may, + by your goodness succeed," (_Can. Arch._, Murray Papers, Vol. II, + p. 15.) + +2. D. M. Erskine, writing from New York, May 26, 1807, to Francis +Gore, Lt. Governor of Upper Canada, says: + + "I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of + the 24th ult enclosing a Memorial presented to you by the + Proprietors of Slaves in the Western District of the Province of + Upper Canada. + + "I regret equally with yourself the Inconvenience which His + Majesty's subjects in Upper Canada experience from the Desertions + of their slaves into the Territory of the United States, and of + Persons bound to them for a term of years, as also of His + Majesty's soldiers and sailors; but I fear no Representation to + the Government of the United States will at the present avail in + checking the evils complained of, as I have frequently of late + had occasion to apply to them for the Surrender of various + Deserters under different circumstances, and always without + success-- + + "The answer that has been usually given, has been. 'That the + Treaty between Great Britain & the United States which _alone_ + gave them the Power to surrender Deserters having expired, it was + impossible for them to exercise such an authority without the + Sanction of the Laws--' + + "I will however forward to His Majesty's Minister for Foreign + Affairs, the Memorial above mentioned in the Hope that some + arrangements may be entered into to obviate in future the great + Losses which are therein described." (_Can. Arch._, Sundries, + Upper Canada, 1807.) + +3. John Beverley Robinson, Attorney General, Upper Canada, giving an +opinion to the Lt. Governor, York, July 8, 1819, says the following: + + "May it please Your Excellency + + "In obedience to Your Excellency's commands I have perused the + accompanying letter from C. C. Antrobus Esquire, His Majesty's + Charge d'affaires at the Court of Washington and have attentively + considered the question referred to me by Your Excellency + therein--namely--'Whether the owners of several Negro slaves from + the United States of America and are now resident in this + Province' and I beg to express most respectfully my opinion to + Your Excellency that the Legislature of this Province having + adopted the Law of England as the rule of decision in all + questions relative to property and civil rights, and freedom of + the person being the most important civil right protected by + those laws, it follows that whatever may have been the condition + of these Negroes in the Country to which they formerly belonged, + here they are free--For the enjoyment of all civil rights + consequent to a mere residence in the country and among them the + right to personal freedom as acknowledged and protected by the + Laws of England in Cases similar to that under consideration, + must notwithstanding any legislative enactment that may be + thought to affect it, with which I am acquainted, be extended to + these Negroes as well as to all others under His Majesty's + Government in this Province-- + + "The consequence is that should any attempt be made by any person + to infringe upon this right in the persons of these Negroes, they + would most probably call for, and could compel the interference + of those to whom the administration of our Laws is committed and + I submit with the greatest deference to Your Excellency that it + would not be in the power of the Executive Government in any + manner to restrain or direct the Courts or Judges in the exercise + of their duty upon such an application." (_Can. Arch._, Sundries, + Upper Canada, 1819.) + +4. At a meeting of the Executive Council of the Province of Lower +Canada held at the Council Chamber in the Castle of St. Lewis, on +Thursday, June 18, 1829, under Sir James Kempt, the Administrator of +the Government, the following proceedings were had: + + "Report of a Committee of the whole Council Present The Honble. + the Chief Justice in the Chair, Mr. Smith, Mr. DeLery, Mr. + Stewart, and Mr. Cochran on Your Excellency's Reference of a + Letter from the American Secretary of State requesting that Paul + Vallard accused of having stolen a Mulatto Slave from the State + of Illinois may be delivered up to the Government of the United + States of America together with the Slave. + + "May it please Your Excellency + + "The Committee have proceeded to the consideration of the subject + matter of this reference with every wish and disposition to aid + the Officers of the Government of the United States of America in + the execution of the Laws of that Dominion and they regret + therefore the more that the present application cannot in their + opinion be acceded to. + + "In the former Cases the Committee have acted upon the Principle + which now seems to be generally understood that whenever a Crime + has been committed and the Perpetrator is punishable according to + the Lex Loci of the Country in which it is committed, the country + in which he is found may rightfully aid the Police of the Country + against which the Crime was committed in bringing the Criminal + to Justice--and upon this ground have recommended that Fugitives + from the United States should be delivered up. + + "But the Committee conceive that the _Crimes_ for which they are + authorized to recommend the arrest of Individuals who have fled + from other Countries must be such as are _mala in se_, and are + universally admitted to be _Crimes_ in every Nation, and that the + offence of the _Individual_ whose person is demanded must be such + as to render him liable to arrest by the Law of Canada as well as + by the Law of the United States. + + "The state of slavery is not recognized by the Law of Canada nor + does the Law admit that any Man can be the proprietor of another. + + "Every Slave therefore who comes into the Province is immediately + free whether he has been brought in by violence or has entered it + of his own accord; and his liberty cannot from thenceforth be + lawfully infringed without some Cause for which the Law of Canada + has directed an arrest. + + "On the other hand, the Individual from whom he has been taken + cannot pretend that the Slave has been stolen from him in as much + as the Law of Canada does not admit a Slave to be a subject of + property. + + "All of which is respectfully submitted to Your Excellency's, + Wisdom." (_Can. Arch._, State K, p. 406.) + +5. At a meeting of the Executive Council for Upper Canada, held at +York, on Thursday, September 12, 1833, under Sir John Colborne, +Lieutenant Governor, the following proceedings were had: + + "Received a Letter from the Governor of the State of Michigan + dated Detroit August 12th 1833 with a new requisition for the + delivery up of Thornton Blackburn and other fugitives from + Justice which was read in Council on 27th August 1833 with the + following opinion of the Attorney General, as referred to him + 13th July 1833. + + + "'ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE + "'12th July 1833 + + "'_Sir_ + + "'I have the Honour to return the various papers relating to the + subject of the requisition from the acting Governor of Michigan + demanding that Thornton Blackburn and others who are stated to + have fled from the justice of that country and taken refuge + within this Province and now in custody at Sandwich should be + given up, upon which His Excellency required my opinion whether + the Law of this Province authorized him in complying with such + demand or not. Had His Excellency been confined to the official + requisition and the deposition that accompanied it he might I + think have been warranted in delivering up those persons inasmuch + as there is thereupon evidence on which according to the terms of + our act (3 Wm 4th, C. 8) a magistrate would have been "warranted + in apprehending and committing for trial" persons so charged who + is convicted of the offence alleged viz: riot and forcible rescue + and assault and battery would, if convicted, have been subject + according to the Laws of this Province to one of the several + punishments enumerated in the act as applicable to felonies and + misdemeanors. + + "'That the Governor and Council are not confined to such evidence + is clear since though limited in their authority to enforce the + provisions of the act against fugitives from foreign States by + the condition above mentioned viz: being satisfied that the + evidence would warrant commitment for trial etc. yet in coming to + that conclusion they are I think bound to hear no ex parte + evidence alone but matter explanatory to guide their judgment; + for even tho' satisfied with their authority so to do, they are + not required "to deliver up any person so charged if for any + reason they shall deem it inexpedient so to do.' + + "In the present case I think the evidence on oath as to facts not + alluded to in the official Communication and as to the law of the + United States upon the subject becomes extremely important; I + mean that of Mr Cleland and Mr Alexander Fraser the Attorney for + the City of Detroit. The case appears to be this--Two coloured + persons named Thornton a man and his wife were claimed as slaves + on behalf of some person in the State of Kentucky; that they were + arrested and examined before a magistrate in Detroit and he in + accordance with the law of the United States made his certificate + and directed them to be delivered over as the personal property + of the claimant in Kentucky; that the Sheriff took them into + custody in consequence and that when one of them, (the man) was + on the point of being removed from prison in order to be restored + to his owner he was with circumstances of considerable violence + rescued and escaped to this Province. There appears to be an + error in the deposition accompanying the requisition, the wife + of Thornton is there charged with being one of the persons + assisting in the riot and rescue, whereas it appears that + previous to the day of her husband's rescue she had eluded the + Gaoler in disguise and she was then within this Province; she + therefore does not appear to come within the class of offenders + which the Act contemplates--viz: 'Malefactors who having + committed crimes in foreign Countries have sought an asylum in + this Province.' + + "With regard to Thornton himself, the Attorney of Detroit who has + favoured His Excellency with a certified Copy of the Law of the + United States upon the subject, declares,--that the commitment to + the custody of the Sheriff was illegal--and this is urged + strongly as an equitable consideration against His Excellency's + interference that the Sheriff detained Thornton in custody not as + Sheriff but as agent for the Slave owner and that the law does + not authorize _commitments_ under such circumstances to the + Sheriff, but merely that 'the owner, agent, or attorney may seize + and arrest the fugitive (slave) and take him before the Judge + etc: who upon proof that the person seized owes service to the + claimant &c shall give a certificate thereof to such claimant, + his agent or Attorney which shall be sufficient Warrant for + removing the said fugitive from labour &c.' + + "To this argument as to the illegality of the custody I do not + attach much weight, for admitting that Thornton was not committed + to the custody of Mr. Wilson as Sheriff of Wayne County, still as + we may presume that the Judge's Certificate was properly given, + he might not be the less legally in the custody of Mr Wilson _as + agent to the claimant_ in Kentucky; for the next section of the + act of congress enacts that anyone who '_shall rescue such + fugitive from such claimant or his agent &c shall forfeit and pay + the sum of five hundred dollars &c._' That the custody was legal + according to the law of the United States I have little doubt; + the legality there is officially recognized by the requisition + and it is not a subject for His Excellency's enquiry. Upon this + view of the case and considering that His Excellency in Council + can only restore fugitives charged upon evidence of crimes which + if proved to have been committed in this Province would subject + the offender to 'Death, Corporal punishment by Pillory or + whipping or by confinement at hard labour' and considering this + as a Penal Act which must not be strained beyond the literal + import towards those against whom it is intended to operate; the + result is that our law recognizes no such custody as that of an + agent acting under a warrant for removing a fugitive slave to the + Territory from which he fled, this is an offence which could not + be committed within this Province in any case and therefore that + His Excellency in Council is not by the Act of this Province + either required or authorized to deliver up the persons demanded. + + "I have the Honor to be, Sir, &c., + "(Signed) ROBERT S. JAMESON, _Attorney General_." + + "The Council having again had before them the requisition of the + Governor of the State of Michigan relative to the escape of + certain offenders into this Province deem it mainly important to + their full consideration of the question that besides his opinion + upon the propriety of giving up the persons alluded to the + Attorney General should be requested explicitly to state whether + if a similar outrage had been committed in this Province the + offender or offenders would be liable to undergo any of the + punishments in the act passed last Session. + + "(Signed) JOHN STRACHAN, P.C." + (_Can. Arch._, State J, p. 137.) + + +6. At an Executive Council for Upper Canada held at York, Tuesday, +September 17, 1833, under the presidency of the Rev. Dr. Strachan, the +following proceedings were had: + + "The Council assembled agreeably to the desire of His Excellency + the Lieutenant Governor to take into consideration the + requisition of his Excellency the Governor of Michigan. + + "Read the following letter. + + "'ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE + "'14th September, 1833 + + "_'Sir_ + + "'To the question which the Executive Council have done me the + honor to submit to me in relation to the requisition from the + Governor of Michigan dated 12th August, 1833, whether if a + similar outrage had been committed in this Province the offender + would be liable to undergo any of the punishments stated in the + Act (3 Wm 4, Cap 7) passed at the last Session I have the honor + to answer that a forcible rescue from the custody of the Sheriff + of this Province attended with the aggravated circumstances + detailed in the affidavit of John M. Wilson and Alexander + McArthur accompanying the requisition would undoubtedly subject + the offender and those actively aiding and abetting him to the + gravest punishment in the act, death alone excepted. + + "'I have the honor to be, Sir, &c., + "'(Signed) ROBERT S JAMESON, + "'_Attorney General_. + + "'To John Beikie, Esquire, + "'Clerk, Executive Council,'" + + + "'The Council took the same into consideration and were pleased + to make the following minute thereon. + + "'The Council having had under consideration the requisition of + His Excellency the Governor of Michigan together with the various + papers relative thereto beg leave respectfully to state that as + the question involves matters of great importance in our + relations with a neighbouring state it would be satisfactory to + them if the opinion of the Judges were obtained for their + information,'" (_Can. Arch._, State J. p. 148.) + +7. At an Executive Council for Upper Canada held at York, September +27, 1833, under the presidency of Peter Robinson, the following +proceedings were had: + + "Resumed the consideration of His Excellency G.B. Porter, + Esquire, Governor of Michigan's Letter of the 12th Ultimo which + was read in Council on the 27th and again on the 12th and 17th + Instant. + + "Read also the Attorney General's opinion of the 20th Instant and + the Judges' Report of this date as follows: + + "'ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE + "'20th September, 1833 + "'_Sir_ + + "'To the question which the Executive Council have done me the + Honor to submit to me in relation to the requisition from the + Governor of Michigan dated 12th August, 1833, whether if a + similar outrage had been committed in this Province, the offender + or offenders would be liable to undergo any of the punishments + stated in the Act (3 Wm. 4 c. 7) passed last Session: my opinion + is that a forcible rescue from the custody of the sheriff in this + Province attended with the aggravated circumstances detailed in + the Affidavits of John M. Wilson and Alexander MacArthur though + by the law of England it would subject the offender and those + actively aiding and abetting him to severe corporal punishment, + by the law of the Province as it now stands could not be visited + by a graver punishment than fine and imprisonment which is not + one of those enumerated in the act. + + "'I have the Honor to be, Sir, &c., + "'(Signed) ROBERT S. JAMESON, + "'_Attorney General._ + + + "'To + "'John Beikie, Esq., + "'Clerk, Executive Council.' + + "'JUDGES' REPORT. + + "'York, 27th September, 1833. + + "'May it please Your Excellency + + "'We have the Honor to report to Your Excellency that we have + deliberated upon the reference made to us by Your Excellency's + Command on the 17th September Instant in respect to an + application addressed to Your Excellency by the Government of the + Territory of Michigan requesting that certain persons now + inhabiting this Province may be apprehended and sent to that + country to answer to a charge preferred against them for + assaulting and beating the Sheriff of the County of Wayne and + rescuing a prisoner from his custody. We observe that the recent + act of the Legislature of this Province intituled "An Act to + provide for the apprehending of fugitive offenders from foreign + countries and delivering them up to Justice" (a copy of which we + annex to this report) gives a discretion to the Governor and + Council in carrying into effect its provisions declaring in + express terms that it shall not be incumbent upon them to deliver + up any person charged if for any reason they shall deem is + inexpedient so to do." We take it for granted however + notwithstanding the general terms in which the reference is made + to us, that we are not expected to express our opinion upon what + would or would not be a proper exercise of this discretion. It + does not, indeed, occur to us than any question of political + expediency is presented by the case and if any were, we should + abstain from offering an opinion upon it. + + "'It is to the legal considerations connected with the case that + we have confined ourselves; and in this view of it we beg + respectfully to state that these prisoners having been once + already apprehended and in custody in this Province upon this + same charge and liberated by the decision of the Governor and + Council after a consideration of the case upon an application + made by the Government of Michigan, we should not think fit that + the Governor and Council should authorize a second apprehension + of the parties and exercise a second time the power and + discretion given by the Act--This course we think could not be + approved of unless, in the case of some atrocious offender, new + and strong evidence should be discovered which it was not in the + power of the foreign Government to produce upon a previous + application and for the want of which the prisoners were upon + such first application discharged, or perhaps in a case where + some official or legal formality had by mere accident been + overlooked on the first occasion. + + "'Independently of the consideration that this case has been + already acted upon by the Government, the documents before us + place it in this light: the prisoners with the exception of + Blackburn and his wife are charged with assaulting and beating + the sheriff of Wayne and rescuing a prisoner from his custody, + Blackburn being the prisoner alluded to is charged with joining + in the riot and battery of the Sheriff and with unlawfully + rescuing himself--The wife of Blackburn we cannot find to be + sufficiently charged with any offence known to our laws which do + not acknowledge a state of slavery; for the imputation of + conspiring with the rioters and contriving the rescue is + supported by no evidence and seems to rest on conjecture--The + prisoner Blackburn it appears from the Documents before us was + not committed for felony nor for any crime nor imprisoned for any + cause which by our laws could be recognized as a justification of + imprisonment. We mention this not from any doubt that the + prisoner was in legal custody according to the laws of Michigan + but because the rescue of a prisoner constitutes by our law a + greater or less offence according to the degree of the crime for + which he was committed and this prisoner being committed for no + crime and certainly not for any felony his rescue would according + to our law be a misdemeanor only and a misdemeanor of that kind + that the persons convicted of it would be punished by fine and + imprisonment or either of them and not by any other description + of punishment--The Statute referred to provides in explicit + terms that the persons subject to be delivered up under it to the + justice of a foreign country are those only who shall be charged + "with murder, forgery, larceny or other crime committed without + the jurisdiction of this Province which crimes if committed + within this Province would _by the laws thereof_ be punishable by + _death corporal punishment_ by _pillory_ or _whipping_ or by + confinement at _hard labour_." We are not aware whether the laws + of the Territory of Michigan do or do not authorize the giving up + of offenders charged with crimes not embraced in the above very + comprehensive description; but however that may be, it is evident + that the conduct of this and of other Governments in respect to + the delivery up of offenders can be no further reciprocal towards + each other than the laws of each will allow. We express no + opinion except in reference to the statute recently passed here + for regulating this particular matter--We consider the + Legislature to have declared in that Statute their will in what + cases fugitives from foreign countries should be surrendered; and + we have therefore considered whether the persons in question as + they are not charged with murder forgery or larceny could upon + the facts before us be convicted of any other offence punishable + at hard labour--We apprehend they could not be but that the + offence of which they might be convicted would be punishable by + fine and imprisonment merely without adding "hard labour" to the + sentence. Riot, a Battery of the Sheriff in the execution of his + duty, and the rescue of a person legally in his custody but not + charged with felony or other crime are the offences with which + upon the statements before us they are liable to be charged:--and + all these are offences which in the known and ordinary + administration of the law in this Province would be punished in + no other manner than by fine and mere imprisonment. Instances we + doubt not may be brought from distant times, in which one or + other of the above offences has been punished in England by + Pillory or whipping or by other unusual or disgraceful + punishments and we do not say that these cases altho' they may be + old are so decidedly void of all authority that a judgment which + should now be passed in conformity to them would certainly be + held to be erroneous and bad. But we conceive that in England + such punishments have long ceased to be assigned to the offences + in question; that in this Province they have never been assigned + to them and that recent Statutes which have been passed in + England tend strongly to show that Parliament did not regard them + as punishments which in later times could be properly attached + to such offences without express Legislative sanction. We observe + that there is evidence of one of the persons charged having + pointed a loaded pistol at the Sheriff. If it had been further + stated that he had pulled the trigger or otherwise attempted to + discharge the pistol the act would have been one which in England + is felony, having been first made so by Lord Ellenborough's Act + passed in 1803; but that Act does not extend to this Province and + was never adopted or in force here and if it were otherwise, + still this case upon the facts stated is not within it. Looking + upon the act of pointing or presenting the pistol as one for + which all the rioters were equally responsible it forms an + aggravation of their riot and assault but it does not change the + legal character of their crime it would probably lead to a higher + fine or a longer imprisonment but not to a punishment of another + kind. The riot as it is described was an outrageous one and the + battery of the sheriff appears to have been violent and + cruel--the direct object and intent however seems to have been + the rescue of the Prisoner rather than to take the life of the + sheriff; and even supposing the facts would well support a + conviction for an assault on the Sheriff with an intent _to + murder him_ still by our law such intent would be merely an + aggravation of the riot and assault; it would not alter the + technical character of the crime or the description of punishment + however much it might enhance the fine or lead to increasing the + term of Imprisonment. + + "'The conclusion therefore which we have come to is that these + parties are not charged with any of the offences enumerated in + the statute annexed and consequently that the Lieutenant Governor + and council are not authorized by its provisions to send them out + of the Province. It has not escaped our attention as a peculiar + feature in this case that two of the persons whom the Government + of this Province is requested to deliver up are persons + recognized by the Government of Michigan as slaves and that it + appears upon these documents that if they should be delivered up + they would by the laws of the United States be exposed to be + forced into a state of Slavery from which they had escaped two + years ago when they fled from Kentucky to Detroit; that if they + should be sent to Michigan and upon trial be convicted of the + Riot and punished they would after undergoing their punishment be + subject to be taken by their masters and continued in a state of + Slavery for life, and that on the other hand if they should never + be prosecuted or if they should be tried and acquitted this + consequence would equally follow. Among the Documents before us + we perceive there are papers which have been delivered to the + Government in behalf of the alleged rioters in which this + inevitable consequence is urged as a reason against their being + sent back to Michigan and in which it is intimated that to place + the slaves again within the power of their masters is the + principal object and that the Government of Michigan in making + application for them is rather influenced by the interest and + wishes of the slave owners than by any desire to bring the + parties to trial for the alleged riot. No consideration of this + kind has had any weight with us, for in the first place as + regards the insinuation against the motives of the Government of + Michigan if we had any thing to do with them we should consider + (as no doubt this Government would consider in any similar case) + that courtesy towards the Government of a foreign country + requires always to assume that it has no motive or design on + these occasions which is not just and fair and in short none but + such as is openly avowed. And in the next place as to the + consequence spoken of--If it would follow in course from the laws + of the United States it is not probable that the Executive + Government there would prevent the slave masters from asserting + their rights under those laws and it is therefore reasonable to + suppose that the consequence may really follow which the parties + concerned have represented. Still if in this case the black + people whose arrest is applied for had been shown to have fled + from a charge for any such offence as would clearly come within + our Statute, we do not conceive that we could on that account + have advised a course to be pursued in regard to them different + from that which should be pursued with respect to free white + persons under the same circumstances. When we say this we should + desire it to be understood that we are so clearly of opinion on + the other hand, that the withdrawing from a state of Slavery in a + foreign Country could not here be treated as an offence with + reference to our statute already alluded to so that any person + could be surrendered up under that statute upon such a ground + merely. We beg leave to express to Your Excellency our regret for + the delay that has occurred in answering the reference which Your + Excellency and the Honorable the Executive Council have thought + fit to make to us. Among other causes which have led to it was a + doubt at first entertained among us whether we could properly + give an opinion upon a matter which under possible circumstances + might give rise to a judicial proceeding in which the same + question would come before us or some one of us for decision. An + examination of this subject has removed this doubt and we now + submit our opinion to Your Excellency with such explanations as + seemed to us to be material. + + "'We have the Honor to be + "'Your Excellency's Most obedient + "and humble Servants + "'(Signed) "'JOHN B. ROBINSON, C. J. + "'L. P. SHERWOOD--J. + "'J. B. MACAULEY--J.'" + + "Upon which the council were pleased to make the following + Report. + + "'_To His Excellency_, Sir John Colborne, K.C.B., Lieutenant + Governor of the Province of Upper Canada and Major General + Commanding His Majesty's Forces therein--&c----&c &c + + "'May it please Your Excellency + + "'The Council have had under consideration the papers relating to + the requisition of the acting Governor of Michigan, together with + evidence furnished by His Excellency the Governor of that + Territory accompanied by a further requisition for the delivery + of the fugitives--they have also had before them the opinions of + the three Judges and of the Attorney General with which they + concur and have been led to the conclusion that the fugitive + Slaves named in the requisitions are not charged with an offence + which would have rendered them liable to any of the punishments + enumerated in the Provincial Statute and consequently that the + Lieutenant Governor and Council are not authorized by its + provisions to send them out of the Province.'" (_Can. Arch._, + State J, p. 155.) + +8. At an Executive Council for Upper Canada held at Toronto, Saturday, +September 9, 1837, under the presidency of the Honourable William +Allen, the following proceedings were had: + + "Read the Attorney General's Report of the 8th instant on + Documents for the surrender of Jesse Happy, a fugitive from + Justice in the United States charged with horse stealing--upon + which the Council made the following Report + + "'The Council have taken into serious consideration the Documents + with the Reports of the Attorney General + + "'A similar application referred for the Report of the Council on + the 7th Instant--In that case as in the present it was suggested + that the fugitive was a slave, and that the real object of the + application was not so much to bring him to trial for the alleged + Felony as to reduce him again to a state of Slavery--In that case + however it appeared that the Offence had been recently committed + viz: in May last--That an early occasion, probably the first, was + taken to have him indicted--that process for his apprehension + immediately issued and that shortly after the return of the + Sheriff to that process the requisition from His Excellency the + Governor of the State of Kentucky was obtained and promptly + brought to this Province. Under these circumstances the Council + were of opinion that in the exercise of a sound discretion they + were called upon to recommend to Your Excellency to comply with + the requisition--The facts appearing upon the Official Documents + in this case are widely different--The Alleged Offence purports + to have been committed more than four years ago. When the + Indictment was preferred is not shown (as it was in the former + case) but the earliest date which shows its existence is 1st June + 1835 when the certificate of the Clerk of the Court is given. No + process seems to have been issued in the State of Kentucky nor is + any other step shown to have been taken until the middle of last + month. There also it is suggested that the fugitive is a slave + that the real object of his apprehension is to give him up to his + former owners and so to deprive him of that personal liberty + which the laws of this country secure him. If this be conceded in + the present instance after a lapse of four years, no argument + could be consistently urged against the delivery up (on the usual + application) of persons who have been still longer resident in + this Province. + + "'The delivery of a Slave under these circumstances to the + authorities claiming him would it is clear subject him to a + double penalty, the one of punishment for a crime, the other of a + return to a state of Slavery, even if he should be acquitted. The + former in strict accordance with our Statute, the other in direct + opposition to the genius of our institutions and the spirit of + our Laws. For this cause the Council feel great difficulty in the + course which they would advise Your Excellency to adopt, were + there any law by which, after taking his trial and if convicted + undergoing his sentence he would be restored to a state of + freedom, the Council would not hesitate to advise his being given + up but there is no such provision in the Statute. + + "'On the other hand the Council feel that it cannot be permitted + that because a man may happen to be a fugitive slave he should + escape those consequences of crime committed in a foreign country + to which a free man would be amenable. This would be equally + contrary to the Law and to the spirit of mutual justice which + gave origin to it, in this Province as well as in the United + States. Considering however the circumstances of this case and + also the difficulty that might arise from it as a precedent the + Council respectfully recommend that time should be given to the + accused to furnish affidavits of the facts set forth in the + Petition presented on his behalf in order to a full understanding + of the whole matter. + + "'The Council would further respectfully submit to Your + Excellency the propriety of drawing the attention of Her + Majesty's Government to this question with a view of ascertaining + their views upon it as a matter of general policy.'" (_Can. + Arch._, State J, p. 597.) + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] For these documents Mr. Justice Riddell is indebted to Mr. William +Smith of the Department of Archives, Ottawa, Canada. + + + + +ADDITIONAL LETTERS OF NEGRO MIGRANTS OF 1916-1918[1] + + +LETTERS STATING THAT WAGES RECEIVED ARE NOT SATISFACTORY + + + BROOKHAVEN, MISS., April 24, 1917. + + _Gents:_ The cane growers of Louisiana have stopped the exodus + from New Orleans, claiming shortage of labor which will result in + a sugar famine. + + Now these laborers thus employed receive only 85 cents a day and + the high cost of living makes it a serious question to live. + + There is a great many race people around here who desires to come + north but have waited rather late to avoid car fare, which they + have not got. isnt there some way to get the concerns who wants + labor, to send passes here or elsewhere so they can come even if + they have to pay out of the first months wages? Please dont + publish this letter but do what you can towards helping them to + get away. If the R. R. Co. would run a low rate excursion they + could leave that way. Please ans. + + + JACKSONVILLE, FLA., April 4, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I have been taking defender for sevel months and I + have seen that there is lots good work in that section and I want + to say as you are the editor of that paper I wish that you would + let me know if there is any wheare up there that I can get in + with an intucion that I may get my wife and my silf from down + hear and can bring just as miney more as he want we are suffing + hear all the work is giveing to poor white peples and we can not + get anything to doe at all I will go to pennsylvania or n y state + or N J or Ill. or any wheare that I can surport my wife I am past + master of son of light in Mass. large Royal arch and is in good + standing all so the good Sancer large no. 18. I need helpe my + wife cant get any thing to due eather can I so please if you can + see any body up there that want hands let me no at once I can get + all they need and it will alow me to get my wife away from down + hear so please remember and ans. I will apreshate it. + + Looking for ans at once. Please let me no some thing thease + crackers is birds in south + + + NASHVILLE, TENN., April 22, 1917. + + _Sir:_ I am in Nashville and I have a job but is not satisfied + with the money that I am getting for my work and I ask of you to + please give me a good job working any place I am a expirence fire + man and all so some expirence in engineer and please answer soon + and let me know what you can find for me to do. + + + ALEXANDRIA, LA., June 6, 1917. + + _Dear Sirs:_ I am writeing to you all asking a favor of you all. + I am a girl of seventeen. School has just closed I have been + going to school for nine months and I now feel like I aught to go + to work. And I would like very very well for you all to please + forward me to a good job. but there isnt a thing here for me to + do, the wages here is from a dollar and a half a week. What could + I earn Nothing. I have a mother and father my father do all he + can for me but it is so hard. A child with any respect about her + self or his self wouldnt like to see there mother and father work + so hard and earn nothing I feel it my duty to help. I would like + for you all to get me a good job and as I havent any money to + come on please send me a pass and I would work and pay every cent + of it back and get me a good quite place to stay. My father have + been getting the defender for three or four months but for the + last two weeks we have failed to get it. I dont know why. I am + tired of down hear in this ---- / I am afraid to say. Father seem + to care and then again dont seem to but Mother and I am tired + tired of all of this I wrote to you all because I believe you + will help I need your help hopeing to here from you all very + soon. + + + ATLANTA, GA., April 29, 1917. + + SIR: I am a young man 25 years of age. I desire to get in some + place where I can earn more for my labor than I do now, which is + $1.25 per day. I do not master no trade but I have finished a + correspondence course with the practical auto school of New York + City and with a little experience I would make a competent + automobile man, but I do not ask for your assistance on this + line of business only. I am willing to do anything for better + wages. + + P.S. I would like if you knows if there is an auto school any + where where colored men can go to and learn the automobile + industry to give me their address. + + + JACKSONVILLE, FLA., April 30, 1917. + + _Kind sir:_ In reading the Chicago Defender I saw where laborers + are wanted and of course not knowing whether you would send + transportation this far or not I would like a good job in the + north where I can earn more for my labor and would like for you + to help me out if you would. I am now working at the Clyde Line + and they are cutting off help every day of course I dont know + about this moulding work but am very quick to learn any thing + most any kind of work for a laboring man, dont play on the job. + all I ask of you is a trial, willing and ready to go to work any + time I hear from you. Please ans soon. willing to Detroit + Michigan or any part of the north. + + + _Sirs:_ I am writing to find out if there is any way that you + could find me a job. I would be very glad for you to do so and I + will see that you wont loose nothing if I can get the job. work + no good here for a black man. And I want to leave this place. But + I cannot make the money to leave on and I hope you will do all + you can in the way of helping me to secure a job and I hope you + will let me here from you in short. + + + WILMINGTON, N. C., May 4, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ Wright a fiew words for work i ask to hand this + editor to read we are work mens wont to work but wages is so + little we cant get out we wont to leave the south and work. Pleas + wright let me know 10 mens able body men will stick to work we + well come. + + + DALLAS, TEX., April 30, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I read your advertisement in the Chicago Defender and + having been unable to find work here I want a chance of this kind + also a friend of mine, we are both willing to work. Tell me how + soon you can send and how many you are willing to send for. + + + AUGUSTA, GA., 5-28-17. + + _Gentlemens:_ In reading the defender the paper of our race the + numerous wanted of labor in your state I would like make some of + the good pay for God knows we need it in Augusta. Gentlemens I + made very effort to come out in Illinois or some other place + where I can live deason. I have payed as much as too dollars & + that I cant get away from here, we can scarcely live in Augusta + not say anything about debt. I wish you gentlemens would asist me + in getting away from here not only my self but some friends or + send an agent threw here I mean agent not some so call agent--or + if you gentlemens see I get a transportation I am real in what I + am saying any kind that a living in. I am twenty years + exspierince in yellow pine lumber willing to do any thing else + that pays gentlemens answer at once. I like to come now to get + settled by winter. + + + PENSACOLA, FLA., April 23, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I saw your advice in the Chicago Defender I thought + to wright for farther in fennashion I would be glad to now how I + can get ther I am a laborn man want to get where work is + plentiful & good wedges i want to get in a Christian nise place i + have a good family and car for them I want to come up there to + see the place & then latter on send for family can u send for me + or describe me to some one who will send for me. + + + ST. LOUIS, April 28, 1917. + + _Dear Gentlemens:_ I have been advise through the columns of the + Chicago Defender to get in connection with you as they claim that + you are in position to look after colored labor and help I am + anxious to get a study position in some small villiage or town + near Chicago. I am from Alabama and dont believe in loafing I am + now employed at a firm as porter, packer, asst. shipping clerk + but I cant live on the pay. I am to go to Detroit next Saturday + but if I can hear from you I would rother take your advise. + Please let me hear from you. I was intending to go by Chicago and + call on you but I thought it wise to write because here in St. + Louis they dont like to see a man idle. + + + _Dear sir:_ I am a reader of the Chicago Defender and enjoy it + very much. I saw in todays defender where labor was wanter + transportation advanced from Chicago. Now I have a good steady + position where I have been working for three years with the + American Sugar refinery but I would like to make a change I know + that I can better my condition where I work it 12 hours. + Therefore I would welcome the 8 hours with pleasure. Please send + me full information. I would like to get a transportation for my + self and son 16 years of age. I will enclose self address + envelope for a reply at once. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., 4/30/17. + + _Sir:_ In reading the Chicago paper we find advertisement asking + for labor men. I am a man of family and would like very much to + come to this kind of job but having a wife and five children to + support couldnt very well leave on a railroad pass as I hate to + leave my family behind without support for at one dollar and + seventy five cents per day I couldnt do very much in a short + while. Now will you please inform me of this transportation that + is advertised. I am a colored man weighs about 160 pounds and + forty nine years old. Please write me full particulars at this + address. + + + COLLINS, MISS., April 7, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I saw where you needed labor and I am a hard working + man but I cant make above a living here and hardly that and so if + you can assist me your kindness will never be forgotten. I shall + look to hear from you by return mail. + + + GREENVILLE, S. C., April 29, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I would like for you to write me and tell me how is + time up there and jobs is to get. I would like for you to get me + a job and my wife. She is a no. 1 good cook, maid, nurse job I am + a fireing boiler, steame fitter and experiences mechencs helpe + and will do laboring work if you can not get me one off those + jobs above that i can do. I have work in a foundry as a molder + helper and has lots of experense at that. I am 27 yrs of age. If + you can get me job I would like for you to do so please and let + me no and will pay for trouble. looking to hear from you wright + away please if you new off any firm that needs a man give them my + address please I wont to get out of the south where I can demand + something for my work. I will close. + + + LUTCHER, LA., May 13, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I have been reading the Chicago defender and seeing + so many advertisements about the work in the north I thought to + write you concerning my condition. I am working hard in the south + and can hardly earn a living. I have a wife and one child and can + hardly feed them. I thought to write and ask you for some + information concerning how to get a pass for myself and family. I + dont want to leave my family behind as I cant hardly make a + living for them right here with them and I know they would fare + hard if I would leave them. If there are any agents in the south + there havent been any of them to Lutcher if they would come here + they would get at least fifty men. Please sir let me hear from + you as quick as possible. Now this is all. Please dont publish my + letter, I was out in town today talking to some of the men and + they say if they could get passes that 30 or 40 of them would + come. But they havent got the money and they dont know how to + come. But they are good strong and able working men. If you will + instruct me I will instruct the other men how to come as they all + want to work. Please dont publish this because we have to whisper + this around among our selves because the white folks are angry + now because the negroes are going north. + + + WINSTON, N. C., May 17, 1917. + + _Dear Friend:_ a little information i am asking concerning work i + am a stranger to you and you is one to me but i saw your optunity + to the colorred people of the south as i am a reader of the + Defender and all so the new York age to i seen Sunday that you is + wanting labers i wants to come up there i am working eavery day + but wedges is cheap don her i am a firman and cannot make a + living hardly and am married man too. if you can secure me a job + and send me past for me and a nother friend he is married no + children i would like to lern how to do molding as the colorred + man is bared of from that kind of work in the south. + + + JACKSONVILLE, FLA., May 18, 1917. + + _Sir:_ this is John ----. will you please get me a job as I have + had bad luck an it left me in pour shape I am a molder and + machinists but I will work as helpe a while jest I an wife sen + transpertation for two I an wife. + + + JACKSONVILLE, FLA., May 5, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ Kindly inform me by return mail are there any + factories or concerns employing colored laborers, skilled or + unskilled, the south is ringing with news from Chicago telling of + the wonderful openings for colored people, and I am asking you to + find the correct information whether I could get employment there + or not. Please find postage enclosed for immediate reply. + + + CHARLESTON, S. C., April 29, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I saw your add in the Chicago Defender where you + wanted laborers and I taught that this would be a grand + oppotunity for me to better my present conditions so I taught I + would write you and ask you would you be kind enough as to give + me a job dear sir. I am a single man and would be willing to do + any kind of work, dear sir would you be kind enough as to forward + me a transportation and I would come write away so please do the + best you can for me. There is but little down here to be gotten + dear sir will you kindly grant me that favor. Hopeing to receive + a favorable answer. + + GREENWOOD, S. C., May 8, 1917. + + _Dear Friend:_ I saw in the Chicago Defender where you waned + labor. pleas send pass for as many men as you can are let me know + what I must do to get one by return mail because I wont to leave + the south and go north where you get a better chance. So please + answer at once. + + + SUMTER, S. C., May 12, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ Could you get me a job in the ---- Tin Plate Factory + at ----, Pa. a job for (3) three also a pass from here for (3) I + am a comon laborer and the other are the same. If you could we + will be ever so much ablige and will comply with your + advertisement. If you cant get a job just where we wish to go we + will thank you for a good job any where in the state of Pa. or + Ohio. I am in my 50 the others are my sons just in the bloom of + life and I would wish that you could find a place where we can + make a living and I also wish that you could find a place where + we all three can be together. If you will send us a pass we will + come just as soon as I receive it. If you find a place that you + can send us please let us hear what the job will pay. Nothing + more. I am yours respectfully. + + + CARRIER, MISS., May, 1917. + + Please sir will you please send me transportation for me and my + wife I am willing to work anywhere you put me at the rate I am + going it would take me from now until Cristmas to feed myself and + get money enough to come with. Wages is so low and grocery is so + high untill all I can do is to live. Please answer soon to. + + + NEWBERN, ALA., 5-21-1917. + + _My dear Sir:_ Your letter of the 11th inst. to hand and contents + noted. In reply I wish to thank you for the kind offer relative + to the laides. We shall leave for New York on or before June + 20th; I desire to know if it be possible to secure our + transportation fare from the parties to whom they shall work? + Owing to conditions (here) in the south one is hardly able to eke + out an existence on the paltry salaries allowed by our white + friends; therefore we need help. If you can comply with our + request, we shall be very grateful to you; & I wish to say in + advance that you will not have cause to regret for whatever the + charges may be we shall pay them willingly. I shall furnish the + best references as to character. + + Now, if it be possible for us to secure our transportation, we + could leave here on or before the 5th of June. We prefer coming + by water as it is cheaper. I trust that I have made myself plain + and that you will see your way clear to serve us. + + + NEWBERN, ALA., 4/7/1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I am in receipt of a letter from ---- of ----, ----, + in regards to placing two young women of our community in + positions in the North or West, as he was unable to give the + above assistance he enclosed your address. We desire to know if + you are in a position to put us in touch with any reliable firm + or private family that desire to employ two young women; one is a + teacher in the public school of this county, and has been for the + past six years having duties of a mother and sister to care for + she is forced to seek employment else where as labor is very + cheap here. The other is a high school pupil, is capable of + during the work of a private family with much credit. + + Doubtless you have learned of the great exodus of our people to + the north and west from this and other southern states. I wish to + say that we are forced to go when one things of a grown man wages + is only fifty to seventy five cents per day for all grades of + work. He is compelled to go where there is better wages and + sociable conditions, believe me. When I say that many places here + in this state the only thing that the black man gets is a peck of + meal and from three to four lbs. of bacon per week, and he is + treated as a slave. As leaders we are powerless for we dare not + resent such or to show even the slightest disapproval. Only a few + days ago more than 1000 people left here for the north and west. + They cannot stay here. The white man is saying that you must not + go but they are not doing anything by way of assisting the black + man to stay. As a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church + (north) I am on the verge of starvation simply because of the + above conditions. I shall be glad to know if there is any + possible way by which I could be of real service to you as + director of your society. Thanking you in advance for an early + reply, and for any suggestions that you may be able to offer. + + With best wishes for your success, I remain, + very sincerely yours. + + + BREWSTER, ALA., Jan. 6, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I am writing you enregards if work in the north I + would like to came in turch with some of the leading men that + wants colerd laborer and what about transportation there is a + good deal of peple here wanting jobs. + + + TROY, ALA., 3-24-17. + + _Dear Sir:_ I received you of Feb. 17 and was very delighted to + hear from you in regards of the matter in which I writen you + about. I am very anxious to get to Chicago and realy believe that + if I was there I would very soom be working on the position in + which I writen you about. Now you can just imagine how it is with + the colored man in the south. I am more than anxious to go to + Chicago but have not got the necessary fund in which to pay my + way and these southern white peoples are not paying a man enough + for his work down here to save up enough money to leave here + with. Now I am asking you for a helping hand in which to assist + me in getting to Chicago. I know you can do so if you only will. + + Hoping to hear from you at an early date and looking for a + helping hand and also any information you choose to inform me of, + + I remain as ever yours truly. + + + COLUMBIA, S. C., Dec. 1, 1917. + + _Dear Ser:_ I am out of work and was inform to write you all + about work in the north I am a labor and is willing to work any + where. I am in need of work very bad let me here from you at + once. + + + CHARLESTON, S. C., April 27, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ i was told by Mr. ---- ---- to rite you for one of + cards as he say you got a lot of work to do in a brick yard and i + am a hard working man i want to work and will work at any thing + that pays so i rite to you for one of your blank so i can fill it + out i dont care how soon i can get there and go to work there is + no work here that pays a man to stay here so please send blank as + soon as you can. Hoping to here from you soon. + + + SAVANNAH, GA., April 29, 1917. + + _Dear sir:_ I receive your letter and glad to hear from you, the + reason why i wanted to come up there is for more wages, i am a + man with family and works hard, but dont get sufficient wages to + support my family. i does any kind of ordinary hard work such as + farming or teamster or most anything, i would like to no what + kind of work you got up there to do as i fell satisfied that i + could please you, and also state your price that you pay, and if + this application is satisfactory why ans and i am willing to come + right way. + + + _Dear Sir:_ After reading a very interesting letter of Miss--, it + affords me great interest to ask you for some information in + regards to employment in Connecticut and to eliminate some + writing and get the right understanding. I will ask you to please + furnish me with an application form and in the mean time I may + receive all information that you may give. Also please if you + cannot get me employment in Connecticut, write me if there are + any openings in New Jersey or New York. I am very anxious to + leave the south as there are no chances of jobs here worth while. + I have a recommendation as machine helper which I can send if + required. + + Hoping to have an interview as early as possible. + + + SAVANNAH, GA., May 1, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ In seeing your advertisement in reference to securing + a position for those desiring, I decided to take advantage of + this opportunity as I desire better wages to meet the present + high cost of living. + + Hoping to hear from you at once in reference to the above + request. + + + FORT GAINES, GA., Oct. 9, 1916. + + _Dear Sir:_ Replying to your letter dates Oct. 6th the situation + here is this: Heavy rains and Boll weavel has caused a loss of + about 9,000 bales of cotton which together with seed at the + prevailing high prices would have brought $900,000.00 the average + crop here being 11,000 bales, but this years' crop was + exceptionally fine and abundant and promised good yeald until the + two calamities hit us. + + Now the farmer is going to see that his personal losses are + minimised as far as possible and this has left the average farm + laborer with nothing to start out with to make a crop for next + year, nobody wants to carry him till next fall, he might make + peanuts and might not, so taking it alround, he wants to migrate + to where he can see a chance to get work. + + I have carpenters, one brick mason, blacksmith, etc., wanting to + leave here, can send you their names if definate proposition is + held out. + + + HOUSTON, TEX., 2-25-17. + + _Dear Sir:_ Would you please to be so kind to advise us on what + condition to get in tuch with some club on micration movement we + have 1000 of idle people here and good working people would be + trully glad to except of that good oppertunity of coming north + and work. Now please give us the full detales of the movingment + so we can get to gether now please advise right away of the main + headquarters of the club for we are ready for business just as + soon as we can get a understanding from the main club for we have + lots of people in Tex. want to no direct about it and want to go. + We take your paper in this citey and your paper was all we had to + go by so we are depending on you for farther advise. Dear editor + you muss excuse our bad letter for we rote it in a hurry. + + + KEATCHIE, LA., 12/8/16. + + _Dear Sir:_ I have been reading in the Union-Review and other + papers about the work of your department and I am writing to you + for some information. I would like to know about general + conditions, as to wages, cost of living, living conditions etc. + + Also as to persons of color adopting themselves to the northern + climate, having been reared in the south. This information would + be much appreciated and would be also of much interest to not + only the writer of this letter but to many more. Many books would + be written dealing with conditions here in regard to the Negro. + Compared with other things to which we have almost become + resigned, the high cost of living coupled with unreasonably low + wages is of greatest concern. We have learned to combat with more + or less success other conditions, but thousands of us can bearly + keep body and soul together with wages 60, 75 and $1.00 and meat + at 19, flour $10 and $12 per bbl and everything else according. + + + LIVE OAK, FLA., Feb. 12, 1917. + + _Dare Sire:_ Replying to youse some times ago were reseav an was + glad to here from you so please let me no how is bisness up + nourth and cod I get a job as I wont to go nourth as we dont get + half pay for our wourk down here so please let me here from you + an can I get a persistion in youre city. + + + SAVANNAH, GA., May 1, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I write you to let you know that I am out of + employment as jobs are very hard to find down here and I would + like to have a job in your firm in N.Y. as I have relatives there + I can pack tobacco and I would like very much to work in your + firm in N.Y. or Conn. and I would like for you to send me a + ticket as soon as possible. + + + LITTLE ROCK, ARK., 5/2/17. + + _Der Sir:_ It affordes me much pleasure to write to you a few + lines in regardes of a posision sir i were reared in the state of + ill. your home state, but have been here for eight years working + as a helper in a blacksmith shop and have been taking the + Defender regular for a long time so i have decided to come back + to my home state once more where i can get better pay so o will + ask you to please help me in getting a good job. i wont to learn + the molders trade or some good trade that i can make more than i + am making here. i am a Christian and have been for 20 years. am a + member of the first Baptist Church here an a member of the United + Brethren of Odd Fellows and is in good standing. now please + assist me just as soon as possible i am ready to come up just as + soon as i get a hearing from you. Please look after it for me at + once if you can not get me a job in your town, I will go anny + place you send me. + + + JACKSON, MISS., April 20, 1917. + + _Sir:_ i wants to know do yo want somme famlis to move up their + if you do rite and let me no at once and i will get yo some at + once to come up their to work for you if you do rite an let me no + at once and i will get them. now write an let me no at once send + me work an i will try to bill your wont if you will aide me to + get them up their i can get all that yo wont here to come up + their and will come if they had any way to comt i wont to come + but the times is so harde that i cant make the money to come on i + want to move up their at once if i hade some way to come i wod + come at once. + + + CHARLESTON, S.C., April 29, 1917. + + _dear sir:_ I found your address by Mr. ---- ---- kindness. I + wrote him a letter concerning of a just a half of chance and any + kind of a job will do just so I am out of this part of the + country. Now here is my lines of work. I am a first class clothes + cleaner and presser, can operate any kind of clothes pressing + machine. I have got reference to show that I am good in that line + from Mr. ----, a member of our city. I am a waiter european or + american, alicout or short order, and I am bell hop and knows the + rules of a hotel. I am lawfully married and has no children. My + wife and myself are both from Augusta, Ga. but I am working down + here but I dont like it, I am just barely making a living and + thats all. Now my wife can work too. She can cook, nurse and do + house work, I simply make a distintion about my home being in + Augusta Ga for this reason, some Charlestonians speaks such bad + language. Now please do the best you can for me and let me hear + from you as soon, as possible and let me know your terms. I am + ready. Good-by. + + + HAWKINSVILLE, GA., Apr. 16, 1917. + + _My dear friends:_ I writen you some time ago and never received + any answer at all. I just was thinking why that I have not. I + writen you for employ on a farm or any kind of work that you can + give me to do I am willing to do most any thing that you want me + to so dear friends if you just pleas send ticket for me I will + come up thear just as soon as I receives it I want to come to the + north so bad tell I really dont no what to do. I am a good worker + a young boy age of 23. The reason why I want to come north is why + that the people dont pay enough for the labor that a man can do + down here so please let me no what can you do for me just as + soon as you can I will pay you for the ticket and all so enything + on your money that you put in the ticket for me, and send any + kind of contrak that you send me. + + + HOUSTON, TEX., 4-29-17. + + _Dear Sir:_ I am a constant reader of the "Chicago Defender" and + in your last issue I saw a want ad that appealed to me. I am a + Negro, age 37, and am an all round foundry man. I am a cone maker + by trade having had about 10 years experience at the buisness, + and hold good references from several shops, in which I have been + employed. I have worked at various shops and I have always been + able to make good. It is hard for a black man to hold a job here, + as prejudice is very strong. I have never been discharged on + account of dissatisfaction with my work, but I have been "let + out" on account of my color. I am a good brassmelter but i prefer + core making as it is my trade. I have a family and am anxious to + leave here, but have not the means, and as wages are not much + here, it is very hard to save enough to get away with. If you + know of any firms that are in need of a core maker and whom you + think would send me transportation, I would be pleased to be put + in touch with them and I assure you that effort would be + appreciated. I am a core maker but I am willing to do any honest + work. All I want is to get away from here. I am writing you and I + believe you can and will help me. If any one will send + transportation, I will arrange or agree to have it taken out of + my salary untill full amount of fare is paid. I also know of + several good fdry. men here who would leave in a minute, if there + only was a way arranged for them to leave, and they are men whom + I know personally to be experienced men. I hope that you will + give this your immediate attention as I am anxious to get busy + and be on my way. I am ready to start at any time, and would be + pleased to hear something favorable. + + + CHARLESTON, S. C., April 29, 1917. + + _Kind Sir:_ Read your adv. in the Chicago Defender. I would like + very much to have you take me in consideration. I am strong and + ambitious. Would work under any conditions to get away from this + place for I am working and throwing away my valuable time for + nothing. Kindly let me hear from you at your earliest. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., June 10, 1917. + + _Kind Sir:_ I read and hear daly of the great chance that a + colored parson has in Chicago of making a living with all the + priveleg that the whites have and it mak me the most ankious to + want to go where I may be able to make a liveing for my self. + When you read this you will think it bery strange that being only + my self to support that it is so hard, but it is so. everything + is gone up but the poor colerd peple wages. I have made sevle + afford to leave and come to Chicago where I hear that times is + good for us but owing to femail wekness has made it a perfect + failure. I am a widow for 9 years. I have very pore learning + altho it would not make much diffrent if I would be throughly + edacated for I could not get any better work to do, such as house + work, washing and ironing and all such work that are injering to + a woman with femail wekness and they pay so little for so hard + work that it is just enough to pay room rent and a little some + thing to eat. I have found a very good remady that I really + feeling to belive would cure me if I only could make enough money + to keep up my madison and I dont think that I will ever be able + to do that down hear for the time is getting worse evry day. I am + going to ask if you peple hear could aid me in geting over her in + Chicago and seeking out a position of some kind. I can also do + plain sewing. Please good peple dont refuse to help me out in my + trouble for I am in gret need of help God will bless you. I am + going to do my very best after I get over here if God spair me to + get work I will pay the expance back. Do try to do the best you + can for me, with many thanks for so doing I will remain as ever, + + Yours truly. + + + MCCOY, LA., April 16, 1917. + + _Dear Editor:_ I have been takeing your wonderful paper and I + have saved from the first I have received and my heart is upset + night and day. I am praying every day to see some one that I may + get a pass for me, my child and husband I have a daughter 17 who + can work well and myself. please sir direct me to the place where + I may be able to see the parties that I and my family whom have + read the defender so much until they are anxious to come dear + editor we are working people but we cant hardly live here I would + say more but we are back in the jungles and we have to lie low + but please sir answer and I pray you give me a homeward + consilation as we havent money enough to pay our fairs. + + + HERNANDO, MISS., April 30, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I have heard so much about the demand for negro labor + and the high price paid for it in the northern part of this + country (the U. S.). I've decided to investigate the rumor from + the most reliable source. And as it generally known that + newspaper men are the best informed, therefore have thought to + request of you for the particulars of the matter. Will you + furnish me the desired information or point out such party, or + parties that can and will do so. (Personal.) + + + PENSACOLA, FLA., April 30, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ Please send me at once a transportation at once I + will sure come if I live send it as soon as possible because + these white people are getting so they put every one in prison + who are not working I can not get any I can do any kind of common + labor. I am a brick layer also a painter I want to go to + Cleveland and I have good health and will do my best to improve. + They are two family my mother want to come she is a good cook + house clean, so all she want is information. I am not going to + bring my family when I come I am gong to send back for it. Dont + fail to send my Fla. transportation by return mail if you want I + can get them as many as you want. + + + JACKSONVILLE, FLA., April 29, 1917. + + _Dear sir:_ reading the Chicago Defender seeing thair are still + plenty work in the north I am an automobile repaire and wishes + position at once as I am out of employmen and are a man of family + and a working man indeed. Hoping to receive ticket by Return Mail + or anser + + + FULLERTON, LA., April 30, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I was looking over a news paper and seen your address + and has been wanting to go some where in you country where i can + get better wedges and i would like to come up there of corse i + dont know anything about that work but i can learn it in a short + while. and if you can give me a job i would like to know and i + want to know weather you will send me a pass or not i has a wife + an i would like to know will you send me a pass for i and my wife + if you will i want you to write me and let me know as soon as you + can and tell we what you can do about the matter so this all + + + HOUSTON, TEX., April 29, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I thought I would write you a few lines of importance + I ask you to help me that much the lord will help you I am a + christians I try to make a honest living a man ought to help + another when he try to help his self. this is only one I will do + any kind of work if any company pass in up their I can pay half + of my fare. I am motherless and fatherless I dont care when I go + I am gone trust in the lord if you yill help me the Lord will pay + you I am with donfident I am not a loafer If my fare is advance + up their it a written contract that I will work it out. + + May God bless you. Answer soon + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., April 30, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: I write you a few lines asking you if there is a + chance please let me know I can do most any kind of work labor or + helper packer willing to learn a trade I see where they sends + transportation well I would be willing if one of the firms would + send me a pass then when I start to work for them they could take + it out of my wages every week untill it was paid for. All I ask + is give me a chance and I will make good. Hopeing that my letter + will meet with your Apporval and if there is a firm that is + willing to send me a pass to come to work up there Please show + them my letter and they can deduck out of my wages for the pass. + Hopeing that you will hear of one of the firms that wants + laborers and Helpers and that they will let me know when writing + adress is to + + G---- A----, ---- ---- Ave. New Orleans, La. + + Please write and let me know if theres a chance. I remain yours + + + PENSACOLA, FLA., 4/29/17. + + _Dear Sir:_ in reading the Chicago Defender I saw yore wants add + for foundry ware house and yard men I do truly ask you to pleas + give me some instruction How I can get there I am a working man I + am not sport or a gamble or class with them if I kno it But I am + study evry day working man of family wife and one child 9 years + old but this is hard time in the south now and I have not the + means to come. But if you can get me up there I will give you + good service in yore ware house and yard work. My daily work has + been in a ware house for the past 6 years and i kno one more good + man that want to come too with family and would be glad to get + up there as soon as I can. I will garntee you good and reglar + service from Both of us. + + Hopeing to here from you soon + + + PENSACOLA, FLA., April 30, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: Im a reader of the Defender, and I saw in this weeks + issue where you stated that three cities were in need of moulders + and helpers. And as I have once worked in a foundry, as a helper + I have some experience of the work and would like very much to + know under what conditions could you put me in touch with a firm + in a small size town, where it would send me a transportation. + + I would leave tomorrow, if I had such opportunity. I am married, + have a wife and two small children, and cant support them in this + place properly. + + Hoping to receive some kind of reply. + + + SAVANNAH, GA., April 29, 1918. + + _Dear Sir_: I were reading your advertisement in the Chicago + Defender where you were in need for men at the ---- ----. I am a + hard working man in the south and get nothing for it I would like + to recive a hearing from you in return mail in rgard of seeking a + transportation for me and my nephew if you will send for me and + my nephew I will come at once and I garantee you that you wont + regret it. We are hard workers of the south please oblige. + + Answer at once return mail I will be at your call. + + + MOBILE, ALA., April 30, 1917 + + _Dear Sir_: I was reading in the Chicago defender where They + wanted so many men to work. I am very anxious to work. I can do + most any kind of work I have been out of a job ever since + January. will you please try and get me in Chicago, so that I can + be able to get one of those jobs. please get me a job. I have a + wife and we can hardly live in this place. I am a machinist by + trade. I am a Schauffer also. I can repair an auto to. please + send for me at once, as I am in need of work. + + My age is 25 years and my wife is 21 years. My name is ---- + + + SAVANNAH, GA., April 24, 1917. + + _Gentlemen:_ As I my self intend to go north or some place where + I can get good wages so as to better my condition and aim to go + in a few days if I can get off right. I would have been gone + before now but I could not save enough money out of small wages + and high cost of living to get away, since I saw a piece in the + Chicago Defender about you I am eager to get in touch with you at + once as I understand you are in the employment business if so + please let me hear from you by return mail as I must leave in a + few days if can get away the right way. So if you have some good + jobs open in some small towns or cities that will pay good wages + please let me hear from you this week if can do so. Write me the + kind of work and wages paid and where at so I can choose the kind + I like, also let me know if I can get a ticket sent me to come on + with a garntee to pay for it out of my first wages a part each + pay day until paid. Please let me hear from you at once. + + + ATLANTA, GA., April 30, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ In reading the Chicago Defender I find that there are + many jobs open for workmen, I wish that you would or can secure + me a position in some of the northern cities; as a workman and + not as a loafer. One who is willing to do any kind of hard in + side or public work, have had broad experience in machinery and + other work of the kind. A some what alround man can also cook, + well trained devuloped man; have travel extensively through the + western and southern states; A good strong _morial religious_ man + no habits. I will accept transportation on advance and deducted + from my wages later. It does not matter where, that is; as to + city, country, town or state since you secure the positions. I am + quite sure you will be delighted in securing a position for a man + of this description. I'll assure you will not regret of so doing. + Hoping to hear from you soon. + + + SHREVEPORT, LA., April 26-17. + + _Dear Sirs:_ I am writing you as to how and where I can go to + obtain better freedom and better pay for the balence of my life + as being a contance reader of the Chicago defender the add in + front cover first colum refered me to you. If you can put me in + touch of some one that I ma communicate with as to the position I + will be verry grateful to you. I am a cook & barber also + thorughly acquainted with steam works hoping to hear from you + will full particular + + I am yours for better success. + + P S I has a fair education. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., May 7, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I am earnestly in need of work and would be very glad + if you could recomend me to some of the firms that you are + securing labor for. I saw your add in the Defender. + + + CRICHTON, MOBILE, ALA., April 30, 1917. + + _Sirs and Gentelmen:_ I am poor man and honest working man and I + am here in the south this hard country seeking for labor that I + can make an onest living I can do most any kind of commond work + and I will do so please put me next. Give me an early reply years + to please + + + PENSACOLA, FLA., May 7, 1917. + + _Gentelmen:_ I wants to ask you to look out for a job for me in + that section as I am a good tailors helper good sewer and as + cleaning presing and dyeing I have had nine years experance in + that line but I will do other work if I can get it as factory + work in or out of the city will do I am man of a family and have + no time to piack work. Thanks + + + JACKSONVILLE, FLA., May 9, 1917. + + _My dear Sir:_ In looking over the Chicago Defender why I come + across your name in connections with ---- ---- of Chicago and + thinking that you could do me a lots of good why I thought that I + would write you asking of you to locate me with transportation + with some one who are looking for a hard working honest and sober + colored man. + + Will do any kind of work. Am a farmer, saw mill man, a good cook. + Also I have worked for quite awhile for express company here. + + I am unable to pay my way to your city at present and any help + extended me along that line will be more than appreciated by me. + Am married, and my wife is a first class cook and house woman. + + Now if I am not taking too much of your time why please let me + hear from you at once as I would like very much to get out of the + south as quick as possible for there is nothing here for a + colored man, any more. + + Please give my name to some one that needs a good man, who is + willing to send transportation for me and wife, or my self. I + probably can make some arrangements to get there in a few days. + + Hoping to hear from you in a few days and thanking you for same + before hand. + + +LETTERS ABOUT BETTER EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES + + + ANNISTON, ALA., April 23, 1917. + + _Dear sir:_ Please gave me some infamation about coming north i + can do any kind of work from a truck gardin to farming i would + like to leave here and i cant make no money to leave I ust make + enought to live one please let me here from you at once i want to + get where i can put my children in schol. + + + WEST PALM BEACH, FLA., April 25, 1917. + + _My dear Sir:_ While reading the Chicago Defender of april 21st I + saw that you was the man to write to four a job as say the paper + I have some children I lost my wife just a year ago and I would + like to get a place where I could proply educate them I am a + bober by trade I been in the work for 20 years study, I dont + drink al all any thing like whiskey I am a church man and all the + children belong to the church too your trully + + + PITTSBURG, PA., April 26, 1917. + + _dear sir:_ your letter was all write this one leaves me all + write i means what is write this is a matter of buisness and no + folishness and joaking in this Please dont think i set down and + write something just because i seen it in your paper for i am a + working man i work for my living dont i am saying just to get a + jobe i no i am south rais man i want some places to send my + children to school my means is that i am to old to old. + + + _Dear Sir:_ I saw your add in the Chicago Defender for laborers. + I am a young man and want to finish school. I want you to look + out for me a job on the place working morning and evening. I + would like to get a job in some private family so I could + continue taking my piano lesson I can do anything around the + house but drive and can even learn that. Send me the name of the + best High school in Chicago. How is the Wendell Phillips College. + I have finish the grammer school. I cannot come before the middle + of June. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., 5/5x17 + + _My dear sir:_ I have you reply stating all the information to + me. I thank you very much for same I must say I think you are a + real friend. now the best classes of colored men in the south are + still here but are making preparation to come north and are not + particular about coming to Chicago. All we want is to know just + what youve told me here in this letter. I have been living here + in New Orleans only seven years. I formerly live in the country + but owing to bad conditions of schools for my children I sold my + property and moved here. I didnt think there was any justice in + my paying school taxes and had no fit school to send by children + to. I have been employed here as night eatchman for the last four + years and are still working at it but my wajes are so small the + high cost of living leaves very little for traveling expenses but + never the less I have a boy sixteen years old as soon as school + closes I will take him north with me hoping to find work for him + and I during vacation. You will see me soon. Thanking you kindly. + + + GRABOW, LOUISIANA, 5/9/17 + + _My dear Sir:_ your letter to me togeather with information was + recieved and noted carefully from the same I find that work in + and about Chicago is not plentiful as agents are makeing out as I + know for myself that I have been talked to hard to leave at once + for Chicago. I am a carpenter by trade tho I have 10 years + experience in the shop. I were under the empression that one + would have to join the carpenter's union or machinist union on + order to obtain work. Tho I know joining a union would put a + stress om me as my straight life policy exemps me from such. Your + letter being wrote in paragraphs I Parag 5) you are advising men + who knows the molders trade or wanting to learn the machinist + trade which are those 4 or 5 cities? Should chances in the same + better I would not get as far as Chicago. I am a man of family + and contemplated that with my Hudson could drive to Chicago by + land in 8 days, but as you advise leaving my family I consider + you knows best, tho at present I dont see any enducements at all. + $3.00 per day is carpenter wedge in this part of Louisiana for + 10 hours and $4.00 machinest. But our chances are so slim. Causes + me to be disgusted at the south. Our poll tax paid, state and + parish taxes yet with donations we cannot get schools. What do + you think of conditions here? Thanking you for your past and in + advance for your future information I am verry truly yours. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., May 17, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: I received your letter and was indeed glad to hear + from you I am expecting to arrive in Chicago abou the 14th of + June as I want to get my wife and children place until I can send + for them. I am going to place them with my father over in Pass + Christian Miss and my expense will be very cheap. Of course I am + very anxious to get work because I have been working and + supporting my family for the last 15 years and my wife never had + to work out yet and I keep my children in school all the time. I + will wire you just before I arrive so you will expect me in the + office. I will be very glad for any service are information that + you will be able to give me as I am coming. I think I would like + to work in Detroit Mich. I am not so much on Chicago on account + of my children. I am glad you can help me and place me in a job + right away. + + + ALEXANDRIA, LA., 4/23/11. + + _Gentlemens_: Just a word of information I am planning to leave + this place on about May 11th for Chicago and wants ask you + assistence in getting a job. My job for the past 8 years has been + in the Armour Packing Co. of this place and I cand do anything to + be done in a branch house and are now doing the smoking here I am + 36 years old have a wife and 2 children. I has been here all my + life but would be glad to go wher I can educate my children where + they can be of service to themselves, and this will never be + here. + + Now if you can get a job with eny of the packers I will just as + soon as I arrive in your city come to your pace and pay you for + your troubel. And if I cant get on with packers I will try + enything that you have to effer. + + + CRESCENT, OKLA., April 30, 1917. + + _Sir_: I am looking for a place to locate this fall as a farmer. + Do you think you could place me on a farm to work on shares. I am + a poor farmer and have not the money to buy but would be glad to + work a mans farm for him. I am desirous of leaving here because + of the school accommodations for children as I have five and want + to educate them the best I can. Prehaps you can find me a + position of some kind if so kindly let me know I will be ready to + leave here this fall after the harvest is layed by. I am planting + cotton. + + + GRANVILLE, MISS., May 16, 1917. + + _Dear Sir_: This letter is a letter of information of which you + will find stamp envelop for reply. I want to come north some time + soon but I do not want to leve here looking for a job wher I + would be in dorse all winter. Now the work I am doing here is + running a gauge edger in a saw mill. I know all about the grading + of lumber. I have abeen working in lumber about 25 or 27 years My + wedges here is $3.00 a day 11 hours a day. I want to come north + where I can educate my 3 little children also my wife. Now if you + cannot fit me up at what I am doing down here I can learn + anything any one els can. also there is a great deal of good + women cooks here would leave any time all they want is to know + where to go and some way to go. please write me at once just how + I can get my people where they can get something for their work. + there are women here cookeing for $1.50 and $2.00 a week. I would + like to live in Chicago or Ohio or Philadelphia. Tell Mr Abbott + that our pepel are tole that they can not get anything to do up + there and they are being snatched off the trains here in + Greenville and a rested but in spite of all this, they are + leaving every day and every night 100 or more is expecting to + leave this week. Let me here from you at once. + + + PELAHATCHEE, MISS., April 27, 1917. + + _Dear Sirs_: I see through the Chicago Defender that you have a + reputation of furnishing employment to men. Kindly give me the + particulars. What class of work do you get men? I am writing you + to know that I may obtain an; employment through you. I want a + good paying job that I may be able to educate my children. Kindly + let me hear from you. + + + DEO VOLENTE, MISS., April 30, 1917. + + _Dear Sirs_: I am expecting to come with my family to your town, + or some smaller town near you, in the near future. Would like to + farm near Chicago or some small town near Chicago where my + children can have good educational advantages. Seeing the Chicago + Defender that your organization was in position to give me the + proper infermation therefore I write asking you to please give me + the above infermation. By so doing you will greatly oblige me. + + -------------------- (colored) + + + STARKVILLE, MISS., May 28, 1917. + + _Sir:_ Your name have bin given me as a Relibal furm putting + people in toutch with good locations for education there children + Now I am a man of 40 years old by traid I am a barber of 20 years + experence I am now in the business for white but I can barber for + either white or colord I have a wife and seven children 5 girls + and 2 boys allso I am a preacher I dont care for the large city + life I rather live in a town of 15 or 20 thousand I want to raise + by family nice and I would like for my children to have the + advantage of good schools and churches Now if you are in a + persison to help me a long this line I would be glad to here from + you. + + + GREENVILLE, S. C., 5/2/1917. + + _Sir:_ I have been impressed to the extent of writing you by + having noted an article in the Chicago Defender regarding the + good work your organization is accomplishing. + + I am a Negro mechanic, having served the paint trade since 1896, + 30 years years of age, married, no booster, a graduate of N. Y. + trade school, first honor, class of 1906, wish to change location + for better educational advantages for my children consequently + will be glad to have you endeavor to place me. Hoping to hear + from you at earliest convenience. Willing to accept position in + any good north western city, with white or colored firm. + + + ATLANTA, GA., April 22, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I now rite to inquier of the works in the north as I + saw your ad in the Chicago Defender I wants to come north if + thair is any work up their I wants to get in a good place whear I + can educate my children I am a natif of Charleston West Va but + come off down here in this hard luck countary and married & + raised a fanily and wants to get in a good location to raise them + sence you are in the busness I wants some information I would + like to hear from you pearsonaly if I can I am not pertickley + about Chicago just since I get a good place in the north whear I + can educate my children how is groceries in the countary let me + hear from you at & early date. + + + AUGUSTA, GA., April 27, 1917. + + _Sir:_ Being a constant reader of your paper, I thought of no one + better than you to write for information. + + I'm desirous of leaving the south but before so doing I want to + be sure of a job before pulling out. I'm a member of the race, a + normal and colloege school graduate, a man of a family and can + give reference. Confidentially this communication between you and + me is to be kept a secret. + + My children I wished to be educated in a different community than + here. Where the school facilities are better and less prejudice + shown and in fact where advantages are better for our people in + all respect. At present I have a good position but I desire to + leave the south. A good position even tho' its a laborer's job + paying $4.50 or $5.00 a day will suit me till I can do better. + Let it be a job there or any where else in the country, just is + it is east or west. I'm quite sure you can put me in touch with + some one. I'm a letter carrier now and am also a druggist by + profession. Perhaps I may through your influence get a transfer + to some eastern or western city. + + Nevada or California as western states, I prefer, and I must say + that I have nothing against Detroit, Mich. + + I shall expect an early reply. Remember keep this a secret please + until I can perfect some arrangements. + + + GLEBDON, ALA., April 22, 1917. + + _Gentlemen:_ I seen it in the Chicago Defender that if any one + dezire to locate in a small town where they can get fairly good + wages and educate there children address you who neads men and + stop paying men 50 cts & $1.00 for Job well i wont to come there + where i can get work & fairly good wages & educate my children & + i am not able to bear my expences i have a wife & 7 chrildren & + if you can make any preparation for me to come & bring them let + me here from you i have too boys big enough to work one 12 years + old the other 10 and i have been trying to get away from here for + some time & i cant get ot without your aid i seen it on a small + paper a littler strip where Mr. ---- ---- at the state of Neb at + omaha he advise any one that wont to go north or west rite him & + send a too sent stamp withen your letter that i may not be + slighte and then when her and your he send a blank with the + letter to be fill an send him $1.50 one dollar an half which he + say it is all is required no more money i will hafter pay i wrote + hem for a pass & that what he told me to do & when i arrive i + would have a job all ready now when i seem what the Chicago + defender says about men get money that way it cause me to stop & + study would it a safe plan of me to go out on such terms an so i + ask you Gentlemen for all infermation that you can give me in the + regards of leaving the south let me here from you at once we + colored people havin a hard time down here now i have paper here + but I aint sind it yet + + +LETTERS ABOUT THE TREATMENT OF NEGROES IN THE SOUTH + + + MACON, GA., April 1, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I am writing you for information I want to come north + east but I have not sufficient funds and I am writing you to see + if there is any way that you can help me by giving me the names + of some of the firms that will send me a transportation as we are + down here where we have to be shot down here like rabbits for + every little orfence as I seen an orcurince hapen down here this + after noon when three depties from the shrief office an one Negro + spotter come out and found some of our raice mens in a crap game + and it makes me want to leave the south worse than I ever did + when such things hapen right at my door, hopeing to have a reply + soon and will in close a stamp from the same. + + + SAVANNAH, GA., May 5, 1917. + + _Dear sir:_ I rite you these few lines seeking information how + could I get up north and if you could do me any good I an five + more men would like to come but we have no money we would come to + any reasonable terms that you makes, and if you cannot do the + five no good please sir try and do some thing for me. I rite you + this mostly for my self I am in a bad shape. I am willing to do + most any kind of work labaring excuiseing hotel. You was + recomended to me by Bro -- -- ---- of Savannah Tribune, now in + plain words plese send for me or get some of the contractors to + send and I will willingly come to terms. I am willing await you + ans. In short. + + + SPARTA, GA., Jan. 29, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ Information reaches me that you can give information + as to places that colored men can get employment in the north and + east as quite a number of we colored men in this vicinity + contemplates leaving the south providing we can get employment at + reasonable wages. I would like to know where to locate, what kind + of work and what wages paid skilled and unskilled laborer, & + whether transportation can be furnished. Hoing to hear from you + by return mail. + + + CHARLESTON, S.C., 4/4/17. + + _Dear Sir:_ I have heard about you as being an employment beura + so I would like very mutch for you to get me a job, and if you + will please send ticket by rail because we are not allowed to + leave by boat any mour. so I will take a job as + porter--butler--hosler bellman can furnish reference an 27 years + old married. Please notify right away. + + + SANFORD, FLA., 5/12/17. + + _Dear Sir:_ The winter is about over and I still have a desire to + seek for myself a section of this country where I can poserably + better my condishion in as much as beaing asshured some + protection as a good citizen under the Stars and Stripes so kind + sir I am here asking you agin if you know directly or indirectly + of any opening that you could direct me to where I can make a + reasonable livelyhood kindly inform me. Why I write you agin is + because it appears to me from your headings that your concern ar + making some opening for the (col) from the south and agin I do + not cear to live here in a simple way if poserable I would like + to be shure of an imployment before I leave Kindley do what ever + good you can for me. + + + PENSACOLA, FLA., April 30, 1917. + + _Gentlemen:_ I perchanced to run across your address. The which I + am proud of. I like my fellow southerner am looking northward. + But before leaving the South Id like to know just wher I am goin + and what Im to do if posible. I see from your card that you can + help me and I believe you will. I want to say that I dont hope to + travil north to loaf. I will be seeking better employment and + better wa es mainly. I might state just here what Im best fitted + for. 1st Im a christain man a man of sober habits. Ive had + several years experience in business for 20 years Ive been a + salesman & collector or business mgr thirteen years of said time + I were engaged in the industrial insurance work. worked from a + green agent to dist mgr ship at present am engaged as a salesman + and collector. But would accept position as jarnitor of general + utility man ordainary cook the which I ve served in a short order + house for whites only. And also in a house run for both races. In + fact will serve in any honest capacity That I'm capeble of that + pays well. Please excuse these persional reference but Im + striveing to make the acquaintance, can furnish reference as to + integrity and ability any information given me in my efort will + be gratefully received. Thanking you in advance. + + + TROY, ALA., Oct. 17, 1916. + + _Dear Sirs_ I am enclosing a clipping of a lynching again which + speaks for itself. I do wish there could be sufficient presure + brought about to have federal investigation of such work. I wrote + you a few days ago if you could furnish me with the addresses of + some firms or co-opporations that needed common labor. So many of + our people here are almost starving. The government is feeding + quite a number here would go any where to better their + conditions. If you can do any thing for us write me as early as + posible. + + + BHAM, ALA., May 13, 1917. + + _Sir:_ the edeater of the paper i am in the darkness of the south + and i am trying my best to get out do you no where about i can + get a job in new york. i wood be so glad if cood get a good job + hear in this beautifull city o please help me to get out of this + low down county i am counted no more thin a dog help me please + help me o how glad i wood be if some company wood send me a + ticket to come and work for them no joking i mean business i work + if i can get a good job. + + + ANNE MANTL, ALA., April 24, 1917. + + _Gentlemen:_ I read in the Chicago Defender of last week that you + were in the employment buisness now sire we want to leave the + south and settle in some small town in Illinoise or any other + good northern state where we can get fairely good wagges and be + protected we are disgusted with the south since we hear that we + can do better we want to get up a club to get north. Please tell + us how to go about it all of us dont have a lot of money but we + are able and willing to work and just want a chance. Thanking you + in advance for any thing you may do for us we are + + + BRYAN, TEX., Sept. 13, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I am writing you as I would like to no if you no of + any R. R. Co and Mfg. that are in need for colored labors. I want + to bring a bunch of race men out of the south we want work some + whear north will come if we can git passe any whear across the + Mason & Dickson. please let me hear from you at once if you can + git passes for 10 or 12 men. send at once. I beg to remain. + + + OAKDALE, LA., April 21, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I saw in the Defender something concerning the + employment up there. I would like mighty well to come if I could + get a job I would be ready to come about the 15th of May. I will + take a job in town or out of town either one. There are 3 or 4 + more business men that are interested and would come, write me at + once and let me know about the situation. Some hasn't the fund to + come with and if the employer would furnish them transportation + they would readily come at once. + + So far as me I couldn't come until I could arrange to sell out as + I am in business for God knows I want to leave the South land. + Let me hear from you at once. + + + SAVANNAH, GA., 4/21/17. + + _Dear Sir:_ Through the Chicago Definder I am writing your + company to get in touch with you. as I am seeking employment in + the north part of the country for the betterment of my condition. + & friends wishes to follow after me. if there is any advice or + assistant you can give to us please let me know at once, we are + not choice about locating in the city as we will be satisfied + with a small town as well as any part of the north. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., May 17, 1917. + + _Gentlemen:_ I am a race man and aire inquireing Dear Sir from + some one that I know is in position to give me the proper + information truthfully enclosed please find stamps for return + mail. Dear sir I have a wife & a son also that has a wofe and one + child we desire to come north to live if we could only get a pass + to that end. The passes that are being issued in New Orleans to + members of the race are verry limited and it is a little dificult + for me to get a pass out I am no railroad man but I can work also + my son if my son and I could get a pass to Illinois we would come + at once and leave our wives at home untill we could work and + send for them ourselves. Dear sirs if you know of any firm that + desires any one of the race that wants to come north with their + families please inform them and me as I would like verry much to + come north but have not the money to pay my fare with please + answer by return mail. Please help me as I wants to get from the + south so bad. Thanking you in advance I am yours in the Lord. I + am 40 years old. Please help me to get away from the south. + Please keep this letter and not put it in public print. Dear sir + I further ask that the firm or firms in which I am offered + employment desire a recommendation as a work or laborer I can + furnish them with same for honesty and etc. Please answer. Please + answer as there are others of the race that wants to come north + in great numbers and would like to be informed how to come north. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., 5/20/17. + + _Dear Sirs:_ My silfe and a friend is after hearing from you + contemplating the idea of coming north we have been told that + yours is the business of informing those who are coming there of + what is the very best way and about work, etc. Wish to say we + need your information and are very anxious of being advised by + you. We will want work as soon as were there and we are not + perticular about Chiago. Anywhere north will do us and I suppose + the worst place there is better than the best place here. Please + inform us by return mail where we can get work and how in doing + so you will be helping us wonderfully and we will more than + appreciate your efforts, wishing you much success and hoping to + hear from you this week, I am, Yours with best wishes. + + + PALESTINE, TEX., 1/2/17. + + _Dear Sir:_ I hereby enclose you a few lines to find out some few + things if you will be so kind to word them to me. I am a + southerner lad and has never ben in the north no further than + Texas and I has heard so much talk about the north and how much + better the colard people are treated up there than they are down + here and I has ben striveing so hard in my coming up and now I + see that I cannot get up there without the ade of some one and I + wants to ask you Dear Sir to please direct me in your best manner + the stept that I shall take to get there and if there are any way + that you can help me to get there I am kindly asking you for your + ade. And if you will ade me please notify me by return mail + because I am sure ancious to make it in the north because these + southern white people are so mean and they seems to be getting + worse and I wants to get away and they wont pay enough for work + for a man to save up enough to get away and live to. If you will + not ade me in getting up there please give me some information + how I can get there I would like to get there in the early + spring, if I can get there if posible. Our southern white people + are so cruel we collord people are almost afraid to walke the + streets after night. So please let me hear from you by return + mail. I will not say very much in this letter I will tell you + more about it when I hear from you please ans. soon to Yours + truly. + + + SAVANNAH, GA., May 16, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I written you a special letter on last week + containing stamped envelope for early reply asking a favor of + you, as I am in the south and are trying all that I can to get + away as I told you in my letter that I have been here all my + life, which is about 40 years and trying with all of my might all + of that time to make an honest living and all of it seems to be a + failure and now as I heard of better wages and better treatment + you can receive acording to character and behavior. I am seeking + to get there by the help of the good Lord and if it is any + possible way of you securing work I and 2 daughters I will gladly + try all I can to repay you for your trouble. I wont say any thing + of my children as they are very honorable to me they have never + slept one night from under my roof. Now dear friend I write you + this as I have heard that you all are a friend to the needy and + if there is any hope for me please let me know by return mail. + + + ATLANTA, GA., April 29, 1917. + + _Kind friend:_ While reading the Chicago Definder i saw and + advertisement for laborers wanted i am down in the south with my + familey and wishes to become a northern citysin i have onley + worked for two firms in my life and i am 35 years old. Worked in + Augusta Ga for more than 20 years and only made 10 dolars a week + fore years ago i moved to Atlanta went to weark for the ---- + Cleaning Co of Atlanta, only making 10 a weak the wages is so + small i cant harly feed by familey and i cant save enough money + to get away i would like to get to Cleavland ohio i have some + friends thear saying that the wages is good if it is eney way you + can help me get up thear i will assure you i will be a wearthy + citysin wishing to hear from you soon. i am a man that wants to + weark and by gods help i beleive i will concur some old day. + + + ATLANTA, GA., April 22, 1917. + + _Gentlemen:_ I am an experienced packer having been regularly + employed for quite a number of years for such work and I am now + employed by one of Atlanta's largest firms as a packer. I desire + to leave the south and would like for you to secure me a position + or put me in touch with some firm that needs a colored packer, + kindly advise me what your terms are for such work. I am not + particular about living in Chicago. Thanking you in advance. + + + MOBILE, ALA., Jan. 8, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I am writing you to see if you can furnish me with + any information in regards to colored men securing employment. I + would like to know if you could put me in touch with some + manufacturing company either some corporation that is employing + or in of colored men. My reason is there are a number of young + men in this city of good moral and can furnish good + reference--that is anxious to leave this section of the country + and go where conditions are better. I taken this matter up with + Mr. ---- of Boston and he referred me to you. I myself is anxious + to leave this part of the country and be where a negro man can + appreshate beaing a man at the present time I am working as + office man for a large corporation which position I have had for + the past 11 years, having a very smart boy in his studies I wish + to locate where he could recive a good education. I could at a + few days notice place 200 good able bodied young men that is + anxious to leave this city, these men I refer to is men of good + morals and would prove a credit to the community. If you can + furnish me with the desired information it will be gladly + received, it makes little or no difference as to what state they + can go to just so they cross the Mason and Dixie line, trusting + you will furnish me with any information you have at hand at an + early date, I await your reply. + + + HOUSTON, TEX., April 3, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I have read the Defender and I have put my mine on it + and I wood lik to know mor abot it and if yo pleas send me a + letter abot the noth I will thenk uo becaus we have so miney + members of the race wont to come and live up thear and all they + is waitin on is a chanch and that is all and they will say fair + wel to this old world and thay all will come, some is rail road + some is shop and anny thang thay can gets to do. With hold the + name. + + + HOUSTON, TEX., May 16, 1917. + + _Sir:_ I sincerely ask of you this very important favor I and my + family consists of 4--husband, wife boy 14 years boy of 4 months + also three others male of healthy and ambitious character also + dependable to our race asking at any time, are you able to + communicate with any firm or person needing such as are stated + thereon. I sincerely ask you to refer such to said adress as we + are only here asking the Lord to aid us out of this terrible + state we are now in. We do any kind of work for an honest + liveing. + + + JACKSONVILLE, FLA., July 1, 1917. + + _Kind Sir:_ in reading your paper I see where you could get me + and my family a job so if can I would be verry glad as it is my + wish to leave the south, any kind of a job all rite with me. I + will remane, Yours truly. + + + PENSACOLA, FLA., 5-19-17. + + _Dear Editor:_ Would you please let me no what is the price of + boarding and rooming of Chicago and where is the best place to + get a job before the draft will work. I would rather join the + army 1000 times up there than to join it once down here. + + + WARRINGTON, FLA., 4-24-17. + + _Sir:_ i red the Chgo Deffedeer and i seen where yo was in the + need of good men that wanted worke Sir I would like very much to + leave the South and come north if I could get a imployment my + trade is carpenter or seament finisher and I am willan to do any + kind of worke that come before me I can do which I am not working + at my trade now I am working in a store now and I can bring yo + some good men all so bring my recommendashon with me Hopin yo + will rite me at wonce and let me here from yo. My addres. + + + JACKSONVILLE, FLA., May 11, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ given me. Although i am badly disapointed because i + realy want to be among the northern folk and i have got the means + to leave here with and by the way you have explain matter to me + it would pay me best to have a transportation so I can be sure of + having a job when I gets there. + + + PENSACOLA, FLA., 5-18-17. + + _Dear Sir:_ Just a few lines to ask your ade en getting a job as + waiter. I am a waiter of 10 or 12 years exsperience in the city + of New Orleans, 4 years here in this city also. I can cook and + serve as butler, I am verry anxious to get up there becaus I have + a family and I desire a study job en a more better city than + this. If you know of any one will send a transportation for a + good man please send for me. I am willing to pay my + transportation back in monthly payments. I will appreciate any + favor you can do for me along these lines as I am in need of a + good job just now. Can furnish best of refrience. + + + MOBILE, ALA., May 3, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ Alowe me to congralate you on your wonderful paper it + is a help to a lot of the people of our race it shows us the + difference between north and south. We are doing fine in our way + but would like to do better a lots of us would like to come up + there but are not able and dare not ask some one to help us to go + for the law will have us. I like your paper and would like to see + more of Mobile news in it. Who is your agent in Mobile. There is + lots of idle men in Mobile lots have trades but they are not + supplied with work and can't get anything to go off with. Several + men were arrested on being labor agents. Would like to correspond + with you if you could help our pepel eny. You may let me no threw + your paper. + + + NEW BERN, N.C., May 5, 1917. + + _Dear sire:_ I seen you ade in the Chicago Defender for different + occpatisions and I in close you for and transportation for ten + men as I has them menny reddy now and wood be glad to leave at + the earliest date and I can get as menny as you wont and all so I + wont a job for my self because we ar in a bad condition in this + country and wish to in press a pon your mind the condition of we + poor colored people how we are geting a long in the south and I + want to show you how we ar treated by the white of the south by + sending you this strip to read for you self so I will close I + wish to here from you in the return mail at wonce. Please + + + ALEXANDRIA, LA., May 5, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I read your ad in the Chicago Defender paper where + are in need of 20 bench molder witch mean machinery men who under + stand the manufacture work and I am one who will be willing to + learn the trade at small wage about $2.25 a day and I also have + five more here who will come with me if you only send me six of + your transportation soon as can and I also wish that you will not + turn me down. I am looking for your letter promptly and will be + deeply glad to get it as I trust in the Lord that you will send + me six of your transportation as I am willing to come in work. we + will come at once when you send them to me send me a special + delivery letters with them in it and I will pay you when we are + there. + + + ATLANTA, GA., May 2, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I am a reader of the Chicago Defender and is verry + proud of it and by reading the Chicago Defender I saw your adv. + and I want to consult with about a position in a Chicago firm. I + would like verry much to get a position there or eny where above + the Mason Dixon line. I am a competet chauffer or butler. I am + married no children. My wife is a cook nearse or maid, and if you + cannot supply me with some position within about 10 days will you + please put me in tutch with some other employment and if you can + supply me with eather of those posetins please write me. I am + also a first class laundry man. I hold reference as good shirt + ironer, coller ironer or extractor man in the wash room. Please + let me here from you. the peoples is leaving here by the + thousands. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., May 1, 1917. + + _Sur:_ in reding the defender i saw they advurtise that you sen + transportation at advanced from Chicago now dear sur please let + me know i am a maride man an hav a famly off 5 now if you cant + sen for all send 2 one for me and my brother he live with me he + is 18 yers old then i can arang for the rest after i get out + there now pleas tri and do sumthing for me i am working her for + nothing i will bee to glad to get a way from here so pleas sen me + a pas for me an my brother and we will sen for the res of the + famly after i get there ancer this letter soon as you get it try + to get us work in the ware house or yard work i am a cook an utly + man have to cook serv drink and short ordes an work al nite. + + + MEMPHIS, TENN., April 29, 1917. + + _Sir:_ Seeing the wonderful opportunity that is being offered the + colored man of the south by the northern industries and the aid + in which your organization is giveing them it aroused within me + the ambition that prompts every man to long for liberty. What I + want to say is I am coming north and seeing your call for me + thought I would write you and list a few things I can do and see + if you can find a place for me any where north of the Mason and + Dixon line and I will present myself in person at your office as + soon as I hear from you. I am now employed in the R. R. shop in + Memphis. I am a engine watchman, hostler, red cup man, pipe + fitter, oil house man, shipping clerk, telephone lineman, freight + caller, an expert soaking vat man that is one who make dope for + packing hot boxes on engines. I am a capable of giving + satisfaction in either of the above name positions. I bought a + Chicago Defender and after reading it and seeing the golden + opportunity I have decided to leave this place at once. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., April 29, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I am writeing you the third time because i am anxious + to leave the south and come north but up to this writeing i have + fail to hear from you i notice in the defender that you are still + calling for men i am engineer and all round machine man i am and + would be very glad if you could locate me a position in the + Molders Manufacturing or any thing pertaining to machine work. I + am not in a position to pay my way out there and would like to + get transportation for my self wife and nephew he all so can do + machine work. So please let me hear from you. + + + MONROE, LA., April 30, 1918. + + _Dear Sirs:_ I was reading in the Defender one of your recent + advertising about laborers wanted for foundry warehouse and yard + work. I would like to respond to the advertising but I aint + fiancel able also my brother we are both very poor boys and would + like to get where we would be able to have a chanse in the world + and get out from among all of the prejudice of the southern white + man. please send me and my brother transportation tickets so we + can come right away. I belong to church but my brother does not + but you would not tell the difference by his actions. Please send + tickets by the 15th of May. I am now working at public work I owe + a few debts I want to act honest I want to pay all of my + responsible debts so I can face my debtors anywhere in the world. + + + LITTLE ROCK, ARK., May 7, 1917. + + _Sir:_ I am a reader of the Defender and i found in it on last + Saturday April 28th why that you could place mens in iny job or + trade they follows. I am riten you this letter an in it i am + leting you know my condition so that if you ever did help a man + in this way pleas help me the help is this. help me to get a job + in yor city as blacksmith helper bareler maker helper or molder + helper. i kin furnish references for those jobs. i has a wife and + a 11 yr old girl who are now in the 7 grade and i wants to bringe + them with me when I come i am now employed as black smith helper + my pay is 26-1/2 per hour but the white comes so hard onus in + these departments so that we are frade to speak what is right + becase they dont want us in those departments they has been + trying to put us out for 4 years. before they begen to work a + ginst ys we had all colord help but now they has 75 per cent + white help and it is hard for this 25 per sent colord to stay + hear and i found in the Defender just what i has ben looking for + is a little help and if you will only do as i has said God will + bless you. now remember i dont ask you to send me a + transportation to come on if you will just get me a job for me i + will be please at that and i will pay you charges when i come i + will be ther in 4 or 5 days from the date i reseave yor ancer so + pleas ancer as soon as you kin. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., May 23, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ As a constant reader of your most valuable paper the + Defender and after viewing from time to time the services that + you are rendering not only to the race of which you are one of + its honored leaders but one who are doing services to the sacred + cause of humanity, and your admireable editorials has impressed + me so much until I feal that I know you personaly. now sire I + note with pleasure that you are manifesting a very great interest + in our people from the south and as I am a man of family and are + always willing and ready to grasp any opertunity that will tent + to better my condition I raise my head and I am now looking to + the North of this benighted land for hope there I feal that if + once there that I may be granted the opertunities of peacefully + working out my mission on earth. without fear of molestation. Now + sir I am a painter by trade. I am also a first class creol cook + and as I above said that you seams very much interested in your + newcomers well fare to the extent of trying to place them in some + lucrative position. I ask you one favor and that is this will + you please advise me as to if I come up there will you try and + get me work. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., May 21, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ As it is my desire to leave the south for some + portion of the north to make my future home I desided to write to + you as one who is able to furnish proper information for such a + move. I am a cook of plain meals and I have knowledge of + industrial training. I recieved such training at Tuskegee Inst. + some years ago and I have a letter from Mrs. Booker T. Washington + bearing out such statement and letters from other responsible + corporations and individuals and since I know that I can come up + to such recommendations, I want to come north where it is said + such individuals are wanted. Therefore will you please furnish me + with names and addresses of railroad officials to whom I might + write for such employment as it is my desire to work only for + railroads, if possible. I have reference to officials who are + over extra gangs, bridge gangs, paint gangs and pile drivers over + any boarding department which takes in plain meals. I have 25 + years experience in this line of work and understand the method + of saving the company money. + + You will please dig into this in every way that is necessary and + whatever charges you want for your trouble make your bill to me, + and I will mail same to you. + + Wishing you much success in your papers throughout the country, + especially in the south as it is the greatest help to the + southern negro that has ever been read. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., 5-20-17. + + _Dear Sir:_ I am sure your time is precious, for being as you an + editor of a newspaper such as the race has never owned and for + which it must proudly bost of as being the peer in the + pereoidical world. am confident that yours is a force of busy + men. I also feel sure that you will spare a small amount of your + time to give some needed information to one who wishes to relieve + himselfe of the burden of the south. I indeed wish very much to + come north anywhere in Ill. will do since I am away from the + Lynchman's noose and torchman's fire. Myself and a friend wish to + come but not without information regarding work and general + suroundings. Now hon sir if for any reason you are not in + position to furnish us with the information desired. please do + the act of kindness of placing us in tuch with the organization + who's business it is I am told to furnish said information, we + are firemen machinist helpers practical painters and general + laborers. And most of all, ministers of the gospel who are not + afraid of labor for it put us where we are. Please let me hear + from you. + + + NEW ORLEANS, LA., May 1, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I am a reader of the Chicago Defender and while + reading I seen where you are aiding those in search of work and I + thought that I would drop you a few lines though I am far away + but if there is any way that you could get a pass please try and + do that much for us as we are a party of four good working men + the southern white are trying very hard to keep us from the north + but still they wont give us no work to do they dont pay us any + thing and still dont want us to go. now please answer at your + very earliest I am + + + DAPNE, ALA., 4/20/17. + + _Sir:_ I am writing you to let you know that there is 15 or 20 + familys wants to come up there at once but cant come on account + of money to come with and we cant phone you here we will be + killed they dont want us to leave here & say if we dont go to war + and fight for our country they are going to kill us and wants to + get away if we can if you send 20 passes there is no doubt that + every one of us will com at once, we are not doing any thing here + we cant get a living out of what we do now some of these people + are farmers and som are cooks barbers and black smiths but the + greater part are farmers & good worker & honest people & up to + date the trash pile dont want to go no where. These are nice + people and respectable find a place like that & send passes & we + all will come at once we all wants to leave here out of this hard + luck place if you cant use us find some place that does need this + kind of people we are called Negroes here. I am a reader of the + Defender and am delighted to know how times are there & was to + glad to, know if we could get some one to pass us away from here + to a better land. We work but cant get scarcely any thing for it + & they dont want us to go away & there is not much of anything + here to do & nothing for it. Please find some one that need this + kind of a people & send at once for us. We dont want anything but + our wareing and bed clothes & have not got no money to get away + from here with & beging to get away before we are killed and + hope to here from you at once. We cant talk to you over the phone + here we are afraid to they dont want to hear one say that he or + she wants to leave here if we do we are apt to be killed. They + say if we dont go to war they are not going to let us stay here + with their folks and it is not any thing that we have done to + them. We are law abiding people want to treat every bordy right, + these people wants to leave here but we cant we are here and have + nothing to go with if you will send us some way to get away from + here we will work till we pay it all if it takes that for us to + go or get away. Now get busy for the south race. The conditions + are horrible here with us. they wont give us anyhing to do & say + that we wont need anything but something to eat & wont give us + anything for what we do & wants us to stay here. Write me at once + that you will do for us we want & opertunity that all we wants is + to show you what we can do and will do if we can find some place, + we wants to leave here for a north drive somewhere. We see + starvation ahead of us here. We want to imigrate to the farmers + who need our labor. We have not had no chance to have anything + here thats why we plead to you for help to leave here to the + North. We are humane but we are not treated such we are treated + like brute by our whites here we dont have no privilige no where + in the south. We must take anything they put on us. Its hard if + its fair. We have not got no cotegous diseases here. We are + looking to here from you soon. + + + GREENVILLE, MISS., May 29, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ this letter is from one of the defenders greatest + frends. You will find stamp envelope for reply. Will you put me + in tuch with some good firm so I can get a good job in your city + or in Cleveland, Ohio or in Philadelphia, Pa. or in Detroyet, + Michian in any of the above name states I would be glad to live + in. I want to get my famely out of this cursed south land down + here a negro man is not good as a white man's dog. I can learn + anything any other man can. Not only I want to get out of the + south but there are numbers of good hard working men here and do + not know where they are going and what they are going to. Also I + could get a good deal of men from here if I could get in tuch + with some firms that would furnish me the money as passes. Now in + conlution, I want to know what is the trouble? I cannot get + anything more through the Defender. I have written to the + Defender some 3 or 4 times and eather articel was never + published. I recieves a free copy of the Defender every week and + the people here are all ways after me to write some doings to the + Defender and if I write anything it is never published. + + + GREENVILLE, MISS., 5-20-17. + + _Dear Sir:_ I write you asking you some information as I am a + reader of your paper I have been buying a paper every Sunday for + 5 months I want to come to your city to live and every thing is + so hard down here everything is so high and wages is low until we + just can live I want to know what will it cost from St. Louis to + Chicago. I can get from Greenville to St. Louis cheap by boat. I + want to come up there the last of June. I ask you to assist me in + getting a job I can do most any kind of hard work and have a + common education. If you will look me up a good job it will be + highly appreciated and your kindness will never be forgotten. + + + SELMA, ALA., 4-15-17. + + _Dear Sir:_ If you no of any firm or corporation who need a good + reliable man please notify me I want get out of the south. I cant + live on the salary I am getting I am not so bent on coming to + Chicago. But anywhere up that way where there is an opening for + labor please attend to this matter at once. I can do any kind of + common labor please let me hear from you at your earliest + convenience. I take the Defender every week I see where southern + people are being put on jobs when they reach the North please + look for me a job or hand this to some one that will be + inturested in it. + + + MOSS POINT, MISS., April 29, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I read your advt in the Chicago Defender wanting + laborers for foundry, ware house, and yard work with + transportation paid. I'll come at once and lots of others here + would also come if you will transport us there for we are anxs to + get of southen soil. + + + LAUREL, MISS., May 10, 1917. + + _Dear sir:_ i rite you i seen in Chicago paper that you aftiese + for laborer ninety miles from Chicago and i am a experienced + molder and i do truly hope you will give me a job for i am sick + of the south and please send me a transportation i have a family + and wife and three children my oldes child is 8 years old and i + wont to bring my famiely with me so please send me a + transportation at once for i am redy to come at once me and my + family i will pay you for your trubel with all pleasure if i can + get up there please send after us at once for i am redy to come + at once and i have not got money to pay our train fair and if you + will send after us i will sure pay you your money back so i will + close from your truly ansure soon + + +LETTERS FROM SOUTH TO FRIENDS NORTH AND FROM NORTH TO FRIENDS SOUTH + + + MACON, GA., May 27, 1917. + + _Dear Mary:_--I just got in from B. Y. P. U. eat a little bite + and got my writing together. Now May dear you mus pardon me for + not answering promp I no you will when I tell you the cause We + had a souls stiring revival this year I mis you so much We + baptised 14 and after the Revival had closed up come George B---- + confesing Christ so we baptized the first sunday in May and the + third Sunday in May George were baptise May I cant tell you how I + feel I wrote Ella J---- A---- Ella said she cried as far as she + is from here so she no I cut up but I diden I am just as quite as + I can be Sam H---- joined to. B os Jones Hattie J---- boy Geo + L---- Mr. B---- two boys Walice P---- I dont know the others. + Dear May I got a card from Mrs. Addie S---- yesterday she is well + and say Washington D.C. is a pretty place but wages is not good + say it better forther on Cliford B---- an his wife is back an + give the North a bad name Old lady C---- is in Cleavon an wonte + to come home mighty bad so Cliford say. I got a hering from Vick + C---- tell me to come on she living better than she ever did in + her life Charlie J---- is in Detroit he got there last weak + Hattie J---- lef Friday Oh I can call all has left here Leala + J---- is speaking of leaving soon There were more people left + last week then ever 2 hundred left at once the whites an colored + people had a meeting Thursday an Friday telling the people if + they stay here they will treat them better an pay better. Huney + they are hurted but the haven stop yet. The colored people say + they are too late now George B---- is on his head to go to + Detroit Mrs. Anna W---- is just like you left her she is urgin + everybody to go on an she not getting ready May you dont no how I + mis you I hate to pass your house Everybody is well as far as I + no Will J---- is on the gang for that same thing hapen about the + eggs on Houston road. His wife tried to get him to leave here but + he woulden Isiah j---- is going to send for Hattie. In short + Charles S---- wife quit him last week he aint doin no better May + it is lonesome her it fills my heart with sadiness to write to my + friends that gone we dont no weather we will ever see one or + nother any more or not May if I dont come to Chgo I will go to + Detroit I dont think we will be so far apart an we will get + chance to see each other agin I got a heap to tell you but I feal + so sad in hart my definder diden come yesterday I dont no why it + company to me to read it May I received the paper you sent me an + I see there or pleanty of work I can do I will let you no in my + next lettr what I am going to do but I cant get my mind settle to + save my life. Love to Mr. A----. May now is the time to leave + here. The weather is getting better I wont to live out from town + I would not like to live rite in town My health woulden be good + 75 blocks burned in Atlanta. they had fire department from Macon, + Augusta, in Savanah--well all of the largest cities in Georgia to + help put out that fire the whites believe the Gurmons drop that + fire down Now may I hope we will meet again so we can talk face + to face just lik I once have. I will write to Mrs. V---- soon we + hurd Mr. L---- is there I didn't tell the nabors, I was writing + to you M. W---- will write next weak to you + + Now we no that we or to pray for each other by by. + + From + + MARY B---- + + P. S. I will tell you this Ida gone out to about a farm and wants + me to take one but I feal like I make more up there than I will + fooling with a farm May if I stay here I will go crazy I am told + there is no meeting up there like we have here now May tell me + about the houses you can write me on a pos card of some of the + building. May tell me about the place. Lilian D---- come here + last night an tore my mind al to peaces I got your paper an note + so I will keep up corespond with you. + + + NASHVILLE, TENN., Aug. 14, 1917. + + _Dear Mrs. T----.:_ I received your card and was glad to hear + from you pleas excsue me for not writing before now I have been + sick and have got a tubl headacke write back to me and let me + know how times is--I know you are getting fat of good boes--I + wish it was here--T---- sent love to you and said to get her a + boe. You ought to send me a apron or waist one--J---- said hody + and write to him and tell him about the browns up there and tell + R---- I said hody. I see T---- down to Mrs. S---- G---- and to + tell Mrs. N---- I said hody--how is the weigh up there--we can + get all the beerret we want--You think of me in your prays and I + will think of you in my prays + + By By + From your + FRIEND. + + + ATLANTA, GA., July 4, '17. + + _Hello Mr. M----:_ How are you at this time--I arrived here safe + and all O. K. and I am well and hope you are the same. Mrs. M---- + told me that she reecived the money you sent to her and everybody + sends love to you. I found my baby very sick when I come home but + he is better now and I am going to try to come back up there in + short time. How are times there now since my leaving there. I + stopped in Cincinnati Ohio for 4 days then I left for G. but I + will be with you some days I hope. Ask J---- W---- did he get my + letter I wrote to him. Plenty work here but no money to it $1.50 + to $2.00 a day that all I am telling you truly. Have you seen + anything of W---- W---- he is there in Chicago If you do tell him + to send me his address. I want to here from him I learn he is + making $23.00 a week he lives on Federal St., in the 40 block + some where. If I were there I would locate him. + + Tell all the boys Hello. Tell them to write to me and tell me all + the news. + + Good Bye + YOUR FRIEND. + + + NASHVILLE, TENN., Oct. 25th, 1917. + + _Mrs. L---- t----:_ my dear friend I receuve your card and was + truly glad to hear from you--it found me not so well at this time + present and when these few lines come to you I hope they will + find you all well and doing well--I want you to write to me and + tell me what ar you doing and what ar you making and where is + your son w---- and how do you think it would soot me up there. + All of your friends said howdy and they would be glad to see + you--I would love to see you and Mrs. B---- I miss you so much. + + Say T---- do you think that I could get a job up there if I + would come up there where you are--if so write me word and let me + no are you keeping house now to your self--if so write to me and + let me no--write soon tu me + + Yours truley. + + + CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. + + _My dear Sister:_ I was agreeably surprised to hear from you and + to hear from home. I am well and thankful to say I am doing well. + The weather and everything else was a surprise to me when I came. + I got here in time to attend one of the greatest revivals in the + history of my life--over 500 people joined the church. We had a + Holy Ghost shower. You know I like to have run wild. It was + snowing some nights and if you didn't hurry you could not get + standing room. Please remember me kindly to any who ask of me. + The people are rushing here by the thousands and I know if you + come and rent a big house you can get all the roomers you want. + You write me exactly when you are coming. I am not keeping house + yet I am living with my brother and his wife. My sone is in + California but will be home soon. He spends his winter in + California. I can get a nice place for you to stop until you can + look around and see what you want. I am quite busy. I work in + Swifts packing Co. in the sausage department. My daughter and I + work for the same company--We get $1.50 a day and we pack so many + sausages we dont have much time to play but it is a matter of a + dollar with me and I feel that God made the path and I am walking + therein. + + Tell your husband work is plentiful here and he wont have to loaf + if he want to work. I know unless old man A---- changed it was + awful with his sould and G---- also. + + Well I am always glad to hear from my friends and if I can do + anything to assist any of them to better their condition, please + remember me to Mr. C---- and his family I will write them all as + soon as I can. Well I guess I have said about enough. I will be + delighted to look into your face once more in life. Pray for me + for I am heaven bound. I have made too many rounds to slip now. I + know you will pray for prayer is the life of any sensible man or + woman. Well goodbye from your sister in Christ + + P. S. My brother moved the week after I came. When you fully + decide to come write me and let me know what day you expect to + leave and over what road and if I dont meet you I will have some + one ther to meet you and look after you. I will send you a paper + as soon as one come along they send out extras two and three + times a day. + + + CHICAGO, ILL. + + _Dear Partner:_ You received a few days ago and I was indeed glad + to hear from you and know that you was well. How is the old burg + and all of the boys. Say partner is it true that T---- M---- was + shot by a Negro Mon. It is all over the city among the people of + H'burg if so let know at once so I tell the boys it true. Well so + much for that. I wish you could have been here to have been here + to those games. I saw them and beleve me they was worth the money + I pay to see them. T. S. and I went out to see Sunday game witch + was 7 to 2 White Sox and I saw Satday game 2 to 1 White Sox. + Please tell J---- write that he will never see nothing as long as + he stay down there behind the sun there some thing to see up here + all the time, (tell old E---- B---- to go to (H----) Tell B---- + he dont hafter answer my cards. How is friend Wilson Wrote him a + letter in August. Tell him that all right I will see him in the + funny paper. Well Partner I guess you hear a meny funey thing + about Chicago. Half you hear is not true. I know B---- C---- hav + tole a meny lie Whenever you here see them Pardie tell them to + write to this a dress Say Pardie old H---- is moping up in his + Barber shop. Guess I will come to you Boy Xmas. I must go to bed. + Just in from a hard days work. + + Your life long friend. + + + DIXON, ILL., Sept.-25-17. + + _Dear Sir:_ Time affords of writting you people now as we have + raised to wages to three dollars a day for ten hours--eleven hrs. + a day $3.19 We work two wks day and two wks night--for night work + $3.90 This is steady work a year round We have been running ten + years without stopping only for ten days repair. I wish you would + write me at once. + + + CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 11/13/17. + + MR. H---- + Hattiesburg, Miss. + + _Dear M----:_ Yours received sometime ago and found all well and + doing well, hope you and family are well. + + I got my things alright the other day and they were in good + condition. I am all fixed now and living well. I certainly + appreciate what you done for us and I will remember you in the + near future. + + M----, old boy, I was promoted on the first of the month I was + made first assistant to the head carpenter when he is out of the + place I take everything in charge and was raised to $95. a month. + You know I know my stuff. + + Whats the news generally around H'burg? I should have been here + 20 years ago. I just begin to feel like a man. It's a great deal + of pleasure in knowing that you have got some privilege My + children are going to the same school with the whites and I dont + have to umble to no one. I have registered--Will vote the next + election and there isnt any 'yes sir' and 'no sir'--its all yes + and no and Sam and Bill. + + Florine says hello and would like very much to see you. + + All joins me in sending love to you and family. How is times + there now? Answer soon, from your friend and bro. + + + PITTSBURG, PA., May 11, 1917. + + _My dear Pastor and wife:_ It affords me great pleasure to write + you this leave me well & O. K. I hope you & sis Hayes are well & + no you think I have forgotten you all but I never will how is + ever body & how is the church getting along well I am in this + great city & you no it cool here right now the trees are just + peeping out. fruit trees are now in full bloom but its cool yet + we set by big fire over night. I like the money O. K. but I like + the South betterm for my Pleasure this city is too fast for me + they give you big money for what you do but they charge you big + things for what you get and the people are coming by cal Loads + every day its just pack out the people are Begging for some + whears to sta If you have a family of children & come here you + can buy a house easier than you cant rent one if you rent one you + have to sign up for 6 months or 12 month so you see if you dont + like it you have to stay you no they pass that law becaus the + People move about so much I am at a real nice place and stay + right in the house of a Rve.---- and family his wife is a state + worker I mean a missionary she is some class own a plenty rel + estate & personal Property they has a 4 story home on the + mountain, Piano in the parlor, organ in the sewing room, 1 + daughter and 2 sons but you no I have to pay $2.00 per week just + to sleep and pay it in advance & get meals whear I work so I + think I shall get me a place whear I work next week the lady said + she would rather we stay in the house with them & give me a room + up stairs than to pay so much for sleeping so she pays me eight + Dols per week to feed now she says she will room me so if I dont + take that offer I cant save very much I go to church some time + plenty churches in this plase all kinds they have some real + colored churches I have been on the Allegany Mts twice seem like + I was on Baal Tower. Lisen Hayes I am here & I am going to stay + ontell fall if I dont get sick its largest city I ever saw 45 + miles long & equal in breath & a smoky city so many mines of all + kind some places look like torment or how they say it look & some + places look like Paradise in this great city my sister in law + goes too far I stop here I will visit her this summer if I get a + pass I cant spend no more money going further from Home I am 26 + miles from my son Be sweet Excuse me for writeing on both sides I + have so much to say I want to save ever line with a word and that + aint the half but I have told you real facts what I have said I + keps well so far & I am praying to contenure & I hope you & your + dear sweet wife will pray for me & all of my sisters & Bros & + give Mrs. C. my love & sis Jennie & all the rest & except a + barrel ful for you and Hayes Pleas send me a letter of + recommendation tell Dr., to sign & Mr. Oliver. I remain your + friend. + + + CLEVELAND, OHIO, Aug. 28, 1917. + + hollow Dr. my old friend how are you to day i am well and is + doing fine plenty to eat and drink and is making good money in + fact i am not in the best of health i have not had good health + sence i ben here, i thought once i would hefter be operrated on + But i dont no. i were indeed glad to recieve that paper from + Union Springs, i saw in this a peas swhare I wrote to ellesfore a + 2 horse farm, i have seval nochants of coming back, yet i am + doing well no trouble what ever except i can not raise my + children here like they should be this is one of the worst places + in principle you ever look on in your life but it is a fine place + to make money all nattions is here, and let me tell you this + place is crowded with the lowest negroes you ever meet, when i + first come here i cold hardly ever see a Negro but no this is as + meny here is they is thir all kinds of loffers. gamblers pockit + pickers you are not safe here to walk on the streets at night you + are libble to get kill at eny time thir have ben men kill her + jest because he want allow stragglers in his family, yet i have + not had no trouble no way. and we are making good money here, i + have made as hight at 7.50 per day and my wife $4 Sundays my sun + 7.50 and my 2 oldes girls 1.25 but my regler wegers is 3.60 fore + 8 hours work. me and my family makes one hundred three darlers + and 60 cents every ten days. it don cost no more to live here + than it do thir, except house rent i pay 12 a month fore rent + sence i have rote you everything look closely and tell me what + you think is best. i am able to farm without asking any man fore + enything on a credit i can not in joy this place let me tell you + this is a large place Say Jef thornton, and William Penn taken + dinner with us last Sunday and we taken a car ride over the city + in the evening we taken the town in and all so the great Jake + era. they left Sunday night for Akron. Allso Juf griear spent the + day with me few days ago give my love to all the Surounding + friends + + By By + + + PHILADELPHIA, PA., Oct. 7, 1917. + + _Dear Sir:_ I take this method of thanking you for yours early + responding and the glorious effect of the treatment. Oh. I do + feel so fine. Dr. the treatment reach me almost ready to move I + am now housekeeping again I like it so much better than rooming. + Well Dr. with the aid of God I am making very good I make $75 per + month. I am carrying enough insurance to pay me $20 per week if I + am not able to be on duty. I don't have to work hard, dont have + to mister every little white boy comes along I havent heard a + white man call a colored a nigger you no now--since I been in the + state of Pa. I can ride in the electric street and steam cars any + where I get a seat. I dont care to mix with white what I mean I + am not crazy about being with white folks, but if I have to pay + the same fare I have learn to want the same acomidation. and if + you are first in a place here shoping you dont have to wait until + the white folks get thro tradeing yet amid all this I shall ever + love the good old South and I am praying that God may give every + well wisher a chance to be a man regardless of his color, and if + my going to the front would bring about such conditions I am + ready any day--well Dr. I dont want to worry you but read between + lines; and maybe you can see a little sense in my weak statement + the kids are in school every day I have only two and I guess that + all. Dr. when you find time I would be delighted to have a word + from the good old home state. Wife join me in sending love you + and yours. + + I am your friend and patient. + + + DAYTON, OHIO, 7/22/17. + + _My dear pastor and wife:_ I reed your letter was Glad to hear + from you I am do find hope the same for you I am send you some + money for my back salary I will send you some more the 5 of Sept + next month Give love to all of the member of church I will be + home on a visit in Oct are early so pray for me write to me I + would have wrote to you but I didnot no just what to say all of + the people leaves Go to place up East that I did not no weather + are not you care to hear from me are not so I am glad you think + of me. Mr. O---- write me was going to take out life insurance + with him but he would not send me the paper so I just let it Go + as I guess he did not class me with himself I am mak $70 month at + this hotel and then not work hard. + + + PARIS, ILL., 11/7/17. + + REV. ----, + Union Springs, Ala. + + _My dear old friend:_ Yours of a few days ago has been received + and in reply I can only say that I was only too glad to hear from + you and to know that you are having such great success in your + farming as well as church work since I dont farm I know that my + Kmza joys will be made from a box fresh from your farm. + + We are still well and happy glad to say and doing about as well + as can be expected. We have had some heavy snows this fall, but + the last four days have been like summer. + + How is the conscription, high cost of living and now high cost of + postage serving you? It is giving me more trouble than I want. + One hundred of my men are gone to Texas and we feel that if Uncle + Sam doesn't come down they will have to go to France and from the + battle fields to the grave yards as the Germans are still on the + job and playing havoc. + + I am to preach the Thanksgiving Sermon for the Union Services + this year. At this service all of the churches of the city come + together, both white and colored. I also recd. a notice of being + elected to preach the Annual Sermon for the Dist. Grand Lodge K + of P. in May of next year. Son pray for me for these are no + small gatherings, no little honors. How would you like for me to + play off and get you to fill my place? speak out, son. + + The madam joins me in asking to be remembered to dear sister + Hayes and extending you all an invitation to come to see you + soon. + + + HOLDEN, W. VA. + + DR. ----, + Union Springs, Ala. + + How are you Dr. I am OK and family I make $80 to $90 per mo. with + ease and wish you all much success Hello to all the people of my + old home Town. I am saving my money and spending some of it. Have + Joined the K. P. Lodge up here in the mountain. Sen me 5 galls of + country syrup will pay you your price. + + Yours in F. C. & B. + + + CHICAGO, IND., July 15, 1917. + + DR. ----, + Union Springs, Ala. + + _My dear Pastor:_ I find it my Duty to write you my whereabouts + also family, I am glad to say Family and myself are enjoying fine + health, wish the same of you and your dear wife. Well I can say + the people in my section are very much torn up about East St. + Louis. Representive col men of Chicago was in conference with + Governor he promise them that he would begin investigation at + once tell Sister Hayes my wife Says She will write her in a few + days. Dear Pastor I shall send my church some money in a few + days. I am trying to influence our members here to do the same. I + recd. notice printed in a R.R. car (Get straight with God) O I + had nothing so striking to me as the above mottoe. Let me know + how is our church I am to anxious to no. My wife always talking + about her seat in the church want to know who accupying it. + + Yours in Christ. + + + DAYTON, OHIO, Oct. 17, 1917. + + _Dear Pastor:_ I have join the church up here and I authorize the + church to write for my letter of dismission but they say they + have not heard enything from the church at all. Sister ---- ---- + wrote to you she ask for my letter so I can join here in full and + if the church hold me for enything on why say to them I will know + what to do. I have never herd eny thing from my credental from + old man Bonnett. I sent him a letter and also credencil for him + to sign and sent stamps for him send them and he fail to let me + here fum him at all, so I thought you would here fum him befour + know & got him to tend to it for me so dear pastor let me here + from you and be shure to send me my letter of dismission By + Return mail my famil send they regaurd to you and wife they + planning to send some on they salary love to who may ask about + me. + + + EAST CHICAGO, IND., June 10, 1917. + + DR. ----, + Union Springs, Ala. + + _Dear Old Friend:_ These moments I thought I would write you a + few true facts of the present condition of the north. Certainly I + am trying to take a close observation--now it is tru the (col) + men are making good. Never pay less than $3.00 per day or (10) + hours--this is not promise. I do not see how they pay such wages + the way they work labors. they do not hurry or drive you. + Remember this is the very lowest wages. Piece work men can make + from $6 to $8 per day. They receive their pay every two weeks. + this city I am living in, the population 30,000 (20) miles from + Big Chicago, Ill. Doctor I am some what impress. My family also. + They are doing nicely. I have no right to complain what ever. I + rec. the papers you mail me some few days ago and you no I + enjoyed them reading about the news down in Dixie. I often think + of so much of the conversation we engage in concerning this part + of the worl. I wish many time that you could see our People up + hese as they are entirely in a different light. I witness + Decoration Day on May 30th, the line of march was 4 miles. (8) + brass band. All business houses was close. I tell you the people + here are patriotic. I enclose you the cut of the white press. the + chief of police drop dead Friday. Burried him today. The + procession about (3) miles long. Over (400) auto in the + parade--five dpt--police Force, Mayor and alderman and secret + societies; we are having some cold weather--we are still wearing + over coats--Let me know what is my little city doing. People are + coming here every day and are finding employment. Nothing here + but money and it is not hard to get. Remember me to your dear + Family. Oh, I have children in school every day with the white + children. I will write you more next time. how is the lodge. + + Yours friend, + + AKRON, OHIO, May 21, 1917. + + _Dear Friend_: I am well and hop you are well. I am getting along + fine I have not been sick since I left home I have not lost but + 2-1/2 day I work like a man. I am making good. I never liked a + place like I do here except home. Their is no place like home How + is the church getting along. You cant hardly get a house to live + in I am wide awake on my financial plans. I have rent me a place + for boarders I have 15 sleprs I began one week ago and be shure + to send me my letter of dismission By Return mail. I am going + into some kind of business here by the first of Sept. Are you + farming. Rasion is mighty high up here. the people are coming + from the south every week the colored people are making good they + are the best workers. I have made a great many white friends. The + Baptist Church is over crowded with Baptist from Ala & Ga. 10 and + 12 join every Sunday. He is planning to build a fine brick + church. He takes up 50 and 60 dollars each Sunday he is a wel to + do preacher. I am going to send you a check for my salary in a + few weeks. It cose me $100 to buy furniture. Write me. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] These letters were collected under the direction of Mr. Emmett J. +Scott. + + + + +BOOK REVIEWS + + +_The American Negro in the World War._ By EMMETT J. SCOTT, Special +Assistant to the Secretary of War. The Negro Historical Publishing +Company, Washington, D.C., 1919. + +Mr. Scott's account of the _Negro in the World War_ is one of a number +of works presenting the achievements of the Negroes during the great +upheaval. Kelly Miller, W. Allison Sweeney and others have preceded +him in publishing volumes in this same field. The account written by +Kelly Miller is apparently of dubious authorship. It is but a +common-place popular sketch of the war supplemented by one or two +essays bearing the stamp of controversial writing peculiar to Kelly +Miller. W. Allison Sweeney's work undertakes to make a more continuous +historical sketch of the achievements from year to year while at the +same time guided by the topical plan. At times the author is lofty in +his treatment and equally as often trivial. To say that Miller's and +Sweeney's works are not scientific does not exactly cover the ground. +They do not well measure up to the standard of the average popular +history. + +Mr. Scott's history is far from being a definitive one, as the purpose +of the author was rather to popularize the achievements of the Negro +soldiers. In addition to giving the current historical comment +accessible in newspapers and magazines, Mr. Scott has incorporated +into his work a large number of official documents accessible only to +some one, who like himself, was connected with the War Department +during the conflict. It has another value, moreover, in that it well +sets forth the reaction of an intelligent federal official of color on +the thousands of events daily transpiring around him. + +The author undertakes to connect the Negro with the fundamental cause +of the war in that race prejudice was its source. He shows how +fortunate it was to have Negro troops as the first of the national +guard to be adequately equipped for immediate service and to occupy +the post of honor in guarding the White House and the national +capital, by order of the President of the United States. His own +appointment and his work as the Special Assistant to the Secretary of +War as an official recognition of the Negroes' interest in the war are +made the nucleus around which the facts of the work are organized. +How the Negroes figured in the national army, how Negro soldiers and +officers were trained, and how they were treated in the camps all +bring to light information for which the public has long been waiting. +After giving passing mention to the black soldiers in the armies of +the European nations the author directs his attention to the Negro +regiments overseas. Special chapters are devoted to the achievements +of the 367th, 368th, 370th, 371st and 372d regiments. The behavior of +the Negroes in battle is sketched in the chapter entitled the Negro as +a Fighter. + +While dealing primarily with actual war, the author has been careful +to give adequate space to agencies which helped to make the war +possible. The valuable service rendered by the Negroes in the Service +of Supply constitutes one of the most interesting chapters of the +book. Whereas these Negroes were actually conscripted to labor in +spite of the declaration of the War Department to the contrary, they +accepted their lot with the spirit of loyalty and performed one of the +great tasks of the war in getting supplies to Europe and furnishing +the army with them in France. Negro labor in war times, Negro women in +war work, the loyalty of the Negro civilians, and the social welfare +agencies are also treated. Finally the author takes up an important +question: _Did the Negro get a square deal?_ In a position to know the +many problems confronting the Negroes drawn into the army, Mr. Scott +has brought forward in this final chapter adequate evidence to prove +that the Negro did not get a square deal. + + * * * * * + +_The Heart of a Woman._ By GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON, with an +introduction by WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE. The Cornhill Co., Boston, +1918. Pp. 62. + +In these days of _vers libre_ and the deliberate straining for poetic +effect these lyrics of Mrs. Johnson bring with them a certain sense of +relief and freshness. Also the utter absence of the material theme +makes an appeal. We are all weary of the war note and are glad to +return to the softer pipings of old time themes--love, friendship, +longing, despair--all of which are set forth in _The Heart of a +Woman_. + +The book has artistry, but it is its sincerity which gives it its +value. Here are the little sharp experiences of life mirrored +poignantly, sometimes feverishly, always truly. Each lyric is an +instantaneous photograph of one of the many moments in existence +which affect one briefly perhaps, but indelibly. Mr. Braithwaite says +in his introduction that this author engages "life at its most +reserved sources whether the form or substance through which it +articulates be nature, or the seasons, touch of hands or lips, love, +desire or any of the emotional abstractions which sweep like fire or +wind or cooling water through the blood." The ability to give a +faithful and recognizable portrayal of these sources, is Mrs. +Johnson's distinction. + +In this work, Mrs. Johnson, although a woman of color, is dealing with +life as it is regardless of the part that she may play in the great +drama. Here she is a woman of that imagination that characterizes any +literary person choosing this field as a means of directing the +thought of the world. Several of her poems bearing on the Negro race +have appeared in the _Crisis_. In these efforts she manifests the +radical tendencies characteristic of every thinking Negro of a +developed mind and sings beautifully not in the tone of the +lamentations of the prophets of old but, while portraying the trials +and tribulations besetting a despised and rejected people, she sings +the song of hope. In reading her works the inevitable impression is +that it does not yet appear what she will be. Adhering to her task +with the devotion hitherto manifested, there is no reason why she +should not in the near future take rank among the best writers of the +world. + + J. R. FAUSET + + * * * * * + +_A History of Suffrage in the United States._ By KIRK and PORTER, +Ph.D. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Pp. 265. Price +$1.25. + +Knowing that few citizens realize the restrictions on suffrage during +the early years of the republic and the difficulty with which the +right of franchise has been extended during the last half century, the +author has undertaken a scientific study in this field. How the +franchise was at first limited to persons owning considerable +property, and how some of the most popular statesmen of that day +endeavored to keep it thus restricted, and how this aristocratic test +gradually ceased, constitute the interesting portion of the book. The +author's aim, however, is to "present a panoramic picture of the whole +United States and to carry the reader rapidly on from decade to decade +without getting lost in the detailed history." + +The author himself raises the question as to whether he has placed +undue stress on the Civil War and the Reconstruction periods; "but +the intention," says he, "was to pick out of Civil War history the +events and circumstances that had to do directly with suffrage and to +lay them before the reader who is not necessarily familiar with that +history. This decision to emphasize these two periods was determined +to some extent by the fact that the study of suffrage during the +colonial period has been covered by C. F. Bishop's _History of +Elections in the American Colonies_ and A. V. McKinley's _Suffrage +Franchise in the Colonies_. One of the aims of the book is to clear up +the problems of suffrage so far as the Negro is concerned. + +Taking up the question of the extension of suffrage to Negroes upon +the passing of the property qualifications, the author gives some +valuable information, showing the restriction of Negro suffrage +culminating with their disfranchisement in Pennsylvania but falls into +the attitude of a biased writer in making such remarks as "New York +was not a State that suffered greatly from the presence of the Negro" +to account for its action on the question. Again on page 87 he says: +"Up to about this time the Negroes had not been a serious problem." No +large group of Negroes have ever made a State suffer, but communities +living up to the expensive requirements of race prejudice have paid +high costs for which the Negroes have not been responsible. Because of +this bias the writer betrays throughout his treatment his feeling that +Negro suffrage was justly restricted, when white persons not better +qualified were permitted to vote. + +After briefly discussing the extension of the franchise to aliens and +the beginnings of woman suffrage the author directs his attention to +the question as it developed during the Civil War and the +Reconstruction. Into this he brings so many impertinent matters +concerning reconstruction that he almost wanders afield. In the +discussion, however, he makes clear his position that Congress in its +plan for reconstruction had no right to require the seceded States to +make provision for Negro suffrage. As these States, moreover, were not +qualified for representation in Congress they could not be for +ratification of an amendment. It is not surprising then that the +author blamed the Negro for his own recent disfranchisement. He says: +"The Negro must have failed to make himself an intelligent dominant +political factor in the South or such constitutions as have been +renewed here would be utterly impossible." The author has evidently +ignored the forces making history. + + * * * * * + +_A Social History of the American Family._ By ARTHUR W. CALHOUN, Ph.D. +Volumes II and III. The Arthur A. Clark Company, Cleveland, Ohio. + +This work, the first volume of which with these two completes the +treatise, appeared in 1917 when it was reviewed in this publication. +The second volume covers the period from our independence through the +Civil War. Carrying forward this treatment the author considers +marriage and fecundity in the new nation, the unsettling of +foundations, the emancipation of childhood, the social subordination +of woman, the emergence of woman, the family and the home, sex morals +in the opening continent, the struggle for the west, the new +industrial order, the reign of self indulgence, Negro sex and family +relations in the ante-bellum South, racial associations in the old +South, the white family in the old South, and the effects of the Civil +War. + +Discussing Negro sex the author says (II, 243): "If the blacks were +gross and bestial, so would our race be under a like bondage; so it is +now when driven by capitalism to the lower levels of misery. The +allegedly superior morality of the master race or class is not an +inherent trait but merely a function of economic ease and ethical +tradition." He then discusses slave breeding, which was so degrading +as to force sexual relations between healthy Negroes and even that of +orphan white girls with Negroes to produce desirable looking offspring +for purposes of concubinage. Such a case happened in Virginia near the +end of the eighteenth century. After long litigation she and her +children were declared free. Under these conditions sexual relations +among Negroes became loose. The attachment of husband to wife was not +strong and ties of blood were often ignored in sexual relations. There +appears, on the other hand, much evidence that a high sense of +morality obtained among the Negroes. Women of color would not yield to +the lust of their masters, and the forced separation by sale of the +wife from the husband caused heartaches and sometimes suicide. + +Racial associations of the slaves with their masters' children, the +author contends, was generally harmful in that white children learned +from the most degraded class of the population. Yet the fact that the +whites often admitted the blacks to great intimacy indicates that +there must have been many whites who did not believe it. Slaves thus +associated soon learned the ways of their master's family, but white +children remaining and even sleeping promiscuously among slaves early +formed the habit of fornication. The extent to which this custom +prevailed is well established by numerous instances of the concubinage +of white men with women of color, the offspring of which served for +the same purpose as an article of commerce for similar use throughout +the South. In this respect the author has not brought out anything +new. + +Continuing the discussion further he says (II, 305): "Southerners +maintained heatedly that at all events the virtue of the southern +woman was unspotted." "Doubtless," says he, "their contention was +largely warranted but it could not be maintained absolutely." To prove +the assertion he quotes Neilson, who during the six years he spent in +the United States prior to 1830 found in Virginia a case of a Negro +with whom a planter's daughter had not only fallen in love but had +actually seduced him. In North Carolina a white woman drank some of +her Negro's blood that she might swear that she had Negro blood in her +and marry him. They reared a family. The author quotes also from +Reverend Mr. Rankin, who "could refer you to several instances of +slaves actually seducing the daughters of their masters! Such +seductions sometimes happened even in the most respectable +slaveholding families." The author agrees with Pickett, however, that +most white women in the South were pure, and questions Bennett's +remark that perhaps ladies are not immaculate, as may be inferred from +the occasional quadroon aspect of their progeny. He gives some weight, +however, to this remark of a southerner (II, 305-306): "It is +impossible that we should not always have a class of free colored +people, because of the fundamental law _partris sequitur ventrum_. +There must always be women among the lower class of whites, so poor +that their favors can be purchased by slaves. "The _Richmond Enquirer_ +of 1855," says the author, "contains the news of a woman's winning +freedom for herself and five children by proving that her mother was a +white woman." While Lyell found scarcely any instances of mulattoes +born of a black father and a white mother, Olmsted, another traveler +who observed that white men sometimes married rich colored girls, +heard of a case of a colored man who married a white girl. + +In the third and last volume, covering the period since 1865, the +author treats the white family in the new South, miscegenation, the +Negro family since emancipation, the new basis of American life, the +revolution in the woman's world, the woman in the modern American +family, the career of the child, the passing of patriarchism and +familiarism, the precarious hour, the trend as to marriage, race +sterility and race suicide, divorce, the attitude of the church, the +family, and the social revolution. The author finds that during the +past half century the American family possesses unity, due to the fact +that the period itself is marked by intrinsic oneness as the +expression of an economic epoch, the transition to urban +industrialism. If any exception to this statement be made it would +insist on a subdivision with the line falling within the decade of the +eighties when the country was passing beyond the direct influences of +the war and modern industrialism was well under way. + +Taking up the Negro family since the Civil War, the author shows how +difficult it was to uproot the immorality implanted by slavery but +notes the steady progress of the _mores_ of the freedmen despite their +poverty. Colored women continued the prey of white men and it was +difficult to raise a higher standard. There appeared few cases of the +miscegenation of the white women with black men but here and there it +would recur. "Stephen Powers, who passed through the South shortly +after the War, tells of applying for lodging at a lordly mansion in +South Carolina and being repelled by the mistress. At the next house +he learned the cause of her irritation--her only daughter had just +given birth to a Negro babe. After making diligent inquiry he failed +to find another such instance in high life, but in South Carolina +districts where the black population was densest and the poor whites +most degraded 'these unnatural unions were more frequent than anywhere +else' (III, 29). In every case, however, he says it was a woman of the +lowest class, generally a sand-hiller, who, deprived of her support by +the war, took up with a likely 'nigger' in order to save her children +from famine." "He found six such marriages in South Carolina," says +Calhoun, "but never more than one in any other State." The author has +not exhausted this phase of the family, for the reviewer might add +that he knew of four cases of concubinage of white women and black men +in Buckingham County, Virginia, during the eighties. + +On the whole progress toward the elimination of miscegenation by +interracial respect and good will to furnish a barrier is seen as in +the cases of Oberlin and Berea, where coeducation of the races did not +lead to intermarriage. The author refers to the efforts of some +States outside of the South attempting to check miscegenation by +statute, but shows the folly of such legislation in proving that in +general where intermarriage of the races is still permitted very +little occurs. Referring to the statutes of the States prohibiting +marriage between the whites and the blacks (III, 38), he says: "The +necessity for such legislation calls in question the supposed +antipathy between the races, unless the intention is merely to guard +against the aberrancy of atypical individuals." "The laws," says he, +"are of dubious justice and clearly work hardships in certain cases." + +The work on the whole is interesting and valuable although the author +sometimes goes astray in paying too much attention to biased writers +like W. H. Thomas and H. W. Odum who have taken it upon themselves to +vilify and slander the Negro race. + + + + +NOTES + + +To facilitate the study of Negro history in clubs and schools, Dr. C. +G. Woodson has prepared an illustrated text-book entitled _The Negro +in our History_. It has been sent to the publishers and is expected +from the press the first of the year. The book has a topical +arrangement but the matter is so organized as to show the evolution of +the Negro in America from the introduction of slavery in 1619 to the +present day. The topics are: _The Negro in Africa_, _The Enslavement +of the Negro_, _Slavery in its Mild Form_, _The Negro and the Rights +of Man_, _The Reaction_, _Economic Slavery_, _The Free Negro_, +_Abolition_, _Colonization_, _Slavery and the Constitution_, _The +Negro in the Civil War_, _The Reconstruction_, _Finding a way of +Escape_, _Achievements in Freedom_, _The Negro in the World War_, and +_The Negro and Social Justice_. + +The aim of the author is to meet the long felt need of a book of +fundamental facts with references and suggestions for more intensive +study. While it is adapted for use in the senior high school and +freshman college classes, it will serve as a guide for persons +prosecuting the study more seriously. + +Just as soon as this book has come from the press the Association will +send to all Negro schools of secondary and college grade a field agent +to interest them in the effort to inculcate in the mind of the youth +of African blood an appreciation of what their race has thought and +felt and done. The cooperation of all persons taking seriously the +effort to publish the records of the Negro that the race may not +become a negligible factor in the thought of the world, is earnestly +solicited. Any suggestions as to how this work may be more +successfully prosecuted and as to extending it into inviting fields, +will be appreciated. + + +Dr. W. E. B. DuBois and his coworkers are preparing a History of the +Negro in the World War to be published about October. + + + + +PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND BIENNIAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE +STUDY OF NEGRO LIFE AND HISTORY + + +The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History held its +second biennial meeting in Washington, D. C., on the 17th and 18th of +June. An effort was made to bring together for a conference all +persons interested in the study of Negro life and history and +especially to reach those who are giving instruction in these fields. +Accordingly there were present persons from all walks of life, some +coming even from distant points. The Association was honored by the +presence of Dr. J. Stanley Durkee and Dr. H. B. Learned. + +In the absence of Dr. Robert E. Park, President of the Association, +Dr. J. E. Moorland, Secretary-Treasurer, presided. The first session +was an interesting one. Mr. C. H. Tobias delivered an instructive +address on "Negro Welfare Work during the World War." The address +covered in outline the efforts and achievements of all such agencies +as the Knights of Columbus, Red Cross, Young Women's Christian +Association, Young Men's Christian Association, and the Salvation +Army, with reference to their special bearing on the comfort of the +Negroes during the war. The speaker undertook to give the merits and +demerits in each case to enlighten the public as to what was done for +and what against the Negro soldiers by these social welfare agencies. + +Mr. Monroe N. Work then read an interesting and valuable paper on the +"Negro and Public Opinion in the South since the Civil War." The +purpose of the paper was to set forth the varying attitude of the +whites toward the Negro as evidenced by the thought of the community +expressed in the records from decade to decade. Exactly why these +changes in public opinion were brought about constituted the most +interesting part of this address, for it treated not necessarily of +present day conditions but undertook to account for them in the past. + +Dr. H. B. Learned, a member of the Board of Education of the District +of Columbia, was then introduced to the Association. He confined his +remarks to a discussion of the thoughts of the preceding speakers +impressing him most and especially to that of illiteracy. He gave +some valuable information as to the intellectual development of +soldiers drafted during the recent war and said much to throw light on +the conditions of those sections from which they came. He made an +appeal for an increasing interest in the illiterates of both races and +emphasized how difficult it is for men to live for the greatest good +of themselves and their fellows without adequate enlightenment in +things fundamental. His address was scholarly and timely and deeply +impressed his hearers. + +The meeting of the Executive Council of the Association was held at +two o'clock of the same day. Matters of much importance were +considered. Among these may be mentioned the decision to employ a +field agent for the extension of the work, the change of the meeting +from biennial to annual, and the plans for increasing the income of +the Association. It was decided to recommend Mr. William G. Willcox +and Mr. Emmett J. Scott for membership in the Executive Council. + +The evening session of the first day was held at the Fifteenth Street +Presbyterian Church. A large and respectable audience was present. The +speakers of the occasion were Mr. Archibald H. Grimke and Emmett J. +Scott. Mr. Grimke delivered an address on "The Negro and Social +Justice," Beginning with the Declaration of Independence, Mr. Grimke +founded the rights of the Negro in the doctrines advanced by the +statesmen and philosophers of that time and then supported these +claims by the liberal provisions in the Constitution and its +amendments. How the United States Government has failed to live up to +the standard of the real democracy, although professing to promote the +cause of the same, was the main feature of this address. It was on the +whole an interesting discourse and it was well received. + +Mr. Emmett J. Scott, the second speaker of the evening, undertook to +answer the question: "Did the Negro get a Square Deal?" In this +discussion he briefly reviewed the working of the War Department and +other branches of the government having to do with the war, bringing +out in each case exactly what the attitude of the respective branch of +the government was toward the Negro as evidenced by the disposition of +complaints of discrimination set before the heads of those +departments. The address brought out the two important points: that +Mr. Scott, as Special Assistant to the Secretary of War, had been +untiring in his efforts to secure for the Negro the proper recognition +of his rights, but because of rampant race prejudice these rights +were generally disregarded by the public functionaries with exception +of the War Department, where the Secretary did do so much to eliminate +such discrimination that they were decidedly reduced in that +department. It showed also that after all and in spite of the various +explanations made for delay and grievances which were not redressed +that the Negro soldiers did not get a square deal. + +Dr. C. V. Roman, Field Secretary attached to the surgeon general's +office to lecture in the cantonments on social hygiene, discussed full +American citizenship as an ultimate goal of the Negro. To explain his +attitude he made his remarks strictly historical, contrasting the +discouraging aspect of things in 1857 with the much more encouraging +situation eight years later in 1865 when the Negro emerged as a free +man. He too brought forth facts to show that while the attitude of the +majority of the people of this country toward the Negro has been +unfavorable, it has on the whole been hopeful in that the condition of +the Negro has grown better rather than worse. + +The morning session of Wednesday, the second day of the meeting, was +to be opened by an address by Mr. Charles H. Wesley, but owing to the +unavoidable absence of Dr. Thomas Jesse Jones, it was decided to have +Mr. Wesley address the evening session at the Fifteenth Street +Presbyterian Church. Dr. J. E. Moorland then spoke of "What the Negro +Got out of the War." He did not take the attitude of those desiring to +criticize the government because of its shortcomings nor did he +express disappointment over the fact that the Negro's participation in +the war was not considered sufficient to remove all discrimination on +their return home. He referred rather to the lessons of thrift, +economy, cooeperation, and social uplift, which given renewed impetus +by our experiences during this war, will set to work among the Negro +people forces which augur for success. + +The Association was then addressed by Mr. Ezra Roberts, head of the +academic department of Tuskegee Institute, Dr. James H. Dillard and +Dr. J. Stanley Durkee. Mr. Roberts spoke briefly of his systematic +effort to teach Negro history at Tuskegee, discussing the plans, +purposes and means to the end. He referred to the dearth of text-book +material adequately to cover the field and gave the books which he +used for source material. His address was very illuminating and +tended to open to the seeker of truth a neglected field. He was +followed by Mr. James H. Dillard, who discussed the same subject, +emphasizing the necessity to study Africa also as a background. Mr. +Dillard spoke of his interest in the work of the Association and +pledged his support of the effort to extend the work. Dr. J. Stanley +Durkee, President of Harvard University, mentioned also the need for a +study of the Negro in antiquity to bring to light the beautiful +romances of African history which does so much credit to the Negro +race. He believed also that more attention should be given to the +study of social problems and an equipment of the youth for social +service and spoke briefly of his plans to take up such work in the +reconstruction of Howard University. + +At the close of the morning session the business meeting set for two +o'clock was immediately held to avoid the intensive heat which the +members would have to endure to return at that hour of the day. The +new business coming before the Association was presented. After +hearing the reports the following new officers were reelected: + + Dr. R. E. Park, _President_, + Dr. J. E. Moorland, _Secretary-Treasurer_, + Dr. C. G. Woodson, Director. + +The following were chosen members of the Executive Council: + + Robert E. Park, William G. Willcox, + Jesse E. Moorland, L. Hollingsworth Wood, + Carter G. Woodson, Irving Metcalf, + Julius Rosenwald, Thomas J. Jones, + George Foster Peabody, A. L. Jackson, + James H. Dillard, Moorfield Storey, + John R. Hawkins, R. E. Jones. + Emmett J. Scott, + +Dr. R. E. Park, Dr. J. E. Moorland and Dr. C. G. Woodson were chosen +as trustees of the Association. Dr. John R. Hawkins, Dr. J. E. +Moorland and Mr. L. Hollingsworth Wood were appointed members of the +Business Committee. + +The reports of the Director and Secretary-Treasurer follow. + + THE REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR + + The period covered by the last two years has been the most + successful in the history of the Association. It has not yet + solved all of its difficult problems and is far from being above + want, but the progress it has made during the last two years + indicates that the ultimate accomplishment of its purposes is + assured. The edition of the JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY has reached + 4,000. The current circulation, however, is a little less, but + the numbers remaining on hand are gradually absorbed by the book + trade. Our subscription list shows 1648 subscribers. About 600 + copies are sold at news stands and 500 are brought out at the end + of the year in bound form. Because of the value of the JOURNAL OF + NEGRO HISTORY in this form as a source book, the demand has + recently been so great that it is necessary to reprint all + numbers hitherto published. + + The achievements of the Association have been various. There has + been among the people an increasing interest in the study of + Negro life and history as a result of the extension of the + circulation of the JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY and the Negro reading + public has been considerably enlarged. This publication is now + read by serious thinkers throughout the world and research + students find it a valuable aid. The people as a whole are now + ready to hear the facts in the case of the Negro. They desire to + know exactly what the race has done to be entitled to the + consideration given other elements of our population. + + To supply this need the Director has supplemented the work of the + JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY by reprinting and circulating a number + of valuable dissertations and by publishing several books among + which are _Slavery in Kentucky_, _The Royal Adventurers into + Africa_, and _A Century of Negro Migration_. In the near future + the Association will publish for Mr. Justice Riddell, of the + Ontario Supreme Court, a monograph on _The Slave in Upper + Canada_. The Director has written an illustrated text-book on + Negro History which will be published within a few months. These + efforts indicate that the Association will soon develop into a + nucleus of workers known throughout the world as publishers of + authoritative and scientific books bearing on Negro life and + history. + + It is highly gratifying that it is becoming less difficult to + find funds to support the work of the Association. A number of + persons who made contributions from the very beginning have + recently increased their donations. Among these are Mr. Moorfield + Storey and the Phelps Stokes Fund. From other sources there have + been obtained several substantial contributions such as $100 from + Mr. Frank Trumbull, $100 from Mr. William G. Willcox, $200 from + Mr. Morton D. Hull, $250 from Mr. Jams J. Storrow, and $400 from + Mr. Cleveland H. Dodge, the amount which Mr. Julius Rosenwald has + from the beginning annually contributed. + + The Director has endeavored so to increase these contributions as + to secure an endowment making the Association a foundation for a + serious scientific study of Negro life and history. + Unfortunately, however, philanthropists have not seemed disposed + to invest large sums in such an enterprise. The reply to such an + appeal is, that while this work is of great value, they have no + assurance that should the present promoters find it necessary to + retire therefrom, that the work would go on in the way it has + been established and maintained. These philanthropists have in + mind the dearth of scholarship in this field. When our colleges + and universities, therefore, will have developed a serious + student body primarily interested in applying science to the + solution of the race problem, these gentlemen will consider this + appeal more sympathetically. + + + FINANCIAL STATEMENT OF THE SECRETARY-TREASURER + + WASHINGTON, D. C., June 16, 1919. + + _The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, + Incorporated._ + + _Gentlemen:_ I hereby submit to you a report of the amount of + money received and expended by the Association for the Study of + Negro Life and History, Incorporated, from June 30, 1917, to June + 16, 1919, inclusive: + + RECEIPTS EXPENDITURES + + Subscriptions $1,532.14 Printing and stationery $5,283.65 + Memberships 483.17 Petty cash expenses 955.18 + Contributions 4,989.29 Rent and light 314.03 + News agents 357.94 Stenographic services 844.49 + Advertisement 202.66 Refunds 12.20 + Books 22.40 Advertising 128.00 + --------- Bond 10.00 + Total receipts June, 1917, to --------- + June, 1919 $7,587.60 Total expenditures $7,547.55 + Balance, June 30, 1917 58.40 Balance, June 16, 1919 98.45 + --------- --------- + $7,646.00 $7,646.00 + --------- --------- + + + Respectfully submitted, + (Signed) J. E. MOORLAND, + _Secretary-Treasurer_. + + + WASHINGTON, D. C., June 16, 1919. + + DR. C. G. WOODSON, Director, Association for the study of Negro + Life and History, 1216 You Street, N.W., City. + + _Dear Sir_: + + In accordance with your request, I have audited the books of the + Secretary-Treasurer of the Association for the Study of Negro + Life and History and find them correct for the period from July + 6, 1917, to June 16, 1919. + + Respectfully, + (Signed) C. E. LUCAS, + _Auditor._ + + +The constitution as amended at the business session follows. + + CONSTITUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF NEGRO LIFE AND + HISTORY + + I. The name of this body shall be the Association for the Study + of Negro Life and History. + + II. Its object shall be the collection of sociological and + historical documents and the promotion of studies bearing on the + Negro. + + III. Any person approved by the Executive Council may become a + member by paying $1.00 and after the first year may continue a + member by paying an annual fee of one dollar. Persons paying + $2.00 annually become both members of the Association and + subscribers to the JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY. On the payment of + $30.00 any person may become a life member, exempt from + assessments. Persons not resident in the United States may be + elected honorary members and shall be exempt from any payment of + assessments. Members organized as clubs for the study of the + Negro shall gratuitously receive from the Director such + instruction in this field as may be given by mail. + + IV. The Officers of this Association shall be a President, a + Secretary-Treasurer, a Director of Research and Editor, and an + Executive Council, consisting of the free foregoing officers and + twelve other members elected by the Association. The Association + shall elect three members of the Executive Council as trustees. + It shall also appoint a business committee to certify bills and + to advise the Director in matters of administrative nature. These + officers shall be elected by ballot through the mail or at each + annual meeting of the Association. + + V. The President and Secretary-Treasurer shall perform the duties + usually devolving on such officers. The Director of Research and + Editor shall devise plans for the collection of documents, direct + the studies of members and determine what matter shall be + published in the JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY. The Executive Council + shall have charge of the general interests of the Association; + including the election of members, the calling of meetings, the + collection, and disposition of funds. + + VI. This Constitution may be amended at any biennial meeting, + notice of such amendment having been given at the previous + biennial meeting or the proposed amendment having received the + approval of the Executive Council. + +The last session of the Association was held Wednesday evening at the +Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church. In the absence of Dr. J. E. +Moorland, Professor John R. Hawkins presided. The first address was +delivered by Mr. Charles H. Wesley on "The Negro Soldier in the +Confederate Army." Mr. Wesley's address was scholarly and +illuminating. He showed that he had made extensive research in this +field in that he was well acquainted with his subject and he had it +well outlined. It was presented in topical form and made so clear that +it was almost impossible not to understand the extent to which the +Negro figured as a soldier in the Confederate Army. He took occasion +to show the difference between the Negro's loyalty to his country and +that to the master class and explained how an attachment to the soil +on which one lives is inevitable. The whole address tended to bring +forth the thought that the Negro is so closely connected with all the +great movements of this country that it is impossible to treat him as +an alien. + +Dr. George E. Haynes, the next speaker, discussed "Some Economic +Problems of the Negro." As the Director of the Bureau of Negro +Economics in the Department of Labor, Dr. Haynes has done considerable +investigation which enables him to speak with authority in this field. +His discussion was largely statistical, treating the Negro laborer as +compared with the white laborer with respect to absenteeism, turn-over +and general efficiency. On some points his investigation had not gone +sufficiently far to reach definite conclusions. In most cases, +however, he had facts to warrant conclusions as to the main deficiency +from which the Negro laborer suffers and the respects in which he +excels the white laborer. + +Mr. John W. Davis, Executive Secretary of the local Young Men's +Christian Association, undertook to explain "How to Promote the Study +of Negro Life and History." In the first place, he answered the +questions whether or not the Negro had any history, whether this +history is worth saving, and how the movement should be promoted. +Basing his remarks on the achievements of Africa to show that the +Negro has a history worth while, Mr. Davis supported the contention +that the race has a tradition which should be passed on to generations +unborn. He then endeavored to show briefly exactly how there can be +constructed the machinery adequate to interesting every individual +having pride in the achievements of this large fraction of the +population of the country. + + * * * * * + +[Transcriber's Notes: + +Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as +possible, including obsolete and variant spellings and other +inconsistencies. The transcriber made the following changes to the +text to correct obvious errors: + + 1. p. 15, No footnote marker for footnote #18 in original text. + 2. p. 15, No footnote marker for footnote #19 in original text. + 3. p. 15, Footnote #19, "Attiude" --> "Attitude" + 4. p. 18, "thereupon he suffered" --> "thereupon be suffered" + 5. p. 30, Footnote #12, "skteches" --> "sketches" + 6. p. 61, "intellignce" --> "intelligence" + 7. p. 69, "about what time" --> "About what time" + 8. p. 103, "depneded" --> "depended" + 9. p. 109, "Ilinois" --> "Illinois" + 10. p. 115, "expeience" --> "experience" + 11. p. 273, No footnote text for footnote #58. + 12. p. 288, "daugther" --> "daughter" + 13. p. 291, "Apirl" --> "April" + 14. p. 306, "Apri" --> "April" + 15. p. 380, Footnote #16, "salvery" --> "slavery" + 16. p. 410, "uusal" --> "usual" + 17. p. 421, "supoprt" --> "support" + 18. p. 429, "Apirl" --> "April" + +Also, many occurrences of mismatched single and double quotes remain +as published. + +End of Transcriber's Notes] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Journal of Negro History, Volume +4, 1919, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEGRO HISTORY *** + +***** This file should be named 21093.txt or 21093.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/0/9/21093/ + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Richard J. Shiffer and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |