James A. Handy, of Baltimore, remarked that they lived in an interesting age of the world—that it was the glory of our day that assistance is offered to the immortal principles of man, and it struggles to free itself from the trammels and superstitions of the past, and of the oppressions and burthens of the present. We live in an age of physical, moral and intellectual wonders; and that man is truly fortunate who lives at the present, and has the privilege of aiding in carrying forward the great enterprise of redeeming, disenthralling and restoring back in all their primitive glory three millions of down trodden people to the land of their forefathers. On the western shore of Africa there was the infant republic of Liberia attracting the attention of all the enlightened nations of the earth. For four years she had maintained her position as an independent State, and today she was prosperous, happy and free, acknowledged by England, France, Russia and Prussia—four of the greatest powers of the earth; and before this year is out the United States will be willing, ready and anxious to cultivate friendly relations with that garden spot—that heritage which a kind and overruling Providence has prepared for us, and not only for us, but for all the sable sons and daughters of Ham.

One word in relation to the inducements held out by Liberia—Asia could not exceed the variety of the productions of Africa—Europe with her numerous manufactories and internal resources, could not cope with her in physical greatness—America with her noble institutions, elements of power, facilities of improvement, promises of greatness and high hopes of immortality, was this day far, very far behind her in natural resources. Nothing can excel the value of her productions—sugar-cane grows rapidly, cotton is a native plant, corn and hemp flourish in great perfection; oranges, coffee, wild honey, lemons, limes, mahogany, cam-wood, satin-wood, rose-wood, &c., abound there; mules, oxen, horses, sheep, hogs, fowls of all kinds, are in the greatest abundance. She holds out a rich temptation to commerce and a strong inducement to emigration. To the latter the United States owed what she was, making her one of the most effective nations of the world. For years the glorious galaxy of stars which arose in the western hemisphere have been casting their generous, grateful light over the social, moral and political darkness of the East, but to-day the commanding tide of commerce is changing. From the Pacific shores the genius of American enterprise and industry has opened a nearer highway to the Celestial Empire, and is now, by a closer interchange of fraternal relations, unbolting the massive doors, and securing the commerce of China and Japan.

On the lap of American civilization, and around the altars of this Christian land, have been born the moral elements of civil and Christian power, ordained by heaven for the redemption of Africa. For the last 2,000 years, that wretched land of mystery and crime has been abandoned to the cupidity of most cruel barbarism, surpassing in degradation, guilt and woe, all other nations of the earth. Pre-eminently high on the page of prophetic scripture is chronicled in most unequivocal language the name and future redemption of Africa. For twelve centuries the problem "how shall Africa be redeemed?" has been unsolved, although earnestly sought for by the civil and religious powers of Europe; but in every instance it has been in vain, and the cloud of her wretchedness blackened on each failure. Mysterious and inscrutable are the ways of Providence to accomplish her restoration, lift her from the jaws of death, bind her as a jewel to the throne of righteousness, and give her a place among the civilized nations of mankind. God in his pity, wisdom and goodness, has opened the way for a part of her crushed children, predoomed by bloody superstitions to altars of death, to be delivered from immolation and find an asylum under a form of ameliorated service in the bosom of this country; and here their children have been born, elevated and blessed under redeeming auspices. In the lapse of time, by the same benevolent providence, many of this people have become free, and to such the voice of heaven emphatically speaks, thundering forth in invigorating terms, "Arise and depart for this is not your rest."

This makes us bold in saying that emigration is the only medium by which the long closed doors of that continent are to be opened; by her own children's returning, bearing social and moral elements of civil and religious power, by which that continent is to be resuscitated, renovated and redeemed.

Thirty-one years ago the first emigrant ship that ever sailed eastward from these shores to Africa, conveying to that dark land a missionary family of some two hundred souls—her own returning children, enriched with the more enduring treasures of the western world; there by them on the borders of that continent, overshadowed with the deepest gloom, were raised the first rude temples of civilization—the first halls of enlightened legislation—the first Christian altars to the worship of Almighty God that have ever proved successful, or of any permanent, practical utility. Then and there arose the long promised light, the star of hope to the benighted millions of Africa. Since that day the star has risen higher and higher, the light extended along the coast and reaching far back towards the mountains of the Moon, radiating, elevating and purifying; and to-day we behold a nation born on the western coast of Africa, respected, prosperous and happy. Here then is practically and beautifully solved, on the true utilitarian principles of this wonder-working age, the mysterious problem: By whom is Africa to be redeemed? The answer comes rumbling back to us, over the towering billows of the Atlantic, from the Republic of Liberia, with a voice that starts our inmost souls, falling with ponderous weight upon the ears of the free colored people of this Union—"thou art the man, thou art the woman."

James A. Jackson, of Baltimore, eulogized Hayti as standing as high above the other West India islands as the United States does above the republic of Mexico, in the point of commercial importance. This island had tried the experiment of republicanism and had changed it. It was now a question with the colored people, in their present condition, whether they were more suited to a republican than monarchical government. The productions of the soil of Hayti and of her forests were referred to, and the fact alleged that she would produce more than all the other West India islands put together. The exports and imports of the United States to and from the island were cited as an illustration of her prosperity. A comparison was made of the commerce of Liberia and that of Hayti, the latter country being held up in a very favorable light.

Nicholas Penn, of Frederick, spoke in favor of emigration to Liberia. They did not want an island. The colored population increased so fast that they needed no island but a continent for them. His constituents wished him to examine Africa, and he hoped it would be done. Liberia was the only place for them. The white man fought for and claimed this country, and he was now going to give it up to them. In the language of Patrick Henry, will we be ready tomorrow or next day to act more than now? No! Now was the time; and he hoped this enterprise would spread far and wide until the whole people should understand it and all unite in the glorious movement. Let us appoint men to go and examine Liberia, and report to us just what it is. We want a home, and we were sent here to examine and determine on what would be best to recommend.

B. Jenifer, of Dorchester, said, all these statements about Africa were theoretical—gained through geography, and went on to state that he had spent nearly eleven months in Africa, had traveled it over and examined its productions and resources. He had been sent for that purpose by a colored colonization society of his county; but did not wish to discuss Liberia at this time. Mr. Handy had so ably discussed the subject, and in all of which he fully coincided with him. The true question for this convention to decide was whether they should remain, here, or to seek a home in Liberia or elsewhere.

John H. Walker, after some difficulty, got the floor and offered a substitute for the report of the committee on the platform, which was unanimously adopted. The following is the substitute:

WHEREAS, The present age is one eminently distinguished for inquiry, investigation, enterprise and improvement in physical, political, intellectual and moral sciences; and, whereas, among our white neighbors every exertion is continually being made to improve their social and moral condition, and develop their intellectual faculties; and, whereas, it is a duty which mankind, (colored as well as white,) owe to themselves and their Creator to embrace every opportunity for the accomplishment of this mental culture and intellectual development, and general social improvement; and, whereas, we, the free colored people of the State of Maryland, are conscious that we have made little or no progress in improvement during the past twenty years, but are now sunken into a condition of social degradation which is truly deplorable, and the continuing to live in which we cannot but view as a crime and transgression against our God, ourselves and our posterity; and, whereas, we believe that a crisis in our history has arrived when we may choose for ourselves degradation, misery and wretchedness, on the one hand, or happiness, honor and enlightenment, on the other, by pursuing one of two paths which are now laid before us for our consideration and choice; may we not, therefore, hope that our people will awaken from their lethargic slumbers, and seek for themselves that future course of conduct which will elevate them from their present position and place them on an equality with the other more advanced races of mankind—may we not hope that they will consider seriously the self-evident proposition that all men are created equal, and endowed by the Creator with the same privileges of exerting themselves for their own and each other's benefit; and, whereas, in view of these considerations, and in order to commence the great and glorious work of our moral elevation, and our social and intellectual improvement, we are of the opinion that an organization of the friends of this just and holy cause is absolutely necessary for effecting the object so much to be desired, and we are therefore—

Resolved, That we will each and every one, here pledge ourselves to each other and to our God, to use on every and all occasions, our utmost efforts to accomplish the objects set forth in the foregoing preamble; and that we will, now, and forever hereafter, engraft this truth in our prayers, our hopes, our instructions to our brethren and our children—namely, that degradation is a sin and a source of misery, and it is a high, and honorable and a blessed privilege we enjoy, the right to improve ourselves and transmit to posterity happiness instead of our misery—knowledge instead of our ignorance.

Resolved, That while we appreciate and acknowledge the sincerity of the motives and the activity of the zeal of those who, during an agitation of twenty years, have honestly struggled to place us on a footing of social and political equality with the white population of the country, yet we cannot conceal from ourselves the fact that no advancement has been made towards a result to us so desirable; but that on the contrary, our condition as a class is less desirable now than it was twenty years ago.

Resolved, That in the face of an emigration from Europe, which is greater each year than it was the year preceding, and during the prevalence of a feeling in regard to us, which the very agitation intended for good has only served apparently to embitter, we cannot promise ourselves that the future will do that which the past has failed to accomplish.

Resolved, That we recognize in ourselves the capacity of conducting our own public affairs in a manner at once creditable and well calculated to further among us the cause of religion, virtue, morality, truth and enlightenment—and to acquire for ourselves the possession and enjoyment of that elevated refinement which so much adorns and beautifies social intercourse among mankind, and leads them to a proper appreciation of the relations existing between man and Deity—man and his fellow men, and man and that companion whom God has bestowed upon him, to console him in the hours of trouble and darkness, or enjoy with him the blessings that heaven vouchsafed occasionally to shower upon our pathway through life.

Resolved, That in a retrospective survey of the past, we see between the white and colored races a disparity of thought, feeling and intellectual advancement, which convinces us that it cannot be that the two races will ever overcome their natural prejudices towards each other sufficiently to dwell together in harmony and in the enjoyment of like social and political privileges, and we therefore hold that a separation of ourselves from our white neighbors, many of whom we cannot but love and admire for the generosity they have displayed towards us from time to time, is an object devoutly to be desired and the consummation of which would tend to the natural advantage of both races.

Resolved, That comparing the relative advantages afforded us in Canada, the West Indies and Liberia—these being the places beyond the limits of the United States which circumstances have directed our attention—we are led to examine the claims of Liberia particularly, for there alone, we have been told, that we can exercise all the functions of a free republican government, and hold an honorable position among the nations of the earth.

Resolved, That this Convention recommend to the colored people of Maryland, the formation of societies in the counties of the State and the city of Baltimore, who shall meet monthly, for the purpose of raising means to establish and support free schools for the education of our poor and destitute children, and for the appointment each month of a person whose duty it shall be to collect such information in relation to the condition of the colored emigrants in Canada, West Indies, Guiana and Liberia, as can be obtained by him from all available sources, which information shall be brought to these monthly meetings above alluded to, and read before them for the instruction of all, in order that when they are resolved, if they should so resolve, to remove from this country to any other, they may know what will be their wants, opportunities, prospects, &c., in order to provide beforehand for any emergencies that may meet them on their arrival in their new homes.

Resolved, That as this subject is one of the greatest importance to us, and the consideration of which whatever may be the result, cannot be put aside, we recommend to our people in this State to establish and maintain an organization in regard to it, the great object of which shall be enquiry and discussion, which, without committing any, may lead to accurate information; and that a convention like the present, composed of delegates from the respective counties of the State and from Baltimore city, be held annually at such times and places as may be hereafter designated.

Resolved, That in thus expressing our opinions, it is not our purpose to counsel emigration as either necessary or proper in every case. The transfer of an entire people from one country to another, must necessarily be the work of generations. Each individual now and hereafter must be governed by the circumstances of his own condition, of which he alone can be the judge, as well in regard to the time of removal as to the place to which he shall remove; but deeply impressed ourselves with the conviction that sooner or later removal must take place, we would counsel our people to accustom themselves to that idea.

Resolved, That this Convention recommend to the ministers of the gospel among the free colored population of Maryland to endeavor, by contributions from their congregations and by other means, to raise funds for the purpose of forwarding the benevolent object of educating the children of the destitute colored persons in this State; and that they also impress upon the minds of their hearers the benefits which would necessarily result from development of their intellects, and the bringing into fullest use those mental powers and reasoning faculties which distinguish mankind from the brute creation; and that this be requested of them as a part of their duty as ministers of the religion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

E. Harris entered his protest against the adoption of the fourth resolution.

A motion made to adjourn sine die at 2 o'clock P.M., was lost; and a resolution restricting each speaker to five minute speeches was adopted.

William Perkins spoke of the law enforced in Kent, by which the children of free colored persons, whom the officers decided the parents were unable to support, were bound out; and also of the law which prohibited a colored person returning to the State if he should happen to leave it. They were oppressed and borne down.

James A. Jones, of Kent, thought his native county equal to any other in the State, and that colored persons were not more oppressed there than elsewhere in the State.

Charles O. Fisher moved that a committee of five be appointed to draw up a memorial to the Legislature of Maryland, praying more indulgence to the colored people of the State, in order that they may have time to prepare themselves for a change in their condition, and for removal to some other land.

Daniel Koburn, of Baltimore, in referring to the oppressive laws of the State, said the hog law of Baltimore was better moderated than that in reference to the colored people. The hog law said at certain seasons they should run about and at certain seasons be taken up; but the law referring to colored people allowed them to be taken up at any time.

Chas. Dobson, of Talbot, said that the time had come when free colored men in this country had been taken up and sold for one year, and when that year was out, taken up and sold for another year. Who knew what the next Legislature would do; and if any arrangements could be made to better their condition, he was in favor of them. He was for the appointing the committee on the memorial.

B. Jenifer, of Dorchester, opposed the resolution; he was not in favor of memorializing the Legislature—it had determined to carry out certain things, and it was a progressive work.

Chas. Wyman, of Caroline; Jos. Bantem, of Talbot; John H. Walker, Chas. O. Fisher and others discussed the resolution which was finally adopted.

The following is the committee appointed: Jno. H. Walker and Jas. A. Handy, of Baltimore; William Perkins, of Kent; Thomas Fuller, of Dorchester; and Daniel J. Ross, of Hartford county.

A resolution of thanks to the officers of the Convention, the reporters of the morning papers, and authorities for their protection, was adopted. The proceedings were also ordered to be printed in pamphlet form.

The Convention, at 3 o'clock adjourned to meet on the second Monday in November, 1853, at Frederick, Md.

—From the Baltimore Sun, July 27, 28, and 29, 1852.



REVIEWS OF BOOKS



The Slaveholding Indians. Volume I: As Slaveholder and Secessionist. By Annie Heloise Abel, Ph.D. The Arthur H. Clark Company, Cleveland, 1915. Pp. 394.

This is the first of three volumes on the slaveholding Indians planned by the author. Volume II is to treat of the Indians as participants in the Civil War and Volume III on the Indian under Reconstruction.

The present volume deals with a phase, as the author says, "of American Civil War history, which has heretofore been almost neglected, or where dealt with, either misunderstood or misinterpreted." It comes as a surprise to most of us that the Indian played a part of sufficient importance within the Union to have the right to have something to say about secession. Yet inconsistently enough he was considered so much a foreigner that both the South and the North, particularly the former, found it expedient to employ diplomacy in approaching him.

The South, we are assured, found the attitude of the Indians toward secession of the greatest importance. Yet it was not the Indian owner so much as the Indian country that the Confederacy wanted to be sure of possessing, for Indian Territory occupied a position of strategic importance from both the economic and the military point of view. "The possession of it was absolutely necessary for the political and institutional consolidation of the South. Texas might well think of going her own way and of forming an independent republic once again, when between her and Arkansas lay the immense reservations of the great tribes. They were slave-holding tribes, too; yet were supposed by the United States government to have no interest whatsoever in a sectional conflict that involved the very existence of the 'peculiar institution,'"

The above quotation is practically the intent of the book and the author has succeeded in carrying this out in four divisions entitled: I, "The General Situation in the Indian Country, 1830-1860." II, "Indian Territory in Its Relations with Texas and Arkansas." III, "The Confederacy in Negotiation with the Indian Tribes." IV, "The Indian Nations in Alliance with the Confederacy."

The book is essentially a work by a scholar for scholars. It is certainly not for the laity. The facts are striking but well substantiated. There can be no doubt but that much time has been spent in its compilation. The style, however, is unusually dry. It has appendices, an invaluable bibliography, a carefully tabulated index, four maps, and three portraits of Indian leaders.

It is interesting to note that the author is of British birth and ancestry and so presumably is free from sectional prejudice. Her book marks a distinct step forward, for those who are interested in Indian affairs.

JESSIE FAUSET.



The Political History of Slavery in the United States. By James Z. George, formerly Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi and later United States Senator from that State. The Neale Publishing Company, New York, 1915. Pp. xix, 342.

This is a discussion as well as the history of slavery and Reconstruction from the time of the introduction of the slaves in 1619 to the break-up of the carpet-bagger governments. "Considering the jealousies and even animosities that are becoming more and more intensified between the North and South, as well as the disposition that is ever increasing in the stronger section to dominate the weaker," the author believes that "it is becoming necessary to think over calmly and seriously the causes that have produced these evils, and to ascertain, if we can, the remedy, if remedy there be."

The work begins with a sketch of ancient slavery, showing that the introduction of the institution into the Southern States was not exceptional. He then gives an account of slavery in the colonies, and the efforts to suppress the slave trade. The connection of slavery with the War of 1812 and with the Hartford Convention is noted. He then takes up the Missouri Compromise with some detail, giving almost verbatim the proceedings of Congress relative thereto. In the same way he treats the "Repudiation of the Missouri Compromise," the Annexation of Texas, the Wilmot Proviso, the Kansas—Nebraska Affair, the Lincoln and Douglas Debates, John Brown's Invasion, Secession, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.

Throughout this treatise, he carefully notes the "jealousy of sectional interest and power and the determination to maintain this power even at a cost of a dissolution of the Union," In other words, the whole sectional struggle grew out of what he calls the effort to maintain the balance of power between two sections of the Union, with the slavery question contributing thereto. Facts set forth bring out very clearly that the South is not to be censured as being especially hostile to the Negro when on the statute books of the North there are found numerous laws to show that persons of color were not considered desirables in those States.

He raises the question as to whether the South violated the Missouri Compromise and considers it a revolution that public functionaries disregarded the rights of the owners of slave property when the highest tribunal, the Supreme Court, had sanctioned these rights. The act of secession is palliated too on the ground that the South had developed under the influence of that peculiar political philosophy which produced there a race that could never sanction passive obedience. In seceding the South was not attempting to overturn the government of the United States. It was not contemplated to interfere with the States adhering to the Union. They sought merely to "withdraw themselves from subjection to a government which they were convinced intended to overthrow their institutions."

The Civil War came in spite of the fact that the Convention that framed the Constitution negatived the proposition to confer on the Federal Government the authority to exert the force of the Union against a delinquent State. It was, therefore, a mere act of coercing a section preparing for self-defense. Reconstruction is treated very much in the same way. The laws under which it was effected were unjust, the men who executed them were harsh, and the weaker section had to pay the price.

The book cannot be classed as scientific work. The topics discussed are not proportionately treated, the style is rendered dull by the incorporation of undigested material, and the emphasis is placed on the political and legal phases of history at the expense of the social and economic. In it we find very little that is new. It merely presents the well-known political theory of the Old South. The chief value of the work consists in its being an expression of the opinion of a distinguished man who participated in many of the events narrated.

J. O. BURKE.



The Constitutional Doctrines of Justice Harlan. By Floyd Barzilia Clark, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Political Science in Pennsylvania State College. Series XXXIII, No. 4, Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science under the direction of the Department of History, Political Economy, and Political Science. The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 1915.

This work is a legal treatise consisting of a scholarly discussion of the doctrines advanced by Justice Harlan during his service as a member of the Supreme Court of the United States. The book opens with a brief biography of the jurist, emphasizing the important events of his career to furnish a basis for the study of his theories. The author then takes up such topics as the "Suability of States," the "Impairment of the Obligation Contracts," "Due Process of Law," "Interstate and Foreign Commerce," "Equal Protection of the Laws," the "Jurisdiction of Courts," "Miscellaneous Topics," and "Judicial Legislation."

The author finds that in the treatment of these important legal questions Harlan measures up to the standard of an able jurist. Replying to those who have charged him with emphasizing too greatly the letter of the law, the writer says that such a contention is based on ignorance or prejudice. "No one who so interpreted the Eleventh Amendment," says the author, "as to maintain that a suit against the officer of a State in his official capacity was not a suit against a State could have held to the strict letter of the law." The author further contends that this criticism of the jurist arises from the fact that he did not believe in equivocation.

The interpretation of the laws relating to the Negro, the point on which he dissented from the majority of the members of the court, should have been given more prominence in this discussion. The discriminations against the Negroes are treated in connection with the chapters on "Interstate and Foreign Commerce" and "Equal Protection of the Laws." The Fourteenth Amendment is treated along with such miscellaneous topics as "Direct Taxation," "Copyrights," "Insular Cases," "Interstate Comity," and "Labor Legislation." Stating Justice Harlan's theory as to the position the Negro should occupy in this country, however, the author writes very frankly. Harlan, he thought, believed that they should occupy the position that historically they were intended to occupy by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. He believed that the law should be interpreted as it was meant and not as the court thought expedient and wise. "Though it may be true that his relation to the negro in political matters may have made him more violent in his dissents, any one who will look fairly at the question must conclude that his doctrine was legally correct. And as time passes, and as both classes become better educated and broader in their views, it may be said that the tendency of the court is likely to be to interpret the laws largely as he thought they should have been interpreted, that is, as historically they were meant."

C. B. WALTER.



Reconstruction in Georgia, Economic, Social, Political, 1865—1872. By C. Mildred Thompson, Ph.D. Longmans, Green, and Company, New York, 1915. Pp. 418.

The appearance of C. M. Thompson's Reconstruction in Georgia arouses further interest in the study of that period which has been attracting the attention of various investigators in the leading universities of the United States. These writers fall into different groups. Coming to the defense of a section shamed with crime, some have endeavored to justify the deeds of those who resorted to all sorts of schemes to rid the country of the "extravagant and corrupt Reconstruction governments." Lately, however, the tendency has been to get away from this position. Yet among these writers we still find varying types, many of whom have for several reasons failed to write real history. Some have not forsaken the controversial group, not a few have tried to explain away the truth, and others going to the past with their minds preoccupied have selected only those facts which support their contentions.

What has this author in question done? In this readable and interesting work the writer has shown considerable improvement upon historical writing in this field. She has endeavored to deal not only with the political but also with the economic and social phases of the history of this period. One gets a glance at the State before the war, the transition from slavery to freedom, the problems of labor and tenancy, the commercial revival, the social readjustment, political reorganization, military rule, State economy, reorganized Reconstruction, agriculture, education, the administration of justice, the Ku Klux disorder, and the restoration of home rule.

This research leads the author to conclude that the seven years of the history of the State from 1865 to 1872 marked only the beginning of the social and economic transformation that has taken place since the war. This upheaval broke up the large plantation system, removed from power the "slave oligarchy," and exalted the yeomanry of moderate means, the uplanders now in control in the South. When the Democratic rule replaced Republicanism "one set of abnormal influences were put at rest," economic and social problems becoming the all-engrossing topics, and politics a diversion rather than a matter of self-preservation. The race problem then aroused began in another age, and not being settled, has been bequeathed to a later generation. Emancipation itself would have aroused racial antagonism but Republican Reconstruction increased it a hundred fold. This was the most enduring contribution of Congressional interference.

Politically Reconstruction in Georgia was a failure. The greatest political achievement of the period was the enfranchisement of the Negro, but this was soon undone, the Southern white man having no freedom of choice—"he had to be a democrat, whether or no." Although establishing the Negro in freedom the government failed to establish him in political and social equality with the whites. "But still," says the author, "the race problem and the cry of Negro! Negro! the slogan of political demagogues who magnify and distort a very real difficulty in playing upon the passions of the less educated whites—rise to curtail freedom of thought and act."

Out of this mass of material examined one would expect a more unbiased treatment. The work suffers from some of the defects of most Reconstruction writers, although the author has endeavored to write with restraint and care. One man is made almost a hero while another is found wanting. The white Southerner could not but be a Democrat but no excuse is made for the Negro who had no alternative but to ally himself with those who claimed to represent his emancipator. The State was at one time bordering on economic ruin because the Negroes became migratory and would not comply with their labor contracts. Little is said, however, about the evils arising from the attitude of Southern white men who have never liked to work and that of those who during this period, according to the author, formed roving bands for plundering and stealing. But we are too close to the history of Reconstruction to expect better treatment. We are just now reaching the period when we can tell the truth about the American Revolution. We must yet wait a century before we shall find ourselves far enough removed from the misfortunes and crimes of Reconstruction to set forth in an unbiased way the actual deeds of those who figured conspicuously in that awful drama.



NOTES

"That the idea of a 'Secretary of Peace' for the United States is no new thing was brought out in the course of a paper by P. Lee Phillips, read by President Allen C. Clark before the Columbia Historical Society, which met at the Shoreham Hotel last night.

"In the course of the paper, entitled 'The Negro, Benjamin Banneker, Astronomer and Mathematician,' it was brought out that Banneker, who was a free Negro, friend of Washington and Jefferson, published a series of almanacs, unique in that they were his own work throughout. In the almanac for 1793 one of the articles from Banneker's pen was 'A Plan of Peace Office for the United States,' for promoting and preserving perpetual peace. This article was concise and well written, and contains most of the ideas set forth today by advocates of peace. Banneker took a 'crack' at European military ideas, and advocated the abolishment in the United States of military dress and titles and all militia laws. He laid down laws for the construction of a great temple of peace in which hymns were to be sung each day.

"Mr. Phillips's paper brought out that Banneker helped in one of the early surveys of the District of Columbia."—Washington Star.

This dissertation will be brought out in the Annual Publication of the Columbia Historical Society.

Professor Alain Leroy Locke, of Howard University, has published an interesting prospectus of his lectures on the race problem.

Professor A. E. Jenks, of the University of Minnesota, has contributed to the American Journal of Sociology an elaborate paper on the legal status of the miscegenation of the white and black races in the various commonwealths.

Miss L. E. Wilkes, of the Washington Public Schools, has been lecturing on "Missing Pages of American History." This is a summary of her work treating the Negro soldier from the Colonial Period through the War of 1812. The treatise will be published in the near future.

In the Church Missionary Review has appeared "A Survey of Islam in Africa," by G. T. Manley.

An article entitled "The Bantu Coast Tribes of East Africa Protectorate," by A. Werner, has been published in the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. In the same Journal has appeared also "The Organization and Laws of Some Bantu Tribes in East Africa."

Ashanti Proverbs, translated by R. Sutherland Rattray, with a preface by Sir Hugh Clifford, has been published by Milford in London.

A. Werner has published in London "The Language Families of Africa," a concise and valuable textbook of the classification, philology, and grammar of the languages.

The German African Empire, by A. F. Calvert, has appeared over the imprint of Werner Laurie.

The History of South Africa from 1795 to 1872, by G. McCall Theal, has been published in London by Allen and Unwin. This is a fourth and revised edition of a work to be completed in five volumes.

"The Tropics," by C. R. Enock, has been brought out by Grant Richards. This is a description of all tropical countries. It contains some valuable information but is chiefly concerned with advancing the theory that it is essential to study the capabilities of a country so as to develop all of its industries. The contention of the author is that the economic independence of each country is its safeguard from war and that commercialism is ruin.

The Methodist Book Concern has announced "Pioneering on the Congo," by John Springer.

Hodder and Stoughton have published "Mary Slessor of Calabar: Pioneer Missionary." This is an account of a factory girl who distinguished herself as a missionary and was later appointed head of a native court.

French Memories of Eighteenth Century America, by Charles H. Sherrill, has been published by Scribners. He failed to take into account the many references of French travelers to the Negroes and slavery.

In the second number of Smith College Studies in History appears Laura J. Webster's Operations of the Freedmen's Bureau in South Carolina.

About the middle of July the Neale Publishing Company will bring out The New Negro, His Political, Civil and Mental Status, by Dean William Pickens, of Morgan College.

Professor Sherwood, of La Crosse, Wisconsin, has for some time been making researches into Paul Cuffee.

AN INTERESTING COMMENT

Dear Sir:

It was very good of you to mail me a copy of the Journal of Negro History. I had seen a copy of this publication, I believe, at the library of the Institute of Jamaica. The second number is certainly an impressive issue indicative of the changed point of view. The so-called literature on slavery and the negro is, in the main, rather a hindrance than a help. The expression of mere personal opinion is of exceedingly slight value in the furtherance of any good cause. What the world needs is not mere knowledge but a better understanding of the facts and experience already available. When a race has reached a point where it realizes its own place in history, and the value of a critical analysis of its historical experience, a measurable advance has been made towards the attainment of a genuine progress. All values are relative. True history concerns itself with any and all achievements and not merely with political changes or military events. Most of the so-called historical disquisitions delivered annually before the American Historical Association fall seriously short in this respect. Ever since Green wrote his first real history of the English people the old-time historian has lost caste among men who are seriously concerned with the urgent solution of present-day problems. Unquestionably, a true political history is of real value, but the social history of mankind is infinitely more important.

The Journal of Negro History seems to meet the foregoing requirements for a social history of the negro race rather than a mere increase in the already voluminous so-called history of the political aspects of slavery reconstruction or reorganization during recent times. The article on the negro soldier in the American revolution is excellent. The prerequisite for a genuine race progress is race pride. For this reason the past achievements of the negro in this or any other country, individually or collectively, are of the utmost teaching value. It is a far cry, apparently, from the very recent high and well deserved promotion of a negro to a commanding position in the army, back to the days of the service rendered by negro soldiers in the Revolution, but in its final analysis it is all a chain of connected events. Where so much has been done and is being achieved the outlook for the future must needs be encouraging. Progress is only made by struggling, and the best results are those achieved against apparently insuperable difficulties. Race progress and race pride are practically equivalent terms. Individuals and races fail in proportion as they permit discouraging circumstances or conditions to control their destinies. A true philosophy of history never fails to bring home the conviction that lasting success is attained only through the ages by persistent effort in the right direction. The negro race has reason to be proud of its achievements, but I am sure that the future progress will rest largely upon a better understanding of the negro's place in history. Just as in the case of individuals, so in the case of races, it is, first and last, a question of finding our place in the world. Variation in type is absolutely essential to the highest development of the human species. It is not, therefore, the duty of any one race to follow blindly in the footsteps of another. It is for each race to seek for the best traits peculiarly its own, and to leave absolutely nothing undone, in season and out, to develop those particular traits to the highest possible degree. In other words, it is not for the negro to try to be as near as he can to a white man, even in his innermost thoughts and aspirations, but to interpret the lessons of his own life through the philosophy of negro history and to be true to the moral and spiritual ideals of his race and his ancestors, be they what they may.

Very truly yours,

F. L. HOFFMAN, Statistician.



* * * * *



THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY

VOL. I—JUNE, 1916—No. 3

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY



CONTENTS



C. E. PIERRE: The Work of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts among the Negroes in the Colonies

ALICE DUNBAR-NELSON: People of Color in Louisiana, Part I

WILLIAM T. McKINNEY: The Defeat of the Secessionists in Kentucky in 1861

J. KUNST: Notes on Negroes in Guatemala During the Seventeenth Century; A Mulatto Corsair of the Sixteenth Century

DOCUMENTS: TRAVELERS' IMPRESSIONS OF SLAVERY IN AMERICA FROM 1750 TO 1800: Burnaby's View of the Situation in Virginia; General Treatment of Slaves Among the Albanians—Consequent Attachment of Domestics.—Reflections on Servitude by an American Lady; Impressions of an English Traveler; Abbe Robin on Conditions in Virginia; Observations of St. John De Crevecoeur; Impressions of Johann D. Schoepf; Extracts from Anburey's Travels Through North America; Vindication of the Negroes: A Controversy; Sur L'etat General, Le Genre D'industrie, Les Moeurs, Le Caractere, Etc. Des Noirs, Dans Les Etats-unis; Slavery as Seen by Henry Wansey; Esclavage Par La Rochefoucauld-liancourt; Observations Sur L'esclavage Par La Rochefoucauld-liancourt; What Isaac Weld Observed in Slave States; John Davis's Thoughts on Slavery; Observations of Robert Sutcliff; SOME LETTERS OF RICHARD ALLEN AND ABSALOM JONES TO DOROTHY RIPLEY: Letter from an African Minister, Resident in Philadelphia Addressed to Dorothy Ripley. Letter from an African, resident in Philadelphia, to Dorothy Ripley

REVIEWS OF BOOKS: CLAYTON'S The Aftermath of the Civil War, in Arkansas; EVANS'S Black and White in the Southern States; SAYERS'S Samuel Coleridge-Taylor—Musician. His Life and Letters; BAILEY'S Race Orthodoxy in the South and Other Aspects of the Negro Problem;

NOTES



THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY

VOL. I—OCTOBER, 1916—No. 4



THE WORK OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS AMONG THE NEGROES IN THE COLONIES



The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts was organized in London in the year 1701. During the eighteenth century the British Colonies of the New World constituted the principal field of missionary endeavor for this organization. There were then in North America 250,000 settlers, whole colonies of whom were living in heathenism while others were adhering to almost every variety of strange faiths. The work of proselyting these people was too important to be intrusted to individual enterprise and too extensive to be successfully prosecuted by the heads of the Church only. The ministrations of the Established Church were then limited to a few places in Virginia, New York, Maryland and the cities of Boston and Philadelphia. To supply this deficiency the Society endeavored to use missionaries as a direct means to convert the heathen of all races, whether Europeans, Indians or Negroes. There were cruel masters who objected to the conversion of their slaves,[1] but that any race should be denied the message of salvation because of its color was ever repudiated by the Society. From the very beginning of this work the conversion of the Negroes was as important to the Society as that of bringing the whites or the Indians into the church. Such dignitaries of the church, as Rev. Thomas Bacon and Bishops Fleetwood, Lowth, Sanderson and Wilson, ever urged this duty upon their brethren at home and abroad.[2]

The first really effective work of the Society was done in South Carolina. Reverend Mr. Thomas of Goose Creek Parish in that State early instructed the Indian and Negro slaves of his vicinity. He directed his attention to the Negroes in 1695 and ten years later counted among his communicants twenty blacks, who with several others "well understanding the English tongue," could read and write. He further said, in 1705: "I have here presumed to give an account of one thousand slaves so far as they know of it and are desirous of Christian knowledge and seem willing to prepare themselves for it, in learning to read, for which they redeem the time from their labor. Many of them can read the Bible distinctly and great numbers of them were learning when I left the province."[3]

This work, however, had not proceeded without much opposition. The sentiment as to the enlightenment of the blacks was largely that of the youth who resolved never to go to the holy table while slaves were received there. Others felt like the lady who inquired: "Is it possible that any of my slaves should go to heaven, and must I see them there?"[4] The earnest workers sent out by the Society, however, did not cease to labor in behalf of the Negroes and the number of masters willing to have their slaves instructed gradually increased. Among these liberal owners were John Morris, of St. Bartholomew's, Lady Moore, Captain David Davis, Mrs. Sarah Baker at Goose Creek, Landgrave Joseph Morton and his wife of St. Paul's, the Governor and a member of the Assembly, Mr. and Mrs. Skeen,[5] Mrs. Haigue and Mrs. Edwards. So successful were the efforts of Mrs. Haigue and Mrs. Edwards that they were formally thanked by the Society for their care and good example in instructing the Negroes of whom no less than twenty-seven prepared by them, including those of another planter, were baptized by the Reverend E. Taylor of St. Andrew's within two years.[6]

Other less liberal masters refused to allow their slaves to attend Mr. Taylor for instruction, but some of them were induced to teach the blacks the Lord's Prayer. The result even from this was so successful that there came to the church more Negroes than could be accommodated. So great was their desire for instruction that had it not been for the opposition of their owners, almost all of them would have been converted. "So far as the missionaries were permitted," says one, "they did all that was possible for their evangelization, and while so many professed Christians among the planters were lukewarm, it pleased God to raise to himself devout servants among the heathen, whose faithfulness was commended by the masters themselves. In some of the congregations the Negroes or blacks constituted one half of the communicants."[7]

This interest of the clergy in the Negroes of South Carolina continued in spite of opposition. Rev. Mr. Guy, of St. Andrew's Parish, said that he baptized "a Negro man and a Negro woman" in 1723, and Rev. Mr. Hunt, minister of St. John's Parish, reported in that same year that "a slave, a sensible Negro, who can read and write and comes to church, is a Catechumen under probation for Baptism which he desires."[8] A new impetus too was given the movement about 1740. Influenced by such urgent addresses as those of Dr. Brearcroft, and Bishops Gibson, Wilson and Seeker, the workers of the Society were aroused to proselyting more extensively among the Negroes. In 1741 the Bishop of Canterbury expressed his gratification at the large number of Negroes who were then being brought into the church.[9]

A decided step forward was noted in 1743. That year a school for Negroes was opened by Commissary Garden and placed in charge of Harry and Andrew, two colored youths, who had been trained as teachers at the cost of the Society. This establishment was a sort of training school for bright young blacks who felt called to instruct their fellow countrymen. For adults who labored during the day it was an evening school. It was successfully conducted for more than twenty years. In 1763 the institution was for some unknown reason closed after being conducted in the face of many difficulties and obstructions, although this was the only educational institution in that colony for its 50,000 blacks.[10]

Some good results were obtained by the missionaries of the Society of North Carolina, but difficulties were also encountered there. The chief trouble seems to have been that missionaries of that colony were "frustrated by the slave owners who would by no means permit" their Negroes to be baptized, "having a false notion that a christened slave is by law free."[11] "By much importunity," says an investigator, Mr. Ransford of Chowan (in 1712) prevailed on Mr. Martin to let him baptize three of his Negroes, two women and a boy. "All the arguments I could make use of," said he, "would scarce effect it till Bishop Fleetwood's sermon (in 1711) ... turned ye scale."[12] Mr. Rumford succeeded, however, in baptizing upwards of forty Negroes in one year. In the course of time, when the workers overcame the prejudice of the masters, a missionary would sometimes baptize fifteen to twenty-four in a month, forty to fifty in six months, and sixty to seventy in a year.[13] Reverend Mr. Newman, a minister in North Carolina, reported in 1723 that he had baptized two Negroes who could say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and gave good sureties for their further information.[14] According to the report of Rev. C. Hall, the number of conversions there among Negroes for eight years was 355, including 112 adults, and "at Edenton the blacks generally were induced to attend service at all these stations, where they behaved with great decorum."[15]

In the Middle and Southern Colonies these missionaries had the cooperation of Dr. Thomas Bray. In 1696 he was sent to Maryland by the Bishop of London to do what he could toward the conversion of adult Negroes and the education of their children.[16] Bray's most influential supporter was M. D'Alone, the private secretary of King William. D'Alone gave for the maintenance of the cause a fund, the proceeds of which were first used to employ catechists, and later to support the Thomas Bray Mission after the catechists had failed to give satisfaction. At the death of this missionary the task was taken up by certain of his followers known as the "Associates of Dr. Bray."[17] They extended their work beyond the bounds of Maryland. These benefactors maintained two schools for the benefit of Negroes in Philadelphia. About the close of the French and Indian War, Rev. Mr. Stewart, a missionary in North Carolina, found there a school for the education of Indians and Negroes conducted by "Dr. Bray's Associates."[18]

Georgia too was not neglected. The extension of the work of Dr. Bray's associates into the colony made an opening there for taking up the instruction of Negroes. The Society joined with these workers for supporting a schoolmaster for Negroes in 1751 and an improvement in the slaves was soon admitted by their owners.[19] In 1766 Rev. S. Frink, a missionary toiling in Augusta, found that he could neither convert the Indians nor the whites, who seemed to be as destitute of religion as the former, but succeeded in converting some Negroes.[20]

In Pennsylvania the missionary movement found less obstacles to the conversion of Negroes than to that of the Indians. In fact, the proselyting of Negroes in the colony was less difficult than in some other parts of America. The reports of the missionaries show that slaves were being baptized there as early as 1712.[21] About this time a Mr. Yeates, of Chester, was commended by the Rev. G. Ross "for his endeavors to train up the Negroes in the knowledge of religion."[22] Moved by the appeal of the Bishop of London, other masters permitted the indoctrination of their slaves in the principles of Christianity. At Philadelphia the Rev. G. Ross baptized on one occasion 12 adult Negroes, "who were examined before the congregation and answered to the admiration of all who heard them.... The like sight had never been seen before in that church."[23] Rev. Mr. Beckett, minister in Sussex County, Pennsylvania, said in 1723 that he had admitted two Negro slaves and that many Negroes constantly attended his services.[24] The same year Rev. Mr. Bartow baptized a Negro at West Chester.[25] Rev. Mr. Pugh, a missionary at Appoquinimmick, Pennsylvania, said, in a letter written to the Society in 1737, that he had received a few blacks and that the masters of the Negroes were prejudiced against their being Christians.[26] Rev. Richard Locke christened eight Negroes in one family at Lancaster in 1747 and another Negro there the following year.[26a] In 1774 the Rev. Mr. Jenney reported that there was "a great and daily increase of Negroes in this city who would with joy attend upon a catechist for instruction"; that he had baptized several, but was unable to add to his other duties; and the Society, ever ready to lend a helping hand to such pious undertakings, appointed the Rev. W. Sturgeon as catechist for the Negroes at Philadelphia.[27] The next to show diligence in the branch of the work of the Society was Mr. Neill of Dover. He baptized as many as 162 within 18 months.[28]

The operations of the Society did not seem to cover a large part of New Jersey. The Rev. Mr. Lindsay wrote of the baptizing of a Negro at Allerton in 1736.[29] The reports from the missions of New Brunswick show that a large number of Negroes had attached themselves to the church. This condition, however, did not obtain in all parts of that colony. Yet subsequent reports show that the missionary spirit was not wanting in that section. The baptism of black children and the accession of Negro adults to the church were from time to time reported from that field.[30]

The most effective work of the Society among Negroes of the Northern colonies was accomplished in New York. In that colony, the instruction of the Negro and Indian slaves to prepare them for conversion, baptism, and communion was a primary charge oft repeated to every missionary and schoolmaster of the Society. In addition to the general efforts put forth in the colonies, there was in New York a special provision for the employment of sixteen clergymen and thirteen lay teachers mainly for the evangelization of the slaves and the free Indians. For the Negro slaves a catechizing school was opened in New York City in 1704 under the charge of Elias Neau. This benevolent man, after several years' imprisonment because of his Protestant faith, had come to New York to try his fortunes as a trader. As early as 1703 he called the attention of the Society to the great number of slaves in New York "who were without God in the world, and of whose souls there was no manner of care taken"[31] and proposed the appointment of a catechist to undertake their instruction. He himself finally being prevailed upon to accept this position, obtained a license from the Governor, resigned his position as elder in the French church and conformed to the Established Church of England, "not upon any worldly account but through a principle of conscience and hearty approbation of the English liturgy."[32] He was later licensed by the Bishop of London.

Neau's task was not an easy one. At first he went from house to house, but afterwards arranged for some of the slaves to attend him. He succeeded, however, in obtaining gratifying results. He was commended to the Society by Rev. Mr. Vesey in 1706 as a "constant communicant of our church, and a most zealous and prudent servant of Christ, in proselyting the miserable Negroes and Indians among them to the Christian Religion, whereby he does great service to God and his church."[33] Further confidence in him was attested by an act of the Society in preparing at his request "a Bill to be offered to Parliament for the more effectual Conversion of the Negro and other Servants in the Plantations, to compell Owners of Slaves to cause children to be baptized within 3 months after their birth and to permit them when come to years of discretion to be instructed in the Christian Religion on our Lord's day by the Missionaries under whose ministry they live."[34]

Neau's school suffered greatly in 1712 because of the prejudice engendered by the declaration that instruction was the main cause of the Negro riot in that city. For some days Neau dared not show himself, so bitter was the feeling of the masters. Upon being assured, however, that only one Negro connected with the school had participated in the affair and that the most criminal belonged to the masters who were openly opposed to educating them, the institution was permitted to continue its endeavors, and the Governor extended to it his protection and recommended that masters have their slaves instructed.[35] Yet Neau had still to complain thereafter of the struggle and opposition of the generality of the inhabitants, who were strongly prejudiced with a horrid motive thinking that Christian knowledge "would be a means to make the slave more cunning and apter to wickedness."[36] Not so long thereafter, however, the support of the best people and officials of the community made his task easier. Neau could say in 1714 that "if the slaves and domestics in New York were not instructed it was not his fault."[37] The Governor, the Council, Mayor, the Recorder and the Chief Justice informed the Society that Neau had performed his work "to the great advancement of religion in general and the particular benefit of the free Indians, Negro slaves, and other Heathens in those parts, with indefatigable zeal and application."[38]

Neau died in 1722. His work was carried on by Mr. Huddlestone, Rev. Mr. Whitmore, Rev. Mr. Colgan, Rev. R. Charlton, and Rev. S. Auchmutty. From 1732 to 1740 Mr. Charlton baptized 219 slaves and frequently thereafter the number admitted yearly was from 40 to 60.[39] The great care exercised in preparing slaves for the church was rewarded by the spiritual knowledge which in some cases was such as might have put to shame many persons who had had greater advantages. Rev. Mr. Auchmutty, who served from 1747 to 1764, reported that there was among the Negroes an ever-increasing desire for instruction and "not one single Black" that had been "admitted by him to the Holy Communion" had "turned out bad or been in any shape a disgrace to our holy Profession."[40]

The interest in the enlightenment of Negroes too extended also to other parts of the colony. In 1737 Rev. Mr. Stoupe wrote of baptizing four black children at New Rochelle.[41] Mr. Charlton had taken upon himself at New Windsor the task of instructing these unfortunates before he entered upon the work in New York City. At Staten Island too he found it both practical and convenient "to throw into one the classes of his white and black catechumens."[42] Rev. Charles Taylor, a schoolmaster at that place, kept a night school "for the instruction of Negroes, and of such as" could not "be spared from their work in the day time."[43] Rev. J. Sayre, of Newburgh, followed the same plan of coeducation of the races in each of the four churches under his charge.[44] Rev. T. Barclay, an earnest worker among the slaves in Albany, reported in 1714 "a great forwardness" among them to embrace Christianity "and a readiness to receive instruction."[45] He found much opposition among certain masters, chief among whom were Major M. Schuyler and his brother-in-law Petrus Vandroffen. Sixty years later came the report from Schenectady that there were still to be found several Negro slaves of whom 11 were sober, serious communicants.[46]

These missionaries met with more opposition than encouragement in New England. The Puritan had no serious objection to seeing the Negroes saved, but when the conversion meant the incorporation of the undesirable class into the state, then so closely connected with the church, many New Englanders became silent. This opposition, however, was not effective everywhere. From Bristol, Rev. J. Usher wrote in 1730 that several Negroes desired baptism and were able "to render a very good account of the hope that was in them," but he was forbidden by their masters to comply with the request. Yet he reported the same year that among others he had in his congregation "about 30 Negroes and Indians," most of whom joined "in the public service very decently."[47] At Newtown, where greater opposition was encountered, Rev. J. Beach seemed to have baptized by 1733 many Indians and a few Negroes.[48] The Rev. Dr. Cutler, a missionary at Boston, wrote to the Society in 1737 that among those he had admitted to his church were four Negro slaves.[49] Endeavoring to do more than to effect nominal conversions, Doctor Johnson, while at Stratford, had catechetical lectures during the summer months of 1751, attended by many Negroes and some Indians, as well as whites, "about 70 or 80 in all." And said he: "As far as I can find, where the Dissenters have baptized 2, if not 3 or 4 Negroes or Indians, I have four or five communicants."[50] Dr. Macsparran conducted at Narragansett a class of 70 Indians and Negroes whom he frequently catechized and instructed before the regular service.[51] Rev. J. Honyman, of Newport, had in his congregation more than 100 Negroes who "constantly attended the Publick Worship."[52]

It appears then that the Negroes were instructed by the missionaries in all of the colonies except some remote parts of New England, Virginia and Maryland. The Established Church had workers among the white persons in those colonies but they did not always direct their attention to the slaves. This does not mean, however, that the slaves in those parts were entirely neglected. There were at work other agencies to bring them to the light. And so on it continued until the outbreak of the Revolution, when the work of these missionaries was impeded and in most cases brought to a close.

C. E. PIERRE



FOOTNOTES:

[1] "An Account of the Endeavor Used by the S.P.G.," pp. 6-12; Meade, "Sermons of Rev. Thomas Bacon," pp. 31 et seq.

[2] Special Report of U. S. Commission of Ed., 1871, pp. 300 et seq.

[3] Journal, Vol. I, May 30, July 18, and Aug. 15, 1707; Special Report of the U. S. Com. of Ed., 1871, p. 363.

[4] Pascoe, "Classified Digest of the Records of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," p. 15.

[5] Ibid., 15.

[6] In 1713 this churchman wrote his supporters:

"As I am a minister of Christ and of the Church of England, and a Missionary of the most Christian Society in the whole world, I think it my indispensable and special duty to do all that in me lies to promote the conversion and salvation of the poor heathens here, and more especially of the Negro and Indian slaves in my own parish, which I hope I can truly say I have been sincerely and earnestly endeavoring ever since I was a minister here where there are many Negro and Indian slaves in a most pitifull deplorable and perishing condition tho' little pitied by many of their masters and their conversion and salvation little desired and endeavored by them. If the masters were but good Christians themselves and would but concurre with the ministers, we should then have good hopes of the conversion and salvation at least of some of their Negro and Indian slaves. But too many of them rather oppose than concurr with us and are angry with us, I am sure I may say with me for endeavouring as much as I doe the conversion of their slaves.... I cannot but honour Madame Haigue.... In my parish a very considerable number of Negroes ... were very loose and wicked and little inclined to Christianity before her coming among them I can't but honor her so much ... as to acquaint the Society with the extraordinary pains this gentle woman and one Madm. Edwards, that came with her, have taken to instruct those negroes in the principles of the Christian Religion and to instruct and reform them; And the wonderful successe they have met with, in about a half a year's time in this great and good work. Upon these gentle women's desiring me to come and examine these negroes ... I went and among other things I asked them, Who Christ was. They readily answered. He is the Son of God and Saviour of the world and told me that they embraced Him with all their hearts as such, and I desired them to rehearse the Apostles' Creed, and the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer, which they did very distinctly and perfectly. 14 of them gave me so great satisfaction, and were so very desirous to be baptized, that I thought it my duty to baptize them and therefore I baptized these 14 last Lord's Day. And I doubt not but these gentlewomen will prepare the rest of them for Baptism in a short Time." Journal, Vol. II, Oct. 6, 1713; A. Mss., Vol. VIII, pp. 356-7; Pascoe, "Digest of Records of S.P.G.," p. 15.

[7] Journal, II, 328; XIV, 48; XX, 132-133; XVI, 165-166.

[8] Proceedings of the S.P.G., 1723, p. 46.

[9] Pascoe, "Digest of the Records of the S.P.G.," 16.

[10] Meriwether, "Education in South Carolina," p. 123; McCrady, "South Carolina," etc., p. 246; Dalcho, "An Historical Account of the Protestant Episcopal Church in South Carolina," pp. 156, 157, 164.

[11] Pascoe, "Digest of the Records of the S.P.G.," p. 22.

[12] Ibid., 22.

[13] Ibid., 23.

[14] Proceedings of the S.P.G., 1723, p. 47.

[15] Pascoe, "Digest of the Records of the S.P.G.," p. 22.

[16] Smyth, "Works of Franklin," V, 431.

[17] Wickersham, "History of Education in Pennsylvania," p. 249.

[18] Bassett, "Slavery and Servitude in North Carolina," p. 226.

[19] Journal, Vol. XI, pp. 305 and 311.

[20] Pascoe, "Digest of the Records of the S.P.G.," p. 28.

[21] Journal, Vol. XVII, p. 97.

[22] Ibid., II, 251.

[23] Journal, IX, 87.

[24] Proceedings of the S.P.G., 1723, p. 47.

[25] Ibid., 1737, 50.

[26] Ibid., 1737, p. 41.

[26a] Pennsylvania Magazine of History, XXIV, 467, 469.

[27] Pascoe, "Digest of the Records of the S.P.G.," p. 38.

[28] Ibid., 39.

[29] Proceedings of the S.P.G., 1736.

[30] Pascoe, "Digest of the Records of the S.P.G.," 55.

[31] Ibid., 56.

[32] Ibid., 57, and "Special Report of U.S. Com. of Ed.," 1871, 362; and "An Account of the Endeavors Used by the S.P.G.," pp. 6-12.

[33] Pascoe, "Digest of the Records of the S.P.G.," p. 58.

[34] Ibid., Journal, I, Oct. 20, 1710.

[35] "Special Report of U.S. Com. of Ed.," 1871, p. 362.

[36] Pascoe, "Digest, etc.," p. 59.

[37] Journal, III, Oct. 15, 1714.

[38] Humphreys, "Historical Account of the S.P.G.," 243.

[39] Pascoe, "Digest, etc.," p. 65.

[40] Ibid., 66.

[41] Proceedings of the S.P.G., 1737.

[42] Pascoe, "Digest, etc.," p. 68.

[43] Proceedings of the S.P.G., 1723, p. 50.

[44] Journal, XIX, 452-453.

[45] Ibid., January 21, 1715.

[46] Pascoe, "Digest of the Records of the S.P.G.," p. 67.

[47] Ibid., 46.

[48] Ibid., 47.

[49] Proceedings of the S.P.G., 1737 and 1738, p. 39.

[50] Ibid., p. 40.

[51] Proceedings of the S.P.G., 1723, 51.

[52] Ibid., 1723, p. 52.



PEOPLE OF COLOR IN LOUISIANA



PART I

The title of a possible discussion of the Negro in Louisiana presents difficulties, for there is no such word as Negro permissible in speaking of this State. The history of the State is filled with attempts to define, sometimes at the point of the sword, oftenest in civil or criminal courts, the meaning of the word Negro. By common consent, it came to mean in Louisiana, prior to 1865, slave, and after the war, those whose complexions were noticeably dark. As Grace King so delightfully puts it, "The pure-blooded African was never called colored, but always Negro." The gens de couleur, colored people, were always a class apart, separated from and superior to the Negroes, ennobled were it only by one drop of white blood in their veins. The caste seems to have existed from the first introduction of slaves. To the whites, all Africans who were not of pure blood were gens de couleur. Among themselves, however, there were jealous and fiercely-guarded distinctions: "griffes, briques, mulattoes, quadroons, octoroons, each term meaning one degree's further transfiguration toward the Caucasian standard of physical perfection."[1]

Negro slavery in Louisiana seems to have been early influenced by the policy of the Spanish colonies. De las Casas, an apostle to the Indians, exclaimed against the slavery of the Indians and finding his efforts of no avail proposed to Charles V in 1517 the slavery of the Africans as a substitute.[2] The Spaniards refused at first to import slaves from Africa, but later agreed to the proposition and employed other nations to traffic in them.[3] Louisiana learned from the Spanish colonies her lessons of this traffic, took over certain parts of the slave regulations and imported bondmen from the Spanish West Indies. Others brought thither were Congo, Banbara, Yaloff, and Mandingo slaves.[4]

People of color were introduced into Louisiana early in the eighteenth century. In 1708, according to the historian, Gayarre, the little colony of Louisiana, at the point on the Gulf of Mexico now known as Biloxi, in the present State of Mississippi, had been in existence nine years. In 1708, the population of the colony did not exceed 279 persons. The land about this region is particularly sterile, and the colonists were little disposed to undertake the laborious task of tilling the soil. Indian slavery was attempted but found unprofitable and exceedingly precarious. So Bienville, lacking the sympathy of De las Casas for the Indians, wrote his government to obtain the authorization of exchanging Negroes for Indians with the French West Indian islands. "We shall give," he said, "three Indians for two Negroes. The Indians, when in the islands, will not be able to run away, the country being unknown to them, and the Negroes will not dare to become fugitives in Louisiana, because the Indians would kill them."[5]

Bienville's suggestion seems not to have met with a very favorable reception. Yet, in 1712, the King of France granted to Anthony Crozat the exclusive privilege for fifteen years of trading in all that immense territory which, with its undefined limits, France claimed as Louisiana. Among other privileges granted Crozat were those of sending, once a year, a ship to Africa for Negroes.[6] When the first came, is not known, but in 1713 twenty of these Negro slaves from Africa are recorded in the census of the little colony on the Mississippi.[7]

In 1717 John Law flashed meteor-wise across the world with his huge scheme to finance France out of difficulty with his Mississippi Bubble. Among other considerations mentioned in the charter for twenty-five years, which he obtained from the gullible French government, was the stipulation that before the expiration of the charter, he must transport to Louisiana six thousand white persons, and three thousand Negroes, not to be brought from another French colony. These slaves, so said the charter, were to be sold to those inhabitants who had been two years in the colony for one half cash and the balance on one year's credit. The new inhabitants had one or two years' credit granted them.[8] In the first year, the Law Company transported from Africa one thousand slaves, in 1720 five hundred, the same number the next March, and by 1721 the pages of legal enactments in the West Indies were being ransacked for precedents in dealing with this strange population. But of all these slaves who came to the colony by June, 1721, but six hundred remained. Many had died, some had been exported. In 1722, therefore, the Mississippi Company was under constraint to pass an edict prohibiting the inhabitants of Louisiana from selling their slaves for transportation out of the colony, to the Spaniards, or to any other foreign nation under the penalty of the fine of a thousand livres and the confiscation of the Negroes.[9]

But already the curse of slavery had begun to show its effects. The new colony was not immoral; it may best be described as unmoral. Indolence on the part of the masters was physical, mental and moral. The slave population began to lighten in color, and increase out of all proportion to the importation and natural breeding among themselves. La Harpe comments in 1724 upon the astonishing diminution of the white population and the astounding increase of the colored population.[10] Something was undoubtedly wrong, according to the Caucasian standard, and it has remained wrong to our own day.[11] The person of color was now, in Louisiana, a part of its social system, a creature to be legislated for and against, a person lending his dark shade to temper the inartistic complexion of his white master. Now he began to make history, and just as the trail of his color persisted in the complexion of Louisiana, so the trail of his personal influence continued in the history of the colony, the territory and the State.

Bienville, the man of far-reaching vision, saw the danger menacing the colony, and before his recall and disgrace before the French court, he published, in 1724, the famous Black Code.[12] This code followed the order of that of the West Indies but contains some provisions to meet local needs. The legal status of the slave was that of movable property of his master. Children born of Negro parents followed the condition of their mother. Slaves were forbidden to carry weapons. Slaves of different masters could not assemble in crowds by day or night. They were not permitted to sell "commodities, provisions, or produce" without permission from their masters, and had no property which did not belong to their masters. Neither free-born blacks nor slaves were allowed to receive gifts from whites. They could not exercise such public functions as arbitrator or expert, could not be partners to civil or criminal suits, could not give testimony except in default of white people, and could never testify against their masters. If a slave struck his master or one of the family so as to produce a bruise or shedding blood in the face, he had to be put to death. Any runaway slave who continued to be so from the day his master "denounced" him suffered the penalty of having his ears cut off and being branded on his shoulder with a fleur-de-lis. For a second offence the penalty was to hamstring the fugitive and brand him on the other shoulder. For the third such offence he suffered death. Freed or free-born Negroes who gave refuge to fugitive slaves had to pay 30 livres for each day of retention and other free persons 10 livres a day. If the freed or free-born Negroes were not able to pay the fine, they could be reduced to the condition of slaves and sold as such.

The slaves were socially ostracized. Marriage of whites with slaves was forbidden, as was also the concubinage of whites and manumitted or free-born blacks with slaves. The consent of the parents of a slave to his marriage was not required. That of the master was sufficient, but a slave could not be forced to marry against his will.

There were, however, somewhat favorable provisions which made this code seem a little less rigorous. The slaves had to be well fed and the masters could not force them to provide for themselves by working for their own account certain days of the week and slaves could give information against their owners, if not properly fed or clothed. Disabled slaves had to be sent to the hospital. Husbands, wives, and their children under the age of puberty could not be seized and sold separately when belonging to the same master. The code forbade the application of the rack to slaves, under any pretext, on private authority, or mutilation of a limb, under penalty of confiscation of the slave and criminal prosecution of the master. The master was allowed, however, to have his slave put in irons and whipped with rods or ropes. The code commanded officers or justices to prosecute masters and overseers who should kill or mutilate slaves, and to punish the murder according to the atrocity of the circumstance.

Other provisions were still more favorable. The slaves had to be instructed in the Catholic religion. Slaves appointed by their masters as tutors to their children were held set free. Moreover, manumitted slaves enjoyed the same rights, privileges and immunities that were enjoyed by those born free. "It is our pleasure," reads the document, "that their merit in having acquired their freedom shall produce in their favor, not only with regard to their persons, but also to their property, the same effects that our other subjects derive from the happy circumstance of their having been born free."[13]

From the first appearance of the gens de couleur in the colony of Louisiana dates the class, the gens de couleur libres. The record of the legal tangles which resulted from the attempts to define this race in Louisiana is most interesting. Up to 1671, all Creoles, Mulattoes, free Negroes, etc., paid a capitation tax. In February 12 of that year, M. de Baas, Governor-General of Martinique, issued an order exempting the Creoles. Those Mulattoes who were also designated as Creoles claimed the same exemption and resisted paying the tax. M. Patoulet, Intendent, rendered a decision in 1683 and said: "The Mulattoes and free Negroes claimed to be exempt from the capitation tax: I have made them pay without difficulty. I decide that those Mulattoes born in vice should not receive the exemption, and that for the free Negro, the master could give him freedom but could not give him the exemption that attaches to the whites originally from France."[14] The next year, the Mulattoes refused to pay, and the successor of Minister Patoulet, M. Michel Begou, asked for a law to compel them.[15] In 1696, an agreement was reached exempting the Mulattoes and Creoles, leaving only the free black subject to the tax.[16] But in 1712, a M. Robert, in a decision on a subject, again included the Mulattoes, without, however, mentioning the Creoles, so that only the free Negroes and Mulattoes paid.[17] Thus they were held as a class apart. A free Negro woman, Magdelaine Debern, further contested the matter, and in 1724, in the colony of Louisiana, won a decision exempting free Negroes and Mulattoes, and again placing them on the same footing with the Creole. The Creoles had a decided advantage, however, because through the favor of those in authority, there was always a disposition to exalt them.[18]

It is in the definition of the word Creole that another great difficulty arises. The native white Louisianian will tell you that a Creole is a white man, whose ancestors contain some French or Spanish blood in their veins. But he will be disputed by others, who will gravely tell you that Creoles are to be found only in the lower Delta lands of the state, that there are no Creoles north of New Orleans; and will raise their hands in horror at the idea of being confused with the "Cajans," the descendants of those Nova Scotians whom Longfellow immortalized in Evangeline. Sifting down the mass of conflicting definitions, it appears that to a Caucasian, a Creole is a native of the lower parishes of Louisiana, in whose veins some traces of Spanish, West Indian or French blood runs.[19] The Caucasian will shudder with horror at the idea of including a person of color in the definition, and the person of color will retort with his definition that a Creole is a native of Louisiana, in whose blood runs mixed strains of everything un-American, with the African strain slightly apparent. The true Creole is like the famous gumbo of the state, a little bit of everything, making a whole, delightfully flavored, quite distinctive, and wholly unique.

From 1724 to the present time, frequent discussions as to the proper name by which to designate this very important portion of the population of Louisiana waged more or less acrimoniously.[20] It was this Creole element who in 1763 obtained a decision from Louis XV that all mixed bloods who could claim descent from an Indian ancestor in addition to a white outranked those mixed bloods who had only white and African ancestors.[21] In Jamaica, in 1733, there was passed a law that every person who could show that he was three degrees removed from a Negro ancestor should be regarded as belonging to the white race, and could sit as a member of the Jamaica Assembly.[22] In Barbadoes, any person who had a white ancestor could vote. These laws were quoted in Louisiana and influenced legislation there.[23]

Gov. Perier succeeded Bienville as Governor of Louisiana. His task was not a light one; the colony staggered under "terror of attack from the Indians, sudden alarms, false hopes, anxious suspense, militia levies, colonial paper, instead of good money, industrial stagnation, the care of homeless refugees, and worst of all, the restiveness of the slaves. The bad effects of slave-holding began to show themselves." Many of the slaves had been taken in war, and were fierce and implacable. Some were of that fiercest of African tribes, the Banbaras. A friendliness, born of common hatred and despair, began to show itself between the colored people and the fierce Choctaw Indians surrounding the colony, when Gov. Perier planned a master-stroke of diplomacy. Just above New Orleans lived a small tribe of Indians, the Chouchas, who, not particularly harmful in themselves, had succeeded in inspiring the nervous inhabitants of the city with abject fear. Perier armed a band of slaves in 1729 and sent them to the Chouchas with instructions to exterminate the tribe. They did their work with an ease and dispatch that should have been a warning to their white masters. In reporting the success of his plan Perier said: "The Negroes executed their mission with as much promptitude as secrecy. This lesson taught them by our Negroes, kept in check all the nations higher up the river."[24] Thus, by one stroke the wily Governor had intimidated the tribes of Indians, allayed the nervous fears of New Orleans, and effected a state of hostility between the Indians and the Africans, who were beginning to be entirely too friendly with each other. Then Perier used the slaves to make the entrenchments about the city. Thus we have the first instance of the arming of the Negro in Louisiana for the defense of the colony. On the 15th of January, 1730, Gov. Perier sent a boat containing twenty white men and six Africans to carry ammunition to the Illinois settlement up the Mississippi river whence tales of massacre and cruelty by the Indians filtered down.[25]

The arming of the slaves in defense of the whites gave impetus to the struggle for their own freedom. In the massacre of the French by the Natchez, at the village of that name, over three hundred women and slaves were kept as prisoners, and in January of the same year which witnessed the massacre of the Chouchas, the French surprised the Natchez Indians with the intention of recovering their women and slaves, and avenging the death of their comrades. Some of the Africans who had been promised their freedom if they allied themselves with the Natchez Indians, fought against their erstwhile masters, others were loyal, and helped the French. The battle became an issue, as it were, between the slaves. Over one hundred of them were recovered from the Indians.[26]

The first tribute we have paid to the black man as a soldier in Louisiana was paid by Gov. Perier in this war in his dispatch to the French government. "Fifteen negroes," he wrote, "in whose hands we had put weapons, performed prodigies of valor. If the blacks did not cost so much, and if their labors were not so necessary to the colony, it would be better to turn them into soldiers, and to dismiss those we have, who are so bad and so cowardly that they seem to have been manufactured purposely for this colony."[27]

But the tiger had tasted blood. Perier's cruel logic was reactionary. Since he had used blacks to murder Indians in order to make bad blood between the races, the Indians retaliated by using blacks to murder white men. In August of that same fateful year, the Chickasaws, who had given asylum to the despoiled Natchez in order to curb the encroachments of the white men, stirred the black slaves to revolt. We have noted before the prevalence of the Banbara Negroes in the colony. It was they who planned the rebellion. Their plan was, after having butchered the whites, to establish a Banbara colony, keeping as slaves for themselves all blacks not of their nation. The conspiracy was discovered by the hints of a woman in the revolt before it had time to ripen, and the head of the revolt, a powerful black named Samba with eight of his confederates was broken on the wheel, and the woman hanged.[28]

Gov. Perier's administration did not lack interest. The next year, in 1731, we find him still struggling with his old enemies, the Natchez. His dispatches mention that a crew under one De Coulanges, with Indians and free blacks had been massacred by the Indians. One dispatch has the greatest interest for us, because of the expression "free blacks"[29] used. Here is one of the great mysteries of the person of color in Louisiana. Whence the free black? We are told explicitly that up to this time all Negroes imported into Louisiana were slaves from Africa, for the West Indian migration did not occur until a half century later. This dispatch from Gov. Perier recalls articles in the Black Code of 1724, where explicit directions are given for the disposition of the children of free blacks. In the regulations of police under the governorship of the Marquis of Vandreuil, 1750, there is an article regulating the attitude of free Negroes and Negresses toward slaves. Here is the very beginning of that aristocracy of freedom so fiercely and jealously guarded until this day, a free person of color being set as far above his slave fellows as the white man sets himself above the person of color. Three explanations for this aristocracy seem highly probable: Some slaves might have been freed by their masters because of valor on the battlefield, others by buying their freedom in terms of money, and not a few slave women by their owners because of their personal attractions. It makes little difference in this story which of the three or whether all of the three were contributors to the rise of this new class. It existed as early as 1724, twelve years after the first recorded slave importation. It was in 1766 that some Acadians, complaining of their treatment to the Governor Ulloa, represented that Negroes were freemen while they were slaves.

Bienville returned to the colony as its governor in 1733, after an absence of eight years, and it is recorded that in 1735, when he reviewed his troops near Mobile while making preparations for an Indian war, he found that his army from New Orleans consisted of five hundred and forty-four white men, excluding the officers, and forty-five Negroes commanded by free blacks.[30] Here we note free black officers of Negro troops in 1735. If not actually the first regular Negro troops to appear in what is now the United States, they were certainly the first to be commanded by Negro officers.

The engagement with the Choctaw Indians was not altogether successful for the French. Disaster succeeded disaster, and the day closed with the French army deeply humiliated, and making a retreat as dignified as possible under the circumstances. A number of the French officers, as Gayarre tells us, stood under the shade of a gigantic oak discussing the defeat, and with them Simon, a free black, the commander of the troop of Negroes. He was deeply vexed because his troops had not stood fire, and expressed himself with so much freedom and disgust, that the French officers kept bantering him without mercy at the timidity of his soldiers, soothing their own wounded pride by laughing at his mortification. Stung to the heart, Simon finally exclaimed wrathfully, "A Negro is as brave as anybody and I will show it to you." Seizing a rope which was dangling from one of the tents, he rushed headlong toward one of the horses which were quietly slaking their thirst under the protection of the Indian muskets. To reach a white mare, to jump on her back with the agility of a tiger, and to twist around her head and mouth the rope with which to control her, was the affair of an instant. But that instant was enough for the apparently sleeping Indian village to show itself awake, and to flash forth into a hail of bullets. Away dashed Simon toward the Indian village, and back to the French camp where he arrived safe amid the cheering acclamations of the troops, and without having received a wound from the shots of the enemy.[31] This feat silenced at once the jests of the French officers, of which Simon thought himself the victim.[32]

The beginning of the Revolutionary war in 1776 found Louisiana a Spanish province and the natives of the colony beginning to tolerate and even to like their erstwhile hated Spanish masters. Don Bernardo de Galvez was governor of the colony. His administration has a peculiar interest to us, because it was during his rule that the Court of Madrid, fully alive to the policy of extending the agriculture of Louisiana, issued a decree permitting the introduction of Negroes into Louisiana by French vessels, from whatever ports they might come.[33] This was the beginning of the rapid migration from the West Indian islands.

While Andrew Jackson was still a child, Louisiana had a deliverer from the British in the person of this brave Gov. Galvez. The strategical importance of the Mississippi River and of New Orleans was at once apparent to the British commanders, and Louisiana, being neutral territory, offered a most fascinating field of operation. Galvez, in July, 1777, had secured declaration of neutrality from the 25,000 or more Creeks, Choctaws and Chickasaws, but even this did not seem to satisfy the combatants. New Orleans was at the mercy of first the American troops and then the British. The mediation of Spain between France and England having been rejected in the courts of Europe, Spain decided to join France in the struggle against Great Britain. So on May 8, 1779, Spain formally declared war against Great Britain, and on July 8 authorized all Spanish subjects in America to take their share in the hostilities against the English. No news could be more welcome to the dashing young Galvez, to whom a policy of neutrality was decidedly distasteful. He decided to forestall the attack on New Orleans, which he had learned was to be made by the British, by attacking first, and on August 26 gathered his little army together. From New Orleans, as Gayarre tells, were 170 veteran soldiers, 330 recruits, 20 carabiniers, 60 militiamen, and 80 free blacks and mulattoes. On the way up the river, they were reinforced by 600 men from the coast of "every condition and color," besides 160 Indians.[34]