A SCHOOL HISTORY 



OF THE 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA 

FROM 1619 TO 1890, 

WITH A SHORT INTRODUCTION 



AS TO 



THE ORIGIN OF THE RACE; 



ALSO A 



SHORT SKETCH OF LIBERIA, 



BY 



EDWARD A. JOHKSON, LL.B., 

Principal of the Washington School, Raleigh, N. C. 



Copyright. 1891. 

BY EDWARD A. JOHNSON, L.L.B.. 
Raleigh, N. C 



& 

)2 

Tt, 



PREFACE. 



To the many thousand colored teachers in our 
country this book is dedicated. During my experi- 
ence of eleven years as a teacher, I have often felt 
that the children of the race ought to study some 
work that would give them a little information on 
the many brave deeds and noble characters of their 
own race. I have often observed the sin of omission 
and commission on the part of white authors, most 
of whom seem to have written exclusively for white 
children, and studiously left out the many creditable^ 
deeds of the Negro. The general tone of most of 
the histories taught in our schools has been that of 
the inferiority of the Negro, whether, actually said 
in so many words, or left to be implied from the 
highest laudation of the deeds of one race to the 
complete exclusion of those of the other. It must, 
indeed, be a stimulus to any people to be able to 
refer to their ancestors as distinguished in deeds of 
valor, and peculiarly so to the colored people. But 
how must the little colored child feel when he has 
completed the assigned course of U. S. History and 
in it found not one word of credit, not one word of 

(Ui) 



PREFACE. 



favorable comment for even one among the millions 
of his foreparents, who have lived through nearly 
three centuries of his country's history ! The Negro 
is hardly given a passing notice in many of the his- 
tories taught in the schools ; he is credited with no 
heritage of valor; he is mentioned only as a slave, 
while true historical records prove him to have been 
among the most patriotic of patriots, among the 
bravest of soldiers, and constantly a God-fearing, 
faithful producer of the nation's wealth. Though 
a slave to this government, his was the first blood 
shed in its defence in those days when a foreign foe 
threatened its destruction. In each of the American 
wars the Negro was faithful yes, faithful to a land 
not his own in point of rights and freedom, but, in- 
deed, a land that, after he had shouldered his mus- 
ket to defend, rewarded him with a renewed term 
of. slavery. Patriotism and valor under such cir- 
cumstances possess a peculiar merit and beauty. But 
such is the truth of history ; and may I not hope that 
the study of this little work by the boys and girls of 
the race will inspire in them a new self-respect and 
confidence ? Much, of course, will depend on you, 
dear teachers, into whose hands I hope to place this 
book. By your efforts, and those of the children, 
you are to teach from the truth of history that com- 
plexions do not govern patriotism, valor, and sterling 
integrity. 



PREFACE. 



My endeavor has been to shorten this work as 
much as I thought- consistent with clearness. Per- 
sonal opinions and comments have been kept out. 
A fair impartial statement has been my aim. Facts 
are what I have tried to give without, bias or preju- 
dice ; and may not something herein said hasten on 
that day when the race for which these facts are 
written, following the example of the noble men and 
women who have gone before, level themselves up 
to the highest pinnacle of all that is noble in human 
nature? 

I respectfully request that my fellow-teachers will 
see to it that the word Negro is written with a 
capital N. It deserves to be so enlarged, and will 
help, perhaps, to magnify the race it stands for in 
the minds of those who see it. 

E. A. J. 




CONTENTS. 



I. Introduction, . . - . * . 9 

II. Beginning of Slavery in the Colonies, . . 17 

III. The New York Colony ...... 23 

IV. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, 25 
. V. New Hampshire and Maryland, ... .^4 

VI. Delaware and Pennsylvania, . . .40 

VII. North Carolina, . . . . .41 

VIII. South Carolina, , . . . . 44 

IX. Georgia, ....... 46 

X. Habits and Customs of the Southern Colonies, 53 

XI. Negro Soldiers in Revolutionary Times, . . 56 

XIL Negro Heroes of the Revolution, ... 63 

XIII. The War of 1812, ...... 74 

XIV. Efforts for Freedom, ..... 80 
XV. Frederick Douglass, . . . . .84 

XVI. Liberia, . . . . . . . .88 

XVII. Nat. Turner and Others who Struck for Free- 

dom, ........ 90 

XVIII. Anti-Slavery Agitation, ..... 98 

XIX. Examples of Underground Railroad Work,-> . 101 

XX. Slave Population'of 1860, . . . .102 

(vii) 



viii 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER PAGE 

XXI. The War of the Rebellion, .... 103 

XXII. Employment of Negro Soldiers, . " % .109 

XXIII. Fort Pillow, .118 

XXIV. Around Petersburg, . . . . % 122 
XXV. The Crater, , .126 

XXVI. Incidents of the War, 131 

XXVII. The End of the War, . . ,. . .135 

XXVIII. Reconstruction 1865-68, .... 138 

XXIX. Progress Since Freedom, . . . .142 

XXX. Religious Progress, 146 

XXXI. Educational Progress, . . . . .156 

XXXII. Financial Progress, 162 

XXXIII. Some Noted Negroes, 167 

XXXIV. Free People of Color in North Carolina, . 190 
XXXV. Conclusion, 196 

Index, 197 




A SCHOOL HISTORY 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

The Origin of the Negro is definitely known. 
Some very wise men, writing to suit prejudiced 
readers, have endeavored to assign the race to a 
separate creation and deny its kindred with Adam 
and Eve. But historical records prove the Negro as 
ancient as the most ancient races for 5000 years 
into the dim past mention is made of the Negro race. 
The pyramids of Egypt, the great temples on the Nile, 
were either built by Negroes or people closely related 
to them. All the science and learning of ancient 
Greece and Rome was, probably, once in the hands of 
the foreparents of the American slaves. They are, 
then, descendants of a race of people once the most 
powerful on earth, the race of the Pharaohs. His- 
tory, traced from the flood, makes the three sons of 
Noah, Ham, Shem, and Japheth, the progenitors of 
the three primitive races of the earth the Mongo- 

(9) 



10 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

lian, descended from Shcm and settled in Southern 
and Eastern Asia ; the Caucasian, descended from 
Japheth and settled in Europe ; the Ethiopian, de- 
scended from Ham and settled in Africa and adja- 
cent countries. From Ham undoubtedly sprung the 
Egyptians who, in honor of Ham, their great head, 
lamed their principal god Hammon or Ammon. 

Ham was the father of Canaan, from whom de- 
scended the powerful Canaanites so troublesome to 
the Jews. Cush, the oldest son of Ham, was the 
father of Nimrod, " the mighty one in the earth " 
and founder of the Babylonian Empire. Nimrod's 
son built the unrivalled City of Nineveh in the pic- 
turesque valley of the Tigris, Unless the Bible 
statement be false that " God created of one blood 
all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth" 
and the best historians have erred, then the origin 
of the Negro is high enough to merit his proudest 
boasts of the past, and arouse his grandest hopes 
for the future. 

The Present Condition of the African is the re- 
sult of the fall of the Egyptian empire, which was in 
accord with the Bible prophecy of all nations who 
forgot God and worshipped idols. That the Afri- 
cans were once a great people is shown by their 
natural love for the fine arts. They are poetic by 
nature, and national airs sung long ago by exploring 
parties in Central Africa are still held by them, and 



NEQRO RACE IN AMERICA. \ I 

strike the ears of more modern travellers with joy 
and surprise. 

Ancient Cities Discovered in the very heart of 
Africa, having well laid off streets, improved wharfs, 
and conveniences for trade, connect these people 
-with a better condition in the past than now. While 
many of the native Africans are desperately savage, 
yet in their poor, degraded condition it is the unani- 
mous testimony of missionaries and explorers that 
many of these people have good judgment, some 
tribes have written languages, and show skill in 
weaving cloth, smelting and refining gold and iron 
and making implements of war. 

Their Wonderful regard for truth and virtue is 
surprising, and fixes a great gulf between them and 
other savage peoples. They learn rapidly, and, un- 
fortunately, it is too often the case that evil teaching 
is given them by the vile traders who frequent their 
country with an abundance of rum, mouths full of 
curses, and the worst of bad English. 

Long Years Spent in the most debilitating cli- 
mate on earth and violation of divine law, made the 
African what he was when the slave trade com- 
menced in the i6th century. But his condition was 
not so bad that he could not be made a good citizen. 
Nay, he was superior to the ancient savage Briton 
whom Caesar found in England and described as un- 
fitted to make respectable slaves of in the Roman 



12 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

Empire. The Briton has had eighteen centuries to 
be what he is, the Negro has had really but twenty- 
five years. Let us weigh his progress in just bal- 
ances. 

SOME QUOTATIONS FROM LEADING WRITERS ON 
THE NEGRO. 

"The Sphinx may have been the shrine of the 
Negro population of Egypt, who, as a people, were 
unquestionably under our average size. Three mil- 
lion Buddhists in Asia represent their chief deity. 
Buddha, with Negro features and hair. There are 
two other images of Buddha, one at Ceylon and the 
other at Calanse, of which Lieutenant Mahoney 
says: * Both these statues agree in having crisped 
hair and long, pendant ear-rings.' " Morton. 

"The African is a man with every attribute of 
humankind. Centuries of barbarism have had the 
same hurtful effects on Africans as Pritchard de- 
scribes them to have had on certain of the Irish who 
were driven, some generations back, to the hills in 
Ulster and Connaught" the moral and physical 
effects are the same. 

" Ethnologists reckon the African as by no means 
the lowest of the human family. He is nearly as 
strong physically as the European; and, as a race, 
is wonderfully persistent among the nations of the 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 13 

earth. Neither the diseases nor the ardent spirits 
which proved so fatal to the North American 
Indians, the South Sea Islanders and Australians, 
seem capable of annihilating the Negroes. They 
are gifted with physical strength capable of with- 
standing the severest privations. Many would 
pine away in a state of slavery. No Krooman can 
be converted into a slave, and yet he is an inhabit- 
ant of the low, unhealthy west coast ; nor can any 
of the Zulu or Kaffir tribe be reduced to bondage, 
though all these live in comparatively elevated 
regions. We have heard it stated by men familiar 
with some of the Kaffirs, that a blow given, even 
in play, by a European, must be returned. A love 
of liberty is observable in all who have the Zulu 
blood, as the Makololo, the Watuta. But blood 
does not explain the fact. A beautiful Barotse 
woman at Naliele, on refusing to marry a man 
whom she did not like, was, in a pet, given by the 
headman to some Mambari slave traders from Ben- 
guela. Seeing her fate, she seized one of their 
spears, and, stabbing herself, fell dead." Living- 
stone s Works. 

" In ancient times the blacks were known to be 
so gentle to strangers that many believed that the 
gods sprang from them. Homer sings of the ocean, 
father of the gods, and says that when Jupiter 
wishes to take a holiday, he visits the sea, and goes 



14 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

to the banquets of. the blacks a people humble, 
courteous and devout" 

THE CURSE OF NOAH WAS NOT DIVINE! 

The following passage of Scripture has been much quoted as an argument 
to prove the inferiority of the Negro race. The Devil can quote Scripture, 
but not always correctly : " And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he 
planted a vineyard: and he drank of the wine, and was drunken and was 
uncovered in his tent, and Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of 
his father, and told his two brethren without, and Shem and Japheth took a 
garment and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward and cov- 
ered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they 
saw not their father's nakedness, and Noah awoke from his wine, and knew 
what his younger son had done unto him, and he said, Cursed be Canaan; a 
servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said : Blessed be 
the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge 
Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be his 
servant." 

After the flood Noah's mission as a preacher to the-people was over. He 
so recognized it himself, and settled himself down with his family on a vine- 
yard. He got drunk of the wine he made, and disgracefully lay in naked- 
ness; on awaking from his drunken stupor, and learning of Ham's acts, he, 
in rage, speaks his feelings to Canaan, Ham's son. He was in bad temper at 
this time, and spoke as one in such a temper in those times naturally would 
speak. To say he was uttering God's will would be a monstrosity would be 
to drag the sacred words of prophecy through profane lips, and make God 
speak his will to men out of the mouth of a drunkard, of whom the Holy 
Writ says none can enter the kingdom. A drunken prophet strikes the mind 
with ridicule ! Yet, such was Noah, if at all, and such the character of that 
prophet whom biased minds have chosen as the expounder of a curse on the 
Negro race. It is not strange that so few people have championed the curse 
theory of the race, when we think that in so doing they must at the same 
time endorse Noah's drunkenness. 

But, aside from this, the so-called prophecy of Noah has not become true 
The best evidence of a prophecy is its fulfillment. Canaan's descendants 
have often conquered, though Noah said they would not. Goodrich makes 
the Canaanites, so powerful in the fortified cities of Ai and Jericho, the direct 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 15 

descendants of Canaan They were among the most powerful people of 
olden times. They and their kindred built up Egypt, Phoenicia, the mother 
of the alphabet, and Nineveh and Babylon, the two most wonderful of ancient 
cities. The Jews. Cod's chosen people, were enslaved by the kindred of 
Canaan both in Egypt and Babylon. Melchizedek (King of Righteousness), 
a sacred character of the Old Testament, was a Canaanite. So, rather than 
being a race of slaves, as Noah predicted, the Canaanitish people have been 
the greatest people of the earth. The great nations of antiquity were in and 
around Eastern Africa and Western Asia, in which is located Mount Ararat, 
supposed to be the spot on which the ark rested after the flood. These nations 
sprang from the four sons of Ham Cush, Mizarim, Phut and Canaan. The 
Cushites were Ethiopians, who lived in 1 Abyssinia. The Mizarimites were 
Egyptians, who lived in Egypt, and so distinguished for greatness. The Ca- 
naanites occupied the country including Tyre and Sidon and stretching down 
into Arabia as far as Gaza and including the province of the renowned Queen 
of Sheba. 

In the light of true history the curse theory of the Negro melts like snow 
under a summer's sun. We contend, from the above facts, that Noah did 
not utter a prophecy when he spoke to Canaan, and as proof of that fact we 
nave quoted some historical data to show that if he did make such a prophecy 
it was not fulfilled. We will add, further, that the part of the alleged prophecy 
conferring blessings on Shem and Japheih has also fallen without verification, 
in that the descendants of these two personages have more than once been 
enslaved. 

It seems hardly necessary in this age of enlightenment to refer to the Curse 
Theory argued so persistently by those who needed some such argument as 
an apology for wrong-doing, but still there are some who yet believe in it, 
having never cut loose from the moorings of blind prejudice. The Color 
Theory was also quite popular formerly as an argument in support of the 
curse of Noah. We hold that the color of the race is due to climatic influ- 
ences, and in support of this view read this quotation in reference to Africa : 
" As we go westward we observe the light color predominating over the dark ; 
and then, again, when we come within the influence of the damp from the 
sea air, we find the shade deepened into the general blackness of the coast 
population. 

*' It is well known that the Biseagan women are shining white, the inhab- 
itants of Granada, on the contrary, dark, to such an extent that in this rogion 
(West Europe) the pictures of the Blessed Virgin and other saints are painted 
of the same color." 



16 



A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 



Black is no mark of reproach to people who do not worship white. The 
West Indians in the interior represent the devil as "white. The American 
Indians make fun of the "pale face," and so does the native African. People 
in this country have been educated to believe in white because all that is 
good has been ascribed to the white race both in pictures and words. God, 
the angels and all the p*>phets are pictured white and the Devil is represented 
as black. 




NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 17 



CHAPTER II. 

THE BEGINNING OF SLAVERY IN THE 
COLONIES. ' 

The first Negroes landed at Jamestown, Va. 

In the year 1619, a Dutch trading vessel, being in 
need of supplies, weighed anchor at Jamestown, and 
exchanged fourteen Negroes for food and supplies. 
The Jamestown people made slaves of these four- 
teen Negroes, but did not pass any law to that effect 
until the year 1662, when the number of slaves in 
the colony was then nearly 2000, most of whom 
had been imported from Africa. 

How They were Employed. The Jamestown 
colony early discovered the profits of the tobacco 
crop, and the Negro slaves were largely employed 
in this industry, where they proved very profitable. 
They were also enlisted in the militia, but could 
not bear arms except in defence of the colonists 
against the Indians. The greater part of the 
manual labor of all kinds was performed by the 
slaves. 

The Slaves Imported came chiefly from the 
west coast of Africa. They were crowded into the 



18 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

holds of ships in droves, and often suffered for food 
and drink. Many, when opportunity permitted, 
would jump overboard rather than be taken from 
their homes. Various schemes were resorted to by 
the slave-traders to get possession of the Africans. 
They bought many who had been taken prisoners 
by stronger tribes than their own ; they stole 
others, and some they took at the gun and pistol's 
mouth. 

Many of the Captives of the slave-traders sold 
in this country were from tribes possessing more or 
less knowledge of the use of tools. Some came 
from tribes skilled in making gold and ivory orna- 
ments, cloth, and magnificent steel weapons of war. 
The men had been trained to truthfulness, honesty, 
and valor, while the women were virtuous even unto 
death. While polygamy is prevalent among most 
African tribes, yet their system of marrying off the 
young girls at an early age, and thus putting them 
under the guardianship of their husbands, is a pro- 
tection to them ; and the result is plainly seen by 
travellers who testify positively to the uprightness 
of the. women. 

The Ancestors of the American Negroes, though 
savage in some respects, yet were not so bad as 
many people think. The native African had then, 
and he has now, much respect for what we call law 
and justice. This fact is substantiated by the na- 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 19 

merous large tribes existing, individuals of which 
grow to be very old, a thing that could not happen 
were there the wholesale brutalism which we are 
sometimes told exists. All native Africans univer- 
sally despise slavery, and even in Liberia have a 
contempt for the colored people there who were 
once slaves in America. 

The Jamestown Slaves were doomed to ser- 
vitude and ignorance both oy law and custom ; they 
were not allowed to vote, and could not be set free 
even by their masters, except for " some meritorious 
service." Their religious instruction was of an in- 
ferior order, and slaves were sometimes given to the 
white ministers as pay for their services. 

The Free Negroes of Ja'mestown were in a 
similar condition to that of the slaves. They could 
vote and bear arms in defence of the colony, but 
not for themselves. They were taxed to bear the 
expenses of the government, but could not be edu- 
cated in the schools they helped to build. Some of 
them managed to acquire some education and prop- 
erty. 

The Negro Heroes who may have exhibited 
their heroism in many a daring feat during the early 
history of Jamestown are not known. It is unfor- 
tunate that there was no record kept except that of 
the grimes of his ancestors in this country. Judg- 
ing, however, from the records of later years, we 



20 A SCHOOL HISTORY Of THE 

may conclude that the Negro slave of Jamestown 
was not without his Banneka or Blind Tom. Cer- 
tainly his labor was profitable and may be said to 
have built up the colony. 

When John Smith became Governor of the 
Jamestown colony, there were none but white in- 
habitants; their indolent habits caused him to make 
a law declaring that " he who would not work should 
not eat." Prior to this time the colony had proved 
a failure and continued so till the introduction of the 
slaves, under whose labor it soon grew prosperous 
and recovered from its hardships. 

Thomas Fuller, sometimes called " the Virginia 
Calculator," must not be overlooked in speaking of 
the record of the Virginia Negro. He was stolen 
from his home in Africa and sold to a planter near 
Alexandria, Va. His genius for mathematics won 
for him a great reputation. He attracted the atten- 
tion of such men as Dr. Benjamin Rush, of Phila- 
delphia, who, in company with others, was passing 
through Virginia. Tom was sent for by one of the 
company and asked, "how many seconds a man of 
seventy years* some odd months, weeks and days, 
had lived?" He gave the exact number in a minute 
and a half. The gentleman who questioned him 
took his pen, and after some figuring told him he 
must be mistaken, as the number was too great. 
"Top, massa!" cried Tom, "you hab left out the 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 21 

leap year" and sure enough Tom was correct. 
Williams. 

The following was published in several news- 
papers when Thomas Fuller died : 

" DIED. Negro Tom, the famous African Calcu- 
lator, aged 80 years. He was the property of Mrs. 
Elizabeth Cox, of Alexandria. Tom was a very 
black man. He was brought to this country at the 
age of fourteen, and was sold as a slave with many 
of his unfortunate countrymen. This man was a 
prodigy ; though he could neither read nor write, he 
had perfectly acquired the use of enumeration. He 
could give the number of months, days, weeks, hours, 
minutes, and seconds for any period of time that a 
person chose to mention allowing in his calculations 
for all the leap years that happened in the time. He 
would give the number of poles, yards, feet, inches 
and barleycorns in a given distance say the diam- 
eter of the earth's orbit and in every calculation he 
would produce the true answer in less time than 
ninety-nine out of a hundred men would take with 
their pens. And what was, perhaps, more extraor- 
dinary, though interrupted in the progress of his cal- 
culations and engaged in discourse upon any other 
subject, his operations were not thereby in the least 
deranged. He would go on where he left off, and 
could give any and all of the stages through which 
his calculations had passed. Thus died Negro Tom, 



22 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

this untaught arithmetician, this untutored scholar. 
Had his opportunities of improvement been equal 
to those of a thousand of his fellow-men, neither the 
Royal Society of London, the Academy of Sciences 
at Paris, nor even a Newton himself need have been 
ashamed to acknowledge him a brother in science/* 
How many of his kind might there have been 
had the people of Jamestown seen fit to give the 
Negroes who came to their shores a laborer's and 
emigrant's chance rather than enslaving them! 
Much bloodshed and dissension might thus have 
been avoided, and the honor of the nation never 
besmirched with human bondage. 




NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA 23 



CHAPTER III. 

THE NEW YORK COLONY. 

THE enslavement of the Negro seems to have 
commenced in the New York Colony about the same 
time as at Jamestown (1619). The slaves were used 
on the farms, and became so profitable that about 
the time the English took the colony from the 
Dutch, 1664, there was a great demand for slaves, 
and the trade grew accordingly. 

The Privileges of the Slaves in New York 
were, for a while, a little better than in Virginia. 
They were taken into the church and baptized, and 
no law was passed to prevent their getting an edu- 
cation. But the famous Wall Street, now the finan- 
cial .centre of the New World, was once. the scene 
of an auction block where Indians and persons of 
Ne-gro descent were bought and sold. A whipping 
boss was once a characteristic officer in New York 
city. 

The Riot of 1712 shows the feeling between the 
master and servant at that time. The Negro popu- 
lation being excluded from schools, not allowed to 
own land, even when free, and forbidden to " strike 



24 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

a Christian or Jew" in self-defence, and their testi- 
mony excluded from the courts, arose in arms and 
with the torch; houses were burned, and many 
whites killed, before the militia suppressed them. 
Many of the Negroes of New York were free, and 
many came from the Spanish provinces. 




NEGRO RACE TN AMERICA. 25 



CHAPTER IV. 

MASSACHUSETTS, RHODE ISLAND, AND 
CONNECTICUT. 

NEGRO slavery existed in Massachusetts as early 
as 1633. The Puritan fathers who came to this 
country in search of liberty, carried on for more 
than a century a traffic in human flesh and blood. 
The New England 'ships of the i ;th century brought 
cargoes of Negroes from the west coast of Africa 
and the Barbadoes. They sold many of them in 
New England as well as in the Southern colonies. 
In 1 764 there were nearly 6000 slaves in Massa- 
chusetts, about 4000 in Rhode Island, and the same 
in Connecticut. 

The Treatment of the slaves in these colonies 
at this time was regulated by laws which classed 
them as property, " being rated as horses and hogs." 
They could not bear arms nor be admitted to the 
schools. They were baptized in the churches, but 
this did not make them freemen, .as it did white 
serfs. 

Better Treatment was given the slaves as the 
colonies grew older and were threatened with wars 



26 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

It was thought that the slaves might espouse the 
cause of the enemy, and for this reason some leni- 
ency was shown them, and the conscience of the 
people was also being aroused. 

Judge Samuel Sewall, a Chief Justice of Massa- 
chusetts wrote a tract in 1700 warning the people 
of New England against slavery and ill treatment of 
Negroes. He said : " Forasmuch as Liberty is in 
real value next unto Life, none ought to part with it 
themselves, or deprive others of it, but upon most 
mature consideration." 

Judge Se wall's tract greatly excited the New Eng- 
land people on the subject of emancipating their 
slaves. " The pulpit and the press were not silent, 
and sermons and essays in behalf of the enslaved 
Africans were continually making their: appear 
ance." 

The Slaves Themselves aroused by these'favoi?- 
able utterances from friendly people made up peti- 
tions which they presented with strong' arguments 
for their emancipation, A great many slaves brought 
suits against their masters, for restraining them of 
their liberty. In 1 774 a slave "of one Caleb Dodge,'" 
of Essex county, brought .suit against his master 
praying for his liberty. The jury decided that 
there was " no law in the Province to hold a man to 
serve for life," and the slave of Caleb Dodge won 
the suit. 



NEGRO RACE 7A T AMERICA. 27 



Felix Holbrook and other skves presented a 
petition to the Massachusetts House of Representa- 
tives in 1773, asking to be set free and granted 
some unimproved lands where they might earn an 
honest living as freemen. Their petition was de- 
layed consideration one year, and finally passed. 
But the English governors, Hutchinson and Gage, 
refused to sign it, because they perhaps thought it 
would " choke the channel of a commerce in human 
souls/' 

British Hatred to Negro freedom thus made it- 
self plain to the New England slaves, and a few 
years later, when England fired her guns to subdue 
the revolution begun at Lexington, the slave popu- 
lation enlisted largely in the defence of the colonists. 
And thus the Negro slave by valor, patriotism and 
industry, began to loosen the chains of his own 
bondage in the Northern colonies. 

PHILLIS VVHEATLEY. 

Before passing from the New England colonies 
it would be unfortunate to the readers of this book 
were they not made acquainted with the great and 
wonderful career of the young Negro slave who 
bore the above name. She came from Africa and 
was sold in a Boston slave market in the year 1761 
to a kind lady who was a Mrs. Wheatley. As she 
sat with a crowd of slaves in the market, naked, save 



A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 



a piece of cloth tied about the loins, her modest, in- 
telligent bearing so attracted Mrs. Wheatley that 







she selected her in preference to all the others. Her 
selection proved a good one, for, with clean clothing 
and careful attention, Phillis soon began to show a 
great desire for learning. Though only eight yeais 
old, this young African, whose race all the learned 
men said were incapable of culture, within little over 
a year's time so mastered the English language as 



NEGRO RA CE IN A M ERIC A . 29' 



to be able to read the most difficult parts of the 
Bible intelligently. Her achievements in two or 
three years drew the leading lights of Boston to 
Mrs. Wheatley's house, and with them Phillis talked 
and carried on correspondence concerning the popu- 
lar topics of the day. Everybody either knew or 
knew of Phillis. She became skilled in Latin and 
translated one of Ovid's stones, which was published 
largely in English magazines. She published many 
poems in English, one of which was addressed to 
General George Washington. He sent her the fol- 
lowing letter in reply, which shows that Washington 
was as great in heart as in war : 

CAMBRIDGE, 28 February, 1776. 

" Miss Phillis /Your favor of the 26th October 
did not reach my hands till the middle of December. 
.... I thank you most sincerely for your polite 
notice of me in the elegant lines you enclosed ; and 
however undeserving I may be of such encomium and 
panegyric, the style and manner exhibit a striking 
proof of your poetical talents, in honor of which, and 
as a tribute justly due to you, I would have pub- 
lished the poem, had I not been apprehensive that, 
while I only meant to give the world this new in- 
stance of your genius, I might have incurred the im- 
putation of vanity, This and nothing else, deter- 
mined me not to give it place in the pu.blic prints. 



30 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

" If you should ever come to Cambridge, or near 
headquarters, I shall be happy to see a person so 
favored by the Muses, and to whom Nature has been, 
so liberal and beneficent in her dispensations. I 
am with great respect, 

" Your humble servant, 

" GEORGE WASHINGTON." 
Williams. 

Phillis was emancipated at the age of twenty- one. 
Soon after that her health failed and she was sent 
to Europe, where she created even a greater sensa- 
tion than in America. Men and women in the very 
highest stations of the Old World were wonder- 
struck, and industriously attentive to this humble 
born African girl. While Phillis was away Mrs. 
Wheatley became seriously ill and her daily long- 
ings were to see " her Phillis," to whom she was so 
much devoted. It is related that she would often 
turn on her sick-couch and exclaim, " See ! Look at 
my Phillis ! Does she not seem as though she would 
speak to me ? " Phillis was sent for to come, and in 
response to the multitude of kindnesses done her by 
Mrs. Wheatley, she hastened to her bed-side where 
she arrived just before Mrs. Wheatley died, and 
" shortly had time to close her sightless eyes." 

Mr. Wheatley, after the death of his wife, married 
again and settled in England. Phillis being thus 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. . 31 

left alone also married. Her husband was named 
Peters. He, far inferior to her in most every way, 
and becoming" jealous of the favors shown her by 
the best of society, became very cruel. Phillis did 
not long survive his harsh treatment, and she died 
"greatly beloved" and mourned on two continents, 
December 5, 1784, at the age of 31. 

Thus passed away one of the brightest of the race, 
whose life was as pure as a crystal and devoted to 
the most beautiful in poetry, letters and religion, and 
jexemplifies the capabilities of the race. 

She composed this verse: 



'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land, 
Taught my benighted soul to understand 
That there's a God that there's a Saviour, too ; 
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew." 



Contrary to the Connecticut slaveholders feigned 
unbelief in the intellectual capacity of the Ne'gro, 
and their assertions of his utter inferiority in all 
things, they early enacted the most rigid laws pro- 
hibiting the teaching of any Negro to read, bond or 
free, with a penalty of several hundred dollars for 
every such act. The following undeniable story is 
woven into the fabric of Connecticut's history, and 
tells a sad tale of the prejudice of her people against 
the Negro during the days of slavery there : 

"Prudence Crandall, a young Quaker lady of 



32 9 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

talent, was employed to teach a ' boarding and day- 
school.' While at her post of duty one day, Sarah 
Harris, whose father was a well-to-do colored farmer, 
applied for admission. Miss Crandall hesitated 
somewhat to admit her, but knowing the girl's re- 
spectability, her lady-like and modest deportment, 
for she was a member of the white people's church 
and well known to them, she finally told her yes. 
The girl came. Soon Miss Crandall was called upon 
by the patrons, announcing their disgust and loath- 
ing that their daughters should attend school with a 
'nigger girl.' Miss Crandall protested, but. to no 
avail. The white pupils were finally taken from the 
school. Miss Crandall- then opened a school for 
colored ladies. She enrolled about twenty, but they 
were subjected to many outrageous insults. They 
were denied accommodation altogether in the village 
of Canterbury. Their well was filled up with trash> 
and all kinds of unpleasant and annoying acts were 
thrust upon them. The' people felt determined that 
Canterbury should not have the disgrace of a col- 
ored school. No, not even the State of Connecti- 
cut. Miss Crandall sent to Brooklyn to some of her 
friends. They pleaded in her behalf privately, and 
went to a town meeting to speak for her, but were 
denied the privilege. Finally, the Legislature 
passed a law prohibiting colored schools in the 
State. From the advice of her friends and her own 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 33 

strong will, Miss Crandall continued to teach. She 
was arrested and her friends were sent for. They 
came, but would not be persuaded by the sheriff and 
other officers to stand her bond. The people saw 
the disgrace and felt ashamed to have it go down in 
history that she was put in jail. In agreement with 
Miss Crandall's wishes her friends still persisted, so 
about night she was put in jail, into a murderer's 
cell. The news flashed over the country, much to 
the Connecticut people's chagrin and disgrace. She 
had her trial the court evaded giving a decision. 
She opened her school again, and an attempt was 
made to burn up the building while she and the 
pupils were there, but proved unsuccessful. One 
night about midnight they were aroused to find 
themselves besieged by persons with heavy iroi\ 
bars and clubs breaking the windows and tearing 
things to pieces. It was then thought unwise to 
continue the school longer. So the doors were 
closed, and the poor girls, whose only offence was a 
manifestation for knowledge, were sent to their 
homes. This law, however, was repealed in 1838, 
after lasting five years. 



34 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER V 

NEW HAMPSHIRE AND MARYLAND. 

New Hampshire slaves were very few in num- 
ber. The people* of this colony saw the evils of 
slavery very early, and passed laws against their 
importation. Massachusetts was having so much 
trouble with her slaves that the New Hampshire 
people early made up their minds that, as a matter 
of business as well as of humanity, they had best 
not try to build up their colony by dealing in human 
flesh and blood. 

Maryland was, up to 1630, a part of Virginia, 
and slavery there partook of the same features. 
Owing to the feeling existing in the colony between 
the Catholics, who planted it, and the Protestants, 
the slaves were treated bfetter than in some other 
provinces. Yet their lot was a hard one at best. 
By law, a white person could kill a slave, and not 
suffer death; only pay a fine. 

White Slaves existed in this colony, many of 
whom came as criminals from England. They, it 
seems, were chiefly domestic servants, while the 
Negroes worked the tobacco fields. 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 35 



BENJAMIN BANNEKA, ASTRONOMER AND 
MATHEMATICIAN. 

Banneka was born in Maryland in the year 1731. 
An English woman named Molly Welsh, who came 
to Maryland as an emigrant, is said to have been 
his maternal grandmother. This woman was sold 
as a slave to pay her passage to this country on 
board an emigrant ship, and after serving out her 
term of slavery she bought two Negro slaves her- 
self. These slaves were men of extraordinary 
powers, both of mind and body. One of them, said 
to be the son of an African king, was set free by 
her, ancl she soon married him. There were four 
children, and one of them, named Mary, married a 
native African, Robert Banneka, who was the father 
of Benjamin. 

The School Days of young Benjamin were spent 
in a " pay school," where some colored children 
were admitted. The short while that Benjamin 
was there he learned to love his books, and when 
the other children played he was studying. He 
was very attentive to his duties on his father's farm, 
and when through with his task of caring for the 
horses and cows, he would spend his leisure hours 
in reading boobs, and papers on the topics of the 
day. 



3f> A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

The Post-Office was the famous gathering place 
in those days, and there it was that young Benjamin 
was accustomed to go. He met many of the lead- 
ing people of the community, and fluently discussed 
with them difficult questions. He could answer 
almost any problem put to him in mathematics, and 
became known throughout the colonies as a. genius. 
Many of his answers to questions were beyond the 
reach of ordinary minds. 

Messrs. Ellicott & Co., who built flour mills on 
the Patapsco River near Baltimore, very early dis- 
covered Banneka's genius, and Mr. George Ellicott 
allowed him the use of his library and astronomical 
instruments. The result of this was that Benjamin 
Banneka published his first almanac in the year 
1792, said to be the first almanac published in 
America. Before that he had made numerous cal- 
culations in astronomy and constructed for himself 
a splendid clock that, unfortunately, was burned 
with his dwelling soon after his death. 

Banneka's Reputation spread all over America 
and even to Europe. He drew to him the associa- 
tion of the best and most learned men of his coun- 
try. His ability was a curiosity to everybody, and 
did much to establish the fact that the Negro of his 
time could master the arts and sciences. It is said 
that he was the master of five different languages, 
as well as a mathematical and astronomical genius. 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 37 



He accompanied and assisted the commissioners 
who surveyed the District of Columbia. 

He sent Mr Thomas Jefferson one of his alma- 
nacs, which Mr J.efferson prized so highly that he 
sent it to Paris, and wrote Mr. Banneka the following 
letter in reply Along with Mr. Banneka's almanac 
to Mr. Jefferson he sent a letter pleading for better 
treatment of the people of African descent in the 
United States. 

MR. JEFFERSON'S LETTER TO B. BANNEKA. 

PHILADELPHIA, August 30, 1791. 

" Dear Sir: I thank you sincerely for your letter 
of the i Qth instant, and for the almanac it contained. 
Nobody wishes more than I do to see such proofs 
as you exhibit that Nature has given to our black 
brethren talents equal to those of the other colors 
of men, and that the appearance of a want of them 
is owing only to the degraded condition of their 
existence, both in Africa and America I can add, 
with truth, that no one wishes more ardently to see 
a good system commenced for raising the condition, 
both of their body and mind, to what it ought to be, 
as fast as the imbecility of their present existence, 
and other circumstances wh'ich cannot be neglected, 
will admit, T have taken the liberty of sending your 
almanac to Monsieur de Cordorat, Secretary of the 
Academy of Sciences at Pans and member of the 



38 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

Philanthropic Society, because I considered it a doc- 
ument to which your whole color had a right for 
their justification against the doubts which have been 
entertained of them. 

" I am, with great esteem, sir, 

"Your most obedient servant, 

"Tnos. JEFFERSON." 

Mr. Benjamin Banneka, near Ellicotfs 
Lower Mills, Baltimore County. 

The Personal Appearance of Mr. Banneka is 
drawn from the letters of those who wrote about 
him. A certain gentleman who met him at Ellicott's 
Mills gives this description : " Of black complexion, 
medium stature, of uncommonly soft and gentle- 
manly manners, and of pleasing colloquial powers." 

Mr. Banneka died about the year 1804, very 
greatly mourned by the people of this country and 
Europe. He left two sisters, who, according to his 
request, turned over his books, papers, and astro- 
nomical calculations to Mr. Ellicott. There has been 
no greater mind in the possession of any American 
citizen than that of Benjamin Banneka. He stands 
out in history as one of those phenomenal characters 
whose achievements seem to be nothing short of 
miraculous. 

Frances Ellen Watkins was another of Mary- 
Ian 1's bright slaves. She distinguished herself as 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA 39 

an anti-slavery lecturer in the Eastern States, and 
wrote a book entitled, " Poems and Miscellaneous 
Writings; By Frances Ellen Watkins." In that book 
was the following poem entitled " Ellen Harris:" 

(1) Like a fawn from the arrow, startled and wild, 
A woman swept by me bearing a child ; 

In her eye was the night of a settled despair, 

And her brow was overshadowed with anguish and care. 

(2) She was nearmg.the nv,er, on reaching the brink 
She heeded no clanger, she paused not to think ! 
For she is a mother her child is a slave, 

And she'll give him his freedom or find him a grave f 

(3) But she's free, yes, free from the land where the slave 
From the hand of oppression must rest in the grave ; 
Where bondage and torture, where scourges and chains, 
Have placed on our banner indelible stains. 

(4) The blood-hounds have missed the scent of her way ; 
The hunter is rifled and foiled of his prey 

Fierce jargon and cursing, with clanking of chains, 
Make sounds of strange discord on Liberty's plains. 

(5) With the rapture of love and fulness of bliss, 
She placed on his brow a mother's fond kiss, 
Oh ! poverty, danger, and death she can brave, 
For the child of her love is no longer a slave ! 



40 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

CHAPTER VI. 

DELAWARE AND PENNSYLVANIA 

Delaware was settled, as you will remember, by 
the Swedes and Danes, in 1 639. They were a sim- 
ple, contented, and religious people. It is recorded 
that they had a law very early in their history de- 
claring it was " not lawful to buy and keep slaves." 
It is very evident, though, that later on in the history 
of the colony slaves were held, and their condition 
was the same as in New York. While the north of 
the colony was perhaps fully in sympathy with sla- 
very, the western part was influenced by the relig- 
ious sentiment of the Quakers in Pennsylvania. 

The Friends of Pennsylvania were opposed to 
slavery, and although slavery was tolerated by law, 
the way was left open for their education and re- 
ligious training. In 1688, Francis Daniel Pastorious* 
addressed a memorial to the Friends of German- 
town. His was said to be the first protest against 
slavery made by any of the churches of America. 
He believed that " slave and slave-owner should be 
equal at the Master's feet." 

William Penn showed himself friendly to the 
slaves. 

* Williams. 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 41 



CHAPTER VII. 

NORTH CAROLINA. 

THIS colony, in geographical position, lies be- 
tween South Carolina and Virginia. While it held 
slaves, it may be justly said its position on this great 
question was not so burdensome to the slave as the 
other Southern colonies, and even to the present 
time the Negroes and whites of this State seem to 
enjoy the most harmonious relations. The slave 
laws of this State gave absolute dominion of the 
master over the servant, but allowed him to join the 
churches from the first. Large communities of free 
Negroes lived in this State prior to the civil war, 
and, as late as the year 1835, could vote. They had 
some rights of citizenship and many of them became 
men of note. 

Prior to the Civil War there were schools for 
these free people. Some of them owned slaves 
themselves. In this colony the slaves were worked,, 
as a rule, on small farms, and there was a close re- 
lation established between master and slave, which 
bore its fruits in somewhat milder treatment than 
was customary in colonies where the slave lived oa 



42 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

large cotton plantations governed by cruel over* 
seers, some of whom were imported from the North. 

The Eastern Section of North Carolina was 
thickly peopled with slaves, and some landlords 
tfwned as many as two thousand. 

The increase and surplusage of the slave popula- 
tion in this State was sold to the more Southern 
colonies, where they were used on the cotton plan- 
tations. 

A NORTH CAROLINA SLAVE POET. 

George M. Horton was his name. He was the 
slave of James M. Horton, of Chatham .county, N. 
C. Several of his special poems were published in 
the Raleigh Register. In 1829, A. M. Gales, of this 
State, afterwards of the firm of Gales and Seaton, 
Washington, D. C., published a volume of the slave 
Morton's poems, which excited the wonder and ad- 
miration of the best men in this country. His 
poems reached Boston, where they were much talked 
of, and used as an argument against slavery. Hor 
ton, at the time his volume was published, could 
read but not write, and was, therefore, compelled to 
dictate his productions to some one who wrote them 
down for him. He afterwards learned to write. 
He seemed to have concealed all his achievements 
from his master, who knew nothing of his slave's 
ability except what others told him.. He simply 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 43 

knew George as a field hand, which work he did 
faithfully and honestly, and wrote his poetry too. 
Though a slave, his was a noble soul inspired with 
the Muse from above. The Raleigh Register said 
of him, July 2d, 1829: "That his heart has felt 
deeply and sensitively in this lowest possible condi- 
tion of human nature (meaning slavery) will be 
easily believed, and is impressively confirmed by 
one of hi$ stanzas, viz. : 



" Come, melting pity from afar, 
And break this vast, enormous bar 

Between a wretch and thee ; 
Purchase a few short days of time, 
And bid a vassal soar sublime 
On wings of Liberty." 




44 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER VIII. 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 

CHARTERS for the settlement of North and South 
Carolina were obtained at the same time 1663. 
Slavery commenced with the colony. Owing to the 
peculiar fitness of the soil for the production of rice 
and cotton, slave labor was in great demand. White 
labor failed, and the colony was marvellously pros- 
perous under the slave system. Negroes were im- 
ported from Africa by the thousands. Their labor 
proved very productive, and here it was that the 
slave code reached its maximum of harshness. 

A Negro Regiment in the service of Spain was 
doing duty in Florida, and through it the Spanish, 
who were at dagger's ends with the British colonies, 
sent out spies who offered inducements to such of 
the South Carolina slaves as would run away and 
join them. Many slaves ran away. Very rigid and 
extreme laws were passed to prevent slaves from 
running away, such as branding, and cutting the 
" ham-string " of the leg. 

A Riot followed the continued cruel treatment 
of the slaves under the runaway code ; i 748 is said 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 45 

to have been the year in which a crowd of slaves 
assembled in the village of Stono, slew the guards 
at the arsenal and secured the ammunition there. 
They then marched to the homes of several leading 
men whom they murdered, together with their wives 
and children. The slaves captured considerable 
rum in their plundering expedition, and having in- 
dulged very freely, stopped for a frolic, and in the 
midst of their hilarity were captured by the whites, 
and thus ended the riot. 

The Discontent of the Slaves grew, however, 
in spite of the speedy ending of this attempt at in- 
surrection. Cruel and inhuman treatment was bear- 
ing its fruits in a universal dissatisfaction of the 
slaves, and in South Carolina, as in Massachusetts, 
it began to be a serious question as to what side the 
slaves would take in the war of the coming Revolu 
tion. England offered freedom and money to slaves 
who would join her army. The people of South 
Carolina did not wait long before they allowed the 
Negroes to enlist in defence of the colonies, and 
highly complimented their valor. If a slave killed 
a Briton he was emancipated ; if he were taken 
prisoner and escaped back into the Province, he was 
also set free. 



46 ^ SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER IX. 

GEORGIA. 

FROM the time of its settlement in 1732 till 1750 
this colony held no slaves. Many of the inhabitants 
were anxious for the introduction of slaves, and 
when the condition of the colony finally became 
hopeless they sent many long petitions to the Trus- 
tees, stating that " the one thing needful " for their 
prosperity was Negroes. It was a long time before 
the Trustees would give their consent ; they said that 
the colony of Georgia was designed to be a protec- 
tion to South Carolina and the other more Northern 
colonies against the Spanish, who were then occupy- 
ing Florida, and if the colonists had to control slaves 
it would weaken their power to defend themselves. 
Finally, owing to the hopeless condition of the 
Georgia colony, the Trustees yielded. Slaves were 
introduced in large numbers, 

Prosperity came with the slaves, and, as in the 
case of Virginia, the colony of Georgia took a fresh 
start and began to prosper. White labor proved a 
failure. It was the honest and faithful toil of the 
Negro that turned the richness of Georgia's soil into 



NEGRO RACE TN AMERICA. 47 

English gold, built cities and created large estates, 
gilded mansions furnished with gold and silver 
plate.* 

Oglethorpe Planned the Georgia colony as a 
home for Englishmen who had failed in business and 
were imprisoned for their debts. These English 
people were out of place in the wild woods of 
America, and continued a failure in America, as well 
as in England, until the toiling but " heathen " Afri- 
can came to their aid. 

Cotton Plantations were numerous in Georgia 
under the slave system. The slave-owners had 
large estates, numbering thousands of acres in many 
cases. The slaves were experts in the culture of 
cotton. The climate was adapted to sugar-cane and 
rice, both of which were raised in abundance. 



* The famous minister, George Whitfield, referring to his plantation in 
this colony, said : " Upward of five thousand pounds have been expended in 
the undertaking, and yet very little proficiency made in the cultivation of my 
tract of land, and that entirely owing to the necessity I lay under of making 
use of white hands. Had a Negro been allowed I should now have had a 
sufficiency to support a- great many orphans, without expending above half the 
sum which had been laid out." He purchased a plantation in South Caro- 
lina, where slavery existed, and speaks of it thus: "Blessed be God! This 
plantation has succeeded; and though at present I have unly eight working 
hands, yet, in all probability, there will be more raised in one year, and with- 
out a quarter of the expense, than has been produced at Bethesda for several 
years past. This confirms me in the opinion I have entertained for a long 
time, that Georgia never can or will be a flourishing province without Ne- 
groes are allowed" 



48 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

BLOUNT'S FORT. 

This fortification, erected by some of the armies 
during the early colonial wars, had been abandoned. 
It lies on the west bank of the Apaiachicola river in 
Florida, forty miles from the Georgia line. Negro 
refugees from Georgia fled into the everglades of 
Florida as a hiding-place during the war of the 
Revolution. In these swamps 'they remained for 
forty years successfully baffling all attempts to re- 
enslave them. Many of those who planned the 
escape at first were now dead, and their children had 
grown up to hate the lash and love liberty. Their 
parents had taught them that to die in the swamps 
with liberty was better than to feast as a bondman 
and a slave. When Blount's Fort was abandoned 
and taken possension of by these children of the 
swamp, there were three hundred and eleven of 
them, out of which not more than twenty had ever 
been slaves. They were joined by other slaves who 
ran away as chance permitted. The neighboring 
slave-holders attempted to capture these people but 
failed. They finally called on the President of the 
United States for aid. General Jackson, then com- 
mander of the Southern militia, delegated Lieuten- 
ant Colonel Clinch to take the fort and reduce 
these people to slavery again. His sympathies 
being with the refugees, he marched to the fort and 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 49 

returned, reporting that " the fortification was not 
accessible by land." 

Commodore Patterson next received orders. 
He commanded the American fleet, then lying in 
Mobile Bay. A " sub-order was given instantly to 
Lieutenant Loomis to ascend the Apalachicola river 
with two gun-boats, to seize the people in Blount's 
Fort, deliver them to their owners, and destroy the 
fort." At early dawn on the morning of September 
the 1 7th, 1816, the two boats, with full sail catching 
a gentle breeze, moved up the river towards the fort. 
They lowered a boat on their arrival and twelve 
men went ashore. They were met at the water's 
edge and asked their errand by a number of the 
leading men of the fort. Lieutenant Loomis in- 
formed them that he came to destroy the fort and 
turn over its inmates to the " slave-holders, then on 
board the gun-boat, who claimed them as fugitive 
slaves." The demand was rejected. The colored 
men returned to the fort and informed the inmates. 
Great consternation prevailed. The women were 
much distressed, but amid the confusion and ex- 
citement there appeared an aged father whose back 
bore the print of the lash, and whose shoulder bore 
the brand of his master. He assured the people 
that the fort could not be taken, and ended his 
speech with these patriotic words : "Give me liberty, 
or give me death.'* The shout went up from the 



50 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

entire fort as from one man, and they prepared to 
fac*e the enemy. 

The Gun-boats Soon Opened Fire. For sev- 
eral hours they buried balls in the earthen walls 
and injured no one. Bombs were then fired. These 
had more effect, as there was no shelter from them. 
Mothers were more careful to hug their young 
babies closer to their bosoms. All this seemed little 
more than sport for the inmates of the fort, who saw 
nothing but a joke in it after shelter had been 
found. 

Lieutenant Loomis saw his failure. He had a 
consultation, and it was agreed to fire " hot shot at 
the magazine.'' So the furnaces were heated and 
the fiery flames began to whizz through the air. 
This last stroke was effectual ; the hot shot set the 
magazine on fire, and a terrible explosion covered 
the entire place with debris. Many were instantly 
killed by the falling earth and timbers. The man- 
gled limbs of mothers and babies lay side by side. 
It was now dark. Fifteen persons in the fort had 
survived the explosion. The sixty sailors and offi- 
cers now entered, trampling over the wounded and 
dying, and took these fifteen refugees in handcuffs 
and ropes back to the boats. The dead, wounded 
and dying were left. 

As the two boats moved away from this scene of 
carnage the sight weakened the veteran sailors oa 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 51 

board the boats, and when the officers retired these 
weather-worn sailor veterans "gathered before the 
mast, and loud and bitter were the curses uttered 
against slavery and against the officers of the govern- 
ment who had thus constrained them to murder inno- 
cent women and helpless children, merely for their 
love of liberty." 

The Dead Remained unburied in the fort. The 
wounded and dying were not cared for, and all were 
left as fat prey for vultures to feast upon. For 
fifty years afterward the bones of these brave people 
lay bleaching in the sun. Twenty years after the 
murder a Representative in Congress from one of 
the free States introduced a bill giving a gratuity 
to the perpetrators of this crime. The bill passed 
both houses. 



Having briefly considered the establishment of 
slavery in the colonies, where the Negro slave was 
employed in every menial occupation, and where 
he accepted the conditions imposed upon him with 
a full knowledge of the wrong done, but still jubi- 
lant with songs of hope for deliverance, and trust 
in God, whose promises are many to the faithful, 
let us turn to 

The War of the Revolution, which soon came 



52 



A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 



on ; and in it Providence no doubt designed an 
opportunity for the race to loosen the rivets in the 
chains that bound them. They made good use of 
this opportunity. 




NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 53 



. ' 
CHAPTER X. 



HABITS AND CUSTOMS OF THE SOUTHERN 
COLONIES. 

Barnes gives the following account of the habits 
and customs of the Southern colonies during the 
days of slavery : 

" The Southern Colonists differed widely from 
the Northern in habits and style of living. In place 
of thickly-settled towns and villages, they had large 
plantations, and were surrounded by a numerous 
household of servants. The Negro quarters formed 
a hamlet apart, with its gardens and poultry yards. 
An estate in those days was a little empire. The 
planter had among his slaves men of every trade, 
and they made most of the articles needed for com- 
mon use upon the plantation. There were large 
sheds for curing tobacco, and mills for grinding 
corn and wheat. The tobacco was put up and con- 
signed directly to England. The flour of the Mount 
Vernon estate was packed under the eye of Wash- 
ington himself, and we are told that barrels of flour 
bearing his brand passed in the West India market 
without inspection, 



64 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

"Up the Ashley and Cooper (near Charles- 
ton) were the remains of the only bonafide nobility 
ever established on our soil. There the descend- 
ants of the Landgraves, who received their title in 
accordance with Locke's grand model, occupied 
their manorial dwellings. Along the banks of the 
James and Rappahannock the plantation often 
passed from father to son, according to the law of 
entail. 

41 The heads of these great Southern families lived 
like lords, keeping their packs of choice hunting 
dogs, and their stables of blooded horses, and roll- 
ing to church or town in their coach of six, with 
outriders on horseback. Their spacious mansions 
were sometimes built of imported brick. Within, 
the grand staircases, the mantels, and the wainscot 
reaching in a quaint fashion from floor to ceiling, 
were of mahogany elaborately carved and paneled. 
The sideboards shone with gold and silver plate 
and the tables were loaded with the luxuries of the 
Old World. Negro servants thronged about, ready 
to perform every task. 

44 All labor was done by Slaves, it being con- 
sidered degrading for a white man to work. Even 
the superintendence of the plantation and slaves 
was generally committed to overseers, while the 
master dispensed a generous hospitality, and occu- 
pied himself with social and political life." 



NEGRO RACE TN AMERICA. 55 

SLAVERY INTRODUCED IN THE COLONIES. 

In Virginia, the last of August, 1619. 

In New York, 1628. 

In Massachusetts, 1637. 

In Maryland, ) 634. 

In Delaware, 1636. 

In Connecticut, between 1631 and 1636. 

In Rhode Island from the beginning, 1647. 

New Jersey, not known ; as early though as m] 
New Netherland. 

South Carolina and North Carolina from the ear- 
liest days of existence. 

In New Hampshire, slavery existed from the be- 
ginning. 

Pennsylvania doubtful. 




56 A SCHOOL H1STOR Y OF THE 



CHAPTER XI. 

NEGRO SOLDIERS IN REVOLUTIONARY 
TIMES. 

Objections to Enlisting Negroes caused much 
discussion at the beginning of the Revolutionary 
war. The Northern colonies partially favored their 
enlistment because they knew of their bravery, and 
rightly reasoned that if the Negroes were not allowed 
to enlist in the Colonial army, where their sympa- 
thies were, they would accept the propositions of 
the British, who promised freedom to every slave 
who would desert his master and join the English 
;army. 

Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, and the 
other British leaders, saw a good chance to weaken 
the strength of the colonies by offering freedom to 
the slaves if they would fight for England. They 
knew that the slaves would be used to throw up 
fortifications, do fatigue duties, and raise the provi- 
sions necessary to support the Colonial army. So 
Lord Dunmore issued a proclamation offering free- 
dom to all slaves who would join his army. As the 
result of this, Thomas Jefferson is quoted as saying 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 57 

that 30,000 Negroes from Virginia alone joined the 
British ranks. 

The Americans became fearful of the results 
that were sure to follow the plans of Lord Dun- 
more. Sentiment began to change in the Negro's 
favor ; the newspapers were filled with kind words 
for the slaves, trying to convince them that the 
British Government had forced slavery upon the 
colonies against their will, and that their best inte- 
rests were centred in the triumph of the Colonial 
army/ A part of an article in one paper, headed 
" Caution to the Negro," read thus: "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 per- 
mitted, not only prevent any inore Negroes from 
losing their freedom, but restore it to such as have 
already unhappily lost it. .... They will send the 
Negroes to the West Indies where every year they 
sell many thousands of their miserable brethren. 
Be not tempted, ye Negroes, to ruin yourselves by 
this proclamation !" The colonies finally allowed 
the enlistment of Negroes, their masters being paid 
for them out of the public treasury. Those slaves 
who had already joined the British were offered 



68 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

pardon if they would escape and return, and a severe 
punishment was to be inflicted on those who left the 
colony if they were caught. 

To Offset the Plans of Lord Dunmore, the 
Americans proposed to organize a Negro army, to 
be commanded by the brave Colonel Laurens ; and 
on this subject the following letter was addressed to 
John Jay, President of Congress, by the renowned 
Alexander Hamilton. This letter also shows in 
what esteem the Negro slave of America was held 
by men of note : 

" HEADQUARTERS, March 14, 1779. 
" To. John Jay. 

"DEAR SIR:: Col. Laurens, who will have the 
honor of delivering 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 encourage- 
ment. This is, to raise two, or 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 
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 and the State, and, as 
an inducement, they should engage to take those 
battalions into Continental pay. 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 50 

"It appears to me that an experiment 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 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 
in better hands than those of Mr. Laurens. He has 
all the zeal, intelligence, enterprise, and every other 
qualification necessary to succeed in such an under- 
taking. 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. 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 objec- 
tion, that I think their want of cultivation (for their 
natural faculties are probably as good as ours), 
joined to that habit of subordination 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. 



60 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

"I foresee that this project will have to combat 
much opposition from prejudice and self-interest. 
The contempt we have been taught to entertain for 
the blacks makes us fancy many things that are 
founded neither in reason nor experience, and an 
unwillingness to 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 hold out will 
be to offer them ouYselves. 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 influ- 
ence 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 suc- 
cess of the project, for the dictates of humanity and 
true policy equally interest me in favor of this un- 
fortunate class of men. With the truest respect 
and esteem, I am, sir, 

" Your most obedient servant, 

"ALEX. HAMILTON." 

George Washington, James Madison, and the 

continental Congress gave their consent to the plan 



NEGRO RACE IN AM EMC A. 61 

of Col. Laurens, and recommended it to the South- 
ern Colonies. It was resolved by Congress to com- 
pensate the master for the slaves used by Col. Lau- 
rens at the rate of $1000 apiece for each "able- 
bodied Negro man of standard size, not exceeding 
thirty-five years of age, who shall be so enlisted 
and pass muster. That no pay be allowed to the 
said Negroes, but that they be clothed and .sub- 
sisted 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, shall be emancipated and 
receive the sum of fifty dollars." 

Congress commissioned Col. Laurens to carry 
out this plan. " He repaired to South Carolina 
and threw all his energies into his noble mis- 
sion." The people of the States of Georgia and 
South Carolina refused to co-operate with him. It 
was difficult to get white trcfbps to enlist. The 
Tories, who opposed the war against England, 
were very strong in several of the Southern colo- 
nies. 

A Letter from General Washington will help 
us to understand the condition of affairs in South 
Carolina and Georgia. He wrote to Col. Laurens 
as follows: "I must confess that I am not at all 
astonished at the failure of your plan. That spirit 
of freedom which, at the commencement of this! 



62 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

contest, would have gladly sacrificed everything to 
the attainment of its object, has long since subsided, 
and every selfish passion has taken its place. It is 
not the public but private interest which influences 
the generality of mankind, nor can the Americans 
any longer boast an exception. Under these cir- 
cumstances it would rather have been surprising 
if you had succeeded, nor will you, I fear, have 
better success in Georgia." 

Col. Laurens was killed in battle, but he had not 
entirely abandoned his plan of enlisting the slaves. 
But in spite of the recommendations of Congress, 
he could not succeed, for the States of South Caro- 
lina and Georgia coveted their slaves too much to 
allow this entering wedge to their ultimate freedom, 
Had his plan been carried out, slavery would prob- 
ably have been abolished as soon at the South as at 
the North. The Negroes who would have come 
out of the war of trfe Revolution would have set 
themselves to work to relieve the condition of their 
brethren in shackles. 

Connecticut Failed to endorse the enlistment of 
Negroes by its Legislature, but Mr. Williams in his 
history gives the roster of a- company of Negroes in 
that State, numbering fifty-seven, with David Hum- 
phreys, Captain. White officers refused to serve in 
the company. David Humphreys continued at the 
head of this force until the war closed. 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 63 



CHAPTER XII. 

NEGRO HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

Among Those whose blood was first shed for 
the cause of American liberty was the runaway slave, 
Crispus Attucks, Having -escaped from his master, 
Wjlliam Brown, of Framingham, Massachusetts, at 
the age of twenty-seven, being then six feet two 
inches high, with "short, curled hair," he made his 
way to Boston. His master in 1750 offered a 
reward of ten pounds for him, but Crispus was not 
found. When next heard from he turns up in the 
streets of Boston. 

THE LEADER WHO FELL IN THE FAMOUS BOSTON 
MASSACRE. 

Attucks had no doubt been listening to the fiery 
eloquence of the patriots of those burning times. 
The words of the eloquent Otis had kindled his soul, 
and though a runaway slave, his patriotism was so 
deep that he it was who sacrificed his life first on the 
altar of American Liberty. 

General Gage, the English commander, had 
taken possession of Boston. Under the British flag 



A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 




I 
5 



NEGRO RACE IX AMERICA. 65 

gaily dressed soldiers marched the streets of Boston 
as through a conquered city ; iheir every act was an 
insult to the inhabitants. Finally, on March 5, 1 770, 
Crispus Attucks, at the head of a crowd of citizens, 
resolved no longer to be insulted, and determining 
to resist any invasion of their rights as citizens, a 
fight soon ensued on the street. The troops were 
ordered to fire on the " mob," and Attucks fell, the 
first one, with three others, Caldwell, Gray, and 
Maverick. The town bell was rung, the alarm 
given and citizens from the country ran into Boston, 
where the greatest excitement prevailed. 

The Burial of Attucks, the only unknown dead, 
was from Faneuil Hall. The funeral procession 
was enormous, and many of the best citizens of Bos- 
ton readily followed this former slave and unknown 
hero to an honored grave. Many orators spoke in 
the highest terms of Crispus Attucks. A verse 
mentioning him reads thus : 



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." 



66 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 




Peter Salem shoots Major Pitcairn at Bunker Hill. 

Bunker Hill was the scene of a brave deed by 
a Negro soldier. Major Pitcairn was commander 
of the British forces there. The battle was fierce ; 
victory seemed sure to the English, when Pitcairn 
mounted an eminence, shouting triumphantly, "The 
day is ours." At this moment the Americans stood 
as if dumfounded, when suddenly, with the leap of 
a tiger, there rushed forth Peter Salem, who fired 
directly at the officer's breast and killed him. Salem 
was said to have been a slave, of Framingham, Mas- 
sachusetts. General Warren, who was killed in this 
battle, greatly eulogized Crispus Attucks for his 
bravery in Boston, and had he not been stricken 
down so soon, Peter Salem would doubtless also 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 67 

have received high encomiums from his eloquent 
lips. 

Five Thousand Negroes are said to have 
fought on the side of the colonies during the Revo- 
lution. Most of them were from the northern 
colonies. There were, possibly, 50,000 Negroes en- 
listed on the side of Great Britain, and 30,000 of 
these were from Virginia. 

SOME INDIVIDUALS OF REVOLUTIONARY TIMES. 

Primus Hall, was body-servant of Colonel Pick- 
ering in Massachusetts. General Washington was 
quite intimate with the Colonel and paid him many 
visits. On one occasion, Washington continued his 
visit till a late hour, and being assured by Primus 
that there were blankets enough to accommodate 
him, he resolved to spend the night in the Colonel's 
quarters. Accordingly two beds of straw were made 
down, and Washington and Colonel Pickering re- 
tired, leaving Primus engaged about the tent. Late 
in the night General Washington awoke, and seeing 
Primus sitting on a box nodding, rose up in his bed 
and said : " Primus, what did you mean by saying that 
you had blankets enough ? Have you given up your 
blanket and straw to me, that I may sleep comfort- 
ably while you are obliged to sit through the night?" 
"It's nothing/' said Primus; " don't trouble yourself. 



68 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

about me, General, but go to sleep again. No mat- 
ter about me ; I sleep very good." " But it is mat- 
ter ; it is matter," replied Washington, earnestly. 
"I cannot do it, Primus. If either is to sit up, I will. 
But I think there is no need of either sitting up. 
The blanket is wide enough for two ; come and lie 
down here with me." " O, no, General," said Pri- 
mus ; " let me sit here ; I'll do very well on the box." 
Washington said, " I say, come and lie down here \ 
There is room for both, and I insist upon it." And, 
as he spoke, he threw up the blanket and moved 
to one side of the straw. Primus hesitated, but 
Washington continuing to insist, Primus finally pre- 
pared himself and laid down by Washington, and 
on the same straw, and under the same blanket, 
where the General and the Negro servant slept till 
morning. 

Washington is said to have been out walking 
one day in company with some distinguished gentle- 
men, and during the walk he met an old colored 
man, who very politely tipped his hat and spoke to 
the General. Washington, in turn, took off his hat 
to the colored man, on seeing which one of the com- 
pany, in a jesting manner, inquired of the General 
if he usually took off his hat to Negroes. Where- 
upon Washington replied : " Politeness is cheap, and 
I never allow any one to be more polite to me than 
I to him/ 1 



NEGRO RACE IX AMERICA. 




Brave Colored Artilleryman. 

Judge Story gives an account of a colored ar- 
tilleryman who was in charge of a cannon with a 
white soldier at Bunker Hill. He had one arm so 
badly wounded he could not use it He suggested 
to the white soldier that he change sides so as to 
use the other arm. He did this ; and while thus 
laboring under pain and loss of blood, a shot came 
which killed him. 

Prince appears in the attempt to capture 

General Prescott, of the Royal army, stationed at 
Newport, R. I. General Lee, of the American forces, 
was held as a prisoner by the British, and it was 
designed to capture Prescott so as to be able to 
give him in exchange for Lee. Colonel Barton 
planned the scheme, and set out to Prescott' s sleep- 



70 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

ing apartments in the night. Prince followed the 
lead of Colonel Barton to the door. There the sen- 
tinel was seized with his bayonet at the Colonel's 
breast, and ordered to be silent on pain of death, 
when Prince came forward and with two strokes at 
the door with his head it came open. Prescott was 
seized by Prince while in bed and made a prisoner. 
Colonel Barton was presented an elegant sword for 
this brave exploit which Prince achieved. 

Prince Whipple appears, as a body-guard, on 
the picture entitled " Washington Crossing the Del- 
aware.' 1 

L. LATHAM. 

New London, Connecticut, was taken by the 
British under command of Arnold, the traitor, in 
1781. The American troops retreated to Fort Gro 
ton, where the American commander Ledyard was 
in command. The British came up and overcame 
the Americans after a bold resistance. The British 
officer vainly strode into the ramparts and said, 
"Who commands this fort?" Ledyard replied, " I 
once did; you do now," handing the Briton his 
sword at the same time, which he took and ran 
through Ledyard up to the hilt. L. Latham, a Ne- 
gro slave, stood near the American. Scarcely had 
the British officer s hand left the murderous hilt when 
Latham run him through with his bayonet. The 



XEGRO RACE IX AMERICA. 71 

enemy rushed on him, and after a most daring fight 
he fell, not till pierced by thirty-three bayonets. L. 
Latham had been left at home by his master to care 
for the stock when the latter left to help defend the 
fort; but as soon as he could unhitch his team he 
too made haste to the scene of the fray, and the 
above bold deed shows how deeply he felt moved to 
give his life in defence of his country. 

John Freeman pinned Major Montgomery to 
the ground while he was being lifted upon the walls 
of Fort Griswold. 

Samuel Charlton was in the battle of Monmouth 
and several others. Washington complimented him 
for his bravery. He returned to his master in New 
Jersey after the war, and at his master's death Charl- 
ton, with the other slaves, was set free and given a 
pension during his life. 

James Armistead acted as scout for LaFayette 
in the Virginia campaign. He returned to his mas- 
ter after the surrender of Cornwallis and was set free 
by a special act of the Virginia Legislature. 

Negro Soldiers in the North enlisted with the 
colonies so that they might thus get their freedom 
from their Northern masters, while Negro soldiers 
in the South enlisted with the British, who promised 
freedom to all who would join their ranks. 

Did the Negro Soldiers get their freedom after 
the war of the Revolution was oVer ? We may say 



72 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

yes, so far as the Northern colonies are concerned, 
but not without much opposition in the courts and 
legislatures. Virginia also passed an act in 1 783 
emancipating the slaves who had fought in the 
Revolution. Many individual slaves were emanci- 
pated by special acts of the legislatures for their 
courage and bravery. 

George Washington set his slaves free by his 
will, and many slave-owners did the same. 

The slaves who joined the British army were sub- 
jected to all sorts of horrors. Thousands died with 
small-pox and other contagious diseases. A great 
number were sent t.o the West Indies in exchange 
" for rum, sugar, coffee and fruit." 

LAFAYETTE AND KOSCIUSKO. 

LaFayette, the brilliant young Frenchman, and 
Kosciusko, the generous Pole, volunteered their ser- 
vices in behalf of freedom for the Americans during 
the Revolution. They fought, though, for the free- 
dom of all Americans. LaFayette said in a letter 
to a Mr. Clarkson : " I would never have drawn 
my sword in the cause of America, if I could have 
conceived that thereby I was founding a land of 
slavery." 

While Visiting America in 1825, he expressed 
a warm desire to see some of the many colored sol 



NEGRO RACE IN A MERICA . 73 

diers whom he " remembered as participating with 
him in various skirmishes." He believed in free- 
dom to all men, and to put in practice his anti- 
slavery ideas he bought a plantation in French 
Guiana. There he collected all the " whips and 
other instruments of torture and punishment, and 
made a bonfire of them in the presence of the as- 
sembled slaves." 

He Gave One Day in each week to the slaves, 
and as soon as one could earn enough he might pur- 
chase another day, and so on until he gained his 
freedom. 

Kosciusko Expressed great sorrow to learn 
that the colored men who served in the Revolution 
were not thereby to gain their freedom. He left 
$20,000 in the hands of Thomas Jefferson, to be 
used in educating colored children. 




A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE WAR OF 1812. 

THE War of the Revolution ended in 1781 at 
Yorktown. Many of the brave Negroes who shed 
their blood and helped to win America's liberty 
from England were, as soon as the war closed, 
put back into bondage. They were in the " Land 
of the Free," but themselves slaves. Other trou- 
bles arose very soon between England and Amer- 
ica. England still kept standing armies in America, 
and claimed the right to search American vessels 
for British sailors who had deserted. They often 
took off American seamen. 

One Negro and Two White sailors were taken 
from the American man-of-war " Chesapeake " after 
she had been fired upon. Canada gave arms to and 
incited the Indians in the Northwest against the 
Americans. Finally, in 1812, war was declared, 
during Madison's administration. 

Negro Troops were very much needed, as the 
Americans had a very poor navy, and England, 
having whipped the French, was now ready to turn 
all her forces against America. 

A Call for Volunteers from the Union was 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 75 

issued, and many thousands of free Negroes an- 
swered the call. The slaves were not allowed to 
enlist in the militia. Gen. Jackson thus spoke to his 
colored troops : 

" 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 with 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 
have surpassed all 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 Representatives 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." 

The Battle of New Orleans, we will remember, 
ended in defeat for the British. Over two thousand 



76 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

were lost to the British, while the American loss 
was seven killed and six wounded. There were 
over four hundred Negroes in this battle, and they 
occupied " no mean place and did no mean service." 
The British had a battalion of Negroes from the 
Island of San Domingo in this battle. The idea 
of fortifying the city with cotton is said to have been 
the suggestion of a slave who was a native African, 
and learned this mode of defence from the Arabs. 

Mr. D. Lee Child, in a letter to a friend, states 
that the famous cotton breast-works, recognized the 
world over as a stroke of genius on the part of 
Gen. Jackson, was the suggestion of a colored man, 
a .native African. He gives some data from a Por- 
tuguese manuscript to prove that this mode of de- 
fence is in practice among the native Africans, who 
thus defend their wives and children against the 
Arabs. 

NEGROES IN THE NAVY OF l8l2. 

Th "re seemed to be no discrimination against 
any class of citizens joining our navy; nor is there 
now. About one-fifth of the marines were Negroes. 
That they did valuable service is testified to by 
numerous commanders. Read what Commander 
Nathaniel Shaler of the "private armed" schooner 
"Governor Tompkins " says, in a letter dated 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



" AT SEA, Jan. i, 1813. 

" My officers conducted themselves in a way that 
would have done honor to a more permanent ser- 
vice ..... The name of one of my poor fel- 
lows who was killed ought to be registered in the 
book of fame, and remembered with reverence as 
long as bravery is a virtue, He 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 boys ; 
no haul a color down ! ' The other was a black 
man by the name of John Davis, and was struck in 
much the same way. He fell near me, and several 
times requested to be thrown overboard, saying he 
was only in the way of others. While America has 
such tars, she has little to fear from the tyrants of 
the ocean." 

Captain Perry had command of the American 
fleet on Lake Erie. He objected to recruits sent 
him, and described them in a letter to Commodore 
Chauncey ,as " a motley set blacks, soldiers and 
boys." Commodore Chauncey replied : " I regret 
that you are not pleased with the men sent you. 
. . . . I have yet Jo 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 



78 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

fifty blacks on board this ship, and many of them 
are among my best men." 

Usher Parsons, Surgeon of the "Java," under 
Commodore Perry, wrote that the whites and blacks 
of his ship messed together, and there seemed to be 
no prejudice. 

The End of the War of 1812 meant victory for 
America, and the Negro had scored a telling point 
in behalf of his recognition as an American citizen. 
But still many were in slavery. 

Major Jeffreys, a "regular," during the engage- 
ment of Major-General Andrew Jackson at Mobile, 
mounted a horse and rallied the retreating troops 
to victory against the British, ^when the white com- 
manders were forced to retire and defeat seemed 
certain. Gen. Jackson gave him the title of Major, 
which he bore till his death in Nashville, Tenn. He 
was much respected by all classes. On one occa- 
sion a white ruffian insulted him. Words ensued, 
and Major Jeffreys was forced to strike the white 
man in self-defence. For this, at the age of seventy 
years, this veteran, who had won victory for his 
country on the battle-field, was ordered to be given 
41 nine and thirty lashes with a raw hide." He did 
not recover from the effects of this treatment, and 
soon died of a broken heart. 

Jordon Noble was among the colored veterans 
of the War of 181 2. For a long time after the war 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 70 

he lived in New Orleans, where he was brought out 
on every great occasion to give enthusiasm. Jor- 
don Noble's name appearing in connection with any 
great occasion was sufficient guarantee of a tremen- 
dous crowd. He was drummer to the First Regi- 
ment Louisiana Volunteers in the Mexican War of 
1846, and led the attack against the British in the 
Battle of New Orleans under Jackson in 1814. He 
was known as the " matchless drummer." 




80 A SCHOOL II [STORY OF THE 



CHAPTER XIV. 

EFFORTS FOR FREEDOM. 

The War of 1812 was now over. America re- 
jnained at peace with other nations about thirty- 
two years, when the Mexican war broke out in 
1846, During this interval a war of words between 
Americans themselves was waged ; and there were 
heroes in this contest, many of them Negroes and 
former slaves, and some of them women, who merit 
equal rank with the brave heroes of former battles. 

The Abolitionists who were opposed to slavery, 
furnished many brave hearts and strong minds from 
their ranks. Their work began very early in the 
history of the colonies ; it continued with slow 
growth for awhile, but nevertheless certain and 
effectual. The Quakers of Pennsylvania were fore- 
most in the work of abolition. They set nearly all 
their slaves free. Anti-slavery societies were formed 
in nearly all the Northern States. 

Benjamin Lundy is mentioned as the earliest 
leader of the Abolitionists. He published a paper 
called The Genius of Universal Emancipation. He 
visited nineteen States of the Union, travelled up- 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 81 

waids of five thousand miles on foot, and more than 
twenty thousand in other ways, and held more than 
two hundred public meetings. Lundy's paper was 
not regarded as very dangerous to the institution 
of slavery; but the Journal of the Times, published 
first at Bennington, Vermont, in support of J. Q. 
Adams for the presidency, became the inveterate 
foe to slavery under the editorship of William Lloyd 
Garrison, who was mobbed in the streets of Boston, 
and imprisoned for libel in the city of Baltimore for 
denouncing the crew of the ship " Francis Todd," 
on board of which were many ill-treated slaves 
bound for the slave marts of New Orleans. Garri- 
son and Lundy united in getting out The Genius of 
Universal Emancipation at Baltimore. 

Arthur Tappan, before this, paid Garrison's fine, 
and the enemy to slavery commenced his war with 
more vigor and zeal than before. In 1831 The 
Liberator was first published by Garrison, and, as 
was his desire, it continued till "every slave in 
America was free." 

A "Colored Man," James Forten, sent $50 
among the first twenty-five subscriptions that came 
to The Liberator. Garrison thought it his duty to 
obey God rather than man, and he denounced the 
Constitution of the United States as being a " Cov- 
enant with death and an agreement with hell," be- 
cause he held that it supported slavery. 

6 



$2 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

The National Anti-Slavery Convention, white, 
was held in 1836; they had delegates from ten 
States, and 1006 anti-slavery societies existed in the 
different States. 

The Free Colored People of the North also 
held an anti-slavery convention in 1831. Their first 
work was to get recognition from the white organi- 
zations, who shut them out. The " Anti-Slavery 
Free Women of America " organized in 1837, * n 
New York. Mary S. Parker was President, Ange- 
lina E. Grimkie; Secretary. 

Miss Sarah Forten addressed the following 
verses to her white sisters in behalf of co-operation : 



" We are thy sisters. God has truly said 
That of one blood all nations He has made. 
O Christian woman ! in a Christian land, 
Canst thou unblushing read this great command ? 
Suifer the wrongs which wring our inmost heart, 
To draw one throb of pity on thy part? 
Our skins may differ, but from thee we claim 
A sister's privilege and a sister's name." 



Soon after this, the free Negroes of the North 
acted together with the whites in the great fight 
against slavery. Negro orators told in eloquent 
style the sad' story of the bondage of their race. 

Frederick Douglass, once a slave in Maryland, 
electrified the whole country with his eloquence. He 
stood then, and now, as a living, breathing, convinc- 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 83 

r-" - 

ing argument against the claim that the Negro's 
intellectual capacities fit him only for slavery. Mr. 
Douglass visited Europe and was received there 
with an ovation, for the cause of the slave had leaped 
across the Atlantic and touched a sympathetic chord 
in many a British heart. 

Many Books were written by Negroes, as well 
as whites. Frederick Douglass wrote " My Bondage 
and My Freedom;" Bishop Loguen, " As a Slave 
and as a Freeman;" other works by Rev. Samuel 
R. Ward, Rev. Austin Stewart, Solomon Northorp, 
Dr. Wm. Wells Brown, and others. William Whip- 
per edited an abolition paper, known as the National 
Reformer. 

Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Mrs. Harriet Beecher 
Stowe, was the most read, and the most effectual) 
work against slavery. 



84 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER XV. 

FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 

THIS great man is well known to the world. He 
is a conspicuous representative of the talents and 
capabilities possessed by the colored race. Born a 
slave on a plantation in Maryland, he has gradually, 
by industry and patient labor, worked himself to the 
highest rank of honor, both in America and Europe. 
When Frederick Douglass speaks the world listens. 
He is as much quoted as any living American 
statesman. 

The first ten years of Mr. Douglass' youth were 
spent on one of the many plantations of a rich 
planter named Lloyd, in the State of Maryland. He 
was separated from his mother, who only saw him 
at long intervals. He, with the other little slave 
boys, grew up from almost infancy in their tow 
shirts, with their ash-cake rations and frequent beat- 
ings, given them by a certain " old Aunt Kate," who 
had charge of the children on the plantation. In 
this wild way, young Fred was left to grow up as 
best he could among the rough farm hands and 
without a mother's care. He describes his mother 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 




Frederick Douglass. 



A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 



to have been a noble-looking woman, with the 
deepest'of motherly affection and very fond of him, 
as shown by her running dangerous risks and often 
walking many long miles to see him. 

At the age of ten years he was sent by his " Old 
Master" to live with his young mistress, in Balti- 
more, who was connected with the Lloyd family. 
This young lady became attached to him, and 
taught him to read. He learned to read the Bible 
and made such rapid progress that the young lady, 
feeling very proud of her work, told her husband. 
When he found it out he forbade her teaching him 
any further, saying it was unlawful, " could only 
lead to mischief," and, " if you give a nigger an 
inch he will take an ell." Nevertheless, Fred soon 
became proficient in reading, and he learned to 
write by the models in his young master's copy- 
book. He bought a book called the Columbian 
Orator, in which he found speeches from Sheridan, 
Lord Chatham, William Pitt and Fox. These he 
read many times and gained much mental help from 
them. 

Finally, young Fred, whose mind now was en- 
lightened, became so dissatisfied with his position 
as a slave that he grew morose and gloomy. His 
young mistress chided him for this conduct, and it 
finally became necessary to hire him out. He soon 
found a good opportunity and ran away to New 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA 87 

Bedford, Mass. Here he found employment and 
spent his leisure time in study. He read Scott's 
" Lady of the Lake," and there came across the name 
of Douglass, which he for the first time assumed. 
He attended church ; was surprised to see the col- 
ored people transacting their own business. Some 
of the first money he earned in New Bedford was 
invested in a subscription to The Liberator. He 
was not long in coming .to the front. His story of 
escape from slavery was told in the various 
churches, and the year 1841 found him on the stage 
before an anti-slavery convention at Nantucket A 
tremendous crowd was present, and the wildest 
enthusiasm prevailed Mr. William Lloyd Garri- 
son followed Mr. Douglass with a strong speech 
for the abolition of slavery. Mr. Douglass' career 
thus begun, continued ; he spoke often and mightily 
for the cause of freedom. He became the leading- 
orator of the time, and his presence was sufficient 
to draw a crowd in the bitterest pro slavery com- 
munity. 

Since freedom, Mr. Douglass has held several 
important positions under the National Govern- 
ment. He was once Recorder of Deeds in the 
District of Columbia, and is now Minister to the 
Haytian Republic 



88 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 



tHAPTER XVI. 

LIBERIA. 

The Republic of Liberia was founded in 1816, 
by the American Colonization Society as a place of 
refuge and safety to the colored people of America 
who, before the abolition of slavery in the various 
States, had been set free by their masters, or, through 
industry, had purchased their liberty themselves. 
It is located on the west coast of Africa, south of 
Sierra Leone,. and is very productive of rice, coffee, 
indigo, peanuts, arrowroot, sugar, pepper, logwood, 
palm-oil, and cotton. Gold and other minerals are 
found in considerable quantities. The climate seems 
ill adapted to the American Negro. 

Mr. Jehudi Ashmun was the pioneer in plant- 
ing the colony, assisted by Lott Carey, The natives 
resisted the settlers, and for the first six years there 
were continual attempts to drive them out. Mr. 
Ashmun's health finally failed, and he was compelled 
to leave the colony, now numbering 1200 free 
Americans, to themselves in this new and wild land. 
They shed bitter tears on his departure, some cling- 
ing even to his garments. But, left to themselves, 



NEGRO RAGE LV AMERICA. 89 



the Negroes did not lose all hope. They set about 
to found a goverment similar to that of the United 
States. They elected their first president, Joseph 
J. Roberts, organized a cabinet, established schools, 
made labor obligatory, and their flag is now recog- 
nized by the nations of Europe and the United 
States. 

Its population is now over 20,000 Negroes who 
went from America, or their descendants. The in- 
fluence of Liberia is exercised over a million of 
people along the West Coast of Africa. They speak 
English, and from them many tribes have. learned 
our language and the arts of civilization. The United 
States has sent six Ministers to represent her at 
Monrovia, the Liberian capital, viz. : from North 
Carolina, Messrs. J. H. Smythe, Moses A. Hopkins, 
and E. E. Smith; from New York, Henry H. Gar- 
net ; Alexander Clark, of Iowa, and C. H. J. Taylor, 
of Kansas. The exports of Liberia aggregate about 
three-quarters of a million dollars annually. 

Success has thus far attended the country, 
though the climate, atmosphere, and the surround- 
ings are most unfavorable and unstimulating. The 
fact that these colored people have succeeded shows 
what the race can do under favorable circumstances. 



90 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

CHAPTER XVII. 

NAT. TURNER AND OTHERS WHO " STRUCK * 
FOR FREEDOM. 

Nathaniel Turner is well remembered by many 
of the older people of Southampton, Virginia, as 
being the leader of the famous " Nat Turner Insur- 
rection " of that county. He was an unusually bright 
child having learned to read and write with such 
skill and rapidity that his own people and the neigh- 
bors regarded him as a prodigy. It is said that his 
mother predicted that he would be a prophet in his 
presence one day, and he remembered her predio, 
tion till he grew older. Turner devoted himself to 
the study of the Scriptures and the condition of 
his people. He believed his lot was to set them 
free. He had visions of white and black spirits fight*' 
ing in battle. He imagined a voice spoke thus to 
him in the vision : " Such is your luck ; such you are 
called to see ; and let it come rough or smooth you 
must bear it." He thought, while laboring in the 
fields, u he discovered drops of blood on the corn, as 
though it were dew from heaven," and saw on the 
leaves of the trees pictures of men written in blood. 



NEGRO PACE IN AMERICA. 9i 



A Plan of Insurrection was devised in the 
month of February, 1831. Nat, together with four 
of his friends, Sam Edwards, Henry Porter, Nelson 
Williams, and Hark Travis, held a council of war, as 
it were, in some lonely, desolate spot in the woods, 
where they discussed the project of freeing the 
slaves. Nat said, in his speech, that his purpose 
was not to shed blood wantonly ; but in order to 
arouse his brethren he believed it necessary to kill 
such of the whites as would be most likely to give 
them trouble. He, like John Brown, expected his 
slave brethren to join him. 

The Fatal Stroke was given in the month of 
August, 1831. The first house visited was that of 
a Mr. Joseph Travis. While on the way, a slave 
from this plantation joined Nat's party. He was a 
giant of a man, athletic, quick, and "best man on the 
muscle in the county," and was known as " Will." 
The slaves were armed with axes and knives, and 
killed, indiscriminately, young and old, fifty-seven 
white persons, before they were killed or cap- 
tured. 

Several Artillery Companies from Richmond, 
seventy miles off, Petersburg, Norfolk, and Ports- 
mouth, with one cavalry company, were ordered out 
to take Nat and his followers. In a 'hand-to-hand 
struggle Will fell. His last words were : " Bury 
my axe with me." Nat escaped with some others 



92 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

to the swamps where he eluded the whites lor nearly 
three months. After surrendering, he was brought 
into court, and answered Not Guilty to the inquiry 
of the judge. The trial was gone through with. 
Nat was convicted and condemned to die on the 
gallows. He received the sentence with total in- 
difference, but made a prophecy that on the day 
of his execution unusual occurrences would appear 
in the heavens ; the sun would be darkened and im- 
mense clouds would appear, and threatening light- 
ning. Many of the people believed it. The sheriff 
could find no one willing to cut the rope, but a 
drunken sot, crazed by liquor, did the act for pay. 
The day of execution, strange to say, as Nat had 
prophesied, was one of stormy and gloomy aspect, 
with terrible thunder, rain and lightning. Nat kept 
up his courage to the last, and his neck in the 
noose, not a muscle quivered or a groan was uttered. 
He was, undoubtedly, a wonderful character. Know 
ing as he did, the risk he ran, what an immense 
courage he must have had to undertake this bold 
adventure. He was thus spoken of by a Mr. 
Gray, who interviewed him : " It has been said that 
he was ignorant and cowardly, and his purpose was 
to murder and rob. It is notorious that he was 
never known to have a dollar in his life, to swear 
an oath, or drink a drop of spirits. He can read 
and write, and for natural intelligence and quick- 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



ness of apprehension is surpassed by few men I 
have ever seen." * 

Avery Watkins, a colored preacher of Rock- 
ingham, North Carolina, and grandfather of Rev. 
R. H. W. Leak, a prominent minister in the A. M. 
E. Conference of North Carolina, is said to have 
been hanged in Rockingham, North Carolina, 
charged with indorsing the Nat Turner Insurrec- 
tion, because in a private conversation with his 
family he related to them something of what Nat 
Turner was doing in Southampton, where he had 
lately been on a visit to his grandmother^ Accord- 
ing to the account of Mr. W. H. Quick, he was 
taken by a mob at a camp-meeting, and tried and 
hung in the same month, in the year 1831. 

Madison Washington was the name of a brave 
slave who, being a part of a cargo of 135 slaves en 
route to New Orleans from Virginia, when the boat 
was eight days out organized the slaves, made an 
onslaught on the officers, took possession of the boat 
and carried it to Nassau, an English possession, 
where England gave them protection, refusing to 
surrender them as " murderers and mutineers to 
perish on Southern gibbets." 

* One author says: Upwards of one hundred slaves were slaughtered in 
the Southampton Tragedy, many of them in cold blood while walking.in the 
streets and about sixty white persons. Some of the alleged conspirators 
had their noses and ears cut off, the flesh of their cheeks cut out, their- jaws 
broken asunder, and in that condition they were set up as marks to be shot at. 



94 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

The Kindness of Washington in dressing the 
Captain's wounds and protecting and caring for his 
wife and children, marked him as a most magnani- 
mous foe. Only one white man of the twelve com- 
manding the ship was killed. He having fired into 
the slaves came at them with a spike ; thereupon he 
was stabbed by one of Washington's men, who 
wrenched a bowie-knife from the hands of the Cap- 
tain. Washington's only wish was, not blood, but 
freedom, which he gained. 

" THE VIRGINIA MAROONS. 

The Famous Dismal Swamp, some fifty miles 
long, extending from Norfolk, Virginia, into North 
Carolina, was a noted rendezvous for runaway slaves 
before the civil war. It is estimated that the slave 
property in this swamp was worth a million and a 
half dollars. They carried on a secret trade with 
the Virginia merchants, but any merchant caught 
fostering these people by trading with them was 
punished severely by law. The traders who were 
pursued found shelter among the maroons of the 
swamp. The chivalry of the Old Dominion never 
dared venture into this colony, and blood-hounds 
sent in came out no more. The Dismal Swamp 
colony continued from generation to generation, de- 
fying and outwitting the slave-owners right in the 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 95 



midst of one of the strongest slave-holding commu- 
nities in the South. 



"THE AMISTAD CAPTIVES." 



Fifty-four Africans on board the Spanish slave- 
schooner "Amistad," under Captain Ramon Ferrer, 
on June 28, 1839, sailed from Havana, Cuba, for 
Porto Principe, another place on the island of Cuba, 
about three hundred miles distant from Havana. 
The fifty-four slaves were just from Lemboko, their 
native country in Africa. Joseph Cinquez, son of 
an African prince, was among them. He was shrewd, 
brave and intelligent. He looked on with disgust 
at the cruel treatment given him and his fellow- 
sJaves, some being " chained down between the 
decks space not more than four feet by their 
wrists and ankles ; forced to eat rice, sick or well, 
and whipped upon the slightest provocation." Cin- 
quez witnessed the brutality as long as his noble 
nature would allow, and when they were about five 
nights out from Havana, he chose a company of 
confederates from among his brethren and made an 
assault on the captain of the boat, and took him and 
his crew prisoners. Two sailors struck out for land 
when they found their captain and cook in chains, 
and left the boat in full possession of the Negroes. 
The man at the helm (Montes) was ordered to steer 



96 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

direct for Africa, under pain of death. This he did 
by day, but at night would make towards the coast 
of America. Finally, after continual wandering-, the 
vessel was cited off the coast of the United States 
in August. All the ports were notified, and a num- 
ber of revenue cutters were dispatched after her. 
She was finally captured on the 26th of August, 
1839, by Lieut. Gidney of the United States Navy, 
and the "Amistad" and her fifty-four Africans were 
landed ir. New London, Connecticut. The two 
Spaniards found on board the vessel were examined 
by the United States officials, and the whole number 
of Africans were bound over to await trial as pirates. 
They being unable to give bond of course went to 
prison, but not to stay long. Public sentiment was 
everywhere aroused in their favor. The anti-slavery 
friends organized schools among them ; the Africans 
learned rapidly and soon told all the details of the 
capture of the " Amistad " in English from their own 
lips without an interpreter. The trial occupied sev- 
eral months, during which they busied themselves 
in cultivating a garden of fifteen acres in a most 
skillful and intelligent manner. Their grievances 
were told all over America, and aroused the sympa- 
thies of the people. Finally, the court decided that 
the "Amistad captives " were not slaves but free- 
men. A thrill of joy passed through many an 
American heart, as well as their own, and when the 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 97 

news of this decision spread abroad, subscriptions 
began to come in. Mr. Lewis Tappan took a lively 
interest in the Africans, and in one way and another 
soon got together enough money to send them home 
to Africa, where they so much wanted to go. " If 
'Merica men offered me as much gold as fill this cap," 
said one, " and give me houses, land and everything, 
so dat I stay in this country, I say No ! No ! ! I want 
to see my father, my mother, my brother, my sister." 
One said, " We owe everything to God ; He keeps 
us alive, and makes us free. When we go home to 
Mendi, we tell our brethren about God, Jesus Christ 
and Heaven. "_ One" was asked, if he was again 
captured and about to be sold into slavery, would 
he murder the captain and cook of another vessel, 
and if he wouldn't pray for rather than kill them ? 
Cinquez heard it and replied, shaking his head, 
" Yes ; I would pray for 'em and kill 'em, too." 

These people were sent to Sierra Leone in Africa 
in company with five sainted missionaries. Great 
Britain sent them from Sierra Leone to their homes, 
and thus their efforts for freedom were successful. 



98 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION. 

Slavery or No Slavery was the question now 
before the American people. Millions of tracts, 
pamphlets, circulars and newspapers, besides the 
ministers and orators of the North, were now mak- 
ing sentiment against slavery. The people of the 
North were aroused. 

The Census of 1850 gave a population of three 
and one-half million slaves in America, and they 
lived in the States of Delaware, New Jersey, Mary- 
land, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, 
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, 
Texas, Arkansas, Utah Territory, Kentucky, Mis- 
souri and Tennessee. Soon after this New Jersey, 
Delaware and Maryland freed their slaves. 

The Political Parties were forced to taKe up 
the slavery question. The politicians were wily, 
and yielded to both sides for policy's sake. The 
South opposed every legislative act that favored the 
abolition of slavery. The great Daniel Webster 
hesitated to take a decided stand either way, and in 
1858 Charles Sumner, a staunch anti-slavery man* 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 99 

came to the Senate from Massachusetts in Web- 
ster's place. Mr. Sumner said more and did more 
for the freedom of the slave than any of the great 
statesmen of his time. He offered no compromise, 
and asked only for liberty to the slaves. 

The Fugitive Slave Law* allowed masters to 
capture their slaves in any State of the Union. 
Hence arose the underground railroad, which was 
a secret system for transporting runaway slave.s into 
Canada. Some slaves were sent in boxes, and some 
carried in the night from one person to another un- 
til they reached the Canadian line. A great many 
runaway slaves made good their escape through 
this system.f 

New States coming into the Union caused great 
discussion as to whether they should come in as free 
States or slave States. Civil war broke out in 
Kansas between the inhabitants of that Territory 
who wanted, and those who did not want, slaves. 
The. anti-slavery people were led by, John Brown, 
afterwards the leader in an attempt to capture the 
arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, and arm the 
slaves. He was hung as an insurrectionist. 

Opposition in the North to the Abolitionists 



* It was Chief Justice Taney who, in giving his decision en this law in the 
Dred Scott case, said: "A Negro has no rights which a white man is bound 
to respect." 

f See Underground Railroad, by William Still. 



100 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

was manifested by the commercial people, who saw 
nothing in the whole question but the dollars and 
cents which they hoped to make out of the slave's 
products of cotton, tobacco-, sugar, and rice. But 
the agitation continued. 

Abraham Lincoln, endorsed by the anti-slavery 
people, was proposed as the Republican candidate 
for President in 1860, whereupon South Carolina 
declared if Lincoln was elected she would secede 
from the Union. Lincoln was elected, and accord- 
ingly South Carolina seceded, and was soon followed 
by the other slave-holding States. 




NEGRO RA CE IN A MERICA . 101 

CHAPTER XIX. 

EXAMPLES OF UNDERGROUND RAILROAD 
WORK. 

WILLIAM and Ellen Craft were slaves in the State 
of Georgia. Their hearts yearned for freedom. 
Their minds were at once set to work to formulate 
some plan of escape. It was at last settled. 
Ellen being very fair, while William was dark, 
was to pass for a young invalid planter, William 
being her slave and servant. Not being able 
to write, and without beard, she put her hand 
into a sling and tied her face up ; after putting on 
male attire they were ready to start out. William 
attended to all the business, .such as registering at 
the hotels and buying tickets. They stopped at a 
first-class hotel in Charleston, and also in Richmond, 
finally reaching Philadelphia safely. Ellen gave ur> 
her male attire, untied her face, released her arm 
from the sling, and her speech came to her. They 
put themselves under the care of the Abolitionists, 
were sent to Boston, but after the passage of the 
Fugitive Slave Bill, attempts were made to capture 
and put them back into slavery again. They were 
at last sent to England, where they remained for 
nearly twenty years; then they returned and made 
their home in Savannah, Georgia, where, we learn, 
they are still living. 



102 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TllK 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE SLAVE POPULATION OF 18(50. 

IN the sixteen slave States there were 3,950,000 
slaves in 1860, and 251,000 free colored people. 
Nearly 3,000,000 of the slaves were in the rural 
districts of the South ; and the slave products of 
cotton, tobacco, rice, sugar-cane, hemp, and molasses, 
amounted to about $136,505,435. These products, 
made by slave labor, formed the basis of Southern 
prosperity. The war of the rebellion which com- 
menced in the following year, was destined to shake 
the very foundation of Soulhern civilization. From 
a people unaccustomed to hard work, it was to take 
away those who worked for them, and those same 
people who were to be taken away were to be re- 
galed in the priceless boon of citizenship. Let us 
now study some of the efforts of Negroes in help- 
ing to achieve this citizenship, after which we shall 
see how well they deserved to be citizens. 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 103 



CHAPTER XXI. 

THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 

ENLISTMENT OF NEGROES. 

The Secession of South Carolina and the other 
Southern States was the signal for war. True to its 
declaration to do so, this State seceded when Lincoln 
was inaugurated in 1861. Fort Sumter\\as fired on 
by the Confederates and captured. The North was 
divided on the question of slavery, and the Govern- 
ment at Washington was slow in making any efforts 
to stop the rebellion. A' few troops were sent into 
the field with the hope of frightening the South. 

The Battle of Bull Run was fought, and disgrace- 
fully lost to the Union. It took some losses and 
failures to make the North believe the South would 
fight. Finally, after the defeat at Bull Run, 

Lincoln issued a Proclamation for 75,000 
volunteers. But the motto was, no blacks need apply. 
There was great prejudice in the North against he 
Negro's enlisting to fight for his freedom, and the 
President was also opposed to it. 

The Confederates were already forming Negro 
companies for the defence of Richmond and build- 



104 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 



Ing fortifications. The third and fourth regiments 
of Georgia showed one Negro company as they 
passed through Augusta en route to Virginia. Free 
Negroes enlisted on the Confederate side at New 
Orleans and Memphis. They were highly spoken 
of by the Southern papers. But the North seemed 
to think still that to put the Negro in the Union blue 
would disgrace that uniform. 

General Hunter, stationed at Port Royal, South 
Carolina, did not agree with Congress nor the Presi- 
dent. When he succeeded General Sherman, in- 
structions from the Secretary of War to "accept the 
services of all loyal persons " were handed him ; and 
he seized this opportunity (there being nothing said 
about Negroes) to enlist a Negro regiment of fugi- 
tive slaves. His conduct was inquired into by Mr. 
Wickliffe, a Congressman from Kentucky, and a 
resolution of censure was offered. 

Major-General Hunter replied to the inquiry 
made in Congress as to his enlisting slaves, that the 
Negroes seemed to be the only loyal people in that 
locality, and they were anxious to fight for their 
freedom, and gave every evidence of making *' in- 
valuable auxiliaries." They knew the country and 
were accustomed to the climate. 

General Phelps, stationed in Louisiana about 
this time, was making a bold fight for the enlistment 
of Negroes in and around New Orleans. He was 



NEGRO RACE IX AMERICA. 105 

opposed by General Benj. F. Butler, who protested 
so strongly against it that finally General Phelps 
was forced to resign and return to his home in Ver- 
mont. The sentiment of the Northern army seemed 
to have a conspicuous leaning towards admitting the 
right of the South to hold slaves. General Butler 
refused the runaway slayes quarters in his head- 
quarters. McCIellan, a reeking failure as a com- 
mander, said, with others, that if he thought he was 
fighting to free the " niggers " he would sheath his 
sword. He soon failed in the Virginia campaign and 
was forced to resign. 

Mr. Stevens proposed a bill in Congress author- 
izing the President to " raise and equip -150,000 sol- 
diers of African descent " Meanwhile Col. Thomas 
W. Higginson and Col. Montgomery, with a com- 
pany of Negro troops were ascending the St. John 
River, in Florida, where he captured Jacksonville, 
which had been abandoned by white Union Troops. 
Among those who favored Mr. Stevens' measure 
were Horace Greeley and Edwin M. Stanton, who 
seemed to have been convinced of the worth of the 
colored troops from the testimony of such men as 
Phelps, Higginson, Hunter, and Montgomery, who 
had already seen what Negro troops could accom- 
plish. 

Public Sentiment was being aroused on the sub- 
ject. The newspapers discussed the matter. The 



"106 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

New York Tribune said : " Drunkenness, the bane 
of our army, does not exist among the black troops." 
" Nor have I yet discovered the slightest ground of 
inferiority to white troops." Mr. Lincoln very soon 
changed his mind, Congress gave its consent, and 
the order went forth to enlist Negroes in defence of 
the Union. 

The Right to Fight for what they thought would 
ultimately end in their freedom was hailed with 
shouts of joy wherever the tidings reached the Ne- 
groes. 

At Newbern, N. C., they made a great demon- 
stration. The enlisting places at New Orleans and 
other Southern cities then in the hands of the Fed- 
erals were the scenes of the, wildest confusion in the 
mad rush of the colored people to register their 
names on the army records. 

A Difficulty arose in getting sufficient arms for 
all the colored troops; and a further difficulty was 
to be met in selecting -white officers who had the 
courage to brave public sentiment and take the com- 
mand of Negro troops. Negro daring ancj excel- 
lency on the battle-field soon broke down these 
flimsy weaknesses of the white officers, and the sum- 
mer of 1863 found over 100,000 Negroes in the 
Union ranks, and over 50,000 armed and equipped 
on the fields of battle. 

Their Pay was seven dollars per month, with 



NEGRO RA CE IN AMERICA. 1 07 



board and clothing. The whites received thirteen 
dollars per month with board and clothing. Thus 
the former slave went forth to meet his master on 
the battle-field, sometimes to capture or be captured ; 
sometimes to fall side by side, one pierced with the 
Southern, the other with the Northern bayonet. 

EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATIONS. 

Two Proclamations were issued by iMr. Lin- 
coln. The first, on the 22d of September, 1862, de- 
fined the issue of the war to be " for the object of 
practically restoring the constitutional relation be- 
tween the United States and each of the States, 
and the people thereof.'* It offered, first, to pay the 
masters for their slaves and colonize them in 
America or Africa. Second, it proposed to free the 
slaves of those persons and States then engaged in 
actual rebellion. Third, it offered to pay from the 
Federal treasury loyal masters who had lost their 
slaves in and during the rebellion. 

The Second Proclamation was issued January 
i, 1863, and is the one we celebfate. This measure 
was urged upon Mr. Lincoln by the Abolitionists 
and those who wished the Negro free. It did not 
free all the slaves. Some counties were left out. 
Though the Abolitionists saw in the proclamation 
trie consummation of their prayers and hopes, Mr. 



108 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

Lincoln and his Cabinet evidently regarded the 
proclamation as a war measure, very necessary un- 
der the circumstances, to shorten the war. The 
South would have surrendered in half the time had 
not a large number of slaves remained on the plan- 
tations raising supplies for the Confederate army, 
and supporting and protecting their masters' fami- 
lies. 




NEGRO RACE /,V AMERICA. 109 



CHAPTER XXII. 

EMPLOYMENT OF NEGRO SOLDIERS. 

Mr. Williams Says: "All history, ancient and 
modern, Pagan and Christian, justified the conduct 
of the Federal Government in the employment of 
slaves as soldiers. Greece had tried the experiment, 
and at the battle of Marathon there were two regi- 
ments composed of slaves. The beleagured city of 
Rome offered freedom to her slaves who would vol- 
unteer as soldiers, and at the battle of Cannae a regi- 
ment of Roman slaves made Hannibal's cohorts reel 
before their unequalled courage. Negro officers, as 
well as soldiers, had shared the perils and glories of 
the campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte; and even 
the Royal Guard at the Court of Imperial France 
had been mounted with black soldiers. In two wars 
in North America, Negro soldiers had followed the 
fortunes of military life and won the applause of 
white patriots on two continents. So, then, all his- 
tory furnished a precedent for the guidance of the 
United States Government in the civil war of 
America.' 1 

Just How Well the Negro Soldiers Behaved 
may be gathered from a description of 



110 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

SOME FAMOUS BATTLES IN WHICH NEGROES FOUGHT. 

Port Hudson, May 27, 1863. The Negro regi- 
ment under Col. Nelson was assigned the difficult 
task of taking this fort, which seemed almost im- 
pregnable. It was situated on a high bluff overlook- 
ing the river in front. Around the sides and rear, 
close under the bluff, ran a bayou twelve feet deep 
and from fifteen to twenty feet wide. Looking out 
from openings in the embankment were the grim 
mouths of many deadly cannon. They were arranged 
so as to make a straight raking charge on the front 
of any approaching force, while a score and a half 
of heavy guns were to cut down the left and right 
wings with grape and canister. 

Having marched All Night, the " Black Regi- 
ment " stacked arms at 5 A.M. One hour was given 
for rest and breakfast. Many, completely overcome 
by the enervating heat and dust, sank down " in their 
tracks " and slept. 

The Officers received their instructions at 5.30, 
and at 6 o'clock the bugle sounded. " Fall in!" was 
heard ringing out among the soldiers ; and the scene 
reminded one more of a holiday party than a march 
to death. The troops seemed anxious to fight. The 
white troops looked on with uneasiness and doubts 
concerning the Negro's courage. The Confederates 
in the fort ridiculed the idea that Negroes were to 
charge them. 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. Ill 

The Negro Regiment moved towards the fort. 
There was death-like silence, save the tramp of sol- 
diers and the tap of drum. "Forward; double-quick, 
march!" rang out along the line; not a piece was 
fired. Now the Confederate guns open on the left ; 
one shell kills twelve men. " Right about /" was the 
command ; the regiment wheeled to the right for 
about three hundred yards, then coolly and steadily 
faced the enemy again by companies. 

Six Deathly charges were thus made, when Col. 
Nelson reported to Gen. Dwight his inability to take 
the fort because of the bayou being too deep for 
the men to wade. Gen. Dwight replied: "I shall 
consider that he has accomplished nothing unless 
he takes those guns." The soldiers saw it was 
impossible, as well as Col. Nelson, yet " again the 
order to charge " was obeyed with a shout. 

Captain Andre Callioux commanded Company 
E in the next charge. He marched his colored 
brethren over the dead bodies of their comrades, 
crying, "Follow me!" and while flashing his sword 
within fifty yards of the belching Confederate guns, 
he was smitten down in front of his company by a 
shell. 

Color-Sergeant Anselmas Planciancois said 
to Col. Nelson, before the fight: " Colonel, I will bring 
back these colors to you in honor, or report to God 
the reason why." It was now between n and 12 



112 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

o'clock in the morning. The fight began at 7 A.M. 
The gallant Callioux was lying dead on the field. 
His men now charged almost in the mouth of the 
Confederate guns. Planciancois bore the flag in 
front. A shell strikes the staff and blows off half 
of the brave sergeant's head ; he falls, wrapped in 
die folds of his nation's flag, his brains scattered 
amid them, but still his strong grip holds the staff 
even in death, till 

Corporal Heath catches it up to bear it to the 
front again. Pierced by a musket-ball which split 
his head, he, too, falls upon the body of the brave 
Planciancois. Still another corporal lifts the flag 
and bears it through the fray. And thus the Negro 
troops, on almost their very first trial, silenced all 
clamors as to their bravery. Port Hudson was not 
taken then, but the reason for defeat lay not in a 
lack of unrivalled daring and heroic courage on the 
part of the Negro troops. The loss was 37 killed 
and wounded, and missing 271. 

The New York Times says of this battle : " Gen. 
Dwight, at least, must have had the idea not only that 
they (Negro troops) were men, but something more 
than men from the terrific test to which he put their 
valor. The deeds of heroism performed by these 
men were such as the proudest white men might 
emulate. Their colors are literally bespattered with 
blood and brains. 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 113 

"The color-sergeant of the ist Louisiana, on 
being mortally wounded, hugged the colors to his 
breast, when a struggle ensued between the two color 
corporals on each side of him as to who should have 
the honor of bearing the sacred standard. One black 
lieutenant actually mounted the enemy's works four 

times Although repulsed in an attempt which 

situated as things were was all but impossible, 
these regiments, though badly cut up, were still on 
hand, and burning with a passion ten times hotter 
from their fierce baptism of blood." 

General Banks wrote, concerning the if Black 
Regiment" at Port Hudson : " It gives me pleasure 
to report that they answered every expectation. 
Their conduct was heroic." The success of the Ne- 
gro troops at Port Hudson rang in the halls of Con- 
gress, in the lecture-room, in the pulpit, in the news- 
papers ; poets sang of it, and Northern orators vied 
with each other in eloquent pictures of the scene of 
that great fight which settled the question as to the 
Negro's fitness for the army. 

Milliken's Bend, 6th of June, 1863. The Con- 
federates came up from Louisiana, about 3000 strong. 
They rested over -night, while the Federals were 
collecting at the temporary fort in the bend of the 
Mississippi. The Union men of war " Cfioctaw " and 
11 Lexington " appeared, coming up the river before 
daylight, pn the morning of the 6th of June, which. 



114 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE 

was the time the Confederates made their first 
charge, yelling, " No quarter to Negroes and their 
officers !" The Negro troops were without training, 
being lately recruited, but they fought like veterans. 
The Confederates fell back under their heavy fire 
in front, and charged the Union flanks. Upon this 
the Union troops found shelter from the gun-boats, 
and broadside after broadside made the Confe