The Journal of Negro History Volume II Part 19

FROM CHARLES GAYARRe'S UNPUBLISHED Ma.n.u.sCRIPT ON THE PEOPLE OF COLOR IN LOUISIANA

"By 1830, some of these _gens de couleur_ had arrived at such a degree of wealth as to own cotton and sugar plantations with numerous slaves. They educated their children, as they had been educated, in France. Those who chose to remain there, attained, many of them, distinction in scientific and literary circles. In New Orleans they became musicians, merchants, and money and real estate brokers. The humbler cla.s.ses were mechanics; they monopolized the trade of shoemakers, a trade for which, even to this day, they have special vocation; they were barbers, tailors, carpenters, upholsterers. They were notable successful hunters and supplied the city with game. As tailors, they were almost exclusively patronized by the _elite_, so much so that the Legoasters', the Dumas', the Clovis', the Lacroix', acquired individually fortunes of several hundred thousands of dollars.

This cla.s.s was most respectable; they generally married women of their own status, and led lives quiet, dignified and worthy, in homes of ease and comfort. A few who had reached a competency sufficient for it, attempted to settle in France, where there was no prejudice against their origin; but in more than one case the experiment was not satisfactory, and they returned to their former homes in Louisiana. When astonishment was expressed, they would reply, with a smile: 'It is hard for one who has once tasted the Mississippi to keep away from it.'

"In fact, the quadroons of Louisiana have always shown a strong local attachment, although in the state they were subjected to grievances, which seemed to them unjust, if not cruel. It is true, they possessed many of the civil and legal rights enjoyed by the whites, as to the protection of person and property; but they were disqualified from political rights and social equality.

But ... it is always to be remembered that in their contact with white men, they did not a.s.sume that creeping posture of debas.e.m.e.nt--nor did the whites expect it--which has more or less been forced upon them in fiction. In fact, their handsome, good-natured faces seem almost incapable of despair. It is true the whites were superior to them, but they, in their turn, were superior, and infinitely superior, to the blacks, and had as much objection to a.s.sociating with the blacks on terms of equality as any white men could have to a.s.sociating with them. At the Orleans theatre they attended their mothers, wives, and sisters in the second tier, reserved exclusively for them, and where no white person of either s.e.x would have been permitted to intrude. But they were not admitted to the quadroon b.a.l.l.s, and when white gentlemen visited their families it was the accepted etiquette for them never to be present.

"Nevertheless it must not be imagined that the amenities were not observed when the men of the races met, for business or otherwise; many anecdotes are told to ill.u.s.trate this. The wealthy owner of a large sugar plantation lived in a parish where resided also a rich, highly educated sugar planter of mixed blood, a man who had a reputation in his day for his rare and extensive library. Both planters met on a steamboat. When the hour for dinner struck, the white gentleman observed a small table set aside, at which his companion quietly took his place.

Moved by this voluntary exhibition of humble acquiescence in the exigencies of his social position, the white gentleman, escorted by a friend, went over to the small table and addressed the solitary guest: 'We desire you to dine with us.' 'I am very grateful for your kindness, gentlemen,' was the reply, 'and I would cheerfully accept your invitation, but my presence at your table, if acceptable to you, might be displeasing to others.

Therefore, permit me to remain where I am.'

"Another citizen, a Creole, and one of the finest representatives of the old population, occupying the highest social position, was once travelling in the country. His horses appearing tired, and he himself feeling the need of refreshment, he began to look around for some place to stop.

"He was just in front of a very fine, large plantation belonging to a man of color, whom he knew very well, a polished, educated man, who made frequent visits to Paris. He drove unhesitatingly to the house, and, alighting, said: 'I have come to tax your hospitality.' 'Never shall a tax be paid more willingly,' was the prompt reply. 'I hope I am not too late for dinner.' 'For you, sir, it is never too late at my house for anything that you may desire.' A command was given; cook and butler made their preparations, and dinner was announced. The guest noticed but one seat and one plate at the table. He exclaimed: 'What! Am I to dine alone?' 'I regret, sir, that I cannot join you, but I have already dined.' 'My friend,' answered his guest, with a good-natured smile on his lips, 'Permit me on this occasion to doubt your word, and to a.s.sure you that I shall order my carriage immediately and leave, without touching a mouthful of this appetizing menu, unless you share it with me.' The host was too much of a Chesterfield not to dine a second time, if courtesy or a guest required.

"The free quadroon women of middle age were generally in easy circ.u.mstances, and comfortable in their mode of living. They owned slaves, skilful hairdressers, fine washerwomen, accomplished seamstresses, who brought them in a handsome revenue. Expert themselves at all kinds of needle-work, and not deficient in taste, some of them rose to the importance of modistes, and fashioned the dresses of the elegantes among the white ladies. Many of them made a specialty of making the fine linen shirts worn at that day by gentlemen and were paid two dollars and a half apiece for them, at which rate of profit a quadroon woman could always earn a honest, comfortable living.

Besides, they monopolized the renting, at high prices, of furnished rooms to white gentlemen. This monopoly was easily obtained, for it was difficult to equal them in attention to their tenants, and the tenants indeed could have been hard to please had they not been satisfied. These rooms, with their large post bedsteads, immaculate linen, snowy mosquito bars, were models of cleanliness and comfort. In the morning the nicest cup of hot coffee was brought to the bedside; in the evening, at the foot of the bed, there stood the never failing tub of fresh water with sweet-smelling towels. As landladies they were both menials and friends, and always affable and anxious to please. A cross one would have been a phenomenon. If their tenants fell ill, the old quadroons and, under their direction, the young ones, were the best and kindest of nurses. Many of them, particularly those who came from St. Domingo, were expert in the treatment of yellow fever. Their honesty was proverbial."--GRACE KING, _New Orleans, the Place and People_, pp. 346-349.

CASWALL'S ACCOUNT OF BISHOP POLK'S EFFORTS IN LOUISIANA IN 1854

"Bishop Polk, of Louisiana, was one of the guests. He a.s.sured me that he had been all over the country on Red River, the scene of the fict.i.tious sufferings of 'Uncle Tom,' and that he had found the temporal and spiritual welfare of the negroes well cared for.

He had confirmed thirty black persons near the situation a.s.signed to Legree's estate. He is himself the owner of four hundred slaves, whom he endeavours to bring up in a religious manner. He tolerates no religion on his estate but that of the Church. He baptizes all the children, and teaches them the Catechism. All, without exception, attend the Church service, and the chanting is creditably performed by them, in the opinion of their owner.

Ninety of them are communicants, marriages are celebrated according to the Church ritual, and the state of morals is satisfactory. Twenty infants had been baptized by the bishop just before his departure from home, and he had left his whole estate, his keys, &c., in the sole charge of one of his slaves, without the slightest apprehension of loss or damage. In judging of the position of this Christian prelate as a slave-owner, the English reader must bear in mind that, by the laws of Louisiana, emanc.i.p.ation has been rendered all but impracticable, and, that if practicable, it would not necessarily be, in all cases, an act of mercy or of justice."--_The Western World Revisited_, by the Rev. Henry Caswall, M.A., author of _America and the American Church_, etc. Oxford, John Henry Parker, 1854. See _Journeys and Explorations in the Cotton Kingdom_, by Frederick Law Olmsted, Vol. II, pp. 212-213.

OLMSTED'S OBSERVATIONS IN LOUISIANA IN 1860

With regard to the religious instruction of slaves, widely different practices of course prevail. There are some slaveholders, like Bishop Polk of Louisiana, who oblige, and many others who encourage, their slaves to engage in religious exercises, furnishing them certain conveniences for the purpose.

Among the wealthier slave owners, however, and in all those parts of the country where the enslaved portion of the population outnumbers the whites, there is generally a visible, and often an avowed distrust of the effect of religious exercises upon slaves, and even the preaching of white clergymen to them is permitted by many with reluctance. The prevailing impression among us, with regard to the important influence of slavery in promoting the spread of religion among the blacks, is an erroneous one in my opinion. I have heard northern clergymen speak as if they supposed a regular daily instruction of slaves in the truths of Christianity to be general. So far is this from being the case, that although family prayers were held in several of the fifty planters' houses in Mississippi and Alabama, in which I pa.s.sed a night, I never in a single instance saw a field-hand attend or join in the devotion of the family.--See Olmsted's _Cotton Kingdom_, II, 212-213.

FOOTNOTES:

[228] Environ soixante livres.

[229] It is apparent that our author once lived at St. Domingo. I imagine he was a sufferer from the revolt, insurrection and triumph of the Negroes; hence his aversion to them, hence his revilings, hence his outrageous invectives.

[230] The disastrous events proceeding from the late war should be impressed with redoubled force upon the minds of all slave-holders throughout the globe, they should teach them the necessity of keeping them in that state of content and subordination, which will alienate them from the wish of acquiring a freedom, which has cost so much blood to the colonists of St. Domingo. I subjoin for the information of the inhabitants of the United States the directions issued by the Spanish government for the treatment of slaves in Louisiana. They exhibit the internal police of the plantations.

Every slave shall punctually receive the barrel of corn allowed by the usage of the colony, and which quant.i.ty is voluntarily augmented by the greater part of their masters.

The Syndics shall take measures to induce the planters of their district to allow their negroes a portion of their waste lands; by which they will not only add to their comforts, but increase the productions of the province, and that time will be usefully employed which would otherwise be devoted to libertinism.

Every slave shall be allowed half an hour for breakfast, and two hours for dinner; their labor shall commence at break of day, and shall cease at the approach of night. Sundays shall be the holiday of the slaves, but their masters may require their labor at harvest, &c. on paying them four escalins per diem.

The slaves who have not a portion of waste lands shall receive punctually from their masters a linen shirt and trowsers for the summer, and a woollen great coat and trowsers for the winter.

No person shall cause to be given, at once, more than thirty lashes to his slave, under penalty of fifty piasters, but the same may be repeated, if necessary, within an interval of one day.

It is permitted to shoot at an armed run-away negro, who shall refuse to stop when required; or who cannot otherwise be taken, even if he be not armed; at a negro who shall dare to defend himself against his master or overseer; and lastly at those who shall secretly enter a plantation with intent to steal.

Whosoever shall kill a slave, unless in one of the cases before mentioned, shall be punished to the extent of the law, and if he shall only wound him, he shall be punished according to the circ.u.mstances of the case. Intrigues, plots of escape, &c. arising in general from the negroes of one plantation visiting those of another, the inhabitants are forbidden under the penalty of ten piasters, to allow any intercourse or resort of negroes to their plantations for the purpose of dancing, &c. And the amus.e.m.e.nts of their own slaves, which shall be allowed only on Sundays, shall terminate always before night.

A slave shall not pa.s.s the bounds of his master's land, without his permission in writing, under the penalty of 20 lashes.

A slave shall not ride the horse of his master or any other person, without permission, shall be punished with 30 lashes.

Slaves shall not be permitted to be proprietors of horses, under penalty of the confiscation thereof.

Fire-arms are prohibited to slaves, as also powder, ball and lead, under the penalty of thirty lashes and the confiscation thereof.

An inhabitant may not have more than two hunters, who are to deliver up their arms and ammunition on their return from the chase.

Slaves may not sell any thing without the permission of their master, not even the productions of the waste lands allowed them.

Rum, fire-arms and ammunition shall be seized when in possession of coasters, and sold at public auction for the use of the treasury.

New-Orleans, June 1, 1795.

Le Baron de Carondelet.

[231] Among the slave traders, a Hollander from Amsterdam, disgusted me particularly, his name was Jacobs. He had the most vulgar and sinister countenance imaginable, was constantly drunk, and treated the wretched negroes in the most brutal manner; he was, however, severely beaten by these miserable beings, driven to despair. BERNARD, DUKE OF SAXE-WEIMAR EISENACH, _Travels through North America during the years 1825 and 1826_, pp. 57-59.

The virtuous indignation of the Duke, at these horrible consequences of slavery, is such as every man, not hardened by long familiarity with such scenes, must feel; those to whom they are daily presented regard them with calm indifference, or even attempt to argue in favour of their continuance and harmlessness. It is not as generally known, as it should be, that the slave trade is carried on, almost as vigorously now, as ever it was, and by citizens of almost every nation; not in the least excepting Americans. The slave vessels sail princ.i.p.ally from Havanna and St. Thomas, and land their cargoes on the island of Puerto Rico, and elsewhere, whither purchasers and agents resort, when such an arrival occurs. Two schooners, with large cargoes, arrived in Puerto Rico in February last, and two brigs were daily expected. It is said in the West Indies, that all ships of war, of powers owning West India Colonies, _connive_ at the trade, which is fully supported by facts; as French, Danish, and English cruisers were in the vicinity, when the above mentioned cargoes arrived. The idea of cruising off the coast of Africa, to prevent the trade, is ridiculed by the slave dealers, with one of whom the writer of this note conversed. If the American, or any other government _really wished_ to put an end to this trade, it could be very effectually accomplished, by sending small armed vessels to intercept the slave traders near their places of landing cargoes, which are not very numerous. It is also _said_, in the West Indies, that the Havanna traders still contrive to introduce Africans into the southern part of the United States; of the truth or falsehood of this, we know nothing. The slave vessels are generally Baltimore clipper brigs, and schooners, completely armed and very fast sailers. Two of them sailed on this execrable trade in February last, from a port visited by the writer.--Trans.

[232] If it be known that a stranger, who has pretensions to mix with good society, frequents such b.a.l.l.s as these, he may rely upon a cold reception from the white ladies.

[233] A plain, unvarnished history of the _internal slave trade_ carried on in this country, would shock and disgust the reader to a degree that would almost render him ashamed to acknowledge himself a member of the same community. In unmanly and degrading barbarity, wanton cruelty, and horrible indifference to every human emotion, facts could be produced worthy of a.s.sociation with whatever is recorded of the slave trade in any other form. One of these internal slave traders has built, in a neighboring city, a range of _private prisons_, fronting the main road to Washington, in which he collects his _cattle_ previous to sending off a caravan to the south. The voice of lamentation is seldom stilled within these accursed walls. BERNARD, DUKE OF SAXE-WEIMAR EISENACH, _Travels through North America during the years 1825 and 1826_, pp. 61-63.

THE CONDITIONS AGAINST WHICH WOOLMAN AND ANTHONY BENEZET INVEIGHED

Impressions of Jasper Danckaerts in 1679-1680

Servants and negroes are chiefly employed in the culture of tobacco, who are brought from other places to be sold to the highest bidders, the servants for a term of years only, but the negroes for ever, and may be sold by their masters to other planters as many times as their masters choose, that is, the servants until their term is fulfilled, and the negroes for life.

These men, one with another, each make, after they are able to work, from 2,500 pounds to 3,000 pounds and even 3,500 pounds of tobacco a year, and some of the masters and their wives who pa.s.s their lives here in wretchedness, do the same. The servants and negroes after they have worn themselves down the whole day, and come home to rest, have yet to grind and pound the grain, which is generally maize, for their masters and all their families as well as themselves, and all the negroes, to eat. Tobacco is the only production in which the planters employ themselves, as if there were nothing else in the world to plant but that, and while the land is capable of yielding all the productions that can be raised any where, so far as the climate of the place allows. As to articles of food, the only bread they have is that made of Turkish wheat or maize, and that is miserable. They plant this grain for that purpose everywhere. It yields well, not a hundred, but five or six hundred for one; but it takes up much s.p.a.ce, as it is planted far apart like vines in France. This grain, when it is to be used for men or for similar purposes, has to be first soaked, before it is ground or pounded, because the grains being large and very hard, can not be broken under the small stones of their light hand-mills; and then it is left so coa.r.s.e it must be sifted. They take the finest for bread, and the other for different kinds of groats, which, when it is cooked is called sapaen or homina. The meal intended for bread is kneaded moist without leaven or yeast, salt or grease, and generally comes out of the oven so that it will hardly hold together, and so blue and moist that it is as heavy as dough; yet the best of it when cut and roasted, tastes almost like warm white bread, at least it then seemed to us so. This corn is also the only provender for all their animals, be it horses, oxen, cows, hogs, or fowls, which generally run in the woods to get their food, but are fed a little of this, mornings and evenings during the winter when there is little to be had in the woods; though they are not fed too much, for the wretchedness, if not cruelty, of such living, affects both man and beast. This is said not without reason, for a master having a sick servant, and there are many so, and observing from his declining condition, he would finally die, and that there was no probability of his enjoying any more service from him, made him, sick and languishing as he was, dig his own grave, in which he was to be laid a few days afterwards, in order not to busy any of the others with it, they having their hands full in attending to the tobacco.--Jasper Danckaerts' _Original Narratives of Early American History_, 1679-1680, p. 133.

Observations of Campbell in 1745-1746

The Negroes live as easily as in any other Part of America, and at set Times have a pretty deal of Liberty in their Quarters, as they are called. The Argument of the Reasonableness and Legality, according to Nature, of the Slave-Trade, has been so well handled on the Negative Side of the Question, that there remains little for an Author to say on that Head; and that Captives taken in War, are the Property of the Captor, as to Life and Person, as was the Custom amongst the Spartans; who, like the Americans, perpetuated a Race of Slaves, by marrying them to one another, I think, has been fully disprov'd: But allowing some Justice in, or, at least, a great deal of Necessity for, making Slaves of this sable Part of the Species; surely, I think, Christianity, Grat.i.tude, or, at least, good Policy, is concerned in using them well, and in abridging them, instead of giving them Encouragement, of several brutal and scandalous Customs, that are too much practised: Such as giving them a Number of Wives, or, in short, setting them up for Stallions to a whole Neighborhood; when it has been prov'd, I think, unexceptionably, that Polygamy rather destroys than multiplies the Species; of which we have also living Proofs under the Eastern Tyrants, and amongst the Natives of America; so that it can in no Manner answere the End; and were these Masters to calculate, they'd find a regular Procreation would make them greater Gainers. A sad Consequence of this Practice is, that their Children's Morals are debauch'd by the Frequency of such Sights, as only fit them to become the Masters of Slaves. This is one bad Custom amongst many others; but as to their general Usage of them, 'tis monstrous, and shocking. To be sure, a new Negro, if he must be broke, either from Obstinacy, or, which I am more apt to suppose, from Greatness of Soul, will require more hard Discipline than a young Spaniel: You would really be surpriz'd at their Perseverance; let an hundred men shew him how to hoe, or drive a Wheelbarrow, he'll still take the one by the Bottom, and the other by the Wheel; and they often die before they can be conquer'd. They are, no Doubt, very great Thieves, but this may flow from their unhappy, indigent Circ.u.mstances, and not from a natural Bent; and when they have robb'd, you may lash them Hours before they will confess the Fact; however, were they not to look upon every White Man as their Tormentor; were a slight Fault to be pardon'd now and then; were their Masters, and those adamantine-hearted Overseers, to exercise a little more Persuasion, Complacency, Tenderness and Humanity towards them, it might perhaps, improve their Tempers to a greater Degree of Tractability. Such Masters and such Overseers, Maryland may with Justice Boast; and Mr. Bull, the late Lieutenant-Governor of Carolina, is an Instance, amongst many, of the same, in that Province: But, on the contrary, I remember an Instance of a late Sea Officer, then resident in a neighbouring Colony, that for a mere Peccadillo, order'd his Slave to be ty'd up, and for a whole Hour diverted himself with the Wretched Groans; struck at the Mournful Sound, with a Friend, I hasted to the Noise, where the Brute was beginning a new Scene of Barbarity, and belabour'd the Creature so long with a large Cane, his Overseer being tir'd with the Cowskin, that he remained without Sense and Motion. Happily he recovered, but, alas! deceas'd soon after, and perhaps, may meet him, where the Wicked cease from troubling, and the Weary be at rest: Where as our immortal Pope sings.

No friends torment, no christians thirst for gold. Another, upon the same Spot, when a Girl had been lash'd till she confess'd a Robbery, in mere Wantonness continu'd the Persecution, repeating every now and then these christian-like, and sensible Expressions in the Ragings of his Fury, G--dd--mn you, when you go to h.e.l.l, I wish G--d would d--mn me, that I might follow you with the Cowskin there.