"-^JW r's^:\

Yale Universily Library

39002004711249

1 (

fi .

01:25^

3i^XL_

YALE
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

ADDRESS

NEW- YORK CITY

ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY:

ADDRESS

NEW YORK CITY

ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY,

PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF NEW-YORK.

NEW-YORK :
PRINTED BY WEST & TROW.
1833.

ADDRESS.

Fellow-Citizens :
Having associated together for the purpose of
removing the greatest reproach from the character
of our beloved country, and of averting a crisis
which threatens to involve the whole land in ruin,
we consider it due to you, who have the same
interests at stake with ourselves, to give you a
frank explanation of our principles and plans.
We trust to the candor of our fellow-citizens, that
this enlightened community will pronounce an up
right judgment when they shall become fully ac
quainted with our views ; while we respectfully
protest against being judged by the misrepresenta
tions of those who are strangers to the feelings of
our hearts, and forgetful of the principles of Ame
rican liberty.
Our object, as set forth in our Constitution, to
which we refer you, is "to take all lawful, moral,
and religious means, to effect a total and immediate
abolition of slavery in the United States." To
aim at less, would be to aid in perpetuating sia-

4
very. We are quite sure that all virtuous citi
zens desire its extinction. It is our object to
recommend to them the only practicable and safe
plan which has ever been proposed for the accom
plishment of this great moral enterprise. It is
that of Immediate Emancipation.
By this term, we mean to say that all property
of man in man should instantly cease ; — that the
right of all men to a fair recompense for their labor
should be practically as well as theoretically ad
mitted; and that all the people of these United
States should be equally secured in the possession
of the " unalienable rights" recognized in the Decla
ration of Independence, "of life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness."
By the epithet immediate, we mean emphatically
to mark our dissent from the project of gradual
abolition — a plan that, on the testimony of Wilber
force and Clarkson, and the unanimous consent of
the philanthropists of England, has been the virtual
means of preventing the abolition of slavery in the
British possessions, for nearly half a century ; a
plan which has, for almost sixty years, beguiled the
free citizens of the United States, by soothing the
public conscience with the hope of a wise and well
digested measure of relief, while the number of
the oppressed has already increased from half a
million to two millions. We object, therefore, to
the scheme of gradual emancipation, because it
is too inefficient to arrest the mighty evil that
threatens to destroy this nation. In contrast with

this, the world knows that the doctrine of imme
diate emancipation has availed more, the past six
years, in England, than fifty years previous dis
cussion of the delusive dream of gradual abo
lition. We do not advocate the emancipation of the
colored race from law ; on the contrary, we plead
for them that they may be placed under its control
and protection. We do not address ourselves to
the oppressed; but with hearts of benevolence to
both master and slave, we beseech the master to
grant to his slave, what humanity, justice, interest,
conscience and God demand. By immediate eman
cipation, therefore, we mean that measures shall
be immediately taken to deliver the slave from the
arbitrary will of the master, and place him under
the salutary restraints and protection of law. We
do not aim at any interference with the constitu
tional rights of the slave holding states, for Con
gress, as is well understood, has no power to
abolish slavery in the several states.
We see no absurdity in the use of immediate, as
applied to these measures, nor do. we transcend the
ordinary force of language when we call an im
portant and complex public measure an immediate
one, if it be promptly commenced with the honest
determination of urging it on to its completion.
The immediate subjugation of a revolted province,
may be consistently urged by the senator who
knows that a protracted campaign may intervene
between the decree and its accomplishment. Or
as our fathers, on the 4th of July '76, declared the

United States a free and independent nation ; not
withstanding it required seven years' conflict to
place them in full enjoyment of the blessing.
Safety of Immediate Emancipation.
However new the doctrine of immediate eman
cipation may appear to some, there is abundant
evidence that such a measure does not involve
danger or loss to the emancipated, or to the com
munity. Bolivar proclaimed liberty to his slaves,
and many proprietors followed his example :
nearly a million of colored slaves inhabited Co
lombia at that time, and a large part were imme
diately emancipated. M. Ravenga declares that
the effect has been a degree of docility on the part
of the blacks, and a degree of security on the part
of the whites, unknown in any preceding period of
the history of that republic.
In speaking of the slaves, captured by British
vessels, and sent to Sierra Leone, Clarkson says : —
" They must have contracted as mortal a hatred of
the ichites from their sufferings on board ship by
fetters, whips, and suffocation in the hold, as the
West Indian from those severities which are
attached to their bondage upon shore. Under
these circumstances then we find them 7nade free ;
but, observe, not after any preparatory discipline,
but almost suddenly, and not singly, but in bodies,
at a time. We find them also settled, or made to
live, under the unnatural government of the whites ;
and, what is more extraordinary, we find their pre
sent number, as compared with that of the whites

in the same colony, nearly as one hundred and fifty
to one; notwithstanding which superiority, fresh
emancipations are constantly taking place, as fresh
cargoes of the captured arrive in port."
The abolition of slavery, in Mexico, was virtu
ally immediate. The slaves were at once taken
from the arbitrary will of their masters, and placed
under law. A system of apprenticeship was esta
blished, allowing them to apply the compensation
received for their labor, to the purchase of them
selves and families; and in seven years, slavery
had ceased to exist throughout that great Re
public. Dr. Walsh states that in Brazil there are
more than half a million enfranchised persons,
Africans or of African descent, who were either
slaves themselves, or are the descendants of slaves.
He says, they are generally speaking " well con
ducted and industrious persons, who compose, indis
criminately different orders of the community.
There are among them merchants, farmers, doc
tors, lawyers, priests, and officers of different
ranks." St. Domingo has reduced to practice the same
doctrines, with similar good effects. We are
aware that misrepresentations of the St. Domingo
revolution have been so industriously made that
few persons are at all acquainted with the real
state of facts.
During the French revolution, it will be remem
bered, equality of rights was decreed to all citizens.
When this was known in St. Domingo, the free
people of color petitioned the National Assembly

8
that they might enjoy the same political privileges
as the whites, which Was granted. In 1794, the
Conventional Assembly of France, passed a decree
for the abolition of slavery throughout the French
colonies. Colonel Malenfant, a slave proprietor,
resident at the time in the island, says :
" The negroes remained quiet both in the South and in the
fVest axid they continued to work upon all the plantations. There
were estates, indeed, which had neither owners nor managers
resident upon them, for some of these had been put into prison by
Montbrun : and others, fearing the same fate, had fled to the
quarter which had just been given up to the English. Yet upon
these estates, though abandoned, the negroes continued their
labors, where there were any, even inferior, agents to guide them ;
and on those estates, where no white men were left to direct them,
they betook themselves to the planting of provisions ; but upon
all the plantations where the whites resided, the blacks continued
to labor as quietly as before. During the year 1795 and part of
1796 I learn nothing about them ; neither good, bad nor indiiFer-
ent, though I have ransacked the French historians for this pur
pose." From the latter end of 1796 to 1802, a period
of six years, the planters kept possession of their
estates ; lived upon them peaceably ; and the freed
negroes continued to be their laborers. Can there
be any account more favorable to our views than
this, after so sudden an emancipation 1
The former masters, accustomed to the practice
of arbitrary power, and to look down upon the
negroes as reptiles of the earth, could not bear to
come into familiar relations with them as free
laborers, peaceably as the manumitted slaves had,
for years, conducted themselves. In an evil hour

they prevailed upon Bonaparte, by false represen
tations, and promises oi' money, to restore slavery.
He prepared an immense armament under Leclerc,
to bring about that event. The hellish expedition
at length arrived on the shores of St. Domingo : —
a scene of blood and torture followed, such as
history had never before disclosed, and compared
with which, though planned and executed by
whites, all the barbarities said to have been per
petrated by the insurgent blacks, amount compara
tively to nothing. In fine, the French were driven
from the island. Till that time the planters
retained their property, and then it was, but not
till then, that they lost their all.
From that time to this, there has been no want
of subordination or industry among them. They,
or their descendants, are the persons by whom the
plains and valleys of St. Domingo are still ctdtiva-
ted, and they are reported to follow their occupa
tions still, and with as fair a character as other free
laborers in any other quarter of the globe.
We have now seen, that the emancipated
negroes never abused their liberty, from the year
1794, (the era of then- general emancipation) to
the present day, a period of forty years.* Will any
one say that this case is not analogous to that
which we have in contemplation 1 Let us remem
ber that the number of slaves liberated by the
* See Clarkson's " Thoughts on the Practicability and safety of immediate
emancipation. The substance of this mestimable pamphkt ia found in the Anti-
Slavery Reporter, No. 3, and should be thoroughly studied by every one who wishes
to form his opinion upon fads. The Reporter is a periodical printed in this city,
and can be had at the bookstores. 2

10
French decrees in St. Domingo was very little
short of 500,000 persons. We maintain that
emancipation in St. Domingo was attended with
far more hazard to persons and property, and with
far greater difficulties, than it could possibly be, if
attempted in this country. All the slaves were
made free at once, or in a single day. No notice
was given of the event, and of course no prepara
tion could be made for it. — They were released sud
denly, from all their former obligations and restraints,
and became peaceable and industrious citizens.
We cannot find a single instance in which eman
cipation has been tried, that one drop of white blood
has been shed, or even endangered by it. The en
franchised inhabitants of Jamaica are more nume
rous than the whites ; and yet it appears, by returns
printed by order ofthe House of Commons, that the
proportion of criminal convictions of whites, and of
enfranchised persons, was as timnty-four of the for
mer to eight of the latter. In Barbadoes the free ne
groes and mulattoes are industrious, and are never
seen begging, whereas the island is pestered with
white beggars, of all ages. In Trinidad, there are
upwards of fifteen thousand free people of color ;
there is not a single pauper amongst them ; they
live independently and comfortably, and nearly
half the island is said to be in their hands. It is
admitted that they are highly respectable in cha
racter, and are rapidly advancing in knowledge
and refinement. The Haytians are 700,000 in
number. There are no paupers, except the decre-
pid and aged. The people arc charitable, hospita-

11

ble and kind, very respectful to foreigners, tempe
rate, orderly, easily governed, and good mecha
nics. Admiral Fleming says, " The most happy, the
best fed, and the most comfortable negroes I ever
saw in the West Indies were in Hayti,' even better
than in the Carraccas, and decidedly better than
the slaves in Jamaica."
We also speak of immediate abolition, to distin
guish our proposals from all indirect attempts to
destroy slavery, in our country. Our object being
both lawful and honorable, our means honest, and
our motives pure, we have no occasion to conceal
them, by professing to aim at something else. We
consider it criminal to amuse the country with any
project, which will not attain an end so essential
to the prosperity and very existence of our happy
union. It is generally admitted, that the accursed
system of slavery has already made the pillars of
our government tremble, and it is demonstrable
that nothing but its total removal can prevent the
final overthrow and ruin of this republic.
It is one of our objects to inculcate the doc
trine of Immediate Abolition as an important moral
sentiment, as a duty we owe to our common Cre
ator, to our fellow-men, and to ourselves, as repub
licans and Christians. We shall aim to show that
this duty applies to individuals, to communities,
to those who lead public opinion, to those who are
conductors of the press, to preachers of the Gospel,
to educators of youth, to parents, and to all de
scriptions of persons, as they love the human family,
fear a just God, and hope for a blessed immortality.

12
So far are we, therefore, from seeking to turn
loose an ungovernable horde of blacks, to prey
upon society, that our sole design is to have them
transferred from despotism to the control of law,
providing for their regular employment, encoura
ging their industry, preventing idleness, punishing
vagrancy, and securing their just compensation ;
leaving them to labor on the soil where most of
them were born, and in the employments to which
they are both fixed and accustomed ; to endeavor
to obtain for our colored fellow men the privi
leges held out to them in our Declaration of In
dependence, and to which they are entitled by the
sentiment of the civilized world, as well as by
the law of God. We feel certain that when the
public mind shall be permitted to know the facts
and shall be disabused of the impressions by
which it has been imposed upon, it will call, in a
tone not to be denied, for the adoption of measures
right in themselves, congenial with our republican
principles, and fraught with benefits to the whole
people.* We ask your attention now to a few considera
tions showing the true aspect of slavery among us,
which are entitled to the most serious attention.!
These propositions, be it remembered, are each
* " I am for speedy, immediate abolition, I care not what caste, creed or color,
slavery may assume. 1 am for its total, its instant abolition. Whether it be per
sonal or political, mental or corporeal, intellectual or spiritual, I am for its immediate
abolition. I enter into no compromise with slavery ; I am for justice, in the name
of humanity and according to the law of the living God." — CTConneU.
+ They are taken chiefly from the "Appeal in favor of that class of Americans
called Africans," by Mrs. Child, of Boston, a work that should be in every family
in the United States,

13
supported by the evidence of actually existing
laws. 1. Slavery is liereditary and perpetual, to the last moment of
the slave's earthly existence, and to all his descendants, to the la
test posterity.
2. The labor of the slave is compulsory and uncompensated ;
lohile the kind of labor, the amount of toil, and the time allowed
for rest, are dictated solely by the master. No bargain is made,
no wages given. A pure despotism governs the "human brute;" and
even Ms covering and provender , both as to quantity and quality,
depend entirely on the master's discretion.
3. Tlie slave being considered a personal chattel, may be sold, or
pledged, or leased, at the will of his master. He may be
exchanged for marketable commodities, or taken in execution for
the debts, or taxes, either of a living or a deceased master. Sold
at auction, "either individually, or in lots, to suit the purchaser,"
he may remain with his family, or be separated from them forever.
4. Slaves can make no contracts, and have no legal right to
any property, real or personal. Their own honest earnings, and
the legacies of friends belong, in point of law, to their masters.
5. Neither a slave, or free colored person, can be a witness
against any white or free man, in a court of justice, however
atrocious may have been the crimes they have seen him commit:
but they may give testimony against a fellow-slave, or free color
ed man, even in cases affecting life.
6. TTie slave may be punished at his master's discretion — with
out trial — without any means of legal redress, — whether his offense
be real, or imaginary ; and the master can transfer the same des
potic power to any person, or persons he may choose to appoint.
7. The slave is not allowed to resist any free man under any
circumstances: his only safety consists in the fact that his owner
may bring suit, and recover, the price of his body, in case his life
is taken, or his limbs rendered unfit for labor,
8. Slaves cannot redeem themselves, or obtain a change of
masters, though cruel treatment may have rendered such a change
necessary for their personal safety,
9. The slave is entirely unprotected in his domestic relations.

14
10. The laws greatly obstruct the manumission of slaves, even
where the master is willing to enfranchise them.
11. The operation of the laws tends to deprive slaves of reli
gious instruction and consolation,
12. The whole power of the laws is exerted to keep slaves in a
state of the lowest ignorance.
13. There is, in this country, a monstrous inequality of law
and right. What is a trifling fault in the white man, is consi
dered highly criminal in the slave ; the same offences which cost a
white man a few dollars only, are punished, in the slave, with death.
14. The laws operate most oppressively upon free people of
color, as we shall shoio in future publications.
In some states,* where killing a slave is declared
to be murder, the case is excepted of " any slave
DYING under moderate correction." It has been
judicially determined that it is justifi,able to kill a
slave, resisting, or offering to resist his master, by
force. This is found in the revised code of the
law of slavery, for up to the year 1821, a pecuniary
fine was the only restraint upon the wilful mur
der of a slave.
We feel it to be our duty to quote from authentic
sources, some specimens of excessive severity in
our own country, as examples of the cruelty that
always exists in slave countries. They are insepe-
rable from the system. If it should be admitted
that a large proportion of masters are as kind to
their slaves as they can be, consistently with keep
ing them in bondage, it is certain that abominable
atrocities prevail in every slave state. We have a
mass of evidence on this subject, that is calculated
to awaken a sensibility in this country, equal to the
* Stroud's Sketch of the Slnve Laws inthe Umlcd States of America.

15
feeling excited in England when the " Three months
in Jamaica" was published in that country.
A slave being missing, several planters united in a negro
hunt, as it is called. They set out with dogs, guns, and horses,
as they would chase a tiger. The poor fellow, being discovered,
took refuge in a tree ; where he was deliberately shot by his pur
suers, — Child's Appeal, Page 24,
A planter had occasion to send a female slave some distance
on an errand. She did not return so sotto as he expected, and he
grew angry. At last he gave orders that she should be severely
whipped when she came back. When the poor creature arrived,
she pleaded for mercy, saying she had been so very ill, that she
was obliged to rest in the fields; but she was ordered to
receive another dozen of lashes, for having had the impudence
to Speak. She died at the whipping post ; nor did she perish alone —
a new-born babe died with her. — Idem, Page 25.
The trade is still briskly carried on in Africa, and new slaves
are smuggled into these states, through the Spanish colonies. A
very extensive internal slave trade is carried on in this country.
The breeding of negroes for the markets, in other states, (Louisiana
Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, and Missouri,) is a very lucrative
branch of business. Whole cofBes of them, chained and mana
cled, are driven through our Capital, on their way to auction. —
Idem, Page 30.
Dr. Torrey says, whole families of fi-ee colored people have
been attacked, in the night, beaten nearly to death with clubs,
gagged, and bound, and dragged into distant and hopeless capti
vity, leaving no traces behind, except the blood fi-om their wounds.
— Idem, Page 31.
Advertisements are very commoa, in which a mother and her
children are offered either in a lot, or separately, as may suit the
purchaser. In one of these advertisements, I observed it stated,
that the youngest child was about a year old. — Idem, Page 33.
The captives are driven by the whip, through toilsome jour
neys, under a burning sun ; their limbs fettered ; with nothing
before them but the prospect of toil more severe than that to which
they have been accustomed, — Idem, Page 33.

16
Dealing in slaves has become a large business. Establish
ments are raade at several places in Maryland and Virginia,
at which they are sold like cattle. These places are strongly
built, and wfll supplied with thumb screws, gags, cowskins, and
other whips, oftentimes bloody. But the laws permit the traffic,
and it is suffered.— Mies' Register, vol35,page 4.
Woman has no protection against the unbridled
lust of her master or his overseers, or any white man.
The slave, and his wife, and his daughters, being
considered as the property of their owners, com
pelled to yield implicit obedience, not allowed to
->ive e\'idence, and public opinion ridiculing the
slave's claun to any exclusive right in his own wife
and children, upwards of half a million of female
slaves in this country, are continually subject to
the insults of brutal passion.
In Athens, the female slave could demand pro
tection from the magistrates, against insulting treat
ment. But the American female slave is liable to
the penalty of death, if she do but raise her hand,
where by all other codes, woman may resist even
unto death, and be guiltless.
The general licentiousness that prevails in slave
countries, is notorious. In many places there are
few slave children that can be called legitimate.
The idea of moral purity is scarcely more known
than it is among brutes. The multitude of mulat
toes in the United States, bear evidence of the great
licentiousness that prevails, on the part ofthe whites,
in their intercourse with the black population. Mo
ralists have depicted its miseries in glowing colors,
and slave holders have admitted the pernicious

17
effects of the slave system upon the morals of the
community and upon individuals.*
With regard to the religious privileges of the
slave, it is next to impossible that there should be
a general diffusion of Christianity in a slave-hold
ing state. In Georgia there is a law which for
bids any congregation or company of negroes to
assemble themselves, contrary to the act regulating
patrols. Every justice of the peace may go in per
son, or send a constable, to disperse any assembly
or meeting of slaves, which he supposes may dis
turb the peace, «Stc. and every slave taken at such
meetings may, without trial, receive on the bare
back twenty-five stripes. The West India plant
ers boldly proclaimed that slavery and Christianity
could not exist together, and that the latter must
* " You may whitewash the sepulchre — you may put upon it every adornment
that fancy can suggest, — you may cover it over with all the flowers and evergreens
that the garden or the fields can furnish, so that it will appear beautiful outwardly
unto men. But it is a sepulchre still — full of dead men's bones and of all unclean
ness. * * * Slavery is the very Upas tree of the moral world, beneath whose pesti
ferous shade all intellect languishes, and all virtue dies." — Dr. Andrew Thompson,
Slavery " is not useful, either to the master or to the slave ; to the latter, because
he can do nothing by virtue ; to the former, because he contracts, with his slaves, all
sorts of evil habits, inures himself insensibly to neglect every moral virtue, and
becomes proud, passionate, hard-hearted, violent, voluptuous and cruel." — Mon
tesquieu, "The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the
most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and de
grading submission on the other. Our children see this, and learn to imitate it
for man is an imitative animal. The parent storms ; the child looks on, catches
the lineaments of wrath, puts on the same airs in a circle of smaller slaves, gives
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 morals and manners undepraved, in such circum
stances." — Jefferson,
In another place, the same statesman has said in view of slavery, " I tremble
for my country, when I reflect that God is just, and that his justice caimot sleep
forevEF. The Almighty has no attribute which can take sides with ns."

18
be put down. The express command of our Lord
Jesus Christ makes it the duty and privilege of
every human being to "search the Scriptures."
Yet, in this Christian country, it is a penal offense
to teach a slave to read the Holy Scriptures, to
give him a tract, or a copy of the Bible. It is
therefore impossible for the American Bible Soci
ety to carry into effect their noble resolution, to
supply every family with a copy. Although they
profess to have accomplished this object, yet
two millions of the people are yet unfurnished
with this invaluable treasure.
In Virginia and South-Carolina any school for
teaching reading and writing, either to slaves, or
free people of color, is considered ati unlawful as
sembly, and may be dispersed, and punishment in
flicted upon each pupil to the number of twenty
lashes. The city of Savanah, a few years ago,
passed an ordinance, by which
" Any person that teaches a person of color, slave or free,
to read or write, or causes such persons to be so taught, is sub
jected to a fine of thirty dollars for each offense ; and every per
son of color who shall teach reading or writing, is subject to a
fine of thirty dollars, or to be imprisoned ten days and whipped
thirty-nine lashes!'
We do not doubt that the humanity of some
slave holders mitigates the operation of such laws.
But in all countries men are considered subject to
despotism who have no protection but the gene
rosity of their rulers. The laws in any state are
a good index of the popular will. If then a major
ity of the masters, in slave states, were mild and

19
humane, is it to be supposed they would have pub
lished their own shame on the pages of their own
statute books 1 It is worthy of remark that in
human despotism, cruelty of practice is wont to
go beyond cruelty of law. If we do not believe
this general principle, in regard to the slaves in
our own land, must it not be because we have re
ceived the testimony of the master only 7
If any thing could aggravate the case of a
slave, it is that he is in a land boasting of its free
dom, among people who are continually speaking
the praises of liberty, and under a government, of
which the corner stone is the declaration that " all
men are created equal." These laws, so in
consistent with natural justice, and with religion,
are continually increasing in severity ; their rigor
in fact keeping pace with the increasing number
of the slaves. Fifty-seven years ago, the world
observed the inconsistency between our glorious
declaration of equal rights, and our practice of
domestic slavery. But witnessing the efforts of
Franklin, Rush, Jay, King, Sedgwick, and other
patriots, who soon after the revolutionary war
formed societies to promote the same great end at
which we now aim, gave us credit for sincerity,
and took for granted that effectual measures
would be adopted for the speedy removal of this
foul blot upon our national escutcheon. What will
the wise and good in foreign nations now say,
when, after the lapse of nearly sixty years, without
a step taken for the extinction of slavery, they learn
that the people are unwilling to listen to a feasible

20
plan for its accomplishment 7 Already does every
true-hearted American hang his head in foreign
lands when obliged to confess that he belongs to
a country, which has been fifty-seven years boast
ing of its liberty, and in that time has quadru
pled the number of its slaves. Look at one-sixth
of our twelve million citizens in slavery, and say,
Shall this deep stain continue for ever ?
Slavery must soon terminate, if in no other way,
by the rapidity of its own growth. When our fa
thers declared that all men are created equal, they
still held about half a million in bondage. These
have increased to more than two millions. In twen
ty years they will be four, and in forty years eight
millions. Since the last war was declared, in 1812,
the slaves have doubled in number ; and unless the
remedy be applied before the children born in the
year 1833 arrive at manhood, they will again double.
The slightest observation must satisfy any person
that such a state of things cannot continue in this en
lightened age. We have seen the republics of the
New World liberated from a foreign yoke by the
power of public opinion, Greece made free, France
revolutionized, Great-Britain reformed. Slavery
abolished in the West Indies, Should liberal princi
ples be diffused as rapidly in twenty years to come,
as they have advanced in twenty years past, who can
believe that the year 1850 will find four million per
sons held in bondage in republican America 1 Rea
son, humanity, and religion join in saying, slavery
ought not to continue, A calm and philosophical ob
servation of causes and effects teaches that it cannot !

21

What then shall be done 1
It is to this momentous inquiry, that a sense of
duty to our country, and of kindness to our brethren
who hold slaves, impels us to call your attention.
On so difficult a subject, the appeal should be only
to the good sense and sound judgment, to the con
science and the heart, not to the baser passions,
nor to prejudice. It is the character of error
and injustice to be passionate, and refuse to hear
reason. Neither you nor we, respected fellow-
citizens, have any interest but in finding out the
truth, and doing our duty. Let us not act the part
of those, who, when the first martyr to the Christian
religion declared that truth to the people, which
cut them to the heart, " gnashed on him with
their teeth, stopped their ears, ran upon him with
one accord, cast him out of the city, and stoned
him." Nor will putting off discussion either remove
the evil, shun the danger, or avert the crisis.
Already it has been postponed too long. Instead
of the half million of 1776, we have now upwards
of two millions.
Whatever, either of difficulty or of danger, there
is in the process, will only be increased by delay.
If Abolition Societies should suspend their opera
tions immediately, it will not prevent the slaves
from increasing in a greater ratio than the whites,
and amounting to four millions in twenty years,
nor hinder every slave in the United States from
speedily learning that his brethren in the West

22
Indies are free. Still less will it alter the inherent
wrong of slavery, or obliterate the guilt of holding,
buying, and selling MEN created in the image of
God. Nor have we any right to roll upon posteri
ty a responsibility which properly rests upon our
selves, and which, if suffered to descend to our
children, will come upon them with accumulated
force. The Crisis.
No judicious man can fully consider this state
of things, but he will arrive at the conclusion that
slavery must terminate in one of three ways : —
1. By the extermination of the blacks. 2. By the
extermination of the whites. Or 3. By volunta
ry emancipation. To prevent the first two, by
promoting the adoption of the third, is the aim of
our society. We rejoice that humanity and patri
otism concur with conscience and scripture in
showing that the best way to do right is to do it as
soon as we can.
Our very object precludes the idea of all resort
to force. We have no force but the force of truth.
Nor do we propose any measures not strictly
within the allegiance we owe to the constitution
and laws, under which we live.
The course of examination and free discussion,
we are pursuing is the very method which our
national constitution indicates, and secures, when
it says, " Congress shall make no law abridging the
freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of
the people peaceably to assemble." That in seek-

23
ing the abolition of slavery we conform to the
spirit of the constitution, and are strictly within
the letter of it, is plain from the fact, that this
venerated instrument gives no sanction to a system
so abhorrent to the principles of '76. In all those
provisions in which for the preservation of the union
they thought it necessary to keep slavery in view,
as an existing state of things, they acted under
the expectation that it was only temporary, and
would soon cease. Even the name of slavery has
not polluted its pages; thus showing that our fathers
would not have that document go down to posterity,
carrying the disgraceful record that free Americans
once held their fellow men as slaves.
Thus it naturally and properly belongs to the
several states to determine the mode and circum
stances in which one person may be held to labor
for another. The states, therefore, will have the
honor of terminating slavery within their respective
bounds. The Constitution declares, that
" 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 firom such service or
labor ; but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom
such service or labor may be due."
This provision is as applicable to minors and
apprentices as to slaves, and will be as important to
the preservation of harmony among the states,
when slavery shall have ceased, as it is now. And
speaking only of ^^ persons held to service or labor"
it gives not the least countenance to the odious
claim of property in human flesh. If any one

24
should make a claim in the United States Court,
solely on the ground that a certain individual was
his property, he would undoubtedly be nonsuited.
In apportioning representation and direct
taxes, the constitution determines the federal
numbers, " By adding to the whole number of fi-ee persons, including
those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indiana
not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons."
Thus making it directly for the interest of all the
states to increase their power in the nation, by
changing all their " other persons" to " free
persons." But while we confine ourselves within the
strictest construction of constitutional rights, we do
not intend to be precluded from urging any mea
sure which the constitution warrants. Congress
exercises " exclusive legislation in all cases what
soever over" the District of Columbia. If evi
dence were wanting to prove that we have
declined from the principles of our fathers, we
find it in the fact that the only portion of our
country, for which the government is alone respon
sible, is filled with slaves, and is the mart of a
slave trade scarcely inferior in enormity to that
of Africa. We are therefore literally a slave
HOLDING nation. The abolition of slavery, in
our own District, is a measure within the power
of Congress, and so manifestly easy and safe, that
it ought not to be delayed another year. And
when this is done, we cannot but hope that some

25
wise application may be made of the power of
Congress " to regulate commerce among the seve
ral States," so as to effect the entire suppression
of the infamous domestic slave trade. While
Congress refuses to do these things, the world will
give the nation little credit for its professed desire
to abolish this accursed traffic, or to put an end to
slavery; but will justly think the alleged want of
power, on the part of Congress, is a mere pretense.
As our course is the only one by which slavery
can be abolished, consistently with the Constitu
tion, so it presents the only means of preserving
our national union. Already have we seen the
speedy dissolution of that union threatened, and
as allowed by leading men of all parties, mainly
through the influence of slavery. Scarcely is one
crisis passed when another impends ; and it is evi
dent that this succession of dangerous excitements
will never end but by the removal of its cause.
Our country is so knit together, in all its
parts, that nothing could ever sunder it but the
conflicting views and interests growing out of
slavery. The plans proposed enable us to seek
the removal of this cause by means which cannot
endanger the security of the national compact, and
which, when successful, will greatly strengthen our
national bonds. The only power to be employed
is that of a reformed public opinion; and a^
dissolution of the union will not shield slavery from
such attacks. For surely no statesman will think
of rendering public opinion more tolerant towards
slavery, by sundering the union, or will act upon the

26
expectation that the free States will become less
bold to speak their minds on the subject on being
delivered from all political connection with it.
Let it be distinctly remembered that our object
is purely moral. It is to deliver our colored breth
ren from slavery, and our white fellow citizens
from the sin of oppression, the fair fame of our
country from the stinging reproach of hypo
crisy and tyranny, and ourselves and posterity
from the judgments of an offended God. Should
interested politicians seek to avail themselves of
the slavery question to promote the views of
party, we disclaim their interference. While en
gaged in a purely benevolent work we will not
suffer the reproach of being actuated by political
views. Our whole reliance therefore, under God, is on
the power of truth, and of public opinion. These
weapons were successfully employed by Wilber
force, Clarkson, and their associates, to destroy the
slave trade. The same power in the hands of
Buxton, Lushington, O'Connell, and others, has
wrung from a reluctant government, the death-
warrant of slavery in all the British dominions. Let
it not be said that in free America, truth and the
sentiments of humanity, have less sway than in the
monarchies of the old world.
We aim to bring back the public sentiment, con
cerning slavery, to the healthy state of the first
days of the republic; and restore the abolition
principles of Franklin, Jefferson, Rush, Jay, and
others, and do what we conceive those sages would

27
do, if they were now on the stage of human life.
We would echo and carry into speedy effect, the
voice of the disinterested La Fayette :
"While I am indulging,'' says he, " in my views of American
prospects and American liberty, it is mortifying to be told that in
that very country a large portion of the people are slaves ! It is a
dark spot on the face of the nation. Such a state of things can
not always exist."
It is not only a right, but an imperative duty, to
exhibit the heinousness of the slave system, and
to endeavor to bring about its entire abolition.
" The moral, social and political evils of slavery," says
an independent abolitionist, and able writer,* " are but imper
fectly known and considered. These should be portrayed in
strong but true colors, and it would not be difficult to prove,
that however inconvenient and dangerous emancipation may be,
the continuance of slavery must be infinitely more inconvenient and
dangerous. * * * But we have as good and as perfect a right to
exhort slave holders to liberate their slaves, as we have to exhort
them to practice any virtue, or avoid any vice. Nay, we have not
only the right, but, under certain circumstances, it may be our
duty to give such advice ; and while we confine ourselves within
the boundaries of right and duty, we may, and ought to, disre
gard THK THREATS AND DENUNCIATIONS BY WHICH WE MAY BE
ASSAILED." The philanthropists of Britain were opposed
at first, but having truth on their side, they tri
umphed. Their motives were assailed, their cha
racters vilified, and their persons exposed to the
fury of mobs. But this only showed them where
they had to begin their work — by proving how
deadly is the influence of slavery in debasing the
* Hon, Wm. Jay

28
principles even of the free, Christianity was
opposed, and its advocates forbidden to speak on
the subject. Republican principles are resisted in
many countries ; and the danger of free discussion
forms the theme of many a state paper in absolute
monarchies. But no sanitary cordon, even where
tyranny usurps dominion over mankind, can forevei'
shut out the contagion of free principles. The
temperance cause also was opposed with bitter
ness, by many who now acknowledge its benign
efiects, and would be ashamed to be numbered
among its enemies.
The same public opinion, which can mvove mas
ters to voluntary emancipation, will also tend to
deter slaves from insurrection; because, while it
is strenuously urged as the immediate duty of the
masters to liberate their slaves, and to change
oppressive laws, no countenance is given to the
slaves in seeking their freedom by physical force.
Slave holders are our countrymen, and some of
them our personal friends. God forbid that we
should stir up the oppressed to wreak vengeance on
the heads of their masters. The more slaves are
enlightened and christianized, the better they will
appreciate the folly, as well as madness, of attempt
ing to seize upon their rights through the blood and
flames of a servile war. The power of correct prin
ciples to prevent bloodshed, is seen in the fact that
in the insurrection at Jamaica, none of the Christian
negroes were found among those who were engaged
in scenes of violence.
The plans, we propose, will also furnish the only

29
effectual check to the disgraceful amalgamation
between the white and colored races, wliich is noiv
making such rapid progress wherever slavery exists.
Restore the blacks to their rights, protect their
persons, honor the marriage institution among them,
permit families to remain together, and there can
be no doubt each race will, of choice, seek alliances
only among themselves.
The measures suggested can be demonstrated
to be the only means of preserving a large, fertile
and beautiful portion of our country from impover
ishment and depopulation.* To say nothing of a
war between the whites and blacks, the only
remaining means proposed, of bringing slavery
to an end, is that of gradually emancipating the
slaves, on the condition of their being immediately
carried out of the country. But if the total aboli
tion of slavery is to be accomplished only by the
entire removal of the slaves, it is manifest that
such a method must be most disastrous to large
sections of our country, if, as is said, they cannot be
cultivated by white laborers. Besides, this me
thod is impracticable ; for it is not to be expected
that individuals will surrender what they consider
their property in slaves, and at the same time con
demn their fields to perpetual unproductiveness, for
the want of laborers. Nor will the States con
sent to strip themselves of one half their popula-
* President Jeiferson, though a slave holder, gave it as his opinion, that " the
Macks will ultimately, (in spite of all attempts to keep them ignorant,) be the sole
possessors of the low country, and the whites be obliged to migrate to other re
gions." But thismay be prevented by emancipating, educating, and christianizing
the slaves.

30
tion, and with iL a large part of tlieir federal
power, when by emancipation their national in
fluence would be proportionably increased. If it
should be attempted by purchase, it may well be
questioned whether Congress has the Constitu
tional power to apply the treasure of the nation to
.such an object. But if that could be done, or if it
should be attempted by the funds of voluntary be
nevolence, the first purchases would so raise the
price of slaves, that their pecuniary redemption
would transcend the means of the nation. The
loss of a few thousands at the south west, by cho
lera, less than two per cent, of our whole slave
population, has the present year raised the price of
slaves in Virginia twenty-five to fifty per cent.*
The same would be the effect of expatriating thirty
or forty thousand slaves in a year, and the price
would increase almost indefinitely as laborers
were diminished in number. If they were re
deemed, or voluntarily liberated, who can calcu
late the price of transporting them across the At
lantic, or furnishing them there with the means of
support, of improvement and of industry. Or if
they were removed to Africa as fast as they in
crease in the United States, and there fed, how
could they be governed'? It is the serious appre
hension of many persons that there would be dan
ger, even under the firmly established government
of the United States, in admitting them to their
natural rights. But though we do not admit this
danger, in freeing them on the soil where they be-
"¦ Richmond Enquirer.

31
long, there may be a question as to their competency
to maintain a government, uncultivated as they now
are, if thrown in a mass beyond the control of a
civilized country. We say nothing now of the
attachment of colored Americans to their native
land — nothing of the hardships they must endure
in expatriation — nothing of the cruel injustice ol
refusing to redress their wrongs but upon the pen
alty of banishment to a sickly climate, and a bar
barous shore. We barely say that doing right is
the only thing that will save some of the fairest
portions of this country from depopulation.
In favor of this banishment of two and a half
millions of Americans from their native land,
there is only a single argument, and that is the
unmerited antipathy of the whites against them,
on account of their color. The abolition of sla
very will, itself, go far to remove this irrational
prejudice, for it is not fowtd excejjt in slave hold
ing countries. At any rate, it is too much to ask
its gratification at so costly a price. Whereas
the abolition of slavery, under safe regulations,
prescribed by law, is merely changing the civil
relations of the people, and would not interrupt
the business, or order of society, for a day. The
land, the houses, the money, the credit, the mer
chandize, the education and intelligence, the pro
fessional skill, the knowledge of business, the po
litical pre-eminence, the press, the schools, the
churches, would all be in the hands of the
whites. The necessity of subsistence, and the
attachments to home, and to the family, would lead

32
the blacks to seek employment where they live ;
while their labor would be just as necessary to
the planters as before. Society, instead of being
dissolved by the disruption of half its members,
would be more firmly knit together, by the ties of
mutual dependence, and the only cause of distrust
and vengeance would be forever removed. The
fertile soil, which holds all the world as its tribu
taries, would continue to pour forth its precious
products, enriching its owners, without endanger
ing their tranquillity.
The American Colonization Society,
In the outset of our labors, we are met by the
determined opposition of a society managed chiefly
by slave holders, which has set itself, by its official
publications, and by speeches in its meetings, to
maintain that the continuance of slavery, is neces
sary, and to denounce in bitter terms, the advocates
of immediate emancipation, as a combination of
" deluded fanatics and reckless incendiaries,"
Deeply grieved as we are, that respectable indi
viduals should thus echo the ribaldry of the base,
when they are unacquainted with our plans, we
cannot submit to this undeserved reproach, without
attempting to show how far our fierce assailant is
herself deserving of confidence, as a remedy for the
evils of slavery.
Had the American Colonization Society con
fined its pretensions to the design of the pious men
who were among its founders, it would never have
opposed the abolition of slavery. Its design, as

33
expressed in its constitution, is to colonize the free
people of color, with their consent, on the coast
of Africa, or elsewhere. The hope of its found
ers, as stated by one of them,* was that " a few of
the free blacks, of good character, could be settled
on the African coast," and be the means " of intro
ducing civilization and religion among the barba
rous tribes already there." But knowing the reluc
tance of the free people of color to remove to a
climate that proved fatal to so many ;t aware that
their residence in slave states gave great uneasi
ness to slave holders ; and conscious of the diffi
culty of obtaining funds from the cliarity of the
people, the society has been, by its friends in the
northern states, held up as a remedy for all the
evils of slavery, while in the southern states they
have solicited funds on the ground that colonizing
the free people of color would enable the slave
holders to retain their slaves with a firmer grasp.
It is for the purpose of occupying the whole ground,
and satisfying both slave holders, and those friendly
to eventual emancipation, that the Colonization
Society assumes to frown down all direct attempts to
remove the dreadful evil of slavery. At the same
¦* Samuel .T. Mills.
t The governor of the colony, Dr. Mechlin, speaking of the mortality of the
emigrants who went from Charleston, Savannah, and Maryland, says, "the
proportion of deaths is not yet more than one per cent, and a fraction, nor do
I think, it will in the whole, after they have fully undergone their seasoning, exceed
three per cent."— 4/-rican Repository, June, 1833, p. 120. The cholera in 1832,
carried off 4,000 inhabitants in this city, which is a little less than one and a half
per cent. The mortality of new colonists at Liberia, who go from the south
ern parts of the United States, is not much more than double that which in New-
Voik made eveiy heart faint I And it is known now that very few survive who
emigrate from the northern states.

34
time the abettors of slavery in the south, have been
increasing the ferocity of their laws against the
instruction of the slaves, and their emancipation,
while they have been infringing upon the rights
of the free people of color, in order to make them
tcilling to emigrate.
Concerning the pretensions of the society, of
promoting the abolition of slavery, the judgment
of European philanthropists has already anticipa
ted that of posterity. The protest of July, 1833,
against the American Colonization Society, signed
by Wilberforce, Buxton, Lushington, O'Connell,
and other British abolitionists, who are unaffected
by our national or sectional excitements, has pro
nounced the professions of the society " delusive,"
audits existence "an obstruction" to the overthrow
of slavery throughout the world. To enable the
public to judge whether the Colonization Society
has any claims to patronage, as an institution pro
fessing, or tending, to rid the country of slavery, we
shall quote testimony, chiefly from their official
organ, the African Repository, the instrument by
which it has been, for more than ten years, mould
ing the public sentiment to its purposes.
The Colonization Society does not aim at Abolition.
" It is far from the intention of this Society to effect, in any
manner, the tenure by which a certain species of property is
held."— Clay's Speech.
" From its origin, and throughout the whole period of its exist
ence, it has constantly disclaimed all intention of interfering, in
the smallest degree, with the rights of property, or the objfct of

emancipation, gradual or immediate." * * * " The society pre
sents to the American public, no project of emancipation!' — Idem.
" He thought it necessary to show, that so far from being in
the smallest degree connected with the abolition of slavery, the
proposed society would prove one of the greatest securities to
enable the master to keep in possession his oton property." — Ran
dolph's Speech.
" It is no Abolition Society ; it addresses, as yet, arguments
to no master. It denies the design of attempting emancipation,
either partial or general." — African Repository, vol, 3, p. 197.
" The Colonization Society, as such, have renounced wholly
the name and the characteristics of abolitionists. In this point
they have been unjustly and injuriously slandered. Into their
ACCOUNTS, THE SUBJECT OF EMANCIPATION DOES NOT ENTER AT
ALL. — Idem. p. 306.
" Recognising the constitutional and legitimate existence of
Slavery, it seeks not to interfere, either directly or indirectly, with
the rights it creates. Acknowledging the necessity by which
its present continuance, and the rigorous provisions for its main
tenance, are justified," (S^c. — Idem. vol. 3, p. 16.
" To eradicate or remove the evil immediately is impossible,
nor can any law of conscience govern necessity," — Vol. 1. p. 2.51.
" The scope of the Society is large enough, but it is nowise
mingled or confounded with the broad sweeping views of a few
fanatics in America, who would urge us on to the sudden and
total abolition of slavery." — Vol. 3, p, 197,
" The emancipation of slaves or the amelioration of their con
dition, with the moral, intellectual, and political improvement of
people of color leithin the United States, are objects foreign to
the powers of this Society," — Address ofthe Board of Managers,
of the American Colonization Society, to its Auxiliary Societies. —
Vol. 7, p. 291.
"Our Society and the friends of Colonization wish to be distinct
ly understood upon this point. From the beginning they have disor

36
voioed, and they do yet disavoiv, that their object is the emancipa
tion of iZao-s."— Speech of James S. Green, Esq. before the
New-Jersey Colonization Society.
COLONIZA TICK TENDS TO PERPETUATE SLAVERY,
" TlIEV, (the SOUTHERN SLAVE HOLDERs) WILL CONTRIBUTE
MORE EFFECTUALLY TO THE CONTINUANCE AND STRENGTH OF
THIS SVSTE:\r, (SLAVEKV) BV REMOVING THOSE NOW FREE, THAN
BY ANY OR ALL OTHER METHODS WHICH CAN POSSIBLY BE DE
VISED. African Rep. vol. 1, p. 227.
" The Society, as a society, recognizes no principles in refer
ence to the slave system. It says nothing and proposes to do
nothing, respecting it." * * * " So far as we can ascertain, the
supporters of the colonization policy generally believe, that
slavery is in thia country a constitutional and legitimate system,
which they have no inclination, interest nor ability to disturb." —
North American Review, for July, 1832.
" The tendency of the scheme, and one of its objects, is to
secure slave holders, and the whole southern country, against
certain evil consequences growing out of the present three-fold
mixture of our population." — Address of Rockbridge Coloniza
tion Society. — African Repository, vol 4, p. 274,
" There was but one wiiy, (to avert danger,) but that might
be raade effectual, fortunately. It was to provide and keep
OPEN a drain FOR THE EXCESS BEYOND THE OCCASIONS OF PRO
FITABLE EMPLOYMENT. Mr. Arclier had been stating the case in
the supposition that after the present class of free blacks had
been exhausted, by the operation of the plan he was recommend
ing, others would be supplied for action, in the proportion of the
excess of colored population it would be necessary to throw off
by the process of voluntary manumission or sale. The effect
must result inevitably from the depreciating value of the slaves,
ensuing their disproportionate multiplication. The depreciation
would be relieved and retarded at the same time, by the process.
The two operations would aid reciprocally, and sustain each other,
and both be in the highest degree beneficial. It was on the

37
ground of interest, therefore, the most indisputable pecuniary
interest, that he addressed himself to the people and legislatures
of the slave holding states." — Speech of Mr. Archer, Fifteenth
Annual Report,
The Colonization Society apologizes for Slavery.
" Slavery is an evil entailed upon the present generation of
slave holders, which they must suffer, whether they will or not,"
— African Rep. vol, 5, p. 179, " The existence of slavery
among us, though not at all to be objected to our Southern breth
ren as a fault," Sfc, — Second Annual Report of New- York Col
onization Society. " It, (the Society) condemns no man because
he is a slave holder." — African Repository,
" They, (the Abolitionists) confound the misfortunes of one
generation with the crimes of another, and would sacrifice both
individual and public good to an unsubstantial theory of the
rights of man." — African Repository , vol. 7, p. 202,
In almost every address, delivered before the
Society, similar expressions occur. By assuming
the ground implied in the above extracts, the Col
onization Society have fallen into the habit of
glossing over and palliating the enormities of the
slave system. It justifies keeping the Slaves ignorant.
E. B, Caldwell, the first Secretary ofthe American Coloniza
tion Society, in his speech at its formation, recommended them
to be kept " in the lowest state of ignorance and degradation, for,
(says he) the nearer you bring them to the condition of brutes,
the better chance do you give them of possessing their apathy,"
" The public safety of our brethren at the South requires
them (the slaves) to be kept ignorant and uninstructed." — G. P
Disosway, Esq., an active Colonizationist.
" If the free colored people were generally taught to read, it
might be an inducement to them to remain in this country, (that

38
is, in their native country!!) We would offer them no such
inducement,"— -Sow^/jcrw Religious Telegraph, February 19, 1831,
" It is the business of the free (their safety requires it) to
keep the slaves in ignorance. But a few days ago, a proposition
was made in the legislature of Georgia to allow them so much
instruction as to enable them to read the Bible ; which was
promptly rejected by a large mz.]oniy."— Proceedings ofthe N. Y.
State Col Soc. at Second Ann.
Colonization increases the value of Slaves.
" The execution of this scheme would augment, instead of
diminishing, the value of property left behind." — African Rep.
vol. 2, p. 22.
The Society traduces the Colored People.
Our citizens are often told, by agents and others,
who are pleading for money, that the Colonization
Society is to civilize and evangelize Africa. " Each
emigrant," says the Hon. Henry Clay, "is a Mis
sionary, carrying with him credentials in the holy
cause of civilization, religion and free institutions."
" They," [the free people of color,] " and they
only," says the African Repository, " are qualified
for colonizing Africa." What are their qualifica
tions 1 Let the society answer in its own words :
"Free blacks are a greater nuisance than even slaves them
selves." — African Rep. vol. 2, p. 328.
" A horde of miserable people — the objects of universal sus
picion — subsisting by plunder," — Gen. C. F. Mercer.
" An anomalous race of beings the most debased upon earth."
African Rep. vol. 7, p. 230.
" Of all classes of our population the most vicious is that of
the free colored," — Tenth Annual Report.

The Colony facilitates the StAVE Trade,
We seek to do the Colonization Society no
injustice ; but wish the public generally to under
stand its character. The tendency of the Society
to abolish the slave trade, by means of its African
Colony, has been strenuously urged by its friends.
But the fallacy of this is admitted by the following
extract from the Fourteenth Report of the Soci
ety itself, in 1831.
" Some appalling facts in regard to the slave trade have come
to the knowledge of the Board of Managers, during the last year.
With undiminished atrocity and activity is this odious traiBc now
carried on all along the African coast. Slave factories are esta
blished in the immediate vicinity of the colony ; and at the Galli-
nas, (between Liberia and Sierra Leone) not less than 900 slaves
were shipped during last summer, in the space of three weeks,"
On the 6th of April, 1832, the British House of
Commons ordered the printing of a document
entitled " Slave Trade — Sierra Leone," containing
official evidence of the fact that the pirates en
gaged in the African Slave Trade, are supplied
from the stores of Sierra Leone and Liberia, with
such articles as the infernal traffic demands ! An
able English writer, on the subject of Colonization,
thus notices this astounding fact :
" And here it may be well to observe, that as long as negro
slavery lasts, all colonies on the African coast, of whatever de
scription, must tend to support it, because, in all commerce, the
supply is more or less proportioned to the demand. The demand
exists in negro slavery; the supply arises from the African slave
trade. And what greater convenience could the African slave
traders desire than shops well stored along the coast, with the very
articles which their trade demands. That the African slave

40
traders do get thus supplied at Sierra Leone and Liberia is matter
of official evidence : and we know from the nature of human
things, that they will get supplied, in defiance of all law or pre
caution, as long as the demand calls for the supply, and there are
free shops stored with all they want at hand. The shop keeper,
however honest, would find it impossible always to distinguish
between the African slave trader or his agents and other dealers.
And how many shop keepers are there any where that would be
over-scrupulous in questioning a customer with a full purse ?"
The Moral Influence of the colony is not what was
anticipated.
That it is a convenience to missionary opera
tions in Africa, to have a well regulated commer
cial station on the coast, cannot be doubted. But
as to any direct moral influence from a trading
colony, all history forbids us to expect it. If any
such colonies could produce such a result, we
might have expected it from those of New-England.
But their superior skill in trade, in arts, in arms,
the diseases they introduced, the strong drink, the
deadly weapons, and the wars between tribes, have
exterminated the natives of this country. That
the influence of Liberia may be the same, is greatly
to be feared. The Rev, J. B, Pinney, now just
returning to Africa, as a missionary, says of the
colony, in which he spent several months :
" But two or three hitherto have done any thing scarcely to
wards agriculture. The wealthy find it easier to trade ; the poor
suppose it degrading. * * * Nothing has been done for the na
tives, hitherto, by the colonists, except to educate a few who were
in their families in the capacity of servants. * * * A colonist of
any dye, would think himself degraded by marrying a native. ***
As Utile effort is made by the colonists to elevate them, as is usually
made by the higher classes in the United States to better the con-

41
dition of the lower. Such I suppose will ever be the case, when
men are not actuated by a pure desire to do good."
It has also been credibly stated, and never de
nied, that FOURTEEN HUNDRED BARRELS Of RUM,
(besides other spirituous liquors) have been sohl at
the colony, in a single year. The " Liberia Herald"
shows also, that gunpowder, guns, and " spear-
pointed knives," are sold at Liberia as the principal
articles of commerce. Knowing these facts, many
friends of temperance, and of peace, who formerly
contributed liberally to the Society, have declared
that they cannot conscientiously do so any longer.
The Colonization Society censures the, forming of Anti-
Slavery OR Abolition Societies.
When Anti-Slavery Societies are blamed, and
considered aggressive, for opposing the Coloniza
tion Society, it seems to be forgotten that the
Colonization Society had filed its previous protest
against the formation of Anti-Slavery Societies,
We appeal to the Records.
" The Society * * * having declared that it is in nowise allied
to any Abolition Society in America, or elsewhere, is ready,
whenever there is need, to pass a censure on such Societies in
America." — Speech of Mr. Harrison, of Virginia, Fifteenth
Annual Report.
The Colonization Society, as has been clearly
shown, solemnly disclaims any design of promoting
the abolition of slavery; no intelligent friend of
that society believes it practicable ever to remove
the whole slave population from the country ; most
persons consider it impracticable to remove even

42
the annual increase ; it is susceptible of easy de
monstration that the entire abolition of slavery by
voluntary emancipation will become less probable
if the value of slaves should increase, as it will, by
the removal of a part ; and that the design of pro
ducing entire emancipation, cherished on the part
of any portion of the colonizationists, by removing
the free blacks to Africa, is a scheme that must be
pronounced chimerical by every well informed per
son who examines the subject. To deny it, is con
clusive evidence that the person has but a superfi
cial knowledge of the subject, or the opinions of
those most conversant with it.
But it is said by some that "the moral influence
of the Society, by the discussion and inquiries it
excites, will eventually tend to the total abolition
of slavery." It would seem, however, that little
credit is due to the Society, for promoting discussion,
since we find it calling meetings, and employing
distinguished orators to stigmatize as fanatics and
incendiaries those who have avowed it to be their
object, by inquiry and discussion, " to awaken a
public sentiment throughout the nation, that will be
opposed to the continuance of slavery in any part
of the republic."* If the Colonization Society
were friendly to aboUtion, or even to discussion,
would it thus unsparingly denounce those who only
wish to use the one to effect the other ? An en
lightened community will judge.
But our principal objection against expatria
tion is that it is founded in prejudice against a part
* ConBtitution of the New-York City Anti-Slavery Society.

43
of this nation, on account of the shade which the
Creator has given to their complexion. The
Society styles itself " American," solicits the support
of the whole nation, and has even petitioned for
the patronage of the Government. Its voice there
fore, if sustained, will be taken by the world as
the voice of the whole nation, saying to one-sixth
of its members : We have such contempt for you,
on account of that for which you are in no way to
blame, that we will not suffer you to live among
us, but will oppress you, and weary you out, till
you shall consent to be banished to the grave yards
of Liberia. If the principal members of the Colonization
Society had not declined setting an example of
emancipating their slaves ; if the Society had not
expressly disclaimed all efforts for abolition ; if it
had not apologized for slavery, and justified keep
ing the slaves in ignorance ; if it had not unfairly
monopolized nearly all the sympathy in this country
for people of color ; if it were not an opiate on the
Consciences of slave holders, and a delusion before
the eyes of the philanthropic ; if it did not oppose
Abolition Societies; if it did not hold out one
inducement to the people of the northern states,
and an opposite one to the people of the southern
states ; we should not have occasion to bring for
ward these painful evidences that it is an obstruc
tion to the improvement of the colored race, to the
progress of religion, to temperance, to peace, and
the rights of man. As a Society, we have clearly
proved that it is obnoxious to these censures. If, as

44
we doubt not, many of its members are at heart op
posed to the avowed principles we have quoted, it
is for such to consider the correctness of adhering to
an institution that is doing so much to uphold them.
The piety of some of its founders, the devoted
ness of many of its agents, and the respect in
which a large number of its friends are deservedly
held, will not rescue the principles of the Society
from being regarded as inimical to the welfare of
the colored people in this nation.
But whatever may be the difference of opinion
on several subordinate points, there is only one way
to meet the crisis to which we have arrived. The
proof is abundant that the only means of safety
is the entire abolition of Slavery. It is believed,
that when the doctrine is properly understood,
our citizens will not be slow to be convinced
that the only wise method of making it entire
is to make it immediate. The right, and the God
of right, are with us. Relying upon His arm for
support and guidance, and imploring His bless
ing for success, we address ourselves to our work,
unangered and unawed, and invite the support and
aid of our fellow-citizens, under the firm and set
tled assurance, that, whatever of labor or oblo
quy, it may cost the friends of abolition, it is the
CAUSE OF God and our Country, and will suc
ceed.

CONSTITUTION

NEW-YORK CITY ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY.

Whereas our national existence is based on the principle laid
down in the Declaration of Independence, " that all mankind are
created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness ;" and whereas, after the lapse of nearly sixty
years, since the faith and honor of the American people were
pledged to this avowal, before Almighty God and the world, one-
sixth part of the nation are held in bondage by their fellow citizens ;
and whereas slavery is contrary to the principles of natural justice,
of our republican form of government, and of the Christian reli
gion, and is greatly hindering the prosperity of the country, while
it is endangering the peace, union and liberties of the States ; and
whereas we believe no scheme of expatriation, either voluntary or
by compulsion, can remove this great and increasing evil ; and
whereas we believe that it is practicable, by appeals to the con
sciences, hearts, and interests of the people, to awaken a public
sentiment, throughout the nation, that will be opposed to the con
tinuance of slavery, in any part of the republic, and by effecting
the speedy abolition of slavery, prevent a general convulsion ; and
whereas we believe that we owe it to the oppressed, to our fellow-
citizens who hold slaves, to posterity and to God, to do all that is
lawfully in our power to bring about the extinction of slavery, we
do hereby agree (with a prayerful reliance on that Being who
" has made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face

46
of the earth,") to form ourselves into a Society, to be governed by
the following constitutiom.
Article I, This Society shall be styled the "New- York City
Anti-Slavery Society,"
Article II. The object of this Society shall be to collect and
diffuse information on the true character of slavery ; to convince
our countrymen of its heinous criminality in the sight of God ;
to show that the duty, safety, and interest of all concerned require
its abandonment; and to take all lawfiil, moral, and religious
means to effect a total and immediate abolition of Slavery in the
United States.
Article III. This Society shall aim to elevate the character
and condition of the people of color, by encouriging their intel
lectual, moral, and religious improvement, by correcting the preju
dices of public opinion, and by endeavoring to obtain for our
colored fellow-citizens an equality with the whites of civil and
religious privileges ; but will never countenance the oppressed in
vindicating their rights by resorting to physical force.
Article IV. Any person who agrees with the principles of this
Constitution, and contributes to the funds, may be a member of
the Society, and shall be entitled to vote at its meetings.
[The remaining articles regulate the officers and their duties,
provide for a meeting on the first Wednesday of October annually,
and at other times on the call of the Committee, and prescribe the
mode of altering the Constitution.]
The Society then went into the choice of Officers, when the
following persons were chosen. Arthur Tappan, President.
William Green, Jr., Vice President,
John Rankin, Treasurer,
Elizur Wright. Jr,, Cor, Secretary,
Chas. W, Denison, Rec, Secretary.

Joshua Leavitt,
Isaac T. Hopper,
Abraham L, Cox, M. D,
Lewis Tappan,
Wm. Goodell,

Managers.

3 9002 00471 1249