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 AT THE CELEBRATION OF 
 
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 EMANCIPATION DAY, 
 
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 DELIVERED BY 
 
 COL. H. L. PIKE, 
 
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 RALEIGH, § C., JANUARY, 1870. 
 
 
 
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 RALEIGH: 
 
 STANDARD STEAM BOOK AND JOB PRINT. 
 
 1870. 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 Friends and Fellow-Citizens : 
 
 We meet here to-day to celebrate one of the grandest acts 
 the world has ever witnessed, for we celebrate a daj^ 
 whose sun rose on a race of slaves, but whose parting beams 
 shone on the same men—slaves no more—but free men forever. 
 This day will ever rank in history as one of the great land¬ 
 marks of the world’s progress, for it was the death blow to 
 'human slavery. 
 
 Why, my friends, should I recall the days of slavery ? Why 
 •should I talk of the war which gave you your liberties ? Are 
 not the scenes of the past too fresh in your memories to need 
 recalling? Yes. Far better then to let the dead past bury its 
 dead, and for us of the present to talk of the present, and of 
 those things which will do most to bring us good in the future. 
 Yet, before we draw the curtain over the past, let us do honor 
 to the memory of that great and good man to whom much, 
 very much, of the happiness of this day is due—to Abraham 
 Lincoln. 
 
 His name will ever be the one most dear to the colored men 
 of America, for to him more than to any other man they owe 
 their freedom. It was his brain which conceived the emanci¬ 
 pation proclamation ; his strong will that brought others to 
 see its beneficence and wisdom; his hand which signed the 
 paper which struck from the slave his shackles and caused him 
 to stand before the world free and unfettered—a man among 
 men. Who does not remember the thrill that quivered from 
 nation to nation when it was announced to the world that 
 slavery was Hoad forever in America? Who of you, my 
 friends, does not remember with what a mingled feeling of 
 
doubt and happiness you heard that u Abe ” Lincoln had set 
 all the negroes free 
 
 And as the tide of war rolled on with its varying fortunes, 
 but ever onward march, who ot you does not remember that 
 he knew that it meant freedom to the black man ? 
 
 And when the close of the war came—when the shattered 
 army of Lee surrendered to the serried legions of Grant—when 
 the last army of the Confederacy was surrendered by Johnson 
 to Sherman—there was not a colored man in all the South who 
 did not shout with joy, for the death of the Confederacy 
 secured his freedom. Then the day, whose seventh return we 
 now celebrate became the dearest day of all the year to every 
 colored man, for it was the day which made him a freeman. 
 And now, as they will for all time to come upon the recur¬ 
 rence of this day, the colored men meet to celebrate the pro¬ 
 clamation which released them from a cruel and unjust bond¬ 
 age, and made them free citizens of a free country. And upon 
 this day the name of Abraham Lincoln will be blessed by 
 every colored man, for he lived the champion of their rights. 
 His memory will be held sacred in their hearts, for he died a 
 martyr to love of his country and his fellow-men. 
 
 But, fellow-citizens, the events of the past have imposed 
 upon you many and grave responsibilities. They have eleva¬ 
 ted you from the low position which unjust laws and the 
 prejudices of ignorant or blinded men caused you to so long 
 occupy. They have put upon you the grave responsibilities 
 which rest upon every American citizen. You are now apart 
 of the American people, enjoying all the rights and privileges 
 enjoyed by any citizen of any State. To properly exercise the 
 rights pertaining to citizenship is no easy task, for according 
 to the manner in which they are exercised depends the welfare 
 of the State and nation. If the citizens act rightly, with dis¬ 
 cretion, with a desire to do all in their power for the good ot 
 the State and the nation, then will both prosper, and every citi¬ 
 zen reap his share of the common good. But if the rancor of 
 political strife blinds the people to the claims of justice and 
 
to the voice of prudence, then will their acts be injurious to 
 the State and nation, both will suffer, and the result will 
 be misery to the people. 
 
 In these times when the bitter feelings engendered by four 
 long years of civil war have not yet had time to subside, and 
 when the spirit of party is too apt to blind men’s eyes to the 
 result of political action, I do not deem it inappropriate for 
 me to allude to the duty of the colored people in their new 
 capacity as citizens. But in all that I may have to say upon 
 this point, I wish it distinctly understood that I do not speak 
 as a party man, nor do I address you, my friends, as party men. 
 I speak simply as a citizen addressing his fellow-citizens, and 
 without one shade of party feeling prompting anything I may 
 say. I speak to you as men wdiom a cruel system has kept 
 from the blessings of education, has deprived of the means 
 of attaining scholastic or political information, and as men who 
 are ea^er to know what you shall do for the elevation of your 
 race and the consequent benefit of your country. You have 
 but recently emerged from a condition of bondage, and have 
 been suddenly put into the possession of all the rights of 
 American citizens. You are anxious to know in what manner 
 you can use those rights to the greatest good of your State and 
 nation. You are anxious to learn in what manner you can do 
 most for the elevation of your race, that you may prove to the 
 world that the color of the skin does not alter the qualities of 
 the brain or heart. In short, you are anxious to hear anything 
 that may aid you in your progress as men—as citizens. It is 
 of these things that I wish to speak to you, and I think no time, 
 no dav, so appropriate for so doing as this, for seven short 
 years ago to-day you received from the President and people 
 of the United States the right to call yourselves American 
 
 citizens. 
 
 Then to-day I speak to you of the things which you wish to 
 hear; I, who did all in my power to aid you to obtain your 
 rights ; I, who have been with you in the great work which 
 has secured to the colored people of Yorth Carolina, of the 
 
4 
 
 South, the position which they now occupy. And I stancD 
 before you to-day and say, Friends, hear my words, for they 
 come from one who has earned with his blood the right to* 
 speak them. 
 
 Then, the first tiling to which I wish to direct your atten¬ 
 tion is the subject of education. Upon this, more than alL 
 else, does the welfare of the colored people depend. The peo¬ 
 ple who are best educated are the most prosperous and the- 
 most happy. They are also the most influential, because they 
 are able to do the right things at the right times. They are 
 less apt to be deceived by demagogues and by unscrupulous 
 politicians, for they can read and judge for themselves concern¬ 
 ing the issues of the day. Look at the colored people in our 
 own State. How many of them have a commonly good edu¬ 
 cation ? Not one in ten thousand, and the consequence is that 
 the colored people are unable to obtain positions where good 
 pay rewards intelligence and capability, but are obliged to 
 confine themselves almost entirely to such work as requires- 
 only manual skill. The first and greatest aim of the colored 
 people should be to obtain school privileges for their race. To< 
 this end they should see that school houses are erected in every 
 election precinct, that colored children, and even colored men,, 
 may acquire an education which will fit them to better per¬ 
 form their duties as citizens, and greatlj 7 add to their chances- 
 for prosperity as men who are compelled to work for a living. 
 The better educated a man is the greater are his capabilities as 
 a citizen, and the better his chances for political preferment. 
 Your education will do everything to elevate the condition of 
 your race and to put it in a position to compel the respect and 
 attention of the world. By becoming educated men you will 
 become qualified to perforin all the duties of citizenship and to- 
 intelligent^ discharge the duties of any office to which you 
 may be elected by your fellow citizens. With education will 
 come refinement and appreciation of those moral qualities 
 which make society better and higher. Then will intellect and 
 moral worth assert itself, and then will the wheat be separated 
 
from the chaff. Then will the demarcation lines of society begin 
 to be drawn among yon as they are now drawn among your 
 white fellow citizens. Then every colored man will have the 
 chance to fix his own worldly position, as has now every white 
 man. This you cannot now do because of that ignorance, 
 which is common to you all, and which enfolds all so closely 
 that the light of genius is hidden, and the brightest mind can 
 scarcely elevate itself above the common level. This ignorance 
 is not the fault of the colored man, and therefore no white 
 man has a right to deride the colored man for want of educa¬ 
 
 tion, or for the mistakes which may arise from that want, 
 for the ignorance of the black man was forced upon him by 
 the white man, and all possible means were used to prevent 
 him from ridding himself of it, and the most stringent 
 laws w r ere enacted to prevent him from learning to read, 
 even his Bible. From these facts the colored men have 
 no reason to be ashamed of their present ignorance for it 
 results from no fault of their own. But now those unjust 
 laws are no longer in force, and the colored man has the same 
 educational privileges as has the white man. Now if you do 
 not educate yourselves and children the blame is yours. 
 You are now a part of the body politic and have the same 
 rights as other citizens. You are entitled to your proportion¬ 
 ate number of schools, and it is the duty of every colored man 
 to see that the rights of his people are accorded to them. 
 
 The following statistics concerning the number of colored 
 schools in the South will be interesting to you all: 
 
 The whole number of colored schools of every description m 
 the South is 5,454, with 9,503 teachers and 256,353 scholars. 
 Of these 3,314 schools are regularly reported, with 204,253 
 scholars, of which 192,227 were slaves. The colored people 
 sustain wholly, or in part, 1,581; own 759 buildings themselves, 
 and are furnished 772 buildings by the Bureau. In the last year 
 Virginia has gained 50 schools ; North Carolina 83 schools, 
 with 3,209 pupils ; Georgia 105 schools, with 4,527 pupils; 
 Mississippi 67 schools, with 2,973 pupils, and Tennessee 95 
 
6 
 
 ■schools, with 4,343 pupils. The other Southern States show 
 tin crease, but not so much. 
 
 From tliis it will be seen that while North Carolina is ahead 
 •of many Southern States she is behind others. This should 
 not be, for in no State of the Union are the colored people 
 •more intelligent, more industrious, or better citizens in North 
 'Carolina. Therefore it is not too much to assume that the 
 colored people of North Carolina should have more schools 
 than many other States whose colored population is even 
 larger than our own. In this the colored people should be 
 assisted by their white friends, and no man should receive the 
 ■support of colored men who is not a friend of universal edu¬ 
 cation, and who will not do all in his power to secure a good 
 free school system to our State. This system is now 
 most needed by all. Hitherto only the children of the 
 rich have been able to obtain an education. For them Col¬ 
 leges, Universities and Seminaries have been open, but the 
 poor man was unable to send his children to schools so expen¬ 
 sive. Thus it is that so very many poor men are totally with¬ 
 out education, or, at best, can only read or write just enough 
 to be able to transact the most common business. 
 
 The common school system will do away with the ignorance 
 which now oppresses all classes of laboring men, both white and 
 •colored. To the colored men, especially, will they prove of 
 benefit, because they will enable him to enter into pursuits 
 which before have been closed against him on account of his 
 color, and from which he is now barred only by want of edu¬ 
 cation. Let him possess that education so necessary to success 
 in almost every business of life and at once a broad field is 
 •opened to him in which the different gifts of mind or taste can 
 •determine his choice of occupation. This done, the social 
 prosperity of the colored race is incalculably, advanced and 
 intelligence, sterling worth and business capacity will melt 
 away the prejudice of color, and give to the colored man the 
 chance to fix his own position in the world. Knowing these 
 .things then, should you not, my friends, do all in your power 
 
7 
 
 to secure the advantages of education '( Should you not be 
 willing to make many sacrifices in the present to obtain the 
 great advantages which they will return you in the future t 
 Then never forget that the educational interests of the State 
 are dearer to you than all others, and see that you are not 
 deprived of them. Build up the school houses, and every 
 school will be a round in the ladder which will enable you to 
 reach that plain of intelligence now occupied by the rest of 
 the citizens of your nation. Then will you have performed 
 a great part of the work of convincing a prejudiced world of 
 your titness to enjoy and wisely use the rights and privileges 
 which seven years ago were bestowed upon you, and the 
 anniversary of whose bestowal we are celebrating to-day. 
 
 And now a few words more and I shall be done. Without 
 at all indicating any political preference, I wish to impress 
 upon the colored men of North Carolina the necessity for unity 
 in all things. The prejudices of one hundred and fifty 
 years cannot be done away with in five years, and there are 
 thousands of white men who view the freedom of the colored 
 men with anger and hatred. They cannot be made to believe 
 that it is right for the black man to enjoy the same rights as 
 the white man. They believe in the old slaveholders dogma— 
 of ,£ a white man’s government,” and are filled with bitterness 
 when the}^ see their former slaves in the enjoyment of freedom 
 and exercising the rights of citizenship. There are many men 
 who would do all in their power to deprive the colored man of 
 the right of suffrage and to take away all the privileges he 
 now enjoys. There are other men who, forgetful of all but their 
 own selfish interests, would use the colored people to elevate- 
 themselves, and that object obtained, forget the men to whom 
 they owed their prosperity. In view of these circumstances, 
 it behooves the colored people of this State to act with wisdom. 
 Above all things, let them preserve their unity, and always act 
 together with an eye to the advancement of their race 
 and the preservation of the rights they already enjoy. If there 
 are differences of opinion among you upon any important sub- 
 
8 
 
 ject, political or otherwise, do not divide your strength and allow 
 your enemies to beat you in detail, where they would fail if you 
 were united. Consult among yourselves. Determine what policy 
 yon w T ill pursue, what men and measures you will support, and 
 then let that policy and those men and measures be supported 
 by every colored man who has the welfare of his race at heart. 
 You are independent citizens, and are qualified to decide for 
 yourselves what things you like best, and should, therefore, 
 never allow yourselves to be driven or led by any man, white 
 or black, into measures you do not like. Think for yourselves, 
 met for yourselves, and let the will of the majority rule. Never 
 trust too much to any one man, be he white or black, for men 
 so trusted are apt to think that they rule and command the 
 people who trust them, and men who so think are always 
 neglectful of the interests of their friends and supporters. 
 
 Trust a man just so long as you believe that he is true to you 
 and your interests, and not a minute longer. Once you have 
 reason to suspect that a man you have trusted has proved 
 unfaithful to you, throw him aside, for you have reason to fear 
 that he will injure you and your cause. The acts of men, not 
 their words, are the true tests of their good faith. If you trust 
 a man and he does nothing for you in return, and shows no 
 interest in your welfare, then you have trusted a bad, a selfish, 
 an ungrateful man, and should trust him no more. If you 
 trust a man and he does as much or more for you than he does 
 for himself, he is just the man you want, and one that you 
 should be proud of possessing. In these troubled times these 
 things are most important to you, and therefore I speak of 
 them. 
 
 And now r , my friends and fellow-citizens, I have said ail 
 that I think I should say, for I do not wish to longer engage 
 your attention, when there are so many distinguished gentle¬ 
 men waiting to address you. The honor you have done me 
 in selecting me to address you, I fully appreciate, and I thank 
 you for it. Whatever wiil tend to the good of the colored 
 people of North Carolina, will ever command my warmest 
 sympathies and my best services, and I hope to live to see that 
 day when throughout the length and breadth of this great land 
 there will be a great, a prosperous and a united people, and 
 when there shall be no American citizen slighted because ot 
 race or color. 
 
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