Volume I Part 57 (1/2)
PROGRESS OF THE SLAVE-TRADE.--A GREAT WAR FOR THE EMANc.i.p.aTION OF THE COLONIES, FROM POLITICAL BONDAGE.--CONDITION OF THE SOUTHERN STATES DURING THE WAR.--THE VIRGINIA DECLARATION OF RIGHTS.--IMMEDIATE LEGISLATION AGAINST SLAVERY DEMANDED.--ADVERTIs.e.m.e.nT FROM ”THE INDEPENDENT CHRONICLE.”--PEt.i.tION OF Ma.s.sACHUSETTS STATES.--AN ACT PREVENTING THE PRACTICE OF HOLDING PERSONS IN SLAVERY.--ADVERTIs.e.m.e.nT FROM ”THE CONTINENTAL JOURNAL.”--A LAW Pa.s.sED IN VIRGINIA LIMITING THE RIGHTS OF SLAVES.--LAW DEMANDING ALL SLAVES WHO SERVED IN THE ARMY.--NEW YORK PROMISES HER NEGRO SOLDIERS FREEDOM.--A CONSCIENTIOUS MINORITY IN FAVOR OF THE ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE TRADE.--SLAVERY FLOURISHES DURING THE ENTIRE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
The thunder of the guns of the Revolution did not drown the voice of the auctioneer. The slave-trade went on. A great war for the emanc.i.p.ation of the colonies from the political bondage into which the British Parliament fain would precipitate them did not depreciate the market value of human flesh. Those whose hearts were not enlisted in the war skulked in the rear, and gloated over the blood-stained shekels they wrung from the domestic slave-trade. While the precarious condition of the Southern States during the war made legislation in support of the inst.i.tution of slavery impolitic, there were, nevertheless, many severe laws in force during this entire period. In the New England and Middle States there was heard an occasional voice for the oppressed; but it was generally strangled at the earliest moment of its being by that h.e.l.l-born child, avarice. On the 21st of September, 1776, William Gordon of Roxbury, Ma.s.s., wrote,--
The Virginians begin their Declaration of Rights with saying,'that _all _ men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent natural rights, of which they cannot, by any compact, deprive themselves or their posterity; among which are the enjoyment of life and _liberty_.' The Congress declare that they 'hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created _equal_, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain _inalienable rights_, that among these are life, _liberty_ and pursuit of happiness.' The Continent has rung with affirmations of the like import. If these, Gentlemen, are our genuine sentiments, and we are not provoking the Deity, by acting hypocritically to serve a turn, let us apply earnestly and heartily to the extirpation of slavery from among ourselves. Let the State allow of nothing beyond servitude for a stipulated number of years, and that only for seven or eight, when persons are of age, or till they are of age: and let the descendants of the Africans born among us, be viewed as free-born; and be wholly at their own disposal when one-and-twenty, the latter part of which age will compensate for the expense of infancy, education, and so on.”
No one gave heed. Two months later, Nov. 14, there appeared in ”The Independent Chronicle” of Boston a plan for gradual emanc.i.p.ation; and on the 28th of the same month, in the same paper there appeared a communication demanding specific and immediate legislation against slavery. But all seemed vain: there were few moral giants among the friends of ”liberty for all;” and the comparative silence of the press and pulpit gave the advocates of human slavery an easy victory.
Boston, the home of Warren, and the city that witnessed the first holy offering to liberty, busied herself through all the perilous years of the war in buying and selling human beings. The following are but a few of the many advertis.e.m.e.nts that appeared in the papers of the city of Boston during the war:--[622]
From ”The Independent Chronicle,” Oct. 3, 1776:--
”_To be_ SOLD A stout, hearty, likely NEGRO GIRL, fit for either Town or Country. Inquire of Mr. _Andrew Gillespie, Dorchester, Octo., 1., 1776._”
From the same, Oct. 10:--
”A hearty NEGRO MAN, with a small sum of Money to be given away.”
From the same, Nov. 28:--
”To SELL--A Hearty likely NEGRO WENCH about 12 or 13 Years of Age, has had the Small Pox, can wash, iron, card, and spin, etc., for no other Fault but for want of Employ.”
From the same, Feb. 27, 1777:--
”WANTED a NEGRO GIRL between 12 and 20 Years of Age, for which a good Price will be given, if she can be recommended.”
From ”The Continental Journal,” April 3, 1777:--
”_To be_ SOLD, a likely Negro Man, twenty-two years old, has had the small-pox, can do any sort of business; sold for want of employment.”
_To be_ SOLD, a large, commodious Dwelling House, Barn, and Out-houses, with any quant.i.ty of land from 1 to 50 acres, as the Purchaser shall choose within 5 miles of Boston. Also a smart well-tempered NEGRO BOY of 14 years old, not to go out of this State and _sold for_ 15 _years only, if he continues to behave well_.”
From ”The Independent Chronicle,” May 8, 1777:--
”_To be_ SOLD, for want of employ, a likely strong NEGRO GIRL, about 18 years old, understands all sorts of household business, and can be well recommended.”
The strange and trying vicissitudes through which the colonies had pa.s.sed exposed their hypocrisy, revealed the weakness of their government, and forced them to another attempt at the extirpation of slavery. The valorous conduct of the Negro soldiers in the army had greatly encouraged their friends and emboldened their brethren, who still suffered from the curse of slavery. The latter were not silent when an opportunity presented to claim the rights they felt their due.
On the 18th of March, 1777, the following pet.i.tion was addressed, by the slaves in Boston, to the Legislature:--
”PEt.i.tION OF Ma.s.sACHUSETTS SLAVES.
”The pet.i.tion of a great number of negroes, who are detained in a state of slavery in the very bowels of a free and Christian country, humbly showing,--
”That your pet.i.tioners apprehend that they have, in common with all other men, a natural and inalienable right to that freedom, which the great Parent of the universe hath bestowed equally on all mankind, and which they have never forfeited by any compact or agreement whatever. But they were unjustly dragged by the cruel hand of power from their dearest friends, and some of them even torn from the embraces of their tender parents,--from a populous, pleasant and plentiful country, and in violation of the laws of nature and of nations, and in defiance of all the tender feelings of humanity, brought hither to be sold like beasts of burthen, and, like them, condemned to slavery for life--among a people possessing the mild religion of Jesus--a people not insensible of the sweets of national freedom, nor without a spirit to resent the unjust endeavors of others to reduce them to a state of bondage and subjection.
”Your Honors need not to be informed that a life of slavery like that of your pet.i.tioners, deprived of every social privilege, of every thing requisite to render life even tolerable, is far worse than non-existence.
”In imitation of the laudable example of the good people of these States, your pet.i.tioners have long and patiently waited the event of pet.i.tion after pet.i.tion, by them presented to the legislative body of this State, and cannot but with grief reflect that their success has been but too similar.
”They cannot but express their astonishment that it has never been considered, that every principle from which America has acted, in the course of her unhappy difficulties with Great Britain, bears stronger than a thousand arguments in favor of your humble pet.i.tioners. They therefore humbly beseech Your Honors to give their pet.i.tion its due weight and consideration, and cause an act of the legislature to be pa.s.sed, whereby they may be restored to the enjoyment of that freedom, which is the natural right of all men, and their children (who were born in this land of liberty) may not be held as slaves after they arrive at the age of twenty-one years. So may the inhabitants of this State (no longer chargeable with the inconsistency of acting themselves the part which they condemn and oppose in others) be prospered in their glorious struggles for liberty, and have those blessings secured to them by Heaven, of which benevolent minds cannot wish to deprive their fellow men.
”And your pet.i.tioners, as in duty bound, shall ever pray:--