\•'^^^*' %--T^.^T*>^ \''^m\^'' %/%Tv T '-. .»IXV^..' K* -- .• ©♦. ••"' ..^* .' sP-J-j. '^^^ '\ lid. a7 *^nn^* >*■ .« r^-' ..0' ^ i '% %TO^*- /^^S. -.^pc*' '^^^'^^^ '•OT5^*' /^x '-^sy^^ i^, '•/\.-«^- -*'"*- vV^ V -.ij^is?/ >"^ ** . '"yjhY*- ^^^ "V -.^^ss?.* ^'^ ""^ . ''.Y^%r^* ,**' *■ .^^""-<.. -.we'/ A*'"^^ ^'^W^/ .^^'''-^. '.^K.' <.^- :^v f.' «:i ^' °- /\-^>^'\ c°*.«ir'^°o /\-i^/\ ^-^ -^^^ .» .^^°- V : J." ^° -^^'A /^^^iri&rX o°*.^a^^% /\-^;;^'"-^ X q. - siJ^J^ • iP .7-, ♦ .° .^-^ - ♦^ -^^^^ -y^^^/ ^^-i-' "-ii. \^^.* >^ ^<^. -: 'niii.:>.:-^:v<,d v-^ c -.> -^ • ^^ ^' ♦>Va'« %„ .^ ♦*iSIE^'. *^ A* ■ ♦: -^^^^^ .*.. V"^ %^^^ :^MC' ^^n.^* : <^.*'-*\aC^ ^rW^'J^ V^-V %.^^'.o'> V'*- L^<^ "-^^^' -'^l^*: ^^^^^ - c'i'^. j>"v. .' .^^°- V ^* ^^-n^. \ K JV ^'/"-> • ^f«\o^ V'^!?^-\**' %:'^''\o'> V • ' * •- «5* .0*"..vl v<^^ ^-o^S^' '^P>' X;^^'/ X'^^V'' Xj'^PV j5°^ %*^''\°' V'^^*'y'' %*^''*/ V-^^'V J?--^. .^0 .40, .^. >• >°^*. '.J %«■ .-?:^°'- '; »^ / W/i«ii thlt Is ami lo a Clerg continued their labors, where Iheie were any, even in- republic. I iferior agents to guide them ; aitd on those estates. In speakiuff of the slaves, captured by Brit-' ' where no white men were left to direct them, they be- ish vessels, and sent to Sierra Leone, Clarkson ! itook themselves to the planting of provisions ; but up- says:-'-They must have contracted «* worta/j "" f the plantations where the whites 'e^xl^d, 'he oajrcj. _■• J , .. , , . „ . I blacks continued to labor as quietly as belore. Uunng a hatred of the whites from their sufferings on| board ship by fetters, whips, and suffocation in| the hold, as the West Indian from those severi- ties which are attached to their bondage uponi the year 1795 and part of 1796 I learn nothing about them ; neither sood,bad nor indifferent, though I have ransacked the French historians for this purpose." From the latter end of 179b to 1802, a period shore. Under these circumstances then we, of six years, the planters kept possession of their find them mude free ; but, observe, not after ggjaipg . jiygj upon them peaceably; and the any j)repora/ory discipline, but almost .vi«/t/en- freed negroes continued to be their laborers, /y; and no( Sing-/;/, but IB 6'j(/(es, at a lime. ^^ ej (j;jn there be any account more favorable to find them also settled, or made lo live, under I gur views than this, after so sudden an emanci- the unnatural government of the whites; and,] pation? ■what is mire extraordinary, we find their pres- ent number, as compared with that of the whiles in the same colony, nearly as one hun d red and fifty to o)(t"« notwithstanding which superioritv, fresh emancipations are constantly taking place, as fresh cargoes of the captured arrive in port." The abolition of slavery in Mexico, was vir- tually immediate. The slaves were at once ta- ken from the arbitrary will of their masters, and placed under law. A system of appren- ticeship was established, allowing them lo ap- ply Ihe compensation received for their labor. 10 the purchase of themselves and families ; and in seven years, slavery had ceased lo exist The former masters, accustomed to the prac- tice of arbitrary power, and to look down upon I the negroes as reptiles of the earth, could not hear to come into familiar relations with them as free laborers, peaceably as the manumitted slaves had, for years, conducted themselves. In an evil hour they prevailed upon Bonaparte, by false represenllaions and promises of money, jto restore slavery. He prepared an immense armament under Lcclerc, to bring about that e\ent. The hellish expedition at length arrived on the shores of St. Domingo: — a scene of blood and torture followed, such as history had never before disclosed, and compared with which, though planned and executed by whiles, throughout that great Republic. Dr. Walsh i ;;i|[ the barbarities s.tid to have been perpetrated states that in Brazd there are more than halfliby the insurgent blacks, amount comparatively a million enfranchised persons, Africans, or of j ! to nothing. In fine, the French were driven African descent, who were either slaves them-, |from the island. Till that lime the planters re- selves, or are the descendants of slaves. He liained their properly, and llien it was, but not says, they are, generally speaking, " well con- | till then, thai they lost their all. ducted and industrious persons, who c(Mnposp, ' From that lime to this, there has been no indiscriminately dirt'erent orders of ihecommu- nam of suliordinatibnor industry among them. nity. There are among them merchanls, farm- They, or iheir descendahls, are the persons by ersj doctors, lawyers, priests, and officers of dif- 1 whom the plains and valliesofSt. Domingo ferent ranks." , |arc slitl cultivated, and they are reported to fol- St. Domingo has reduced to practice thej ijow their occupations still, and \\\\\i as fair a same doctrines, with similar good ellects. yA< of the litter. In Barbadoes the free negroes and mulatloes are industrious, and are never seen begging, whereas the island is pes- tered with white beggars, of all ages. In Trin- idad, there are upwards of fifteen thousand free people of color ; there is not a single pauper amongst them ; they live independently and comfortably, and nearly half the island is said to be Ih their hands. It is admitted that they are highly respectable in character, and are rap- idly advancing in knowledge and refinement. — The Haytians are 700,000 in number. There are no paupers, except the decrepidand aged. — The people are charitable, hospitable and kind, very respectful to foreigners, temperate, order- ly, easily governed, and good mechanics. Ad- miral Fleming says, " The most happy, the best fed, and the most comfortable negroes I ever .saw in ihe West Indies were in Hayti, even bet- ter than in the Carraccas, and decidedly better than the slaves in Jamaica." We also speak of immediate abolition, to distinguish our proposals from all indirect at- tempts to destroy slavery, in our country. Our object being both lawful and honorable, our means honest, and our motives pure, we have no occasion to conceal them, by professing to aim at someihiug else. We consider it crim- inal to amuse the country with any project, which will not attain an end so essential to the prosperitv and very existence of our happy union. It is generally admitted, that the accur- sed system of slavery has already made the pil- lars of onr g'jvernment tremble, and it is de- monstrable that notliiiig but its total removal can prevent the final overthrow and ruin of this republic. It is one of our objects to inculcate tba doc- trine of I m;nediate Aliolitioii as an in,porlnnl moral sentiment, as a duty we owe to our com- mon Creator, to our fellow men, and to our- selves, as republicans and Christians. We shall aim to show that this duty applies to individu- als, to communities, to those who lead public opinion, to those who are conductors of the press, to preachers of the Gospel, to educalors of youth, to parents, and to all descriptions of persons, as they love the human family, fear a just Go !, and hope for a blessed immortality. So far are we, therefore, from seeking to turn loose an ungovernable horde of blacks, to prey upon society, that our sole design is to have them transferred from despotism to the control of law, providing for their regular employment, encouraging their industry, preventing idleness, punishing vagrancy, and securing their just compensation ; leaving them to labor on the soil where most of them were born, and in the employments to which they are both fixed and jaccustomed; to endeavor to obtain for our col- ored fellow men the privileaes held out to them in our Declaration of Independence, and to which they are entitled by the sentiu.ent of the civilized world, as well as by the law of God. We feel certain that when the public mind shall be permitted to know the fads and shall be dis- abused of the impressions by which it has been 'imposed upon, it will call, in a tone not to be denied, for the adoption of measures right in themselves, congenial with our republican prin- ciples, and fraught with benefits to the whole people.* j We ask your attention now to a few consi- lerations showing the true aspect of slavery among us, which are entitled to the most seri- ous altention.t These propositions, be it re- membered, are each supported by the evidence of actually existing laws. 1. Slavery is hereditary and perpetual, to the last .moment oftlie slave's earthly existence, and to all his descendants, to the latest posterity. 2. The laborof the slave is compulsory and uncom- pensaled ; while the kind of labor, the amount of tod, and the time allowed for rest, are dictated solely by Ithe master. IS'o bargain is made, no wages given. A i pure despotism |roverns the " liuman brute ;" and even iiis covering and provender, both as to quantity and quality, depend entirely on the master's discretion. 3. The slave being considered a personal chattel, may be sold, or pledffed, or leased, at tl:e will of his master. He niav he exchanged for marketable com- modities, or taken in execution for the deblsi, or taxes, either of a livinij or a deceased master. Sold at auc- tion, " either individually, or in lots, to suit the purcha- ser," he may remain with his family, or be separated from them forever. 4. Slaves can make no contracts, and have no legal right to any property, real or personal. U'heir own * I am for speedy, immediate abolition. I care not what caste, creed or color slavery may assume. I am fur its to- tal, its instant abolition. Whether it be personal or polit- ical, mental or corporeal, intellectual or spiritual, I am for its immediate abolition. I enter into no compromise with slavery ; I am for justice, in the name of humanity and ac- cording to the law of the living God.— O'ConncH. t Tliev are taken chieflv from the " Appeal in favor of that class of Americans called Africans," by Mrs. Child, of Boston, a work that should bo in every family in the Pni- iled States. •:#.■ 70 honest earnings, and the legacies of fricndc belong, in point of law, to tlieir masters. 5. Neither a slave, or free colored person, can be a witness ajrainst any while or free man, in a court of justice, however atrucious may have been the crimes they have seen liim conmiit : but they may »ive testi- mony agamst a fellow-slave, or free colored man, even in cases affecting life. 6. The slave may be punished at his master's dis- cretion—without trial — without any means of legal re- dress, — whether his offence be real or imaginary ; and the master can transfer the same despotic power to any person, or persons he may choose to appoint. 7. The slave is not allowed to resist any free man under any circumstances ; his only safety consists in the fact that his owner may bring suit, and recover the price of his body, in case his life is taken, or his limbs rendered unfit for labor. 8. Slaves cannot redeem themselves, or obtain a change of masters, though cruel treatment may have rendered such a change necessary for their personal safety. 9. The slave is entirely unprotected in his domestic relations. 10. The laws greatly obstruct the manumission of slaves, even where the master is willing to enfranchise thorn. 11. The operations of the laws tends to deprive slaves of religious instruction and consolation. 12. The whole power of the laws is e.xerted to keep slaves in a state of the lowest ignorance. ■ 13. Thereis, in this country, a monstrous inequality of law and right. What is a trifling fault in a white man, is considered highly crimind in the slave ; tlie same offences which cost a white man a few dollars only, are punished, in the slave, with death. ; 14. The laws operate most oppressively upon froei people of color, as we shall show in future publica- tions. I In some states,* where killing a slave is de dared to be murder, tlie case is e.'ccepted of "any slave dying under moderate correction." It has been judicially determined Miat it is jus- tifiable \o \i\\\ a slave, resisiing, or cfri,riu^ to resist his master, by force. This is found in ihe revised code of the law of slavery, for up to the year 1821, a pecuniary line was the only restraint upon the wilful murder of a slave. Wc feel it to be our duty to quote from authen- tic sources, some specimens of excessive sever- ity in our own country, as examples of the cru- elty that always exists in slave countries. — They are inseparable from the syst;im. If it should be admitted that a large proportion of masters are as kind to their slaves as they can be, consistently with keeping them in bondage, it is certain that abominable atrocities prevail in every slave state. We have a mass of evi- dence on this subject, that is calculated to awa- ken a sensibility in this country, equal to the feeling excited in England when the " Threo months in Jamaica" was published in that country. A slave being missing, several planters united in a negro hunt, as it is called. They set out with do^s, guns, and horses, as they would chase a tiger. The poor fellow, being discovered, took refuge in a tree; where he was deliberately shot by his pursuers. — ♦ Stroud's Sketch of tllo Slave Laws in the United States of America. Chiles Appeal, Pagi 34. A planter had occasion to send a female slave some distance on an errand. She did not return so soon as he e.xpected, and he grew angry. At last he gave or- ders that she should be severely whipped when she came back. When the poor creature arrived, she plead for mercy, saying she had been so very ill, that she was obliged to rest in the fields ; but she was or- dered to receive another dozen ot lashes, for ha\'ing had the impudence to speak. She died at the whip- ping-post ; nor did she perish alone — a new-born babe died with her. — Itlem. Page 25. The trade is still briskly carried on in Africa, and new slaves are smuggled into these states, through the Spanish colonies. A very extensive internal slave- trade is carried on in this country. The breeding of negroes for the markets, in other states, (Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, and Mis&ouri,) is a ve- ry lucrative branch of business. Wliole cofflesofthem, chained and manacled, are driven through our capital^ on tlieir way to auction. — Idem, Page 30. Dr. Torrey says, whole families of free colored peo- ple have been attacked, in the night, beaten nearly to death with clubs, gagged, and bound, and dragged in- to distant and hopeless captivity, leaving no traces be- hind, except the blood from their wounds. — Idem, Page 31. Advertisements are very common, in which the mo- ther and her children are offered either in a lot, or sep- arately as may suit purchasers. In one of these ad- vertisements, I observed it stated, that the youngest child was about a year old. — Idem, Page 53. The captives are driven by the whip, through toil- some journeys, under a burning sun ; their limbs t«t- tcred ; with nothing before Ihein but the prospect of toil more severe than that to which they have been ac- customed. — Idem, Page 33. Dealing in slaves has become a large business. Establishments are made at several places in Mary- land and Virginia, at which they are sold like cattle. These places are strongly built, and well supplied with thumb-screws, gags, cowskins, and other whips, oftentimes bloody. But the laws permit the traffic, and it is 3ufti;red. — jYiles' Register, vol. 35, page 4. ■5 Woman has no protection against the unbri- dled IujIO.' l.er master or his overseers, or any white man. The slave, and his wife, and his daughters, being considered as the property of t'leir owners, compelled to yield implicit obe- dience, not allowed to give evidence, and ptib- lic opinion ridiculing the slave's claim to any exclusive right in his own wife and children, upwards of half a million of female slaves in this country, are continually subject to the in suits of brutal passion. In Athens, the female slave could demand protection from the magistrates, against insult- ing treatment. But the American female slave is liable to the penally of death, if she do but raise her hanJ, where by all other codes, \\o- man may resist even unto death, and be guilt- less. The general licentiousness that prevails in slave countries, is notorious. In many plac s there are few slave children that can be call d legitimate. The idea of moral purity is searce- ly°more known than it is among brutes. The multitude of mulaltoes in the United States, [bear evidence of the great licentiousness that 71 prevails, on tlie part of the whites, in their in- tercourse with the black population. Moralists have depicted its miseries in glowing colors, and slave holders have admitted the pernicious effects of the slave system upon the morals of the community and upon individuals.* * "You may whitewash the sepulchre — you may put upon it every adornment that fancy can suggest, — you may cover it over with all the flowers and evergreens that the garden or the fields can furnish, so that it wDl ap.'jear beau- tiful outwardly unto men. But it is a sepulchre still — full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness. * * * Slave- ry is the very Upas tree of the moral world, beneath whose pestiferous shade all intellect languishes, and all virtue dies." — Dr. Andrew Thompson. Slavery " is not useful, either to the master or to the slave ; to the lalt«r, because he can do nothing by virtue ; to the former, because he contracts, with his slaves, all sorts ^:^Z^:^^!^e^;:iZ^;^ less wiJl It alter the inherent wrong of slavery, persons '• ■^'.u.mree nrthsol all otlicr or obliterate the guilt of holding, buying, arid selling MEN created in the image of Ood.- Nor have we any right to roll upon posterity a responsibility which properly rests upon our- selves, and wluch, if sutTered to descend to our children, will come upon them with accumula led force. Our very object precludes the idea of all re- sort to force. We have no force but the force of truth. Nor do wo propose any measuresnot strictly within the allegiance we owe to the con- stitution and laws, under which we live. The course of examination and free discus sion we are pursuing, is the very method which our national constituiion indicates, and secures when it says, " Con^'ress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the pres^ or the rights of the people peaceably to assem- ble. That in seeking the abolition of slavery we conform to the spirit of the constitution, and are strictly within tlie letter of it, is plain from the fact, that this venerated instrument gives no sanction to a system so abhorrent to the princi- ples of '76. In all those provisions in which for the preservation of the Union they thought it necessary to keep slavery in view, as an exist- ing state of things, they acted under the expect- ation that it was only temporary, and would soon cease. Even the name of slavery has not polluted its pages; thus showing that our fath- ers would not have that document go down to posterity, carrying the disgraceful record that free Americans held their fellow men as slaves. Thus it naturally and properly belongs to the several states to determine the mode and cir- Thus making it directly for the interest of all the stales to increase their power in the nation by changing all their "other persons" to '• fret persons." But while we confine ourselves within the jstrictest construction of constitutional rights we jdo not intend to be precluded from urging any measure whi, h the constitution warrants Con- igress e.xercises "exclusive legislation in all ca- ses whatsoever, over" the District of Columbia. If evidence were wanting to prove that we have declined from the principles of our fathers we find It m the fact that the only portion of our country, for which the government is alone re- sponsible, IS filled with slaves, and is the mart ol a slave trade scarcely inferior in enormity to that of Africa. We are therefore literally a SLAVE HOLDING NATION. The abolition of slave- ry, in our own District, is a measure within the power of Congress, and so manifestly easy and safe, that It ought not to be delayed another year. And when this is done, we cannot but (hope that somewise application may be made of the power of Congress 'to regulate com- merce among the several States." so as to effect the entire suppression of the infameu.s domes- tic SLAVE TiiADE. While Congress refuses to do these things, the world will give the nation imle credit lor its professed desire to abolish this accursed traffic, or to put an end to slavery ; but will justly think lj.e alleged want of power, on the part of Congress, is a mere pretence. As our course is the only one by which sla- Ivery can be abolished, consistently with the Constitution, so it presents the only means of preserving our national union. Already have cumstances in which one p^/^on m^y be i;;;;d^ ^e^^^^^l^^^lZZu'^^'^ ^ to labor for another. The states, therefore, will : threatened, and as Allowed b^eadiiL men of their respective bounds. The" constittition de Clares that, " No person held to service or labor in one state, un- der the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in consequence ot any law or regulation therein, b« dis- charged Iroin sucli service or labor; but shall be deliv- ered up on daitn of the party to whom such ser\ice or labor may be due," This provision is as applicable to minors and apprentices as to slaves, and will be as import- very. Scarcely is one crisis passed when an- , other impends; and it is evident that thissuc- Icession of dangerous excitement.^ will never end but by the removal of its cause. Our country is so knit together, in all lis parts, that nothing could ever sunder it but the conflicting views and interests growing out of slavery. The plans proposed enable us to seek the removal of this cause by iweans which can- states, when slavery shall have celsedrsjU^I .^^.'^'^^'^ ^^'^'^'^vhen successful, will greatly now. And speaking only of '>?sons held 1^^' Jr,n^h T "!i"°"l' '"""^'- '^^^' °"'>' P""'" .ervice or labor" it gives not the least cm nte ^^'°.'^'' ^""P °>-ed is that of a reformed pnMic nance to the odious claim of propeSfn h,'man' Si' '"'' ^l'^'^^"'"""" "^ 'he union will not flesh. If any one should makeT^ irthe no t^, "-^ ''T V"^ ^'l^''^'- ^""^ ^'"'"^'y United States Court, solelv on the ground that o^inn "."J"' """'' °^. ■"endering public a certain iadividnal was his property, he would I He ?n»T°*"^ '"^"' 'n''"''' "'*''">' ''>' ^""■ undoubtedly be nensuitec;. °"^'^ i tl ,t .^t '^J'O"' "r w'" a^t upon the especta- i jtion that the-free States will become less bold T4 delivered their rainda on tlie subject on being to speak from all political connection with it. Let it be distinctly remembered that our ob- ject is purely moral. It is to deliver our coloied brethren from slavery, and our white fellow citizens from the sin of oppression, the fair fame of our country from the slimming reproach of hypocrisy and tyranny, and ourselves and posterity from the judgments of an offended God. Should interested politicians seek to avail themselves of the slavery question to pro- mote the views of party, we disclaim their in- terference. While engaged in a purely benev- olent work we will not suffer the reproach of being actuated by political views. Our whole reliance therefore, under God, is on the power of truth, and of public opinion. These weapons were successfully employed by Wiiberforce, Clarkson, and their associates, to destroy the slave trade. The same power in the hands of Buxton, Lushinglon, O'Connell, and others, has wrung from a reluctant govern ment, the death warrant of slavery in all the British dominions. Let it not be said that in free America, truth and the sentiments of hu- manity, have less sway than in the monarchies of the old world. We aim to bring back the public sentiment, concerning slavery, to the healthy state of thej first days of the republic ; and restore the abo-! lition principles of Franklin, Jefferson, Kush,l Jay, and others, and do what we conceive those sages would do, if they were now on the stage of human life. We would echo and carry into .speedy effect, the voice of the disinterested La Fayette : " While I am indulging," savs he, " in my views of American prospects and American liberty, it is mor- tifying to be told, that iii that very country a large portion of the people arc slaves ! It is a dark spot on the face of the nation. Such a state of things can- not always exist." It is not only a right, but an imperative duty, to exhibit the heinousness of the slave system an I to endeavor to bring about its entire aboli tion. " The moral, social and political evils of slaver)-," says an independent abolitionist, and able writer,* " are but imperfectly known and considered. These should be portrayed in stroivg but true colors, and it would not be difficult to prove, tliat however i-nconve- nient and dangerous emancipatiou may be, tht con- tinuance of slavery imtst be infinitely more inconvenient and dangerous. * * * But we have as good and per- fect a right to exhort slave holders to liberate their slaves, as we have to exHrot them to practice any vir- tue, or avoid any vice Nay, we have not only the right, but, under certain circumstances, it maybe our duty to give such advice ; and while we confine our- selves within the boundaries of right and duly, we may, and ought to, disreg.\rd the threats and DE.KUKCIATIONS BT WHICH WE MAY BE ASSAILED." The pl'ilanthropists of Britain were opposed atfir having truth on their side, they tri- umphed. Their motives were assailed, their •haracters vilified, and their persons exposed to •H«n. Wb|. Jay. the fury of mobs. But this only showed them where they had to begin their work — by pro- ving how deadly is the influence of slavery in debasing the principles even of the free. Chris- tianity was opposed, and its advocates forbid- den to speak on the subject. Republican prin- ciples are resisted in many countries; and the danger of free discussion forms the theme of many a state paper in absolute monarchies. — But no sanitai-y cmdon, even where tyranny usurps dominion over mankind, can forever shut out the contagion of free principles. The temperance cause also was opposed with bitter- ness, bv many who now acknowledge its be- nign effects, and would be ashamed to be num- bered among its enemies. The same public opinion, which can move masters to voluntary emancipation, will also tend to deter slaves from insurrection; because, while it is strenuously urged as the immediate duty of the masters to liberate their slaves, and to change oppressive laws, no countenance is given to the slaves in seeking their freedom by physical force. Slave holders are our country- men, and scjjieof them our personal friends. — God forhid that we should stir up tlie oppress- ed to wreak vengeance on the heads of their masters. The more slaves are enlightened and christianized, the belter they will appreciate the follv, as well as madness, of attempting to seize upon their rights through the blood and flames of a servile war. The power of correct principles to prevent bloodshed, is seen in the fact that in the insurrection at Jamaica, none of the Christian negroes were found among those wlio were engaged in scenes of violence. The plans we propose, will also furnish the only effectual check to the disgraceful amalga- mation between the white and colored races, which is now making such rapid progress wherever slavery exists. Restore the blacks to their rights, protect their persons, honor the marriage institution among Ihera, permit fami- lies to remain together, and there can be no doubt each race will, of choice, seek alliance only among themselves. The measures suggested can be demonsti-a- ted to be the only means of preserving a large, fertile and beautiful portion of our country from impoverishment and depopulation.* To say nothingof a war between the whites and blacks, the only remaining means proposed, of bring- siavery to an end, is that of gradually emancipating the slaves, on the condition of tliiiir being immediately carried out of the coun- try. But if the total abolition of slavery is to be accomplished only by the entire removal of the slaves, it is manifest that such a method must bemost disastrous to large sections of our President Jefferson, tliough n slave holder, gave it as opinion, that " the blacks will ultimately, (in spite of _.. attempts to keep them ignorant,) be the sole possessors of tli« low country, and the whites be obliged to migrate tn other regions." But this may be prevented by emanci- pating, educating, and christianizing the slaves. 75 country if, as is said, they cannot be cultivated, by white laborers. Besides, this method is im- practicable; for it is not to be expected that in- dividuals will surrender what they consider their property in slaves, and at the same time condemn their fields to perpetual unproductive- ness for the want of laborers. Nor will the States consent to strip themselves of one half their population, and with it a large part of their federal power, when by emancipation their national influence would be perpetually increas- ed. If it should be attempted by purchase, it may well be questioned whether Congress has the Constitutional power to apply the treasure of the nation to such an object. But if that could be done, or if it should be attempted by the funds of voluntary benevolence, the first purchases would so raise the price of slaves, that their pecuniary redemption would trans- cend the means of the nation. The loss of a few thousand at the south-west, by cholera, less than two per cent, of our whole slave popula- tion, has the present year raised the price of slaves in Virginia 25 to 50 per cent.* The same would be the effect of expatriating thirty or forty thousand slaves in a year, and the price would increase almost indefinitely as laborers were diminished in nuinber. If they were re- deemed, or voluntarily liberated, who can calcu- late the price of transporting them across the Atlantic, or furnishing thern there with the means of sirpport, of improvement, and of in- dustry. Or if they were removed to Africa as fast as they increase in the United St:ites, and there fed, how could they be governed ? It is the serious apprehension of many persons that there would be danger, even under the firmly established government of the United States, in admitting tliem to their natural rights. R-.it though we do not admit this danger, in freeing them on the soil where they belong, there may be a question as to their competency to main- tain a government, uncultivated as they now are, if thrown in a mass beyond the control of a civilized country. We say nothing now of the attachment of colored Americans to their native land— nothing of the hardships they must endure in expatriation — nothing of the cruel injustice of refusing to redress their wrongs, but upon the penally of banishment to a sickly climate, and a barbarous shore. We barely say, that doing right is the only thing that will save some of the fairest portions of this country from depopulation. In favor of this banishment of two and a half millions of Americans from their native land, there is only a single argument, and that is tlie unmerited antipathy of the whites against them, on account of their color. The abolition of slavery will, itself go far to remove this ir- rational prejudice, for it is not found excrpt in xlnve holdhiiT cnnntries. At any rate, it is too much to ask its gratification at so costly a price. Whereas the abolition of slavery under safe re- •Richmond K»qiiirer. gulations, prescribed by law, is merely chang- ing the civil relations of the people, and would not interrupt the business, or orJfer of society, for a day. The land, the houses, the money, the credit, the meichandize, the education and intelligence, the professional skill, the knowl- edge of business, the political pre-emience, the press, the schools, the churches, would all be in the hands of the whites. The necessity of sub- sistence, and the attachments to home, and to the famiJy, would lead the blacks to seek em- ployment where they live ; while their labor would be just as necessary to the planters as before. Society, instead of being dissolved by the disruption of half its members, would be more firmly knit together, by the ties of mutu- al dependence, and the only cause of distrust and vengeance would be forever removed. The fertile soil, which holds all the world as its trib- utaries, would continue to pour forth its pre- cious products, enriching its owners, without endangering their tranquillity. The A.MER1C.1N C'olo.nization Society. In the outset of our labors, we are met by the determined opposition of a society managed chiefly by slave holders, which has set itself", by its official publications, and by speeches in its meetings, to maintain that the continuance of slavery, is necessary, and to denounce in bitter terms, the advocates of immediate emancipation, as a combination of "deluded fanatics and reck- less incendiaries." Deeply grieved as we are, that respectable individuals should thus echo the ribaldrv of the base, when they are unactjuain- ted with our plans, we cannot submit to this un- deserved reproach, without attempting to show how far our fierce assailant is herself deserving of confidence, as a remedy for the evils of slavery. Had the American Colonization Society con- fined its pretensions to the design of the pious men who were among its founders, it would nev- er have opposed the abolition of slavery. Its de- sign, as expressed in its constitution, is to colo- nize the Iree people of color, with their consent, on the coast of Africa, or elsewhere. The hope of its founders, as stated by one of them,* was that "a few of the free blacks, of good character, could be settled on the African coast," and be the means ''of introducing civilization and religion among the barbarous tribes already there." But knowing the reluctance of the free people of col- or to remove to a climate that proved latal to so many ; t aware that their residence in slave * Samuel J. Mills. r The governor of the colony, Dr. Mechlin, speaking of tlic mortality of the emigrants who went from Charleston, Sa- vannah, and Maryland, says "the propoition of deaths is not yet more thari one per cent, and a fraction, nor do I think, ilwill in the whole, after they have fully undergono their scas-nins, eiceed three pet rent."— African Rqjmiitn. ry, June, 18S3, p. 120. The cholera in 1832, carried ofl" 4,000 inhabitants in this city, which is a little less than one a.-.da half per cent. The mortality of new colonists at Liberia, who go from the fouthern parts of the United States, is not much more than double that which in New- York made every heart flint ! And it is know« now that VERY TEW survive who emigrate from the nori/iem statM. 16 states gave great uneasiness to slavemolders ; andi conscious of the difficulty of obtaining funds from] the cliarily of'fhe people, the society has been,; by its friends in the vorlhern states, held up as a remedy for all the evils of slavery, while in the f!outhern states they have solicited funds on tlie' ground thai colonizing the free people of color would enable the slave holders to retain their slaves with a lirmer grasp. It is for the purpose of occupying the whole ground, and satisfying! both slave holders, and those friendly to eventu-' al emancipation, that the Colonization Society assumes to frown down all direct attempts to re- move the dreadful evil of slavery. At the same time tlie abettors of slavery in llie south, have been increasing the ferocity oftheir law against the instruction of the .slaves, and their emancipation, while they have been infringing upon the rights; of the f/ee people of color, in order to malce t/iemi wiiling to emigrate. Concerning the pretensions of the society, of, promoting the abolition ol slavery, the judgment of European philanthropists has already antici- pated that of posterity. The protest of july,i 183:}, agamst the American Colonization Socie- ty, signed by Wilberforce, Buxton, Liishington,! O'Connell, and other British abolitionists, vvho| are unaffected by our national or sectional excite- ments, has pronounced the professions ol the society ''delusive,'- and its existence "an obstruc- : lion" to the overthrow of slavery throughout the' world. To enable the public to judge whether the Colonization Society has any claims to pat- ronage, as an institution professing, or tending, 1 to rid the countiy of slavery, we shall quote tesli-i mony, chiefly from their official organ, the Afri- can Repository, the instrument by whicli it has! been, for more than ten years, moulding the pub-| lie sentiment toils purposes. THE COLONIZATION SOCIETY DOES NOT AIM AT ABOLI- | TION. j " It is far from tlie intention of this Society to effect, | n any manner, the tenure hy which a certain species > J property is held." — Henry Clay. " From its orisin, and throughout the whole period of its existence, it has constantly disclaimed all mteii- tion of interlenng, in the smallest degree, with the rii;lils of properly, or the object of emancipation, gradual or luimediate." * * * "The Society I presents to the American public, no project of eman- j cipation." — Idem. "He tlionght it necessary to show, that so far from I bein" in tbe smallest degree connected with the aboli- tion of slavery, the proposecl society would |iTove one of the greatest securities to enable the master to Ucep in possession his own property." — Randol|ili's Speech. '• it is no Abolition Sociely ; It addresses, as yet, ar- guments to no master. It denies the design of at- 1 tempting emancipation, either partial or general." — , African Repository, vol. 3, p. 197. I "The Coionizition Society, as such, have renoun- ced wholly the name and characteristics of abolition- ists. In this point they have been unjustly and inju- riously slandered. Into their accounts, the subject of Emancipation does not enter at all." — Idem. p. 306. " Recognizing the constitutional and legitimate ex- istence ot Slaveiy, it seeks not to interfere, either di- rectly or indirectly, with the rights which it creates. Acknowledging the necessity by which its present ontinuance, and the rigorous provisions for its main- tenance, are justilied," &c. — Idem. vol. 3, p. 16. " To eradicate or remove the evil immediately is mpossible, nor caji any law of conscience govern necessity." — Vol- 1, p. 251. ' The scope of the Society is large enough, but it is nowise mingled or confounded with the broad weeping views of a few fanatics in America, who would urge lis on to the sudden and total abolition of slavery." — Vol. 3, p. 197. " The emancipation of slaves or the ameliora- tion of ihojf condition, with the moral, intellectual, and political improvement of people of color within the Ij nited States, are objects foreign to the powers of this Society." — Address of the Board of Managers, f the American Colonization Society, to its Auxiliary Societies. — Vol. 7, p. 291. " Our Society and the friends of Colonization wish to be distinctly understood upon this point. From the beginning they have disavowed, and they do yet disavow, that their object is the emancipation of the slaves." — Speech of James S. Green, Esq. before the New-Jt>rsey Colonization Society. COLONIZATION TENDS TO PERPETUATE SLAVERY. They, (the Southern slave holders) will contribute more effectually to the continuance and strength of this system, (slavery) by removing those now fl'Cc, than by any other methods which can possibly be de- vised." — African Rep. vol. 1, p. 227. " Tlie Society, as a society, recognizes no princi- ples in reference to the slave system. It says nothing and proposes to do nothing, respecting it." * ♦ * " So far as we can ascertain, the supporters of the colonization policy generally believe, that slavery is this country a constitutional and legitimate system, which they luive no inclination, interest nor ability to disturb." — North American Rcvie\y, for July, 1832. The tendency of the scheme, and one of its ob- jects, is to secure slave holders, and the whole south- ern country, a5;ainst certain evil consequences grow- ing out of the present three-fold mixture of our popu- lation." — Address of Rockbridge Colonization Socie- ty." — African Repository, vol. 4, p. 274. 'There was but one way, (to avert danger,) but that miiiht be made effectual, fortunately. It was to provide and keep open a drain for the excess beyond the occasions of profitable employment, Mr. Archer had been stating the case in the supposition that after the present class of free blacks had been exhausted, by the op'?rniion of the plan he was r^(;oiiiniending, others would be siinjilied for action, in the proportion of the excess of colored population it would be neces- sary to throw off, by the process of voluntary manu- mission or sale. The effuct must result inevitably from the depreciating value of the slaves, ensuing their disproportionate multiplication. The deprecia- tion would be relieved and retarded at the s;ime time, hy the process. The two operaticms would aid reci- procally, antl sustain each other,. and both he in the highest degree hcnct'cial. It was on the ground of infcrost, therefore, the inns t indisputable pecuniary in- terest, that he addressed himself to the people and lejislatures of the slave holding states." — Speech of Mr. Archer, ^^ifleenth Annual Report. THE COLONIZATION SOCIETY APOLOGIZES FOR SLAVSRT. " Slavery is an evil entailed upon the present sene- ration of slave holders, which they must suffer, wheth- er they will or not." — African Rep. vol. 5, p. 179. "The existence of slavery among us, though not at all to be objected to our Southern brethren as a fault," &c, — Second Annual Report of New York Coloni- TT latioB Society. " It (the Society) condemns no man because he is a slave holdef." — African Repository. "They, (the Abolitionists) confound the misfor- tunes ot one generation with the crimes of another, and would sacrifice both individual and public good to an unsubst:intial theory of the rights of man." — African Repository, vol. 7, p. 202. In almost every address, delivered before the Society, similar expressions occur. By assuming the ground implied in the above extractSj tlieCol- onization Society have fallen into the habits of glossing over and palliating the enormities of the slave system. IT JUSTIFIES KEEPING THE SLAVES IGNORANT. E. B. Caldwell, the first Secretary of the American Colonization Society, in his speech at its formation, reooinmeiided them to be kept " in the lowest state of' ignorance and degradation, for, (says he) the nearer you bring them to the condition of brutes, the better chance do you give th^m of possessing their apathy." " The public safety of our brethren at the South re- qnires them (the slaves) to be kept ignorant and un- instructed." — G. P. Di^osway, Esq. an active Coloiii. zatinnist. " If the free colored people were generally taught to read, it might bean inducement to them to remain in this country, (that is, in their native country!!) We would offer tlicm no such inducement." — South- ern Religious Telegraph, February 19, 1831. "It is the business of the free (their safety requires it) to keep the slaves in ignorance. But a few days ago, a proposition was made in the legislature of Georgia to allow them so much instruction as to ena- ble them to read the Bible ; which was promptly re- jected by a large majority." — Proceedings of N. Y. State Col. Soc. at Second Ann. COLONIZATION INCREASES THE VALUE OP SLAVES. " The execution of this scheme would augment, in- stead of diminishing, the value of property U't\ be- hind." — African Rep. vol. 2, p. 22. The Society traduces the Colokeo People. Our citizens arc often told by agents and oth- ers, who are pleading for money, that the Colo- nization Society is to civilize and evangelize Af- rica. "Each Emigrant," says the Hon. Henry Clay, "is a Missionary, carrying with him cre- dentials in the holy cause of civilization, reli- gion and free institutions." "Thev," [the free people of color,] "and they only," savs the Afri- can Repository, "are qualified for colonizing Af- rica." What are their qualifications ? Let the society answer in its own words: " Free blacks are a greater nuisance than even slaves themselves." — African Rep. vol. 2, p. 328. " A horde of miserable people — the objects of uni- versal suspicion — subsisting by plunder." — Gen. C. F. Mercer. " An anomalous race of beings the most debased upon earth." — African Rep. vol. 7, p. 230. I " Of %11 classes of our population the most vicious is that of the free colored." — Tenth Annual Report. The Colony facilitates the Slave Trade. \ We seek to do the Colonization Society no in-i justice; but wish the public generally to under- stand its character. The tendency of the Society | to abolish llie slave trade, by means of its Afri- can Colony, has been strenuously urged by itst friends. But the fallacy of this is admitted by' the following extract from the Fourteenth Re- port of the Society itself, in 1631. "Some appalling facts in regard to the slave trade have come to the knowledge of the Board of Mana- s, during the last year. With undiminished atro- city and activity in this odious traffic now carried on all along the African cr)ast. Slavefactories are estab- lished in the immediate vicinity of the colony ; and at the Gallinas,) between Liberia and Sierra Leone) not less than 000 slaves were shipped during the last sum- mer, in the space of three weeks." On the 6th of April, 1832, the British House of Commons ordered the printing of a document entitled "Slave Trade — Sierra Leone," contain- ing official evidence of the fact that the pirates engaged in the African Slave Tradn, are fiip- plied from tiie storesof Sierra Leone and Liberia, w^ith such articles as the infernal traflSc demands I An able English writer, on the subject of Coloni- zation, thus notices this astounding fact : "And here it may be well to observe, that as long a.s negro slavery lasts, all colonies on the African coast, of whatever description, must tend to support t, because, in all commerce, the supply is more or less proportioned to the demand. The demand ex- ists in negro slavery ; the supply arises from the Afri- can slave trade. And what greater convenience could the African slave traders desire than shops well stored along the coast, with the very articles which their fade demands. That the African slave traders ds g'.t tliiis supplied at Sierra Leone and Liberia is matter of official evidence: and we know from the nature of human things, that they will get supplied, in defiance of all law or precaution, as long as the demand calls for the supply, and there are free shops stored with all they want at hand. The shop keeper, however honest, would find it impossible always to distinguish between tlie African slave trader or his agents and other dealers. And how many shop keepers are there any where that would be over-scru- pulous in questioning a customer with a full purse? The Moral Influence of the colony is not what was anticipated. That it is a convenience to missionary opera tions in Africa, to have a well regulated com mercial station on the coast, cannot be doubted. But as to any direct moral influence from a. tra- ding colony, all history forbids us to expect it. If any such colonies could produce such a result, we might have expected it from those of New- I'^ngland. But their superior skill in trade, in arts, in arms, the diseases they introduced, tlie strong drink, the deadly weapons, and the wars between tribes, have exterminated the natives of this country. That the influence of Liberiamay be the same, is greatly to be feared. The Rev. J. B. Pinney, now just returning to Africa, as a missionary, says of the colony, in which he spent .several months: "But two or three hitherto have done any thing scarcely towards agriculture. The wealthy find it easier to trade ; the poor suppose itdegradins:. ' ♦ * Nothing has been done for f he natives, hillu-rin, by the colonists, e.vcept to educate a few who were in their families in the capacity of servants. « ♦ * A colonist of any dye, would think himself degraded by marrying a native. * ♦ * As little effort is made by the colonists to elevate them, as is usually made by the higher classes in the United States to 78 better the condition of the lower. Such I Kipposei lone to effect the olhsrl An enlightened corarau- wiM evar be the case, when men are not actuatea by nitv will iudcre a pure dcsira to do eood." "! u. '^'•ii. ,,,,^,1 , = ,.,, ... J , i' , '5ut>J"''P"acipal objection against expatna- It ha3 also been credibly staled, and never de-j ■ tion is, tliat it is founded in prejcdice against a med that fourteen hu.vi)red barrels of RLM,| part of this nation, on accountof the shade which ( besides other spirituous liquors) have been sold j the Creator lias given to their complexion The at the CO ony, in a single year. The "Liberia , Society styles itself "American," solicits the sup- Herald shows also, that gunpowder, guns, and| port of the whole nation, and has even petition- • spear-pomted knives," are sold at Liberia asj ed for the patronage of the Government Its the principal articles of commerce. Knowing: voice therefore, ifsustained, will be taken bv the these tacts, many friends ol temperance, and of world as the voice of the whole nation, saving to peace, who lorraerly contributed liberally to the; one-sixth of its members: We have su'ch con- . Society, have declared that they cannot consci-, ;tempt for vou, on account of that for which vou ' callously do so any longer. ,-„: : .1 . - ... '_" The CoLomzATioN Society c£nsdres the pormino OF Anti-Slavery or Abolition Societies. When Anti-Slaverii- Societies are blamed, and considered aggressive, for opposing the Coloniza- tion Society, it seems to be forgotten that the iare in no way to blame, that we will not suffer ! you to live among us, but will oppress you, and [weary you out, till you shall consent to be ban- ished to the grave yards of Liberia. Jf the principal members of the Colonization Society had not declined setting an example of Colonization' Society had filed ifspirnws pro-"*™'""^'P^","g ?!"-7 .^''''■'es ! i*" 'he Society had /ra/ against the formation ot Anti-Slavery Socie-1 "P' f'''?''''^^'->' disclaimed all efforts for abolition; lies.' We appeal to the Records. 1 1" it had not apologized for slavery, and jusli6ed -«Tho Society * * * bavin;: declared that it is in i '''^''P!"?^ the slaves m ignorance; if it had not nowise allied to any Abolition Society in America, ori ut^/a'r'v monopolized nearly all the sympathy in elsewhere, is ready, whenever there is need, to pass at this country for people of color; it it were not censure on such Societies in America."— Speech of ^an opiate on the consciences of slave holders Mr. Harrison, of Virginia, Fifteenth Annual Report.! and a delusion before the eyes of the philanthro^ The Colonization Sijciety, as has been clearly] pic; if it did not oppose Abc.'ition Societies- if shown, solemnly disclaims any design of promo- u did not hold out one imlucenient to the people ting the abolition of slavery; no intellij;entj | of the northern states, and an opposite one to the Iriend of that society believes it practicable everj people of the southern states; we should not 10 remote the whole slave population from the| baveoccasioij to bring forward these painful evi- country ; most persons consider it impracticable I dences that it is an obstruction to t!oe impiove- to remove even the annual increase ; it is suscep-[ nient of the colored race, to the progress ol reli- tible of e.isy demonsOsation that the entire aboli-; gion, to temperance, to peace, and the righ's of tionof shivery by voluntary emancipation will, man. As a Society, we have clearly prov'ed that become less probable it the value of slaves should,! itis obnoxiousto these censures. If.aswe doubt increase, as it will, by the removal of a part;i not, many of its members are at heart opposed and that the design of producing entire cmanci- to the avowed principles we have quoted, it is pation, cherished on the part of any portion of tlie : for such to consider the correctness of adhering to colonizatiunists, by removing the free blacks 10 an institution that is doing so much to uphold Atrica, is a scheme that must be pronounced! them. The piety of some of its founders the chimerical by every well informed person wtioj 'devotedness of many of its agents and the' res- examines the subject. To deny it, is conclusive jpecl in which a large number of its friends are evidence that the person has but a superficial deservedly held, will not rescue ihe principles of knowleds-e of the subject, or the opinions of the Society from being regarded as inimical to those most conversant with it. I '• tlie welfare of the'colorcd people in this nation. But It is said by some that "the moral in/ht-'l But-whatevfr may he ilie ditl'erence of opinion enre ot the Society, by the discussion and inqui-; on several subordinate points, there is only one ries It excites, will eventually tend to the total' way to meet the crisis to which we havearrived. abolition of slavery." It would seem, ho wc- or, The proof is abundant that the only means of that little credit is due to the Society, for ))iomo-t safety is the c))"-n^,. .**\-. ^-vP^"^' ./x A^-^ "^^ -^ ;^,\. /.-.^^.A >*\c:^%v /.'.^v"^^ .'J"' .♦ ^o-V :r: \.^^" .♦^•v. ^^..♦'