History of the Negro Race in America Volume I Part 3

MILITARY EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES.

1775-1780.

The Colonial States in 1715.--Ratification of the Non-Importation Act by the Southern Colonies.--George Washington presents Resolutions against Slavery, in a Meeting at Fairfax Court-House, Va.--Letter written by Benjamin Franklin to Dean Woodward, pertaining to Slavery.--Letter to the Freemen of Virginia from a Committee, concerning the Slaves brought from Jamaica.--Severe Treatment of Slaves in the Colonies modified.--Advertis.e.m.e.nt in "The Boston Gazette" of the Runaway Slave Crispus Attucks.--The Boston Ma.s.sacre.--Its Results.--Crispus Attucks shows his Loyalty.--His Spirited Letter to the Tory Governor of the Province.--Slaves admitted into the Army.--The Condition of the Continental Army.--Spirited Debate in the Continental Congress, over the Draught of a Letter to Gen. Washington.--Instructions to discharge all Slaves and Free Negroes in his Army.--Minutes of the Meeting held at Cambridge.--Lord Dunmore's Proclamation.--Prejudice in the Southern Colonies.--Negroes in Virginia flock to the British Army.--Caution to the Negroes printed in a Williamsburg Paper.--The Virginia Convention answers the Proclamation of Lord Dunmore.--Gen.

Greene, in a Letter to Gen. Washington, calls Attention to the raising of a Negro Regiment on Staten Island.--Letter from a Hessian Officer.--Connecticut Legislature on the Subject of Employment of Negroes as Soldiers.--Gen. Varnum's Letter to Gen. Washington, suggesting the Employment of Negroes, sent to Gov. Cooke.--The Governor refers Varnum's Letter to the General a.s.sembly.--Minority Protest against enlisting Slaves to serve in the Army.--Ma.s.sachusetts tries to secure Legal Enlistments of Negro Troops.--Letter of Thomas Kench to the Council and House of Representatives, Boston, Ma.s.s.--Negroes serve in White Organizations until the Close of the American Revolution.--Negro Soldiers serve in Virginia.--Maryland employs Negroes.--New York pa.s.ses an Act providing for the Raising of two Colored Regiments.--War in the Middle and Southern Colonies.--Hamilton's Letter to John Jay.--Col. Laurens's Efforts to raise Negro Troops in South Carolina.--Proclamation of Sir Henry Clinton inducing Negroes to desert the Rebel Army.--Lord Cornwallis issues a Proclamation offering Protection to all Negroes seeking his Command,--Col. Laurens is called to France on Important Business.--His Plan for securing Black Levies for the South upon his Return.--His Letters to Gen. Washington in Regard to his Fruitless Plans.--Capt David Humphreys recruits a Company of Colored Infantry in Connecticut.--Return of Negroes in the Army in 1778. 324

CHAPTER XXVII.

NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.

1775-1783.

The Negro as a Soldier.--Battle of Bunker Hill--Gallantry of Negro Soldiers.--Peter Salem, the Intrepid Black Soldier.--Bunker-hill Monument.--The Negro Salem Poor distinguishes himself by Deeds of Desperate Valor.--Capture of Gen. Lee.--Capture of Gen. Prescott--Battle of Rhode Island.--Col. Greene commands a Negro Regiment.--Murder of Col. Greene in 1781.--The Valor of the Negro Soldiers. 363

CHAPTER XXVIII.

LEGAL STATUS OF THE NEGRO DURING THE REVOLUTION

1775-1783.

The Negro was Chattel or Real Property.--His Legal Status during his New Relation as a Soldier--Resolution introduced in the Ma.s.sachusetts House of Representatives to prevent the selling of Two Negroes captured upon the High Seas--The Continental Congress appoints a Committee to consider what should be done with Negroes taken by Vessels of War in the Service of the United Colonies.--Confederation of the New States.--Spirited Debate in Congress respecting the Disposal of Recaptures.--The Spanish Ship "Victoria" captures an English Vessel having on Board Thirty-four Negroes taken from South Carolina.--The Negroes recaptured by Vessels belonging to the State of Ma.s.sachusetts.--They are delivered to Thomas Knox, and conveyed to Castle Island.--Col. Paul Revere has Charge of the Slaves on Castle Island--Ma.s.sachusetts pa.s.ses a Law providing for the Security, Support, and Exchange of Prisoners brought into the State.--Gen Hanc.o.c.k receives a Letter from the Governor of South Carolina respecting the Detention of Negroes--In the Provincial Articles between the United States of America and His Britannic Majesty, Negroes were rated as Property.--And also in the Definite Treaty of Peace between the United States of America and His Britannic Majesty.--And also in the Treaty of Peace of 1814, between His Britannic Majesty and the United States, Negroes were designated as Property.--Gen. Washington's Letter to Brig-Gen Rufus Putnam in regard to a Negro in his Regiment claimed by Mr.

Hobby.--Enlistment in the Army did not always work a Practical Emanc.i.p.ation. 370

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE NEGRO INTELLECT.--BANNEKER THE ASTRONOMER.--FULLER THE MATHEMATICIAN.--DERHAM THE PHYSICIAN.

Statutory Prohibition against the Education of Negroes.--Benjamin Banneker, the Negro Astronomer and Philosopher.--His Antecedents--Young Banneker as a Farmer and Inventor--The Mills of Ellicott & Co.--Banneker cultivates his Mechanical Genius and Mathematical Tastes.--Banneker's first Calculation of an Eclipse submitted for Inspection in 1789.--His Letter to Mr Ellicott.--The Testimony of a Personal Acquaintance of Banneker as to his Upright Character.--His Home becomes a Place of Interest to Visitors.--Record of his Business Transactions.--Mrs. Mason's Visit to him.--She addresses him in Verse.--Banneker replies by Letter to her.--Prepares his First Almanac for Publication in 1792.--t.i.tle of his Almanac--Banneker's Letter to Thomas Jefferson.--Thomas Jefferson's Reply.--Banneker invited to accompany the Commissioners to run the Lines of the District of Columbia.--Banneker's Habits of studying the Heavenly Bodies.--Minute Description given to his Sisters in Reference to the Disposition of his Personal Property after Death.--His Death.--Regarded as the most Distinguished Negro of his Time.--Fuller the Mathematician, or "The Virginia Calculator."--Fuller of African Birth, but stolen and sold as a Slave into Virginia.--Visited by Men of Learning.--He was p.r.o.nounced to be a Prodigy in the Manipulation of Figures.--His Death.--Derham the Physician.--Science of Medicine regarded as the most Intricate Pursuit of Man.--Early Life of James Derham.--His Knowledge of Medicine, how acquired.--He becomes a Prominent Physician in New Orleans.--Dr. Rush gives an Account of an Interview with him.--What the Negro Race produced by their Genius in America. 385

CHAPTER x.x.x.

SLAVERY DURING THE REVOLUTION.

1775-1783.

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 Slaves.--An Act preventing the Practice of holding Persons in Slavery.--Advertis.e.m.e.nts from "The Continental Journal."--A Law pa.s.sed in Virginia limiting the Rights of Slaves.--Law emanc.i.p.ating 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. 402

CHAPTER x.x.xI.

SLAVERY AS A POLITICAL AND LEGAL PROBLEM.

1775-1800.

British Colonies in North America declare their Independence.--A New Government established.--Slavery the Bane of American Civilization.--The Tory Party accept the Doctrine of Property in Man.--The Doctrine of the Locke Const.i.tution in the South.--The Whig Party the Dominant Political Organization in the Northern States.--Slavery recognized under the New Government.--Anti Slavery Agitation in the States.--Attempted Legislation against Slavery.--Articles of Confederation.--Then Adoption in 1778.--Discussion concerning the Disposal of the Western Territory.--Mr. Jefferson's Recommendation.--Amendment by Mr. Spaight.--Congress in New York in 1787.--Discussion respecting the Government of the Western Territory.--Convention at Philadelphia to frame the Federal Const.i.tution.--Proceedings of the Convention.--The Southern States still advocate Slavery.--Speeches on the Slavery Question by Leading Statesmen.--Const.i.tution adopted by the Convention in 1787.--First Session of Congress under the Federal Const.i.tution held in New York in 1789.--The Introduction of a Tariff-Bill.--An Attempt to amend it by inserting a Clause levying a Tax on Slaves brought by Water.--Extinction of Slavery in Ma.s.sachusetts.--A Change in the Public Opinion of the Middle and Eastern States on the Subject of Slavery.--Dr. Benjamin Franklin's Address to the Public for promoting the Abolition of Slavery.--Memorial to the United-States Congress.--Congress in 1790.--Bitter Discussion on the Restriction of the Slave-Trade.--Slave-Population.--Vermont and Kentucky admitted into the Union.--A Law providing for the Return of Fugitives from "Labor and Service."--Convention of Friends held in Philadelphia.--An Act against the Foreign Slave-Trade.--Mississippi Territory.--Const.i.tution of Georgia revised.--New York pa.s.ses a Bill for the Gradual Extinction of Slavery.--Const.i.tution of Kentucky revised.--Slavery as an Inst.i.tution firmly established. 412

HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA.

Part I.

_PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS._

CHAPTER I.

THE UNITY OF MANKIND.

THE BIBLICAL ARGUMENT.--ONE RACE AND ONE LANGUAGE.--ONE BLOOD.--THE CURSE OF CANAAN.

During the last half-century, many writers on ethnology, anthropology, and slavery have strenuously striven to place the Negro outside of the human family; and the disciples of these teachers have endeavored to justify their views by the most dehumanizing treatment of the Negro.

But, fortunately for the Negro and for humanity at large, we live now in an epoch when race malice and sectional hate are disappearing beneath the horizon of a brighter and better future. The Negro in America is free. He is now an acknowledged factor in the affairs of the continent; and no community, state, or government, in this period of the world's history, can afford to be indifferent to his moral, social, intellectual, or political well-being.

It is proposed, in the first place, to call the attention to the absurd charge that the Negro does not belong to the human family.

Happily, there are few left upon the face of the earth who still maintain this belief.

In the first chapter of the Book of Genesis it is clearly stated that "G.o.d created man," "male and female created he them;"[1] that "the Lord G.o.d formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul;"[2] and that "the Lord G.o.d took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it."[3] It is noticeable that the sacred historian, in every reference to Adam, speaks of him as "_man_;" and that the divine injunction to them was,--Adam and Eve,--"Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."[4] As among the animals, so here in the higher order, there were two,--a pair,--"male and female," of the human species. We may begin with man, and run down the scale, and we are sure to find two of a kind, "male and female."

This was the divine order. But they were to "be fruitful," were to "replenish the earth." That they did "multiply," we have the trustworthy testimony of G.o.d; and it was true that man and beast, fowl and fish, increased. We read that after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden, Eve bore Adam a family. Cain and Abel; and that they "peopled the earth."

After a number of years we find that wickedness increased in the earth; so much so that the Lord was provoked to destroy the earth with a flood, with the exception of Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives,--eight souls in all.[5] Of the animals, two of each kind were saved.

But the most interesting portion of Bible history comes after the Flood. We then have the history of the confusion of tongues, and the subsequent and consequent dispersion of mankind. In the eleventh chapter and first verse of Genesis it is recorded: "_And the_ WHOLE EARTH _was of_ ONE LANGUAGE, _and of_ ONE SPEECH." "The whole earth"

here means all the inhabitants of the earth,--all mankind. The medium of communication was common. Everybody used one language. In the sixth verse occurs this remarkable language: "And the Lord said, Behold, the people is _one_, and they have all _one_ language." Attention is called to this verse, because we have here the testimony of the Lord that "the people is _one_," and that the language of the people is one. This verse establishes two very important facts; i.e., there was but one nationality, and hence but one language. The fact that they had but one language furnishes reasonable proof that they were of one blood; and the historian has covered the whole question very carefully by recording the great truth that they were _one people_, and had but _one language_. The seventh, eighth, and ninth verses of the eleventh chapter are not irrelevant: "Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth; and they left off to build the city.

Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth."

It was the wickedness of the people that caused the Lord to disperse them, to confound their speech, and bring to nought their haughty work. Evidently this was the beginning of different families of men,--different nationalities, and hence different languages. In the ninth verse it reads, that "from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth." There is no ambiguity about this language. He did not only "confound their language," but "scattered them from thence," from Babel, "upon the face of all the earth." Here, then, are two very important facts: their _language_ was _confused_, and they _were_ "_scattered_." They were not only "scattered," they were "scattered _abroad upon the face of all_ the earth." That is, they were dispersed very widely, sent into the various and remote parts of the earth; and their nationality received its being from the lat.i.tudes to which the divinely appointed wave of dispersion bore them; and their subsequent racial character was to borrow its tone and color from climateric influences. Three great families, the Shemitic, Hamitic, and j.a.phetic, were suddenly built up.

Many other families, or tribes, sprang from these; but these were the three great heads of all subsequent races of men.

"That the three sons of Noah overspread and peopled the whole earth, is so expressly stated in Scripture, that, had we not to argue against those who unfortunately disbelieve such evidence, we might here stop: let us, however, inquire how far the truth of this declaration is substantiated by other considerations. Enough has been said to show that there is a curious, if not a remarkable, a.n.a.logy between the predictions of Noah on the future descendants of his three sons, and the actual state of those races which are generally supposed to have sprung from them. It may here be again remarked, that, to render the subject more clear, we have adopted the quinary arrangement of Professor Blumenbach: yet that Cuvier and other learned physiologists are of opinion that the primary varieties of the human form are more properly but three; viz., the Caucasian, Mongolian, and Ethiopian. This number corresponds with that of Noah's sons. a.s.signing, therefore, the Mongolian race to j.a.pheth, and the Ethiopian to Ham, the Caucasian, the n.o.blest race, will belong to Shem, the third son of Noah, himself descended from Seth, the third son of Adam. That the primary distinctions of the human varieties are but _three_, has been further maintained by the erudite Prichard; who, while he rejects the nomenclature both of Blumenbach and Cuvier, as implying absolute divisions, arranges the leading varieties of the human skull under three sections, differing from those of Cuvier only by name. That the three sons of Noah who were to 'replenish the earth,' and on whose progeny very opposite destinies were p.r.o.nounced, should give birth to different races, is what might reasonably be conjectured; but that the observation of those who do, and of those who do not, believe the Mosaic history, should tend to confirm truth, by pointing out in what these three races do actually differ, both physically and morally, is, to say the least, a singular coincidence. It amounts, in short, to a presumptive evidence, that a mysterious and very beautiful a.n.a.logy pervades throughout, and teaches us to look beyond natural causes in attempting to account for effects apparently interwoven in the plans of Omnipotence."[6]

In the seventeenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, twenty-sixth verse, we find the following language: "And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation."[7] The Apostle Paul was a missionary. He was, at this time, on a mission to the far-famed city of Athens,--"the eye of Greece, and the fountain of learning and philosophy." He told the "men of Athens," that, as he travelled through their beautiful city, he had not been unmindful of its attractions; that he had not been indifferent to the claims of its citizens to scholarship and culture, and that among other things he noticed an altar erected to _an unknown G.o.d_. He went on to remark, that, great as their city and nation were, G.o.d, whose offspring they were, had created other nations, who lived beyond their verdant hills and swelling rivers. And, moreover, that G.o.d had created "all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth" out "of one blood." He called their attention to the fact that G.o.d had fenced all the nations in by geographical boundaries,--had fixed the limits of their habitation.

We find two leading thoughts in the twenty-sixth verse; viz., that this pa.s.sage establishes clearly and unmistakably the unity of mankind, in that G.o.d created them of one blood; second, he hath determined "the bounds of their habitation,"--hath located them geographically. The language quoted is very explicit. "He hath determined the bounds of their habitation," that is, "all the nations of men.[8] We have, then, the fact, that there are different "nations of men," and that they are all "of one blood," and, therefore, have a common parent. This declaration was made by the Apostle Paul, an inspired writer, a teacher of great erudition, and a scholar in both the Hebrew and the Greek languages.

It should not be forgotten either, that in Paul's masterly discussion of the doctrine of sin,--the fall of man,--he always refers to Adam as the "one man" by whom sin came into the world.[9] His Epistle to the Romans abounds in pa.s.sages which prove very plainly the unity of mankind. The Acts of the Apostles, as well as the Gospels, prove the unity we seek to establish.

But there are a few who would admit the unity of mankind, and still insist that the Negro does not belong to the human family. It is so preposterous, that one has a keen sense of humiliation in the a.s.sured consciousness that he goes rather low to meet the enemies of G.o.d's poor; but it can certainly do no harm to meet them with the everlasting truth.