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AN  HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
OPINIONS OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE REPUBLIC
ON NEGROES AS SLAVES, AS CITIZENS,
AND AS SOLDIERS.
a








AN
HISTORICAL RESEARCH
RESPECTING THE
OPINIONS OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE REPUBLIC
ON NEGROES AS SLAVES, AS CITIZENS,
AND AS SOLDIERS.
READ BEFORE THE MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
AUGUST 14, 1862.
BY GEORGE LIVERMORE.
THIRD EDITION.
BOSTON:
PUBLISHED FOR THE NEW-ENGLAND LOYAL PUBLICATION SOCIETY, BY
A. WILLIAMS AND COMPANY,
100, WASHINGTON STREET.
1863.








MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
AUGUST MEETING, 1862.
EXTRACT FROM THE RECORDS.
A stated monthly meeting was held this day, Thursday, August 14th.
In the absence of the President (the Hon. ROBERT C. WINTHROP),
Colonel THOMAS ASPINWALL, one of the Vice-Presidents, took the
chair.
MR. LIVERMORE communicated a paper (portions of which he had
read at the July meeting) "On the Opinions of the Founders of the
Republic respecting Negroes as Slaves, as Citizens, and as Soldiers."
Mr. NORTON moved, That the thanks of the Society be presented
to Mr. Livermore, and that a special Committee be appointed to print
the paper at the expense of the Society.
Before this motion was put, Mr. LIVERMORE remarked, that he
began his research as an individual effort, intending to print a few
copies only, for private distribution.  He had brought the subject
before the Society at the July meeting, that he might receive aid or
suggestions from members who were present. At the request of many
members of the Society he had extended his investigations; and, as
they desired, had now offered the results of his researches. He hoped
he might be permitted to carry out his original purpose of printing
the paper, at his own expense, for gratuitous distribution. He should,
if such was the pleasure of the meeting, print it as a paper read before
the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Mr. EVERETT expressed the gratification with which he had listened
to a paper containing so much valuable information, and hoped that it
might be printed in the manner most agreeable to Mr. Livermore.




Vi             EXTRACT FROM THE RECORDS OF
He suggested that the motion of Mr. Norton be so modified as to
obviate the objections raised by Mr. Livermore. He hoped, if consistent
with his plan, that Mr. Livermore would extend his researches so as
to include the services of colored seamen in the American Navy. Mr.
Everett related an anecdote of an aged slave, the last of his class,
showing the mildness of slavery in Massachusetts before its final
extinction.
Mr. WATERSTON, Secretary pro tempore of the July meeting, said
he had made known the proceedings of that meeting to the venerable
senior member of the Society, the Hon. Josiah Quincy, who, though
unable at present to attend the meetings, retains a deep interest in all
the Society's transactions. He had just received from him a letter,
which he begged leave to present to the Society: —
" QINCY, Aug. 9, 1862.
"Rev. R. C. WATERSTON,
" DEAR SR, - Your letter of this date communicates to me the
purpose of Mr. Livermore to collect and publish documents on the
subject of Slavery and Negro Soldiers, originating from the great men
who were guides of public affairs at the time of the American Revolution. I should regard such a publication as useful and desirable, and
I heartily wish Mr. Livermore success; and I shall be happy, according
to my means, in aiding him in his purpose.
"In respect to the general subject of slavery, I apprehend he will
find very little favorable to the institution among the relics of the great
men of that period.
" Disgust at it was so general, as to be little less than universal.
Among slaveholders, the language and hope of putting an end to the
evil as soon as possible was on all their tongues; but, alas! it was far
from being in all their hearts. Some of the leaders saw the advantages
derived from it by the unity and identity of action and motive to which
it tended, and its effect in making five States move in phalanx over
the Free States. They clung to the institution for the sake of power
over the other States of the Union; and, while they were open in
decrying it, they were assiduous in promoting its interests and extending
its influence.
" By constantly declaring a detestation of slavery, they threw dust
into the eyes of the people of the Free States; while they never ceased
to seize every opportunity to embarrass the measures which would




THE MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY.            vii
advance the interests of the Free States, and at the same time to
strengthen and extend the interests of the Slave States. We can trace
their policy in history. We now realize the result.
"With all their pretensions, the leading slaveholders never lost sight,
for one moment, of perpetuating its existence and its power.
"Truly and respectfully yours,
"JOSIAH QUINCY."
Mr. WASHBURN spoke with interest of the letter which had just
been read, remarkable as coming from a gentleman of such experience,
and at so advanced a period of life. He then gave several historical
facts which had come to his knowledge when writing his "History of
Leicester," corroborating the statement of Mr. Livermore respecting
the common practice of using negroes as soldiers during the war of the
American Revolution.
The vote thanking Mr. Livermore for his paper, and committing
the manuscript to him, to be printed in the manner most agreeable to
him, was unanimously adopted.
RICHARD FROTHINGHAM,
Secretary pro tem.








NOTE TO THE THIRD EDITION.
THIS historical paper is reprinted from the volume of "Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society" for the year
1862-63.  It was there printed, with a few alterations, from
the original edition which had been issued for private distribution.  These alterations are the following:1. The extract from  the Message of Jefferson Davis is
now  printed from  the "National Intelligencer" of 7 May,
1861, where it purports to be printed in an authentic form.
In the first edition there were some errors and omissions in this
document, as taken at second hand from the "New Orleans
Picayune" of an earlier date.
2. The first paragraph on Dr. Franklin's opinions has been
modified by the omission of a statement found to be not correct. The truth of what remains is independent of it.
3. In speaking of the practice of receiving free negroes as
soldiers at the commencement of the Revolution, it was not
quite correct to state so broadly that they were "enrolled in
the militia."  The word "militia" was inadvertently used as
synonymous with "army."  The language of the paragraph has
been so altered as to secure verbal accuracy.
4. A sentence affirming the exemption, in Massachusetts,
of "Scotchmen," as well as "negroes," from training in 1656,
is omitted; and two or three specific laws are cited, showing the
vacillating policy which was pursued on the subject of employing negroes as soldiers in the early legislation of this Colony.
b




X               NOTE TO THE THIRD EDITION.
5. The extract from Mr. Sabine's " American Loyalists" is
printed from the author's copy, corrected for a second edition
of that work.  The only important alteration in this extract
is the substitution of "other States" for "New England" in
the passage relating to the number of soldiers sent to the aid
of South Carolina.
6. Only one important addition has been made. Extracts
are given from the writings of John Jay, the first Chief Justice
of the United States Supreme Court, showing his opinions,
contrasted with those of Chief Justice Taney, his latest successor.
Since the publication of the first edition, my attention has
been directed to numerous facts and documents illustrating the
subject, which I have not used.  Many of these ought to be
published. It was at one time my purpose to incorporate them
in the second edition of this Research; but I found that by
so doing I should swell it considerably beyond the customary
limits allotted by the Historical Society to such publications. I
therefore reserve them for some possible future use. If the
requisite leisure can be gained from pressing duties, perhaps
these new materials may hereafter be combined with those here
presented in preparing a more elaborate and complete history
of the subject.
G. L.
DANA HILL, CAMBRIDGE,
May, 1863.




NOTE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
IN the reading of the following paper before the Massachusetts Historical Society, many of the documents now printed
were necessarily omitted, or but briefly alluded to. In order
to make room for these without unduly increasing the size of
this pamphlet, some of the remarks in the original paper have
been left out. Though the special object of this research was
to ascertain the views of the Founders of our Republic, it has
been thought pertinent, in relation to the employment of
negroes as soldiers, to present also some evidence of the
opinions and practice of contemporary British officers in
America.  Many appropriate documents, equally illustrative
of the whole subject, have been passed by; but it is believed
that what are given will suffice to show impartially the general
state of public sentiment at the time when our Government
was established.
G. L.
BOSTON, October, 1862.








CONTENTS.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS........... 1-2
OPINIONS OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE REPUBLIC RESPECTING
NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.
INTRODUCTION, SHOWING THE PRESENT STATE OF THE QUESTION...................3-14
Views of Mr. Jefferson Davis............  3-4
Differing views of Mr. Alexander H. Stephens......  4-5
Chief-Justice Taney's assertions...........  6-7
Mr. Justice McLean's reply to them..........   7-8
Ground maintained by Mr. Justice Curtis........  8-10
Judge Gaston of North Carolina cited by him.8-. 9..
Mr. George Bancroft's comments on Chief-Justice Taney's assertions...........                                  1011
Mr. Edward Everett's strictures on the views of Mr. Jefferson
Davis................... 12-14
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE IN 1776....  15-25
Contemporary opinion on slavery, as shown from the history of the
Declaration of Independence, 15-22.
Mr. Jefferson, 16-18. -Mr. Adams, 18-19. - Lord Mahon's error
as to the Southern Colonies, proved by Mr. Force from the history of
the Continental Association of 1774, 19-22.
Doctrine of the Declaration of Independence re-affirmed in the
Constitutions, and acted upon in the Courts, of several of the States
before the adoption of the Federal Constitution, 22-25.




xiv                         CONTENTS.
THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION IN 1778.... 25-26
Free negroes regarded in them as citizens, 25. - Representation by
New Jersey to Congress on the subject, 26.
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION AND THE CONSTITUTION..27-62
Opinions on slavery with which some of the framers of the Constitution came to their work, 27-49. - Opinion of Washington before as
well as after the Convention, 28-30; he sympathizes with Lafayette in
his views of slavery, 30-32; his last will, 32-34. — Opinion of Franklin, 34-41.- Opinion of John Adams, 41.-Mr. Jefferson's opinion,
42-45. —Mr. Jay's opinion, 46-47. —Mr. Gadsden's opinion, 48.Mr. Henry Laurens's opinion, 48-49.
Opinions of the framers of the Constitution expressed in debate in
the Federal Convention, 49-62.-Mr. Pinckney of South Carolina, 51.
- Mr. Sherman, 51. - Mr. Ellsworth, 51. - Mr. Gouverneur Morris,
52-54. —Mr. Rufus King, 54-55. —Mr. Sherman, 55.-Mr. Luther
Martin, 55.-Mr. John Rutledge, 55.-Mr. Ellsworth, 55.-Mr.
Charles Pinckney, 56.- Mr. Sherman, 56.- Colonel George Mason,
56, 57.-Mr. Ellsworth, 57.- Mr. Charles Pinckney, 57.- General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, 57, 58.- Mr. Abraham Baldwin, 58.
- Mr. James Wilson, 58. - Mr. Gerry, 58. - Mr. Dickinson, 58-59. -
Mr. Williamson, 59.  Mr. King, 59. -Mr Langdon, 59.-General
Pinckney, 59.-Mr. Rutledge, 59.- Mr. Gouverneur Morris, 59-60.
-Mr. Butler, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Read, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Randolph,
General Pinckney, Mr. Gorham, 60.- Messrs. Madison, Morris,
Mason, Sherman, Clymer, Williamson, Morris, Dickinson, 61.
STATE CONVENTIONS FOR RATIFYING THE CONSTITUTION. 62-83
Debates in the Massachusetts Convention, 62-68. - New-Hampshire  Convention, 68-69. -  Pennsylvania Convention, 69-71. —
Maryland  Legislature, 71-74. - Virginia  Convention, 74-79. -
North-Carolina Convention, 79-81.-  South-Carolina Legislature,
81-83.
Two letters concerning the Constitution, written in 1788: one by
Dr. Ramsay of Charleston, S. C.; and the other by the Rev. Dr. Hopkins of Newport, R. I., 83-85.
Opinion of Dr. Paley, in 1785, on slavery, and the probable effect
upon it of "the great Revolution which had taken place in the Western World," 86.




CONTENTS.                           xv
I.
OPINIONS OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE REPUBLI( RESPECTING
NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.
The practical importance of this branch of the subject at the present time, 89-90.
In Massachusetts, in the earlier stages of the Revolution, negroes
appear as acting with white citizens against the British, 90-97. - The
"Boston Massacre" and Crispus Attucks, 90-92. -Peter Salem fights
at the battle of Bunker Hill, and is commemorated by the artist, the
historian, and the orator, 92-95.-Petition of Colonel Prescott and
other officers to the General Court of Massachusetts for a reward to
another " negro man," Salem Poor, as " a brave and gallant soldier,"
who " behaved like an experienced officer" at Bunker Hill, 95. -Major
Lawrence commands " a company, whose rank and file are all negroes,"
and who "fight with the most determined bravery," 96-97.- Free
negroes, and sometimes slaves, took their place in the ranks with white
men; afterwards, slaves must be manumitted before becoming soldiers,
97.
Opinion of the Rev. Dr. Hopkins in 1776, on the employment of
negroes as soldiers, 98.
South Carolina, in 1775, enrols slaves in her militia as "pioneers
and laborers," 99. — Belief, in South Carolina and Georgia, that the
negroes would join the British regular troops, 100. —General Gates
forbids the recruiting of negroes, 101.-Southern delegates to Congress move in vain the discharge of negroes from the army, 101. - The
Committee of Conference determine to reject them in the new enlistment, 101, 102. —Washington afterwards decides to license the enlistment of the free negroes who had served faithfully, 102.- His
decision approved by Congress, 103. - General Thomas's praise of the
negro soldiers in the Massachusetts regiments, 103.
Account of Lord Dunmore's celebrated Proclamation in Virginia in
1775, and its effect, 103-110. -Public appeal to the negroes to stand
by their masters, 106, 107.- The Virginia Convention answer the Proclamation, and declare pardon to slaves who had taken up arms, 107,
108.
(1776.) The British form a negro regiment at Staten Island, 110.
-The Massachusetts Legislature forbid the sale of negroes taken
prisoners from the British, 110, 111.
(1777.) Testimony of a Hessian officer, that there was " no regiment to be seen in which there were not negroes in abundance," 111. -




Xvi                          CONTENTS.
Capture of the British Major-General Prescott by Colonel Barton, with
the help of the negro man Prince, 111, 112. Dr. Thacher's account of
it, 112, 113.
(1777.) Account of the employment of negro soldiers by the State
of Connecticut, 113-117.
(1778.)  Account of their employment by the State of Rhode
Island, 117-124.-Act for raising a negro regiment, 118-120. -Distinguished services rendered by Colonel Greene's black regiment in the
battle of Rhode Island, 123.- Chastellux's account of this regiment in
1781, 124.- Its subsequent heroic defence of Colonel Greene, 124.
(1778.) Action of the State of Massachusetts on the subject, 124127. -Precedent in her early legislation, negroes having been obliged
to train in the militia with white men in 1652, 124.-Proposal of Thomas Kench to raise a separate corps of negroes in the spring of 1778,
125, 126. —Referred to a joint committee of the General Court, together with a copy of the Rhode-Island act, 127.- Their report favorable, embodying the draught of a law, 127.- The subject of a separate
corps allowed to subside, and the usage continued of having negroes
"intermixed with white men," 127.
Action of the State of Maryland on the subject, 127.
Action of the State of New York, 127, 128.
(1779.)  The employment of negroes as soldiers almost everywhere
prevailed, except in the States of Georgia and South Carolina, 128.Why they were exceptions, 128. —A vigorous effort in Congress to
secure the enrolment of black troops in those States, 130, 131.- The
measure advocated by Colonel John Laurens, and by his father, Henry
Laurens, 131. -Henry Laurens's letter to Washington, 131.- Washington, in reply, suggests doubts as to the policy of arming the slaves
at the South, unless the enemy set the example; but says he has never
given much thought to the subject, 131.
(1779.)  Alexander Hamilton heartily supports the measure, 131.
-His strong letter to John Jay, President of Congress, 132, 133.Congress refers the matter to a special committee; afterwards passes
resolutions, recommending to South Carolina and Georgia to raise a
force of "three thousand able-bodied negroes"; and commissions
Colonel Laurens to repair to the South on this business, 133-136.- He
writes to Washington that General Prevost, at Savannah, is "reenforced by a corps of blacks," 136.
(1779.)  Sir Henry Clinton's Proclamation in consequence of "the
enemy's having adopted a practice of enrolling negroes among their
troops," 136.




CONTENTS,                         xvii
Lord Cornwallis issues a proclamation, encouraging slaves to join
the British army, 137. - Mr. Jefferson's account of Cornwallis's cruelty
to those who joined his army, 137, 138.
(1780.)  General Lincoln seconds Colonel Laurens in urging the
government of South Carolina to raise black troops, 138. —Mr. Madison advocates the policy of " liberating and making soldiers at once of
the blacks themselves," instead of "making them instruments for
enlisting white soldiers," 138, 139.
(1781.) General Greene writes to Washington, that in South Carolina " the enemy have ordered two regiments of negroes to be immediately embodied," 139.
(1782.) Colonel Laurens, on his return from France, renews his
efforts to induce South Carolina and Georgia to raise black troops,
139, 140.-His letters to Washington on the subject, and Washington's reply, 139-141.
(1782.) Colonel Humphreys continued to the end of the war to be
the nominal captain of a company of colored infantry, raised in Connecticut by his influence before he became aid-de-camp to Washington,
141.
(1782.) Letter to Lord Dunmore from Mr. Cruden, proposing a
plan for raising ten thousand black troops, 142-145.- Letter of Lord
Dunmore to Sir Henry Clinton, approving the scheme, vouching for
the excellence of such troops, and declaring his perfect willingness " to
hazard his reputation and person in the execution of the measure," 145147.
(1782.) Lord Dunmore writes to England, that the raising of a
brigade of negroes was negatived by a few voices in the Assembly of
South Carolina, and would probably be carried at a future day, 147,
148.
(1782.) General Greene proposes to the Governor of South Carolina a plan for raising black regiments, 148, 149. —Judge Johnson's
remarks on this plan, and on negroes as soldiers, 149, 150. —Importance of the mature opinions of the preceding British and American
military authorities, 150, 151.
(1783.) Washington's scrupulous regard for the rights of his negro
soldiers on their leaving the service, 151.
(1783.) The State of Virginia passes an act securing the freedom
of all slaves who had served in the army, 152, 153.
(1786.) Virginia passes a special act to pay for and emancipate a
slave who had "faithfully executed important commissions intrusted
to him by the Marquis Lafayette," 153.
c




xviii                       CONTENTS.
Later testimonies to the competency of negroes to become good
soldiers, 154, 155. —Dr. Eustis, a surgeon throughout the war of the
Revolution, 154.- Charle Pinckney of South Carolina, 155.
Concluding remarks, 155, 156.
APPENDIX.
(A.) Negroes n the Navy..........                              156
(B.) Flag of a Negro Military Company in Boston.....    162
(C.) Negro Regiments in the State of New York...  162
(D.) General Jackson's Proclamation to the Negroes...... 164
(E.) Negro Soldiers under Monarchical Governments....    167
(F.) Omitted Documents..........   169
INDEX.....................175




I.
NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.




" We cannot put the negro out. This remark serves as a complete stopper to all the
crimination and recrimination so freely indulged in between parties on the solemn point,
-which of the two first brought the negro in. Let them rest quiet hereafter on this
topic. The negro was in before they began to talk about him at all. He will stay in,
whether they choose to talk about him or not. He will grow in more and more, even
while they are sleeping. To deprecate the misfortune is as idle as to complain of the
force of the waters of Niagara. The subject is before us; and it is our duty to face
the consideration of its proportions like statesmen, nd not to imagine, that, if we will
only shut our eyes to it, it is not there; still less to suppose that either lamentation or
anger, agitation or silence, will in any respect materially change the nature of the great
problem which North America is inevitably doomed to solve. From the decree of Divine
Providence there is no appeal." -Speech of the Hon. Charles Francis Adams, May 81,
1860, in the U. S. House of Representatives.




AN
HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
I.
NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.
IN this time of our country's trial, when its Constitution, and
even its continued national existence, is in peril, and the people are beginning to be aroused to the magnitude of the work
to be done, all other subjects dwindle into comparative insignificance. Loyal men, of every calling in life, are laying
aside their chosen and accustomed private pursuits, and devoting themselves, heart and hand, to the common cause.
As true patriots, then, we, members of the MASSACHUSETTS
HISTORICAL SOCIETY, should do something more than comply,
as good citizens, with all the requirements of the Constitution
and the laws: we must study, in the light of history, and by
the traditions of those who originally founded and at first
administered the Government, the fundamental principles on
which it was based, and the paramount objects for which it
was established. Having done this, it may not be amiss for
us to offer the results of our historical researches to others
not having the leisure or the opportunity to investigate for
themselves. All partisan and personal prejudice should now
be abjured, and all sectional sentiments and views should
yield to the broad and patriotic purpose of ascertaining, as1




2               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
serting, and doing our whole duty as citizens of the United
States, desirous of restoring the Union to its original completeness for its true purpose.
This will not be the first time that our Society has endeavored, from the records of the past, to throw light on the
path of the Government in the legislative and military action
of the present. We were not long since called together
specially to contribute, from afi historical point of view, our
aid in guiding public opinion; and the publication of the
" Report on the Exchange of Prisoners during the American
Revolution," read at that meeting, was warmly welcomed, as
a timely and serviceable act.
Although there is a wide difference of opinion as to the
cause of the rebellion, or rather as to the persons on whom
rests the responsibility of having brought on this terrible
civil war, yet all are agreed, that, if negro slavery had not
existed in this country, we should now be in a condition of
peace and prosperity.
I have thought that I could not, at this time, perform a
more useful duty, as a member of the Society, than by preparing a documentary paper of carefully edited authorities,
relating to NEGROES as slaves, as citizens, and as soldiers, - in
order to show what were the principles and the practice of
the Founders of the Republic, and thus to ascertain who
have been unfaithful to the "compromises of the Constitution," and to the principles upon which the Union was based,
and for which the Government was established.
In doing this, I shall endeavor to act simply as an historical inquirer, without any attempt to enforce sentiments or
theories of my own. It is my purpose to present the simple
records of the opinion and action of persons who have acknowledged claims to be considered as authorities.
As an appropriate introduction to the task I have proposed
to myself, of producing some of the recorded opinions of




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.              3
those who were eminently the Founders of the Republic, I proceed to set forth, by authentic citations, the modern doctrine
which has given occasion for this research, and also some of
the most important refutations of that doctrine which have yet
appeared.  These, taken together, will exhibit the present
state of the great question as to its first two branches;
namely, the opinions held in relation to negroes as slaves and
as citizens before, during, and some time after, the formation
of the Government of the United States.
It is a noticeable fact, that, while the Southern leaders of
the rebellion uniformly denounce the North for having denied
to them their guarantied rights under the Constitution, they
are widely at variance when they come to specify their grievances.
Mr. Jefferson Davis, on the 29th of April, 1861, in his
Message, says:" When the several States delegated certain powers to the United- Jefferson
States Congress, a large portion of the laboring population consisted Davis.
of African slaves, imported into the colonies by the mother-country.
In twelve out of the thirteen States, negro slavery existed; and the
right of property in slaves was protected by law. This property was
recognized in the Constitution; and provision was made against its
loss by the escape of the slave.
" The increase in the number of slaves by further importation from
Africa was also secured by a clause forbidding Congress to prohibit
the slave-trade anterior to a certain date; and in no clause can there
be found any delegation of power to the Congress, authorizing it in
any manner to legislate to the prejudice, detriment, or discouragement
of the owners of that species of property, or excluding it from the
protection of the Government.
" The climate and soil of the Northern States soon proved unpropitious to the continuance of slave-labor; whilst the converse was the
case at the South. Under the unrestricted free intercourse between
the two sections, the Northern States consulted their own interest, by
selling their slaves to the South, and prohibiting slavery within their
limits. The South were willing purchasers of a property suitable to
their wants, and paid the price of the acquisition without harboring a




4                 AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Jefferson  suspicion that their quiet possession was to be disturbed by those who
Davis.
were inhibited not only by want of constitutional authority, but by
good faith as vendors, from disquieting a title emanating from themselves.
"As soon, however, as the Northern States that prohibited African
slavery within their limits had reached a number sufficient to give
their representation a controlling voice in the Congress, a persistent and
organized system of hostile measures against the rights of the owners
of slaves in the Southern States was inaugurated, and gradually extended. A continuous series of measures was devised and prosecuted
for the purpose of rendering insecure the tenure of property in slaves.
"With interests of such overwhelming magnitude imperilled, the
people of the Southern States were driven by the conduct of the North
to the adoption of some course of action to avoid the danger with
which they were openly menaced. With this view, the Legislatures of
the several States invited the people to select delegates to Conventions
to be held for the purpose of determining for themselves what measures were best adapted to meet so alarming a crisis in their history."
-~National Intelligencer, Tuesday, 7 May, 1861.
It is not necessary for us to go out of the so-called
Southern Confederacy, nor far from the presence of its pretended President, to refute this accusation of change in
principle or in policy on the part of the North.
The associate of Mr. Davis, Mr. Alexander RI. Stephens
(Vice-President, as he is called,) thus frankly avows his sentiments in a speech, delivered at Savannah on the 21st of
March, 1861:Alex. H.    " The new Constitution has.put at rest for ever all the agitating
Stephens. questions relating to our peculiar institutions, - African slavery as it
exists amongst us, the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution. JEFFERSON, in his forecast, had anticipated this, as the'rock
upon which the old Union would split.' He was right. What was
conjecture with him is now a realized fact. But whether he fully comprehended the great truth upon which that great rock stood and stands,
may be doubted.  The prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of
the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old Constitu



NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.                5
tion, were, that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the Alex. TH.
laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and Stephens.
politically. It was an evil they knew not well how to deal with; but
the general opinion of the men of that day was, that, somehow or
other in the order of Providence, the institution would be evanescent,
and pass away. This idea, though not incorporated in the Constitution, was the prevailing idea at the time. The Constitution, it is true,
secured every essential guarantee to the institution while it should
last; and hence no argument can be justly used against the constitutional guarantees thus secured, because of the common sentiment of
the day.  Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong.  They
rested upon the assumption of the equality of races.  This was an error.
It was a sandy foundation; and the idea of a government built upon
it, -when the' storm came and the wind blew, it fell.'
" Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas.
Its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth, that
the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination
to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition. This, our
new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon
this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth. This truth has
been slow in the process of its development, like all other truths
in the various departments of science.  It has been so even amongst
us. Many who hear me, perhaps, can recollect well that this truth
was not generally admitted, even within their day." - National Intelligencer, Tuesday, 2 April, 1861.
This ought to be sufficient to put at rest for ever the accusation of change of opinion, and of unfaithfulness to the
original compromises of the Constitution and to the spirit of
the founders of our Government. But it is a lamentable fact,
that there are not wanting amongst us men, claiming to be
friends of tbe Union and the Constitution, who yet, through
ignorance or recklessness, continue to violate the truth of
history on this subject.
Without referring  more particularly to political writers
and speakers of this class, I would call attention to the
well-known words of the Chief-Justice of the United-States
Supreme Court, in the celebrated case of Dred Scott, at the
December Term, 1856.




6                 AN HISTORICAL- RESEARCH.
Judge Taney's language is as follows:Chief-Jus-   " Can a negro, whose ancestors were imported into this country and
ic Taney. sold as slaves, become a member of the political community formed
and brought into existence by the Constitution of the United States,
and as such become entitled to all the rights, and privileges, and immunities guarantied by that instrument to the citizen? One of which
rights is the privilege of suing in a court of the United States in the
cases specified in the Constitution.
" The question before us is, whether the class of persons described
in the plea in abatement compose a portion of this people, and are
constituent members of this sovereignty? We think they are not,
and that they are not included, and were not intended to be included,
under the word' citizen' in the Constitution, and can therefore claim
none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for
and secures to citizens of the United States. On the contrary, they
were at that time considered as a subordinate and inferior class of
beings, who had been subjugated by the dominant race, and, whether
emancipated or not, yet remained subject to their authority, and had
no rights or privileges but such as those who held the power and the
Government might choose to grant them.
" They had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the
white race, either in social or political relations; and so far inferior,
that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect;
and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for
his benefit. He was bought and sold, and treated as an ordinary
article of merchandise and traffic, whenever a profit could be made
by it. This opinion was at that time fixed and universal in the civilized portion of the white race. It was regarded as an axiom in
morals as well as in politics, which no one thought of disputing, or
supposed to be open to dispute; and men, in every grade and position
in society, daily and habitually acted upon it in their private pursuits,
as well as in matters of public concern, without doubting for a moment the correctness of this opinion." - Howard's Reports, vol. xix.
pp. 403-405, 407.
This remarkable assertion is in direct violation of historic
truth.  It shocked the moral sentiment of our own commu



NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.              7
nity, and excited the indignant rebuke of some of the most
eminent Jurists and Statesmen of Europe, who declared the
sentiments to be "so execrable as to be almost incredible."  It
was promptly met and answered by Judge McLean of Ohio,
and Judge Curtis of Massachusetts, Associate Justices of the
United-States Supreme Court.
Mr. Justice McLean, in his elaborate opinion, says:"Slavery is emphatically a State institution. In the ninth section Judge
McLean.
of the first article of the Constitution, it is provided'that the migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing
shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress
prior to the year 1808; but a tax, or duty, may be imposed on such
importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.'
"In the Convention, it was proposed by a committee of eleven to
limit the importation of slaves to the year 1800, when Mr. Pinckney
moved to extend the time to the year 1808. This motion was carried,
-New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, North
Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia voting in the affirmative; and
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, in.the negative. In opposition to the motion, Mr. Madison said:' Twenty years will produce all
the mischief that can be apprehended from the liberty to import slaves.
So long a term will be more dishonorable to the American character
than to say nothing about it in the Constitution.' (Madison Papers.)
"We need not refer to the mercenary spirit which introduced the
infamous traffic in slaves, to show the degradation of negro slavery in
our country. This system was imposed upon our colonial settlements
by the mother country; and it is due to truth to say, that the commercial colonies and States were chiefly engaged in the traffic. But
we know as a historical fact, that James Madison, that great and good
man, a leading member in the Federal Convention, was solicitous to
guard the language of that instrument so as not to convey the idea
that there could be property in man.
" I prefer the lights of Madison, Hamilton, and Jay, as a means
of construing the Constitution in all its bearings, rather than to look
behind that period into a traffic which is now declared to be piracy,
and punished with death by Christian nations. I do not like to draw
the sources of our domestic relations from so dark a ground. Our




8                 AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Judge   independence was a great epoch in the history of freedom; and while
I admit the Government was not made especially for the colored race,
yet many of them were citizens of the New-England States, and
exercised the rights of suffrage, when the Constitution was adopted;
and it was not doubted by any intelligent person, that its tendencies
would greatly ameliorate their condition.
" Many of the States, on the adoption of the Constitution, or shortly
afterward, took measures to abolish slavery within their respective
jurisdictions; and it is a well-known fact, that a belief was cherished
by the leading men, South as well as North, that the institution of
slavery would gradually decline, until it would become extinct. The
increased value of slave labor, in the culture of cotton and sugar, prevented the realization of this expectation. Like all other communities
and States, the South were influenced by what they considered to be
their own interests.
" But, if we are to turn our attention to the dark ages of the world,
why confine our view to colored slavery?  On the same principles,
white men were made slaves. All slavery has its origin in power,
and is against right." - Howard's Reports, vol. xix. pp. 536-538.
The following is a part of the conclusive dissenting opin.
ion of Mr. Justice Curtis:Judge      " To determine whether any free persons, descended from Africans
held in slavery, were citizens of the United States under the Confederation, and consequently at the time of the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, it is only necessary to know whether any
such persons were citizens of either of the States under the Confederation, at the time of the adoption of the Constitution.
" Of this there can be no doubt. At the time of the ratification of
the Articles of Confederation, all free native-born inhabitants of the
States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey,
and North Carolina, though descended from African slaves, were not
only citizens of those States, but such of them as had the other
necessary qualifications possessed the franchise of electors, on equal
terms with other citizens.
" The Supreme Court of North Carolina, in the case of the State
vs. Manuel (4 Dev. and Bat., 20), has declared the law of that State on
this subject, in terms which I believe to be as sound law in the other
States I have enumerated, as it was in North Carolina.




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.                9
"' According to the laws of this State,' says Judge Gaston, in de- Judge
Gaston
livering the opinion of the court,' all human beings within it, who are cited.
not slaves, fall within one of two classes. Whatever distinctions may
have existed in the Roman laws between citizens and free inhabitants,
they are unknown to our institutions. Before our Revolution, all free
persons born within the dominions of the King of Great Britain, whatever their color or complexion, were native-born British subjects, —
those born out of his allegiance were aliens. Slavery did not exist in
England, but it did in the British colonies. Slaves were not in legal
parlance persons, but property. The moment the incapacity, the disqualification of slavery, was removed, they became persons; and were
then either British subjects, or not British subjects, according as they
were or were not born within the allegiance of the British King.
Upon the Revolution, no other change took place in the laws of North
Carolina than was consequent on the transition from a colony dependent on a European King, to a free and sovereign State. Slaves
remained slaves. British subjects in North Carolina became North
Carolina freemen. Foreigners, until made members of the State,
remained aliens.  Slaves, manumitted here, became freemen; and
therefore, if born within North Carolina, are citizens of North Carolina; and all free persons born within the State are born citizens of
the State. The Constitution extended the elective franchise to every
freeman who had arrived at the age of twenty-one, and paid a public
tax; and it is a matter of universal notoriety, that, under it, free persons, without regard to color, claimed and exercised the franchise,
until it was taken from free men of color a few years since by our
amended Constitution.'
"It has been often asserted, that the Constitution was made ex. Judge
elusively by and for the white race. It has already been shown, that, Curtis.
in five of the thirteen original States, colored persons then possessed
the elective franchise, and were among those by whom the Constitution was ordained and established.  If so, it is not true, in point of
fact, that the Constitution was made exclusively by the white race.
And that it was made exclusively for the white race is, in my opinion,
not only an assumption not warranted by any thing in the Constitution,
but contradicted by its opening declaration, that it was ordained and
established by the people of the United States, for themselves and their
posterity. And, as free colored persons were then citizens of at least
five States, and so in every sense part of the people of the United
2




10                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
States, they were among those for whom and whose posterity the
Constitution was ordained and established." -Howard's Reports, vol.
xix. pp. 572, 573, 582.
The Hon. George Bancroft, in his "Oration  before the
Mayor, Common Council, and Citizens of New York, on the
22d of February, 1862," alluding to the opinion of Judge
Taney, notwithstanding his affinities with the political party
through which the Chief-Justice was raised to his high station, thus speaks:eorge      " During all these convulsions, the United States stood unchanged,
admitting none but the slightest modifications in its charter, and proving itself the most stable government of the civilized world. But at
last'we have fallen on evil days.'' The propitious smiles of Heaven,'
such are the words of Washington,' can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right.' During
eleven years of perverse government, those rules were disregarded;
and it came to pass that men who should firmly avow the sentiments
of Washington, and Jefferson, and Franklin, and Chancellor Livingston, were disfranchised for the public service; that the spotless ChiefJustice whom Washington placed at the head of our Supreme Court
could by no possibility have been nominated for that office, or confirmed. Nay, the corrupt influence invaded even the very home of
justice. The final decree of the Supreme Court, in its decision on a
particular case, must be respected and obeyed: the present Chief-Justice has, on one memorable appeal, accompanied his decision with an
impassioned declamation, wherein, with profound immorality, which
no one has as yet fully laid bare, treating, the people of the United
States as a shrew to be tamed by an open scorn of the facts of history,
with a dreary industry collecting cases where justice may have slumbered or weakness been oppressed, compensating for want of' evidence
by confidence of assertion, with a partiality that would have disgraced
an advocate neglecting humane decisions of colonial courts and the
enduring memorials of colonial statute-books, in his party zeal to
prove that the fathers of our country held the negro to have' no rights
which the white man was bound to respect,' he has not only denied
the rights of man and the liberties of mankind, but has not left a foothold for the liberty of the white man to rest upon.
" That ill-starred disquisition is the starting-point of this rebellion,




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.            11
which, for a quarter of a century, had been vainly preparing to raise George
its head.' When courts of justice fail, war begins.' The so-called Bancroft.
opinion of Taney, who, I trust, did not intend to hang out the flag of
disunion, that rash offence to the conscious memory of the millions,
upheaved our country with the excitement which swept over those of
us who vainly hoped to preserve a strong and sufficient though narrow
isthmus that might stand between the conflicting floods. No nation
can adopt that judgment as its rule, and live: the judgment has in it
no element of political vitality. I will not say it is an invocation of the
dead past: there never was a past that accepted such opinions. If we
want the opinions received in the days when our Constitution was
framed, we will not take them second-hand from our Chief-Justice:
we will let the men of that day speak for themselves. How will our
American magistrate sink, when arraigned, as he will be, before the
tribunal of humanity! How terrible will be the verdict against him,
when he is put in comparison with Washington's political teacher, the
great Montesquieu, the enlightened magistrate of France, in what are
esteemed the worst days of her monarchy! The argument from the
difference of race which Taney thrusts forward with passionate confidence, as a proof of complete disqualification, is brought forward by
Montesquieu as a scathing satire on all the brood of despots who were
supposed to uphold slavery as tolerable in itself. The rights of MANKIND - that precious word which had no equivalent in the language
of Hindostan, or Judaa, or Greece, or Rome, or any ante-Christian
tongue - found their supporter in Washington and Hamilton, in
Franklin and Livingston, in Otis, George Mason, and Gadsden; in all
the greatest men of our early history. The one rule from which the
makers of our first Confederacy, and then of our national Constitution,
never swerved, is this: to fix no constitutional disability on any one.
Whatever might stand in the way of any man, from opinion, ancestry,
weakness of mind, inferiority or inconvenience of any kind, was itself
not formed into a permanent disfranchisement. The Constitution of
the United States was made under the recognized influence of' the
eternal rule of order and right'; so that, as far as its jurisdiction extends, it raised at once the numerous class who had been chattels into
the condition of persons: it neither originates nor perpetuates inequality." -Pulpit and Rostrum, 1862, pp. 104-107.
In refutation of the common charge, that the North has
changed its position on the subject of slavery, I cannot for



12                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
bear adding an extract from the " Address of the Hon. Edward Everett, delivered in New York, on the 4th of July,
1861." In his own matchless manner, Mr. Everett thus disposes of the whole matter:Edward     " The Southern theory assumes, that, at the time of the adoption
Eveett of the Constitution, the same antagonism prevailed as now between
the North and South, on the general subject of slavery; that although
it existed, to some extent, in all the States but one of the Union, it
was a feeble and declining interest at the North, and mainly seated
at the South; that the soil and climate of the North were soon found
to be unpropitious to slave labor, while the reverse was the case at the
South; that the Northern States, in consequence, having from interested motives abolished slavery, sold their slaves to the South; and
that then, although the existence of slavery was recognized, and its
protection guarantied, by the Constitution, as soon as the Northern
States had acquired a controlling voice in Congress, a persistent and
organized system of hostile measures against the rights of the owners
of slaves in the Southern States was inaugurated, and gradually
extended, in violation of the compromises of the Constitution, as well
as of the honor and good faith tacitly pledged to the South by the
manner in which the North disposed of her slaves.
"Such, in substance, is the statement of Mr. Davis, in his late
message; and he then proceeds, seemingly as if rehearsing the acts of
this Northern majority in Congress, to refer to the anti-slavery measures of the State Legislatures, to the resolutions of abolition societies,
to the passionate appeals of the party press, and to the acts of lawless
individuals, during the progress of this unhappy agitation.
" Now, this entire view of the subject, with whatever boldness it is
affirmed, and with whatever persistency it is repeated, is destitute of
foundation. It is demonstrably at war with the truth of history, and
is contradicted by facts known to those now on the stage, or which
are matters of recent record. At the time of the adoption of the Constitution, and long afterwards, there was, generally speaking, no
sectional difference of opinion between North and South on the subject of slavery. It was in both parts of the country regarded, in the
established formula of the day, as' a social, political, and moral evil.,
The general feeling in favor of universal liberty and the rights of
man, wrought into fervor in the progress of the Revolution, naturally
strengthened the anti-slavery sentiment throughout the Union. It is




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.             13
the South which has since changed, not the North. The theory of a Edward
change in the Northern mind, growing out of a discovery made Ever
soon after 1789, that our soil and climate were unpropitious to
slavery (as if the soil and climate then were different from what
they had always been), and a consequent sale to the South of the
slaves of the North, is purely mythical,- as groundless in fact as
it is absurd in statement. I have often asked for the evidence of this
last allegation, and I have never found an individual who attempted
even to prove it. But however this may be, the South at that time
regarded slavery as an evil, though a necessary one, and habitually
spoke of it in that light. Its continued existence was supposed to
depend on keeping up the African slave-trade; and South as well as
North, Virginia as well as Massachusetts, passed laws to prohibit that
traffic: they were, however, before the Revolution, vetoed by the
Royal Governors. One of the first acts of the Continental Congress,
unanimously subscribed by its members, was an agreement neither to
import, nor purchase any slave imported, after the first of December,
1774. In the Declaration of Independence, as originally draughted
by Mr. Jefferson, both slavery and the slave-trade were denounced in
the most uncompromising language. In 1777, the traffic was forbidden in Virginia, by State law, no longer subject to the veto of Royal
Governors. In 1784, an ordinance was reported by Mr. Jefferson to
the old Congress, providing that after 1800 there should be no slavery
in any Territory ceded or to be ceded to the United States. The
ordinance failed at that time to be enacted; but the same prohibition
formed a part, by general consent, of the ordinance of 1787 for the
organization of the North-western Territory. In his'Notes on Virginia,' published in that year, Mr. Jefferson depicted the evils of
slavery in terms of fearful import. In the same year, the Constitution
was framed. It recognized the existence of slavery; but the word
was carefully excluded from  the instrument, and Congress was
authorized to abolish the traffic in twenty years. In 1796, Mr. St.
George Tucker, law-professor in William and Mary College, in Virginia, published a treatise entitled' A Dissertation on Slavery, with a
Proposal for the Gradual Abolition of it in the State of Virginia.'
In the preface to the essay, he speaks of the' abolition of slavery in
this State as an object of the first importance, not only to our moral
character and domestic peace, but even to our political salvation.' In
1797, Mr. Pinkney, in the Legislature of Maryland, maintained, that,'by the eternal principles of justice, no man in the State has a right




14                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Edward  to hold his slave a single hour.' In 1803, Mr. John Randolph, from
Everett.
a committee on the subject, reported that the prohibition of slavery
by the ordinance of 1787 was'a measure wisely calculated to promote the happiness and prosperity of the North-western States, and to
give strength and security to that extensive frontier.' Under Mr.
Jefferson, the importation of slaves into the territories of Mississippi
and Louisiana was prohibited in advance of the time limited by the
Constitution for the interdiction of the slave-trade. When the Missouri restriction was enacted, all the members of Mr. Monroe's
Cabinet — Mr. Crawford of Georgia, Mr. Calhoun of South Carolina,
and Mr. Wirt of Virginia - concurred with Mr. Monroe in affirming
its constitutionality. In 1832, after the Southampton massacre, the
evils of slavery were exposed in the Legislature of Virginia, and
the expediency of its gradual abolition maintained, in terms as
decided as were ever employed by the most uncompromising agitator.
A bill for that object was introduced into the Assembly by the
grandson of Mr. Jefferson, and warmly supported by distinguished
politicians now on the stage. Nay, we have the recent admission of
the Vice-President of the seceding Confederacy, that what he calls'the errors of the past generation,' meaning the anti-slavery sentiments entertained by Southern statesmen,' still clung to many as late
as twenty years ago.' "-pp. 31-33.
These extracts from the recorded opinions of the learned
associates of the Chief-Justice, the eminent Historian, and the
illustrious Statesman and Orator, would seem to furnish a
complete refutation of the charges brought against the North
of having changed its policy or action, and violated some
expressed or implied agreement respecting the supposed
sacred and paramount rights of slavery.
But, as historical inquirers, we should not implicitly receive the opinions or assertions of any author, however
eminent in position or however impartial in judgment and
truthful in statement he may be regarded, without referring
to the original records, and comparing the contemporary
authorities. It is my purpose to do this, to some extent, at
the present time.
The primal American Magna Charta, by which the Found



NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.            15
ers of the Republic asserted the right of the people to Declaration of
form a constitution and government of their own, was pro- Independclaimed on the 4th of July, 1776. Its language is clear and
explicit.  The authors were men of sense and of learning.
They knew the meaning of the words they used. Was it for
"glittering generalities" that they pledged their lives, their
fortunes, and their sacred honor, or did they regard the sentiments of that immortal document as solemn verities?  In
those times which tried men's souls, were they guilty of attempting to amuse the fancy by a rhetorical flourish, or, what
is worse, to delude their fellow-citizens by the merest cant,
or did they intend deliberately and reverently to publish
to the world their Political Confession of Faith, and to endeavor to show that faith by their works?
Happily for us and for the fair fame of those patriots, they
have left, in the record of their actions and in their published
correspondence, the clearest and most comprehensive commentary on the instrument they signed.
The first article in the National Creed is so broad and
universal in its sentiments, that attempts have often been
made to narrow  its meaning, and limit its application:" We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created
equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of
Happiness; that, to secure these rights, Governments are instituted
among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed."
It has been truly said by Mr. Bancroft, "The heart of
Jefferson in writing the Declaration, and of Congress in
adopting it, beat for all humanity: the assertion of right was
made for all mankind and all coming generations, without any
exception whatever; for the proposition which admits of
exceptions can never be self-evident."
The author, it is said, could never have intended to have
this language received in its literal significance, for then it




16                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Declara- would have included in the Declaration persons of African
tion of
Independ- descent; while, at the time of the writing of this document,
ence.
negro slavery existed in the Colonies, and the author of the
paper was himself a slave-holder. Did Mr. Jefferson intend
to condemn his own conduct, and that of his associates, by
announcing doctrines at variance with their lives?
In Christian morals, the first step towards reformation is a
conviction of sin; and the second is confession, and promise of
amendment.  The patriots and sages who framed our form of
government, in declaring their principles as political philosophers, acted in like manner. They did not ignore the fact,
that colored men were held in  bondage.  They did not
attempt to conceal, much less to justify, the offence. As, in
the popular religious creed pf their day, all men, through
Adam, had fallen from  innocence, and were guilty; so they
felt, that, by the act of their ancestors, they were themselves
then acting in violation of the natural and immutable laws of
political justice.
It should be borne in mind, that the Declaration of Independence is not an ethnological essay, or a disquisition on the
physical or intellectual capacity of the various races of men,
but a grave announcement of Human Rights.
Mr. Jefferson, in his " Notes on Virginia," has given very
fully his views of the physical, moral, and mental capacities of
negroes.
Thomas     " The opinion that they are inferior in the faculties of reason and
Jefferson- imagination must be hazarded with great diffidence. To justify a general conclusion, requires many observations, even where the subject may
be submitted to the anatomical knife, to optical glasses, to analysis by
fire or by solvents. How much more, then, where it is a faculty, not
a substance, we are examining; where it eludes the research of all
the senses; where the conditions of its existence are various, and
variously combined; where the effects of those which are present or
absent bid defiance to calculation; let me add, too, as a circumstance
of great tenderness, where our conclusion would degrade a whole
race of men from the rank in the scale of beings which their Creator




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITITENS.              17
may perhaps have given them! To our reproach it must be said, Thomas
that, though for a century and a half we have had under our eyes the
races of black and of red men, they have never yet been viewed by
us as subjects of natural history. I advance it, therefore, as a
suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or
made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to the whites
in the endowments both of body and mind." -Jefferson's Works, vol.
viii. p. 386.
Alluding to these opinions several years afterwards, the
author, in a letter addressed to "M. Grdgoire, Eveque et
Sdnateur," says," My doubts were the result of personal observation on the limited
sphere of my own State, where the opportunities for the development
of their genius were not favorable, and those of exercising it still less
so. I expressed them, therefore, with great hesitation; but, whatever
be their degree of talent, it is no measure of their rights. Because Sir
Isaac Newton was superior to others in understanding, he was not,
therefore, lord of the person or property of others. On this subject
they are gaining daily in the opinions of nations, and hopeful advances
are making towards their re-establishment on an equal footing with
the other colors of the human family. I pray you, therefore, to
accept my thanks for the many instances you have enabled me to observe of respectable intelligence in that race of men, which cannot
fail to have effect in hastening the day of their relief." - Jefferson's
Works, vol. v. p. 429.
How slavery was regarded at the time is clearly stated in
the instructions prepared by Mr. Jefferson for the first delegation of Virginia to Congress, in August, 1774, and printed
in a pamphlet form, under the title of "A Summary View of
the Rights of British America." I have Italicized a few lines
as worthy of particular attention: —
" For the most trifling reasons, and sometimes for no conceivable
reason at all, his Majesty has rejected laws of the most salutary
tendency.  The abolition of domestic slavery is the great object of desire
in those Colonies, where it was, unhappily, introduced in their infant
state. But, previous to the enfranchisement of the sl!aes we have, it is




18                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Thomas  necessary to exclude all further importations from Africa. Yet our
Jee repeated attempts to effect this by prohibitions, and by imposing duties
which might amount to a prohibition, have been hitherto defeated by
his Majesty's negative; thus preferring the immediate advantages of
a few British corsairs to the lasting interests of the American States,
and to the rights of human nature, deeply wounded by this infamous
practice." — Jefferson's Works, vol. i. p. 135.
It is well known that some passages in the original draught
of the Declaration of Independence were omitted when the
paper was finally adopted by Congress. One of these passages shows so strikingly the feelings of the author on this
subject, that it may well be cited here:Passage     " He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating
omitted
from the  its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant
DeclaraDion of   people who never offended him; captivating and carrying them into
Independ- slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their
transportation thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium  of
Infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian king of Great Britain.
Determined to keep open a market where men should be bought and
sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative
attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce. And, that
this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he
is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to
purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering
the people on whom he also obtruded them; thus paying off former
crimes committed against the liberties of one people with crimes which
he urges them to commit against the lives of another."- Jefferson's
Works, vol. i. pp. 23, 24.
John Adams, who was associated with Jefferson on the
sub-committee for framing the Declaration, thus expresses his
feelings on seeing  Mr. Jefferson's first draught: "I was
delighted with its high tone, and the flights of oratory with
which it abounded, especially that concerning negro slavery;
which, though I knew  his Southern brethren would never
suffer to pass in Congress, I certainly would never oppose."
- Works, ii. 514.




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.           19
The foresight of Mr. Adams, concerning the rejection of
the passage relating to slavery, was not founded on a belief
that the sentiments contained in it were at variance with
the general views of the people both at the South and at the
North (for the history of the times is full of evidence to the
contrary), but from his knowledge that a few bold and persevering pro-slavery men would be able then - as they have
been ever since - to induce timid and time-serving, and even
honest but less strong-willed, public servants, to concede to
them, for the  sake of peace and harmony, all they demanded.
Lord Mahon asserts that the rejected clause, " it was found, Lord
Mahon's
would displease the Southern Colonies, who had never sought error.
to prohibit the importation of slaves, but, on the contrary,
desired to continue it."
Our worthy Corresponding Member, the Hon. Peter Force,
of Washington, (in two communications to the " National
Intelligencer," January 16th and 18th, 1855,- republished in
London in the form of a pamphlet,) has completely refuted
this error; and has produced abundant evidence that the
" Southern Colonies, jointly with all the others, and separately
each for itself, did agree to prohibit the importation of slaves,
voluntarily and in good faith."  He calls attention to the
Continental Association, adopted and signed by all the members of the Congress on the 20th of October, 1774.
" The  second Article  of the Association  is in these
words:"' That we will neither import nor purchase any slave imported Continenl
after the first day of December next; after which we will wholly dis- Aion.
continue the slave-trade, and will neither be concerned in it ourselves,
nor will we hire our vessels nor sell our commodities or manufactures
to those who are concerned in it.'
"This was signed by all the Delegates of the twelve
Colonies represented in it....




20               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
" As Georgia was not represented in the Congress of 1774,
the Association could have no signatures from that Colony.
But the people of Georgia, as soon as they could speak by
their Representatives, expressed themselves as distinctly on
this point as any of their brethren of the Southern Colonies.
The following are among the resolutions adopted by the
Provincial Congress of Georgia, on Thursday, July 6th,
1775:Provincial   "'1. Resolved, That this Congress will adopt, and carry into
of Gergia. execution, all and singular the measures and recommendations of the
late Continental Congress.
"''4. Resolved, That we will neither import or purchase any slave
imported from Africa or elsewhere after this day.'
"The Continental Association was also adopted by the
Maryland Convention on the 8th of December, 1774; by the
South-Carolina Provincial Congress on the 11th of January,
1775; by the Virginia Convention on the 22d of March,A1775;
and by the North-Carolina Provincial Congress on the 23d of
August, 1775. The Assembly of Delaware, on the 25th
of March, 1775, passed a bill to prohibit the importation of
slaves into that Government; but this was returned by the
governor, John Penn, who refused to give it his assent.
"Thus the Southern Colonies, as far as was possible,
besides giving their assent to the Association of the Congress
by the signatures of their delegates to that compact, each,
in their several Congresses and Conventions, separately expressed their approval of it, and their determination to
support it."
The articles of the Continental Association were not
allowed to remain a dead letter. The enforcement of the
rules was intrusted to committees in the several Colonies.
The action of one of these committees, in the case of the
violation of the second article by Mr. John Brown, a merchant
of Norfolk, in Virginia, is seen in the following address:



NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.             21
"'TO THE FREEMEN OF VIRGINIA:
"'COMMITTEE CHAMBER, NORFOLK, March 6, 1775.
"' Trusting to your sure resentment against the enemies of your Continental
country, we, the committee, elected by ballot for the Borough of Nor- tion.
folk, hold up for your just indignation Mr. John Brown, merchant of
this place.
"' On Thursday, the 2d of March, this committee were informed
of the arrival of the brig Fanny, Capt. Watson, with a number of
slaves for Mr. Brown; and, upon inquiry, it appeared they were
shipped from Jamaica as his property, and on his account; that he
had taken great pains to conceal their arrival from the knowledge of
the committee; and that the shipper of the slaves, Mr. Brown's correspondent, and the captain of the vessel, were all fully apprised of
the Continental prohibition against that article.
"'From  the whole of this transaction, therefore, we, the committee for Norfolk Borough, do give it as our unanimous opinion, that
the said John Brown has wilfully and perversely violated the Continental Association to which he had with his own hand subscribed
obedience; and that, agreeable to the eleventh article, we are bound
forthwith to publish the truth of the case, to the end that all such foes
to the rights of British America may be publicly known and universally contemned as the enemies of American liberty, and that every
person may henceforth break off all dealings with him.'
"This decision of the Norfolk Committee," continues Mr.
Force, "on the importation of the slaves by Mr. Brown, in
violation of the Continental Association, told the whole story
as to who were, and who were not, in favor of continuing it.
The importers of the negroes were the supporters of the
Crown; the importation was opposed by the friends of the
Colonies." - Notes on Lord Mahon's History of the American
Declaration of Independence, pp. 43-46.
Lord Mahon's error arose from applying to " the Southern Lord
Mahon's
Colonies" in general the remarks of Mr. Jefferson ("Writ- error.
ings," vol. i. p. 19) relating to the delegates from South
Carolina and Georgia. In the same passage in which these
Colonies are mentioned with discredit, the pro-slavery men
at the North, whose mercenary spirit was to be met, are




22                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
equally censured. Still, there cannot be any doubt that the
prevailing sentiment of the people at the South, as well as at
the North, was decidedly opposed to slavery. The evil was
almost universally regarded as temporary, and no one openly
advocated its perpetuation.
Before passing from the consideration of the Declaration
of Independence, let us look, for a moment, at the practical
interpretation of its language, as furnished by the early
legislation of some of the States.
The declaration that all men are born equal, and that they
possess the unalienable right of liberty, was re-affirmed by
several of the States, and adopted as a part of their Constitutions.  The action of our own Commonwealth, in this
respect, was clearly shown by the Rev. Dr. Belknap, the
founder of our Society, in his " Answers to Queries respecting Slavery," proposed to him by the Hon. Judge Tucker of
ev. DrVirginia, January 24th, 1795.
Rev. Dr.
Belknap.    "The present Constitution of Massachusetts was established in
1780. The first article of the Declaration of Rights asserts that' all
men are born free and equal.' This was inserted not merely as a
moral or political truth, but with a particular view to establish the
liberation of the negroes on a general principle; and so it was understood by the people at large; but some doubted whether this were
sufficient.
" Many of the blacks, taking advantage of the public opinion and
of this general assertion in the Bill of Rights, asked their freedom,
and obtained it. Others took it without leave. Some of the aged and
infirm thought it most prudent to continue in the families where they had
always been well used, and experience has proved that they acted right.
"In 1781, at the Court in Worcester County, an indictment was
found against a white man for assaulting, beating, and imprisoning a
black. He was tried at the Supreme Judicial Court in 1783. His
defence was, that the black was his slave; and that the beating, &c.
was the necessary restraint and correction  of the master. This was
answered by citing the aforesaid clause in the Declaration of Rights.
The judges and jury were of opinion, that he had no right to beat or




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.             23
imprison the negro. He was found guilty, and fined forty shillings.
This decision was a mortal wound to slavery in Massachusetts." —
Mass. Hist. Coll., First Series, vol. iv. p. 203.
The Hon. Emory Washburn, in his admirable paper on the
"Extinction of Slavery in Massachusetts," communicated to
our Society at the regular meeting in May, 1857, and published in the Proceedings for that year, gives a pretty full
account of this trial.
The brief used by Mr. Lincoln, the counsel for the negro, Brief
of Mr.
was placed in the hands of Mr. Washburn by the son of the Lincoln.
eminent counsellor, our venerable and respected associate,
the Hon. Levi Lincoln of Worcester, for many years Governor of this Commonwealth.  Every word of it, and of the
whole paper of Mr. Washburn, ought to be carefully read and
pondered at the present time. A few extracts will give some
idea of the character of the arguments so effectively used at
that period, when the authors of the Declaration of Independence and the founders of the Republic were still struggling to establish our Government on the firm basis of equal
and eternal justice. A solemn appeal to the " higher law"
was not, in those days, denounced as moral or political
heresy.
"When a fellow-subject is restrained of his liberty, it is an attack
upon every other subject; and every one has a right to aid him in
regaining his liberty.
" What, in this respect, are to be the consequences of your verdict?
Will it not be tidings of great joy to this community? It is virtually
opening the prison-doors, and letting the oppressed go free!
"Could they expect to triumph in their struggle with Great Britain,
and become free themselves, until they let those go free who were
under them? Were they not acting like Pharaoh and the Egyptians,
if they refused to set these free?
" But the plaintiff insists that it is not true, as stated in the Constitution, that all men are born free; for children are born and
placed under the power and control of their parents.
" This may be. But they are not born as slaves: they are under




24                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Brief    the power of their parents, to be nursed and nurtured and educated for
of Mr.
Lincoln.  their good.
" And the black child is born as much a free child in this sense as
if it were white.
" In making out that negroes are the property of their masters,
the counsel for the plaintiff speak of lineage, and contend that the
children of slaves must be slaves in the same way that, because our
first parents fell, we all fell with them.
" But are not all mankind born in the same way? Are not their
bodies clothed with the same kind of flesh? Was not the same breath
of life breathed into all? We are under the same gospel dispensation,
have one common Saviour, inhabit the same globe, die in the same
manner; and though the white man may have his body wrapped in
fine linen, and his attire may be a little more decorated, there all distinction of man's making ends. We all sleep on the same level in the
dust. We shall all be raised by the sound of one common trump,
calling unto all that are in their graves, without distinction, to arise;
shall be arraigned at one common bar; shall have one common Judge,
and be tried by one common jury, and condemned or acquitted by one
common law,- by the gospel, the perfect law of liberty.
" This cause will then be tried again, and your verdict will there
be tried. Therefore, gentlemen of the jury, let me conjure you to
give such a verdict now as will stand this test, and be approved by
your own minds in the last moments of your existence, and by your
Judge at the last day.
"It will then be tried by the laws of reason and revelation.
"Is it not a law of nature, that all men are equal and free?
" Is not the law of nature the law of God?
" Is not the law of God, then, against slavery?
" If there is no law of man establishing it, there is no difficulty.
If there is, then the great difficulty is to determine which law you
ought to obey; and, if you shall have the same ideas as I have of
present and future things, you will obey the former.
The worst that can happen to you for disobeying the former is
the destruction of the body; for the last, that of your souls."-Proceedings of the Mass..ist. Soc., 1855-58, pp. 198-201.
Other contemporary documents might be cited to show
how such language as that used in the Declaration of Inde



NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.              25
pendence was interpreted by the legislative and legal action
of the day. I will only give the first article in the Constitution of Vermont:" All men are born equally free and independent, and have certain Constitunatural, inherent, and inalienable rights; among which are the enjoy- Vn oft.
ing and defending life and liberty; acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety:
therefore no male person, born in this country or brought from over
sea, ought to be holden by law to serve any person as a servant, slave,
or apprentice, after he arrives to the age of twenty-one years; nor
female, in like manner, after she arrives to the age of eighteen years;
unless they are bound by the#i own consent after they arrive to such
age, or bound by the law for the payment of debts, damages, fines,
costs, or the like."
The articles of Confederation - which constituted the Law Articles of
Confederaof the Land from  the time of their passage in 1778 to the tion.
adoption of the Federal Constitution- recognized and granted to free negroes the same privileges of citizenship which
belonged to white inhabitants. The fourth article is as follows -
" ART. 4. - The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship Free
negroes
and intercourse among the people of the different States in this Union, regarded as
the free inhabitants of each of these States — paupers, vagabonds, citizens
and fugitives from justice excepted - shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several States; and the
people of each State shall have free ingress and regress to and from
any other State, and shall enjoy therein all the privileges of trade and
commerce, subject to the same duties, impositions, and restrictions as
the inhabitants thereof, respectively; provided that such restrictions
shall not extend so far as to prevent the removal of property imported
into any State from any other State, of which the owner is an inhabitant; provided, also, that no imposition, duty, or restriction, shall be
laid by any State on the property of the United States, or either of
them." -Elliot's Debates, vol. i. p. 79.
It was not by accident or oversight that negroes were included in the phrase "free inhabitants"; for, when this arti4




26                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
cle was under consideration, the delegates from South Carolina
moved to amend, by inserting between the words " free' and
" inhabitants " the word " white."  The proposed amendment
was lost; only two States voting in the affirmative.
In the ninth article, the word " white " was retained. The
State of New Jersey, although a slaveholding State, objected
to this, and made a representation to Congress on the subject;
an extract from which is pertinent here:New Jersey   " The ninth article also provides that the requisition for the land
ob ects to
the omis- forces, to be furnished by the several States, shall be proportioned to
sion of   the number of white inhabitants in each. In the act of Independence,
we find the following declaration:' We hold these truths to be selfevident: that all men are created equal; that they are endued by their
Creator with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness.' Of this doctrine it is not a very remote
consequence, that all the inhabitants of every society, be the color of
their complexion what it may, are bound to promote the interest
thereof, according to their respective abilities. They ought, therefore,
to be brought into the account, on this occasion. But admitting
necessity or expediency to justify the refusal of liberty, in certain circumstances, to persons of a particular color, we think it unequal to
reckon upon such in this case. Should it be improper, for special
local reasons, to admit them in arms for the defence of the nation, yet
we conceive the proportion of forces to be embodied ought to be fixed
according to the whole number of inhabitants in the State, from whatever class they may be raised. If the whole number of inhabitants in
a State, whose inhabitants are all whites, both those who are called
into the field and those who remain to till the ground and labor in
mechanical arts and otherwise, are reckoned in the estimate for striking the proportion of forces to be furnished by that State, ought even
a part of the latter description to be left out in another? As it is of
indispensable necessity, in every war, that a part of the inhabitants be
employed for the uses of husbandry and otherwise at home, while
others are called into the field, there must be the same propriety that
owners of a different color, who are employed for this purpose in one
State, while whites are employed for the same purpose in another, be
reckoned in the account of the inhabitants in the present instance." 
Elliot's Debates, vol. i. p. 89.




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.       27
The opinions of the founders of the Republic respecting Opinions
of the
the slavery and the citizenship of negroes, as expressed in'Founders
of the Resome of the most important of their public acts, from the public.
commencement to the close of their struggle for National Independence, and during the period of the Confederation, may
be gathered from the documents already cited. They had
proclaimed to the world the Universal Magna Charta which
the Creator and Governor of men had granted to his subjects.
This charter of natural and unalienable rights had been
timidly read and faintly spoken, by now and then a friend of
liberty, in earlier times. Our patriot Fathers were the first
boldly to publish it to " mankind "; to adopt these " self-evident truths" as their National Creed; and, " appealing to the
Supreme Judge of the universe for the rectitude of their
intentions," to announce their solemn purpose of establishing
a Government, with these principles for its chief cornerstone.
With such principles and motives to stimulate their patriotism  and nerve their courage, they could not fail. The
mighty power of the mother-country was impotent -when
wielded against the cause of Liberty. The Independence of
the United States was acknowledged by Great Britain, and
we took our place among the nations of the earth.
The Articles of Confederation served their purpose during
the war, but were found inadequate to the growing wants
of the Government. A Convention was accordingly called, to
meet in Philadelphia on the second Monday in May in 1787,
to frame a Constitution.
Before considering particularly the language of the Constitution, " the palladium of our liberties," let us look for a
moment at some of the men to whom was intrusted this important work, and see with what minds they came to the performance of the duty assigned them.
Among the delegates, we find the names of George Washington of Virginia, and Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania.




28               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Opinions  The former was unanimously elected President of the Conof the
Founders vention. Dr. Franklin was the only man who could have been
of the Republic.  thought of as a competitor for the place. He was to have
made the nomination of Washington: but, owing to the state
of the weather and of his health, he was confined to his
house; and his colleague, Robert Morris, in behalf of the delegation from Pennsylvania, proposed " George Washington, Esq.,
late Commander-in-chief," for President of the Convention.
The character and position of these two pre-eminent patriots, from different States, one a slave-holder and the other
not, give the greatest weight to their opinions. They have
both left distinct records of their views on the subject of
slavery.
Washing-    Though, by inheritance and other circumstances entirely'on.
ton.  beyond his control, Washington found himself a slave-holder,
yet he never defended the institution of slavery, or desired
its perpetuity. On the contrary, we find, that, before he had
drawn his sword in defence of the independence of his country, he had uttered his testimony against slavery in the fullest
manner; and, through his whole life, his desire to clear himself and his country from  the foul blot was sincere and
constant.
It had become quite common, during the year preceding
the commencement of hostilities between the colonists and
the mother-country, for the people to meet in their respective
counties or towns, to express, through addresses and resolutions, their sentiments and views respecting the condition of
affairs. Such a meeting was held on the 18th of July, 1774,
at the Fairfax County Court House, in Virginia; and a series
of twenty-four resolutions, prepared by a Committee of which
Washington was chairman, was adopted.
Three of these resolutions are here given: —
Fairfax   " 17. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting, that, during
Resoluts  our present difficulties and distress, no slaves ought to be imported
into any of the British colonies on this continent; and we take this




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.             29
opportunity of declaring our most earnest wishes to see an entire stop Fairfax
County
for ever put to such a wicked, cruel, and unnatural trade.     Resolves.
" 21. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting, that this
and the other associating colonies should break off all trade, intercourse, and dealings with that colony, province, or town, which shall
decline, or refuse to agree to, the plan which shall be adopted by the
General Congress.
" 24. Resolved, That George Washington and Charles Broadwater,
lately elected our representatives to serve in the General Assembly, be
appointed to attend the Convention at Williamsburg on the first day of
August next, and present these resolves, as the sense of the people
of this county upon the measures proper to be taken in the present
alarming and dangerous situation of America."
Respecting these resolutions, Mr. Sparks observes:" The draught, from which the resolves are printed, I find among
Washington's papers, in the handwriting of George Mason, by whom
they were probably drawn up; yet, as they were adopted by the Committee of which Washington was chairman, and reported by him as
moderator of the meeting, they may be presumed to express his
opinions, formed on a perfect knowledge of the subject, and after cool
deliberation. This may indeed be inferred from his letter to Mr.
Bryan Fairfax, in which he intimates a doubt only as to the article
favoring the idea of a further petition to the king. He was opposed
to such a step, believing enough had been done in this way already;
but he yielded the point in tenderness to the more wavering resolution
of his associates.
" These resolves are framed with much care and ability, and
exhibit the question then at issue, and the state of public feeling, in a
manner so clear and forcible as to give them a special claim to a place
in the present work, in addition to the circumstance of their being the
matured views of Washington at the outset of the great Revolutionary struggle in which he was to act so conspicuous a part..
" Such were the opinions of Washington, and his associates in
Virginia, at the beginning of the Revolutionary contest. The seventeenth resolve merits attention, from the pointed manner in which it
condemns the slave-trade." -Sparks's Washington, vol. ii. pp. 488,
494, 495.




30                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Washing-    Washington not only condemned the slave-trade, but exton.
ton.  pressed in the most decided terms his disapprobation of
domestic slavery.  He discountenanced the interference of
non-slaveholders in attempting to liberate slaves without the
consent of their masters; but at the same time, in a letter
on the subject to Robert Morris, 12th April, 1786, he was
careful to add:" I hope it will not be conceived from these observations that it is
my wish to hold the unhappy people, who are the subject of this letter,
in slavery. I can only say, that there is not a man living who wishes
more sincerely than I do to see some plan adopted for the abolition of
it: but there is only one proper and effectual mode by which this can
be accomplished, and that is by legislative authority; and this, as far
as my suffrage will go, shall never be wanting." - Sparks's Washington, vol. ix. p. 159.
On the 9th of September of this same year, Washington
wrote to Mr. John F. Mercer, of Maryland:" I never mean, unless some particular circumstance should compel
me to it, to possess another slave by purchase; it being among my
first wishes to see some plan adopted by which slavery in this country
may be abolished by law." - Ibid.
That Washington believed his wishes with regard to the
abolition of slavery would at no distant day be realized, is
evident from a letter to Sir John Sinclair, 11th December,
1796:" The present prices of lands in Pennsylvania are higher than they
are in Maryland and Virginia, although they are not of superior quality; [among other reasons] because there are laws here for the gradua
abolition of slavery, which neither of the two States above mentioned
have at present, but which nothing is more certain than they must
have, and at a period not remote."- Sparks's Washington, vol. xii.
p. 326.
Lafayette, the bosom friend, who shared so fully the confidence and sympathy of Washington, was in frequent correspondence with him on the subject of slavery.




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.             31
No sooner had hostilities ceased, than he set about devising
some practical plan for ridding the country, which his valor
had helped to free from the yoke of British oppression, of an
evil which he declared to be " a crime much blacker than any
African face."
On the 5th of February, 1783, Lafayette writes:" Now, my dear General, that you are going to enjoy some ease Lafayette.
and quiet, permit me to propose a plan to you, which might become
greatly beneficial to the black part of mankind. Let us unite in purchasing a small estate, where we may try the experiment to free the
negroes, and use them only as tenants. Such an example as yours
might render it a general practice; and, if we succeed in America, I
will cheerfully devote a part of my time to render the method fashionable in the West Indies. If it be a wild scheme, I had rather be mad
in this way, than to be thought wise in the other task." - Correspondence of the American Revolution, vol. iii. p. 547.
To this letter Washington replies, April 5th, 1783: —
" The scheme, my dear Marquis, which you propose as a precedent Washingto encourage the emancipation of the black people in this country from ton.
that state of bondage in which they are held, is a striking evidence of
the benevolence of your heart. I shall be happy to join you in so
laudable a work, but will defer going into a detail of the business till
I have the pleasure of seeing you." - Sparks's Washington, vol. viii.
pp. 414, 415.
Three years later, and after Lafayette had put his plan into
practice, Washington wrote to him in a tone of mingled approval of what he had done, and despondency as to any
immediate action on the subject in this country: —
"MOUNT VERNON, 10th May, 1786.
"The benevolence of your heart, my dear Marquis, is so conspicuous upon all occasions, that I never wonder at any fresh proofs of
it; but your late purchase of an estate in the colony of Cayenne, with
a view of emancipating the slaves on it, is a generous and noble proof
of your humanity. Would to God a like spirit might diffuse itself
generally into the minds of the people of this country! But I despair




32                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Washing- of seeing it. Some petitions were presented to the Assembly, at its
ton.
last session, for the abolition of slavery; but they could scarcely obtain
a reading. To set the slaves afloat at once, would, I really believe,
be productive of much inconvenience and mischief; but by degrees it
certainly might, and assuredly ought to be effected, and that, too, by
legislative authority." -Sparks's Washington, vol. ix. pp. 163, 164.
The following note on this subject is added by Mr. Sparks:
Lafayette.' In a remarkable and very interesting letter, written by Lafayette
in the prison of Magdeburg [March 15, 1793, to the Princess
d'Henin], he said,' I know not what disposition has been made of my
plantation at Cayenne; but I hope Madame de Lafayette will take
care that the negroes, who cultivate it, shall preserve their liberty.'"
To John Adams, also, Lafayette wrote from Paris in 1786:
" In the cause of my black brethren, I feel myself warmly interested, and most decidedly side, so far as respects them, against the white
part of mankind. Whatever be the complexion of the enslaved, it
does not, in my opinion, alter the complexion of the crime which the
enslaver commits, —a crime much blacker than any African face.
It is to me a matter of great anxiety and concern, to find that this
trade is sometimes perpetrated under the flag of liberty, our dear and
noble stripes, to which virtue and glory have been constant standardbearers." -Life and Works of John Adams, vol. viii. p. 376.
The opinions with regard to slavery which Washington
held before the adoption of the Federal Constitution were
never relinquished. Only two years before he died (as we
learn from Mr. Irving, who had the original letter before him),
he said, writing to his nephew, Lawrence Lewis, "I wish
from my soul that, the Legislature of this State could see the
policy of a gradual abolition of slavery. It might prevent
much future mischief."
Washing-    " On opening the will which he had handed to Mrs. Washington
ton's Will. shortly before his death, it was found to have been carefully drawn up by
himself in the preceding July; and, by an act in conformity with his
whole career, one of its first provisions directed the emancipation of
his slaves on the decease of his wife. It had long been his earnest




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.             33
wish, that the slaves held by him in his own right should receive their Washingfreedom during his life; but he had found that it would be attended tos W
with insuperable difficulties, on account of their intermixture by marriage with the'dower negroes,' whom it was not in his power to
manumit under the tenure by which they were held.
"With provident benignity, he also made provision in his will for
such as were to receive their freedom under this devise, but who, from
age, bodily infirmities, or infancy, might be unable to support themselves; and he expressly forbade, under any pretence whatsoever, the
sale or transportation out of Virginia, of any slave of whom he might
die possessed. Though born and educated a slave-holder, this was all
in consonance with feelings, sentiments, and principles which he had
long entertained." -Irving's Washington, vol. v. pp. 316, 317.
The second item of that long will, coming immediately after
the bequest to his " dearly beloved wife," is here given: -
"Item. -Upon the decease of my wife, it is my will and desire
that all slaves whom I hold in my own right shall receive their freedom. To emancipate them during her life, would, though earnestly
wished by me, be attended with such insuperable difficulties, on
account of their intermixture by marriage with the dower negroes, as
to excite the most painful sensations, if not disagreeable consequences
to the latter, while both descriptions are in the occupancy of the same
proprietor; it not being in my power, under the tenure by which the
dower negroes are held, to manumit them. And whereas, among
those who will receive freedom according to this devise, there may be
some, who, from old age or bodily infirmities, and others, who, on
account of their infancy, will be unable to support themselves, it is my
will and desire, that all who come under the first and second description shall be comfortably clothed and fed by my heirs while they live;
and that such of the latter description as have no parents living, or, if
living, are unable or unwilling to provide for them, shall be bound by
the court until they shall arrive at the age of twenty-five years; and
in cases where no record can be produced, whereby their ages can be
ascertained, the judgment of the court, upon its own view of the subject, shall be adequate and final. The negroes thus bound, are (by
their masters or mistresses) to be taught to read and write, and to be
brought up to some useful occupation, agreeably to the laws of the
Commonwealth of Virginia providing for the support of orphan and
other poor children. And I do hereby expressly forbid the sale or
5




34                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Washing- transportation out of the said Commonwealth, of any slave I may die
tons Will. possessed of, under any pretence whatsoever. And I do, moreover,
most pointedly and most solemnly enjoin it upon my executors hereafter named, or the survivors of them, to see that this clause respecting slaves, and every part thereof, be religiously fulfilled at the epoch
at which it is directed to take place, without evasion, neglect, or delay,
after the crops which may then be on the ground are harvested, particularly as it respects the aged and infirm; seeing that a regular and
permanent fund be established for their support, as long as there are
subjects requiring it; not trusting to the uncertain provision to be made
by individuals. And to my mulatto man, William, calling himself
William Lee, I give immediate freedom; or, if he should prefer it
(on account of the accidents which have befallen him, and which have
rendered him incapable of walking or of any active employment), to
remain in the situation he now is, it shall be optional in him to do so:
in either case, however, I allow him an annuity of thirty dollars,
during his natural life, which shall be independent of the victuals and
clothes he has been accustomed to receive, if he chooses the last alternative; but in full with his freedom, if he prefers the first. And this
I give him as a testimony of my sense of his attachment to me, and
for his faithful services during the revolutionary war." — Sparks's
Washington, vol. xii. pp. 569-570.
Franklin.    Franklin's opinions on the subject of slavery agreed substantially with those entertained by Washington; and, like
"the Father of his Country," this great philosopher, patriot,
and statesman not only denounced negro slavery when struggling for national liberty, but left, among his last legacies to
his countrymen, the most emphatic testimony against the
institution.
In a letter to John Wright of London, he gives an account
of the early endeavors of the Friends in this country to
abolish slavery; and, at the same time, expresses incidentally
his own views on the subject:Early      " I wish success to your endeavors for obtaining an abolition of the
efforts   slave-trade. The epistle from  your Yearly Meeting, for the year
against
slavery.   1758, was not the first sowing of the good seed you mention; for I
find, by an old pamphlet in my possession, that George Keith, near a




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.             35
hundred years since, wrote a paper against the practice, said to be Early
efforts'given forth by the appointment of the meeting held by him at Philip against
James's house, in the city of Philadelphia, about the year 1693'; slavery.
wherein a strict charge was given to Friends,' that they should set
their negroes at liberty, after some reasonable time of service, &c. &c.'
And, about the year 1728 or 1729, I myself printed a book for Ralph
Sandyford, another of your Friends in this city, against keeping negroes in slavery; two editions of which he distributed gratis. And,
about the year 1736, I printed another book on the same subject, for
Benjamin Lay, who also professed being one of your Friends; and he
distributed the books chiefly among them. By these instances, it
appears that the seed was indeed sown in the good ground of your
profession, though much earlier than the time you mention; and its
springing up to effect at last, though so late, is some confirmation of
Lord Bacon's observation, that a good motion never dies; and it may
encourage us in making such, though hopeless of their taking immediate effect." - Sparks's Franklin, vol. x. p. 403.
In a letter to Dean Woodward, dated London, April 10th,
1773, Dr. Franklin says, —..  I have since had the satisfaction to learn that a disposition Franklin.
to abolish slavery prevails in North America; that many of the Pennsylvanians have set their slaves at liberty; and that even the Virginia
Assembly have petitioned the king for permission to make a law for
preventing the importation of more into that Colony. This request,
however, will probably not be granted, as their former laws of that
kind have always been repealed, and as the interest of a few merchants here has more weight with Government than that of thousands
at a distance." - Sparks's Franklin, vol. viii. p. 42.
In 1789 was issued an address to the public, bearing the
signature of this venerable man, then in his eighty-fourth
year, the last of his life. This address is here reprinted
entire -
"AN ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC.
"From the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of
Slavery, and the Relief of Free Negroes unlawfully held in Bondage.
" It is with peculiar satisfaction we assure the friends of humanity,
that, in prosecuting the design of our association, our endeavors have
proved successful, far beyond our most sanguine expectations.




36                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Franklin.    " Encouraged by this success, and by the daily progress of that
luminous and benign spirit of liberty which is diffusing itself throughout the world, and humbly hoping for the continuance of the divine
blessing on our labors, we have ventured to make an important
addition to our original plan; and do therefore earnestly solicit
the support and assistance of all who can feel the tender emotions
of sympathy and compassion, or relish the exalted pleasure of
beneficence.
" Slavery is such an atrocious debasement of human nature, that
its very extirpation, if not performed with solicitous care, may sometimes open a source of serious evils.
" The unhappy man, who has long been treated as a brute animal,
too frequently sinks beneath the common standard of the human species. The galling chains that bind his body do also fetter his intellectual faculties, and impair the social affections of his heart.
Accustomed to move like a mere machine, by the will of a master,
reflection is suspended; he has not the power of choice; and reason
and conscience have but little influence over his conduct, because he is
chiefly governed by the passion of fear. He is poor and friendless;
perhaps worn out by extreme labor, age, and disease.
" Under such circumstances, freedom may often prove a misfortune
to himself, and prejudicial to society.
" Attention to emancipated black people, it is therefore to be hoped,
will become a branch of our national police; but, as far as we contribute to promote this emancipation, so far that attention is evidently
a serious duty incumbent on us, and which we mean to discharge to
the best of our judgment and abilities.
"To instruct, to advise, to qualify those who have been restored
to freedom, for the exercise and enjoyment of civil liberty; to promote in them habits of industry; to furnish them with employments
suited to their age, sex, talents, and other circumstances; and to procure their children an education calculated for their future situation in
life, —these are the great outlines of the annexed plan, which we
have adopted, and which we conceive will essentially promote the
public good, and the happiness of these our hitherto too much neglected fellow-creatures.
"A  plan so extensive cannot be carried into execution without
considerable pecuniary resources, beyond the present ordinary funds
of the Society. We hope much from the generosity of enlightened
and benevolent freemen, and will gratefully receive any donations or




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.               37
subscriptions for this purpose which may be made to our Treasurer, Franklin.
James Starr, or to James Pemberton, Chairman of our Committee of
Correspondence.        "Signed by order of the Society,
" B. FRANKLIN, President.
" PHILADELPHIA, 9th of November, 1789."
The last public act of Dr. Franklin was the signing, as
President of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, of the following memorial to Congress: -
"The memorial respectfully showeth, —                         Memorial
" That, from a regard for the happiness of mankind, an associa- to Con0^~~~~~ ^^ ~~~~~~~gress 1790.
tion was formed several years since in this State, by a number of her
citizens, of various religious denominations, for promoting the abolition of slavery, and for the relief of those unlawfully held in bondage.
A just and acute conception of the true principles of liberty, as it
spread through the land, produced accessions to their numbers, many
friends to their cause, and a legislative co-operation with their views,
which, by the blessing of Divine Providence, have been successfully
directed to the relieving from bondage a large number of their fellowcreatures of the African race. They have also the satisfaction to
observe, that, in consequence of that spirit of philanthropy and genuine liberty whieh is generally diffusing its beneficial influence, similar
institutions are forming at home and abroad.
" That mankind are all formed by the same Almighty Being, alike
objects of his care, and equally designed for the enjoyment of happiness, the Christian religion teaches us to believe, and the political
creed of Americans fully coincides with the position. Your memorialists, particularly engaged in attending to the distresses arising from
slavery, believe it their indispensable duty to present this subject to
your notice. They have observed, with real satisfaction, that many
important and salutary powers are vested in you for'promoting
the welfare and securing the blessings of liberty to the people of the
United States'; and as they conceive that these blessings ought rightfully to be administered, without distinction of color, to all descriptions
of people, so they indulge themselves in the pleasing expectation, that
nothing which can be done for the relief of the unhappy objects of
their care, will be either omitted or delayed.
"From a persuasion that equal liberty was originally the portion,
and is still the birth-right, of all men; and influenced by the strong




38                 AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Franklin. ties of humanity, and the principles of their institution, your memorialists conceive themselves bound to use all justifiable endeavors to
loosen the bands of slavery, and promote a general enjoyment of the
blessings of freedom. Under these impressions, they earnestly entreat
your serious attention to the subject of slavery; that you will be
pleased to countenance the restoration of liberty to those unhappy men,
who alone, in this land of freedom, are degraded into perpetual bondage, and who, amidst the general joy of surrounding freemen, are
groaning in servile subjection; that you will devise means for removing this inconsistency from the character of the American people;
that you will promote mercy and justice towards this distressed race;
and that you will step to the very verge of the power vested in you for
discouraging every species of traffic in the persons of our fellow-men.
"BENJ. FRANKLIN, President.
"PHILADELPHIA, February 3, 1790."
(Annals of Congress, vol. ii. p. 1197.)
The memorial occasioned a debate, in which some of the
members attempted to justify slavery. This gave rise to a
characteristic paper, communicated by Dr. Franklin to the
" Federal Gazette " of March 25, 1790, and dated only twentyfour days before his death. By way of parody, he exposes
the absurdity of the reasoning adopted by those who opposed
the memorial: 
" To the Editor of the' Federal Gazette.'
"MARCH 23, 1790.
"SIR,- Reading last night in your excellent paper the speech
of Mr. Jackson in Congress against their meddling with the affair of
slavery, or attempting to mend the condition of the slaves, it put me
in mind of a similar one, made about one hundred years since, by
Sidi Mehemet Ibrahim, a member of the Divan of Algiers, which
may be seen in Martin's Account of his Consulship, anno 1687. It
was against granting the petition of the sect called Erika, or Purists,
who prayed for the abolition of piracy and slavery as being unjust.
Mr. Jackson does not quote it: perhaps he has not seen it. If, therefore, some of its reasonings are to be found in his eloquent speech, it
may only show that men's interests and intellects operate, and are
operated on, with surprising similarity in all countries and climates,
whenever they are under similar circumstances. The African's speech,
as translated, is as follows: —




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.              39
"'Allah Bismillah, &c.  God is great, and Mahomet is his Prophet.  Franklin's
a pro"' Have these Erika considered the consequences of granting their slaver,
petition? If we cease our cruises against the Christians, how shall
we be furnished with the commodities their countries produce, and
which are so necessary for us? If we forbear to make slaves of their
people, who, in this hot climate, are to cultivate our lands? Who are
to perform the common labors of our city, and in our families? Must
we not then be our own slaves? And is there not more compassion
and more favor due to us as Mussulmen than to these Christian dogs?
We have now above fifty thousand slaves in and near Algiers. This
number, if not kept up by fresh supplies, will soon diminish, and be
gradually annihilated. If we, then, cease taking and plundering the
infidel ships, making slaves of the seamen and passengers, our lands
will become of no value for want of cultivation; the rents of houses in
the city will sink one-half; and the revenue of government, arising
from its share of prizes, be totally destroyed. And for what? To
gratify the whims of a whimsical sect, who would have us not only
forbear making more slaves, but even manumit those we have.
"' But who is to indemnify their masters for the loss? Will the
State do it?  Is our treasury sufficient? Will the Erika do it?  Can
they do it? Or would they, to do what they think justice to the slaves,
do a greater injustice to the owners? And, if we set our slaves free,
what is to be done with them?  Few of them  will return to their
countries; they know too well the greater hardships they must there
be subject to; they will not embrace our holy religion; they will not
adopt our manners; our people will not pollute themselves by intermarrying with them. Must we maintain them  as beggars in our
streets, or suffer our properties to be the prey of their pillage? For
men accustomed to slavery will not work for a livelihood when not
compelled. And what is there so pitiable in their present condition?
Were they not slaves in their own countries?
"'Are not Spain, Portugal, France, and the Italian States,
governed by despots, who hold all their subjects in slavery, without
exception? Even England treats its sailors as slaves: for they are,
whenever the government pleases, seized, and confined in ships of war;
condemned not only to work, but to fight, for small wages, or a mere
subsistence, not better than our slaves are allowed by us. Is their
condition, then, made worse by their falling into our hands? No:
they have only exchanged one slavery for another, and I may say, a




40                 AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Franklin's better; for here they are brought into a land where the sun of
parody on
a pro-    Islamism gives forth its light, and shines in full splendor; and they
slavery   have an opportunity of making themselves acquainted with the true
doctrine, and thereby saving their immortal souls. Those who remain at home have not that happiness.  Sending the slaves home,
then, would be sending them out of light into darkness.
"' I repeat the question, What is to be done with them? I have
heard it suggested that they may be planted in the wilderness, where
there is plenty of land for them to subsist on, and where they may
flourish as a free State; but they are, I doubt, too little disposed to
labor without compulsion, as well as too ignorant to establish a good
government, and the wild Arabs would soon molest and destroy or
again enslave them. While serving us, we take care to provide them
with every thing, and they are treated with humanity. The laborers
in their own country are, as I am well informed, worse fed, lodged,
and clothed.
"' The condition of most of them is, therefore, already mended,
and requires no further improvement. Here their lives are in safety.
They are not liable to be impressed for soldiers, and forced to cut one
another's Christian throats, as in the wars of their own countries. If
some of the religious mad bigots, who now tease us with their silly
petitions, have, in a fit of blind zeal, freed their slaves, it was not
generosity, it was not humanity, that moved them to the action: it
was from the conscious burthen of a load of sins, and a hope, from the
supposed merits of so good a work, to be excused from damnation.
"'How grossly are they mistaken to suppose slavery to be disallowed by the Alcoran! Are not the two precepts, to quote no
more,'Masters, treat your slaves with kindness; slaves, serve your
masters with cheerfulness and fidelity,' clear proofs to the contrary?
Nor can the plundering of infidels be in that sacred book forbidden,
since it is well known from it that God has given the world, and all
that it contains, to his faithful Mussulmen, who are to enjoy it of
right as fast as they conquer it. Let us, then, hear no more of this
detestable proposition, —the manumission of Christian slaves; the
adoption of which would, by depreciating our lands and houses,
and thereby depriving so many good citizens of their properties,
create universal discontent, and provoke insurrections, to the endangering of government, and producing general confusion.  I have,
therefore, no doubt but this wise council will prefer the comfort and
happiness of a whole nation of true believers to the whim of a few
Erika, and dismiss their petition.'




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.             41
"The result was, as Martin tells us, that the Divan came to this Franklin's
parody on
resolution:' The doctrine that plundering and enslaving the Chris- a protians is unjust, is, at best, problematical; but that it is the interest of sslavery
this State to continue the practice, is clear: therefore let the petition
be rejected.'
"And it was rejected accordingly.
" And since like motives are apt to produce in the minds of men
like opinions and resolutions, may we not, Mr. Brown, venture to
predict, from this account, that the petitions to the Parliament of
England for abolishing the slave-trade, to say nothing of other Legislatures, and the debates upon them, will have a similar conclusion?
I am, sir, your constant reader and humble servant,
HISTORICUS."
(Sparks's Franklin, vol. ii. pp. 517-521.)
It is not necessary now to produce the opinions of other
members of the Convention: some of them expressed their
views fully during the debates, and specimens of their
speeches will presently be given. But it is not out of place
here to inquire whether the leading statesmen of the country
at that time, who were not members of the Convention, held
opinions substantially the same as those of Washington and
Franklin.
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson - among the foremost
men in founding the Republic - were, at the time the Convention was held, serving their country abroad; the former
as ambassador to England; the latter, to France.  The
opinions of Mr. Adams on slavery may be briefly given in
an extract from a letter written only a few years before his
death: -
" I have, through my whole life, held the practice of slavery in
such abhorrence, that I have never owned a negro or any other slave: JJohn
s Adams.
though I have lived for many years in times when the practice was
not disgraceful; when the best men in my vicinity thought it not inconsistent with their character; and when it has cost me thousands
of dollars for the labor and subsistence of free men, which I might
have saved by the purchase of negroes at times when they were very
cheap." — Works of John Adams, vol. x. p. 380.
6




42                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Jefferson.    Mr. Jefferson's sentiments before and at the time of the
Declaration of Independence have already been given. They
were still more strongly expressed in his " Notes on Virginia,"
in 1782:Notes on   " The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual
Virginia.  exercise of the most boisterous passions; the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other. Our
children see this, and learn to imitate it; for man is an imitative
animal. This quality is the germ of all education in him. From his
cradle to his grave, he is learning to do what he sees others do. If
a parent could find no motive, either in his philanthropy or his selflove, for restraining the intemperance of passion towards his slave, it
should always be a sufficient one that his child is present. But generally it is not sufficient. The parent storms; the child looks on,
catches the lineaments of wrath, puts on the same airs in the circle of
smaller slaves, gives a loose to the worst of passions; and thus nursed,
educated, and daily exercised in tyranny, cannot but be stamped by it
with odious peculiarities. The man must be a prodigy who can
retain his manners and morals undepraved by such circumstances.
And with what execration should the statesman be loaded, who, permitting one-half the citizens thus to trample on the rights of the other,
transforms those into despots, and these into enemies; destroys the
morals of the one part, and the amor patrice of the other! For, if a
slave can have a country in this world, it must be any other in preference to that in which he is born to live and labor for another; in
which he must lock up the faculties of his nature, contribute as far as
depends on his individual endeavors to the evanishment of the human
race, or entail his own miserable condition on the endless generations
proceeding from him. With the morals of the people, their industry
also is destroyed. For in a warm  climate, no man will labor for
himself who can make another labor for him. This is so true, that,
of the proprietors of slaves, a very small proportion indeed are ever
seen to labor. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure
when we have removed their only firm basis, -a conviction in the
minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? - that
they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for
my country, when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot
sleep for ever; that considering numbers, nature, and natural means
only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation, is




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.             43
among possible events; that it may become probable by supernatural Jefferson.
interference. The Almighty has no attribute which can take side
with us in such a contest. But it is impossible to be temperate, and
to pursue this subject through the various considerations of policy, of
morals, of history natural and civil. We must be contented to hope
they will force their way into every one's mind. I think a change
already perceptible, since the origin of the present revolution. The
spirit of the master is abating, - that of the slave rising from the dust;
his condition mollifying; the way, I hope, preparing, under the auspices
of Heaven, for a total emancipation; and that this is disposed, in the
order of events, to be with the consent of the masters, rather than
by their extirpation." -Jefferson's Writings, vol. viii. pp. 403, 404.
In a letter to Dr. Price, dated at London on the 7th of
August, 1785, Mr. Jefferson thus tells him what will be the
probable effect of his late pamphlet, in which the abolition of
slavery is strenuously urged:"From the mouth to the head of the Chesapeake, the bulk of the
people will approve it in theory, and it will find a respectable minority
ready to adopt it in practice; a minority, which, for weight and worth
of character, preponderates against the greater number, who have not
the courage to divest their families of a property, which, however,
keeps their conscience unquiet. Northward of the Chesapeake, you
may find here and there an opponent to your doctrine, as you may
find here and there a robber and murderer; but in no greater number.
In that part of America, there being but few slaves, they can easily
disencumber themselves of them; and emancipation is put into such a
train, that in a few years there will be no slaves northward of Maryland. In Maryland, I do not find such a disposition to begin the
redress of this enormity, as in Virginia. This is the next State to
which we may turn our eyes for the interesting spectacle of justice in
conflict with avarice and oppression; a conflict wherein the sacred
side is gaining daily recruits, from the influx into office of young men
grown, and growing up. These have sucked in the principles of liberty, as it were, with their mothers' milk; and it is to them I look
with anxiety to turn the fate of this question. Be not therefore discouraged. What you have written will do a great deal of good; and,
could you still trouble yourself with our welfare, no man is more able
to give aid to the laboring side." -Jefferson's Writings, vol. i. p. 377.




44:               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Jefferson.    While Mr. Jefferson was in France, in 1786, he furnished
M. D4meunier with many materials for his copious article on
the United States, about to appear in the great "Encyclopddie
M~thodique"; and he revised the manuscript of the whole
article with great care. The following is part of a note to
the author, most of which he translated into French, and incorporated in his own work, where it stands as a perpetual
record of Mr. Jefferson's sentiments at that time: 
" M. de Meusnier, where he mentions that the slave-law has been
passed in Virginia without the clause of emancipation, is pleased
to mention, that neither Mr. Wythe nor Mr. Jefferson was present to
make the proposition they had meditated: from which, people, who
do not give themselves the trouble to reflect or inquire, might conclude
hastily, that their absence was the cause why the proposition was not
made; and, of course, that there were not, in the Assembly, persons
of virtue and firmness enough to propose the clause for emancipation.
This supposition would not be true. There were persons there, who
wanted neither the virtue to propose nor talents to enforce the proposition, had they seen that the disposition of the Legislature was ripe for
it. These worthy characters would feel themselves wounded, degraded, and discouraged by this idea. Mr. Jefferson would therefore be
obliged to M. de Meusnier to mention it in some such manner as this:' Of the two commissioners, who had concerted the amendatory clause
for the gradual emancipation of slaves, Mr. Wythe could not be present, he being a member of the judiciary department; and Mr. Jefferson was absent on the legation to France. But there were not wanting,
in that Assembly, men of virtue enough to propose, and talents to
vindicate, this clause. But they saw that the moment of doing it
with success was not yet arrived, and that an unsuccessful effort, as
too often happens, would only rivet still closer the chains of bondage,
and retard the moment of delivery to this oppressed description of
men. What a stupendous, what an incomprehensible machine is man,
who can endure toil, famine, stripes, imprisonment, and death itself,
in vindication of his own liberty, and, the next moment, be deaf to all
those motives whose power supported him through his trial, and
inflict on his fellow-men a bondage, one hour of which is fraught with
more misery than ages of that which he rose in rebellion to oppose!
But we must await with patience the workings of an overruling Provi



NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.             45
dence, and hope that that is preparing the deliverance of these our Jefferson.
suffering brethren. When the measure of their tears shall be full;
when their groans shall have involved heaven itself in darkness, -
doubtless a God of justice will awaken to their distress, and, by diffusing light and liberality among their oppressors, or, at length, by his
exterminating thunder, manifest his attention to the things of this
world, and that they are not left to the guidance of a blind fatality."'
-Jefferson's Writings, vol. ix. pp. 278, 279
In his "Autobiography," written only a few  years before
his death, alluding to the above-mentioned slave-law, he
says," The bill on the subject of slaves was a mere digest of the existing laws respecting them, without any intimation of a plan for a
future and general emancipation. It was thought better that this
should be kept back, and attempted only by way of amendment, whenever the bill should be brought on. The principles of the amendment,
however, were agreed on; that is to say, the freedom of all born
after a certain day, and deportation at a proper age. But it was
found that the public mind would not bear the proposition, nor will it
bear it even at this day. Yet the day is not distant when it must
bear and adopt it, or worse will follow. Nothing is more certainly
written in the book of fate, than that these people are to be free; nor
is it less certain that the two races, equally free, cannot live in the
same government. Nature, habit, opinion, have drawn indelible lines
of distinction between them. It is still in our power to direct the
process of emancipation and deportation peaceably, and in such slow
degree as that the evil will wear off insensibly, and their place be, pari
passu, filled up by free white laborers. If, on the contrary, it is left
to force itself on, human nature must shudder at the prospect held up.
We should in vain look for an example in the Spanish deportation or
deletion of the Moors. This precedent would fall far short of our
case." - Jefferson's Writings, vol. i. pp. 48, 49.
The opinions on slavery of that pure patriot and able John Jay.
statesman, John Jay, the first Chief-Justice of the UnitedStates Supreme Court, appointed by Washington (who so
highly appreciated his character and talents, that he tendered
him a choice of the offices in his gift), are so well known,




46                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
John Jay. that it is not important to cite here any extended extracts
from his writings on the subject. Two or three passages from
his printed works and his manuscripts will be quite sufficient
for my present purpose.
In 1777, Mr. Jay strenuously urged the insertion of an
article in the Constitution of the State of New York, adopted
in that year, providing for the early abolition of slavery; " so
that, in future ages, every human being who breathes the air
of this State shall enjoy the privileges of a freeman." - Flanders's Lives and Times of the Chief Justices, p. 216.
In 1780, writing from Spain to Egbert Benson, the Attorney-general of New York, Mr. Jay said: —
" An excellent law might be made out of the Pennsylvania one
for the gradual abolition of slavery. Till America comes into this
measure, her prayers to Heaven for liberty will be impious. This is a
strong expression, but it is just. Were I in your Legislature, I would
prepare a bill for the purpose with great care; and I would never cease
moving it till it became a law, or I ceased to be a member. I believe
God governs the world; and I believe it to be a maxim in his as in
our court, that those who ask for equity ought to do it." - Life and
Writings of John Jay, vol. i. 229, 230.
In 1785, Mr. Jay wrote:" It is much to be wished that slavery may be abolished. The honor
of the States, as well as justice and humanity, in my opinion, loudly
call upon them to emancipate these unhappy people. To contend for
our own liberty, and to deny that blessing to others, involves an inconsistency not to be excused." -Idem, vol. i. p. 231.
In 1786, Mr. Jay drafted a memorial to the Legislature of
the State of New York, which commenced with the declaration: 
"Your memorialists, being deeply affected by the situation of
those who, although free by the laws of God, are held in slavery by
the laws of this State, view with pain and regret the additional miseries which these unhappy people experience from  the practice of
exporting them, like cattle, to the West Indies and the Southern
States."




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.            47
This memorial was signed by John Jay; Alexander Hamil- John Jay.
ton; Robert R. Livingston, Chancellor of the State; James
Duane, Mayor of the City of New York; and one hundred
and twenty-nine others, including many eminent civilians and
clergymen.  The Constitution of the Manumission Society,
from which this memorial proceeded, declared it to be the
duty of Christians to endeavor to enable the slaves " to share
equally with us in our civil and religious liberty, to which
they are by nature as much entitled as ourselves."
As President of the New-York Manumission Society (an
office held by Mr. Jay until his appointment as Chief-Justice,
when he resigned it, and Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of
the Treasury, was elected in his place), he drafted a public
acknowledgment of an anonymous gift to the treasury of the
Society, of which the following is an extract:"What act of public or private justice and philanthropy can
occasion more pleasing emotions in the breasts of Christians, or be
more agreeable to HIM who shed his blood for the redemption of men,
than such as tend to restore the oppressed to their natural rights, and
to raise unfortunate members of the same great family with ourselves
from the abject situation of beasts of burthen, bought and sold and
worked for the benefit and at the pleasure of persons who were not
created more free, more rational, more immortal, nor with more
extensive rights and privileges, than they were." - From the original
MS. in the Jay Collection at Bedford, N. Y.
The candid reader cannot fail to contrast these sentiments
of the first Chief-Justice with the assertion of his latest successor, Chief-Justice Taney, that, at the time the Constitution
of the United States was formed, the opinion was "fixed and
universal in the civilized portion of the white race," that the
negro "had no rights which the white man was bound to
respect."
The eminent South-Carolina patriots, Christopher Gadsden
and Henry Laurens, have left their testimony on this subject
in no ambiguous terms.




48                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Christo-   Mr. Gadsden was one of the most prominent public servants
pher
Gadsden. of the South, both in the Continental and the Colonial Legislatures. In a letter to Fr. S. Johnson, in Connecticut, dated
at Charleston, S.C., 16th April, 1766, he says," We are a very weak province, a rich growing one, and of as
much importance to Great Britain as any upon the continent; and
great part of our weakness (though at the same time'tis part of our
riches) consists in having such a number of slaves amongst us; and
we find in our case, according to the general perceptible workings of
Providence, where the crime most commonly though slowly, yet surely,
draws a similar and suitable punishment, that slavery begets slavery.
Jamaica and our West-India Islands demonstrate this observation,
which I hope will not be our case now, whatever might have been
the consequences had the fatal attempts been delayed a few years
longer, when we had drank deeper of the Circean draught, and the
measure of our iniquities were filled up." — MS. Letter (printed in
the Hist. Mag., Sept. 1861, p. 261) in possession of the Hon. George
Bancroft.
Henry      Mr. Laurens was for two years President of the ContinenLaurenstal Congress, and afterwards appointed minister to Holland.
He was a commissioner, with Franklin and Jay, for negotiating a peace with Great Britain.
Mr. Laurens wrote to his son, from Charleston, S.C., 14th
August, 1776:"You know, my dear son, I abhor slavery. I was born in a
country where slavery had been established by British kings and parliaments, as well as by the laws of that country, ages before my
existence. I found the Christian religion and slavery growing under
the same authority and cultivation. I nevertheless disliked it. In
former days, there was no combating the prejudices of men supported
by interest: the day, I hope, is approaching, when, from principles
of gratitude as well as justice, every man will strive to be foremost in
showing his readiness to comply with the golden rule. Not less than
twenty thousand pounds sterling would all my negroes produce, if
sold at public auction to-morrow. I am not the man who enslaved
them; they are indebted to Englishmen for that favor: nevertheless,
I am devising means for manumitting many of them, and for cutting




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.              49
off the entail of slavery. Great powers oppose me, - the laws and Henry
Laurens.
customs of my country, my own and the avarice of my countrymen.uren
What will my children say if I deprive them of so much estate?
These are difficulties, but not insuperable. I will do as much as I
can in my time, and leave the rest to a better hand.
" I am not one of those who arrogate the peculiar care of Providence in each fortunate event; nor one of those who dare trust in
Providence for defence and security of their own liberty, while they
enslave, and wish to continue in slavery, thousands who are as well
entitled to freedom as themselves. I perceive the work before me is
great. I shall appear to many as a promoter, not only of strange,
but of dangerous doctrines: it will therefore be necessary to proceed
with caution. You are apparently deeply interested in this affair;
but, as I have no doubts concerning your concurrence and approbation, I most sincerely wish for your advice and assistance, and hope
to receive both in good time."- Collection of the Zenger Club,
pp. 20, 21.
Such were the prevailing principles of the people, as Federal
Conyenexpressed by their leading representatives, when the Conven- tion.
tion for framing the Federal Constitution assembled in Philadelphia, in May, 1787. It is highly proper that a constant
regard should be had to these principles in interpreting the
language of the Constitution.
The position and purpose of the Convention were unprecedented. It was the first time in the history of the world that
an assemblage of men had been called together, with delegated power from the people, to prepare an instrument which
was to establish a Government, and to be the source and test
of all their laws.
Some of the delegates to this Convention had been members of the Continental Congress of 1776; and, as was said
by John Quincy Adams at the Jubilee of the Constitution in
New York, " this act was the complement to the Declaration
of Independence; founded upon the same principles, carrying
them out into practical execution, and forming with it one
entire system of national government."
7




50              AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
The Con-    The Articles of Confederation proved an unsuccessful exstitution
and the  periment. When the exigencies of the war were over, and
Declaration of  the Government fully assumed the functions of an independIndependence.   ent nation, it was seen that an error had been committed in
" the substitution of State sovereignty, instead of the constituent sovereignty of the people, as the foundation of the Revolution and of the Union." It is a significant fact, that, in
the Preamble to the Constitution, this departure from the
principles of the Declaration of Independence is tacitly recognized, and is rectified by a recurrence to the truth, that to
secure the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,
governments are instituted among men, deriving their just
powers from the consent of the governed.
This preamble, of only a single sentence, is the key to the
Constitution. Without considering and comprehending it, no
one should attempt to interpret any of the separate articles
of that instrument.
" WE, THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES, IN ORDER TO FORM A
MORE PERFECT UNION, ESTABLISH JUSTICE, INSURE DOMESTIC TRANQUILLITY, PROVIDE FOR THE COMMON DEFENCE, PROMOTE THE GENERAL
WELFARE, AND SECURE THE BLESSINGS OF LIBERTY TO OURSELVES AND
OUR POSTERITY, DO ORDAIN AND ESTABLISH THIS CONSTITUTION FOR
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA."
The Constitution is, and was intended to be, the PEOPLE'S
document, - the palladium of their liberty. It was to defend
and to bless the negro as well as the white man: for negroes
had fought side by side with our white soldiers in the common struggle for liberty; and, in several of the States, they,
as citizens, had. voted for the delegates to the Convention,
and afterwards on the adoption of the Constitution.
It was established for the purpose of securing liberty; and
nothing can be clearer to a careful student of the history of
that period, than that the authors of the Declaration of Independence and of the Constitution of the United States, " parts
of one consistent whole, founded on one and the same theory




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.         51
of government," believed, that, under their influence and The Constitution
operation, slavery would, and they intended that it should, and Slasoon be abolished.                                        ve
It had been declared by Lord Mansfield, in the Court of
King's Bench, in England, that slavery was "so odious, that
nothing can be suffered to support it but positive law." At
the time the Federal Constitution was adopted, there was not,
in the State Constitutions, any thing to warrant or justify
slavery. Every thing of that kind has come by later amendments. As in the preparation of the Declaration of Independence, so in the formation of the Constitution, the authors did
not ignore the existence of slavery. It was an evil that had
been forced upon them by Great Britain, against their consent; and was one of the moving causes for the separation
from the mother-country. They had, in the most emphatic
manner, by resolutions and otherwise, expressed their abhorrence of slavery, and their determination to emancipate the
negroes without unnecessary delay. All that the slaveholders asked of the Convention was a temporary protection for
what they regarded, in one sense, their property, until they
could, in their own time and in their own way, bring about
this desirable result.
Mr. Pinckney declared, " If the Southern States were let
alone, they will probably of themselves stop importations. He
would himself, as a citizen of South Carolina, vote for it."
Mr. Sherman observed that " the abolition of slavery seemed
to be going on in the United States, and that the good sense
of the several States would probably by degrees complete it."
Mr. Ellsworth added, — and no one expressed dissent from
this opinion,-" Slavery, in time, will not be a speck in our
country."
It was an eminent Virginian, Mr. Madison, who declared
that "he thought it wrong to admit in the Constitution the
idea of property in men." That idea was accordingly everywhere scrupulously avoided.
But still, in three separate clauses, the Constitution recog



52                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Constitu- nizes the existence of slavery, although it does not permit the
tion of the
United   word " slave " anywhere to tarnish its text.
States.
"ART. I. SECT. 2.....  Representatives and direct
taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be
included within this Union, according to their respective numbers;
which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free
persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and
excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons..
"ART. I. SECT. 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit,
shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand
eight hundred and eight; but a tax or duty may be imposed on such
importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.......
" ART. IV. SECT. 2...    No person held to service or
labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another,
shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged
from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the
party to whom such service or labor may be due."
Debate in    In considering these articles in the Convention, the whole
the Federal
Conven-  subject of slavery was thoroughly discussed.  No language
tion.
of radical reformers in recent times surpasses in severity the
honest utterances of the patriots and statesmen who were
then assembled. No friendly voice was raised to defend this
barbarous crime against humanity. Let us look at some of
the speeches.
Mr. Gouverneur Morris, of Pennsylvania, was the member
to whom was finally committed the Constitution, to give finish
to the style and arrangement of that instrument. He may
properly be regarded as the author of its text.  In the
debate on the 8th of August, 1787, he uses the following
language: -
Gouver-    " He never would concur in upholding domestic slavery. It was
neur    a nefarious institution.  t was the curse of Heaven on the States
Morris.
where it prevailed. Compare the free regions of the Middle States,
where a rich and noble cultivation marks the prosperity and happiness of the people, with the misery and poverty which overspread




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.             53
the barren wastes of Virginia, Maryland, and the other States having Debate in
the Federal
slaves. Travel through the whole continent, and you behold the Convenprospect continually varying with the appearance and disappearance tion.
of slavery. The moment you leave the Eastern States, and enter
New York, the effects of the institution become visible. Passing Gouverthrough the Jerseys, and entering Pennsylvania, every criterion ofneur
superior improvement witnesses the change. Proceed southwardly, Morris.
and every step you take through the great regions of slaves presents
a desert, increasing with the increasing proportion of these wretched
beings. Upon what principle is it that the slaves shall be computed
in the representation? Are they men? Then make them citizens,
and let them vote. Are they property?  Why, then, is no other
property included? The houses in this city (Philadelphia) are worth
more than all the wretched slaves who cover the rice-swamps of
South Carolina. The admission of slaves into the representation,
when fairly explained, comes to this, -that the inhabitant of Georgia
and South Carolina, who goes to the coast of Africa, and, in defiance
of the most sacred laws of humanity, tears away his fellow-creatures
from their dearest connections, and damns them to the most cruel
bondage, shall have more votes in a government instituted for the protection of the rights of mankind than the citizen of Pennsylvania or
New Jersey, who views with a laudable horror so nefarious a practice.
He would add, that domestic slavery is the most prominent feature in
the aristocratic countenance of the proposed Constitution. The vassalage of the poor has ever been the favorite offspring of aristocracy.
And what is the proposed compensation to the Northern States for a
sacrifice of every principle of right, of every impulse of humanity?
They are to bind themselves to march their militia for the defence of
the Southern States, for their defence against those very slaves
of whom they complain. They must supply vessels and seamen in
case of foreign attack. The Legislature will have indefinite power
to tax them by excises and duties on imports, both of which will fall
heavier on them than on the Southern inhabitants; for the bohea tea
used by a Northern freeman will pay more tax than the whole consumption of the miserable slave, which consists of nothing more than
his physical subsistence and the rag that covers his nakedness. On
the other side, the Southern States are not to be restrained from importing fresh supplies of wretched Africans, at once to increase the
danger of attack and the difficulty of defence: nay, they are to be
encouraged to it by an assurance of having their votes in the National




54                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Debate in Government increased in proportion; and are, at the same time, to
the Federal
Conven-  have their exports and their slaves exempt from all contributions for
tion.    the public service. Let it not be said that direct taxation is to be
proportioned to representation. It is idle to suppose that the General
Government can stretch its hand directly into the pockets of the
people scattered over so vast a country. They can only do it through
the medium of exports, imports, and excises. For what, then, are
all the sacrifices to be made? He would sooner submit himself to a
tax for paying for all the negroes in the United States than saddle
posterity with such a Constitution."    Madison Papers, Elliot, vol. v.
pp. 392, 393.
Mr. Rufus King, of Massachusetts, in the same debate,
said: 
Rufus      "The admission of slaves was a most grating circumstance to his
King.    mind, and he believed would be so to a great part of the people of
America. He had not made a strenuous opposition to it heretofore,
because he had hoped that this concession would have produced a
readiness, which had not been manifested, to strengthen the General
Government, and to mark a full confidence in it. The report under
consideration had, by the tenor of it, put an end to all those hopes.
In two great points, the hands of the Legislature were absolutely
tied. The importation of slaves could not be prohibited. Exports
could not be taxed. Is this reasonable? What are the great objects
of the general system?  First, defence against foreign invasion;
secondly, against internal sedition. Shall all the States, then, be
bound to defend each? and shall each be at liberty to introduce a
weakness which will render defence more difficult? Shall one part
of the United States be bound to defend another part, and that other
part be at liberty, not only to increase its own danger, but to withhold the compensation for the burden? If slaves are to be imported,
shall not the exports produced by their labor supply a revenue, the
better to enable the General Government to defend their masters?
There was so much inequality and unreasonableness in all this, that
the people of the Northern States could never be reconciled to it.
No candid man could undertake to justify it to them. He had hoped
that some accommodation would have taken place on this subject;
that, at least, a time would have been limited for the importation of
slaves. He never could agree to let them  be imported without
limitation, and then be represented in the National Legislature. In



NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.             55
deed, he could so little persuade himself of the rectitude of such a Debate in
the Federal
practice, that he was not sure he could assent to it under any circum- Convenstances. At all events, either slaves should not be represented, or tion.
exports should be taxable."
Mr. Roger Sherman, of Connecticut," Regarded the slave-trade as iniquitous: but, the point of repre- Roger
sentation having been settled after much difficulty and deliberation, Sherman
he did not think himself bound to make opposition; especially as the
present article, as amended, did not preclude any arrangement whatever on that point, in another place of the report." - Madison Papers,
Elliot, vol. v. 391, 392.
Mr. Luther Martin, of Maryland, in the debate, Tuesday,
Aug. 21," Proposed to vary Art. 7, Sect. 4, so as to allow a prohibition or Luther
tax on the importion of slaves. In the first place, as five slaves are to Mart
be counted as three free men in the apportionment of representatives,
such a clause would leave an encouragement to this traffic. In the
second place, slaves weakened one part of the Union, which the other
parts were bound to protect: the privilege of importing them was
therefore unreasonable. And, in the third place, it was inconsistent
with the principles of the Revolution, and dishonorable to the American character, to have such a feature in the Constitution.
" Mr. RUTLEDGE did not see how the importation of slaves could John
be encouraged by this section. He was not apprehensive of insur-Rutledge
rections, and would readily exempt the other States from the obligation to protect the Southern against them. Religion and humanity
had nothing to do with this question: interest alone is the governing
principle with nations. The true question at present is, whether
the Southern States shall or shall not be parties to the Union.
If the Northern States consult their interest, they will not oppose
the increase of slaves, which will increase the commodities of which
they will become the carriers.
"Mr. ELLSWORTH was for leaving the clause as it stands. Let Oliver
every State import what it pleases. The morality or wisdom oflswrth
slavery are considerations belonging to the States themselves. What
enriches a part enriches the whole, and the States are the best judges
of their particular interest. The old Confederation had not meddled
with this point; and he did not see any greater necessity for bringing
it within the policy of the new one.




56                 AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Debate in    " Mr. PINCKNEY. South Carolina can never receive the plan if it
the Federal
Convera prohibits the slave-trade. In every proposed extension of the powers
tion.    of Congress, that State has expressly and watchfully excepted that of
meddling with the importation of negroes. If the States be all left at
Charles  liberty on this subject, South Carolina may perhaps, by degrees, do of
Pinckney. herself what is wished, as Virginia and Maryland have already done.
" Adjourned.
"WEDNESDAY, Aug. 22.
" In Convention. - Art. 7, Sect. 4, was resumed.
Roger     C" Mr. SHERMAN was for leaving the clause as it stands. He disapproved of the slave-trade; yet, as the States were now possessed
of the right to import slaves, as the public good did not require it to
be taken from them, and as it was expedient to have as few objections
as possible to the proposed scheme of government, he thought it best
to leave the matter as we find it. He observed, that the abolition of
slavery seemed to be going on in the United States, and that the good
sense of the several States would probably by degrees complete it. He
urged on the Convention the necessity of despatching its business.
George     " Col. MASON. This infernal traffic originated in the avarice of
Maso British merchants. The British Government constantly checked the
attempts of Virginia to put a stop to it. The present question concerns,
not the importing States alone, but the whole Union. The evil of
having slaves was experienced during the late war. Had slaves been
treated as they might have been by the enemy, they would have
proved dangerous instruments in their hands. But their folly dealt
by the slaves as it did by the Tories. He mentioned the dangerous
insurrections of the slaves in Greece and Sicily, and the instructions
given by Cromwell to the commissioners sent to Virginia,- to arm
the servants and slaves, in case other means of obtaining its submission should fail. Maryland and Virginia, he said, had already
prohibited the importation of slaves expressly. North Carolina had
done the same in substance. All this would be in vain, if South
Carolina and Georgia be at liberty to import. The Western people
are already calling out for slaves for their new lands; and will fill
that country with slaves, if they can be got through South Carolina
and Georgia. Slavery discourages arts and manufactures. The
poor despise labor when performed by slaves. They prevent the
emigration of whites, who really enrich and strengthen a country.
They produce the most pernicious effect on manners. Every master of




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.               57
slaves is born a petty tyrant.  They bring the judgment of Heaven on a Debate in
the Federal
country. As nations cannot be rewarded or punished in the next world, Conventhey must be in this. By an inevitable chain of causes and effects, Pro- tion.
vidence punishes national sins by national calamities. He lamented
that some of our Eastern brethren had, from a lust of gain, embarked
in this nefarious traffic. As to the States being in possession of the
right to import, this was the case with many other rights, now to be
properly given up. He held it essential, in every point of view, that
the General Government should have power to prevent the increase
of slavery.
" Mr. ELLSWORTH, as he had never owned a slave, could not judge Oliver
of the effects of slavery on character. He said, however, that, if it Esworth.
was to be considered in a moral light, we ought to go further, and
free those already in the country. As slaves also multiply so fast
in Virginia and Maryland, that it is cheaper to raise than import
them, whilst in the sickly rice-swamps foreign supplies are necessary,
if we go no further than is urged, we shall be unjust towards South
Carolina and Georgia. Let us not intermeddle. As population
increases, poor laborers will be so plenty as to render slaves useless.
Slavery, in time, will not be a speck in our country. Provision is
already made in Connecticut for abolishing it; and the abolition
has already taken place in Massachusetts.  As to the danger of
insurrections from foreign influence, that will become a motive to
kind treatment of the slaves.." Mr. PINCKcNEY. If slavery be wrong, it is justified by the Charles
example of all the world. He cited the case of Greece, Rome, and Pinckney.
other ancient States; the sanction given by France, England, Holland, and other modern States. In all ages, one-half of mankind
have been slaves. If the Southern States were let alone, they will probably of themselves stop importations. He would himself, as a citizen
of South Carolina, vote for it. An attempt to take away the right, as
proposed, will produce serious objections to the Constitution, which
he wished to see adopted.
" Gen. PJINCKNEY declared it to be his firm opinion, that if himself Charles
Cotesworth
and all his colleagues were to sign the Constitution, and use their Pinekney.
personal influence, it would be of no avail towards obtaining the
assent of their constituents. South Carolina and Georgia cannot do
without slaves. As to Virginia, she will gain by stopping the importations. Her slaves will rise in value, and she has more than she
wants. It would be unequal to require South Carolina and Georgia
8




58                 AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Debate in to confederate on such unequal terms. He said, the royal assent,:the Federal
Conven-  before the Revolution, had never been refused to South'Carolina as
tion.    to Virginia.  He contended, that the importation of slaves would be
for the interest of the whole Union. The more slaves, the more
produce to employ the carrying-trade; the more consumption also;
and, the more of this; t   more orerevenue for the common treasury.
He admitted it to' be reasonable, that slaves should be dutied like
other imports; but should consider a rejection of the clause as an
exclusion of South Carolina from the Union.
Abraham     " Mr. BALDWIN had conceived national objects alone to be before
Baldwin.
the Convention; not such as, like the present, were of a local nature.
Georgia'was decided on this point. That State has always hitherto
supposed a General Government to be the pursuit of the Central
States, who wished to have a vortex for every thing; that her
distance would preclude her from' equal advantage; and that she
could not prudently purchase it by yielding national powers. From
this it might be understood in what light she would view an attempt
to abridge one of her favorite prerogatives. If left to herself, she
may probably put a stop to the evil. As' one ground for  this conjecture, he took notice of the sect of'-, which, he' said, was'a
respectable class of; people,' who carried their ethics beyond the mere
equality. of:men,   extending their humanity to the claims of the
whole animal creation.
James      "-Ir. WILSON observed, that if South Carolina and Georgia were
Wilson.
themselves disposed to get rid of the importation of slaves in a short time,
as had been suggested, they would never refuse to unite because the importation might be prohibited. As the section now stands, all articles
imported'are to be taxed.  Slaves alone are exempt. This is, in
fact, a bounty on that article.'
Elbridge    " Mr. GERRY thought we had nothing to do with the conduct of
Ge  the States as to slaves, but ought to be careful not to give any sanction to it.
John       "Mr. DICKINSON considered it as inadmissible, on every principle
Dickison. of honor and safety, that the importation of slaves should be authorized to the States by the Constitution.  The true question was,
whether the national happiness would be promoted or impeded by the
importation; and this question ought to be left to the National Government, not to the States particularly interested. If England and
France permit slavery, slaves are, at the same time, excluded from
both those kingdoms. Greece and Rome were made unhappy by




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.             59
their slaves. He could not believe that the Southern States would Debate in
the Federal
refuse to confederate on the account apprehended; especially as the Convenpower was not likely to be immediately exercised by the General tion.
Government.
" Mr. WILLIAMSON stated the law of North Carolina on the subject; to wit, that it did not directly prohibit the importation of slaves.
It imposed a duty of ~5 on each slave imported from Africa, ~10 on
each from elsewhere, and ~50 on each from a State licensing manumission. He thought the Southern States could not be members of
the Union, if the clause should be rejected; and it was wrong to
force any thing down not absolutely necessary, and which any State
must disagree to.
"Mr. KING thought the subject should be considered in a political light only. If two States will not agree to the Constitution, as
stated on one side, he could affirm with equal belief, on the other,
that great and equal opposition would be experienced from the other
States. He remarked on the exemption of slaves from duty, whilst
every other import was subjected to it, as an inequality that could
not fail to strike the commercial sagacity of the Northern and Middle
States.
"Mr. LANGDON was strenuous for giving the power to the
General Government. He could not, with a good conscience, leave
it with the States, who could then go on with the traffic, without
being restrained by the opinions here given, that they will themselves
cease to import slaves.
"Gen. PINCKNEY thought himself bound to declare candidly, that
he did not think South Carolina would stop her importations of slaves
in any short time; but only stop them occasionally, as she now does.
He moved to commit the clause, that slaves might be made liable to
an equal tax with other imports; which he thought right, and which
would remove one difficulty that had been started.
" Mr. RUTLEDGE. If the Convention thinks that North Carolina,
South Carolina, and Georgia will ever agree to the plan, unless
their right to import slaves be untouched, the expectation is vain.
The people of those States will never be such fools as to give up so
important an interest. He was strenuous against striking out the
section, and seconded the motion of Gen. Pinckney for a commitment.
" Mr. GOUVERNEUR MORRIS wished the whole subject to be committed, including the clauses relating to taxes on exports and to a




60                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Debate in navigation act. These things may form a bargain among the Norththe Federal
Conven-  ern and Southern States.
tion.      "i Mr. BUTLER declared, that he never would agree to the power of
taxing exports.
" Mr. SHERMAN said it was better to let the Southern States import slaves than to part with them, if they made that a sine qua' non.
He was opposed to a tax on slaves imported, as making the matter
worse, because it implied they were property. He acknowledged,
that, if the power of prohibiting the importation should be given to
the General Government, it would be exercised. He thought it would
be its duty to exercise the power.
"Mr. READ was for the commitment, provided the clause concerning taxes on exports should also be committed.
" Mr. SHERMAN observed, that that clause had been agreed to, and
therefore could not be committed.
" Mr. RANDOLPH was for committing, in order that some middle
ground might, if possible, be found. He could never agree to the
clause as it stands. He would sooner risk the Constitution. He
dwelt on the dilemma to which the Convention was exposed. By
agreeing to the clause, it would revolt the Quakers, the Methodists,
and many others in the States having no slaves. On the other hand,
two States might be lost to the Union. Let us then, he said, try the
chance of a commitment." — Madison Papers, Elliot, vol. v. pp.
457-461.
Three days later (Saturday, Aug. 25th), the debate on this
subject was resumed, and the Report of the Committee of
Eleven was taken up. It was in the following words: —
" Strike out so much of the fourth section as was referred to the
Committee, and insert'The migration or importation of such persons
as the several States, now existing, think proper to admit, shall not
be prohibited by the Legislature prior to the year 1800; but a tax or
duty may be imposed on such migration or importation, at a rate not
exceeding the average of the duties laid on imports.'"
" Gen. PINCKNEY moved to strike out the words' the year eighteen
hundred' as the year limiting the importation of slaves, and to insert
the words'the year eighteen hundred and eight.'
" Mr. GORHAM seconded the motion.




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.             61
" Mr. MADISON. Twenty years will produce all the mischief that Debate in
the Federal
can be apprehended from the liberty to import slaves. So long a Conenterm will be more dishonorable to the American character than to say tion.
nothing about it in the Constitution.
" On the motion, which passed in the affimative, -
"New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, ay, - 7; New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware,
Virginia, no, -4.
" Mr. GOUVERNEUR MORRIS was for making the clause read at
once,
"' The importation of slaves into North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Georgia, shall not be prohibited,' &c.
This, he said, would be most fair, and would avoid the ambiguity by
which, under the power with regard to naturalization, the liberty
reserved to the States might be defeated. He wished it to be known,
also, that this part of the Constitution was a compliance with those
States. If the change of language, however, should be objected to
by the members from those States, he should not urge it.
" Col. MASON was not against using the term' slaves,' but against
naming North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, lest it should
give offence to the people of those States.
" Mr. SHERMAN liked a description better than the terms proposed,
which had been declined by the old Congress, and were not pleasing
to some people.
" Mr. CLYMER concurred with Mr. Sherman.
" Mr. WILLIAMSON said, that, both in opinion and practice, he was
against slavery; but thought it more in favor of humanity, from a
view of all circumstances, to let in South Carolina and Georgia on
those terms, than to exclude them from the Union.
"Mr. GOUVERNEUR MORRIS withdrew his motion.
" Mr. DICKINSON wished the clause to be confined to the States
which had not themselves prohibited the importation of slaves; and,
for that purpose, moved to amend the clause so as to read, -
"' The importation of slaves into such of the States as shall permit the
same shall not be prohibited by the Legislature of the United States until
the year 1808;'
which was disagreed to, nem. con.
" The first part of the Report was then agreed to, amended as
follows:



62               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCII.
Debate in   "' The migration or importation of such persons as the several States
the Federal now existing shall think proper to admit shall not be prohibited by the
Convention.   Legislature prior to -the year 1808.'
"New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, ay, - 7; New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware,
Virginia, no, - 4."- Madison Papers, Elliot, vol. v. pp. 477, 478.
These specimens of the debates are sufficient to show
the various shades of opinion as expressed by members of the
Convention from  different States.  The Constitution, with
the articles on slavery, as amended and finally adopted by the
Federal Convention, was submitted to the people, to be ratified by them through State Conventions of delegates elected
for that special purpose. In these State Conventions, the
various articles were again thoroughly discussed.
Massachu-   In Massachusetts, the delegates assembled in Boston, Jan.
setts Convention.  9th, 1788. It is hardly too much to say, that the fate of the
Federal Constitution was to be decided by the action of this
State Convention. By the final vote of three hundred and
fifty-five members, a majority of only nineteen votes was
obtained in its favor; one hundred and eighty-seven being in
the affirmative, and one hundred and sixty-eight in the negative.  Had the vote been taken without discussion on the
first meeting of the members, there can be no doubt that
the Constitution would have been rejected by a considerable
majority.
Elbridge Gerry, one of our delegates to the Federal Convention, had declined to sign the Constitution, and addressed a
letter to the State Legislature, giving his reasons for so doing.
He was invited to take a seat with the delegates in the State
Convention.  John Hancock and Samuel Adams, the two
most eminent members of the State Convention, were both
opposed to the adoption of the Constitution.  Mr. Hancock,
on account of his position and from motives of policy, was
elected President; but he excused himself from attending
until towards the close of the session, on account of illness.
The circumstances connected with the change of purpose on




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.              63
the part of the President are related by Professor Parsons Massachusetts Conin the admirable "Memoir" of his father, Chief-Justice The- vention.
ophilus Parsons. Amongst the many reasons assigned by the
opponents of the Federal Constitution for their desire to
defeat its adoption, the articles on the subject of slavery were
brought forward.  The discussion on this subject deserves
our notice.
In the second week of the Convention, (Jan. 17,) the subject
of taxation and representation  being under debate, " Mr.
Wedgery asked, if a boy of six years of age was to be con.
sidered as a free person."
The Hon. Rufus King, in answer, said,"All persons born free were to be considered as freemen; and, to Rufus
King.
make the idea of taxation by numbers more intelligible, said that five
negro children of South Carolina are to pay as much tax as the three
governors of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut."
On the same occasion, Judge Dana spoke:"In reply to the remark of some gentlemen, that the Southern Francis
Dana.
States were favored in this mode of apportionment, by having five of
their negroes set against three persons in the Eastern, the honorable
Judge observed, that the negroes of the Southern States work no
longer than when the eye of the driver is on them.' Can,' asked he,'that land flourish like this, which is cultivated by the hands of freemen? And are not three of these independent freemen of more real
advantage to a State than five of those poor slaves?' As a friend to
equal taxation, he rejoiced that an opportunity was presented in this
Constitution to change this unjust mode of apportionment.'Indeed,'
concluded he,'from a survey of every part of the Constitution, I
think it the best that the wisdom of man could suggest.'"
The discussion was continued; and, on the next day, Thomas Dawes, Esq., expressed his views on the subject: 
"Mr. DAWES said, he was sorry to hear so many objections raised Thomas
against the paragraph under consideration. He thought them wholly
unfounded; that the black inhabitants of the Southern States must be
considered either as slaves, and as so much property, or in the character of so many free men. If the former, why should they not be wholly




64                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Massachu- represented? Our own State laws and Constitution would lead us to
setts Convention.  consider those blacks as free men; and so, indeed, would our own
ideas of natural justice. If, then, they are freemen, they might form
an equal basis for representation, as though they were all white inhabitants. In either view, therefore, he could not see that the Northern States would suffer, but directly to the contrary. He thought,
however, that gentlemen would do well to connect the passage in
dispute with another article in the Constitution, that permits Congress,
in the year 1808, wholly to prohibit the importation of slaves, and,
in the mean time, to impose a duty of ten dollars a head on such
blacks as should be imported before that period. Besides, by the new
Constitution, every particular State is left to its own option totally to
prohibit the introduction of slaves into its own territories. What
could the Convention do more? The members of the Southern States,
like ourselves, have their prejudices. It would not do to abolish
slavery by an act of Congress in a moment, and so destroy what our
Southern brethren consider as property; but we may say, that although
slavery is not smitten by an apoplexy, yet it has received a mortal wound,
and will die of a consumption." -Debates and Proceedings, pp. 135139.
From the minutes of the debates, kept by Chief-Justice
Parsons, and printed with the last edition of the "Debates
and Proceedings," we learn that George Cabot on this occasion remarked: "The Southern States have the slave-trade,
and are sovereign States. This Constitution is the best way to
get rid of it."
During the next week (Friday, Jan. 25), the clause relating to " the migration or importation of such persons as any
of the States now existing shall think proper to admit" was
under consideration; when
James      "1 Mr. NEAL (from Kittery) went over the ground of objection to
Neal.   this section, on the idea that the slave-trade was allowed to be continued for twenty years. His profession, he said, obliged him to bear
witness against any thing that should favor the making merchandise
of the bodies of men; and, unless his objection was removed, he
could not put his hand to the Constitution. Other gentlemen said, in
addition to this idea, that there was not even a provision that the
negroes ever shall be free; and




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.              65
"Gen. THOMPSON exclaimed:'Mr. President, Shall it be said, Massachusetts Conthat, after we have established our own independence and freedom, vention.
we make slaves of others? O Washington! What a name has he
had! How he has immortalized himself! But he holds those in General
slavery who have as good right to be free as he has. He is still for Thompson.
self; and, in my opinion, his character has sunk fifty per cent.'
" On the other side, gentlemen said, that the step taken in this
article towards the abolition of slavery was one of the beauties of the
Constitution. They observed that, in the Confederation, there was
no provision whatever for its ever being abolished: but this Constitution provides that Congress may, after twenty years, totally annihilate
the slave-trade; and that, as all the States, except two, have passed
laws to this effect, it might reasonably be expected that it would then
be done. In the interim, all the States were at liberty to prohibit it.
" SATURDAY, Jan. 26, 1788.
" The debate on the ninth section still continued desultory, and
consisted of similar objections and answers thereto as had before been
used. Both sides deprecated the slave-trade in the most pointed
terms. On one side, it was pathetically lamented by Mr. Nasson,
Major Lusk, Mr. Neal, and others, that this Constitution provided
for the continuation of the slave-trade for twenty years; on the other,
the Hon. Judge Dana, Mr. Adams, and others, rejoiced that a door
was now to be opened for the annihilation of this odious, abhorrent
practice, in a certain time." -Debates and Proceedings, pp. 208, 209.
On Wednesday, Jan. 30, General Heath, who had been detained by indisposition from attending many of the meetings,
was present, and participated in the debate. A part of his
remarks were as follows: -
"The paragraph respecting the migration or importation of such General
persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, Heath
&c., is one of those considered during my absence; and I have heard
nothing on the subject, save what has been mentioned this morning.
But I think the gentlemen who have spoken have carried the matter
rather too far on both sides.
" I apprehend that it is not in our power to do any thing for or
against those who are in slavery in the Southern States. No gentleman within these walls detests every idea of slavery more than I do.
It is generally detested by the people of this Commonwealth; and I
9




66                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Massachu- ardently hope that the time will soon come, when our brethren in the
setts Convention.  Southern States will view it as we do, and put a stop to it: but to
this we have no right to compel them. Two questions naturally
arise: If we ratify the Constitution, shall we do any thing by our act to
hold the blacks in slavery? or shall we become partakers of other men's
sins? Ithink, neither of them. Each State is sovereign and independent to a certain degree; and they have a right, and will regulate
their own internal affairs as to themselves appears proper. And shall
we refuse to eat or to drink or to be united with those who do not
think or act just as we do? Surely not. We are not, in this case,
partakers of other men's sins; for in nothing do we voluntarily encourage the slavery of our fellow-men. A restriction is laid on the
Federal Government, which could not be avoided and a union take
place. The Federal Convention went as far as they could. The
migration, or importation, &c., is confined to the States now existing
only: new States cannot claim it. Congress, by their ordinance for
erecting new States, some time since declared that the new States
shall be republican, and that there shall be no slavery in them; but,
whether those in slavery in the Southern States will be emancipated
after the year 1808, I do not pretend to determine: I rather doubt
it." -Debates and Proceedings, pp. 216-217.
One of the longest speeches in the Convention, on the
subject of slavery, was made by the Rev. Isaac Backus of
Middleborough, on the 4th of February, just before the debates were finally closed. A part of this speech will show its
character:Isaac      " Much, Sir, hath been said about the importation of slaves into
Backus.  this country. I believe, that, according to my capacity, no man
abhors that wicked practice more than I do, and would gladly make
use of all lawful means toward the abolishing of slavery in all parts
of the land. But let us consider where we are, and what we are
doing. In the Articles of Confederation, no provision was made to
hinder the importation of slaves into any of these States; but a door is
now opened hereafter to do it, and each State is at liberty now to
abolish slavery as soon as they please. And let us remember our
former connection with Great Britain, from whom many in our land
think we ought not to have revolted. How did they carry on the
slave-trade? I know that the Bishop of Gloucester, in an annual




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.              67
sermon in London in February, 1766, endeavored to justify their Massachusetts Contyrannical claims of power over us by casting the reproach of the vention.
slave-trade upon the Americans; but, at the close of the war, the
Bishop of Chester, in an annual sermon in February, 1783, ingenuously owned that their nation is the most deeply involved in the guilt
of that trade of any nation in the world, and also that they have
treated their slaves in the West Indies worse than the French or
Spaniards have done theirs. Thus slavery grows more and more
odious through the world; and, as an honorable gentleman said some
days ago,' Though we cannot say that slavery is struck with an
apoplexy, yet we may hope it will die with a consumption.'
" The American Revolution was built upon the principle, that all
men are born with an equal right to liberty and property, and that
officers have no right to any power but what is fairly given them by
the consent of the people. And, in the Constitution now proposed to
us, a power is reserved to the people constitutionally to reduce every
officer again to a private station; and what a guard is this against
their invasion of others' rights, or abusing of their power! Such a
door is now opened for the establishing of righteous government, and
for securing equal liberty, as never was before opened to any people
on earth."-Debates and Proceedings, pp. 251, 253.
The final vote on the ratification of the Constitution was Rejoicing
on the
taken on the 6th of February, 1788; and resulted, as has been adoption of
the Constialready stated, in the affirmative, by the small majority oftution.
nineteen votes. Notwithstanding the strong opposition to it
which was manifested whilst the subject was under discussion,
there was a general acquiescence in the result. The joy of
the people was expressed by enthusiastic public demonstrations. An extract from one of the newspapers of the day will
give a good idea of the popular sentiment at the time: —
" The citizens of Boston have ever shown themselves advocates
for freedom: therefore, when a motion had obtained, one of the
greatest objects of which is' to secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and their posterity,' they could not resist the strong impulse
they must have had, publicly to testify their gratitude for the pleasing
event. Nor have they. On the decision being declared, the bells in




68                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Celebration the several public buildings communicated the happy intelligence to
in Boston.
every part of the town by a peal, which continued for several hours;
and which has been continued, with short intervals, ever since. The
discharge of cannon, and other demonstrations of joy, took place on
Wednesday and Thursday; but it was left to yesterday to produce an
exhibition, to which America has never before witnessed an equal,
and which has exceeded any thing of the kind Europe can boast of."Columbian Centinel, Feb. 9, 1788.
New-        The published account of the Convention in New  HampHampshire
Conven-  shire is very brief and imperfect.  The only speech known
tion.
to have been preserved is here printed entire.
The lion. Joshua Atherton, from Amherst, spoke as follows:
Joshua     " Mr. President, I cannot be of the opinion of the honorable genA   therton  lemen who last spoke, that this paragraph is either so useful or so
inoffensive as they seem to imagine, or that the objections to it are
so totally void of foundation. The idea that strikes those, who are
opposed to this clause, so disagreeably and so forcibly, is, hereby it
is conceived (if we ratify the Constitution) that we become consenters to, and partakers in, the sin and guilt ofthis abominable traffic, at
least for a certain period, without any positive stipulation that it
should even then be brought to an end. We do not behold in it that
valuable acquisition so much boasted of by the honorable member
from Portsmouth,' that an end is then to be put to slavery.' Congress
may be as much or more puzzled to put a stop to it then than we are
now. The clause has not secured its abolition.
" We do not think ourselves under any obligation to perform
works of supererogation in the reformation of mankind; we do not
esteem ourselves under any necessity to go to Spain or Italy to suppress the Inquisition of those countries, or of making a journey to
the Carolinas to abolish the detestable custom  of enslaving the
Africans: but, Sir, we will not lend the aid of our ratification to this
cruel and inhuman merchandise, not even for a day. There is a
great distinction in not taking a part in the most barbarous violation
of the sacred laws of God and humanity, and our becoming guaranties for its exercise for a term of years. Yes, Sir, it is our full
purpose to wash our hands clear of it; and however unconcerned spectators we may remain of such predatory infractions of the laws of




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.               69
our nature, however unfeelingly we may subscribe to the ratification Newof man-stealing, with all its baneful consequences, yet I cannot but Hampshire
believe, in justice to human nature, that if we reserve the considera- tion.
tion, and bring this claimed power somewhat nearer to our own
Joshua
doors, we shall form a more equitable opinion of its claim to this Atherton.
ratification. Let us figure to ourselves a company of these manstealers, well equipped for the enterprise, arriving on our coast.
They seize and carry off the whole or a part of the inhabitants of the
town of Exeter. Parents are taken, and children left; or possibly
they may be so fortunate as to have a whole family taken and carried
off together by these relentless robbers. What must be their feelings
in the hands of their new and arbitrary masters? Dragged at once
from every thing they held dear to them; stripped of every comfort
of life, like beasts of prey, -they are hurried on a loathsome and
distressing voyage to the coast of Africa, or some other quarter of
the globe, where the greatest price may await them; and here, if any
thing can be added to their miseries, comes on the heart-breaking
scene. A parent is sold to one, a son to another, and a daughter to
a third! Brother is cleft from brother, sister from sister, and parents
from their darling offspring! Broken with every distress that human
nature can feel, and bedewed with tears of anguish, they are dragged
into the last stage of depression and slavery, never, never to behold
the faces of one another again! The scene is too affecting. I have
not fortitude to pursue the subject." — Elliot's Debates, vol. ii.
pp. 203, 204.
Pennsylvania was the second State to adopt the Constitu- Pennsylvania Contion. The remarks of James Wilson, in the Ratification Con- vention.
vention, must not be omitted.  Mr. Wilson was one of the
signers of the Declaration of Independence, and was for
several years a member of Congress.  He was not only an
eloquent orator and ready debater, but may be regarded as
one of the first jurists in the country.  Washington appointed him a Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States
the year after the adoption of the Constitution; and he held
the office until his death, which occurred in 1798. The opinions of such a man are entitled to great consideration.




70                 AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Pennsvl-   " With respect to the clause restricting Congress from prohibiting
ventioCn- the migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now
existing shall think proper to admit prior to the year 1808, the
James    honorable gentleman says that this clause is not only dark, but inilson.  tended to grant to Congress, for that time, the power to admit the
importion of slaves. No such thing was intended. But I will tell
you what was done, and it gives me high pleasure that so much was
done. Under the present Confederation, the States may admit the
importation of slaves as long as they please; but by this article, after
the year 1808, the Congress will have power to prohibit such importation, notwithstanding the disposition of any State to the contrary.
I consider this as laying the foundation for banishing slavery out of this
country; and though the period is more distant than I could wish, yet
it will produce the same kind, gradual change which was pursued in
Pennsylvania. It is with much satisfaction I view this power in the
General Government, whereby they may lay an interdiction on this
reproachful trade. But an immediate advantage is also obtained:
for a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding
ten dollars for each person; and this, Sir, operates as a partial prohibition. It was all that could be obtained. I am sorry it was no
more; but from this I think there is reason to hope, that yet a few
years, and it will be prohibited altogether; and, in the mean time,
the new States which are to be formed will be under the control of
Congress in this particular, and slaves will never be introduced
amongst them.
"I recollect, on a former day, the honorable gentleman from
Westmoreland (Mr. Findley), and the honorable gentleman from Cumberland (Mr. Whitehill), took exceptions against the 1st clause of
the 9th sect., art. 1, arguing, very unfairly, that, because Congress
might impose a tax or duty of ten dollars on the importation of slaves
within any of the United States, Congress might therefore permit
slaves to be imported within this State, contrary to its laws.  I
confess, I little thought that this part of the system would be excepted to.
"I am sorry that it could be extended no farther; but, so far
as it operates, it presents us with the pleasing prospect, that the
rights of mankind will be acknowledged and established throughout
the Union.
" If there was no other lovely feature in the Constitution but this




NEGROES AS SLAVES ANt) AS CITIZENS.             71
one, it would diffuse a beauty over its whole countenance. Yet the James
Wilson.
lapse of a few years, and Congress will have power to exterminate
slavery from  within our borders."- Elliot's Debates, vol. ii. pp.
452, 484.
Maryland adopted the Constitution in opposition to the Maryland
strong remonstrance of Luther Martin.  The address which Legislature.
he made to the State Legislature has been published, and fills
between forty and fifty closely printed pages. The part pertinent to this paper is here copied entire:"By the ninth section of this article, the importation of such Luther
Martin to
persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit the Legisshall not be prohibited prior to the year one thousand eight hundred lature of
Maryland.
and eight; but a duty may be imposed on such importation, not
exceeding ten dollars each person.
"The design of this clause is to prevent the General Government
from prohibiting the importation of slaves: but the same reasons
which caused them to strike out the word' national,' and not admit
the word' stamps,' influenced them here to guard against the word'slaves.' They anxiously sought to avoid the admission of expressions
which might be odious in the ears of Americans, although they were
willing to admit into their system those things which the expressions
signified: and hence it is that the clause is so worded as really to
authorize the General Government to impose a duty of ten dollars
on every foreigner who comes into a State to become a citizen,
whether he comes absolutely free, or qualifiedly so as a servant;
although this is contrary to the design of the framers, and the duty
was only meant to extend to the importation of slaves.
" This clause was the subject of a great diversity of sentiment in
the Convention. As the system was reported by the committee of
detail, the provision was general, that such importation should not be
prohibited, without confining it to any particular period. This was
rejected by eight States; Georgia, South Carolina, and, I think,
North Carolina, voting for it.
"We were then told by the delegates of the two first of those
States, that their States would never agree to a system which put it
in the power of the General Government to prevent the importation of slaves; and that they, as delegates from those States, must
withhold their assent from such a system.




72                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Luther     "A committee of one member from each State was chosen by
1Martin to
the Legis- ballot to take this part of the system under their consideration, and
lature onf  to endeavor to agree upon some report which should reconcile those
States. To this committee also was referred the following proposition, which had been reported by the committee of detail; viz.,' No
navigation act shall be passed without the assent of two-thirds of
the members present in each house,'  a proposition which the
staple and commercial States were solicitous to retain, lest their commerce should be placed too much under the power of the Eastern
States, but which these last States were as anxious to reject. This
committee, of which also I had the honor to be a member, met, and
took under their consideration the subjects committed to them. I
found the Eastern States, notwithstanding their aversion to slavery,
were very willing to indulge the Southern States at least with a temporary liberty to prosecute the slave-trade, provided the Southern
States would, in their turn, gratify them by laying no restriction on
navigation acts; and, after a very little time, the committee, by a
great majority, agreed on a report, by which the General Government was to be prohibited from preventing the importation of slaves
for a limited time, and the restrictive clause relative to navigation
acts was to be omitted.
" This report was adopted by a majority of the Convention, but
not without considerable opposition. It was said that we had just
assumed a place among independent nations in consequence of our
opposition to the attempts of Great Britain to enslave us; that this
opposition was grounded upon the preservation of those rights to which
God and nature had entitled us, not in particular, but in common
with the rest of all mankind; that we had appealed to the Supreme
Being for his assistance, as the God of freedom, who could not but
approve our efforts to preserve the rights which he had thus imparted
to his creatures; that now, when we scarcely had risen from our
knees, from supplicating his aid and protection in forming our government over a free people, - a government formed pretendedly on the
principles of liberty, and for its preservation, - in that government to
have a provision not only putting it out of its power to restrain and
prevent the slave-trade, but even encouraging that most infamous
traffic by giving the States power and influence in the Union in proportion as they cruelly and wantonly sport with the rights of their
fellow-creatures, ought to be considered as a solemn mockery of, and
insult to, that God whose protection we had then implored; and could




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.               73
not fail to hold us up in detestation, and render us contemptible to Luther
Martin to
every true friend of liberty in the world. It was said, it ought to be the Legisconsidered that national crimes can only be, and frequently are, laure of
punished in this world by national punishments; and that the continuance of the slave-trade, and thus giving it a national sanction
and encouragement, ought to be considered as justly exposing us to
the displeasure and vengeance of Him who is equally Lord of all,
and who views with equal eye the poor African slave and his American master.
"It was urged, that, by this system, we were giving the General
Government full and absolute power to regulate commerce; under
which general power it would have a right to restrain, or totally prohibit, the slave-trade. It must therefore appear to the world absurd
and disgraceful, to the last degree, that we should except from the
exercise of that power the only branch of commerce which is unjustifiable in its nature, and contrary to the rights of mankind;'that, on
the contrary, we ought rather to prohibit expressly, in our Constitution, the further importation of slaves, and to authorize the General
Government, from time to time, to make such regulations as should
be thought most advantageous for the gradual abolition of slavery,
and the emancipation of the slaves which are already in the States;
that slavery is inconsistent with the genius of republicanism, and has
a tendency to destroy those principles on which it is supported, as it
lessens the sense of the equal rights of mankind, and habituates us
to tyranny and oppression. It was further urged, that, by this system of government, every State is to be protected both from foreign
invasion and from domestic insurrections; that, from this consideration, it was of the utmost importance it should have a power to
restrain the importation of slaves, since, in proportion as the number
of slaves was increased in any State, in the same proportion the State
is weakened, and exposed to foreirgn invasion or domestic insurrection, and by so much less will it be able to protect itself against
either; and therefore will, by so much the more, want aid from, and
be a burden to, the Union. It was further said, that as, in this system, we were giving the General Government a power, under the
idea of national character or national interest, to regulate even our
weights and measures, and have prohibited all possibility of emitting
paper money, and passing insolvent laws, &c., it must appear still
more extraordinary that we should prohibit the government from
interfering with the slave-trade, than which nothing could so ma10




74                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Luther   terially affect both our national honor and interest. These reasons
Martin to
the Legis- influenced me, both on the Committee and in Convention, most
latureof  decidedly to oppose and vote against the clause, as it now makes a
Maryland.
part of the system.
" You will perceive, Sir, not only that the General Government
is prohibited from interfering in the slave-trade before the year
eighteen hundred and eight, but that there is no provision in the
Constitution that it shall afterwards be prohibited, nor any security
that such prohibition will ever take place; and I think there is great
reason to believe, that, if the importation of slaves is permitted until
the year eighteen hundred and eight, it will not be prohibited afterwards. At this time, we do not generally hold this commerce in so
great abhorrence as we have done. When our liberties were at stake,
we warmly felt for the common rights of men. The danger being
thought to be past which threatened ourselves, we are daily growing
more insensible to those rights. In those States which have restrained
or prohibited the importation of slaves, it is only done by legislative
acts which may be repealed. When those States find that they must,
in their national character and connection, suffer in the disgrace, and
share in the inconveniences, attendant upon that detestable and
iniquitous traffic, they may be desirous also to share in the benefits
arising from it; and the odium attending it will be greatly effaced by
the sanction which is given to it in the General Government."Elliot's Debates, vol. i. pp. 372-375.
Virginia   Virginia was the tenth State to ratify the Constitution.
Convention.   Nowhere were the debates more able and thorough than
there.  It was not till June that the Convention was held.
The proceedings occupy the whole of the third volume of
Elliot's "Debates."   George Mason, Patrick  Henry, and
James Madison were among the most important speakers.
Let us look at their speeches.' TUESDAY, June 15, 1788.
George     " Mr. GEORGE MASON. Mr. Chairman, this is a fatal section,
Mason.   which has created more dangers than any other. The first clause
allows the importation of slaves for twenty years. Under the Royal
Government, this evil was looked upon as a great oppression, and
many attempts were made to prevent it; but the interest of the
African merchants prevented its prohibition. No sooner did the Revo



NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.               75
lution take place than it was thought of. It was one of the great Virginia
Convencauses of our separation from  Great Britain. Its exclusion has tion.
been a principal object of this State, and most of the States in the
Union. The augmentation of slaves weakens the States; and such a George
trade is diabolical in itself, and disgraceful to mankind: yet, by this
Constitution, it is continued for twenty years. As much as I value a
union of all the States, I would not admit the Southern States into the
Union, unless they agree to the discontinuance of this disgraceful trade,
because it would bring weakness, and not strength, to the Union.  And,
though this infamous traffic be continued, we have no security for the
property of that kind which we have already. There is no clause in
this Constitution to secure it; for they may lay such a tax as will
amount to manumission. And should the Government be amended,
still this detestable kind of commerce cannot be discontinued till after
the expiration of twenty years; for the fifth article, which provides
for amendments, expressly excepts this clause. I have ever looked
upon this as a most disgraceful thing to America. I cannot express
my detestation of it. Yet they have not secured us the property of
the slaves we have already: so that'they have done what they ought
not to have done, and have left undone what they ought to have done.'
" Mr. MADISON. Mr. Chairman, I should conceive this clause to James
be impolitic, if it were one of those things which could be excluded Madison
without encountering greater evils. The Southern States would not
have entered into the Union of America, without the temporary permission of that trade; and, if they were excluded from the Union, the
consequences might be dreadful to them and to us. We are not in a
worse situation than before. That traffic is prohibited by our laws,
and we may continue the prohibition. The Union in general is not
in a worse situation. Under the Articles of Confederation, it might
be continued for ever; but, by this clause, an end may be put to it
after twenty years. There is, therefore, an amelioration of our circumstances. A tax may be laid in the mean time: but it is limited;
otherwise Congress might lay such a tax as would amount to a prohibition. From the mode of representation and taxation, Congress
cannot lay such a tax on slaves as will amount to manumission.
Another clause secures us that property which we now possess. At
present, if any slave elopes to any of those States where slaves are
free, he becomes emancipated by their laws; for the laws of the States
are uncharitable to one another in this respect. But, in this Constitution,' no person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws




76                 AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Virginia  thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or
Convention.    regulation therein, be discharged from  such service or labor; but
shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or
James   labor shall be due.' This clause was expressly inserted to enable
Madison.
owners of slaves to reclaim them.
" This is a better security than any that now exists. No power is
given to the General Government to interpose with respect to the
property in slaves now held by the States. The taxation of this State
being equal only to its representation, such a tax cannot be laid as he
supposes. They cannot prevent the importation of slaves for twenty
years; but, after that period, they can. The gentlemen from South
Carolina and Georgia argued in this manner:'We have now liberty
to import this species of property; and much of the property now
possessed had been purchased, or otherwise acquired, in contemplation
of improving it by the assistance of imported slaves. What would be
the consequence of hindering us from  it?  The slaves of Virginia
would rise in value, and we should be obliged to go to your markets.'
I need not expatiate on this subject. Great as the evil is, a dismemberberment of the Union would be worse. If those States should disunite
from the other States for not indulging them in the temporary continuance of this traffic, they might solicit and obtain aid from foreign
powers.
John Tyler.' Mr. TYLER warmly enlarged on the impolicy, iniquity, and disgracefulness of this wicked traffic. He thought the reasons urged by
gentlemen in defence of it were inconclusive and ill-founded.  It was
one cause of the complaints against British tyranny, that this trade
was permitted. The Revolution had put a period to it; but now it
was to be revived. IIe thought nothing could justify it. This temporary restriction on Congress militated, in his opinion, against the
arguments of gentlemen on the other side, that what was not given up
was retained by the States; for that, if this restriction had not been
inserted, Congress could have prohibited the African trade. The
power of prohibiting it was not expressly delegated to them; yet they
would have had it by implication, if this restraint had not been provided. This seemed to him to demonstrate most clearly the necessity
of restraining them, by a Bill of Rights, from infringing our unalienable rights.  It was immaterial whether the Bill of Rights was by
itself, or included in the Constitution. But he contended for it one
way or the other. It would be justified by our own example and that
of England. His earnest desire was, that it should be handed down




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.              77
to posterity that he had opposed this wicked clause." — Elliot's De- Virginia
Convenbates, vol. iii. pp. 452-454.                                   tion.
Patrick Henry was the most distinguished opponent of the
Federal Constitution in the whole country.  He had been
appointed a delegate to the Convention at Philadelphia, but
declined to attend. In the Virginia State Convention he persistently endeavored to defeat its adoption. When he found
his efforts unsuccessful, like a true patriot, he ceased his
opposition. Although he detested slavery, he was unwilling
to grant to the United-States Congress the power of abolishing it without the consent of the States.  This power he
thought he saw in the Constitution, though not directly expressed in its language.
" Among ten thousand implied powers which they may assume, Patrick
Henry.
they may, if we be engaged in war, liberate every one of your slaves, 
if they please; and this must and will be done by men, a majority of
whom have not a common interest with you. They will, therefore,
have no feeling of your interests. It has been repeatedly said here,
that the great object of a National Government was national defence.
That power which is said to be intended for security and safety may
be rendered detestable and oppressive. If they give power to the
General Government to provide for the general defence, the means
must be commensurate to the end. All the means in the possession
of the people must be given to the Government which is intrusted
with the public defence. In this State, there are 236,000 blacks, and
there are many in several other States: but there are few or none in the
Northern States; and yet, if the Northern States shall be of opinion
that our slaves are numberless, they may call forth every national
resource. May Congress not say that every black man mustfight?
Did we not see a little of this last war? We were not so hard pushed
as to make emancipation general; but acts of Assembly passed, that
every slave who would go to the army should be free. Another thing
will contribute to bring this event about: slavery is detested; we
feel its fatal effects; we deplore it with all the pity of humanity.
Let all these considerations, at some future period, press with full
force on the minds of Congress, — let that urbanity, which I trust
will distinguish America, and the necessity of national defence, -let




78                 AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Virginia  all these things operate on their minds: they will search that paper,
Convention.    and see if they have power of manumission. And have they not,
Sir? Have they not power to provide for the general defence and
Patrick   welfare?  May they not think that these call for the abolition of
Henry.
slavery? May they not pronounce all slaves free? and will they not
be warranted by that power? This is no ambiguous implication or
logical deduction. The paper speaks to the point. They have the
power, in clear, unequivocal terms, and will clearly and certainly
exercise it. As much as I deplore slavery, I see that prudence forbids its abolition. I deny that the General Government ought to set
them free, because a decided majority of the States have not the ties
of sympathy and fellow-feeling for those whose interest would be
affected by their emancipation. The majority of Congress is to the
North, and the slaves are to the South." —Elliot's Debates, vol. iii.
pp. 589, 590.
Governor Randolph had been a member of the Federal
Convention; but he had refused to sign the Constitution,
wishing to be left free to oppose or to advocate its adoption
when it came before his State for consideration.  He afterwards, however, saw, that on the ratification of the Constitution hung all hopes of preserving the Union, and he now gave
it his hearty support.  He thus replied to Mr. Henry:Edmund     " That honorable gentleman, and some others, have insisted that
Randolph. the abolition of slavery will result from it, and at the same time have
complained that it encourages its continuation. The inconsistency
proves, in some degree, the futility of their arguments. But, if it be
not conclusive to satisfy the committee that there is no danger of enfranchisement taking place, I beg leave to refer them to the paper
itself. I hope that there is none here, who, considering the subject
in the calm light of philosophy, will advance an objection dishonorable to Virginia, — that, at the moment they are securing the rights of
their citizens, an objection is started that there is a spark of hope that
those unfortunate men now held in bondage may, by the operation of the
General Government, be made free. But, if any gentleman be terrified
by this apprehension, let him read the system. I ask, and I will ask
again and again, till I be answered (not by declamation), Where is
the part that has a tendency to the abolition of slavery?  Is it the
clause which says that'the migration or importation of such persons




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.                79
as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit shall Virginia
Convennot be prohibited by Congress prior to the year 1808'?  This is an tion.
exception from the power of regulating commerce, and the restriction
is only to continue till 1808.  Then Congress can, by the exercise of Edmund
that power, prevent future importations. But does it affect the existing state of slavery? Were it right here to mention what passed in
convention on the occasion, I might tell you that the Southern States,
even South Carolina herself, conceived this property to be secure by these
words. I believe, whatever we may think here, that there was not a
member of the Virginia delegation who had the smallest suspicion of
the abolition of slavery.  Go to their meaning.  Point out the clause
where this formidable power of emancipation is inserted." - Elliot's
Debates, vol. iii. pp. 598, 599.
In North Carolina, a Convention, " for the purpose of de- NorthCarolina
liberating and determining on the proposed Constitution," Convenwas called by the Legislature.  It assembled in Hillsborough
on the 21st of July, 1788; and continued its session till Aug.
2d, when it adjourned without either adopting or rejecting
the Constitution.
A few extracts from the debates will show how slavery
was regarded in its connection with the Federal Constitution.
" Mr. DAVIE.... The gentleman' does not wish to be represent- William R.
ed with negroes.' This, Sir, is an unhappy species of population; Davie.
but we cannot at present alter their situation. The Eastern States
had great jealousies on this subject. They insisted that their cows
and horses were equally entitled to representation; that the one was
property as well as the other. It became our duty, on the other
hand, to acquire as much weight as possible in the legislation of the
Union; and, as the Northern States were more populous in whites,
this only could be done by insisting that a certain proportion of our
slaves should make a part of the computed population.  It was attempted to form a rule of representation from a compound ratio of
wealth and population: but, on consideration, it was found impracticable to determine the comparative value of lands and other property,
in so extensive a territory, with any degree of accuracy; and population alone was adopted as the only practicable rule or criterion of
representation. It was urged by the deputies of the Eastern States,
that a representation of two-fifths would be of little utility, and that




80                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
North-   their entire representation would be unequal and burdensome; that,
Coarlna  in a time of war, slaves rendered a country more vulnerable, while
Convention.    its defence devolved upon its free inhabitants.  On the other hand,
William R. we insisted, that, in time of peace, they contributed, by their labor,
Davie.   to the general wealth, as well as other members of the community;
that, as rational beings, they had a right of representation, and, in some
instances, might be highly useful in war. On these principles, the
Eastern States gave the matter up, and consented to the regulation
as it has been read. I hope these reasons will appear satisfactory."
-Elliot's Debates, vol. iv. pp. 30, 31.
When the ninth section was under discussion, Mr. M'Dowall wished to hear the reasons of the restriction on Congress
in regard to prohibiting the importation of slaves before the
year 1808.
Richard D.   " Mr. SPAIGHT answered, that there was a contest between the
g    Northern and Southern States; that the Southern States, whose
principal support depended on the labor of slaves, would not consent
to the desire of the Northern States to exclude the importation of
slaves absolutely; that South Carolina and Georgia insisted on this
clause, as they were now in want of hands to cultivate their lands;
that, in the course of twenty years, they would be fully supplied; that
the trade would be abolished then; and that, in the mean time, some
tax or duty might be laid on.
Joseph     " Mr. M'DOWALL replied, that the explanation was just such as
M'Dowall he expected, and by no means satisfactory to him; and that he looked
upon it as a very objectionable part of the system.
James       " Mr. IREDELL. Mr. Chairman, I rise to express sentiments simiIred lar to those of the gentleman from  Craven. For my part, were it
practicable to put an end to the importation of slaves immediately, it
would give me the greatest pleasure; for it certainly is a trade utterly
inconsistent with the rights of humanity, and under which great
cruelties have been exercised.  When the entire abolition of slavery
takes place, it will be an event which must be pleasing to every generous
mind and every friend of human nature; but we often wish for things
which are not attainable. It was the wish of a great majority of the
Convention to put an end to the trade immediately; but the States of
South Carolina and Georgia would not agree to it. Consider, then,
what would be the difference between our present situation in this




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.              81
respect, if we do not agree to the Constitution, and what it will be if NorthCarolina
we do agree to it. If we do not agree to it, do we remedy the evil? ConenNo, Sir: we do not; for, if the Constitution be not adopted, it will tion.
be in the power of every State to continue it for ever. They may or James
may not abolish it at their discretion. But, if we adopt the Constitu- Iredell.
tion, the trade must cease after twenty years, if Congress declare so,
whether particular States please so or not: surely, then, we can gain
by it. This was the utmost that could be obtained. I heartily wish
more could have been done; but, as it is, this Government is nobly
distinguished above others by that very provision. Where is there
another country in which such a restriction prevails? We therefore,
Sir, set an example of humanity, by providing for the abolition of
this inhuman traffic, though at a distant period. I hope, therefore,
that this part of the Constitution will not be condemned because it
has not stipulated for what was impracticable to obtain.
"Mr. GALLOWAY. Mr. Chairman, the explanation given to this James
clause does not satisfy my mind. I wish to see this abominable trade
put an end to. But in case it be thought proper to continue this
abominable traffic for twenty years, yet I do not wish to see the tax
on the importation extended to all persons whatsoever. Our situation
is different from the people to the North. We want citizens: they
do not. Instead of laying a tax, we ought to give a bounty to encourage foreigners to come among us. With respect to the abolition
of slavery, it requires the utmost consideration. The property of the
Southern States consists principally of slaves. If they mean to do
away slavery altogether, this property will be destroyed. I apprehend it means to bring forward manumission. If we must manumit
our slaves, what country shall we send them to? It is impossible
for us to be happy, if, after manumission, they are to stay among us.
" Mr. IREDELL.... There is another circumstance to be ob- James
Iredell.
served. There is no authority vested in Congress to restrain the
States, in the interval of twenty years, from doing what they please.
If they wish to prohibit such importation, they may do so." - Elliot's
Debates, vol. iv. pp. 100-102.
In South Carolina, the Constitution was discussed in the SouthCarolina
Legislature before the Convention was called. Two or three Legislaextracts from the speeches made before that body will end
these specimens of the Debates.
11




82                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
South-       Mr. LOWNDES remarked, that we had a law prohibiting the imCarolina
Legisla-  portation of negroes for three years, - a law he greatly approved of;
ture.    but there was no reason offered why the Southern States might not
Rawlins  find it necessary to alter their conduct, and open their ports.  WithLowndes. out negroes, this State would degenerate into one of the most contemptible
in the Union; and he cited an expression that fell from General
Pinckney on a former debate, that, whilst there remained one acre of
swamp-land in South Carolina, he should raise his voice against restricting the importation of negroes. Even in granting the importation for twenty years, care had been taken to make us pay for this
indulgence; each negro being liable, on importation, to pay a duty
not exceeding ten dollars; and, in addition to this, they were liable
to a capitation tax. Negroes were our wealth, our only natural resource; yet behold how our kind friends in the North were determined
soon to tie up our hands, and drain us of what we had! The Eastern
States drew their means of subsistence, in a great measure, from
their shipping; and, on that head, they had been particularly careful
not to allow of any burdens. They were not to pay tonnage or duties;
no, not even the form of clearing out: all ports were free and open
to them! Why, then, call this a reciprocal bargain, which took all
from one party, to bestow it on the other? " — Elliot's Debates, vol.
iv. pp. 272, 273.
General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney had been a member
of the Federal Convention, and was an earnest and able supporter of the rights of the State he represented. He was
undoubtedly sincere in his belief that he had made for his
constituents pretty good terms in regard to their special
interests, and that they ought to be satisfied with the Constitution, and vote for its adoption.
Gen. C. C.   "You have so frequently heard my sentiments on this subject,
Pinckney. that I need not now repeat them. It was alleged by some of the
members who opposed an unlimited importation, that slaves increased
the weakness of any State who admitted them; that they were a
dangerous species of property, which an invading enemy could easily
turn against ourselves and the neighboring States; and that, as we
were allowed a representation for them in the House of Representatives, our influence in government would be increased in proportion as
we were less able to defend ourselves.' Show some period,' said the




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.              83
members from the Eastern States,'when it may be in our power to SouthCarolina
put a stop, if we please, to the importation of this weakness, and we Legislawill endeavor, for your convenience, to restrain the religious and ture.
political prejudices of our people on this subject.' The Middle States Gen. C. C.
Pinckney.
and Virginia made us no such proposition: they were for an immediate and total prohibition. We endeavored to obviate the objections
that were made, in the best manner we could, and assigned reasons
for our insisting on the importation; which there is no occasion to
repeat, as they must occur to every gentleman in the house. A Committee of the States was appointed, in order to accommodate this
matter; and, after a great deal of difficulty, it was settled on the footing recited in the Constitution.
"By this settlement, we have secured an unlimited importation of
negroes for twenty years. Nor is it declared that the importation
shall be then stopped: it may be continued. We have a security that
the General Government can never emancipate them; for no such
authority is granted: and it is admitted, on all hands, that the General Government has no powers but what are expressly granted
by the Constitution, and that all rights not expressed were reserved by
the several States. We have obtained a right to recover our slaves
in whatever part of America they may take refuge; which is a right
we had not before. In short, considering all circumstances, we have
made the best terms for the security of this species of property it was
in our power to make. We would have made better, if we could;
but, on the whole, I do not think them bad." — Elliot's Debates, vol.
iv. pp. 285, 286.
Outside, also, of the State Conventions, opinions in regard
to the effect of the Federal Constitution on slavery were
divided. Two letters, written on the same day, in different
parts of the country, by persons of high character and great
influence in their respective States, will exhibit these differing views.
Dr. Ramsay, the historian of South Carolina, in a letter to
General Lincoln, dated Charleston, Jan. 29th, 1788, says,"Our Assembly is now sitting, and have unanimously agreed to Doctor
hold a convention. By common consent, the merits of the Federal namsay.
Constitution were freely discussed on that occasion, for the sake of




84                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Doctor   enlightening our citizens. Mr. [Rawlins] Lowndes was the only man
Ramsay.  who made direct, formal opposition to it. His objections were local,
and proceeded from an illiberal jealousy of New-England men. He
urged that you would raise freights on us, and, in short, that you
were too cunning for our honest people; that your end of the Continent would rule the other; and that the sun of our glory would set
when the new Constitution operated. He has not one Federal idea in
his head. He is said to be honest, and free from debt: but he was
an enemy to independence; and, though our President in 1778, he
was a British subject in 1780. His taking protection was rather the
passive act of an old man than otherwise. He never aided or abetted
the British Government directly; but his example was mischievous.
His opposition has poisoned the minds of some.
" I fear the numerous class of debtors more than any other. On
the whole, I have no doubt the Constitution will be accepted by a very
great majority in this State. The sentiments of our leading men are,
of late, much more Federal than formerly. This honest sentiment
was avowed by the first characters:'New England has lost, and we
have gained, by the war; and her suffering citizens ought to be our
carriers, though a dearer freight should be the consequence.' Your
delegates never did a more politic thing than in standing by those of
South Carolina about negroes. Virginia deserted them, and was for
an immediate stoppage of further importation. The [Old] Dominion
has lost much popularity by the conduct of her delegates on this head.
The language now is,'The Eastern States can soonest help us in case
of invasion; and it is more our interest to encourage them and their
shipping than to join with or look up to Virginia.'
" In short, Sir, a revolution highly favorable to union has taken
place: Federalism, and liberality of sentiment, have gained great
ground. Mr. Lowndes still thinks you are a set of sharpers, and does
not wonder that you are for the new Constitution; as, in his opinion,
you will have all the advantage. He thinks you begrudge us our
negroes. But he is almost alone." —Bowen's Life of Gen. Lincoln,
(Sparks's Amer. Biogr., 2d Series, vol. xiii.,) pp. 410-412.
In a letter to Dr. Hart of Preston, dated 29th January,
1788, the Rev. Dr. Hopkins of Newport, R.I., writes thus: 
Rev. Dr.    " The new Constitution, you observe, guarantees this trade for
Hopkins. twenty years. I fear, if it be adopted, this will prove an Achan in




NEGROES AS SLAVES AND AS CITIZENS.             85
our camp. How does it appear in the sight of Heaven and of all Rev. Dr.
good men, well informed, that these States, who have been fighting o
for liberty, and consider themselves as the highest and most noble
example of zeal for it, cannot agree in any political Constitution,
unless it indulge and authorize them to enslave their fellow-men!
I think if this Constitution be not adopted as it is, without any alteration, we shall have none, and shall be in a state of anarchy, and
probably of civil war. Therefore I wish to have it adopted; but
still, as I said, Ifear. And perhaps civil war will not be avoided, if
it be adopted. Ah! these unclean spirits, like frogs, - they, like the
Furies of the poets, are spreading discord, and exciting men to contention and war, wherever they go; and they can spoil the best
Constitution that can be formed. When Congress shall be formed on
the new plan, these frogs will be there; for they go forth to the kings
of the earth, in the first place. They will turn the members of that
august body into devils, so far as they are permitted to influence them.
Have they not already got possession of most of the men who will or
can be chosen and appointed to a place in that assembly? I suppose
that even good Christians are not out of the reach of influence from
these frogs.'Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments.' "-Park's Memoir of Ho2pkins, pp. 158, 159.
I have thus attempted to give a fair representation of the
different shades of opinion on the Constitution in its relations
to slavery, as expressed by the leading statesmen at the North
and at the South. In the ample extracts from the Debates
which have been presented, an apparent lack of harmony may
be discovered among the arguments used in various parts of
the country, whether in urging its adoption or its rejection.
With an earnest zeal to secure for their country so great a
boon as a firmly established Constitutional Government, its
advocates may have pressed a little too strongly the arguments in favor of the views most acceptable to the particular
State which at the time had the matter under consideration.
On the other hand, the opponents of the Constitution undoubtedly exaggerated the evils which it was supposed it would
entail upon the States, and perhaps unconsciously misrepresented the effects of the different clauses referring to slavery.




86              AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
One thing is certain, that whilst the delegates from Georgia
and South Carolina asked only a temporary toleration of the
slave-trade, and non-interference with their local arrangements
respecting domestic slavery, (declaring that, if let alone, they
might themselves, as soon as it was practicable, stop the importation of slaves,) the common sentiment, in the Convention
and throughout the country, was, that the letter and the spirit
of the Constitution, fairly interpreted and faithfully applied,
afforded a full guaranty of universal freedom throughout the
Union at no distant day. The purpose of the Constitution
was put into the preamble in no equivocal language, and for
no doubtful purpose. It was " TO SECURE LIBERTY," and not
to protect slavery: for liberty had been declared to be a
natural, national, and unalienable right; while slavery was
known to be an unnatural, sectional, temporary evil. It was
intended, that, under the Constitution, slavery should, and it
was expected that it would, at no distant day, be abolished.
The distinguished English moralist, Dr. Paley, published
his "Moral and Political Philosophy" two years after our
National Independence had been acknowledged. In his chapter on Slavery, he placed permanently on record his view of
the effect of the principles promulgated by the American
patriots, in these words: "The great Revolution which has
taken place in the Western World may probably conduce
(and who knows but that it was designed?) to accelerate the
fall of this abominable tyranny."
Half a century later, in the Senate of the United States,
Daniel Webster, the great defender of the Constitution, reaffirmed the principles of the Founders of the Republic in an
immortal sentence, which it would be well for his countrymen
now to heed. It is applicable in a broader sense than its
author on that occasion intended: " LIBERTY AND UNION, NOW
AND FOR EVER, ONE AND INSEPARABLE."




IIL
NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.








II.
NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.
A QUESTION of much importance is presented to our National
Government at this time respecting the employment of negroes as soldiers. Those on whom devolves the responsibility
of suppressing this monstrous Rebellion, must ultimately, and
at no distant day, decide the matter. In their decision, they
will undoubtedly be influenced by a regard to the usage and
experience, in this respect, of those who directed our military
affairs in the war of Independence, as well as by a consideration of the probable effect of their action on our loyal soldiers,
and on the armed traitors who are arrayed against them.
It is not strange that the President, on whom, more than
on all others, rests the responsibility of taking the final step
in this direction, should pause a while to consider the subject
in all its bearings, and to allow public opinion to shape itself
more distinctly, that his decision, when made, shall have from
the Nation a cordial and general support.
Public opinion heretofore has been divided on this question. In one direction, whenever the subject of negro soldiers
is mentioned, there is an outcry, as if an atrocious and unheardof policy were now about to be introduced, -something at
variance with the practice of our Revolutionary leaders, and
abhorrent to the moral sentiment and the established usage
of civilized and Christian warriors.
On the other hand, Governor Sprague of Rhode Island,
a conservative of the first degree, but convinced that there
is something more worthy of conservation than treacherous
timidity or popular prejudice, calls upon the colored people
of his own patriotic State to follow the example of their fathers
in the war of Seventy-six, and form themselves into a regi12




90                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
ment, which he proposes, at the proper time, to lead to the
field in person.
To throw some light from the history of the past, I propose, by a reference to the annals of the American Revolution
and a citation of competent authorities, to exhibit the opinions
of the patriot statesmen and soldiers of that period, and their
action in regard to negroes as soldiers, as well as the result
of their experiment.
Two or three incidents in the earliest conflicts with the
British troops will show how little prejudice there was against
negroes at the commencement of the war, and how ready the
citizens generally then were, not only to secure their services
as fellow-soldiers, but to honor them for their patriotism and
valor.
In the " Boston Gazette, or Weekly Journal," of Tuesday,
Oct. 2, 1750, there was published the following advertisement:
" R   AN-away from his master William Brown of Framingham, on
-  the 30th of Sept. last, a Molatto Fellow, about 27 Years of
Age, named Crispas, 6 Feet 2 Inches high, short curl'd Hair, his
Knees nearer together than common; had on a light colour'd Bearskin Coat, plain brown Fustian Jacket, or brown all-Wool one, new
Buckskin Breeches, blue Yarn Stockings, and a checked woolen Shirt.
"Whoever shall take up said Run-away, and convey him to his
abovesaid Master, shall have ten Pounds, old Tenor Reward, and all
necessary Charges paid. And all Masters of Vessels and others, are
hereby cautioned against concealing or carrying off said Servant on
Penalty of the Law. Boston, October 2, 1750."
The "Molatto Fellow," it seems, did not speedily return
to his master, notwithstanding the reward which was offered;
for, on the 13th and 20th of November, another advertisement,
similar to the above, was published in the same Journal.
The next time that his name appeared in a Boston newspaper, twenty years later, it was under very different circumstances. He was no longer a fugitive slave, but a hero
and a martyr.




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                91
The Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770, may be regarded as Boston
Massacre,
the first act in the drama of the American Revolution. "From March 5,
1770.
that moment," said Daniel Webster, "we may dale the severance of the British Empire." The presence of the British
soldiers in King Street excited the patriotic indignation of
the people. The whole community was stirred, and sage
counsellors were deliberating and writing and talking about
the public grievances. But it was not for "the wise and
prudent" to be the first to act against the encroachments of
arbitrary power. " A motley rabble of saucy boys, negroes
and mulattoes, Irish Teagues, and outlandish Jack tars," (as
John Adams described them  in his plea in defence of the
soldiers,) could not restrain their emotion, or stop to inquire
if what they must do was according to the letter of any law.
Led by Crispus Attucks, the mulatto slave, and shouting,
" The way to get rid of these soldiers is to attack the main
guard; strike at the root; this is the nest," with more valor
than discretion they rushed to King Street, and were fired
upon by Captain Preston's Company. Crispus Attucks was
the first to fall: he and Samuel Gray and Jonas Caldwell
were killed on the spot. Samuel Maverick and Patrick Carr
were mortally wounded.
The excitement which followed was intense. The bells of
the town were rung. An impromptu town-meeting was held,
and an immense assembly was gathered.
Three days after, on the 8th, a public funeral of the mar- Funeral
of the
tyrs took place. The shops in Boston were closed; and all Martyrs.
the bells of Boston and the neighboring towns were rung.
It is said that a greater number of persons assembled on this
occasion than were ever before gathered on this continent for
a similar purpose. The body of Crispus Attucks, the mulatto
slave, had been placed in Faneuil Hall, with that of Caldwell;
both being strangers in the city. Maverick was buried from
his mother's house in Union Street; and Gray, from his
brother's in Royal Exchange Lane. The four hearses formed




92                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Boston   a junction in King Street; and there the procession marched
Massacre,
March 5, in columns six deep, with a long file of coaches belonging to
the most distinguished citizens, to the Middle Burying-ground,
where the four victims were deposited in one grave; over
which a stone was placed with this inscription:" Long as in Freedom's cause the wise contend,
Dear to your country shall your fame extend;
While to the world the lettered stone shall tell
Where Caldwell, Attucks, Gray, and Maverick fell."
The anniversary of this event was publicly commemorated
in Boston by an oration and other exercises every year until
after our national Independence was achieved, when the
Fourth of July was substituted for the Fifth of March as
the more proper day for a general celebration. Not only was the
event commemorated, but the martyrs who then gave up their
lives were remembered and honored.  Dr. Joseph Warren,
in his Oration in March, 1775, only two months before he
showed the sincerity of his sentiments by sealing them with
his own precious blood, gave utterance to the following bold
and timely words —
Joseph     " That personal freedom is the natural right of every man, and
Warren.  that property, or an exclusive right to dispose of what he has honestly
acquired by his own labor, necessarily arises therefrom, are truths
which common sense has placed beyond the reach of contradiction.
And no man, or body of men, can, without being guilty of flagrant
injustice, claim a right to dispose of the persons or acquisitions of any
other man, or body of men, unless it can be proved that such a right
has arisen from some compact between the parties, in which it has
been explicitly and freely granted." - Oration, p. 5.
1775,     At the battle of Bunker Hill, on the memorable 17th of
17th June.
Battle of  June, 1775, negro soldiers stood side by side, and fought
Bunker
Hill.    bravely, with their white brethren.  If on the monument
which commemorates that event were inscribed the names of
those most worthy of honor for their heroic deeds on that day,
high up on the shaft, with the names of Warren and Prescott,




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                    93
we should find that of PETER SALEM, a negro soldier, once a Peter
Salem.
slave.
Major Pitcairn, of the British Marines, it is well known,
fell just as he mounted the redoubt, shouting " The day is
ours! "  The shot which laid him  low was fired by Peter
Salem.
Although the shaft does not bear his name, the pencil of
the artist has portrayed the scene, the pen of the impartial
historian has recorded his achievement, and the voice of the
eloquent orator has resounded his valor.
Colonel Trumbull, in his celebrated historic picture of this Colonel
Trumbull's
battle, introduces conspicuously the colored patriot. At the picture.
time of the battle, the artist, then acting as adjutant, was stationed with his regiment in Roxbury, and saw the action from
that point. The picture was painted in 1786, when the event
was fresh in his mind.  It is a significant historical fact, pertinent to our present research, that, among the limited number of figures introduced on the canvas, more than one negro
soldier can be distinctly seen.
And here I may venture to publish an extract from a letter
written to me recently by Aaron White, Esq., of Thompson,
in Connecticut, in answer to an inquiry on this subject: —
"' With regard to the black hero of Bunker Hill, I never knew him Aaron
White's
personally, nor did I ever hear from his lips the story of his achieve- account
ments; but I have better authority. About the year 1807, I heard a of Peter
Salem.
soldier of the Revolution, who was present at the Bunker-Hill battle,
relate to my father the story of the death of Major Pitcairn.  He said
the Major had passed the storm of our fire without, and had mounted the
redoubt, when, waving his sword, he commanded, in a loud voice,
the' rebels' to surrender. His sudden appearance and his commanding air at first startled the men immediately before him. They neither
answered nor fired; probably not being exactly certain what was next
to be done. At this critical moment, a negro soldier stepped forward,
and, aiming his musket directly at the major's bosom, blew him
through. M3y informant declared that he was so near, that he distinctly saw the act. The story made quite an impression on my mind.




94                 AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Account  I have frequently heard my father relate the story, and have no doubt
of Peter
falPem.   of its truth. My father, on the day of the battle, was a mere child,
and witnessed the battle and the burning of Charlestown from Roxbury Hill, sitting on the shoulders of the Rev. Mr. Jackson, who said
to him as he replaced him  on the ground,' Now, boy, do you remember this.' Consequently, after such an injunction, he would
necessarily pay particular attention to anecdotes concerning the first
and only battle he ever witnessed."
The Rev. William  Barry in his excellent "History of
Framingham," and the Hon. Emory Washburn in his valuable
" History of Leicester," give pretty full accounts of the colored patriot, who acted so important a part on that memorable
occasion.  Mr. Washburn says, —
Emory      "That shot was undoubtedly fired by Peter; and the death of
Washburn. Major Pitcairn, with its accompanying circumstances, formed one
of the most touching incidents of this eventful day..... After
the war, he came to Leicester, and continued to reside there till a
short time before his death. The history of the town would be incomplete without giving him  a place..... He was born
in Framingham, and was held as a slave, probably until he joined
the army; whereby, if not before, he became free. This was the
case with many of the slaves in Massachusetts, as no slave could be
mustered into the army. If the master suffered this to be done, it
worked a practical emancipation. Peter served faithfully as a soldier,
during the war, in Col. Nixon's regiment. A part of the time, he
was the servant of Col. Nixon, and always spoke of him in terms of
admiration." -History of Leicester, pp. 266, 267, 308.
When the statue of General Joseph Warren was inaugurated on the 17th of June, 1857, the Honorable Edward Everett,
in his Address, did not forget to mention the colored patriot,
and thus to secure for his act perpetual record. Such an
honor far exceeds that of any sculptured stone. Pointing to
the obelisk, Mr. Everett said:Edward     " It commemorates no individual man or State. It stands, indeed,
honorable on the soil of Massachusetts, where the battle was fought; but there
mention  it stands equally for Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island,
Salem.   and the younger sof       the New-Egland family, Vermont and
Salem.   and the younger sisters of the New-England family, Vermont and




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                     95
Maine, whose troops shared with ours the dangers and honors of the Edward
Everett's
day. It stands for Prescott and Warren, but not less for Putnam honorable
and Stark and Greene. No name adorns the shaft; but ages hence, of Peter
though our alphabets may become as obscure as those which cover Salem.
the monuments of Nineveh and Babylon, its uninscribed surface (on
which monarchs might be proud to engrave their titles) will perpetuate the memory of the 17th of June. It is the monument of the day,
of the event, of the battle of Bunker Hill; of all the brave men who
shared its perils, - alike of Prescott and Putnam and Warren, the
chiefs of the day, and the colored man, Salem, who is reported to have
shot the gallant Pitcairn, as he mounted the parapet. Cold as the
clods on which it rests, still as the silent heavens to which it soars, it
is yet vocal, eloquent, in their undivided praise."- Orations and
Speeches, vol. iii. p. 529.
Another colored soldier, who participated in the battle of Salem
Bunker Hill, is favorably noticed in a petition to the General
Court, signed by some of the principal officers, less than six
months after the event. It is printed from the original manuscript in our State Archives.
"To the Honorable General Court of the Massachusetts Bay.
" The subscribers beg leave to report to your Honorable House
(which we do in justice to the character of so brave a man), that,
under our own observation, we declare that a negro man called Salem
Poor, of Col. Frye's regiment, Capt. Ames' company, in the late battle at Charlestown, behaved like an experienced officer, as well as an
excellent soldier. To set forth particulars of his conduct would be
tedious. We would only beg leave to say, in the person of this said
negro centres a brave and gallant soldier. The reward due to so
great and distinguished a character, we submit to the Congress.
JONA. BREWER, Col.          ELIPHALET BODWELL, Sgt.
THOMAS NIXON, Lt.-Col.     JOSIAH FOSTER, Lieut.
WM. PRESCOTT, Co10         EBENR. VARNUM, 2d Lieut.
EPHM. COREY, Lieut.         WM. HUDSON BALLARD, Cpt.
JOSEPH BAKER, Lieut.        WILLIAM SMITH, Cap.
JOSHUA ROW, Lieut.          JOHN MORTON, Sergt. [?]
JONAS RICHARDSON, Capt.    Lieut. RICHARD WELSH.
"CAMBRIDGE, Dec. 5, 1775.
"In Council, Dec. 21, 1775.-Read, and sent down.
" PEREZ MORTON, Dep'y Sec'y."
(MS. Archives of Massachusetts, vol. clxxx. p. 241.)




96                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Here I cannot forbear calling attention to the opinion of
one who was a brave soldier, not only in this battle, but from
the commencement to the close of the Revolution; and whose
name continues to be honored in his children and his children's children in our own city.
Major     "' Samuel Lawrence was born in Groton, April 24, 1754; and was,
La  therefore, in his early manhood when our Revolutionary struggle
commenced. In common with all the hardy, intelligent, liberty-loving yeomanry of New England, he espoused the cause of the Colonies,
and devoted himself to it with a courage that never failed, a constancy
that never faltered, till his country had passed'from impending servitude to acknowledged independence.' At work in the field, ploughing his paternal acres, when the news of the attack upon Concord
reached Groton, he immediately unloosed a horse from his team, and,
mounting, rode rapidly through Groton and some of the adjoining
towns, spreading the alarm, and summoning the militia to assemble.
He returned in season to join his own company at the church at Groton, at twelve o'clock; where, after prayer offered by the pastor of
the town, they started for Concord, helped to swell that impetuous
tide of resistance which drove back the invaders, and slept that night
on Cambridge Common, after a forced march of thirty miles, and hot
skirmishes with the retreating foe. From that time to the peace of
1783, he was' a soldier of the Revolution'; and, with the exception
of one or two brief visits to his family and friends at Groton, he was
in actual service throughout the whole war. I-e rose to the rank of
major, and for a considerable period was attached to Gen. Sullivan's
staff as adjutant; an office for which his powerful lungs and sonorous
voice, which could be heard throughout a long line of troops,
peculiarly fitted him. He was in many of the severest battles of the
Revolution.
"At Bunker Hill, where he was slightly wounded, his coat and
hat were pierced with the balls of the enemy, and were preserved in
the family for many years. At one time he commanded a company
whose rank and file were all negroes, of whose courage, military
discipline, and fidelity, he always spoke with respect. On one occasion, being out reconnoitring with this company, he got so far in
advance of his command, that he was surrounded, and on the point
of being made prisoner by the enemy. The men, soon discovering
his peril, rushed to his rescue, and fought with the most determined




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                    97
bravery till that rescue was effectually secured. He never forgot this Major
circumstance, and ever after took especial pains to show kindness and Lawrence
hospitality to any individual of the colored race who came near his
dwelling." — Memoir of William  Lawrence, by Rev. S. K. Lothrop,
D.D., pp. 8, 9.
A single passage from  Mr. Bancroft's History will give a
succinct and clear account of the condition of the army, in
respect to colored soldiers, at the time of the battle of Bunker
Hill:" Nor should history forget to record, that as in the army at Cam- George
bridge, so also in this gallant band, the free negroes of the Colony Bancroft.
had their representatives. For the right of free negroes to bear arms
in the public defence was, at that day, as little disputed in New England as their other rights. They took their place, not in a separate
corps, but in the ranks with the white man; and their names may be
read on the pension-rolls of the country, side by side with those of
other soldiers of the Revolution."   Bancroft's History of the U. S.,
vol. vii. p. 421.
At the commencement of the war, not only were free
negroes received  into the army, but, in many instances,
slaves also stood in the ranks with freemen. The inconsistency, however, in using as soldiers, in an army raised for
establishing National Liberty, those who were held in bondage,
was too gross for the practice long to continue. This was
virtually acknowledged in a Resolution which was adopted
before the first great battle had been fought.
On the 20th of May, the Committee of Safety
" Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee, as the contest Committee
now between Great Britain and the Colonies respects the liberties of Safety.
and privileges of the latter, which the Colonies are determined to
maintain, that the admission of any persons, as Soldiers, into the
Army now raising, but only such as are Freemen, will be inconsistent with the principles that are to be supported, and reflect dishonor
on this Colony; and that no Slaves be admitted into this army upon
any consideration whatever."- Force's American Archives, Fourth
Series, vol. ii. p. 762.
13




98                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
The celebrated divine, the Rev. Dr. Hopkins of Newport,
R. I., soon after the commencement of hostilities, published a
" Dialogue concerning the Slavery of the Africans," which he
dedicated to "The Honorable Continental Congress."  As
this tract was re-issued in New York by the Manumission
Society, of which Robert R. Livingston, Alexander Hamilton,
and John Jay were active members, and a copy of it sent, by
their direction, to each member of Congress, the views it contains are quite important as illustrating the sentiment of some
of the ablest men of that time. The following extract is from
a note to the "Dialogue: "Rev. Dr.    " God is so ordering it in his providence, that it seems absolutely
I1opkins.
necessary something should speedily be done with respect to the slaves
among us, in order to our safety, and to prevent their turning against
us in our present struggle, in order to get their liberty. Our oppressors have planned to gain the blacks, and induce them to take up arms
against us, by promising them liberty on this condition; and this plan
they are prosecuting to the utmost of their power, by which means
they have persuaded numbers to join them. And should we attempt
to restrain them by force and severity, keeping a strict guard over
them, and punishing them severely who shall be detected in attempting to join our opposers, this will only be making bad worse, and
serve to render our inconsistence, oppression, and cruelty more criminal, perspicuous, and shocking, and bring down the righteous
vengeance of Heaven on our heads. The only way pointed out to
prevent this threatening evil is to set the blacks at liberty ourselves
by some public acts and laws, and then give them proper encouragement to labor, or take arms in the defence of the American cause, as
they shall choose. This would at once be doing them some degree
of justice, and defeating our enemies in the scheme that they are
prosecuting." - Hopkins's Works, vol. ii. p. 584.
Many slaves were manumitted that they might become
soldiers. They served faithfully to the close of the war.
Their skill and bravery were never called in question, but,
on the contrary, were frequently commended.  There does
not, however, appear to have been, at that time, any special




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                   99
legislation sanctioning the employment of Negroes as soldiers.
Authority was given by the Provincial Congress of South
Carolina, Nov. 20, 1775, for military officers to use slaves for
certain purposes, as will be seen by the following resolution: 
" On motion, Resolved, That the colonels of the several regiments South
Carolina
of militia throughout the Colony have leave to enroll such a num- Provincial
ber of able male slaves, to be employed as pioneers and laborers, as Congress.
public exigencies may require; and that a daily pay of seven shillings
and sixpence be allowed for the service of each such slave while
actually employed."- American Archives, Fourth Series, vol. iv.
p. 61.
This resolution must not be regarded as a general sanction, Unsettled
policy
on the part of South Carolina, of the employment of slaves as respecting
negroes as
soldiers.  Such was far from being the case.  Although some soldiers.
of her ablest statesmen and bravest soldiers on several occasions advocated strongly in the Continental Congress, and in
the Provincial Legislature, such a use of Negroes, there
was a strong, successful, and disastrous opposition to the
measure.
The first general order issued by Ward, the commanding
officer, required a return of the " complexion " of the soldiers.
It would be interesting, and not very difficult for any one
who has access to the early rolls of the army, and leisure to
examine them, to ascertain the number of negroes who became soldiers. It would also be interesting, and perhaps not
wholly unprofitable, to trace the progress of opinion on this
subject, from the time when the opposition to negro soldiers
first commenced, until it was so far overcome, that nearly
every State, by legislative act or by practice, sanctioned their
employment.  The most that I can do, in this paper, is to
produce some specimens of the opinions, laws, and action of
that period. It may be well to observe, that what has caused
so much complaint in the management of the present civil
war -the apparently vacillating action and unsettled policy




100              AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
of the administration and the army with regard to the use of
negroes as soldiers - is not without a precedent, " an historic
parallel," in the annals of the Revolutionary War.
Although slavery existed throughout the country, it is a
significant fact, that the principal opposition to negro soldiers
came from the States where there was the least hearty and
efficient support of the principles of Republican Government,
and the least ability or disposition to furnish an equal or fair
quota of white soldiers.
South Carolina and Georgia contained so many Tories, at
one time, that it was supposed the British officers, who elsewhere would, by proclamation, free all negroes joining the
Royal Army, might hesitate to meddle with them  in these
Colonies, lest " the king's friends " should suffer thereby.
John Adams, in his " Diary," under the date of the 28th of
September, 1775, gives an account of an interview with Mr.
Bullock and Mr. Houston, of Georgia; in which the following
statement occurs:
Georgia    "The question was, whether all America was not in a state of
and South
Carolina. war, and whether we ought to confine ourselves to act upon the defensive only? He was for acting offensively next spring or this fall,
if the petition was rejected or neglected. If it was not answered,
and favorably answered, he would be for acting against Britain and
Britons, as, in open war, against French and Frenchmen; fit privateers, and take their ships anywhere. These gentlemen give a
melancholy account of the state of Georgia and South Carolina.
They say, that if one thousand regular troops should land in Georgia,
and their commander be provided with arms and clothes enough, and
proclaim freedom to all the negroes who would join his camp, twenty
thousand negroes would join it from the two Provinces in a fortnight.
The negroes have a wonderful art of communicating intelligence
among themselves: it will run several hundreds of miles in a week
or fortnight. They say their only security is this: that all the king's
friends, and tools of government, have large plantations, and property
in negroes; so that the slaves of the Tories would be lost, as well as
those of the Whigs." - Works of John Adams, vol. ii. p. 428.




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                   101
On the 10th of July, 1775, there was issued at Cambridge,
by General Gates, an order determining what persons were
to be excluded by the recruiting officers, who were immediately to go upon that service.
"You are not to enlist any deserter from the Ministerial Army, Order
nor any stroller, negro, or vagabond, or person suspected of being an en"istg
enemy to the liberty of America, nor any under eighteen years of ments
age.
" As the cause is the best that can engage men of courage and
principle to take up arms, so it is expected that none but such will be
accepted by the recruiting officer. The pay, provision, &c., being so
ample, it is not doubted but that the officers sent upon this service
will, without delay, complete their respective corps, and march the
men forthwith to camp.
" You are not to enlist any person who is not an American born,
unless such person has a wife and family, and is a settled resident in
this country. The persons you enlist must be provided with good
and complete arms." — From Gaines's Mercury, July 24, (in Frank
Moore's Diary of the American Revolution, vol. i. p. 110.)
On the 26th of September following, according to Mr. Orders to
exclude
Bancroft, " Edward Rutledge, of South Carolina, moved the negroes.
discharge of all the negroes in the army, and he was strongly
supported by many of the Southern delegates; but the opposition was so powerful and so determined, that'he lost his
point.'"
On the 18th of October, a Committee of Conference, consisting of Dr. Franklin, Benjamin Harrison, and Thomas Lynch,
met at Cambridge, with the Deputy-Governors of Connecticut and Rhode Island, a Committee of the Council of Massachusetts Bay, and General Washington, to  consider the
condition of the army, and to devise means for its improvement.  On the 23d of October, the subject of negro soldiers
came before them  for action, and was thus decided: -
" Ought not negroes to be excluded from the new enlistment, especially such as are slaves? All were thought improper by the
council of officers.




102                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
"Agreed, That they be rejected altogether."   Force's American
Archives, Fourth Series, vol. iii. p. 1161.
The following extract from  the Orderly Book, under the
date of November 12th, indicates the spirit that prevailed in
enlisting the new army: —
" The officers are to be careful not to enlist any person suspected
of being unfriendly to the liberties of America, or any abandoned
vagabond, to whom  all causes and countries are equal and alike
indifferent. The rights of mankind and the freedom of America will
have numbers sufficient to support them, without resorting to such
wretched assistance. Let those who wish to put shackles upon freemen fill their ranks with such miscreants, and place their confidence
in them. Neither negroes, boys unable to bear arms, nor old men
unfit to endure the fatigues of the campaign, are to be enlisted."Sparks's Washington, vol. iii. p. 155.
Negroes to    On the 31st of December, 1775, Washington wrote from
be enlisted.
Cambridge to the President of Congress in regard to the
army, in which he thus alludes to negro soldiers: --
" It has been represented to me, that the free negroes who have
served in this army are very much dissatisfied at being discarded.
As it is to be apprehended that they may seek employ in the Ministerial Army, I have presumed to depart from the resolution respecting
them, and have given license for their being enlisted. If this is disapproved of by Congress, I will put a stop to it." - Sparks's Washington, vol. iii. pp. 218, 219.
Mr. Sparks appends to this letter the following note:" At a meeting of the general officers, previously to the arrival of
the committee from Congress in camp, it was unanimously resolved,
that it was not expedient to enlist slaves in the new army; and, by a
large majority, negroes of every description were excluded from enlistment. When the subject was referred to the committee in conference, this decision was confirmed. In regard to free negroes, however,
the resolve was not adhered to, and probably for the reason here
mentioned by General Washington. Many black soldiers were in
the service during all stages of the war." — Sparks's Washington,
vol. iii. pp. 218, 219.




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                   103
On the 16th of January, 1776, Congress thus decided the
question submitted by Washington: —
"That the free negroes, who have served faithfully in the army
at Cambridge, may be re-enlisted therein, but no others." - Journals
of Congress, vol. ii. p. 26.
An extract from a letter of General Thomas to John Adams Account of
the army
gives a true picture of the army by one fully competent to in 1775.
describe it:" I am sorry to hear that any prejudices should take place in any
Southern colony, with respect to the troops raised in this. I am
certain the insinuations you mention are injurious, if we consider with
what precipitation we were obliged to collect an army. In the regiments at Roxbury, the privates are equal to any that I served with
in the last war; very few old men, and in the ranks very few boys.
Our fifers are many of them boys. We have some negroes; but I
look on them, in general, equally serviceable with other men for
fatigue; and, in action, many of them have proved themselves brave.
" I would avoid all reflection, or any thing that may tend to give
umbrage; but there is in this army from the southward a number
called riflemen, who are as indifferent men as I ever served with.
These privates are mutinous, and often deserting to the enemy; unwilling for duty of any kind; exceedingly vicious; and, I think, the
army here would be as well without as with them. But to do justice
to their officers, they are, some of them, likely men."- MS. Letter,
dated 24th October, 1775.
While the question of employing negroes as soldiers was Lord
Dunmore's
producing a troublesome controversy in the Army and in ProclamaCongress, our enemies boldly met the matter in a practical
manner.  Lord Dunmore, the Royal Governor of Virginia,
issued a proclamation in November, 1775, promising freedom
to all slaves who would join the army of the British. In a
recent " History of England," this act is thus described: —
" In letters which had been laid before the English Parliament,
and published to the whole world, he had represented the planters as
ambitious, selfish men, pursuing their own interests and advancement
at the expense of their poorer countrymen, and as being ready to
make every sacrifice of honesty and principle; and he had said more




104               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
English   privately, that, since they were so anxious for liberty,,-for more
account
of Lord  freedom than was consistent with the free institutions of the motherDctinores country and the charter of the Colony, —that since they were so
eager to abolish a fanciful slavery in a dependence on Great Britain,
he would try how they liked an abolition of real slavery by setting
free all their negroes and indentured servants, who were, in fact, little
better than white slaves. This, to the Virginians, was like passing a
rasp over a gangrened place: it was probing a wound that was incurable, or which has not yet been healed. Later in the year, when
the battle of Bunker's Hill had been fought, when our forts on Lake
Champlain had been taken from  us, and when Montgomery and
Arnold were pressing on our possessions in Canada, Lord Dunmore
carried his threat into execution. Having established his head-quarters at Norfolk, he proclaimed freedom to all the slaves who would
repair to his standard and bear arms for the king. The summons
was readily obeyed by most of the negroes who had the means of
escaping to him. He, at the same time, issued a proclamation,
declaring martial law throughout the Colony of Virginia; and he
collected a number of armed vessels, which cut off the coasting-trade,
made many prizes, and greatly distressed an important part of that
Province. If he could have opened a road to the slaves in the interior
of the Province, his measures would have been very fatal to the
planters. In order to stop the alarming desertion of the negroes,
and to arrest his Lordship in his career, the Provincial Assembly
detached against him a strong force of more than a thousand men,
who arrived in the neighborhood of Norfolk in the month of December. Having made a circuit, they came to a village called Great
Bridge, where the river Elizabeth was traversed by a bridge; but,
before their arrival, the bridge had been made impassable, and some
works, defended chiefly by negroes, had been thrown up." - Pictorial
History of England, George IIL., vol. i. pp. 224, 225.
The Proclamation of Lord Dunmore was as follows:Lord      By his Excellency the Right Honorable JOHN, Earl of DtNMORE,
Dunmore's
Proclama-    his M3ajesty's Lieutenant and Governor-General of the Colony and
tion.       Dominion of Virginia, and Vice-Admiral of the same, -
A PROCLAMATION.
" As I have ever entertained hopes that an accommodation might
have taken place between Great Britain and this Colony, without being




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                   105
compelled by my duty to this most disagreeable but now absolutely Lord
Dunmore's
necessary step, rendered so by a body of armed men, unlawfully Proclama.
assembled, firing on his Majesty's tenders; and the formation of an tion.
army, and that army now on their march to attack. his Majesty's
troops, and destroy the well-disposed subjects of this Colony, -to
defeat such treasonable purposes, and that all such traitors and their
abettors may be brought to justice, and that the peace and good order
of this Colony may be again restored, which the ordinary course of
the civil law is unable to effect, I have thought fit to issue this my
Proclamation; hereby declaring, that, until the aforesaid good purposes can be obtained, I do, in virtue of the power and authority to
me given by his Majesty, determine to execute martial law, and cause
the same to be executed, throughout this Colony. And, to the end
that peace and good order may the sooner be restored, I do require
every person capable of bearing arms to resort to his Majesty's standard, or be looked upon as traitors to his Majesty's Crown and
Government, and thereby become liable to the penalty the law inflicts
upon such offences, - such as forfeiture of life, confiscation of lands,
&c., &c. And I do hereby further declare all indented servants,
negroes, or others, (appertaining to rebels,) free, that are able and
willing to bear arms, they joining his Majesty's troops, as soon as
may be, for the more speedily reducing this Colony to a proper sense
of their duty to his Majesty's crown and dignity. I do further order
and require all his Majesty's liege subjects to retain their quit-rents,
or any other taxes due, or that may become due, in their own
custody, till such time as peace may be again restored to this at
present most unhappy country, or demanded of them, for their former
salutary purposes, by officers properly authorized to receive the
same.
" Given under my hand, on board the ship' William,' off Norfolk,
the seventh day of November, in the sixteenth year of his Majesty's
reign.                                            " DUNMORE.
" God save the KZing!"
(Force's "American Archives," Fourth Series, vol. iii. p. 1385.)
This Proclamation created great consternation in Virginia.
It will be seen by the following extract from a letter written
November 27th, 1775, by Edmund Pendleton to  Richard
Henry Lee, that many slaves flocked to the British standard.
14




106               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Letter from   " The Governor, hearing of this, marched out with three hundred
Edmund
Pendleton and fifty soldiers, Tories and slaves, to Kemp's Landing; and after
toRihard setting up his standard, and issuing his proclamation, declaring
Nov. 27,  all persons rebels who took up arms for the country, and inviting all
1775.
slaves, servants, and apprentices to come to him and receive arms,
he proceeded to intercept Hutchings and his party, upon whom he
came by surprise, but received, it seems, so warm a fire, that the
ragamuffins gave way. They were, however, rallied on discovering
that two companies of our militia gave way; and left Hutchings and
Dr. Reid with a volunteer company, who maintained their ground
bravely till they were overcome by numbers, and took shelter in a
swamp. The slaves were sent in pursuit of them; and one of Col.
Hutchings's own, with another, found him. On their approach, he
discharged his pistol at his slave, but missed him; and was taken by
them, after receiving a wound in his face with a sword. The numbers taken or killed, on either side, is not ascertained. It is said the
Governor went to Dr. Reid's shop, and, after taking the medicines
and dressings necessary for his wounded men, broke all the others to
pieces. Letters mention that slaves flock to him in abundance; but
I hope it is magnified."- Force's American Archives, Fourth Series,
vol. iv. p. 202.
In a paper published in Williamsburg, Virginia, on the
23d of November, the Proclamation is severely commented
on; and an urgent appeal is made to the negroes to stand by
their masters, —their true friends, — who would, "were it
in their power, restore freedom  to such as have unhappily
lost it."
Caution    " The second class of people for whose sake a few remarks upon
tegroes  this proclamation seem necessary is the negroes. They have been
flattered with their freedom, if they be able to bear arms, and will
speedily join Lord Dunmore's troops. To none, then, is freedom
promised, but to such as are able to do Lord Dunmore service. The
aged, the infirm, the women and children, are still to remain the
property of their masters, -of masters who will be provoked to
severity, should part of their slaves desert them. Lord Dunmore's
declaration, therefore, is a cruel declaration to the negroes. He does
not pretend to make it out of any tenderness to them, but solely upon
his own account; and, should it meet with success, it leaves by far




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                   107
the greater number at the mercy of an enraged and injured people. Appeal to
But should there be any amongst the negroes weak enough to believe by theigr
that Lord Dunmore intends to do them a kindness, and wicked enough masters.
to provoke the fury of the Americans against their defenceless fathers
and mothers, their wives, their women and children, let them only
consider the difficulty of effecting their escape, and what they must
expect to suffer if they fall into the hands of the Americans. Let
them further consider what must be their fate should the English prove
conquerors. If we can judge of the future from the past, it will not
be much mended. Long have the Americans, moved by compassion
and actuated by sound policy, endeavored to stop the progress of
slavery. Our Assemblies have repeatedly passed acts, laying heavy
duties upon imported negroes; by which they meant altogether to
prevent the horrid traffic. But their humane intentions have been as
often frustrated by the cruelty and covetousness of a set of English
merchants, who prevailed upon the King to repeal our kind and
merciful acts, little, indeed, to the credit of his humanity. Can it,
then, be supposed that the negroes will be better used by the English,
who have always encouraged and upheld this slavery, than by their
present masters, who pity their condition; who wish, in general, to
make it as easy and comfortable as possible; and who would, were it
in their power, or were they permitted, not only prevent any more negroes from losing theirfreedom, but restore it to such as have already
unhappily lost it?  No: the ends of Lord Dunmore and his party
being answered, they will either give up the offending negroes to the
rigor of the laws they have broken, or sell them in the West Indies,
where every year they sell many thousands of their miserable brethren, to perish either by the inclemency of weather or the cruelty of
barbarous masters. Be not then, ye negroes, tempted by this proclamation to ruin yourselves. I have given you a faithful view of what
you are to expect; and declare before God, in doing it, I have
considered your welfare, as well as that of the country. Whether
you will profit by my advice, I cannot tell; but this I know, that,
whether we suffer or not, if you desert us, you most certainly will."
- Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, vol. iii. p. 1387.
The Virginia Convention appointed a Committee to prepare a Declaration in answer to Lord Dunmore's Proclamation.
This was adopted on the 13th of December, when the same
Committee was instructed  to report another Declaration




108               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Declaration " offering pardon to such slaves as shall return to their duty
of pardon
to slaves. within ten days after the publication thereof." This also was
adopted the next day, in the following terms:" By the Representatives of the People of the Colony and Dominion of
Virginia, assembled in General Convention,
A DECLARATION.
" Whereas Lord Dunmore, by his Proclamation dated on board the
ship' William,' off Norfolk, the seventh day of November, 1775, hath
offered feeedom to such able-bodied slaves as are willing to join him,
and take up arms against the good people of this Colony, giving
thereby encouragement to a general insurrection, which may induce a
necessity of inflicting the severest punishments upon those unhappy
people, already deluded by his base and insidious arts; and whereas,
by an act of the General Assembly now in force in this Colony, it is
enacted, that all negro or other slaves, conspiring to rebel or make
insurrection, shall suffer death, and be excluded all benefit of clergy;
we think it proper to declare, that all slaves who have been or shall
be seduced, by his Lordship's Proclamation, or other arts, to desert
their masters' service, and take up arms against the inhabitants of this.
Colony, shall be liable to such punishment as shall hereafter be
directed by the General Convention. And to the end that all such
who have taken this unlawful and wicked step may return in safety
to their duty, and escape the punishment due to their crimes, we hereby
promise pardon to them, they surrendering themselves to Colonel
William Woodford or any other commander of our troops, and not
appearing in arms after the publication hereof. And we do further
earnestly recommend it to all humane and benevolent persons in this
Colony to explain and make known this our offer of mercy to those
unfortunate people." - Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, vol.
iv. pp. 84, 85.
Washington saw what an element of strength Lord Dunmore had called to his aid, and the importance of acting
promptly and with energy against him.  On the 15th of
December, he thus wrote to Joseph Reed:Lord Dun-    "If the Virginians are wise, that arch-traitor to the rights of
more to be 
crashed.  humanity, Lord Dunmore, should be instantly crushed, if it takes the
force of the whole army to do it; otherwise, like a snow-ball in




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                  109
rolling, his army will get size, some through fear, some through Lord
promises, and some through inclination, joining his standard: but Dunmore.
that which renders the measure indispensably necessary is the negroes; for, if he gets formidable, numbers of them will be tempted
to join who will be afraid to do it without." — Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed, vol. i. 135.
Although many of the slaves responded to the proclamation
by joining the army of the enemy, the greater part of them
were too shrewd to be caught by such wily arts. They were
unwilling to trust their freedom  to the officers of a government which had persistently  encouraged the slave-trade
against the remonstrances of their masters, who had not only
declared that traffic to be a wrong against humanity, but had
expressed their desire to abolish domestic slavery as soon as
it was practicable for them to do so. The inconsistency and
atrocity of Lord Dunmore's conduct justly met with very
general indignation.  Subsequent events proved that the
distrust and fears, felt by the slaves, were well founded.
It will be seen by letters written several months after
the Proclamation was issued, that his Lordship attributed the
limited success which attended it to another than the true
cause.
" Lord Dunmore to the Secretary of State.
"[No. 1.]            "SHIP'DUNMORE,' IN ELIZABETH RIVER, VA.,
30th March, 1776.
" Your Lordship will observe by my letter, No. 34, that I have
been endeavoring to raise two regiments here, - one of white people,
the other of black. The former goes on very slowly; but the latter
very well, and would have been in great forwardness, had not a fever
crept in amongst them, which carried off a great many very fine
fellows."
"[No. 3.]       "SHIP'DUNMORE,' IN GWIN'S ISLAND HARBOR, VA.,
June 26, 1776.
" I am extremely sorry to inform your Lordship, that that fever,
of which I informed you in my letter No. 1, has proved a very malignant one, and has carried off an incredible number of our people,




110               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
especially the blacks. Had it not been for this horrid disorder, I am
satisfied I should have had two thousand blacks; with whom I should
have had no doubt of penetrating into the heart of this Colony."
(Force's "American Archives," Fifth Series, vol. ii. pp. 160, 162.)
Negro       During the years 1776 and 1777, not much was done by
Soldiers.
way of legislation towards settling a general policy with regard to the employment of negroes as soldiers. They continued, in fact, to be admitted into the line of the army without
much objection.
A letter from General Greene to Washington shows that it
was then contemplated to form the negroes at Staten Island
into an independent regiment.
"CAMP ON LONG ISLAND,
July 21, 1776, two o'clock.
" Sr, — Colonel Hand reports seven large ships are coming up
from the Hook to the Narrows.
"A negro belonging to one Strickler, at Gravesend, was taken
prisoner (as he says) last Sunday at Coney Island. Yesterday he
made his escape, and was taken prisoner by the rifle-guard. He reports eight hundred negroes collected on Staten Island, this day to be
formed into a regiment.
"I am your Excellency's most obedient, humble servant,
" N. GREENE.
" To his Excellency Gen. WASHINGTON, Head-quarters, New York."
(Force's "American Archives," Fifth Series, vol. i. p. 486.)
Negro       A Resolve of the Massachusetts Legislature, in September,
Prisoners 1776, is worthy of special notice. Referring to it, a writer
in the "Historical Magazine" for September, 1861, says,
" The course of the authorities of the Southern States, now in
arms against the Government, in selling as slaves all negroes
taken prisoners, is the last relic of a barbarous custom...
The first condemnation of the course seems to be that contained in a Massachusetts Resolve, of the 14th of September,
1776, forbidding the sale, as slaves, of two negroes taken on
the sloop' Hannibal.'" The Resolve is as follows:



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                    111
" Whereas this Court is credibly informed, that two negro men Negroes to
lately taken on the high seas, on board the sloop'Hannibal,' and likether
brought into this State as prisoners, are advertised to be sold at Salem prisoners
of war.
the 17th instant, by public auction:
" Resolved, That all persons concerned with the said negroes be,
and they hereby are, forbidden to sell them, or in any manner to treat
them otherwise than is already ordered for the treatment of prisoners
taken in like manner; and, if any sale of the said negroes shall be
made, it is hereby declared null and void. And that whenever it
shall appear that any negroes are taken on the high seas, and brought
as prisoners into this State, they shall not be allowed to be sold, nor
treated any otherwise than as prisoners are ordered to be treated who
are taken in like manner." -Resolves, September, 1776, p. 14.
I am indebted to my friend Mr. William J. Davis, of New
York, for the following extract from the Journal of a Hessian
officer who was with Burgoyne at the time of his surrender.
It is a literal translation from a German work which is rare
in this country. This testimony of a foreign officer, as to the
common use of negroes in the American Army, is quite important. It is dated 23d October, 1777.
" From here to Springfield, there are few habitations which have Hessian
not a negro family dwelling in a small house near by. The negroes efftier's
testimony.
are here as fruitful as other cattle. The young ones are well foddered, especially while they are still calves. Slavery is, moreover,
very gainful. The negro is to be considered just as the bond-servant
of a peasant. The negress does all the coarse work of the house, and
the little black young ones wait on the little white young ones. The
negro can take the field, instead of his master; and therefore no regiment is to be seen in which there are not negroes in abundance: and
among them there are able-bodied, strong, and brave fellows. Here,
too, there are many families of free negroes, who live in good houses,
have property, and live just like the rest of the inhabitants."Schloezer's Briefwechsel, vol. iv. p. 365.
The capture of Major-General Prescott, of the British
army, on the 9th of July, 1777, was an occasion of great joy
throughout the country.   Prince, the valiant negro  who
seized that officer, ought always to be remembered with honor




112             AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Capture of for his important service. The exploit was much commended
the British
General  at the time, as its results were highly important; and ColoPesot nel Barton, very properly, received from Congress the compliment of a sword for his ingenuity and bravery. It seems,
however, that it took more than one head to plan and to
execute the undertaking.
" They landed about five miles from Newport, and three-quarters
of a mile from the house, which they approached cautiously, avoiding
the main guard, which was at some distance.  The Colonel went
foremost, with a stout, active negro close behind him, and another at a
small distance: the restfollowed so as to be near, but not seen.
"A single sentinel at the door saw and hailed the Colonel: he
answered by exclaiming against, and inquiring for, rebel prisoners,
but kept slowly advancing. The sentinel again challenged him, and
required the countersign. He said he had not the countersign; but
amused the sentry by talking about rebel prisoners, and still advancing till he came within reach of the bayonet, which, he presenting,
the colonel suddenly struck aside, and seized him. H-e was immediately secured, and ordered to be silent, on pain of instant death.
Meanwhile, the rest of the men surrounding the house, the negro, with
his head, at the second stroke, forced apassage into it, and then into
the landlord's apartment.  The landlord at first refused to give the
necessary intelligence; but, on the prospect of present death, he pointed
to the General's chamber, which being instantly opened by the negro's
head, the Colonel, calling the General by name, told him he was a prisoner." -Pennsylvania Evening Post, Aug. 7, 1777; (in Frank
Moore's Diary of the American Revolution, vol. i. p. 468.)
The event was thus noticed by a contemporary (Dr. Thacher), who was a surgeon in the American army:Doctor     "Albany, Aug. 3, 1777.- The pleasing information is received
Thacher's here that Lieut.-Col. Barton, of the Rhode-Island militia, planned a
account.
bold exploit for the purpose of surprising and taking Major-Gen.
Prescott, the commanding officer of the royal army at Newport.
Taking with him, in the night, about forty men, in two boats, with
oars muffled, he had the address to elude the vigilance of the ships-ofwar and guard-boats: and, having arrived undiscovered at the quarters of Gen. Prescott, they were taken for the sentinels; and the




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                  113
general was not alarmed till his captors were at the door of his lodging- Doctor
Thacher's
chamber, which was fast closed. A  negro man, named Prince, account.
instantly thrust his beetle head through the panel door, and seized his
victim while in bed.... This event is extremely honorable to the
enterprising spirit of Col. Barton, and is considered as ample retaliation for the capture of Gen. Lee by Col. Harcourt. The event
occasions great joy and exultation, as it puts in our possession an
officer of equal rank with Gen. Lee, by which means an exchange
may be obtained. Congress resolved that an elegant sword should be
presented to Col. Barton for his brave exploit."
It was perhaps " Prince " to whom Dr. Thacher alludes in
the following characteristic anecdote:"When the Count D'Estaing's fleet appeared near the British
batteries, in the harbor of Rhode Island, a severe cannonade was
commenced; and several shot passed through the houses in town, and
occasioned great consternation among the inhabitants. A shot passed
through the door of Mrs. Mason's house, just above the floor. The
family were alarmed, not knowing where to flee for safety. A negro
man ran and sat himself down very composedly, with his back against
the shot-hole in the door; and, being asked by young Mr. Mason
why he chose that situation, he replied,'Massa, you never know two
bullet go in one place.'" - Thacher's Military Journal, pp. 87, 175.
The subject of the employment of Negro soldiers came
before the Connecticut General Assembly in 1777, in connection with the subject of slavery and emancipation.
By the courtesy of J. Hammond Trumbull, Esquire, Editor
of "The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut," and
Secretary of State, I am enabled to give, in his own words,
the following interesting account of the action of that
State:"In May, 1777, the General Assembly of Connecticut appointed Action of
a Committee' to take into consideration the state and condition of the theticut
negro and mulatto slaves in this State, and what may be done for Assembly.
their emancipation.' This Committee, in a report presented at the
same session (signed by the chairman, the Hon. Matthew Griswold
of Lyme), recommended15




114                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Legislation    "' That the effective negro and mulatto slaves be allowed to enlist
in Connecticut.    with the Continental battalions now raising in this State, under the
following regulations and restrictions: viz., that all such negro and
mulatto slaves as can prqoure, either by bounty, hire, or in any other
way, such a sum to be paid to their masters as such negro or mulatto
shall be judged to be reasonably worth by the selectmen of the town
where such negro or mulatto belongs, shall be allowed to enlist into
either of said battalions, and shall thereupon be, de facto, free and
emancipated; and that the master of such negro or mulatto shall be
exempted from the support and maintenance of such negro or mulatto,
in case such negro or mulatto shall hereafter become unable to support and maintain himself.
"'And that, in case any such negro or mulatto slave shall be
disposed to enlist into either of said battalions during the [war], he
shall be allowed so to do: and such negro or mulatto shall be
appraised by the selectmen of the town to which he belongs; and his
master shall be allowed to receive the bounty to which such slave
may be entitled, and also one-half of the annual wages of such slave
during the time he shall continue in said service; provided, however,
that said master shall not be allowed to receive such part of said
wages after he shall have received so much as amounts, together with
the bounty, to the sum at which he was appraised."'
This report, in the Lower House, was ordered to be continued to the next session of the Assembly. In the Upper
House it was rejected.
Mr. Trumbull writes:" You will see by the Report of Committee, May, 1777, that General Varnum's plan for the enlistment of slaves had been anticipated
in Connecticut; with this difference, that Rhode Island adopted it,
while Connecticut did not.
" The two States reached nearly the same results by different
methods. The unanimous declaration of the officers at Cambridge,
in the winter of 1775, against the enlistment of slaves, -confirmed
by the Committee of Congress,- had some weight, I think, with the
Connecticut Assembly, so far as the formal enactment of a law
authorizing such enlistments was in question. At the same time,
Washington's license to continue the enlistment of negroes was regarded as a rule of action, both by the selectmen in making up, and by




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                    115
the State Government in accepting, the quota of the towns. The Legislation
process of draughting, in Connecticut, was briefly this: The able- tinnecbodied men, in each town, were divided into' classes'; and each class
was required to furnish one or more men, as the town's quota
required, to answer a draught. Now, the Assembly, at the same
session at which the proposition for enlisting slaves was rejected
(May, 1777), passed an act providing that any two men belonging to
this State,'who should procure an able-bodied soldier or recruit
to enlist into either of the Continental battalions to be raised from
this State,' should themselves be exempted from draught during the
continuance of such enlistment. Of recruits or draughted men thus
furnished, neither the selectmen nor commanding officers questioned
the color or the civil status: white and black, bond and free, if' ablebodied,' went on the roll together, accepted as the representatives of
their' class,' or as substitutes for their employers. At the next session
(October, 1777), an act was passed which gave more direct encouragement to the enlistment of slaves. By the existing law, the master
who emancipated a slave was not released from the liability to provide
for his support. This law was now so amended, as to authorize the
selectmen of any town, on the application of the master,- after'inquiry into the age, abilities, circumstances, and character' of the
servant or slave, and being satisfied'that it was likely to be consistent
with his real advantage, and that it was probable that he would be
able to support himself,' -to grant liberty for his emancipation, and
to discharge the master' from  any charge or cost which may be
occasioned by maintaining or supporting the servant or slave made
free as aforesaid.' This enactment enabled the selectmen to offer an
additional inducement to enlistment, for making up the quota of the
town. The slave (or servant for term of years) might receive his
freedom: the master might secure exemption from draught, and a
discharge from future liabilities, to which he must otherwise have
been subjected. In point of fact, some hundreds of blacks -slaves
and freemen-were enlisted, from time to time, in the regiments
of the State troops and of the Connecticut line. How many, it is impossible to tell; for, from first to last, the company or regimental
rolls indicate no distinctions of color. The name is the only guide:
and, in turning over the rolls of the Connecticut line, the frequent
recurrence of names which were exclusively appropriated to negroes
and slaves, shows how  considerable was their proportion of the
material of the Connecticut army; while such surnames as' Liberty,'




116               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Legislation' Freeman,'  Freedom,' &c., by scores, indicate with what anticipaticut.    tions, and under what inducements, they entered the service.
"As to the efficiency of the service they rendered, I can say
nothing from the records, except what is to be gleaned from scattered
files, such as one of the petitions I send you. So far as my acquaintance extends, almost every family has its traditions of the good and
faithful service of a black servant or slave, who was killed in battle,
or served through the war, and came home to tell stories of hard
fighting, and draw his pension. In my own native town, —not a
large one, - I remember five such pensioners, three of whom, I believe,
had been slaves, and, in fact, were slaves to the day of their death;
for (and this explains the uniform action of the General Assembly on
petitions for emancipation) neither the towns nor the State were inclined to exonerate the master, at a time when slavery was becoming
unprofitable, from the obligation to provide for the old age of his
slave.
"Col. William Browne of Salem  (a "mandamus counsellor"),
who went with the enemy from Boston in 1776, owned large tracts of
land in New London and Hartford counties in Connecticut, entailed
by his grandfather, Col. Samuel Browne. The General Court cut off
the entail, and confiscated the land. A farm in Lyme of twelve thousand four hundred and thirty-six acres, valued, in 1779, at a hundred
and sixty-nine thousand pounds (Continental), had been leased for a
term of years, with nine slaves.  The administrator on confiscated
estates, Benjamin Huntington, Esq., when returning the inventory of
Mr. Browne's property, stated to the General Assembly that there
were'a number of slaves appraised, who beg for their liberty;' and
that the lessee of the farm would assent to their being liberated, without requiring a diminution of his rent.
"Accompanying the inventory is the following petition, in Mr.
Huntington's hand-writing: —
"' To the Hon. General Assembly of the State of Connecticut, now sitting in Hartford.
Petition   "' The memorial of Great Prince, Little Prince, Luke, Caesar, and
f lavs    Prue and her three children, - all friends to America, but slaves
(lately belonging to Col. William  Browne, now forfeited to this
State,) -humbly sheweth, that their late master was a Tory, and
fled from his native country to his master, King George; where he
now lives like a poor slave.




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                  117
"' That your memorialists, though they have flat noses, crooked Petition
of loyal
shins, and other queerness of make, peculiar to Africans, are yet of slavs.
the human race, free-born in our own country, taken from thence by
man-stealers, and sold in this country as cattle in the market, without
the least act of our own to forfeit liberty; but we hope our good mistress, the free State of Connecticut, engaged in a war with tyranny,
will not sell good honest Whigs and friends of the freedom and independence of America, as we are, to raise cash to support the war:
because the Whigs ought to be free; and the Tories should be sold.
"' Wherefore your memorialists pray your Honors to consider their
case, and grant them their freedom upon their getting security to
indemnify the State from any expense for their support in case of want,
or in some other way release them from slavery.
"'And your poor negroes, as in duty bound, shall ever pray.
"' GREAT PRINCE.
LITTLE PRINCE.
"'Dated in LYME, Election-day, 1779.'          LUKE, &C.
" The Lower House granted, but the Upper House negatived, the
prayer of the memorial. A committee of conference was appointed;
but each House adhered to its original vote."
Nowhere in the country was the question of negro soldiers Rhode
Island.
more carefully considered, or the practice of employing them
more generally adopted, than in Rhode Island.  Not only
were the names of colored men entered with those of white
citizens on the rolls of the militia, but a distinct regiment of
this class of persons was formed. The character and conduct
of that regiment have an important place in the history of the
Revolutionary War.
My valued friend, John Russell Bartlett, Esquire, Editor
of the "Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in New England," and Secretary of State,
has copied for me, from the manuscripts in the State Archives, the correspondence and legislation relating to the subject. These documents are here presented entire, and give a
full history of the whole matter.




118               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Negro sol-        GENERAL WASHINGTON TO GOVERNOR COOKE.
diers in
Rhode                                "HEAD QUARTERS, 2d January, 1778.
Island.
" SIR, - Enclosed you will receive a copy of a letter from General
Varnum to me, upon the means which might be adopted for completing the Rhode-Island troops to their full proportion in the Continental
Army.  I have nothing to say, in addition to what I wrote on the
29th of last month, on this important subject, but to desire that you
will give the officers employed in this business all the assistance in
your power.
" I am, with great respect, Sir, your most obedient servant,
"His Excellency NICHOLAS COOKE, Esq.,        GEO. WASHINGTON.
Governor of Rhode Island."
GENERAL VARNUM TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
" CAMP, Jan. 2, 1778.
" Sn, - The two battalions from the State of Rhode Island being
small, and there being a necessity of the State's furnishing an additional number to make up their proportion in the Continental Army,
the field-officers have represented to me the propriety of making one
temporary battalion from the two; so that one entire corps of officers
may repair to Rhode Island, in order to receive and prepare the
recruits for the field. It is imagined that a battalion of negroes can
be easily raised there. Should that measure be adopted, or recruits
obtained upon any other principle, the service will be advanced. The
field-officers who go upon this command are Colonel Greene, Lieut.Colonel Olney, and Major Ward; seven captains, twelve lieutenants,
six ensigns, one paymaster, one surgeon and mate, one adjutant, and
one chaplain.
" I am your Excellency's most obedient servant,
"J. M. VARNUM.
"His Excellency Gen. WASHINGTON."
These letters were laid before the General Assembly at
the February session; and, after due deliberation, the following act was passed, not without some opposition: —
" State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in General
Assembly. February Session, 1778.
" Whereas, for the preservation of the rights and liberties of the
United States, it is necessary that the whole powers of Government




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                    119
should be exerted in recruiting the Continental battalions; and Negro
whereas His Excellency Gen. Washington  hath inclosed to this ien hode
State a proposal made to him by Brigadier-General Varnum, to enlist Island.
into the two battalions, raising by this State, such slaves as should be
willing to enter into the service: and whereas history affords us frequent Precedents of the wisest, the freest, and bravest nations having
liberated their Slaves, and inlisted them as Soldiers to fight in Defence of their Country; and also, whereas, the Enemy, with a great
force, have taken Possession of the Capital and of a great Part of
this State; and this State is obliged to raise a very considerable
Number of Troops for its own immediate Defence, whereby it is in a
Manner rendered impossible for this State to furnish Recruits for the
said two Battalions without adopting the said Measure so recommended:
"It is Voted and Resolved, That every able-bodied negro, mulatto,
or Indian man slave, in this State, may inlist into either of the said
two battalions to serve during the continuance of the present war
with Great Britain: that every slave so inlisting shall be entitled to
and receive all the bounties, wages, and encouragements allowed by
the Continental Congress to any soldier inlisting into their service.
"It is further Voted and Resolved, That every slave so inlisting
shall, upon his passing muster before Col. Christopher Greene, be immediately discharged from the service of his master or mistress, and
be absolutely FREE, as though he had never been incumbered with any
kind of servitude or slavery. And in case such slave shall, by sickness or otherwise, be rendered unable to maintain himself, he shall not
be chargeable to his master or mistress, but shall be supported at the
expense of the State.
"And whereas slaves have been by the laws deemed the property
of their owners; and therefore compensation ought to be made to the
owners for the loss of their service, -
" It is further Voted and Resolved, That there be allowed, and paid
by this State to the owner, for every such slave so inlisting, a sum
according to his worth; at a price not exceeding one hundred and
twenty pounds for the most valuable slave, and in proportion for a
slave of less value: Provided the owner of said slave shall deliver
up to the officer who shall inlist him the clothes of the said slave; or
otherwise he shall not be entitled to said sum.
"And for settling and ascertaining the value of such slaves,"It is further Voted and Resolved, That a committee of five be




120               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Negro    appointed, to wit: one from each county; any three of whom to be a
Regiment
in Rhode  quorum, to examine the slaves who shall be so inlisted, after they
Island.   shall have passed muster, and to set a price upon each slave according to his value, as aforesaid.
"It is further Voted and Resolved, That upon any able-bodied
negro, mulatto, or Indian slave, inlisting as aforesaid, the officer who
shall so inlist him, after he has passed muster as aforesaid, shall
deliver a certificate thereof to the master or mistress of said negro,
mulatto, or Indian slave; which shall discharge him from the service
of said master or mistress as aforesaid.
"It is further Voted and Resolved, That the committee who shall
estimate the value of any slave as aforesaid, shall give a certificate of
the sum at which he may be valued, to the owner of said slave:
and the General Treasurer of this State is hereby empowered and
directed to give unto the owner of said slave his promissory note, as
Treasurer, as aforesaid, for the sum of money at which he shall be
valued as aforesaid, payable on demand, with interest, at the rate of
six per cent. per annum; and that said notes which shall be so given,
shall be paid with the money which is due this State, and is expected
from Congress, — the money which has been borrowed out of the
General Treasury by this Assembly being first replaced."
The members of the General Assembly opposed to the
passage of this Act embodied their objections to it in a Protest. The difficulties which they apprehended were not found
to exist to such an extent as to defeat the project.
"Protest against enlisting Slaves to serve in the Army.
" We, the subscribers, beg leave to dissent from the vote of the
Lower House ordering a regiment of negroes to be raised for the Continental service, for the following reasons; viz.
" 1st, Because, in our opinion, there is not a sufficient number of
negroes in the State who would have an inclination to inlist, and
would pass muster, to constitute a regiment; and raising several companies of blacks would not answer the purposes intended: and therefore the attempt to constitute said regiment would prove abortive, and
be a fruitless expense to the State.
"2d, The raising such a regiment upon the footing proposed
would suggest an idea, and produce an opinion in the world, that the




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                   121
State had purchased a band of slaves to be employed in the defence Negro soldiers in
of the rights and liberties of our country: which is wholly inconsist- Rhode
ent with those principles of liberty and constitutional government for Island.
which we are so ardently contending; and would be looked upon by the
neighboring States in a contemptible point of view, and not equal to
their troops; and they would, therefore, be unwilling that we should
have credit for them as for an equal number of white troops; and would
also give occasion to our enemies to suspect that we are not able to
procure our own people to oppose them in the field, and to retort upon
us the same kind of ridicule we so liberally bestowed upon them on
account of Dunmore's regiment of blacks; or possibly might suggest
to them the idea of employing black regiments against us.
" 3d, The expense of purchasing and inlisting said regiment, in
the manner proposed, will vastly exceed the expenses of raising an
equal number of white men; and, at the same time, will not have
the like good effect.
" 4th, Great difficulties and uneasiness will arise in purchasing the
negroes from their masters; and many of the masters will not be
satisfied with any prices allowed.
JOHN NORTHUP.           GEORGE PEIRCE.
JAMES BABCOCK, Jr.     SYLVESTER GARDNER.
OTHNIEL GORTON.        SAMUEL BABCOCK."
THE GOVERNOR OF RHODE ISLAND TO GEN. WASHINGTON.
"PROVIDENCE, Feb. 23, 1778.
SIR, — I have been favored with your Excellency's letter of the
third instant [2d ultimo?], enclosing a proposal made to you by General Varnum for recruiting the two Continental battalions raised by this
State.
" I laid the letter before the General Assembly at their session, on
the second Monday in this month; who, considering the pressing
necessity of filling up the Continental Army, and the peculiarly difficult
circumstances of this State, -which rendered it, in a manner, impossible to recruit our battalions in any other way, - adopted the
measure.
"Liberty is given to every effective slave to enter the service
during the war; and, upon his passing muster, he is absolutely made
free, and entitled to all the wages, bounties, and encouragements given
by Congress to any soldier enlisting into their service. The masters
16




122               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Negro sol- are allowed at the rate of ~120 for the most valuable slave, and in
diers in
Rhode    proportion to those of less value.
Island.    " The number of slaves in this State is not great; but it is generally thought that three hundred and upwards will be enlisted.
" I am, with great respect, Sir, your Excellency's most obedient,
humble servant,                           "NICHOLAS COOKE.
" To Gen. WASHINGTON."
At the session of the General Assembly in which the Act
was passed," It is voted and resolved, That Messrs. Thomas Rumreil, Christopher Lippitt, Samuel Babcock, Thomas Tillinghast, and Josiah
Humphrey, be, and they are hereby, appointed a committee to estimate
the value of the slaves who may enlist into the Continental battalions,
agreeably to a resolve of this Assembly."
A short time after the act was passed, March the 9th, —
" It is voted and resolved, That the masters of all negro slaves, who
are bound out as apprentices, that already have inlisted or shall inlist
into the Continental service, shall be entitled to receive out of the
General Treasury the annual interest of the sum the said slaves shall
be appraised at, until the expiration of their apprenticeships; and
that the money remain in the treasury until the expiration of the said
apprenticeships, and then be paid to the owner without interest."
As it was not desirable to extend indefinitely the offer of
freedom  to slaves enlisting under this act, the  General
Assembly, at their May Session, adopted the following preamble and resolution:" Whereas, by an act of this Assembly, negro, mulatto, and Indian
slaves, belonging to the inhabitants of this State, are permitted to
inlist into the Continental battalions ordered to be raised by this State,
and are thereupon for ever manumitted and discharged from the service of their masters; and whereas it is necessary, for answering the
purposes intended by the said act, that the same shall be temporary," It is therefore voted and resolved, that no negro, mulatto, or Indian
slave, be permitted to inlist into said battalions from and after the
tenth day of June next; and that the said act then expire, and be no
longer in force, any thing therein to the contrary notwithstanding."




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                  123
At the October Session, 1778,-                              Negro soldiers in'Rhode
"It is voted and resolved, That the General Treasurer pay unto Island.
the owners of slaves who have enlisted as aforesaid, and who have
not received notes for the estimated value of the same, the sums of
money at which they were appraised, upon their producing certificates
thereof from the committee appointed to give the same; and that the
said owners be permitted to receive the whole or any part of the value
of their slaves in Continental loan-office certificates."
There is abundant evidence of the fidelity and bravery of
the colored patriots of Rhode Island during the whole war.
Before they had been formed into a separate regiment, they
had fought valiantly with the white soldiers at Red Bank and
elsewhere. Their conduct at the " Battle of Rhode Island,"
on the 29th of August, 1778, entitles them to perpetual honor.
That battle has been pronounced by military authorities to
have been one of the best fought battles of the Revolutionary
War.  Its success was owing, in a great degree, to the good
fighting of the Negro soldiers.  Mr. Arnold, in his "History
of Rhode Island," thus closes his account of it:" A third time the enemy, with desperate courage and increased Colonel
strength, attempted to assail the redoubt, and would have carried it, Bleeak
but for the timely aid of two Continental battalions despatched by Regiment
Sullivan to support his almost exhausted troops. It was in repelling
these furious onsets, that the newly raised black regiment, under Col.
Greene, distinguished itself by deeds of desperate valor. Posted
behind a thicket in the valley, they three times drove back the Hessians, who charged repeatedly down the hill to dislodge them; and so
determined were the enemy in these successive charges, that, the day
after the battle, the Hessian colonel, upon whom  this duty had
devolved, applied to exchange his command, and go to New York,
because he dared not lead his regiment again to battle, lest his men
should shoot him for having caused them so much loss." — Arnold's
History of Rhode Island, vol. ii. pp. 427, 428.
Three years later, these soldiers are thus mentioned by
the Marquis de Chastellux: —




124            AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Negro sol-   " The 5th [of January, 1781] I did not set out till eleven, although
diers in
Rhode    I had thirty miles' journey to Lebanon. At the passage to the ferry, I
Island.   met with a detachment of the Rhode-Island regiment, -the same corps
we had with us all the last summer; but they have since been recruited and clothed. The greatest part of them are negroes or mulattoes:
but they are strong, robust men; and those I have seen had a
very good appearance." - Chastellux' Travels, vol. i. p. 454; London, 1789.
When Colonel Greene was surprised and murdered, near
Points Bridge, New York, on the 14th of May, 1781, his colored soldiers heroically defended him till they were cut to
pieces, and the enemy reached him over the dead bodies of
his faithful negroes.
Negro      In the spring of 1778, the General Court of Massachusetts,
soldiers in
Massachu- also, was invoked to sanction the enlisting of negro soldiers.
setts.    This would not have been without a precedent in her earlier
legislation; for, in 1652, "negroes, Indians, and Scotchmen"
(the indented captives of Cromwell, who had encountered his
army at the battle of Dunbar), were alike, by law, obliged to
train in the militia. In 1656, the law was' altered so as to
exempt "negroes and Indians"; but again, in 1660, a new
law required " every person above the age of sixteen years "
to train, except certain classes of persons specified, and
" except one servant of every magistrate and teaching elder,
and the sons and servants of the Major-General for the time
being."  Those who are curious in tracing the early legislation on the subject will notice the continuance of this vacillation into the next century.
On the 3d and the 7th of April, 1778, just before the doings
of the Rhode-Island General Assembly were communicated to
the Legislature of Massachusetts, Thomas Kench, belonging
to a regiment of artillery then at Castle Island, addressed to
the General Court the following letters, which speak for
themselves:



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                   125
"To the Honorable Council, and House of Representatives, Boston, or Negro solat Roxbury.                           assachuHONORED GENTLEMEN,At the opening of this campaign, ousetts.
"' HONORED GENTLEMEN, - At the opening of this campaign, our
Thomas
forces should be all ready, well equipped with arms and ammunition, Kench's
with clothing sufficient to stand them through the campaign, their letter.
wages to be paid monthly, so as not to give the soldiery so much
reason of complaint as it is the general cry from the soldiery amongst
whom I am connected.
" We have accounts of large re-enforcements a-coming over this
spring against us; and we are not so strong this spring, I think, as
we were last. Great numbers have deserted; numbers have died,
besides what is sick, and incapable of duty, or bearing arms in the
field.
" I think it is highly necessary that spme new augmentation should
be added to the army this summer, - all the re-enforcements that can
possibly be obtained.  For now is the time to exert ourselves or
never; for, if the enemy can get no further hold this campaign than
they now possess, we [have] no need to fear much from them hereafter.
" A re-enforcement can quick be raised of two or three hundred
men. Will your honors grant the liberty, and give me the command
of the party? And what I refer to is negroes. We have divers of
them in our service, mixed with white men. But I think it would be
more proper to raise a body by themselves, than to have them intermixed with the white men; and their ambition would entirely be to outdo the white men in every measure that the fortune of war calls a soldier
to endure. And I could rely with dependence upon them in the field
of battle, or to any post that I was sent to defend with them; and
they would think themselves happy could they gain their freedom by
bearing a part of subduing the enemy that is invading our land, and
clear a peaceful inheritance for their masters, and posterity yet to
come, that they are now slaves to.
"The method that I would point out to your Honors in raising a
detachment of negroes; - that a company should consist of a hundred,
including commissioned officers; and that the commissioned officers
should be white, and consist of one captain, one captain-lieutenant,
two second lieutenants; the orderly sergeant white; and that there
should be three sergeants black, four corporals black, two drums and
two fifes black, and eighty-four rank and file. These should engage




126                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Negro   to serve till the end of the war, and then be free men. And I doubt
soldiers in
Massachu- not, that no gentleman that is a friend to his country will disapprove
setts.    of this plan, or be against his negroes enlisting into the service to
maintain the cause of freedom, and suppress the worse than savage
enemies of our land.
" I beg your Honors to grant me the liberty of raising one company, if no more. It will be far better than to fill up our battalions
with runaways and deserters from Gen. Burgoyne's army, who, after
receiving clothing and the bounty, in general make it their business to
desert from us. In the lieu thereof, if they are [of] a mind to serve
in America, let them supply the families of those gentlemen where
those negroes belong that should engage.
" I rest, relying on your Honors' wisdom in this matter, as it will
be a quick way of having a re-enforcement to join the grand army, or
to act in any other place that occasion shall require; and I will give
my faith and assurance that I will act upon honor and fidelity, should
I take the command of such a party as I have been describing.
" So I rest till your Honors shall call me; and am your very humble and obedient servant,
"THOMAS KENCH,' In Col. Craft's Regiment of Artillery, now on Castle Island.
"CASTLE ISLAND, April 3, 1778."
" To the Honorable Council in Boston.
Thomas      "4 The letter I wrote before I heard of the disturbance with Col.
Kench's
second    Seares, Mr. Spear, and a number of other gentlemen, concerning the
letter.   freedom of negroes, in Congress Street. It is a pity that riots should
be committed on the occasion, as it is justifiable that negroes should
have their freedom, and none amongst us be held as slaves, as freedom
and liberty is the grand controversy that we are contending for; and
I trust, under the smiles of Divine Providence, we shall obtain it, if
all our minds can but be united; and putting the negroes into the
service will prevent much uneasiness, and give more satisfaction to
those that are offended at the thoughts of their servants being free.
"I will not enlarge, for fear I should give offence; but subscribe
myself                         Your faithful servant,
"THOMAS KENCH.
"CASTLE ISLAND, April 7, 1778."
(MS. Archives of Massachusetts, vol. cxcix. pp. 80, 84.)




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                   127
On the 11th of April, the former of the above letters was Negro
soldiers in
duly referred to a joint committee, " to consider the same, and Massachureport."  On the 17th," a resolution of the General Assembly
of Rhode Island for enlisting negroes in the public service"
was referred to the same committee.  On the 28th, they
reported the draught of a law, differing little from the RhodeIsland Resolution: but a separate organization of negro companies, by Kench, does not appear to have been deemed
advisable at that time; and the usage was continued, of
"having," in the words of Kench, "negroes in our service,
intermixed with the white men."
Many other specimens of legislative action on the subject
in the Northern and Middle States might be produced; but
enough have already been given to show the general current
of public sentiment in this part of the country. An extract
from a letter to Washington, written by John Cadwalader at
Annapolis, Md., June 5, 1781, relates to the doings of that
State: 
"We have resolved to raise, immediately, seven hundred and fifty Negro
soldiers in
negroes, to be incorporated with the other troops; and a bill is now Maryland.
almost completed." - Sparks's Correspondence of the American Revolution, vol. iii. p. 331.
In an act passed by the Legislature of New York, March
20, 1781, for the purpose of raising two regiments upon the
inducement of "bounty lands unappropriated," is to be found
the following section:" SECT. 6. -And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, Negro
that any person who shall deliver one or more of his or her able-bodied New York.
male slaves to any warrant officer, as aforesaid, to serve in either of
the said regiments or independent corps, and produce a certificate
thereof, signed by any person authorized to muster and receive the
men to be raised by virtue of this act, and produce such certificate to
the Surveyor-General, shall, for every male slave so entered and
mustered as aforesaid, be entitled to the location and grant of one
right, in manner as in and by this act is directed; and shall be, and




128               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Negro    hereby is, discharged from any future maintenance of such slave, any
soldiers in
New York. law to the contrary notwithstanding: And such slave so entered as
aforesaid, who shall serve for the term of three years or until regularly
discharged, shall, immediately after such service or discharge, be, and
is hereby declared to be, a free man of this State." - Laws of the
State of New York, Chap. 32, (March 20, 1781, Fourth Session.)
Tacitly or by positive law, the policy of arming the negroes and employing them  as soldiers, either in separate
companies or mingled in the ranks with white citizens, almost
everywhere prevailed. In Georgia and South Carolina, however, where there was the most urgent call for more troops,
and where the slave-holders were backward in enlisting, the
case was different. These States, it will be remembered,
contained so many Tories, whose sympathies were with the
enemy, that it was impossible to obtain from them enough
soldiers for a "home-guard."
It may not be amiss for Massachusetts men to refresh their
memories by referring to the history of their Commonwealth
in regard to supplying soldiers during the Revolution; and
it may be well for all to notice, that, where there was the
greatest opposition to the arming and employing of negroes
as soldiers, there was the least disposition to furnish a fair
supply of white soldiers. The following items of Revolutionary history were published several years since by our associate, the Hon. Lorenzo Sabine, in the historical essay prefixed
to his excellent history of the " American Loyalists ": —
Where the   " The whole number of regulars enlisted for the Continental serotledicosn- vice, from the beginning to the close of the struggle, was 231,959.
nental ser- Of these, I have once remarked, 67,907 were from Massachusetts;
vice came
from.    and I may now add, that every State south of Pennsylvania provided
but 59,493, or 8,414 less than this single State; and that New England - now, I grieve to say, contemned and reproached - equipped
and maintained 118,350, or above half of the number placed at the
service of Congress during the war. I would not press these facts to
the injury of the Whigs of the South. The war, after the evacuation
of Boston, I am aware, was transferred from New England to the




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                   129
Middle and Southern States; and these States accordingly required Where the
bodies of troops to be kept at home to protect themselves. But as it thleContin
is to be presumed that most of such bodies composed a part of the nental service came
regular force employed by Congress, and were, therefore, included in from.
the Continental establishment and pay, the argument is in no essential particular weakened by the admission, that the Whigs of the
South were, of necessity, employed in the defence of their own firesides; for, were this the truth of the case, the numbers in this service,
as well as in other, would still appear, in making up the aggregate
force enlisted from time to time in each State. The exact question is,
then, not where were the battle-grounds of the Revolution, but what
was the proportion of men which each of the thirteen States supplied
for the contest.
" In considering the political condition of Virginia and North
Carolina, it was admitted that these States were not able to provide
troops according to their population, as compared with the States destitute of a' peculiar institution.' The same admission is now made
in behalf of South Carolina. Yet did 6,660 Whig soldiers exhaust
her resources of men? Could she furnish only 752 more than Rhode
Island, the smallest State in the Confederacy; only one-fifth of the
number of Connecticut; only one-half as many as New Hampshire,
then almost an unbroken wilderness? She did not: she could not
defend herself against her own Tories; and it is hardly an exaggeration to add, that more Whigs of other States were sent to her aid, and
now lie buried in her soil, than she herself sent to every scene of strife
outside of her own borders from Lexington to Yorktown.
" South Carolina, with a Northern army to assist her, could not or
would not even preserve her own capital. When news reached Connecticut that Gage had sent a force into the country, and that blood
had been shed, Putnam was at work in his field. Leaving his plough
in the furrow, he started for Cambridge, without changing his garments. When Stark heard the same tidings, he was sawing pine-logs,
and without a coat: shutting down the gate of his mill, he commenced
his journey to Boston in his shirt-sleeves. The same spirit animated
the Whigs far and near; and the capital of New England was
invested with fifteen thousand armed men.
" How was it at Charleston? That city was the great mart of the
South, and, what Boston still is, the centre of the export and import
trade of a large population. In grandeur, in splendor of buildings, in
decorations, in equipages, in shipping and commerce, Charleston was
17




130              AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Where the equal to any city in America. But its citizens did not rally to save
soldiers in
the Conti- it; and Gen. Lincoln was compelled to accept of terms of capitulanental ser- tion.  He was much censured for the act.  Yet whoever calmly
vice came
from.    examines the circumstances will be satisfied, I think, that the measure
was unavoidable; and that the inhabitants, as a body, preferred to
return to their allegiance to the British Crown. The people, on
whom Congress and Gen. Lincoln depended to complete his force,
refused to enlist under the Whig banner; but, after the surrender of
the city, they flocked to the royal standard by hundreds. In a word,
so general was the defection, that persons who had enjoyed Lincoln's
confidence joined the royal side; and men who had participated in
his councils bowed their necks anew to the yoke of Colonial vassalage.
Sir Henry Clinton considered his triumph complete, and communicated to the ministry the intelligence that the whole State had yielded
submission to the royal arms, and had become again a part of the
empire. To the women of South Carolina, and to Marion, Sumpter,
and Pickens, the celebrated partisan chiefs, who kept the field without the promise of men, money, or supplies, it was owing that Sir
Henry's declaration did not prove entirely true for a time, and that
the name and the spirit of liberty did not become utterly extinct." —
The American Loyalists, pp. 30-33, (as corrected by the author for a
second edition.)
This statement was not allowed to pass without contradiction, and the author of it was fiercely reproached. His facts
and figures were called in question; but they were not
proved to be incorrect. From a recent careful examination
of the statistics as contained in the official report of General
Knox, the Secretary of War, made to Congress in 1790, I am
satisfied that Mr. Sabine, in this case, has not departed from
his general practice of stating with scrupulous accuracy and
impartiality the simple facts relating to his subject.
The difficulty of obtaining a sufficient number of white
soldiers in the Southern States to defend them from the invasion of the enemy, and the fact that the employment of
negroes, where the practice  had  prevailed, had  proved
entirely successful, led to a vigorous effort in Congress and
elsewhere to take advantage of this class of persons for




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                   131
increasing the army, particularly in Georgia and South Carolina. Colonel John Laurens, of South Carolina, was one of
the most earnest advocates of the measure. His father, the
Hon. Henry Laurens, on the 16th of March, 1779, wrote to
Washington: -
" Our affairs in the Southern department are more favorable than Henry
Laurens
we had considered them a few days ago; nevertheless, the country is to Washgreatly distressed, and will be more so unless further reinforcements ington.
are sent to its relief. Had we arms for three thousand such black
men as I could select in Carolina, I should have no doubt of success
in driving the British out of Georgia, and subduing East Florida,
before the end of July." -  Sparks's Washington, vol. vi. p. 204,
note.
In his reply to Mr. Laurens, on the 20th of the same month, Washington to
Washington, with his characteristic caution and modesty, Henry
suggests his doubts, but adds that they are " only the first Laurens
crude ideas " that struck him.
" The policy of our arming slaves, is, in my opinion, a moot point,
unless the enemy set the example.  For, should we begin to form
battalions of them, I have not the smallest doubt, if the war is to be
prosecuted, of their following us in it, and justifying the measure
upon our own ground.  The contest then must be, who can arm
fastest. And where are our arms? Besides, I am not clear that a
discrimination will not render slavery more irksome to those who
remain in it. Most of the good and evil things in this life are judged
of by comparison; and I fear a comparison in this case will be productive of much discontent in those who are held in servitude. But,
as this is a subject that has never employed much of my thoughts,
these are no more than the first crude ideas that have struck me upon
the occasion."- Sparks's Washington, vol. vi. p. 204.
Alexander Hamilton, who had thought much on the subject,
and had considered it in its various relations, gave his unqualified and hearty support to the measure. In a letter to
Mr. Jay, which has been preserved and published, he states
his views with great clearness --




132                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
"HEADQUARTERS, March 14, 1779.
"To JOHN JAY.
Alexander   "DEAR SIR,- Col. Laurens, who will have the honor of deliverHamilton.
ing you this letter, is on his way to South Carolina, on a project
which I think, in the present situation of affairs there, is a very good
one, and deserves every kind of support and encouragement. This
is, to raise two, three, or four battalions of negroes, with the assistance of the government of that State, by contributions from  the
owners, in proportion to the number they possess. If you should
think proper to enter upon the subject with him, he will give you a
detail of his plan. He wishes to have it recommended by Congress
to the State; and, as an inducement, that they should engage to take
those battalions into Continental pay.
" It appears to me, that an expedient of this kind, in the present
state of Southern affairs, is the most rational that can be adopted,
and promises very important advantages. Indeed, I hardly see how
a sufficient force can be collected in that quarter without it; and the
enemy's operations there are growing infinitely more serious and
formidable.  I have not the least doubt that the negroes will make
very excellent soldiers with proper management; and I will venture
to pronounce, that they cannot be put into better hands than those of
Mr. Laurens.  He has all the zeal, intelligence, enterprise, and every
other qualification, necessary to succeed in such an undertaking. It
is a maxim with some great military judges, that, with sensible officers, soldiers can hardly be too stupid; and, on this principle, it is
thought that the Russians would make the best troops in the world, if
they were under other officers than their own. The King of Prussia
is among the number who maintain this doctrine; and has a very
emphatic saying on the occasion, which I do not exactly recollect. I
mention this because I hear it frequently objected to the scheme of
embodying negroes, that they are too stupid to make soldiers. This
is so far from appearing to me a valid objection, that I think their
want of cultivation (for their natural faculties are probably as good
as ours), joined to that habit of subordination which they acquire
from a life of servitude, will make them sooner become soldiers than
our white inhabitants. Let officers be men of sense and sentiment;
and the nearer the soldiers approach to machines, perhaps the
better.
"I foresee that this project will have to combat much opposition
from prejudice and self-interest. The contempt we have been taught




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                   133
to entertain for the blacks makes us fancy many things that are Alexander
founded neither in reason nor experience; and an unwillingness to Hamilton.
part with property of so valuable a kind will furnish a thousand
arguments to show the impracticability or pernicious tendency of a
scheme which requires such a sacrifice. But it should be considered,
that, if we do not make use of them in this way, the enemy probably
will; and that the best way to counteract the temptations they will
hold out will be to offer them ourselves. An essential part of the
plan is to give them their freedom with their muskets. This will
secure their fidelity, animate their courage, and, I believe, will have
a good influence upon those who remain, by opening a door to their
emancipation. This circumstance, I confess, has no small weight in
inducing me to wish the success of the project; for the dictates of
humanity, and true policy, equally interest me in favor of this unfortunate class of men.
" With the truest respect and esteem,
" I am, Sir, your most obedient servant,
" ALEX. IAMILTON."
(Life of John Jay, by William Jay, vol. ii. pp. 31, 32.)
Congress, although it had no power to control the action of Congress
recomthe individual States in this matter, considered the subject so mends
important, that it was referred to a special committee, who listments.
prepared a report, that led to the adoption of a series of resolutions, recommending to " the States of South Carolina and
Georgia, if they shall think the same expedient, to take
measures immediately for raising three thousand able-bodied
negroes."
"IN CONGRESS, March 29, 1779.
"The Committee, consisting of Mr. Burke, Mr. Laurens, Mr.
Armstrong, Mr. Wilson, and Mr. Dyer, appointed to take into consideration the circumstances of the Southern States, and the ways and
means for their safety and defence, report,"That the State of South Carolina, as represented by the delegates of the said State and by Mr. Huger, who has come hither, at
the request of the Governor of the said State, on purpose to explain the particular circumstances thereof, is unable to make any
effectual efforts with militia, by reason of the great proportion of




134               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Congress  citizens necessary to remain at home to prevent insurrections among
reconmmends ne- the negroes, and to prevent the desertion of them to the enemy.
gr enlist  ( "That the state of the country, and the great numbers of those
ments.
people among them, expose the inhabitants to great danger from the
endeavors of the enemy to excite them either to revolt or desert.
" That it is suggested by the delegates of the said State and by
Mr. Huger, that a force might be raised in the said State from among
the negroes, which would not only be formidable to the enemy from
their numbers, and the discipline of which they would very readily
admit, but would also lessen the danger from revolts and desertions, by
detaching the most vigorous and enterprising from among the negroes.
"That, as this measure may involve inconveniences peculiarly
affecting the States of South Carolina and Georgia, the Committee
are of opinion that the same should be submitted to the governing
powers of the said States; and, if the said powers shall judge it
expedient to raise such a force, that the United States ought to defray
the expense thereof: whereupon,
" Resolved, That it be recommended to the States of South Carolina and Georgia, if they shall think the same expedient, to take
measures immediately for raising three thousand able-bodied negroes.
" That the said negroes be formed into separate corps, as battalions, according to the arrangements adopted for the main army, to be
commanded by white commissioned and non-commissioned officers.
" That the commissioned officers be appointed by the said States.
"That the non-commissioned officers may, if the said States
respectively shall think proper, be taken from among the non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the Continental battalions of the said
States respectively.
" That the Governors of the said States, together with the commanding officer of the Southern army, be empowered to incorporate
the several Continental battalions of their States with each other
respectively, agreeably to the arrangement of the army, as established
by the resolutions of May 27, 1778; and to appoint such of the
supernumerary officers to command the said negroes as shall choose
to go into that service.
" Resolved, That Congress will make provision for paying the
proprietors of such negroes as shall be enlisted for the service of
the United States during the war a full compensation for the property,
at a rate not exceeding one thousand dollars for each active, able



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                   135
bodied negro man of standard size, not exceeding thirty-five years of Congress
recomnage, who shall be so enlisted and pass muster.                  mends ne" That no pay or bounty be allowed to the said negroes; but that gro enlistthey be clothed and subsisted at the expense of the United States.
" That every negro who shall well and faithfully serve as a soldier
to the end of the present war, and shall then return his arms, be
emancipated, and receive the sum of fifty dollars." - Secret Journals
of Congress, vol. i. pp. 107-110.
On the same day that the report in favor of raising negro
troops was made, Congress passed the following resolution:" Whereas John Laurens, Esq., who has heretofore acted as
aide-de-camp to the Commander-in-chief, is desirous of repairing to
South Carolina, with a design to assist in defence of the Southern
States; -
" Resolved, That a commission of lieutenant-colonel be granted to
the said John Laurens, Esq." - Journals of Congress, vol. v. p. 123.
Col. John Laurens was the son of the Hon. Henry Laurens,
the distinguished member of Congress and at one time
President of that body. He was one of the most patriotic
and brave of the Southern officers, and has not improperly
been called the " Chevalier Bayard of America."  He was
the intimate friend of Washington and Hamilton.  Having
been in active service in Rhode Island and elsewhere, and
having had the best opportunities of witnessing the usefulness of the colored soldiers, he entered into the spirit of the
undertaking with his whole heart, and used his best efforts to
promote its success.  For this purpose, he went to his native
State, and used his personal influence to induce the Legislature to take the necessary steps for raising black troops. In
a letter to Hamilton, he says, —
" Ternant will relate to you how many violent struggles I have Colonel
had between duty and inclination, -how much my heart was with Lauren
you, while I appeared to be most actively employed here. But it
appears to me, that I should be inexcusable in the light of a citizen,
if I did not continue my utmost efforts for carrying the plan of the




136                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
black levies into execution, while there remain the smallest hopes of
success." -  Works of Hamilton, vol. i. pp. 114, 115.
On the 14th of February, 1780, Col. Laurens wrote to
Washington from  Charleston:Colonel    " Private accounts say that General Prevost is left to command at
Laur.  Savannah; that his troops consist of the Hessians and Loyalists that
were there before, re-enforced by a corps of blacks and a detachment
of savages. It is generally reported that Sir Henry Clinton commands the present expedition." — Sparks's Correspondence of the
American Revolution, vol. ii. p. 402.
Sir Henry    It should be borne in mind that Sir Henry Clinton had
Clinton's
Proclama- several months previously issued a proclamation, calling upon
tion.  negroes to join his army, either as soldiers, or with full security to follow any occupation within his lines which they
thought proper.  This proclamation was first printed  in
New  York, in Rivington's " Royal Gazette," on the 3d of
July, 1779.  It is here reprinted from  that journal.  The
words in Italics were added in the issue of August 25th, with
a note stating that they had, "through the mistake of the
printers, been hitherto omitted."
" By his Excellency Sir HENRY CLINTON, K.B. General and Commanderin-chief of all his Majesty's Forces within the Colonies laying on the Atlantic Ocean, from Nova Scotia to West-Florida, inclusive, &c., &c., &c.
PROCLAMATION.
" Whereas the enemy have adopted a practice of enrolling NEGROES among their Troops, I do hereby give notice That all
NEGROES taken in arms, or upon any military Duty, shall be purchased
for the public service at a stated Price; the money to be paid to the
Captors.
"But I do most strictly forbid any Person to sell or claim Right
over any NEGROE, the property of a Rebel, who may take Refuge with
any part of this Army: And I do promise to every NEGROE who
shall desert the Rebel Standard, full security to follow within these
Lines, any Occupation which he shall think proper.
"Given under my Hand, at Head-Quarters, PHILIPSBURGH, the
30th day of June, 1779.                         "H. CLINTON.
"By his Excellency's command,
JOHN SMITH, Secretary."




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                  137
Lord Cornwallis also issued a proclamation encouraging Lord Cornwallis's
the slaves to join the British Army; but it is well known Proclamathat no regard for their welfare prompted his action, and but tion.
little kindness was shown by him to the slaves who deserted
their masters, or who were compelled to leave them. A letter from Mr. Jefferson to Dr. Gordon, written several years
after the war was closed, contains a passage which shows
how  that statesman  regarded  the treatment of his own
negroes.
" Lord Cornwallis destroyed all my growing crops of corn and Thomas
tobacco; he burned all my barns, containing the same articles of the Jefferson
to Doctor
last year, having first taken what corn he wanted; he used, as was to Gordon.
be expected, all my stock of cattle, sheep, and hogs, for the sustenance of his army, and carried off all the horses capable of service;
of those too young for service he cut the throats; and he burned all
the fences on the plantation, so as to leave it an absolute waste. He
carried off also about thirty slaves. Had this been to give them freedom, he would have done right; but it was to consign them to inevitable death from the small-pox and putrid fever, then raging in his
camp. This I knew afterwards to be the fate of twenty-seven of
them. I never had news of the remaining three, but presume they
shared the same fate. When I say that Lord Cornwallis did all this,
I do not mean that he carried about the torch in his own hands, but
that it was all done under his eye; the situation of the house, in
which he was, commanding a view of every part of the plantation, so
that he must have seen every fire. I relate these things on my own
knowledge, in a great degree, as I was on the ground soon after he
left it. He treated the rest of the neighborhood somewhat in the
same style, but not with that spirit of total extermination with which
he seemed to rage over my possessions. Wherever he went, the
dwelling-houses were plundered of every thing which could be carried off. Lord Cornwallis's character in England would forbid the
belief that he shared in the plunder; but that his table was served
with the plate thus pillaged from private houses, can be proved by
many hundred eye-witnesses. From an estimate I made at that time,
on the best information I could collect, I supposed the State of Virginia lost, under Lord Cornwallis's hand, that year, about thirty thousand slaves; and that, of these, twenty-seven thousand died of the
18




138               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
small-pox and camp-fever; and the rest were partly sent to the West
Indies, and exchanged for rum, sugar, coffee, and fruit; and partly
sent to New York, from whence they went, at the peace, either to Nova
Scotia or to England.  From this last place, I believe, they have been
lately sent to Africa. History will never relate the horrors committed
by the British Army in the Southern States of America." - Jefferson's
Works, vol. ii. p. 426.
It is very evident from this statement, that the distrust
and fears on the part of the negroes, in regard to the promises of the British officers, Dunmore, Clinton, and Cornwallis,
were well founded. In striking contrast to their treatment
of the slaves is the noble sentiment of Jefferson, himself a
severe sufferer from the conduct of Cornwallis: " Had this
been to give them freedom, he would have done right."
In the autumn of the year 1780, Colonel Laurens was sent
on an important mission to France. The policy which he so
warmly advocated in his own State and in Georgia was not,
however, neglected during his absence.
General Lincoln repeatedly and earnestly implored that
the army in the South might be strengthened in this, which
seemed to be the only practicable way.  In a letter to
Governor Rutledge, dated Charleston, March 13, 1780, he
says:General    " Give me leave to add once more, that I think the measure of
Lincoln.  raising a black corps a necessary one; that I have great reason to
believe, if permission is given for it, that many men would soon be
obtained.  I have repeatedly urged this matter, not only because
Congress have recommended it, and because it thereby becomes my
duty to attempt to have it executed, but because my own mind suggests the utility and importance of the measure, as the safety of the
town makes it necessary." - Manuscript Letter.
Mr. Madison, in a letter to Joseph Jones, dated November
20, 1780, thus advocated the policy of freeing and arming the
negroes:
James      " Yours of the 18th came yesterday. I am glad to find the LegisMadison. lature persist in their resolution to recruit their line of the army for




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                  139
the war; though, without deciding on the expediency of the mode James
under their consideration, would it not be as well to liberate and
make soldiers at once of the blacks themselves, as to make them
instruments for enlisting white soldiers? It would certainly be more
consonant with the principles of liberty, which ought never to be lost
sight of in a contest for liberty: and, with white officers and a majority of white soldiers, no imaginable danger could be feared from
themselves, as there certainly could be none from the effect of the
example on those who should remain in bondage; experience having
shown that a freedman immediately loses all attachment and sympathy with his former fellow-slaves." - Madison Papers, p. 68.
On the 28th of February, 1781, General Greene, who was
then in North Carolina, wrote to Washington:" The enemy have ordered two regiments of negroes to be imme- General
diately embodied, and are drafting a great proportion of the young Greene.
men of that State [South Carolina], to serve during the war." —
Sparks's Correspondence of the American Bevolution, vol. iii. p. 246.
Colonel Laurens, some time after his return from France,
resumed his efforts to induce the slaveholders of South Carolina and Georgia to allow their negroes to enlist as soldiers in
the Continental Army; and, although he found that "truth
and philosophy had gained some ground," he was compelled
to say that "the single voice of reason was drowned by the
howlings of a triple-headed monster, in which prejudice,
avarice, and pusillanimity were united." Two letters, written
by him only a few months before he laid down his life for his
country in battle, contain further evidence of his faithful
efforts, and a sad account of the manner in which his purposes
were defeated.  Both of these letters were addressed to
Washington.  The first was dated May 19, 1782.
"The plan which brought me to this country was urged with all Colonel
Laurens to
the zeal which the subject inspired, both in our Privy Council and WashingAssembly; but the single voice of reason was drowned by the howl-ton
ings of a triple-headed monster, in which prejudice, avarice, and
pusillanimity were united. It was some degree of consolation to me,
however, to perceive that truth and philosophy had gained some




140             AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Colonel  ground; the suffrages in favor of the measure being twice as numeLaurens to
Washing- rous as on a former occasion.  Some hopes have been lately given
ton,     me from Georgia; but I fear, when the question is put, we shall be
outvoted there with as much disparity as we have been in this
country.
"I earnestly desire to be where any active plans are likely to be
executed, and to be near your Excellency on all occasions in which
my services can be acceptable. The pursuit of an object which, I
confess, is a favorite one with me, because I always regarded the
interests of this country and those of the Union as intimately connected with it, has detached me more than once from your family;
but those sentiments of veneration and attachment with which your
Excellency has inspired me, keep me always near you, with the sincerest and most zealous wishes for a continuance of your happiness
and glory." — Sparks's Correspondence of the American Revolution,
vol. iii. p. 506.
The last letter was dated June 12, 1782; and from it we
learn that his hope of accomplishing something in this way
clung to him to the last.
"The approaching session of the Georgia Legislature, and the
encouragement given me by Governor Howley, who has a decisive
influence in the counsels of that country, induce me to remain in this
quarter for the purpose of taking new measures on the subject of our
black levies. The arrival of Colonel Baylor, whose seniority entitles
him to the command of the light troops, affords me ample leisure for
pursuing the business in person; and I shall do it with all the tenacity
of a man making a last effort on so interesting an occasion."Sparks's Correspondence of the American Revolution, vol. iii. p. 515.
Washing-    Washington, however, seems to have lost all faith in the
ton to Col. patriotism of the men who continued to refuse aid to their
Laurens.  Pat
suffering country in the only practicable way which had been
suggested. He has seldom said any thing so severe as the
following words, in his reply to the first of the above letters: -
" I must confess that I am not at all astonished at the failure of
your plan.  That spirit of freedom, which, at the commencement




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                  141
of this contest, would have gladly sacrificed every thing to the attain- Washington to Coloment of its object, has long since subsided, and every selfish passion nel Lauhas taken its place. It is not the public but private interest which rens.
influences the generality of mankind; nor can the Americans any
longer boast an exception.  Under these circumstances, it would
rather have been suprising if you had succeeded; nor will you, I
fear, have better success in Georgia." - Sparks's Washington, vol.
iii. pp. 322, 323.
The friend and associate of Colonel Laurens, as a member Colonel
Humof Washington's family, and a fellow-soldier in more than one phreys.
battle, Colonel David Humphreys, gave the sanction of his
name and the influence of his popularity to the raising of
colored troops in Connecticut.
" In November, 1782, he was, by resolution of Congress, commissioned as a Lieutenant-Colonel, with order that his commission
should bear date from the 23d of June, 1780, when he received his
appointment as aid-de-camp to the Commander-in-chief.  He had,
when in active service, given the sanction of his name and influence
in the establishment of a company of colored infantry, attached to
Meigs', afterwards Butler's, regiment, in the Connecticut line.  He
continued to be the nominal captain of that company until the establishment of peace." -Biographical Sketch in " The National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans."
Lord Dunmore's efforts to secure the services of negroes, Lord Dunmore.
at the commencement of the Revolutionary War, are well
known; his proclamation, and the action of the Virginia Convention upon it, having been published at the time, and the
matter having occasioned much comment since. By the courtesy of Mr. Bancroft, who has kindly put into my hands the
unpublished original manuscript of the following letter and
"sketch," and also a copy of Lord Dunmore's private letter
to Sir Henry Clinton enclosing them, I am now enabled to
present the views of his Lordship on the subject seven years
later, and just before the close of hostilities.




142               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE EARL DUNMORE, &C.
"CHARLES TOWN, 5th January, 1782.
Proposal    "MY LORD,- Since I had the honor of seeing your Lordship, I
to Lord  have revolved in my mind the subject-matter of our conversation; and
Dunmore.
the more I think, the more I am convinced of the magnitude and
national importance of the object. It is long since I beheld the scheme
in the most favorable point of view, and often have I strenuously recommended it. There were, at the time the thought first seriously
made an impression on my mind, some very powerful and uncontrovertible reasons; namely, the impossibility, that I foresaw, of maintaining
and supporting troops from Europe, in the low parts of this country,
during the sickly season. The fall months have caused such mortality
in 1780 at the outposts, that no country on earth, at such a distance,
could support the loss of men. Another reason that operated on my
mind, added to the eagerness I observed in the generality of the
people under my direction to have arms put into their hands on the
incursions of the enemy, even while we had troops at Camden, preventing the negroes from being of any service to Government in planting
and cultivating the land; what, with the proofs they have given, on
various occasions, of spirit and enterprise, left me no room to doubt
that they might be employed to the utmost advantage. While there
was a ray of hope left for believing that Lord Cornwallis had made his
escape with a small part of his army, I was easy and happy, convinced
that he would not have hesitated a moment in giving freedom to men
of all complexions that would faithfully serve the King, and assist in
crushing a most infernal rebellion. And I cannot help thinking, my
Lord, that there is something peculiarly fortunate in your Lordship's
arrival here at this very critical moment; for next to Lord Cornwallis,
who has the advantage of military rank in the empire, there is none so
able to form and execute so great a design, nor in whom the King's
friends have equal confidence as in your Lordship. Unless some vigorous step is taken, I humbly think it is more than probable that the
nation at large will insist on this American War being relinquished.
What can Administration say, what can they promise themselves or the
nation, by a prosecution of the war in such hands? Nothing but ultimate ruin.
"If, my Lord, this scheme is adopted, arranged, and ready for being
put in execution, the moment the troops penetrate into the country
after the arrival of the promised re-enforcements, America is to be




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                   143
conquered with its own force (I mean the Provincial troops and the Proposal
black troops to be raised), and the British and Hessian army could be Dunmore.
spared to attack the French where they are most vulnerable. The
nation would, by that means, be relieved from an amazing burthen, 
that of supporting the army at New York, -what has been a sink of
treasure, and a bed of voluptuousness and dissipation. I say, my Lord,
if the British and Hessian troops were ordered to leave the country,
only sending force sufficient to garrison Rhode Island, that your Lordship and my friend Gov. Martin, with the Provincial troops, the King's
friends, and the new levies, would soon possess the three Southern
provinces, in spite of all the force the rebels could assemble.'T is
notorious that more than two-thirds of North Carolina have expressed
an eager desire for the re-establishment of British government. They
have given striking proofs of zeal, spirit, and enterprise; and under
the direction of those they love, and who would reward their merit,
rebellion would soon cease to exist on the south side of James River.
Pardon me, my Lord, for this tedious digression.  Such a variety
of new matter crowds upon me, that I could not help giving my
thoughts a place.
" It may, and I dare say will, be said by Opposition,' What! arm
the slaves? We shudder at the very idea, so repugnant to humanity,
so barbarous and shocking to human nature,' &c. One very simple
answer is, in my mind, to be given: Whether is it better to make this
vast continent become an acquisition of power, strength, and consequence to Great Britain again, or tamely give it up to France, who
will reap the fruits of American Independence, to the utter ruin of
Britain? It may be said,' How can you do such an injury to your
friends?'  In the first place, our friends in this province are not
numerous whose property consists in slaves. The friends of Britain in
the Southern provinces, in general, are the merchants; and they have
little property in slaves. And, in the second place, I deny that we
injure our friends by giving freedom to those slaves that are proper for
soldiers.'T is only changing one master for another; and let it be
clearly understood that they are to serve the King for ever, and that
those slaves who are not taken for his Majesty's service are to remain
on the plantation, and perform, as usual, the labor of the field; and, so
far from ruining the property, I do aver, and experience will, I doubt
not, justify the assertion, that, by embodying the most hardy, intrepid,
and determined blacks, they would not only keep the rest in good order,
but, by being disciplined and under command, be prevented from rais



144               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Proposal  ing cabals, tumults, and even rebellion, what I think might be expected
to Lord
Dunmore. soon after a peace; but so far from making even our lukewarm friends
and secret foes greater enemies by this measure, I will, by taking their
slaves, engage to make them better friends. This, my Lord, may appear
enigmatical; but your Lordship's experience of mankind in general,
and of the people ia this country in particular, will do justice to my
opinion, that if the nation had, instead of lavishing her treasure, and
opening a very wide door for her servants to heap up wealth at her
expense, and feeding and supporting, by her gold that circulates in the
country, that very rebellion she wished to crush; I say, my Lord, that
[had] she, instead of paying money for all necessaries purchased for
the use of the army, granted receipts, bearing interest so long as the
holders remained loyal, and a promise to pay the principal at the expiration of the rebellion, -our affairs would have been in a very
different situation to-day.
" I have, my Lord, done myself the honor to enclose a sketch of a
plan for embodying ten thousand men; and I would beg leave to suggest to your Lordship the propriety of laying your plan before Col.
Moncrief, and offering him a brigade, with your Lordship's interest to
secure him the rank of brigadier-general. I can assure you of a certainty, that it will be by much the best channel in which it can be
placed; and I would humbly recommend to your Lordship to make it
known only to Moncrief, who, with yourself, is fully equal to set it on
its legs. I am afraid, my Lord, that I have wearied your patience. My
motives I beg you may believe to be most pure; and I have the honor
to be, my Lord, your Lordship's most obedient and most humble servant,                                            "J. CRUDEN."
"CHARLES TOWN, 5th January, 1782.
Sketch of    "In the Province of South Carolina, ten thousand Black Troops
a plan for may be raised, inured to fatigue and to the climate, without impoverisharming the
negroes.  ing the plantations so much that they might not be able to produce
crops equal to the maintenance and support, not only of the women and
children that are left on the estates, but also sufficient to feed, clothe,
and pay the Black Troops.
" When these men are raised, there can be no doubt, that, with the
force here, they will be able to drive the enemy from the Province, and
open a large door for our friends from North Carolina to join us, till
such time as it may be policy, and we may have a sufficient command
of the sea, to enter Virginia.




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                   145
"When the country is again in our possession, with proper and Sketch of
effectual support, I will engage to maintain and clothe those Black a prang fo
Troops from the estates of the enemy; and I will also engage to pay negroes.
the interest of the receipts granted to our friends, at the rate of eight
per cent. And, to convince the world that we never adopt any measure
at the expense of individuals, let three or more gentlemen of the country- men of honor and probity —be appointed to value the negroes
that belong to our friends, and at the rate they would have sold for in
1773, and Government to be accountable for the amount at the expiration of the war, paying interest at the customary rate, so long as the
parties concerned maintained their allegiance.
"That, for all negroes, the property of the enemy, the adjutantgeneral to grant receipts to the commissioner of sequestered estates,
and returns made to him when they are killed, or lost to the service,
that others may be furnished to supply their place.
"It is impossible to conceive or think what the effects of such a
measure would be. Striking at the root of all property, and making
the wealth and riches of the enemy the means of bringing them to
obedience, must bring the most violent to their senses. Such a wonderful change may it work, that I would not be surprised, that those now
most violent against us would be foremost in an application for peace
on our own terms.
" Property, all the world over, is dear to mankind; and in this country they are as much wedded to it as in any other; and, in the Southern
Provinces, men are great in proportion to the number of their slaves.
"I should. think that one major-general, two brigadier-generals, six
lieutenant-colonels commandant, twelve majors and twelve adjutants,
ninety-six captains, one hundred and ninety-two lieutenants, with quartermasters, &c., &c., &c., would be equal to discipline and command ten
thousand men.
"J. CRUDEN."
EARL OF DUNMORE TO SIR HENRY CLINTON.
"CHARLES TOWN, Feb. 2, 1782.
"SIR, — I was in hopes of having the pleasure of delivering the Lord Dunenclosed letters in person, but the fleet in which I came out not pro-Hery Sir
ceeding to New York, being advised, and thinking it unsafe to hazard a Clinton.
further voyage to the northward, at this season of the year, with so
large a fleet.
19




146               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Lord Dun-   "I should have sent you these letters by the'Rotterdam,' had I
more to Sir
Henry   known she meant to go to New York, as I do not know but they may
Clinton.  be of importance. By one of them, your Excellency will see that his
Majesty wished I would return to this country; we then thinking that
we should have found our affairs in Virginia in a very different state
from what they really are; and for which, in my humble opinion, there
is now no remedy left, without adopting the following plan, or something similar to it, which I humbly submit to your serious consideration.
"I arrived here the 21st of December; and, having no employment,
I made it my business to converse with every one that I thought capable of giving me any good information of the real situation of this
country: and every one that I have conversed with think, and, I must
own, my own sentiments perfectly coincide with theirs, that the most
efficacious, expeditious, cheapest, and certain means of reducing this
country to a proper sense of their duty is in employing the blacks, who
are, in my opinion, not only better fitted for service in this warm climate than white men, but they are also better guides, may be got on
much easier terms, and are perfectly attached to our sovereign. And,
by employing them, you cannot devise a means more effectual to distress your foes, not only by depriving them of their property, but by
depriving them of their labor. You in reality deprive them of their
existence; for, without their labor, they cannot subsist: and, from my
own knowledge of them, I am sure they are as soon disciplined as any
set of raw men that I know of.
"From my perfect belief of the above facts, I do most earnestly
wish your Excellency would adopt the measure on some such footing as
is here enclosed; and, as the strongest proof of my good opinion of the
measure, I am most willing, provided you approve, and have no other
person you may think better qualified to put it in execution, to hazard
my reputation and person in the execution of it.
" What I would further propose is, that the officers of the Provincials, who are swarming in the streets here, perfectly idle, should be
employed to command these men, with the rank they now have.
"I would also propose, at first, to raise only ten thousand Blacks, to
give them white officers and non-commissioned officers, but to fill up the
vacancies of the non-commissioned officers now and then with black
people, as their services should entitle them to it.
"In order to induce the negroes to enlist, I would propose to give
each black man one guinea and a crown, with a promise of freedom to
all that should serve during the continuance of the war; and, that they




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                  147
may be fully satisfied that this promise will be held inviolate, it must be Lord Dungiven by the officer appointed to command them, he being empowered Hoe  iry
so to do, in the most ample manner, by your Excellency. As there Clinton
will no doubt be a great many men come in that will be unfit for military service, I would propose employing them, with the women and
children, under proper managers, to cultivate any lands in our possession; and I doubt not, with proper management, to raise sufficient food
for the maintenance of the black troops at least, and perhaps enough to
dispose of that would both pay and clothe the whole. But should this
plan fail, contrary to my most sanguine wish and real opinion, the
expense will be so trifling in trying the experiment, that it can never
be thought an object of the smallest consideration.
"In order to obviate the only objection that I see to this plan
(namely, that of employing slaves, the property of a few friends that
are with us here), I would propose that they should be valued by three
gentlemen of known skill and probity, and that a receipt should be
given them for the value of such slaves; paying them six per cent.
interest upon it till the expiration of the war, or so long as the holders'
allegiance lasted: and, if that continues to the expiration of the war,
pay them the principal. And, indeed, I would propose that no money
should in future be given for any thing taken from the inhabitants for
the use of the troops, but receipts granted on the same terms.
" Should this plan in general meet with your Excellency's approbation, there are many more ideas relative to it that I will take another
opportunity of communicating to you.
" I have wrote fully to Lord George Germain on this subject, and
have sent him a copy of this letter; but I hope, before we can hear
from home, you will have had the credit of adopting the plan."
(Extract.)
EARL OF DUNMORE TO SECRETARY LORD GEORGE GERMAIN.
"CHARLES TOWN, S. C., Feb. 5, 1782..... " Enclosed I send your Lordship a copy of a letter I have Lord Dunwrote to Sir Henry Clinton, for employing Negroes in this country."   ord to
George
(Extract.)                         Germain.
EARL OF DUNMORE TO SECRETARY LORD GEORGE GERMAIN.
"CHARLES TOWN, S. C., March 30, 1782.
"Since writing to your Lordship of the 5th of February, there has
been a motion made in the Rebel Assembly of this Province for raising




148               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
a brigade of negroes, which was only negatived by a very few voices,
and it's supposed will be re-assumed and carried on a future day; and
we, by neglecting to make a proper use of those people, who are much
attached to us, shall have them, in a short time, employed against us.
They are now carrying them up the country as fast as they can find
them.
"As soon as this is closed, I shall set off for lNew York in the' Carysfort.'"
General     One of the ablest, most experienced, and most successful
Greene   of the American generals, second only, in the estimation of
many, to the Commander-in-chief,- General Nathaniel Greene,
— in a letter to Washington, dated on the 24th of January,
1782, says:" I have recommended to this State to raise some black regiments.
To fill up the regiments with whites is impracticable, and to get reenforcements from the northwards precarious, and at least difficult, from
the prejudices respecting the climate. Some are for it; but the far
greater part of the people are opposed to it." —Sparks's Correspondence of the American Revolution, vol. iii. p. 467.
The letter of General Greene to Governor Rutledge, of
South Carolina, is printed below. The opinion of such an
officer, formed after the experiment of employing Negro
soldiers at the North had been fully tried, and after a residence in the Southern States had enabled him to consider
the subject with the advantage of an " acquaintance with the
habits, character, and feelings of that class of people," is of
the highest importance.
" The natural strength of the country, in point of numbers, appears
to me to consist much more in the blacks than in the whites. Could
they be incorporated, and employed for its defence, it would afford you
double security. That they would make good soldiers, I have not the
least doubt; and I am persuaded the State has it not in its power to
give sufficient re-enforcements, without incorporating them, either to secure the country, if the enemy mean to act vigorously upon an offensive
plan, or furnish a force sufficient to dispossess them of Charleston,
should it be defensive.




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                    149
" The number of whites in this State is too small, and the state of General
Greene.
your finances too low, to attempt to raise a force in any other way.
Should the measure be adopted, it may prove a good means of preventing the enemy from further attempts upon this country, when they
find they have not only the whites, but the blacks also, to contend with.
And I believe it is generally agreed, that, if the natural strength of
this country could have been employed in its defence, the enemy would
have found it little less than impracticable to have got footing here,
much more to have overrun the country, by which the inhabitants have
suffered infinitely greater loss than would have been sufficient to have
given you perfect security; and, I am persuaded, the incorporation of
a part of the negroes would rather tend to secure the fidelity of others,
than excite discontent, mutiny, and desertion among them. The force I
would ask for this purpose, in addition to what we have, and what may
probably join us from the Northward or from the militia of this State,
would be four regiments, -two upon the Continental, and two upon
the State, establishment; a corps of pioneers and a corps of artificers,
each to consist of about eighty men. The two last may be either on a
temporary or permanent establishment, as may be most agreeable to
the State. The others should have their freedom, and be clothed and
treated, in all respects, as other soldiers; without which they will be
unfit for the duties expected from them." —Johnson's Life of Greene,
vol. ii. p. 274.
The author of " Sketches of the Life and Correspondence
of General Greene," himself a Southerner and a resident of
Charleston, thus comments on the proposal to employ the
negroes as soldiers:" Those who can enter into the feelings and opinions of the citizens Judge
of those States which tolerate slavery will be not a little startled at the Johnson
on negro
proposition submitted to the Governor and Council in this letter. A soldiers.
strong, deep-seated feeling, nurtured from earliest infancy, decides, with
instinctive promptness, against a measure of so threatening an aspect,
and so offensive to that republican pride, which disdains to commit the
defence of the country to servile hands, or share with a color to which
the idea of inferiority is inseparably connected the profession of arms,
and that approximation of condition which must exist between the
regular soldier and the militia-man.
" But the Governor and Council viewed the subject under the influ



150                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Judge    ence of less feeling. It seems the proposition had formerly been under
Johnson
on negro  consideration in the State Legislature; and, as the meeting of that
soldiers.  board was now at hand, it was resolved to submit it to their decision.
" There is a sovereign, who, at this time, draws his soldiery from the
same class of people; and finds a facility in forming and disciplining an
army, which no other power enjoys. Nor does his immense military
force, formed from that class of his subjects, excite the least apprehensions; for the soldier's will is subdued to that of his officer, and his improved condition takes away the habit of identifying himself with the
class from which he has been separated. Military men know what
mere machines men become under discipline, and believe that any men,
who may be made obedient, may be made soldiers; and that increasing
their numbers increases the means of their own subjection and government.
" It is now probable that the idea of forming a military force by a
draught from the slaves had been suggested to Gen. Greene by a recent
acquaintance with the habits, character, and feelings of that class of
people. It could not escape his eye, that there was no sense of hostility existing between the master and slave, but rather something of
the clannish, or patriarchal, feelings known to exist between the inhabitants of a village and their chief. He had remarked the joy expressed
by the slaves on their deliverance from the tyranny of the enemy, and
the return of a protector in the person of their master; and it was
obvious, that if the State could give a slave for the services of a man
as a soldier for ten months, as had been the case in raising some of its
troops, it would be great gain to convert the same slave into a soldier
for the war, to be paid only by his freedom, after having served with
fidelity. But the Legislature, when it met, thought the experiment a
dangerous one; and the project was relinquished. They adopted, however, the alternative of raising soldiers on the black population by
giving a slave for a soldier. Parties were sent to collect slaves from
the plantations of the loyalists, and rendezvous established in vain in
various places in the interior country."-Johnson's Life of Greene,
vol. ii. pp. 274, 275.
Propositions for peace were introduced in the British
Parliament, and preliminary steps were taken towards the
cessation of hostilities, before the letters from Lord Dunmore
reached the Secretary, Lord George Germain.  But these
letters, and those written by Colonel Laurens and General




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                   151
Greene in the last months of the Revolutionary War, are of
historical importance. They contain the mature opinions and
the deliberate decision of the highest British and American
military authorities, in unequivocal support of the policy of
arming the negro slaves, and employing them as soldiers.
The following letter, addressed to Brigadier-General Rufus
Putnam, and afterwards printed, from his papers, at Marietta,
Ohio, shows the tender care which the Commander-in-chief
had for the rights of the negro soldiers in the army:"HEAD QUARTERS, Feb. 2, 1783.
" SIR, -- Mr. Hobby having claimed as his property a negro man Washington's regard
now serving in the Massachusetts Regiment, you will please to order a for the
court of inquiry, consisting of five as respectable officers as can be rights of
negro
found in your brigade, to examine the validity of the claim, the manner soldiers.
in which the person in question came into service, and the propriety of
his being discharged or retained in service. Having inquired into the
matter, with all the attending circumstances, they will report to you
their opinion thereon; which you will report to me as soon as conveniently may be.
"I am, Sir, with great respect,
"Your most obedient servant,
" G. WASHINGTON.
P.S. - All concerned should be notified to attend.
"Brig.-Gen. PUTNAM."
Luther Martin, it will be remembered, in his address to
the Legislature of Maryland on the Federal Constitution,
deplored the growing laxity of public sentiment on the subject of slavery. " When our liberties were at stake," he said,
" we warmly felt for the common rights of men. The danger
being thought to be past which threatened ourselves, we are
daily growing more insensible to those rights." A sad illustration of the truth of this declaration was found in the
conduct of some of the slaveholders, who, having sent their
negroes to the army with the promise of personal liberty, at
the close of the war attempted to re-enslave them.
To the honor of Virginia, — who could then claim Wash



152               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
ington and Jefferson and Madison among her living patriots,
— this wrong to the negro soldiers was not overlooked, nor
permitted to continue. The General Assembly of that State,
in 1783, enacted the following law: —
"An Act directing the Emancipation of certain Slaves who have served
as Soldiers in this State, and for the Emancipation of the Slave
Aberdeen.
Negro       "I. Whereas it hath been represented to the present General
ldemaci   Assembly, that, during the course of the war, many persons in this
pated.    State had caused their slaves to enlist in certain regiments or corps
raised within the same, having tendered such slaves to the officers
appointed to recruit forces within the State, as substitutes for free
persons whose lot or duty it was to serve in such regiments or corps,
at the same time representing to such recruiting officers that the slaves,
so enlisted by their direction and concurrence, were freemen; and it
appearing further to this Assembly, that on the expiration of the term
of enlistment of such slaves, that the former owners have attempted
again to force them to return to a state of servitude, contrary to the
principles of justice, and to their own solemn promise;
"II. And whereas it appears just and reasonable, that all persons
enlisted as aforesaid, who have faithfully served agreeable to the terms
of their enlistment, and have thereby of course contributed towards
the establishment of American liberty and independence, should enjoy the blessings of freedom as a reward for their toils and labors;
"Be it therefore enacted, That each and every slave who, by the
appointment and direction of his owner, hath enlisted in any regiment
or corps raised within this State, either on Continental or State establishment, and hath been received as a substitute for any free person
whose duty or lot it was to serve in such regiment or corps, and hath
served faithfully during the term of such enlistment, or hath been discharged from such service by some officer duly authorized to grant
such discharge, shall, from and after the passing of this act, be fully
and completely emancipated, and shall be held and deemed free, in as
full and ample a manner as if each and every of them were specially
named in this act; and the Attorney-general for the Commonwealth is
hereby required to commence an action, in formd pauperis, in behalf
of any of the persons above described who shall, after the passing of
this act, be detained in servitude by any person whatsoever; and if,
upon such prosecution, it shall appear that the pauper is entitled to his




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                   153
freedom in consequence of this act, a jury shall be empanelled to assess Negro
soldiers
the damages for his detention.                                   emanci"III. And whereas it has been represented to this General Assem- pated.
bly, that Aberdeen, a negro man slave, hath labored a number of years
in the public service at the lead mines, and for his meritorious services
is entitled to freedom; Be it therefore enacted, That the said slave
Aberdeen shall be, and he is hereby, emancipated and declared free
in as full and ample a manner as if he had been born free." - Hening's
Statutes at Large of Virginia, vol. xi. pp. 308, 309.
Three years after the close of the war, in October, 1786,
the following special act was passed, by the General Assembly
of Virginia, for the liberation of a faithful slave who had rendered valuable service to General Lafayette:"An Act to emancipate JAMES, a Negro Slave, the property of
William Armistead, Gentleman.
"I. Whereas it is represented that James, a negro slave, the A slave's
of-~ ~ ~ William             ~~~~~services 1
property of William Armistead, gentleman, of the county of New Kent, Lafayette
did, with the permission of his master, in the year one thousand seven aed'kewl
hundred and eighty-one, enter into the service of the Marquis la Virginia.
Fayette, and at the peril of his life found means to frequent the British
camp, and thereby faithfully executed important commissions entrusted
to him by the Marquis; and the said James hath made application to
this Assembly to set him free, and to make his said master adequate
compensation for his value, which it is judged reasonable and right to
do;
"II. Be it therefore enacted, That the said James shall, from and
after the passing of this act, enjoy as full freedom as if he had been
born free; any law to the contrary thereof notwithstanding.
" III. And be it further enacted, That the Executive shall, as soon
as may be, appoint a proper person, and the said William Armistead
another, who shall ascertain and fix the value of the said James, and to
certify such valuation to the Auditor of Accounts, who shall issue his
warrant to the Treasurer for the same, to be paid out of the general
fund. "- Hening's Statutes at Large of Virginia, vol. xii. pp. 380,
381.
With two or three later authoritative testimonies, showing
that it was a general practice among the Founders of the
20




154               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Republic to employ negroes, both slaves and freemen, as
soldiers regularly enrolled in the army, I bring to a close this
paper, which has already much exceeded the limits of my
original plan.
The Hon. William Eustis, who served throughout the war
of the Revolution as a surgeon, and was afterwards Governor
of Massachusetts, in a speech in the United-States House of
Representatives, December 12, 1820, said:William    "At the commencement of the Revolutionary War, there were found,
Eustis.  in the Middle and Northern States, many blacks, and other people of
color, capable of bearing arms; a part of them free, the greater part
slaves. The freemen entered our ranks with the whites. The time of
those who were slaves was purchased by the States; and they were
induced to enter the service in consequence of a law, by which, on condition of their serving in the ranks during the war, they were made
freemen. In Rhode Island, where their numbers were more considerable, they were formed, under the same considerations, into a regiment
commanded by white officers; and it is required, in justice to them, to
add, that they discharged their duty with zeal and fidelity. The gallant defence of Red Bank, in which this black regiment bore a part, is
among the proofs of their valor.
"Among the traits which distinguished this regiment was their devotion to their officers: when their brave Col. Greene was afterwards cut
down and mortally wounded, the sabres of the enemy reached his body
only through the limbs of his faithful guard of blacks, who hovered
over him and protected him, every one of whom was killed, and whom
he was not ashamed to call his children. The services of this description of men in the navy are also well known. I should not have mentioned either, but for the information of the gentleman from Delaware,
whom I understood to say that he did not know that they had served
in any considerable numbers.
"The war over, and peace restored, these men returned to their
respective States; and who could have said to them, on their return to
civil life, after having shed their blood in common with the whites in
the defence of the liberties of the country,' You are not to participate
in the rights secured by the struggle, or in the liberty for which you
have been fighting'?  Certainly no white man in Massachusetts."Annals of Congress. Sixteenth Congress, Second.Session, p. 636.




NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.                  155
The Hon. Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina, in a previous part of the same debate, said:-... "It is a most remarkable fact, that notwithstanding, in the Charles
course of the Revolution, the Southern States were continually overrun Pinckne
by the British, and that every negro in them had an opportunity of
leaving their owners, few did; proving thereby not only a most
remarkable attachment to their owners, but the mildness of the treatment, from whence their affection sprang. They then were, as they
still are, as valuable a part of our population to the Union as any other
equal number of inhabitants. They were in numerous instances the
pioneers, and, in all, the laborers, of your armies. To their hands
were owing the erection of the greatest part of the fortifications raised
for the protection of our country; some of which, particularly Fort
Moultrie, gave, at that early period of the inexperience and untried
valor of our citizens, immortality to American arms: and, in the
Northern States, numerous bodies of them were enrolled into and
fought, by the sides of the whites, the battles of the Revolution." —
Annals of Congress. Sixteenth Congress, First Session, p. 1312.
That large numbers of negroes were enrolled in the army,
and served faithfully as soldiers during the whole period of
the War of the Revolution, may be regarded as a well-established historical fact. And it should be borne in mind, that
the enlistment was not confined, by any means, to those who
had before enjoyed the privileges of free citizens. Very
many slaves were offered to, and received by, the army, on
the condition that they were to be emancipated, either at the
time of enlisting, or when they had served out the term of
their enlistment. The inconsistency of keeping in slavery
any person who had taken up arms for the defence of our
national liberty, had led to the passing of an order, forbidding
"slaves," as such, to be received as soldiers.
The documents which I have cited will give a general idea
of the opinions and the practice of the leading patriots in
the civil and military service of the country, at the time of the
Revolution, on the employment of negroes as soldiers. Much
more documentary evidence, of a similar character, might be




156             AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
adduced from the mass of materials which I have gathered
in pursuing this inquiry; but I have, I trust, selected enough
to fairly illustrate the subject. If what I have done, or what
I have left undone, shall stimulate others to a more thorough
investigation, my labor will not haye been lost.




APPENDIX.








APPENDIX.
(A.)
NEGROES IN THE NAVY.
THE suggestion made by Mr. Everett at the meeting of the Negroes in
the Navy.
Massachusetts Historical Society when this paper was read,
in regard to the history of the employment of negroes in our
navy, is worthy of a more careful consideration than the limits
of this paper would allow.  But I am  happy to be able to
present the testimony, on this subject, of one of our Honorary
Members, Usher Parsons, M.D., whose character and experience give authority to his statements.
" PROVIDENCE, October 18, 1862.
"MY DEAR SR, - In reply to your inquiries about the employing
of blacks in our navy in the war of 1812, and particularly in the battle
of Lake Erie, I refer you to documents in Mackenzie's' Life of Commodore Perry,' vol. i. pp. 166 and 187.
"In 1814, our fleet sailed to the Upper Lakes to co-operate with
Colonel Croghan at Mackinac. About one in ten or twelve of the
crews were blacks.
"In 1816, I was surgeon of the'Java,' under Commodore Perry.
The white and colored seamen messed together. About one in six or
eight were colored.
"In 1819, I was surgeon of the'Guerriere,' under Commodore
Macdonough; and the proportion of blacks was about the same in her




160                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Negroes in crew. There seemed to be an entire absence of prejudice against the
the Navyblacks as messmates among the crew. What I have said applies to
the crews of the other ships that sailed in squadrons.
"Yours very respectfully,
"USHER PARSONS.
" GEORGE LIVERMORE, Esq."
The documents referred to by Dr. Parsons are two letters,
— the first written to Commodore Chauncey, in the summer
of 1813, by Captain (afterwards Commodore) Perry, expressing dissatisfaction with the appearance of the men who had
been sent to him for his squadron on Lake Erie before his
famous battle.
" SI, — I have this moment received, by express, the enclosed
letter from  General Harrison. If I had officers and men,-and I
have no doubt you will send them,- I could fight the enemy, and
proceed up the lake; but, having no one to command the'Niagara,'
and only one commissioned lieutenant and two acting lieutenants, whatever my wishes may be, going out is out of the question. The men
that came by Mr. Champlin are a motley set, - blacks, soldiers, and
boys. I cannot think you saw them after they were selected. I am,
however, pleased to see any thing in the shape of a man." - Mackenzie's Life of Perry, vol. i. pp. 165, 166.
This letter called forth from  Commodore Chauncey the
following sharp reply:" SIR,- I have been duly honored with your letters of the twentythird and twenty-sixth ultimo, and notice your anxiety for men and
officers. I am equally anxious to furnish you; and no time shall be
lost in sending officers and men to you as soon as the public service
will allow me to send them from this lake. I regret that you are not
pleased with the men sent you by Messrs. Champlin and Forrest; for,
to my knowledge, a part of them are not surpassed by any seamen we
have in the fleet: and I have yet to learn that the color of the skin, or
the cut and trimmings of the coat, can affect a man's qualifications
or usefulness. I have nearly fifty blacks on board of this ship, and
many of them are among my best men; and those people you call
soldiers have been to sea from two to seventeen years; and I presume
that you will find them as good and useful as any men on board of




APPENDIX.                       161
your vessel; at least, if I can judge by comparison; for those which Negroes in
we have on board of this ship are attentive and obedient, and, as far as t 
I can judge, many of them excellent seamen: at any rate, the men sent
to Lake Erie have been selected with a view of sending a fair proportion of petty officers and seamen; and I presume, upon examination, it
will be found that they are equal to those upon this lake." —Mackenzie's Life of Perry, vol. i. pp. 186, 187.
Perry found the negroes to be indeed all that Commodore
Chauncey had represented them; and he did not hesitate
afterwards to speak favorably of their services:" Perry speaks highly of the bravery and good conduct of the
negroes, who formed a considerable part of his crew. They seemed to
be absolutely insensible to danger. When Captain Barclay came on
board the'Niagara,' and beheld the sickly and party-colored beings
around him, an expression of chagrin escaped him at having been conquered by such men. The fresh-water service had very much impaired
the health of the sailors, and crowded the sick list with patients."Analectic Magazine, vol. iii. p. 255.
To the same effect is the testimony of the following
" Extract of a Letter from  Nathaniel Shaler, Commander of the
private-armed Schooner Gov. Tompkins, to his Agent in New York,
dated 
"AT SEA, Jan. 1, 1813.
"Before I could get our light sails in, and almost before I could
turn round, I was under the guns, not of a transport, but of a large
frigate! and not more than a quarter of a mile from her.
Her first broadside killed two men, and wounded six others.
My officers conducted themselves in a way that would have done honor
to a more permanent service.....The name of one of my
poor fellows who was killed ought to be registered in the book of fame,
and remembered with reverence as long as bravery is considered a
virtue.  I-e was a black man, by the name of John Johnson.  A
twenty-four-pound shot struck him in the hip, and took away all the
lower part of his body. In this state, the poor brave fellow lay on
the deck, and several times exclaimed to his shipmates,'Fire away, my
boy: no haul a color down.' The other was also a black man, by the
name of John Davis, and was struck in much the same way. He fell
21




162               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
near me, and several times requested to be thrown overboard, saying
he was only in the way of others.
"When America has such tars, she has little to fear from the
tyrants of the ocean." —Niles's Weekly Register, Saturday, Feb. 26,
1814.
(B.)
Flag of a    At the August meeting of the Massachusetts Historical
negro
company. Society, an interesting memorial of the last century was displayed. It was a silk flag, bearing the device of a Pine-tree
and a Buck, with the initials "J. H." and " G. W." over a
scroll, on which appear the words, " The Bucks of America."
This relic had been carefully preserved as the flag presented
by Governor Hancock to a company of colored soldiers bearing that name. It now belongs to Mr. William C. Nell, of
Boston. Mr. Nell is the author of a volume entitled " The
Colored Patriots of the American Revolution, with Sketches
of several Distinguished  Colored Persons;" a book that
contains a great number of interesting anecdotes on the
subject.  It was published in 1855, and is now out of print;
but a new edition, considerably enlarged, is, I am happy to
hear, soon to be issued.
(C.)
NEGRO REGIMENTS IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
Negro regi- That the services of negroes, as soldiers, were solicited
ments in
theState of and welcomed by the civil and military authorities in various
New York. parts of the United States, during the war of 1812 with Great
Britain, is too well known to need any illustration. It may
not, however, be out of place here to reprint an act of the
Legislature of the State of New York.




APPENDIX.                        163
"An Act to authorize the raising of Two Regiments of Men of Color;
passed Oct. 24, 1814.
"SECT. 1. Be it enacted'by the people of the State of New York, Negro regirepresented in Senate and Assembly, That the Governor of the State meents ai
the State of
be, and he is hereby, authorized to raise, by voluntary enlistment, two New York.
regiments of free men of color, for the defence of the State for three
years, unless sooner discharged.
" SECT. 2. And be it further enacted, That each of the said regiments shall consist of one thousand and eighty able-bodied men; and
the said regiments shall be formed into a brigade, or be organized in
such manner, and shall be employed in such service, as the Governor
of the State of New York shall deem best adapted to defend the said
State.
"SECT. 3. And be it further enacted, That all the commissioned
officers of the said regiments and brigade shall be white men; and the
Governor of the State of New York shall be, and he is hereby, authorized to commission, by brevet, all the officers of the said regiments
and brigade, who shall hold their respective commissions until the
council of appointment shall have appointed the officers of the said
regiments and brigade, in pursuance of the Constitution and laws of
the said State.
"SECT. 4. And be it further enacted, That the commissioned
officers of the said regiments and brigade shall receive the same pay,
rations, forage, and allowances, as officers of the same grade in the
army of the United States; and the non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates of the said regiments shall receive the same pay,
rations, clothing, and allowances, as the non-commissioned officers,
musicians, and privates of the army of the United States; and the sum
of twenty-five dollars shall be paid to each of the said non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates, at the time of enlistment, in
lieu of all other bounty.
" SECT. 5. And be it further enacted, That the troops to be raised
as aforesaid may be transferred into the service of the United States,
if the Government of the United States shall agree to pay and subsist
them, and to refund to this State the moneys expended by this State
in clothing and arming them; and, until such transfer shall be made,
may be ordered into the service of the United States in lieu of an
equal number of militia, whenever the militia of the State of New
York shall be ordered into the service of the United States.
" SECT. 6. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for any




164                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Negro regi- able-bodied slave, with the written assent of his master or mistress, to
ments in
the State of enlist into the said corps; and the master or mistress of such slave
New York. shall be entitled to the pay and bounty allowed him for his service:
and, further, that the said slave, at the time of receiving his discharge,
shall be deemed and adjudged to have been legally manumitted from
that time, and his said master or mistress shall not thenceforward be
liable for his maintenance.
"SECT. 7. And be it further enacted, That every such enrolled
person, who shall have become free by manumission or otherwise, if he
shall thereafter become indigent, shall be deemed to be settled in the
town in which the person who manumitted him was settled at the time
of such manumission, or in such other town where he shall have gained
a settlement subsequent to his discharge from the said service; and the
former owner or owners of such manumitted person, and his legal representatives, shall be exonerated from his maintenance, any law to the
contrary hereof notwithstanding.
" SECT. 8. And be it further enacted, That, when the troops to be
raised as aforesaid shall be in the service of the United States, they
shall be subject to the rules and articles which have been or may be
hereafter established by the By-laws of the United States for the government of the army of the United States; that, when the said troops
shall be in the service of the State of New York, they shall be subject
to the same rules and regulations: And the Governor of the said State
shall be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to exercise all the
power and authority which, by the said rules and articles, are required
to be exercised by the President of the United States." - Laws of the
State of New York, passed at the Thirty-eighth Session of the Legislature, chap. xviii.
(D.)
GENERAL JACKSON'S PROCLAMATION TO THE NEGROES.
HEADQUARTERS, SEVENTH MILITARY DISTRICT,
MOBILE, September 21, 1814.
To the Free Colored Inhabitants of Louisiana.
Negro sol-   Through a mistaken policy, you have heretofore been deprived of a
diers under participation in the glorious struggle for national rights in which our
ckson  country is enerall exist.
Jackson. country is engaged. This no longer shall exist.




APPENDIX.                       165
As sons of freedom, you are now called upon to defend our most Negro soldiers under
inestimable blessing. As Americans, your country looks with confi- General
dence to her adopted children for a valorous support, as a faithful Jackson.
return for the advantages enjoyed under her mild and equitable government. As fathers, husbands, and brothers, you are summoned to rally
around the standard of the Eagle, to defend all which is dear in existence.
Your country, although calling for your exertions, does not wish you
to engage in her cause without amply remunerating you for the services rendered. Your intelligent minds are not to be led away by false
representations. Your love of honor would cause you to despise the
man who should attempt to deceive you. In the sincerity of a soldier
and the language of truth I address you.
To every noble-hearted, generous freeman of color volunteering to
serve during the present contest with Great Britain, and no longer,
there will be paid the same bounty, in money and lands, now received
by the white soldiers of the United States, viz. one hundred and twentyfour dollars in money, and one hundred and sixty acres of land. The
non-commissioned officers and privates will also be entitled to the same
monthly pay, and daily rations, and clothes, furnished to any American
soldier.
On enrolling yourselves in companies, the Major-General Commanding will select officers for your government from your white fellowcitizens. Your non-commissioned officers will be appointed from among
yourselves.
Due regard will be paid to the feelings of freemen and soldiers.
You will not, by being associated with white men in the same corps, be
exposed to improper comparisons or unjust sarcasm. As a distinct, independent battalion or regiment, pursuing the path of glory, you will,
undivided, receive the applause and gratitude of your countrymen.
To assure you of the sincerity of my intentions, and my anxiety to
engage your invaluable services to our country, I have communicated
my wishes to the Governor of Louisiana, who is fully informed as to
the manner of enrolment, and will give you every necessary information
on the subject of this address.
ANDREW JACKSON, Major-General Commanding.
(Niles's Register, vol. vii. p. 205.)
Three months after his proclamation was issued, on Sunday, the 18th of December, 1814, General Jackson reviewed




166               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Negro sol- the troops, white and colored, in New Orleans.    At the close
diers under
General  of the review, Edward Livingston [one of his aids] advanced
from the group that surrounded the General, and read in fine,
sonorous tones, and with an energy and emphasis worthy of
the impassioned words he spoke, that famous address to the
troops which contributed so powerfully to enhance their
enthusiasm, and of which the survivors to this hour have the
most vivid recollection. This address, like that previously
quoted, was Jackson's spirit in Livingston's language."Parton's Life of Jackson, vol. ii. pp. 63, 64.
The following is a portion of the address:"To THE EMBODIED MILITIA.- Fellow Citizens and Soldiers: The
General commanding in chief would not do justice to the noble ardor
that has animated you in the hour of danger, he would not do justice
to his own feeling, if he suffered the example you have shown to pass
without public notice......
" Fellow-citizens, of every description, remember for what and
against whom you contend. For all that can render life desirable -
for a country blessed with every gift of nature -for property, for life
-for those dearer than either, your wives and children-and for
liberty, without which, country, life, property, are no longer worth
possessing; as even the embraces of wives and children become a reproach to the wretch who could deprive them by his cowardice of those
invaluable blessings.
"To THE MEN OF COLOR.- Soldiers! From the shores of Mobile
I collected you to arms, — I invited you to share in the perils and to
divide the glory of your white countrymen. I expected much from
you; for I was not uninformed of those qualities which must render
you so formidable to an invading foe. I knew that you could endure
hunger and thirst, and all the hardships of war. I knew that you
loved the land of your nativity, and that, like ourselves, you had to defend all that is most dear to man. But you surpass my hopes. I have
found in you, united to these qualities, that noble enthusiasm which impels to great deeds.
" Soldiers! The President of the United States shall be informed
of your conduct on the present occasion; and the voice of the Repre



APPENDIX.                        167
sentatives of the American nation shall applaud your valor, as your
General now praises your ardor. The enemy is near. His sails cover
the lakes. But the brave are united; and, if he finds us contending
among ourselves, it will be for the prize of valor, and fame its noblest
reward."- Niles's Register, vol. vii. pp. 345, 346.
(E.)
The Hon. Charles B. Sedgwick, a member of Congress Negro solfrom the State of New York, read in the House of Represen- mnarchitatives, during the last session, the following paper on the mngvernuse of negro soldiers in other countries. It is understood to
have been prepared by one of the librarians of the State
Library at Albany.
NEGRO SOLDIERS UNDER MONARCHICAL GOVERNMENTS.
"The monarchical governments of Europe and America, those that
tolerate slavery and those that do not, alike agree in employing negroes
armed for the public defence. They find that the burdens of war, and
the sacrifice of life it occasions, are too great to be borne by the white
race alone. They call upon the colored races, therefore, to share in the
burden, and to encounter, in common with the whites, the risks of loss
of life.
" Thus we find, that in the Spanish colony of Cuba, with a population one-half slaves and one-sixth colored, a militia of free blacks and
mulattoes was directed by Gen. Pezuela (Governor-General) to be
organized in 1854 throughout the island; and it was put upon an equal
footing, with regard to privilege, with the regular army. This measure
was not rescinded by Governor-General Concha in 1855; but the
black and mulatto troops have been made a permanent corps of the
Spanish army. (Condensed in the very phrases of Thrasher's preface
to his edition of Humboldt's' Cuba.')
"In the Portuguese colonies on the coast of Africa, the regiments
are chiefly composed of black men. At Prince's Island, the garrison
consists of a company of regular artillery of eighty, and a regiment of
black militia of ten hundred and fifty-eight, rank and file, of which the




168                AN HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
Negro sol- colonel is a white man. At St. Thomas's, there are two regiments of
diers under
monarchi- black militia. In Loando, the Portuguese can, on an emergency of war
cal govern- with the natives, bring into the field twenty-five thousand partially civilized blacks, armed with muskets. Successful expeditions have actually
been made with five thousand of them, accompanied with three or four
hundred white soldiers. (From Valdez's Six Years on the West Coast
of Africa. London: 1861. Two vols. 8vo.)
"In the Dutch colony of the Gold Coast of Africa, with a population of one hundred thousand, the garrison of the fortress consists of
two hundred soldiers (whites, mulattoes, and blacks), under a Dutch
colonel.
" In the capital of the French colony of Senegal, on the same coast,
at St. Louis, the defence of the place is in the hands of eight hundred
white and three hundred black soldiers.  (The preceding facts are also
from Valdez.)
"In the Danish island of St. Croix, in the West Indies, for more
than twenty-five years past, there have been employed two corps of
colored soldiers, in the presence of slaves. (From Tuckerman's Santa
Cruz.)
" In Brazil, notwithstanding its three million slaves, its monarchical
government employs all colors and races in the military service, either
by enlistment or forcible seizure. The police of the city of Rio de
Janeiro is a military organization, composed mostly of colored men,
drilled and commanded by army officers.  The navy is principally
manned by civilized aborigines.  (Hidder: Ewbank.)
" The course pursued by the British Government in Jamaica, Sierra
Leone, and Hindostan, is so notorious, as simply to need to be mentioned.
" In Turkey, no distinction of color or race is made in the ranks of
the regular army. Distinction is made, however, on the ground of difference of faith. The army is composed of Mahomedans.  Christians
and Jews are never recruited. The result is one which the government
of Turkey to-day contemplates with alarm. For the last two hundred
years, having been frequently engaged in war, her Mahomedan population has been greatly reduced thereby; while her Christian population,
at one time greatly inferior in numbers, has now, by peace, so extraordinarily increased, as to bid fair soon to divide the empire. And she
dare not now, in her strength, arm them as her soldiers as conscripts,
notwithstanding her desire to do it."




APPENDIX.                    169
(F.)
OMITTED DOCUMENTS.
A brief mention may fitly be here made of some of the documents, alluded to in the prefatory Note, which, on account of
the prescribed limits of this publication, have been omitted,
and reserved for future use.
1. A despatch from Lord Dunmore to " Secretary the Earl
of Hillsborough," dated at Williamsburg, May 1, 1772.  The
original is in the State-paper Office, London. A manuscript
copy was obligingly furnished to me by Mr. Bancroft.  It
not only corroborates the testimony of the American patriots
respecting the antislavery sentiments which prevailed in Virginia prior to the Declaration of Independence, but shows the
opinions at that time entertained respecting the relations of
slaves to their masters in a time of war, as follows: -
"In case of a war..... the people with great reason
tremble at the facility that an enemy would find in procuring
such a body of men, attached by no tie to their masters or to
the country: on the contrary it is natural to suppose their
condition must inspire them with an aversion to both, and
therefore are ready to join the first that would encourage them
to revenge themselves; by which means a conquest of this
country would inevitably be effected in a very short time."
2. An original letter of Patrick Henry to John Alsop, of
Hudson, N.Y., dated at Hanover Court-House, 13 January,
1773, pronouncing slavery to be " as repugnant to humanity as
it is inconsistent with the Bible and destructive to Liberty."
3. The laws of some of the Northern and Middle States, at
the time of the extinction of slavery therein, making it a penal
offence to sell slaves to be taken out of the State without their
own consent; and thus proving the falseness of the charge
made by Jefferson Davis and others against the North, of hav22




170               AN HISTORICAL RESEARCII.
ing " consulted their own interest by selling their slaves to the
South when they prohibited slavery within their limits."  My
attention has been called to these laws by Professor Lieber.
4. An extract from  a letter written to me soon after the
publication of the first edition, by Mrs. Lydia Maria Child,
in which she shows how admirably successful Lafayette's experiment of emancipation in Cayenne proved in practice.  The
account is too beautiful and touching to be abridged. I hope
hereafter to print it entire.
5. A full and accurate statement of the opinions of that high
authority, John Quincy Adams, on the powers of the National
Government respecting Slavery and Emancipation in a time
of war.
The opponents of Emancipation have recently cited certain
Official Papers of his, written when, in the capacity of a diplomatist, he was acting under a slave-holding President and a
pro-slavery Administration, and discharging the duties of his
office as the Advocate of his government in a controversy
between it and a foreign power. It would be wrong to assume
that such official papers in every instance necessarily present the
personal views of the writer. Indeed, we have on record the
following express declaration of Mr. Adams as to one of his
official acts: "It was utterly against my wishes; but I was
obliged to submit, and prepare the requisite despatches." Such
ministerial acts, contrary to his convictions, when he was called
on to perform them, were done, to use his own words, in "the
bitterness of his heart."
When acting on his own responsibility, in the House of Representatives, in 1836, he made this declaration: —
" From the instant that your slave holding States become the theatre
of war, civil, servile, or foreign, from that instant the war powers of
Congress extend to interference with the institution of slavery in every
way in which it can be interfered with, from a claim of indemnity for
slaves taken or destroyed, to the cession of the State burdened with
slavery to a foreign power."
After years of further reflection, in 1842 he announced, in




APPENDIX.                       171
the following statement, what he considered as indisputable
law:" When your country is actually in war, whether it be a war of
invasion or a war of insurrection, Congress has power to carry on the
war, and must carry it on according to the laws of war; and, by the
laws of war, an invaded country has all its laws and municipal institutions swept by the board, and martial law takes the place of them."
And the settled opinion of this eminent statesman, in the
fulness and maturity of his powers, solemnly reiterated in Congress, was, that, in a time of war, " not only the President of
the United States, but the commander of the army, has power
to order the universal emancipation of the slaves."








INDEX.








INDE X.
A.                       Association, Continental. See Continental
Association.
Aberdeen, a Virginia slave, act passed by   Atherton, Joshua, his speech against slavethe General Assembly in 1783 for his        ry in the New-Hampshire Convention
emancipation, on account of meritorious     to consider the Federal Constitution, 68,
public services, cited, 152, 153.           69.
Adams, Charles Francis, his speech in   Attucks, Crispus, description of him as a
Congress, quoted, xx; his edition of        runaway "Molatto fellow," 90; the first
the "Works of John Adams," quoted,          to fall in the Boston Massacre, 91; his
32, 41 100.                                 brave conduct on that occasion, 91; pubAdams, John, his opinion respecting slave-    lic funeral honors paid him, 91, 92.
ry, as shown by the history of the Declaration of Independence, 18, 19. On
the sub-committee  for framing  that
Declaration, 18; delighted with Jeffer-                       B.
son's first draught of it, 18.  Lafayette's letter to him, denouncing slave-   Backus, Isaac, extract from his speech in
ry, 32. His own practice in regard to       the Massachusetts Convention of 1788,
slavery, 41. His "Works," quoted, 32,       66, 67.
41, 100. His defence of the British sol-   Baldwin, Abraham, of Georgia, in the
diers concerned in the Boston Massacre,     Federal Convention, says that his State,
91; enumerates "negroes and mulattoes"      "if left to herself, may probably put a
as sharers in the popular movement that     stop to the evil" of the slave trade, 58.
led to it, 91. His Diary quoted, 100.     Bancroft, George, his comments on ChiefAdams, John Quincy, pronounces the Con-       Justice Taney's views of slavery in the
stitution to be " the complement of the     Dred Scott case, 10, 11. His manuscript
Declaration of Independence, forming        letter of Mr. Gadsden, in 1776, quoted, 48.
with it one entire system  of national      His opinion on the Declaration of Indegovernment," 49.  His opinion of the        pendence, cited, 15. His "History of the
powers of the national government as        United States," quoted, 97. His account
to slavery and emancipation in a time of    of the army of the Revolution in respect
war, 170, 171. His official acts as Secre-  to colored soldiers, 97. Furnishes a copy
tary of State not always the index of his   of an unpublished letter of Lord Dunprivate opinions, 170.                      more in 1772 on the evils of slavery in
Alsop, John, letter of Patrick Henry to him    Virginia, 169; also an original letter of
in 1773, denouncing slavery, mentioned,    IMr. Cruden on raising negro troops in the
169.                                        South, 141; also a copy of Dunmore's
"American Loyalists," Sabine's, quoted,       letter to Secretary Lord George Ger128-130.                                    main, offering to organize and command
American Magna Charta.  See Declara-          them in person, 145-147.
tion of Independence.                     Barry, Rev.  illiam, his " History of FraAmes, Captain, the negro hero, Salem          mingham," cited, 94.
Poor, serves in his company at Bunker   Bartlett, John Russell, Secretary of State
Hill, 95.                                   in Rhode Island, documents furnished
Analectic Magazine," quoted, 161.            by him, copied from the State archives,
"Annals of Congress," quoted, 154, 155.       117-124.
Arnold, Samuel G., his "History of Rhode   Barton, Lieutenant-Colonel, captures the
Island," quoted, 123.                       British Major-General Prescott with the
Articles of Confederation, quoted, 25, 26.    aid of the negro  man  Prince, 111See Confederation.                          113.




176                                   INDEX.
Belknap, Dr. Jeremy, his "Answers to    Clymer, George, of Pennsylvania, in the
Queries respecting Slavery," proposed        Federal Convention, prefers to avoid the
by Judge Tucker of Virginia, quoted,          word "slaves" in the Constitution, 61.
22, 23.                                    "Columbian Centinel," of 1788, quoted,
Benson, Egbert, letter of John Jay to him       67, 68.
in 1780, quoted, 46.                       Committee of Conference to consider the
Boston, pays funeral honors to the victims      condition of the army, decide against the
of the Boston Massacre, 91, 92; re-           enlistment of negroes altogether, 101,
joicings in, on the adoption by Massa-        102; their decision departed from  by
chusetts of the Federal Constitution, 67,    Washington as to free negroes, with the
68.                                          consent of Congress, 102.
"Boston Gazette, or Weekly Journal," of   Committee of Safety, the, of Massachu1750, quoted, 90.                            setts, disallow the admission of any but
Boston Massacre, a negro the first victim      freemen into the army, 97.
of the, 91, 92.                            " Compromises of the Constitution," one
Bowen, Francis, his " Life of General Lin-      object of this work to ascertain who have
coin," quoted, 83, 84.                       been unfaithful to them, 2.
Brown, John, of Norfolk, in Virginia, de-   Confederation, Articles of, free negroes renounced by a Virginia committee as an        garded in them as citizens, 25; quoted,
enemy of his country for continuing in       25.
the slave trade, 21.                       Confession of Faith, the Nation's Political.
Brown, William, of Framingham, Massa-           See Declaration of Independence.
chusetts, his advertisement of the run-   Congress, Continental, of 1776, embraced
away slave, Crispus Attucks, 90.             some of the future members of the Fede"Bucks of America," a negro company, a          ral Convention, 49. Recommends negro
flag presented by John Hancock to the,       enlistments, 133-135.  Secret Journals
162.                                         of, in 1779, quoted, 133-135. Journal of,
Bullock, Mr., of Georgia, his fear of the       in 1779, quoted, 135.  Report to it in
negroes joining the British armyin 1775,     favor of raising negro troops in 1779,
100.                                         quoted, 133-135.
Bunker Hill, negro soldiers fought in the    Congress, Federal, war powers of, in relabattle of, 92.                               tion to slavery and emancipation, acButler, Pierce, of South Carolina, in the       cording to John Quincy Adams, 170, 171.
Federal Convention, 60.                    Connecticut, her legislation on slavery and
the enlistment of negro soldiers, 113117.
C.                       Constitution, Federal, previous opinions of
its principal framers, 27-49; the " comCabot, George, in the Massachusetts Con-       plement of the Declaration of Independvention of 1788, says that the Federal       ence," which is tacitly recognized in its
Constitution is the best way to get rid      Preamble, 49. Its Preamble is its key,
of the slave trade, 64.                      50. Its authors believed, that under it
Cadwalader, John, his letter to General         slavery would, and they intended that
Washington in 1781, quoted, 127.             it should, be soon abolished, 50, 51; reCaldwell, Jonas, killed in the Boston Mas-     cognizes the existence of slavery, but
sacre, 91.                                   excludes the word " slave," 52. Debates
Carr, Patrick, mortally wounded in the         on its formation, 51-62.
Boston Massacre, 91.                       Constitutional Convention.  See ConvenCayenne, Lafayette's experiment in eman-       vention, Federal.
cipation there, 31, 32; Mrs. Child's letter   Constitutions, State, nothing in them  to
on its successful result, 170.               warrant slavery at the time of the adopChastellux, Marquis de, his "Travels,"         tion of the Federal Constitution, 51.
quoted, 124. His account, in 1781, of the    Continental Association of 1774, adopted
Rhode Island colored regiment, 124.          and signed by the Congress in 1774, 19;
Chauncey, Commodore Isaac, his letter to       its second article abolishes the slave
Commodore Perry on negroes in  the           trade, 19; signed by delegates of all
Navy, 160, 161.                              the colonies but Georgia, 19; adopted
Child, Mrs. Lydia Maria, her letter on the     by Georgia also in 1775, 20; enforced
success of Lafayette's experiment in         against John Brown of Norfolk, 21.
emancipating his slaves, 170.              Continental Congress of 1776.  See ConCitizenship of negroes.  See Negroes as        gress.
slaves and as citizens.                    Convention, Federal, of 1787, some of its
Clinton, Sir Henry, his proclamation in        members had been members also of the
relation to the enlistment of negroes, 136.   Continental Congress, 49. Its debates
Letter of Lord Dunmore to him, 145-          on slavery, 52-62.  Importance of re147.                                         garding the known  principles of its




INDEX.                                      177
Convention, Federal (continued).             Delaware Assembly, passes a bill prohibitmembers in interpreting the Constitu-        ing the slave trade in 1775, disallowed
tion, 49. Slave-holders in it asked only     by the royal Governor, 20.
a temporary protection of slavery, 51.     Dickinson, John, in the Federal ConvenConvention, New Hampshire, for consider-       tion, 58; his opinions on slavery, 58, 59,
ing the Federal Constitution, 68, 69.        61.
Cooke, Nicholas, Governor of Rhode Is-   Documents omitted, mention of some perland, his letter to General Washington       tinent to this work, 169.
in 1778, 121, 122.                         "Dred Scott" case, Chief-Justice Taney's
Cornwallis, Lord, his proclamation invit-      language on the, quoted, 6; Judge Mcing slaves to join the British army, 137.    Lean's, 7, 8; Judge Curtis's, 8-10. Mr.
Jefferson's account of his cruelty to cap-   Bancroft's strictures on Judge Taney's
tured slaves, 137, 138.                      words, 10, 11.
Creed, National.  See Declaration of In-   Duane, James, Mayor of New  York in
dependence.                                  1786, signs an anti-slavery memorial to
Cruden, J., his proposal to Lord Dun-          the Legislature. 47.
more to arm  negroes, 142-145.  His   Dunmore, Lord, his Proclamation, promisunpublished MS. "sketch" of a plan for       ing freedom  to slaves in Virginia, in
raising ten thousand black troops in         1775, 103-110. His views on the emSouth Carolina in 1782, 144, 145.            ployment of negroes as soldiers, 141-148.
Curtis, Judge, his opinion on free negroes     Letters from him to the English Secreas citizens, 8-10.                           tary of State in 1776, quoted, 109, 110.
Letter of J. Cruden to him, 142-145.
His letters to Lord George Germain, 147,
148. Despatch from  him  to Secretary
D.                          Lord Hillsborough in 1772, on the dangerous relation of slaves to their masDana, Francis, member of the Massachu-         ters in a time of war, quoted, 169.
setts Convention of 1778, his opinion on
slavery, 63.
Davie, William R., member of North Caro-                         E.
lina Convention in 1788, 79; says that
" slaves, as rational beings, have a right   "Elliot's Debates," quoted, 54-62, 68-83.
of representation," 80; and that "they    Ellsworth, Oliver, his remarks on slavery
might be highly useful in war," 80.          in the Federal Convention, 55; says,
Davis, Jefferson, his "MIessage," quoted,       that "slavery, in time, will not be a
3 4; his statement of the history of the     speck in our country," 51, 57.
inited States in relation to slavery, 3,   Enlistment of negro soldiers in Massachu4; Mr. Everett's strictures on it, 12,       setts, 92-99, 126-127; in Virginia, 10314.                                          110; in New York, 110, 127, 162-164; in
Davis, William  J., of New York, a pas-        Connecticut, 113-117; in Rhode Island,
sage, furnished by him, from the Jour-       117-124.
nal of a Hessian officer, quoted, 111.     Eustis, William, on negroes as soldiers in
Dawes, Thomas, in the Massachusetts Con-       the war of the Revolution, 154.
vention of 1788, 63; his opinion on the    Everett, Edward, his strictures on Jefferson
natural rights of slaves, 64; says, that     Davis's views of slavery, 12-14.  His
by the Federal Constitution "slavery         Address in New  York, July 4, 1861,
has received a mortal wound," 64.            quoted, 12-14. His Address at the In" Debates and Proceedings " of the Massa-      auguration of the Statue of General Warchusetts Convention of 1788, quoted,         ren, quoted, 94, 95; his "Orations and
63-68.                                       Speeches," quoted, 94, 95; commemoDeclaration of Independence, its history in    rates Peter Salem, 94, 95.
relation to slavery, 15-25. Its doctrines
early reaffirmed in State constitutions
and courts of justice, 22-25; the Ameri-                       F.
can Magna Charta, i.e. the bold proclamation to the world of the natural rights   Fairfax County Resolves, in 1774, condemn
conferred on his subjects by the Creator     the slave-trade, 29; quoted, 28, 29.
and Governor of men, 14, 27; the Na-         Washington chairman of the Committional Creed, and Political Confession of    tee that prepared them, 28.
Faith, 15.  Passage omitted from  the   Federal Convention, opinions previously
original draught of it, quoted, 18. This     held and avowed by its members on
Declaration and the Federal Constitution     negro slavery, 27-49; importance of re" parts of one consistent whole, founded     garding these opinions in interpreting
on one and the same theory of govern-        the language of the Constitution, 49.
ment," 51, 52,                               Some of its members had been members
23




178                                   INDEX.
Federal Convention (continued).              Georgia, resolution adopted by the Proof the Continental Congress, 49.  It         vincial Congress of, in 1775, against the
carries out into practical execution the     importation of slaves from Africa or elseprinciples of the Declaration of Inde-       where, 20.  Insurrection of slaves in.
pendence, 49. See Convention.                feared in 1775, 100.
Federal Constitution.  See Constitution.     Georgia and South Carolina, in the FedeFlag, presented by John Hancock to a           ral Convention asked only a temporary
company of colored soldiers, 162.            toleration of the slave trade, 86.
Flanders, Henry, his "Lives and Times    Germain, Lord George, Secretary of State,
of the Chief Justices of the Supreme         letters to, from Lord Dunmore, quoted,
Court of the United States," cited, 46.      147, 148.
Force, Peter, his " Notes on Lord Mahon's    Gerry, Elbridge, in the Federal ConvenHistory," cited, 19, 21; demonstrates        tion, his opinions on slavery, 58. DeLord Mahon's error as to the Southern        dines to sign the Federal Constitution,
Colonies in relation to the Continental      62. Invited to take a seat with the deleAssociation, 19-22; his " American Ar-       gates in the Massachusetts Convention
chives," quoted, 97, 99, 101-106, 109,       of 1788, 62.
110.                                       Gordon, Dr. William, letter of Jefferson to
Franklin, Benjamin, his opinions on sla-       him, quoted, 137, 138.
very agreed with Washington's, 34. His   Gorham, Nathaniel, in the Federal Conletter to John Wright on  the  early         vention, 60.
anti-slavery efforts of the Quakers in    Gray, Samuel, killed in the Boston MassaPhiladelph'ia, 34, 35; prints several anti-  cre, 91. 
slavery books for them, 35. His letter   "Great Prince, Little Prince," &c., slaves
to Dean Woodward, in 1773, announcing        in Connecticut, their memorial to the
"a disposition to abolish slavery" in        General Assembly, in 1779, quoted, 116,
North America, 35.  His "Address to          117.
the Public," in 1789, "for promoting the    Greene, Colonel Christopher, commander
abolition of slavery," 35-37. The Me-        of the Rhode-Island negro regiment,
morial to Congress of the Pennsylvania       123; exploits of his black regiment in
Abolition Society signed by him as Pre-      the battle of Rhode Island, 123; desident, the last public act of his life, 37,  fended at Points Bridge by his colored
38. His parody on Mr. Jackson's pro-         soldiers till they were cut to pieces, 124.
slavery speech in Congress, 38-41.         Greene, General Nathaniel, his letters to
Free negroes, regarded as citizens in the       Gen. Washington on negroes as soldiers,
Articles of Confederation, 25; and con-      110, 139, 148; to Gov. Rutledge, 148,
sequently in the Federal Constitution, 8,    149.
9; in Massachusetts, took their place as   Gr6goire, Bishop, letter to him from Jeffersoldiers in the ranks with white men,        son, declaring of negroes, that " what97, 127.                                     ever be their degree of talent, it is no
Frye, Colonel, Salem Poor, the negro hero,     measure of their rights," 17.
serves in his regiment at Bunker Hill,   Griswold, Matthew, in the General As95.                                          sembly of Connecticut, Chairman of the
Funeral of the victims of the Boston Mas-       Committee recommending  the enlistsacre, 91, 92.                               ment of negro slaves, 113.
G.                                           H.
Hamilton, Alexander, Secretary of the
Gadsden, Christopher, of South Carolina,       Treasury, succeeds John Jav as Presia remarkable MS. letter from him to Fr.      dent of the New  York Manumission
S. Johnson, in 1776, in the possession       Society, 47. Signs an anti-slavery meof Mr. Bancroft, quoted, 48; deprecates      morial to the Legislature, 47. His letter
the continuance of slavery in South Ca-      to John Jay on the enlistment of nerolina, 48.                                  groes, 132, 133.  Letter to him  from
"Gaines's Mercury," for 1775, quoted,          Colonel John Laurens, quoted, 135, 136.
101.                                      lHancock, John, flag presented by him to a
Galloway, James, in the North Carolina         company of colored soldiers, 162; PresiConvention of 1788, 81; abominates the       dent of the Massachusetts Convention
slave trade, 81.                             of 1788, 62.
Gaston, Judge, of North Carolina, cited by    Hart, Dr., letter of Dr. Hopkins to him,
Judge Curtis, 9; decides that free ne-       84, 85.
groes are citizens, 9.                     Heath, General William, in the Massachufates, General Horatio, orders negroes to      setts Convention of 1788, his opinion on
be excluded from enlistment, 101.            slavery, 65, 66.




INDEX.                                      179
Hening's " Statutes at Large of Virginia,"    Jay, John (continued).
quoted, 152, 153.                            memorial to the New-York Legislature
Henry, Patrick, in the Virginia Conven-        in 1786, 46. Extract from a manuscript
tion of 1788, 77; his opinions on slavery,   of, 47. First Chief-Justice of the Unit77, 78; says, "Slavery is detested; we       ed States, contrast between his sentifeel its fatal effects," 77. IIis letter to  ments and those of his latest successor
John Alsop in 1773, quoted, 169.             47. Letter of Alexander Hamilton to
Hessian officer under Burgoyne, his testi-     him in 1779, quoted, 132, 133.
mony to the presence of "negroes in    Jay, William, his "Life of John Jay,"
abundance" in the American regiments,        quoted, 215, 216.
111.                                       Jefferson, Thomas, his opinion on slavery,
Hessian troops, three times repulsed by        as shown by the history of the Declaranegro troops in the battle of Rhode Is-      tion of Independence, 15-18. His sentiland, 123.                                   ments as more strongly expressed in his
Hillsborough, Earl of, Lord Dunmore's          "Notes on Virginia," in 1782, 42, 43.
letter to him on the relation of slaves to   His contributions to the " Encyclop&their masters, quoted, 169.                  die Mdthodique," on the subject of sla"Historical Magazine" for 1861, quoted,        very in the United States, 44, 45. His,
48, 110.                                     letter to Dr. Price in 1785, 43. Extract
Historical Society.  See Massachusetts.        from  his "Autobiography," 45.  His
Hopkins, Rev. Dr. Samuel, his letter to        "Summary View of the Rights of AmerDr. Hart, quoted, 84, 85. His "Dia-          ica," quoted, 17, 18.  His "Works,"
logue concerning the Slavery of the Af-      quoted, 137, 138. His letter to Dr. Gorricans," quoted, 98.                         don, relating to Cornwallis, quoted, 137,
Houston, Mr., of Georgia, his fears from       138.
the negroes joining the British army in   Johnson, Fr. S., of Connecticut, letter of
1775, 100.                                   Mr. Gadsden to him  in 1766, 48.
Howard's Reports," quoted, 6-10.            Johnson, Judge William, his "Sketches
Humphreys, Colonel David, nominal cap-         of the Life and Correspondence of Genetain of a company of colored infantry        ral Greene," quoted, 149, 150.
during the war of the Revolution, 141.    Jones, Joseph, letter of Mr. Madison to
him, quoted, 138.
1.
Independence, Declaration of.  See Declaration.                                 Keith, George, wrote a paper against slaIredell, James, in the North Carolina Con-     very about 1693, 34.
vention of 1788, 80, 81; says " the entire    Kench, Thomas, his letters requesting auabolition of slavery must be pleasing to     thority to raise a body of negro soldiers
every generous mind and every friend             Massachusetts, 125, 126.
of human nature," 80.                      King, Rufus, his opposition to slavery in
Irving, Washington, cites an original let-     the Fedral Convention, 54, 55, 59. In
ter of General Washington, "wishing          the Massachusetts Convention of 1788
from his soul a gradual abolition of         his remarks on slavery in debate, 63.
slavery," 32; his account of Washing-   Knox, General Henry, Secretary of War,
ton's last will as to his slaves, 32, 33.    his Report to Congress in 1790, 130.
J.
L.
Jackson, General Andrew, his Proclamation to the Free Colored Inhabitants of   Lafayette, his detestation of slavery, 31.
Louisiana, quoted, 164, 165.  His ad-        His experiments in freeing his slaves
dress to the " Men of Color " in his army    and using them as tenants, to encourage
at New Orleans, 166, 167.                    emancipation, 31, 32. His letter to John
James, a negro slave, emancipated by the       Adams on the subject, 32.  His letter
State of Virginia for services rendered      from the prison of Magdeburg in behalf
to Lafayette, 153; Act of emancipation,      of his negro tenants in Cayenne, 32. His
cited, 153.                                  letter to Washington, proposing a plan
Jay, John, in 1777, urges the insertion of     for their converting slaves into tenants,
an abolition clause in the Constitution      quoted, 31. Washington's reply, that
of New York, 46. His letter from Spain       "he shall be happy to join in so laudato Egbert Benson, in 1780, 46. Presi-        ble a work," quoted, 31. Mrs. Child's
dent of the  New-York Manumission            letter on the perfect success of his expeSociety, 47. Draughts an anti-slavery        riment, mentioned, 170.




180                                   INDEX.
Langdon, John, in the Federal Convention,   Mackenzie, Alexander Slidell, his "Life
his opinion on slavery, 59.                   of Commodore Oliver H. Perry," quotLaurens, Henry, of South Carolina, his           ed, 240, 241.
letter to his son, in 1776, expressing    McLean, Judge, his opinion, in the "Dred
his abhorrence of slavery, quoted, 48, 49.    Scott case," on negroes as slaves and as
His letter to General Washington on           citizens, 7, 8.
negro soldiers, in 1779, 131.               Madison, James, " thinks it wrong to adLaurens, Colonel John, "the Chevalier            mit in the Constitution the idea of proBayard of America," letter to him from        perty in man," 51.  His opinions on
his father, quoted, 48, 49. His letter to     slavery, 61, 75, 76. His letter to Joseph
Hamilton on negro soldiers, quoted, 135.      Jones on negroes as soldiers, quoted,
His letters to Washington, quoted, 136,       138, 139.  Cited  by Judge McLean,
139, 140. His mission to France in 1780,      7.
138. His renewed exertions to raise ne-   "Madison Papers," quoted, 7, 54-62, 138,
gro  troops  in  South  Carolina  and         139.
Georgia, 139, 140.                          Magna Charta, the American.  See DeLawrence, Major Samuel, "Memoir" of              claration of Independence.
him, quoted, 96; commanded a company    Mahon, Lord, his error as to the Southern
whose rank and file were all negroes, 96;     Colonies in  relation  to  slavery, 19;
his respect for their courage, discipline,    shown to be in error by Mr. Force from
and fidelity, 96.                             the history of the Continental AssociaLay, Benjamin, issues a book against sla-       tion of 1774, 19-22.
very about 1736, 35.                        Mansfield, Lord, declares slavery " so odiLee, Richard Henry, letter to him from Ed-       ous that nothing can be suffered to supmund Pendleton in 1775, quoted, 105, 106.     por  t it but positive law," 51.
Lee, William, Washington's  "mulatto    Manumission Society of New York. inman," testamentary provision respect-         eluded Jay, Hamilton, and many other
ing him, 34.                                  eminent persons, 47. Its declaration of
Lewis, Lawrence, Washington's letter to         the duty of Christians, 47.
him, urging the "gradual abolition of    Martin, Luther, his remarks on slavery in
slavery," as "it might prevent much           the Federal Convention, 55.  His adfuture mischief," 32.                         dress to the Legislature of Maryland,
Lieber, Professor Francis, calls the author's   opposing the adoption of the Federal
attention to laws of some of the Northern     Constitution, quoted, 71-74, 151.
and  Middle  States, protecting  their   Maryland Convention, adopts the Contiemancipated negroes from being sold to        nental Association in 1774, 20.
the South, 170.                             Maryland, State of, adopts the Federal
Lincoln, General Benjamin, a manuscript         Constitution against strong opposition,
letter from  him  to Governor Rutledge,       71. Resolves, in 1781, "to raise seven
quoted, 138.  Urges the raising of a          hundred and fifty negroes, to be incorblack corps in the South, in 1780, 138.       porated with the other troops," 127.
Lincoln, Levi, his brief in his successful   Mason, George, of Virginia, his remarks
defence of a slave against his master in      on slavery in the Federal Convention,
a Massachusetts court, in 1783, quoted,       56, 57; in the Virginia Convention, pro23, 24.                                       nounces the slave-trade "diabolical in
Lincoln, Levi, furnishes his father's brief     itself and  disgraceful to  mankind,"
for publication, 23.                          75.
Livingston, Edward, aid of General Jack-   Massachusetts Convention for considering
son, reads his famous address to his          the Federal Constitution, 62-68.  Coli"fellow-citizens," "men of color," at         stitution adopted by, 67. Her legislation
New Orleans, 166.                             in regard to negro soldiers, 124-127. In
Livingston, Robert R., Chancellor of the        the Federal Convention, votes forprohibiState of New York, signs an anti-slavery      tion of the slave-trade, 62. MS. Archives
memorial to the Legislature in 1786, 47.      of, quoted, 95, 125, 126.
Lothrop, Rev. Dr. Samuel K., his " Memoir   Massachusetts Historical Society, its duty
of William Lawrence," quoted, 96, 97.         to the country, 1; its late "' eport on
Lowndes, Rawlins, his speech in the South       the Exchange of Prisoners during the
Carolina  Legislature  on  negroes  as        American  Revolution," 1; its "Proslaves, 82; opposes the adoption of the       ceedings" quoted, 23, 24.
Federal Constitution, 84.                   Maverick, Samuel, mortally wounded in
the Boston Massacre, 91.
Mercer, John F., letter of Washington to
M.                          him in favor of the abolition of slavery,
quoted, 30.
McDowall, Joseph, his remarks in  the    Moore, Frank, his "Diary of the American
North Carolina Convention in 1788, 80.        Revolution," quoted, 101, 112.




INDEX.                                     181
Morris, Gouverneur, committee on the   Norfolk Committee, in Virginia, enforce
style and arrangement of the Federal        the prohibition of the slave trade against
Constitution, 52; his speech against sla-   John Brown in 1775, 20, 21.
very in the Federal Convention, 52-54,   North, the, has not changed its opinion on
59.                                         the subject of slavery, 10-14.
Morris, Robert, letter of Washington to   North Carolina, Provincial Congress of,
him in 1786, on the abolition of slavery,   adopts the Continental Association in
quoted, 30.                                 1775, 20.
North Carolina, State of, in the Federal
Convention, her vote on the slave trade,
N.                         62; her Convention for deliberating on
the Federal Constitution, 79-81.
National Creed. See Declaration of Independence.
"National Intelligencer," quoted, 3-5.                        P.
Force's "Notes on Lord Mahon's History," first published in, 19.            Paley, William, D.D., his "Moral and
"National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished   Political Philosophy," quoted on the
Americans," quoted, 141.                    continuance  of slavery  in America,
Neal, James, his anti-slavery remarks in      86.
the Massachusetts Convention of 1788,   Park, Professor Edwards A., his " Memoir
64.                                         of Hopkins," quoted 84, 85.
Negro prisoners of war, Massachusetts for-   Parsons, Chief-Justice Theophilus, " Mebids them to be sold into slavery, 111.     moir" of him  by his son, Professor
Negro regiments authorized in New York        Theophilus Parsons, commended, 63;
in the war of 1812, 162, 164.              his Minutes of Debates in the MassaNegro slavery, the acknowledged source        chusetts Convention of 1788, quoted,
of the present war, 1.                     64.
Negro soldiers, enlistment of, in Massa-   Parsons, Dr. Usher, his letter on the emchusetts, 92-97, 124-127; in Maryland,     ployment of negroes in the U. S. Navy,
127; in New York, 127, 128, 163, 164;      159, 160.
in Connecticut, 113-117; in  Rhode   Parton, James, his "Life of Jackson,"
Island, 118-124.                           quoted, 166.
Negroes, as slaves and as citizens, 1-86;   Pendleton, Edmund, his letter to Richard
opinion of Jefferson Davis on, 3, 4; of    Henry Lee, 1775, quoted, 105, 106.
Alexander H. Stephens, 4, 5; of Chief-   Penn, John, Governor of Delaware, refuses
Justice Taney, 6, 7; of Judge McLean,      to prohibit the slave trade, 20.
7, 8; of Judge Curtis, 8, 9; of Judge   Pennsylvania Convention for considering
Gaston, 9.                                 the Federal Constitution, 69-71.
Negroes in the Navy, 159-162; in the war   "Pennsylvania Evening Post," for 1777,
of 1812, on the Lakes, 160, 161; on the    quoted, 112.
Ocean, 161, 162; proportion of, in the   Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the
naval service, 159, 160.                   Abolition of Slavery, their Address to
Negroes as soldiers, opinions of the found-   the Public, 35-37.
ers of the republic on, 89-156; when   Perry, Commodore Oliver H., his letter to
slaves, manumitted that they might be-      Commodore  Chauncey, quoted, 160;
come soldiers, 98. Present importance       Chauncey's reply to him, quoted, 160,
of the subject of, 89.                      161. His testimony to the bravery and
Nell, William C., his " Colored Patriots of   good conduct of the negro sailors in the
the American Revolution," 162. Owns         battle of Lake Erie, 161.
the flag of the colored company, " The   Peter Salem, a negro soldier, at the battle
Bucks of America," 162.                     of Bunker Hill, 92; shoots the British
New Hampshire, Convention in, for con-        Major Pitcairn, 93; his bravery commemsidering the Federal Constitution, 68.      orated by the pencil of the painter, the
New Jersey, objects to the phrase "white      tongue of the orator, and the pen of
inhabitants" in the requisition for land   the historian, 93.
forces in the ninth article of Confedera-   "Pictorial History of England," quoted,
tion, 26.                                   103, 104.
New York, State of, her act for enlisting   Pinckney, Charles, in the Federal Convennegroes, in 1781, quoted, 127, 128; her     tion, declares that the Southern States
act authorizing negro regiments in the     will probably of themselves stop the
war of 1812, quoted, 163, 164.              slave trade, 51, 56.
"Niles's Weekly Register," quoted, 161,   Pinckney, Charles, of South Carolina, his
162, 164-167.                              testimony in Congress, in 1820, to the
Nixon, Colonel, Peter Salem  serves as a     value of the services of negroes in the war
soldier in his regiment, 94.                of the Revolution, 155.




182                                  INDEX.
Pinckney, General Charles Cotesworth, in   Reed, Joseph, "Life and Correspondence"
the Federal Convention, his opinion on      of, quoted, 108, 109; letter to him from
slavery, 57, 59, 60; his speech in the      Washington, quoted, 108, 109.
South Carolina Legislature, 82, 83.       Rhode-Island Regiment, the colored, its
Pitcairn, Major, shot by Peter Salem in the   bravery in the battle of Rhode Island,
battle of Bunker Hill, 93.                  123; and in the defence of Red Bank,
Political Confession of Faith.  See De-       154. Chastellux's account of it in 1781,
claration of Independence.                  124.
Poor, Salem, a colored soldier at the battle   Rhode Island, State of, negro soldiers in
of Bunker Hill, commended by Colonel        the, 117-124. Her act, passed in 1778,
Prescott and other officers to the General  for enlisting negroes, quoted, 118, 120.
Court of Massachusetts for his bravery      Protest against it, quoted, 120, 121.
and skill, 95.                            Rivington's "Royal Gazette," of 1779,
Preamble of the Federal Constitution, the     quoted, 136.
key for its interpretation, 50, 86.       Rutledge, Edward, of South Carolina, in
Prescott, British Major-General, his cap-     the Continental Congress moves the
ture at Newport by the assistance of a      discharge of negroes from the army, 101.
negro, 111, 112; Dr. Thacher's account   Rutledge, John, Governor of South Caroof it, quoted, 112, 113.                   lina, letter of General Greene to him,
Prescott, Colonel William, signs a represen-  148, 149; in the Federal Convention,
tation to the General Court of Massachu-   his remarks on slavery, 55, 59.
setts in honor of the brave and officer-like
conduct of Salem Poor at Bunker Hill, 95.
Preston, Captain, his company fire on                          S.
Crispus Attucks and his companions, 91.
Prince, a negro, his important part in the   Sabine, Lorenzo, his statement as to the
capture of General Prescott, 111-113.       number of soldiers enlisted in the War
Prisoners of War, Report to the Massachu-     of the Revolution 128-130. His "Amesetts Historical Society on the Exchange    rican Loyalists," quoted, 128-130.
of, during the American Revolution, 2.    Salem, Peter, a negro soldier, 93-95. Mr.
Prisoners of war, negro, Massachusetts Re-    Everett's commemoration of him, 94,
solve in 1776, forbidding them to be sold   95. Appears in Trumbull's picture of
as slaves, 110, 111.                        the Battle of Bunker Hill, 93; Aaron
"Pulpit and Rostrum," a New-York serial       White's account of him, 93, 94; Mr.
publication, quoted, 10, 11.                Barry's, 94; Mr. Washburn's, 94.
Putnam, Brigadier-General Rufus, letter of   Sandyford, Ralph, issues a book against
Washington to him, securing the rights      slavery, about 1728, 35.
of a negro soldier, quoted, 151.          " Schloezer's Briefwechsel," quoted, 111.
Sedgwick, Charles B., a paper, read by him
in Congress, on the use of negro soldiers
Q.                         in other countries, quoted, 167, 168.
Shaler, Captain Nathaniel, his record of
Quincy, Josiah, his letter to the Rev. Ro-    the bravery of negro sailors in the war
bert C. Waterston, vi, vii.                 of 1812, 161, 162.
Sherman, Roger, in the Federal Convention, regards the slave trade as iniquitous, 55; says, the good sense of the
R.                         several States will probably by degrees
complete the abolition of slavery, 51, 56.
Ramsay, Dr. David, his letter to General      Opposes the idea of property in slaves,
Lincoln in 1788, quoted, 83, 84.            60; and the introduction of the word
Randolph, Governor Edmund, in the Vir-        " slave" into the Constitution, 61.
ginia Convention of 1788, 78, 79; speaks   Sinclair, Sir John, letter of Washington to
of slaves as " those unfortunate men now    him on the abolition of slavery, 30.
held in bondage," 78; says it would be   "Slave," the word not admitted into the
disgraceful to Virginia not to hope that,    text of the Constitution, though three
"by the operation of the General Gov-       clauses recognize the existence of slaernment, they may be made free," 78.        very, 52.
Randolph, Peyton, in the Federal Conven-   Slavery, nothing in the State Constitutions
tion, his remarks on slavery, 60.          to warrant it when the Federal ConstituRead, Mr., in the Federal Convention, 60.    tion was adopted, 51. No voice raised in
Rebellion of 1861, statements of leaders of   the Federal Convention to defend it, 52.
the, 3-5; their disagreement in stating    Slaves, negroes as, 1-86.  Memorial of
their grievances as the cause of the, 3.    loyal, in Connecticut, 116, 117. Many
Red Bank, the bravery of the Rhode-Island     manumitted that they might become
Black Regiment in the battle of, 154.       soldiers, 98.




INDEX.                                    183
Soldiers, enlisted during the Revolution,   Trumbull, Colonel, his picture of the Batwhere they came from, 128-130.  Ne-         tle of Bunker Hill, 93; introduces into
groes as, 89-156.                          it Peter Salem and other negroes, 93.
South, the, has changed its opinion on the   Trumbull, J. Hammond, Secretary of State
subject of slavery, 10-14.                  in Connecticut, his account of the proSouth Carolina, State of, her vote in the     ceedings of the General Assembly of
Federal Convention, on stopping the         Connecticut in relation to slavery and
slave trade, 62; enrolls negroes among     negro soldiers, 113-117.
her troops, 99.                          Tucker, St. George, of Virginia, proposes
South Carolina Legislature, discussion in    Queries on slavery to Dr. Belknap, 22;
the, on the Federal Constitution, 81-83.   Dr. Belknap's Answers to him, 22, 23.
South Carolina Provincial Congress adopts    His "Dissertation on Slavery," quoted,
the Continental Association in 1775, 20.   13.
South Carolina and Georgia, in the Fede-   Tyler, John, in the Virginia Convention
ral Convention, ask only a temporary       of 1778, his anti-slavery remarks, 76,
toleration of the slave trade, 86. Their   77.
reluctance to furnish soldiers in the
Revolution, 128. Congress, in 1779, re-                     V.
commends to them to raise three thousand able-bodied negroes, 134.           Varnum, General J. M., his letter to WashSouthern Colonies, in 1776, unanimous for    ington on raising negro troops in Rhode
suppressing the slave trade, 20.           Island, 118.
Spaight, Richard D., his remarks in the   Virginia, her act of 1783, emancipating all
North Carolina Convention of 1788, 80.     slaves who have faithfully served as
Sparks, Jared, his "Life and Writings of      soldiers, 152, 153; act to emancipate
Washington," quoted, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33,   James, a negro slave, for public services
34, 102, 131, 141. His " Life and Writ-    under Lafayette, 153.
ings of Franklin," quoted, 35-37, 38-41.   Virginia Convention of 1775, adopts the
His "American Biography," quoted, 84.       Continental Association, 20; its "DeHis "Correspondence of the American        claration " of pardon to slaves who have
Revolution," quoted, 31, 136, 139, 140,    joined Lord Dunmore, cited, 108.
148.                                     Virginia Convention of 1788, debates in,
Sprague, William, Governor of Rhode           74-79.
Island, encourages the formation of a
colored regiment, 89.                                       W
State Constitutions, nothing in them to
warrant slavery when the Federal Con-   War powers of Congress, John Quincy
stitution was adopted, 51.                 Adams on the, 170.
Staten Island, the British form  there a   Ward, General, requires a return of the
negro regiment, 110.                        "complexion" of soldiers, 99.
Stephens, Alexander H., his speech at   Warren, General Joseph, extract from his
Savannah, quoted, 4, 5; his doctrine in    Oration in 1775 on the " Boston Massarelation to negro slavery, 5; admits        cre," 92. Mr. Everett's Address at the
that public opinion on the subject has      Inauguration of his Statue, quoted, 95.
changed in the South, 5.                 Washburn, Emory, his " Extinction of Slavery in Massachusetts," quoted, 23, 24;
his "History of Leicester," quoted, 94.
T.                       Washington, George, though  a  slaveholder, never defended slavery, or desired its continuance, 28.  Condemns
Taney, Chief Justice, his opinion, in the    the slave trade, wishes for the abolition
"Dred Scott case," on negroes as men       of domestic slavery, and pledges himself
and as slaves, 6; comments on it by        to vote for it, 30; believes that MaryMr. Bancroft, 10, 11. Iis opinions con-     land and Virginia must very soon gradutrasted with those of John Jay, the first   ally abolish it by law, 30. His letter to
Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court,         Sir John Sinclair, quoted, 30. Shares in
47.                                        the anti-slavery sentiments of Lafayette,
Thacher, Dr. James, his account of the        31,32. His letters to Lafayette, 31. His
capture of General Prescott, 112, 113.      letter to Lawrence Lewis, urging the
His "Military Journal," quoted, 112,        gradual abolition of slavery, as likely to
113.                                        "prevent much future mischief," 32.
Thomas, General, his MS. letter to John       The provisions of his will respecting his
Adams, quoted, 103.                         slaves, 32-34. Licenses the enlistment
Thompson, General Samuel, in the Massa-       of negro soldiers, 102.  His letter to
chusetts Convention of 1788, his anti-     Joseph Reed, in 1775, quoted, 108, 109.
slavery remarks, 65.                        Letter to him from General Greene, 1776,




184                                  INDEX.
Washington, George (continued).             Williamson, Hugh, in the Federal Convenquoted, 110. His letter to Colonel John     tion, his opinion on slavery, 59, 61.
Laurens on raising negro troops in the   Wilson, James, in the Federal Convention,
South, 140, 141. His letter to Governor     his opinion on slavery, 58, 69-71; in the
Nicholas Cooke, 1778, quoted, 118. Let-     Pennsylvania Convention, says, " Within
ter to him from  General Varnum, 118.       a few years Congress will have power to
His letter to Henry Laurens on arming       exterminate slavery from  within  our
slaves, in 1779, quoted, 131. Letter of     borders," 71.
General Greene to him, quoted, 148.   Woodward, Dean, letter of Franklin to him
His letter to General Rufus Putnam, 151.    on the abolition of slavery, 35.
Webster, Daniel, reaffirms the principles of   Wright, John, letter of Franklin to him on
the founders of the republic in a memo-     the early anti-slavery efforts of Quakers
rable sentence, 86.                         in Philadelphia, 34, 35.
Wedgery, William, in the Massachusetts
Convention of 1788, 63.
White, Aaron, his account of Peter Salem,
93, 94.                                                       Z.
Williamsburg (Virginia) newspaper, publishes an appeal to the negroes by their
masters against Lord Dunmore's Procla-   Zenger Club, " Collection" of the, quoted,
mation, 106, 107.                           48, 49.