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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/32239-8.txt b/32239-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3123241 --- /dev/null +++ b/32239-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2565 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Dissertation on Slavery, by St. George Tucker + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Dissertation on Slavery + With a Proposal for the Gradual Abolition of it, in the + State of Virginia + +Author: St. George Tucker + +Release Date: May 3, 2010 [EBook #32239] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DISSERTATION ON SLAVERY *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis Weyant and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + +Transcriber's note: Original spelling has been maintained and not +standardized. The numerous short bibliographical reference notes that +were originally printed as sidenotes have been set in brackets here and +included directly into the text; the longer text footnotes have been +renumbered for consistency. To indicate text in italic font, +_underscores_ have been used. Words without italics inside longer italic +sentences are indicated by =equal signs=. + + + + +A DISSERTATION ON _SLAVERY_: WITH A PROPOSAL FOR THE GRADUAL ABOLITION +OF IT, IN THE _STATE OF VIRGINIA_. + +BY ST. GEORGE TUCKER, _PROFESSOR OF LAW IN THE UNIVERSITY OF WILLIAM AND +MARY, AND ONE OF THE JUDGES OF THE GENERAL COURT, IN VIRGINIA_. + +_Slavery not only violates the Laws of Nature, and of civil Society, it +also wounds the best Forms of Government: in a Democracy, where all Men +are equal, Slavery is contrary to the Spirit of the Constitution. +MONTESQUIEU._ + +PHILADELPHIA: PRINTED FOR MATHEW CAREY, No. 118, MARKET-STREET. 1796. + + + + +TO THE + +_General Assembly of Virginia_, + +To whom it belongs to decide upon the expediency and practicability of a +plan for the _gradual abolition_ of _Slavery_ in this commonwealth, + +The following pages are most respectfully submitted and inscribed, + +BY THE AUTHOR. + +_Williamsburg, in Virginia, May 20, 1796._ + + + + +TO THE READER. + + +_The following pages form a part of a course of Lectures on Law and +Police, delivered in the University of William and Mary, in this +commonwealth. The Author considering the Abolition of Slavery in this +State, as an object of the first importance, not only to our moral +character and domestic peace, but even to our political salvation; and +being persuaded that the accomplishment of so momentous and desirable an +undertaking will in great measure depend upon the early adoption of some +plan for that purpose, with diffidence submits to the consideration of +his countrymen his ideas on a subject of such consequence. He flatters +himself that the plan he ventures to suggest, is liable to fewer +objections than most others that have been submitted to the +consideration of the public, as it will be attended with a gradual +change of condition in the blacks, and cannot possibly affect the +interest either of =creditors=, or any other description of persons of +the =present generation=: and posterity he makes no doubt will feel +themselves relieved from a perilous and grievous burden by the timely +adoption of a plan, whose operation may be felt by them, before they are +borne down by a weight which threatens destruction to our happiness both +public and private._ + + + + +====>The following ADDITIONAL NOTES have been received from the Author +since the body of this work was printed off. + +_In page 20, after the word =arms=, in line 5, read this note:_ + +This was the case under the laws of the state; but the Act of 2. Cong. +c. 33. for establishing an uniform militia throughout the United States, +seems to have excluded all but free white men from bearing arms in the +militia. + +_To the word =slave=, page 47, line 14, add the following note:_ + +It may not be improper here to note, that the first congress of the +United States, at their third session, Dec. 1793, passed an act to +prohibit the carrying on the slave trade from the United States to any +foreign place or country; the provisions of which seem well calculated +to restrain the citizens of united America from embarking in so infamous +a traffick. + + + + +ON THE STATE OF SLAVERY IN VIRGINIA. + + +In the preceding Enquiry[1] into the absolute rights of the citizens of +united America, we must not be understood as if those rights were +equally and universally the privilege of all the inhabitants of the +United States, or even of all those, who may challenge this land of +freedom as their native country. Among the blessings which the Almighty +hath showered down on these states, there is a large portion of the +bitterest draught that ever flowed from the cup of affliction. Whilst +America hath been the land of promise to Europeans, and their +descendants, it hath been the vale of death to millions of the wretched +sons of Africa. The genial light of liberty, which hath here shone with +unrivalled lustre on the former, hath yielded no comfort to the latter, +but to them hath proved a pillar of darkness, whilst it hath conducted +the former to the most enviable state of human existence. Whilst we were +offering up vows at the shrine of Liberty, and sacrificing hecatombs +upon her altars; whilst we swore irreconcilable hostility to her +enemies, and hurled defiance in their faces; whilst we adjured the God +of Hosts to witness our resolution to live free, or die, and imprecated +curses on their heads who refused to unite with us in establishing the +empire of freedom; we were imposing upon our fellow men, who differ in +complexion from us, a _slavery_, ten thousand times more cruel than the +utmost extremity of those grievances and oppressions, of which we +complained. Such are the inconsistencies of human nature; such the +blindness of those who pluck not the beam out of their own eyes, whilst +they can espy a moat, in the eyes of their brother; such that partial +system of morality which confines rights and injuries, to particular +complexions; such the effect of that self-love which justifies, or +condemns, not according to principle, but to the agent. Had we turned +our eyes inwardly when we supplicated the Father of Mercies to aid the +injured and oppressed; when we invoked the Author of Righteousness to +attest the purity of our motives, and the justice of our cause;[2] and +implored the God of Battles to aid our exertions in its defence, should +we not have stood more self convicted than the contrite publican! Should +we not have left our gift upon the altar, that we might be first +reconciled to our brethren whom we held in bondage? Should we not have +loosed their chains, and broken their fetters? Or if the difficulties +and dangers of such an experiment prohibited the attempt during the +convulsions of a revolution, is it not our duty to embrace the first +moment of constitutional health and vigour, to effectuate so desirable +an object, and to remove from us a stigma, with which our enemies will +never fail to upbraid us, nor our consciences to reproach us? To form a +just estimate of this obligation, to demonstrate the incompatibility of +a state of slavery with the principles of our government, and of that +revolution upon which it is founded, and to elucidate the practicability +of its total, though gradual, abolition, it will be proper to consider +the nature of slavery, its properties, attendants, and consequences in +general; its rise, progress, and present state not only in this +commonwealth, but in such of our sister states as have either perfected, +or commenced the great work of its extirpation; with the means they have +adopted to effect it, and those which the circumstances and situation of +our country may render it most expedient for us to pursue, for the +attainment of the same noble and important end.[3] + +[Footnote 1: The subject of a preceding Lecture, with which the present +was immediately connected, was, An Enquiry into the Rights of Persons, +as Citizens of the United States of America.] + +[Footnote 2: The American standard, at the commencement of those +hostilities which terminated in the revolution, had these words upon +it----AN APPEAL TO HEAVEN!] + +[Footnote 3: The Author here takes the liberty of making his +acknowledgments to the reverend Jeremiah Belknap, D. D. of Boston, and +to Zephaniah Swift, Esq. representative in congress from Connecticut, +for their obliging communications; he hath occasionally made use of them +in several parts of this Lecture, where he may have omitted referring to +them.] + +According to Justinian [Lib. 1. Tit. 2.], the first general division of +persons, in respect to their rights, is into freemen and slaves. It is +equally the glory and the happiness of that country from which the +citizens of the United States derive their origin, that the traces of +slavery, such as at present exists in several of the United States, are +there utterly extinguished. It is not my design to enter into a minute +enquiry whether it ever had existence there, nor to compare the +situation of villeins, during the existence of pure villenage, with that +of modern domestic slaves. The records of those times, at least, such as +have reached this quarter of the globe, are too few to throw a +satisfactory light on the subject. Suffice it that our ancestors +migrating hither brought not with them any prototype of that slavery +which hath been established among us. The first introduction of it into +Virginia was by the arrival of a Dutch ship from the coast of Africa +having _twenty_ Negroes on board, who were sold here in the year 1620 +[Stith 182.]. In the year 1638 we find them in Massachusetts.[4] They +were introduced into Connecticut soon after the settlement of that +colony; that is to say, about the same period.[5] Thus early had our +forefathers sown the seeds of an evil, which, like a leprosy, hath +descended upon their posterity with accumulated rancour, visiting the +sins of the fathers upon succeeding generations.--The climate of the +northern states less favourable to the constitution of the natives of +Africa [Dr. Belknap. Zephan. Swift.], than the southern, proved alike +unfavourable to their propagation, and to the increase of their numbers +by importations. As the southern colonies advanced in population, not +only importations increased there, but Nature herself, under a climate +more congenial to the African constitution, assisted in multiplying the +blacks in those parts, no less than in diminishing their numbers in the +more rigorous climates of the north; this influence of climate moreover +contributed extremely to increase or diminish the value of the slave to +the purchasers, in the different colonies. White labourers, whose +constitutions were better adapted to the severe winters of the New +England colonies, were there found to be preferable to the Negroes [Dr. +Belknap. Zephan. Swift.], who, accustomed to the influence of an ardent +sun, became almost torpid in those countries, not less adapted to give +vigour to their laborious exercises, than unfavourable to the +multiplication of their species; in those colonies, where the winters +were not only milder, and of shorter duration, but succeeded by an +intense summer heat, as invigorating to the African, as debilitating to +the European constitution, the Negroes were not barely more capable of +performing labour than the Europeans, or their descendants, but the +multiplication of the species was at least equal; and, where they met +with humane treatment, perhaps greater than among the whites. The +purchaser therefore calculated not upon the value of the labour of his +slave only, but, if a female, he regarded her as "the fruitful mother of +an hundred more:" and many of these unfortunate people have there been +in this state, whose descendants even in the compass of two or three +generations have gone near to realize the calculation.--The great +increase of slavery in the southern, in proportion to the northern +states in the union, is therefore not attributable, _solely_, to the +effect of sentiment, but to natural causes; as well as those +considerations of profit, which have, perhaps, an equal influence over +the conduct of mankind in general, in whatever country, or under +whatever climate their destiny hath placed them. What else but +considerations of this nature could have influenced the merchants of the +freest nation, at that time in the world, to embark in so nefarious a +traffic, as that of the human race, attended, as the African slave trade +has been, with the most atrocious aggravations of cruelty, perfidy, and +intrigues, the objects of which have been the perpetual fomentation of +predatory and intestine wars? What, but similar considerations, could +prevail on the government of the same country, even in these days, to +patronize a commerce so diametrically opposite to the generally received +maxims of that government. It is to the operation of these +considerations in the parent country, not less than to their influence +in the colonies, that the rise, increase, and continuance of slavery in +those British colonies which now constitute united America, are to be +attributed, as I shall endeavour to shew in the course of the present +enquiry. It is now time to enquire into the nature of slavery, in +general, and take a view of its consequences, and attendants in this +commonwealth, in particular. + +[Footnote 4: Dr. Belknap's answers to St. G. T.'s queries.] + +[Footnote 5: Letter from Zephaniah Swift to St. G. T.] + +Slavery, says a well informed writer [Hargrave's case of Negroe +Somerset.] on the subject, has been attended with circumstances so +various in different countries, as to render it difficult to give a +general definition of it. Justinian calls it a constitution of the law +of nations, by which one man is made subject to another, contrary to +nature [Lib. 1. Tit. 3. Sect. 2.]. Grotius describes it to be an +obligation to serve another for life, in consideration of diet, and +other common necessaries [Lib. 2. c. 5. Sect. 27]. Dr. Rutherforth, +rejecting this definition, informs us, that perfect slavery is an +obligation to be directed by another in all one's actions [Lib. 1. c. +20. pa. 474.]. Baron Montesquieu defines it to be the establishment of a +right, which gives one man such a power over another, as renders him +absolute master over his life and fortune [Lib. 15. c. 1.]. These +definitions appear not to embrace the subject fully, since they respect +the condition of the slave, in regard to his _master_, only, and not in +regard to the _state_, as well as the _master_. The author last +mentioned observes, that the constitution of a state may be free, and +the subject not so. The subject free, and not the constitution of the +state [Lib. 12. c. 1.]. Pursuing this idea, instead of attempting a +general definition of slavery; I shall, by considering it under a +threefold aspect, endeavour to give a just idea of its nature. + +I. When a nation is, from any external cause, deprived of the right of +being governed by its own laws, only, such a nation may be considered as +in a state of _political slavery_. Such is the state of conquered +countries, and generally, of colonies, and other dependant governments. +Such was the state of united America before the revolution. In this case +the personal rights of the subject may be so far secured by wholesome +laws, as that the individual may be esteemed free, whilst the state is +subject to a higher power: this subjection of one nation, or people, to +the will of another, constitutes the first species of slavery, which, in +order to distinguish it from the other two, I have called political; +inasmuch as it exists only in respect to the governments, and not to the +individuals of the two countries. Of this it is not our business to +speak, at present. + +II. Civil liberty being, no other than natural liberty so far restrained +by human laws, and no farther, as is necessary and expedient for the +general advantage of the public [Blackstone's Com. c. 125], whenever +that liberty is, by the laws of the state, further restrained than is +necessary and expedient for the general advantage, a state of _civil +slavery_ commences immediately: this may affect the whole society, and +every description of persons in it, and yet the constitution of the +state be perfectly free. And this happens whenever the laws of a state +respect the form, or energy of the government, more than the happiness +of the citizen; as in Venice, where the most oppressive species of civil +slavery exists, extending to every individual in the state, from the +poorest gondolier to the members of the senate, and the doge himself. + +This species of slavery also exists whenever there is an inequality of +rights, or privileges, between the subjects or citizens of the same +state, except such as necessarily result from the exercise of a public +office; for the pre-eminence of one class of men must be founded and +erected upon the depression of another; and the measure of exaltation in +the former, is that of the slavery of the latter. In all governments, +however constituted, or by what description soever denominated, wherever +the distinction of rank prevails, or is admitted by the constitution, +this species of slavery exists. It existed in every nation, and in every +government in Europe before the French revolution. It existed in the +American colonies before they became independent states; and +notwithstanding the maxims of equality which have been adopted in their +several constitutions, it exists in most, if not all, of them, at this +day, in the persons of our free Negroes and mulattoes; whose civil +incapacities are almost as numerous as the civil rights of our free +citizens. A brief enumeration of them, may not be improper before we +proceed to the third head. + +Free Negroes and mulattoes are by our constitution excluded from the +right of suffrage,[6] and by consequence, I apprehend, from office too: +they were formerly incapable of serving in the militia, except as +drummers or pioneers, but now I presume they are enrolled in the lists +of those that bear arms, though formerly punishable for presuming to +appear at a muster-field [1723. c. 2.]. During the revolution war many +of them were enlisted as soldiers in the regular army. Even slaves were +not rejected from military service at that period, and such as served +faithfully during the period of their enlistment, were emancipated by an +act passed after the conclusion of the war [Oct. 1783. c. 3.]. An act of +justice to which they were entitled upon every principle. All but +housekeepers, and persons residing upon the frontiers are prohibited +from keeping, or carrying any gun, powder, shot, club, or other weapon +offensive or defensive [1748. c. 31. Edit. 1794.]: Resistance to a white +person, in any case, was, formerly, and now, in any case, except a +wanton assault on the Negroe or mulattoe, is punishable by whipping [Ib. +c. 103.]. No Negroe or mulattoe can be a witness in any prosecution, or +civil suit in which a white person is a party [1794. c. 141.]. Free +Negroes together with slaves were formerly denied the benefit of clergy +in cases where it was allowed to white persons; but they are now upon an +equal footing as to the allowance of clergy, though not as to the +consequence of that allowance, inasmuch as the court may superadd other +corporal punishments to the burning in the hand usually inflicted upon +white persons, in the like cases [1794. c. 103.]. Emancipated Negroes +may be sold to pay the debts of their former master contracted before +their emancipation; and they may be hired out to satisfy their taxes +where no sufficient distress can be had. Their children are to be bound +out apprentices by the overseers of the poor. Free Negroes have all the +advantages in capital cases, which white men are entitled to, except a +trial by a jury of their own complexion: and a slave suing for his +freedom shall have the same privilege. Free Negroes residing, or +employed to labour in any town must be registered; the same thing is +required of such as go at large in any county. The penalty in both cases +is a fine upon the person employing, or harbouring them, and +imprisonment of the Negroe [1794. c. 163.]. The migration of free +Negroes or mulattoes to this state is also prohibited; and those who do +migrate hither may be sent back to the place from whence they came +[1794. c. 164.]. Any person, not being a Negroe, having one-fourth or +more Negroe blood in him is deemed a mulattoe. The law makes no other +distinction between Negroes and mulattoes, whether slaves or freemen. +These incapacities and disabilities are evidently the fruit of the third +species of slavery, of which it remains to speak; or, rather, they are +scions from the same common stock: which is, + +III. That condition in which one man is subject to be directed by +another in all his actions; and this constitutes a state of _domestic +slavery_; to which state all the incapacities and disabilities of civil +slavery are incident, with the weight of other numerous calamities +superadded thereto. And here it may be proper to make a short enquiry +into the origin and foundation of domestic slavery in other countries, +previous to its fatal introduction into this. + +[Footnote 6: The Constitution of Virginia, art. 7. declares, that the +right of suffrage shall remain as then exercised: the act of 1723, c. 4 +(edit. 1733,), sect. 23, declared, that no Negroe, mulattoe, or Indian, +shall have any vote at the election of burgesses, or any other election +whatsoever.--This act, it is presumed, was in force at the adoption of +the constitution.--The act of 1785, c. 55 (edit. of 1794, c. 17,), also +expressly excludes them from the right of suffrage.] + +Slaves, says Justinian, are either born such or become so [Inst. lib. 1. +tit. 1.]. They are born slaves when they are children of bond women; and +they become slaves, either by the law of nations, that is, by captivity; +for it is the practice of our generals to sell their captives, being +accustomed to preserve, and not to destroy them: or by the civil law, +which happens when a free person, above the age of twenty, suffers +himself to be sold for the sake of sharing the price given for him. The +author of the Commentaries on the Laws of England thus combats the +reasonableness of all these grounds [1. b. c. 423.]: "The conqueror," +says he, "according to the civilians, had a right to the life of his +captives; and having spared that, has a right to deal with him as he +pleases. But it is an untrue position, when taken generally, that by the +law of nature or nations, a man may kill his enemy: he has a right to +kill him only in particular cases; in cases of absolute necessity for +self-defence; and it is plain that this absolute necessity did not +subsist, since the victor did not actually kill him, but made him +prisoner. War itself is justifiable only on principles of +self-preservation; and therefore it gives no other right over prisoners +but merely to disable them from doing harm to us, by confining their +persons: much less can it give a right to kill, torture, abuse, plunder, +or even to enslave, an enemy, when the war is over. Since therefore the +right of _making_ slaves by captivity, depends on a supposed right of +slaughter, that foundation failing, the consequence drawn from it must +fail likewise. But, secondly, it is said slavery may begin _jure +civili_; when one man sells himself to another. This, if only meant of +contracts to serve, or work for, another, is very just: but when applied +to strict slavery, in the sense of the laws of old Rome or modern +Barbary, is also impossible. Every sale implies a price, a _quid pro +quo_, an equivalent given to the seller, in lieu of what he transfers to +the buyer; but what equivalent can be given for life and liberty, both +of which, in absolute slavery, are held to be in the master's disposal? +His property, also, the very price he seems to receive, devolves, _ipso +facto_, to his master, the instant he becomes a slave. In this case, +therefore, the buyer gives nothing, and the seller receives nothing: of +what validity then can a sale be, which destroys the very principles +upon which all sales are founded? Lastly we are told, that besides these +two ways by which slaves are acquired, they may also be hereditary; +"_servi nascuntur_"; the children of acquired slaves are, "jure +naturę", by a negative kind of birthright, slaves also.--But _this, +being built on the two former rights, =must= fall_ together with them. +If neither captivity, nor the sale of one's self, can by the law of +nature and reason reduce the parent to slavery, _much less_ can they +reduce the offspring." Thus by the most clear, manly, and convincing +reasoning does this excellent author refute every claim upon which the +practice of slavery is founded, or by which it has been supposed to be +justified, at least, in modern times.[7] But were we even to admit, that +a captive taken in a _just war_, might by his conqueror be reduced to a +state of slavery, this could not justify the claim of Europeans to +reduce the natives of Africa to that state: it is a melancholy, though +well-known fact, that in order to furnish supplies of these unhappy +people for the purposes of the slave trade, the Europeans have +constantly, by the most insidious (I had almost said infernal) arts, +fomented a kind of perpetual warfare among the ignorant and miserable +people of Africa; and instances have not been wanting, where, by the +most shameful breach of faith, they have trepanned end made slaves of +the _sellers_ as well as the _sold_.[8] That such horrid practices have +been sanctioned by a civilized nation; that a nation ardent in the cause +of liberty, and enjoying its blessings in the fullest extent, can +continue to vindicate a right established upon such a foundation; that a +people who have declared, "That _all men =are by nature= equally[Bill of +Rights, art. 1.]-free =and= independent_", and have made this +declaration the first article in the foundation of their government, +should in defiance of so sacred a truth, recognized by themselves in so +solemn a manner, and on so important an occasion, tolerate a practice +incompatible therewith, is such an evidence of the weakness and +inconsistency of human nature, as every man who hath a spark of +patriotic fire in his bosom must wish to see removed from his own +country. If ever there was a cause, if ever an occasion, in which all +hearts should be united, every nerve strained, and every power exerted, +surely the restoration of human nature to its inalienable right is such: +Whatever obstacles, therefore, may hitherto have retarded the attempt, +he that can appreciate the honour and happiness of his country, will +think it time that we should attempt to surmount them. + +[Footnote 7: These arguments are, in fact, borrowed from the Spirit of +Laws.] + +[Footnote 8: "About the same time (the reign of queen Elizabeth) a +traffic in the human species, called Negroes, was introduced into +England, which is one of the most odious and unnatural branches of trade +the sordid and avaricious mind of mortals ever invented.--It had been +carried on before this period by Genoese traders, who bought a patent +from Charles the fifth, containing an exclusive right of carrying +Negroes from the Portuguese settlements in Africa, to America and the +West Indies; but the English nation had not yet engaged in the +iniquitous traffic.--One William Hawkins, an expert English seaman, +having made several voyages to the coast of Guinea, and from thence to +Brazil and the West Indies, had acquired considerable knowledge of the +countries. At his death he left his journals with his son, John Hawkins, +in which he described the lands of America and the West Indies as +exceedingly rich and fertile, but utterly neglected for want of hands to +improve them. He represented the natives of Europe as unequal to the +task in such a scorching climate; but those of Africa as well adapted to +undergo the labours requisite. Upon which John Hawkins immediately +formed a design of transporting Africans into the western world; and +having drawn a plan for the execution of it, he laid it before some of +his opulent neighbours for encouragement and approbation. To them it +appeared promising and advantageous. A subscription was opened and +speedily filled up, by Sir Lionel Ducket, Sir Thomas Lodge, Sir William +Winter, and others, who plainly perceived the vast profits that would +result from such a trade. Accordingly three ships were fitted out, and +manned by an hundred select sailors, whom Hawkins encouraged to go with +him by promises of good treatment and great pay. In the year 1562 he set +sail for Africa, and in a few weeks arrived at the country called Sierra +Leona, where he began his commerce with the Negroes. While he trafficked +with them, he found the means of giving them a charming description of +the country to which he was bound; the unsuspicious Africans listened to +him with apparent joy and satisfaction, and seemed remarkably fond of +his European trinkets, food, and clothes. He pointed out to them the +barrenness of the country, and their naked and wretched condition, and +promised if any of them were weary of their miserable circumstances, and +would go along with him, he would carry them to a plentiful land, where +they should _live happy_, and _receive_ an abundant _recompence_ for +their labours. He told them the country was inhabited by such men as +himself and his jovial companions, and _assured_ them of _kind usage_ +and _great friendship_. In short, the Negroes were overcome by his +flattering promises, and _three hundred_ stout fellows accepted his +offer, and consented to embark along with him. Every thing being settled +on the most amicable terms between them, Hawkins made preparations for +his voyage. But in the night before his departure his Negroes were +attacked by a large body from a different quarter; Hawkins, being +alarmed with the shrieks and cries of dying persons, ordered his men to +the assistance of his slaves, and having surrounded the assailants, +carried a number of them on board as prisoners of war. The next day he +set sail for Hispaniola with his cargo of human creatures; but during +the passage, he treated the prisoners of war in a different manner from +his volunteers. Upon his arrival he disposed of his cargo to great +advantage; and endeavoured to inculcate on the Spaniards who bought the +negroes the same distinction to be observed: but they having _purchased +all at the same rate_, considered them as slaves of the same condition, +and consequently treated all alike." + +Hawkins having returned to England, soon after made preparations for a +second voyage. "In his passage he fell in with the Minion man of war, +which accompanied him to the Coast of Africa. After his arrival he began +as formerly to traffic with the Negroes, endeavouring by persuasions and +_prospects_ of _reward_, to induce them to go along with him--but now +they were more reserved and jealous of his designs, and as none of their +neighbours had returned, they were apprehensive he had killed and eat +them. The crew of the man of war observing the Africans backward and +suspicious, began to laugh at his gentle and dilatory methods of +proceeding, and proposed having immediate recourse to force and +compulsion--but Hawkins considered it as cruel and unjust, and tried by +persuasions, promises and threats, to prevail on them to desist from a +purpose so unwarrantable and barbarous. In vain did he urge his +authority and instructions from the Queen: the bold and headstrong +sailors would hear of no restraints. Drunkenness and avarice are deaf to +the voice of humanity. They pursue their violent design, and, after +several unsuccessful attacks, in which _many_ of them lost their +_lives_, the cargo was at length compleated by barbarity and force. + +"Hence arose that horrid and inhuman practice of dragging Africans into +slavery, which has since been _so_ pursued, in defiance of every +principle of justice and religion. Had Negroes been brought from the +flames, to which in some countries they were devoted on their falling +prisoners of war, and in others, sacrificed at the funeral obsequies of +the great and powerful among themselves; in short had they by this +traffic been delivered from _torture_ or _death_, European merchants +_might have some excuse_ to plead in its vindication. _But according to +the common mode in which it has been conducted_, we must confess it a +difficult matter to conceive a _single_ argument in its defence. And +though policy has given countenance and sanction to the trade, yet every +candid and impartial man must confess, that it is atrocious and +unjustifiable in every light in which it can be viewed, and turns +merchants into a band of robbers, and trade into atrocious acts of fraud +and violence." Historical Account of South-Carolina and Georgia. +Anonymous. London printed in 1779--page 20, &c. + +"The number of Negroe slaves bartered for in one year (viz. 1768), on +the Coast of Africa from Cape Blanco, to Rio Congo, amounted to 104,000 +souls, whereof more than half (viz. 53,000) were shipped on account of +British merchants, and 6,300 on the account of British Americans." The +Law of Retribution by Granville Sharpe, Esq. page 147. note.] + +But how loudly soever reason, justice, and (may I not add) religion,[9] +condemn the practice of slavery, it is acknowledged to have been very +ancient, and almost universal. The Greeks, the Romans, and the ancient +Germans also practiced it, as well as the more ancient Jews and +Egyptians. By the Germans it was transmitted to the various kingdoms +which arose in Europe out of the ruins of the Roman empire. In England +it subsisted for some ages under the name of _villeinage_.[10] In Asia +it seems to have been general, and in Africa universal, and so remains +to this day: In Europe it hath long since declined; its first declension +there, is said to have been in Spain, as early as the eighth century; +and it is alleged to have been general about the middle of the +fourteenth, and was near expiring in the sixteenth, when the discovery +of the American continent, and the eastern and western coasts of Africa +gave rise to the introduction of a new species of slavery. It took its +origin from the Portuguese, who, in order to supply the Spaniards with +persons able to sustain the fatigue of cultivating their new possessions +in America, particularly the islands, opened a trade between Africa and +America for the sale of Negroes, about the year 1508. The expedient of +having slaves for labour was not long peculiar to the Spaniards, being +afterwards adopted by other European colonies [Hargrave, ib.]: and +though some attempts have been made to stop its progress in most of the +United States, and several of them have the fairest prospects of success +in attempting the extirpation of it, yet is others, it hath taken such +deep root, as to require the most strenuous exertions to eradicate it. + +[Footnote 9: See the various tracts on this subject, by Granville +Sharpe, Esq. of London.] + +[Footnote 10: The condition of a _villein_ had most of the incidents I +have before described in giving the idea of _slavery_, in general. His +services were uncertain and indeterminate, such as his lord thought fit +to require; or as some of our ancient writers express it, he knew not in +the evening what he was to do in the morning, he was bound to do +whatever he was commanded. He was liable to beating, imprisonment, and +every other chastisement his lord could devise, except killing and +maiming. He was incapable of acquiring property for his own benefit; he +was himself the subject of property; as such saleable and transmissible. +If he was a villein regardant he passed with the land to which he was +annexed, but might be severed at the will of his lord; if he was a +villein in gross, he was an hereditament, or a chattel real, according +to his lord's interest; being descendible to the heir, where the lord +was absolute _owner_, and transmissible to the executor where the lord +had only a term of years in him. Lastly, the slavery extended to the +issue, if the father was a villein, our law deriving the condition of +the child from that of the father, contrary to the Roman law, in which +the rule was, _partus sequitur ventum_. Hargrave's Case of Negroe +Somerset, page 26 and 27. + +The same writer refers the origin of vassalage in England, principally +to the wars between the British, Saxon, Danish, and Norman nations, +contending for the sovereignty of that country, in opposition to the +opinion of judge Fitzherbert, who supposes villeinage to have commenced +at the conquest. Ib. 27, 28. And this he proves from Spelman and other +antiquaries. Ib. The writ _de nativo habendo_, by which the lord was +enabled to recover his villein that had absconded from him, creates a +presumption that all the natives of England were at some period reduced +to a state of villeinage, the word _nativus_, which signified a villein, +most clearly designating the person meant thereby to be a _native_: this +etymon is obvious, as well from the import of the word _nativus_, as +from the history of the more remote ages of Britain. Sir Edward Coke's +Etymology, "_quia plerumque nascuntur servi_," is one of those puerile +conceits, which so frequently occur in his works, and are unworthy of so +great a man. + +Barrington in his observations upon _magna carta_ c. 4. observes, that +the villeins who held by servile tenures were considered as so many +negroes on a sugar plantation; the words "_liber homo_," in magna carta, +c. 14. with all deference to sir Edward Coke, who says they mean a +_free-holder_, I understand as meaning _a free man_,[Liber homo, &c. the +title of _freeman_ was formerly _confined_ to the _nobility_ and +_gentry_ who were _descended_ of free ancestors.--Burgh's Political +Disquisitions, vol. iii. p. 400, who cites Spelman's Glossary, voc. +Liber homo.] as contradistinguished from a _villein_: for in the very +next sentence the words "et _villanus_ alterius quam noster," occur. +Villeins must certainly have been numerous at that day, to have obtained +a place in the Great Charter. It is no less an evidence that their +condition was in a state of melioration. + +In Poland, at this day, the peasants seem to be in an absolute state of +slavery, or at least of villeinage, to the nobility, who are the +land-holders.] + +The first introduction of Negroes into Virginia happened, as we have +already mentioned, in the year 1620; from that period to the year 1662 +there is no compilation of our laws, in print, now to be met with. In +the revision made in that year, we find an act declaring that no +Englishman, trader, or other, who shall bring in any Indians as servants +and assign them over to any other, shall sell them for _slaves_, nor for +any other time than English of like age should serve by act of assembly +[1662. c. 136.]. The succeeding session all children born in this +country were declared to be bond, or free, according to the condition of +the mother [1662. Sess. d. c. 12.]. In 1667 it was declared, "That the +conferring of baptism doth not alter the condition of the person +baptized, as to his bondage or freedom [1667. c. 2.]." This was done, +"that divers masters freed from this doubt may more carefully endeavour +the propagating of Christianity, by permitting their slaves to be +baptized." It would have been happy for this unfortunate race of men if +the same tender regard for their bodies, had always manifested itself in +our laws, as is shewn for their souls in this act. But this was not the +case; for two years after, we meet with an act, declaring, "That if any +slave resist his master, or others, by his master's orders correcting +him, and by the extremity of the correction should chance to die, such +death should not be accounted felony: but the master or other person +appointed by his master to punish him, be acquit from molestation: +_since it could not be presumed that prepensive malice_, which alone +makes _murder felony_, should induce any man to destroy his own +estate."[11] This cruel and tyrannical act was, at three different +periods [1705. c. 49. 1723. c. 4. 1748. c. 31.] re-enacted, with very +little alteration; and was not finally repealed till the year 1788 +[1788. c. 23.]--above a century after it had first disgraced our code. +In 1668 we meet with the first traces of emancipation, in an act which +subjects Negroe women set free to the tax on titheables [1668. c. 7.]. +Two years after [1670. c. 5.], an act passed prohibiting _Indians_ or +Negroes, manumitted, or otherwise set free, though baptized, from +purchasing Christian servants [1670. c. 12.]. From this act it is +evident that _Indians_ had _before_ that time been made slaves, as well +as Negroes, though we have no traces of the original act by which they +were reduced to that condition. An act of the same session recites that +disputes had arisen whether Indians taken in war by any other nation, +and by that nation sold to the English, are servants for _life_, or for +a term of years; and declaring that all _servants_, not being +Christians, imported into this country by _shipping_, shall be _slaves_ +for their life-time; but that what shall come by land, shall serve, if +boys and girls, until thirty years of age; if men and women twelve +years, and no longer. On a rupture with the Indians in the year 1679 it +was, for the _better encouragement of soldiers_, declared that what +_Indian_ prisoners should be _taken in war_ should be free purchase to +the soldier _taking_ them [1679. c. 1.]. Three years after it was +declared that all _servants_ brought into this country by sea or land, +not being Christians, whether Negroes, Moors, mulattoes or Indians, +except Turks and Moors in amity with Great Britain, and all Indians +which should thereafter be sold by neighbouring Indians, or any others +trafficking with us, as slaves, should be slaves to all intents and +purposes [1682. c. 1.]. This act was re-enacted in the year 1705, and +afterwards in 1753 [1705 c. 49. 1753. c. 2.], nearly in the same terms. +In 1705 an act was made, authorising a free and open trade for all +persons, at all times, and at all places, with all Indians whatsoever +[1705 c. 52.]. On the authority of this act, the general court in April +term 1787 decided that no Indians brought into Virginia since the +passing thereof, nor their descendants, can be slaves in this +commonwealth.[12] In October 1778 the general assembly passed the first +act which occurs in our code for prohibiting the importation of slaves +[1778. c. 1.]; thereby declaring that no slave should thereafter be +brought into this commonwealth by land, or by water; and that every +slave imported contrary thereto, should upon such importation be free: +with an exception as to such as might belong to persons migrating from +the other states, or be claimed by descent, devise, or marriage, or be +at that time the actual property of any citizen of this commonwealth, +residing in any other of the United States, or belonging to travellers +making a transient stay, and carrying their slaves away with them.--In +1705 this act unfortunately underwent some alteration, by declaring that +slaves thereafter brought into this commonwealth, and kept therein one +whole _year together_, or so long at different times as shall _amount to +a year_, shall be free. By this means the difficulty of proving the +right to freedom will be not a little augmented: for the fact of the +first importation, where the right to freedom immediately ensued, might +have been always proved without difficulty; but where a slave is subject +to removal from place to place, and his right to freedom is postponed +for so long a time as a whole year, or perhaps several years, the +provisions in favour of liberty may be too easily evaded. The same act +declares that no persons shall thenceforth be slaves in this +commonwealth, except such as were so on the first day of that session +(Oct. 17th, 1785), and the descendants of the females of them. This act +was re-enacted in the revisal made in 1792 [See acts of 1794, c. 103.]. +In 1793 an additional act passed, authorising and requiring any justice +of the peace having notice of the importation of any slaves, directly or +indirectly, from any part of Africa or the West Indies, to cause such +slave to be immediately apprehended and transported out of the +commonwealth [Edit. of 1794. c. 164.]. Such is the rise, progress, and +present foundation of slavery in Virginia, so far as I have been able to +trace it. The present number of slaves in Virginia, is immense, as +appears by the census taken in 1791, amounting to no less than 292,427 +souls: nearly two-fifths of the whole population of the +commonwealth.[13] We may console ourselves with the hope that this +proportion will not increase, the further importation of slaves being +prohibited, whilst the free migrations of white people hither is +encouraged. But this hope affords no other relief from the evil of +slavery, than a diminution of those apprehensions which are naturally +excited by the detention of so large a number of oppressed individuals +among us, and the possibility that they may one day be roused to an +attempt to shake off their chains. + +[Footnote 11: Among the Israelites, according to the Mosaical law, "If a +man smote his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he died under his +hand, he should surely be punished--notwithstanding if he continue a day +or two, he should not be punished [Exod. c. 21]:" for, saith the text, +he is _his money_. Our legislators appear to have adopted the reason of +the latter clause, without the humanity of the former part of the law.] + +[Footnote 12: Hannah and other Indians, against Davis.--Since this +adjudication, I have met with a manuscript act of assembly made in 1691 +c. 9 entitled, "An Act for a free Trade with Indians," the enacting +clause of which is in the very words of the act of 1705. c. 52. A +similar title to an act of that session occurs in the edition of 1733. +p. 94. and the chapter is numbered as in the manuscript. If this +manuscript be authentic (which there is some reason to presume, it being +copied in some blank leaves at the end of Purvis's edition, and +apparently written about the time of the passage of the act), it would +seem that no Indians brought into Virginia for more than a century, nor +any of their descendents, can be retained in slavery in this +commonwealth.] + +[Footnote 13: Although it be true that the number of slaves in the +_whole_ state bears the proportion of 292,427, to 747,610, the whole +number of souls in the state, that is, nearly as _two_ to _five_; yet +this proportion is by no means _uniform_ throughout the state. In the +forty-four counties lying upon the Bay, and the great rivers of the +state, and comprehended by a line including Brunswick, Cumberland, +Goochland, Hanover, Spottsylvania, Stafford, Prince William and Fairfax, +and the counties eastward thereof, the number of slaves is 196,542, and +the number of free persons, including free Negroes and mulattoes, +198,371 only. So that the blacks in that populous and extensive district +of country are _more numerous_ than the whites. In the second class, +comprehending nineteen counties, and extending from the last mentioned +line to the Blue Ridge, and including the populous counties of Frederick +and Berkeley, beyond the Blue Ridge, there are 82,286 slaves, and +136,251 free persons; the number of free persons in that class not being +two to one, to the slaves. In the third class the proportion is +considerably increased; the eleven counties of which it consists contain +only 11,218 slaves, and 76,281 free persons. This class reaches to the +Allegany ridge of mountains: the fourth and last class, comprehending +fourteen counties westward of the third class, contains only 2,381 +slaves, and 42,288 free persons. It is obvious from this statement that +almost all the dangers and inconveniences which may be apprehended from +a state of slavery on the one hand, or an attempt to abolish it, on the +other, will be confined to the people eastward of the blue ridge of +mountains.] + +Whatever inclination the first inhabitants of Virginia might have to +encourage slavery, a disposition to check its progress, and increase, +manifested itself in the legislature even before the close of the last +century. So long ago as the year 1669 we find the title of an act [Edit. +of 1733. c. 12.], laying an imposition upon _servants_, and _slaves_, +imported into this country; which was either continued, revised, or +increased, by a variety of temporary acts, passed between that period +and the revolution in 1776.[14]--One of these acts passed in 1723, by a +marginal note appears to have been repealed by proclamation, Oct. 24, +1724. In 1732 a duty of five per cent. was laid on slaves imported, to +be paid by the buyers; a measure calculated to render it as little +obnoxious as possible to the _English_ merchants trading to Africa, and +not improbably suggested by them, to the privy council in England. The +preamble to this act is in these remarkable words, "We your majesty's +most dutiful and loyal subjects, &c. taking into our serious +consideration the exigencies of your government here, and that the duty +laid upon liquors will not be sufficient to defray the necessary +expences thereof, do humbly represent to your majesty, that _no other_ +duty can be laid upon our import or export, without oppressing your +subjects, than a duty upon _slaves imported_, to be paid by the buyers, +_agreeable to your majesty's instructions_ to your lieutenant governor." +This act was only for the short period of four years, but seems to have +been continued from time to time till the year 1751, when the duty +expired, but was revived the next year. In the year 1740 an additional +duty of five per cent. was imposed for four years, for the purpose of an +expedition against the Spaniards, &c. to be likewise paid by the buyers: +and in 1742 the whole duty was continued till July 1, 1747.--The act of +1752, by which these duties were revived and continued (as well as +several former acts), takes notice that the duty had been found _no ways +burdensome to the traders_ in slaves. In 1754 an additional duty of five +per cent. was imposed for the term of three years, by an act for +encouraging and protecting the settlers on the Missisippi: this duty, +like all the former, was to be paid by the buyers. In 1759 a duty of 20 +per cent. was imposed upon all slaves imported into Virginia from +Maryland, North Carolina, or other places in America, to continue for +seven years. In 1769 the same duty was further continued. In the same +session the duty of five per cent. was continued for three years, and an +additional duty of ten per cent. to be likewise paid by the buyers, was +imposed for seven years; and a further duty of five per cent. was, by a +separate act of the same session, imposed for the better support of the +contingent charges of government, to be paid by the buyers. In 1772 all +these duties were further continued for the term of five years from the +expiration of the acts then in force: the assembly at the same time +petitioned the throne,[15] _to remove all those restraints which +inhibited_ his majesty's governors assenting to such _laws_ as _might +check so very pernicious a commerce_, as that of slavery. + +[Footnote 14: The following is a list of the acts, or titles of acts, +imposing duties on slaves imported, which occur in the various +compilations of our laws, or in the Sessions Acts, or Journals. + +1699, c. 12. title only retained. Edit. of 1733, p. 113 +1701, c. 5. the same, 116 +1704, c. 4. the same, 122 +1705, c. 1. the same, 126 +1710, c. 1. the same, 239 +1712, c. 3. the same, 282 +1723, c. 1. repealed by proclamation, 333 +1727, c. 1. enacted with a suspending clause, and the royal assent +refused, 376 + +1732, c. 3. printed at large, 469 +1734, c. 3. printed at large in Sessions Acts. +1736, c. 1. the same. +1738, c. 6. the same. +1740, c. 2. the same. +1742, c. 2. the same. + +From this period I have not been able to refer to the Sessions Acts. + +1752, c. 1. printed at large in the edit. of 1769, 281 +1754, c. 1. the same, 319 +1755, c. 2. Sessions Acts. Ten per cent. in addition to all former +duties. + +1759, c. 1. printed at large, edition of 1769, 369 +1763, c. 1. Journals of that session. +1766, c. 3, 4. printed at large, edit. of 1769, 461, 462 c. 15. +additional duty, the title only is printed, being repealed by the crown, +Ib. 473 + +1769, c. 7, 8, and 12. title only printed, edition of 1785, 6, 7 +1772, c. 15. title only printed, Ibidem, 24] + +[Footnote 15:====>The following extract from a petition to the throne, +presented from the house of burgesses of Virginia, April 1, 1772, will +shew the sense of the people of Virginia on the subject of slavery at +that period. + +"The many instances of your majesty's benevolent intentions and more +gracious disposition to promote the prosperity and happiness of your +subjects in the colonies, encourages us to look up to the throne, and +implore your majesty's paternal assistance in averting a calamity of a +most alarming nature." + +"The importation of slaves into the colonies from the coast of Africa +hath long been considered as a trade of great inhumanity, and under its +_present encouragement_, we have too much reason to fear _will endanger +the very existence_ of your majesty's American dominions." + +"We are sensible that some of your majesty's subjects of _Great Britain_ +may reap emoluments from this sort of traffic, but when we consider that +it greatly retards the settlement of the colonies, with _more useful_ +inhabitants, and may, in time, have the most destructive influence, we +presume to hope that the _interest of a few_ be disregarded when placed +in competition with the security and happiness of such numbers of your +majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects." + +"Deeply impressed with these sentiments, we most humbly beseech your +majesty to _remove all those restraints_ on your majesty's governors of +this colony, _which inhibit their assenting to such laws as might check +so very pernicious a commerce_." Journals of the House of Burgesses, +page 131. + +This petition produced no effect, as appears from the first clause of +our CONSTITUTION, where among other acts of misrule, "the inhuman use of +the royal negative" in refusing us permission to exclude slaves from +among us by law, is enumerated, among the reasons for _separating from +Great Britain_.] + +In the course of this enquiry it is easy to trace the desire of the +legislature to put a stop to the further importation of slaves; and had +not this desire been uniformly opposed on the part of the crown, it is +highly probable that event would have taken effect at a much earlier +period than it did. A duty of five per cent. to be paid by the buyers, +at first, with difficulty obtained the royal assent. Requisitions from +the crown for aids, on particular occasions, afforded a pretext from +time to time for increasing the duty from five, to ten, and finally to +twenty per cent. with which the _buyer_ was uniformly made chargeable. +The wishes of the people of this colony, were not sufficient to +counterbalance the interest of the English merchants, trading to Africa, +and it is probable, that however disposed to put a stop to so infamous a +traffic by law, we should never have been able to effect it, so long as +we might have continued dependant on the British government: an object +sufficient of itself to justify a revolution. That the legislature of +Virginia were _sincerely_ disposed to put a stop to it, cannot be +doubted; for even during the tumult and confusion of the revolution, we +have seen that they availed themselves of the earliest opportunity, to +crush for ever so pernicious and infamous a commerce, by an act passed +in October 1778, the penalties of which, though apparently lessened by +the act of 1792, are still equal to the value of the slave; being two +hundred dollars upon the importer, and one hundred dollars upon every +person buying or selling an imported slave. + +A system uniformly persisted in for nearly a whole century, and finally +carried into effect, so soon as the legislature was unrestrained by "the +inhuman exercise of the royal negative," evinces the sincerity of that +disposition which the legislature had shewn during so long a period, to +put a check to the growing evil. From the time that the duty was raised +above five per cent. it is probable that the importation of slaves into +this colony decreased. The demand for them in the more southern colonies +probably contributed also to lessen the numbers imported into this: for +some years immediately preceding the revolution, the importation of +slaves into Virginia might almost be considered as at an end; and +probably would have been entirely so, if the ingenuity of the merchant +had not found out the means of evading the heavy duty, by pretended +sales, at which the slaves were bought in by some friend, at a quarter +of their real value. + +Tedious and unentertaining as this detail may appear to all others, a +citizen of Virginia will feel some satisfaction at reading so clear a +vindication of his country, from the opprobrium, but too lavishly +bestowed upon her of fostering slavery in her bosom, whilst she boasts a +sacred regard to the liberty of her citizens, and of mankind in general. +The acrimony of such censures must abate, at least in the breasts of the +candid, upon an impartial review of the subject here brought before +them; and if in addition to what we have already advanced, they consider +the difficulties attendant on any plan for the abolition of slavery, in +a country where so large a proportion of the inhabitants are slaves; and +where a still larger proportion of the cultivators of the earth are of +that description of men, they will probably feel emotions of sympathy +and compassion, both for the slave and for his master, succeed to those +hasty prejudices, which even the best dispositions are not exempt from +contracting, upon subjects where there is a deficiency of information. + +We are next to consider the condition of slaves in Virginia, or the +legal consequences attendant on a state of slavery in this commonwealth; +and here it is not my intention to notice those laws, which consider +slaves, merely as _property_, and have from time to time been enacted to +regulate the disposition of them, _as such_; for these will be more +properly considered elsewhere: my intention at present is therefore to +take a view of such laws, only, as regard slaves, as a distinct class of +_persons_, whose rights, if indeed they possess any, are reduced to a +much narrower compass, than those, of which we have been speaking +before. + +Civil rights, we may remember, are reducible to three primary heads; the +right of personal security; the right of personal liberty; and the right +of private property. In a state of slavery the two last are wholly +abolished, the person of the slave being at the absolute disposal of his +master; and property, what he is incapable, in that state, either of +acquiring, or holding, to his own use. Hence it will appear how +perfectly irreconcilable a state of slavery is to the principles of a +democracy, which form the _basis_ and _foundation_ of our government. +For our bill of rights declares, "that all men are by nature _equally +free_ and independent, and have certain rights of which they cannot +deprive or divest their posterity--namely, the enjoyment of life and +_liberty_, with the means of _acquiring_ and _possessing property_." +This is indeed no more than a recognition of the first principles of the +law of nature, which teaches us this equality, and enjoins every man, +whatever advantages he may possess over another, as to the various +qualities or endowments of body or mind, to practice the precepts of the +law of nature to those who are in these respects his _inferiors_, no +less than it enjoins his _inferiors_ to practise them towards _him_. +Since he has no more right to insult _them_, than they have to injure +him. Nor does the _bare unkindness of nature_ or of fortune condemn a +man to a _worse_ condition than others, as to the enjoyment of common +privileges [Spavan's Puff. vol. 1. c. 17.]. It would be hard to +reconcile reducing the Negroes to a state of slavery to these +principles, unless we first degrade them below the rank of human beings, +not only politically, but also physically and morally.--The Roman +lawyers look upon those only properly as _persons_, who are _free_, +putting _slaves_ into the rank of _goods_ and _chattels_; and the policy +of our legislature, as well as the practice of slave-holders in America +in general, seems conformable to that idea: but surely it is time we +should admit the evidence of moral truth, and learn to regard them as +our fellow men, and equals, except in those particulars where accident, +or perhaps nature, may have give us some advantage; a recompence for +which they perhaps enjoy in other respects. + +Slavery, says Hargrave, always imports an obligation of perpetual +service, which only the consent of the master can dissolve: it also +generally gives to the master an arbitrary power of administring every +sort of correction, however inhuman, not immediately affecting life or +limb, and even these in some countries, as formerly in Rome, and at this +day among the Asiatics and Africans, are left exposed to the arbitrary +will of a master, or protected only by fines or other slight +punishments. The property of the slave also is absolutely the property +of his master, the slave himself being the subject of property, and as +such saleable, or transmissible at the will of his master.--A slavery, +so malignant as that described, does not leave to its wretched victims +the least vestige of any civil right, and even divests them of all their +natural rights. It does not, however, appear, that the rigours of +slavery in this country were ever as great, as those above described: +yet it must be confessed, that, at times, they have fallen very little +short of them. + +The first severe law respecting slaves, now to be met with in our code, +is that of 1669, already mentioned, which declared that the death of a +slave _resisting_ his master, or other person correcting him by his +order, _happening by extremity of the correction_, should not be +accounted felony. The alterations which this law underwent in three +successive acts [1705. c. 49. 1723, c. 4. 1748. c. 31.], were by no +means calculated effectually to mitigate its severity; it seems rather +to have been augmented by the act of 1723, which declared that a person +indicted for the murder of a slave, and found guilty of _manslaughter_, +should not incur any punishment for the same.[16] + +[Footnote 16: In December term 1788, one John Huston was tried in the +general court for the murder of a slave; the jury found him guilty of +manslaughter, and the court, upon a motion in arrest of judgment, +discharged him without any punishment. The general assembly being then +sitting, some of the members of the court mentioned the case to some +leading characters in the legislature, and the act was at the same +session repealed.] + +All these acts were at length repealed in 1788 [1788. 2. 23.]. So that +homicide of a slave stands now upon the same footing, as in the case of +any other person. In 1672 it was declared lawful for any person pursuing +any runaway Negroe, mulattoe, Indian slave, or _servant for life_, by +virtue of an _hue and cry_, to kill them in case of resistance, without +being questioned for the same [1672. c. 8.]. A few years afterwards this +act was extended to persons _employed to apprehend_ runaways [1680. c. +10.]. In 1705, these acts underwent some small alteration; two justices +being authorised by proclamation to _outlaw_ runaways, who might +thereafter be _killed_ and destroyed by any person whatsoever, by _such +ways and means_ as he may think fit, without accusation or impeachment +of any crime for so doing [1705. c. 49.]: And if any such slave were +apprehended, he might be punished at the discretion of the county court, +either by _dismembering_, or in any other manner not _touching life_. +The inhuman rigour of this act was afterwards [1723. c. 4. 1748. c. 31.] +extended to the venial offence of going abroad by night, if the slave +was _notoriously_ guilty of it.--Such are the cruelties to which a state +of slavery gives birth; such the horrors to which the human mind is +capable of being reconciled, by its adoption. The dawn of humanity at +length appeared in the year 1769, when the power of dismembering, even +under the authority of a county court, was restricted to the single +offence of _attempting_ to ravish a white woman [1769. c. 19.], in which +case perhaps the punishment is perhaps not more than commensurate to the +crime. In 1772 some restraints were laid upon the practice of outlawing +slaves, requiring that it should appear to the _satisfaction_ of the +justices that the slaves were outlying, and _doing mischief_ [1772. c. +9.]. These loose expressions of the act, left too much in the discretion +of men, not much addicted to weighing their import.--In 1792, every +thing relative to the outlawry of slaves was _expunged_ from our code +[Edit. 1794. c. 103.], and I trust will never again find a place in it. +By the act of 1680, a Negroe, mulattoe, or Indian, bond or _free_, +presuming to lift his hand in opposition to any Christian, should +receive thirty lashes on his bare back for every offence [1680. c. 10. +1705. c.]. The same act prohibited slaves from carrying any club, staff, +gun, sword, or other weapon, offensive or defensive. This was afterwards +extended to all Negroes, mulattoes and Indians whatsoever, with a few +exceptions in favour of housekeepers, residents on a frontier +plantation, and such as were enlisted in the militia [1723. c. 4.]. +Slaves, by these and other acts [1705. c. 49. 1723. c. 4. 1748. c. 31. +1753. c. 2. 1785. c. 77.], are prohibited from going abroad without +leave in writing from their masters, and if they do, may be whipped: any +person suffering a slave to remain on his plantation for four hours +together, or dealing with him without leave in writing from his master, +is subject to a fine. A runaway slave may be apprehended and committed +to jail, and if not claimed within three months (being first advertised) +he shall be hired out, having an iron collar first put about his neck: +and if not claimed within a year shall be sold [1753. c. 2.]. These +provisions were in general re-enacted in 1792 [Edit. of 1794. c. 103. +131.], but the punishment to be inflicted on a Negroe or mulattoe, for +lifting his hand against a white person, is restricted to those cases, +where the former is not wantonly assaulted. In this act the word Indian +appears to have been designedly omitted: the small number of these +people, or their descendants remaining among us, concurring with a more +liberal way of thinking, probably gave occasion to this circumstance. +The act of 1748, c. 31, made it felony without benefit of clergy for a +slave to prepare, exhibit, or administer any medicine whatever, without +the order or consent of the master; but _allowed clergy_ if it appeared +that the medicine was not administered with an _ill intent_; the act of +1792, with more justice, directs that in such case he shall be acquitted +[Edit. 1794. c. 103.]. To consult, advise, or conspire, to rebel, or to +plot, or conspire the death of any person whatsoever, is still felony +without benefit of clergy in a slave [1748. c. 31. 1794. c. +103.].--Riots, routs, unlawful assemblies, trespasses and seditious +speeches by slaves, are punishable with stripes, at the discretion of a +justice of the peace [1785. c. 77. 1794. c. 103.].--The master of a +slave permitting him to go at large and trade as a freeman, is subject +to a fine [1769. c. 19. May 1782. c. 32. 1794. Ib.]; and if she suffers +the slave to hire himself out, the latter may be sold, and twenty-five +per cent. of the price be applied to the use of the county.--Negroes and +mulattoes, whether slaves or not, are incapable of being witnesses, but +against, or between Negroes and mulattoes; they are not permitted to +intermarry with any white person; yet no punishment is annexed to the +offence in the slave; nor is the marriage void; but the white person +contracting the marriage, and the clergyman by whom it is celebrated are +liable to fine and imprisonment; and this is probably the only instance +in which our laws will be found more favourable to a Negroe than a white +person. These provisions though introduced into our code at different +periods, were all re-enacted in 1792 [Edit. of 1794. c. 103.]. + +From this melancholy review it will appear that not only the right of +property, and the right of personal liberty, but even the right of +personal security, has been, at times, either wholly annihilated, or +reduced to a shadow: and even in these days, the protection of the +latter seems to be confined to very few cases. Many actions, indifferent +in themselves, being permitted by the law of nature to all mankind, and +by the laws of society to all free persons, are either rendered highly +criminal in a slave, or subject him to some kind of punishment or +restraint. Nor is it in this respect only, that his condition is +rendered thus deplorable by law. The measure of punishment for the same +offence, is often, and the manner of trial and conviction is always, +different in the case of a slave, and a free-man. If the latter be +accused of any crime, he is entitled to an examination before the court +of the county where the offence is alleged to have been committed; whose +decision, if in his favour, is held to be a legal and final acquittal, +but it is not final if against him; for after this, both a grand jury, +and a petit jury of the county, must successively pronounce him guilty; +the former by the concurrent voices of twelve at least, of their body, +and the latter, by their unanimous verdict upon oath. He may take +exception to the proceedings against him, by a motion in arrest of +judgment; and in this case, or if there be a special verdict, the same +unanimity between his judges, as between his jurors, is necessary to his +condemnation. Lastly, through the punishment which the law pronounces +for his offence amount to death itself, he shall in many cases have the +benefit of clergy, unless he has before received it. But in the case of +a slave, the mode was formerly, and still remains essentially different. +How early this distinction was adopted I have not been able to discover. +The title of an act occurs, which passed in the year 1705 [1705. c. 11.] +for the _speedy_ and _easy_ prosecution of slaves committing capital +crimes. In 1723 [1723. c. 4.] the governor was authorized, whenever any +slave was committed for any capital offence, to issue a special +commission of oyer and terminer, to _such persons as he should think +fit_, the number being left to his discretion, who should thereupon +proceed to the trial of such slave, taking for evidence the confession +of the defendant, the oath of one or more credible witnesses, or such +testimony of Negroes, mulattoes, or Indians, bond or free, with pregnant +circumstances, as to them should seem convincing, without the solemnity +of a jury. No exception, formerly, could be taken to the proceedings, on +the trial of a slave [1748. c. 31.], but that proviso is omitted in the +act of 1792, and the justices moreover seem bound to allow him counsel +for his defence, whose fee shall be paid by his master [Edit. 1794. c. +103.] In case of conviction, execution of the sentence was probably very +speedily performed, since the act of 1748, provides that, thereafter, it +should not be performed in less than ten days, except in case of +insurrection or rebellion; and further, that if the court be divided in +opinion the accused should be acquitted. In 1764, an act passed, +authorizing general, instead of special, commissioners of oyer and +terminer [1764. c. 9.], constituting all the justices of any county, +judges for the trial of slaves, committing capital offences, within +their respective counties; any four of whom, one being of the quorum, +should constitute a court for that purpose. In 1772 one step further was +made in favour of humanity, by an act declaring that no slave should +thereafter be condemned to die unless four of the court should concur in +opinion of his guilt [1772. c. 9.]. The act of 1786, c. 58, confirmed by +that of 1792, constitutes the justices of every county and corporation +justices of oyer and terminer for the trial of slaves [Edit. 1794. c. +103.]; requires _five_ justices, at least, to constitute a court, and +_unanimity_ in the court for his condemnation; allows him counsel for +his defence, to be paid by his owner, and, I apprehend, admits him to +object to the proceedings against him; and finally enlarges the time of +execution to _thirty_ days, instead of ten (except in cases of +conspiracy, insurrection, or rebellion), and extends the benefit of +clergy to him in all cases, where any other person should have the +benefit thereof, except in the cases before mentioned. + +To an attentive observer these gradual, and almost imperceptible +amendments in our jurisprudence respecting slaves, will be found, upon +the whole, of infinite importance to that unhappy race. The mode of +trial in criminal cases, especially, is rendered infinitely more +beneficial to them, than formerly, though perhaps still liable to +exception for want of the aid of a jury: the solemnity of an oath +administered the moment the trial commences, may be considered as +operating more forcibly on the mind, than a general oath of office, +taken, perhaps, twenty years before. Unanimity may also be more readily +expected to take place among _five_ men, than among _twelve_. These +objections to the want of a jury are not without weight: on the other +hand it may be observed, that if the number of triers be not equal to a +full jury, they may yet be considered as more select; a circumstance of +infinitely greater importance to the slave. The unanimity requisite in +the court in order to conviction, is a more happy acquisition to the +accused, than may at first appear; the opinions of the court must be +delivered openly, immediately, and seriatim, beginning with the youngest +judge. A single voice in favour of the accused, is an acquittal; for +unanimity is not necessary, as with a jury, to acquit, as well as to +condemn: there is less danger in this mode of trial, where the suffrages +are to be openly delivered, that a few will be brought over to the +opinion of the majority, as may too often happen among jurors, whose +deliberations are in _private_, and whose impatience of confinement may +go further than real conviction, to produce the requisite unanimity. +That this happens not unfrequently in civil cases, there is too much +reason to believe; that it may also happen in criminal cases, especially +where the party accused is not one of their equals, might, not +unreasonably, be apprehended. In New-York, before the revolution, a +slave accused of a capital crime, should have been tried by a jury if +his master required it. This is, perhaps, still the law of that state. +Such a provision might not be amiss in this; but considering the +ordinary run of juries in the county-courts, I should presume the +privilege would be rarely insisted upon. + +Slaves, we have seen, are now entitled to the benefit of clergy in all +cases where it is allowed to any other offenders, except in cases of +consulting, advising, or conspiring to rebel, or make insurrection; or +plotting or conspiring to murder any person; or preparing, exhibiting, +or administring medicine with an _ill_ intent. The same lenity was not +extended to them formerly. The act of 1748, c. 31, denied it to a slave +in case of manslaughter; or the felonious breaking and entering _any_ +house, in the night time: or breaking and entering _any_ house in the +day time, and taking therefrom goods to the value of twenty shillings. +The act of 1764, c. 9, extended the benefit of clergy, to a slave +convicted of the manslaughter of a slave; and the act of 1772, c. 9, +extended it further, to a slave convicted of housebreaking in the night +time, unless such breaking be burglary; in the latter case, other +offenders would be equally deprived of it. But wherever the benefit of +clergy is allowed to a slave, the court, besides burning him in the hand +(the usual punishment inflicted on free persons) may inflict such +further corporal punishment as they may think fit [1794. c. 103.]; this +also seems to be the law in the case of free Negroes and mulattoes. By +the act of 1723, c. 4, it was enacted, that when _any Negroe_ or +_mulattoe_ shall be found, upon due proof made, or _pregnant +circumstances_, to have given false testimony, every such offender +shall, _without further trial_, have his ears successively nailed to the +pillory for the space of an hour, and then cut off, and moreover receive +thirty-nine lashes on his bare back, or such other punishment as the +court shall think proper, not extending to life or limb. This act, with +the exception of the words _pregnant circumstances_, was re-enacted in +1792. The punishment of perjury, in a _white_ person, is only a fine and +imprisonment. A slave convicted of hog-stealing, shall, for the first +offence, receive thirty-nine lashes: any other person twenty-five: but +the latter is also subject to a fine of thirty dollars, besides paying +eight dollars to the owner of the hog. The punishment for the second and +third offence, of this kind, is the same in the case of a free person, +as of a slave; namely, by the pillory and loss of ears, for the second +offence; the third is declared felony, to which clergy is, however, +allowed. The preceding are the only positive distinctions which now +remain between the punishment of a slave, and a white person, in those +cases, where the latter is liable to a determinate corporal punishment. +But we must not forget, that many actions, which are either not +punishable at all, when perpetrated by a white person, or at most, by +fine and imprisonment, only, are liable to severe corporal punishment, +when done by a slave; nay, even to death itself, in some cases. To go +abroad without a written permission; to keep or carry a gun, or other +weapon; to utter any seditious speech; to be present at any unlawful +assembly of slaves; to lift the hand in opposition to a white person, +unless wantonly assaulted, are all offences punishable by whipping +[1794. c. 103.]. To attempt the chastity of a white woman, forcibly, is +punishable by dismemberment: such an attempt would be a high misdemeanor +in a white free man, but the punishment would be far short of that of a +slave [Ibidem.]. To administer medicine without the order or consent of +the master, unless it _appear not to have been done with an ill intent_; +to _consult_, advise, or conspire, to rebel or make insurrection; or to +_conspire_, or _plot_ to _murder_ any person, we have seen, are all +capital offences, from which the benefit of clergy is utterly excluded. +But a _bare intention_ to commit a felony, is not punishable in the case +of a free white man; and even the attempt, if not attended with an +actual breach of the peace, or prevented by such circumstance; only, as +do not tend to lessen the guilt of the offender, is at most a +misdemeanor by the common law: and in statutable offences in general, to +consult, advise, and even to procure any person to commit a felony, does +not constitute the crime of felony in the adviser or procurer, unless +the felony be actually perpetrated. + +From this view of our jurisprudence respecting slaves, we are +unavoidably led to remark, how frequently the laws of nature have been +set aside in favour of institutions, the pure result of prejudice, +usurpation, and tyranny. We have found actions, innocent, or +indifferent, punishable with a rigour scarcely due to any, but the most +atrocious, offences against civil society; justice distributed by an +unequal measure to the master and the slave; and even the hand of mercy +arrested, where mercy might have been extended to the wretched culprit, +had his complexion been the same with that of his judges: for, the short +period of ten days, between his condemnation and execution, was often +insufficient to obtain a pardon for a slave, convicted in a remote part +of the country, whilst a free man, condemned at the seat of government, +and tried before the governor himself, in whom the power of pardoning +was vested, had a respite of thirty days to implore the clemency of the +executive authority.--It may be urged, and I believe with truth, that +these rigours do not proceed from a sanguinary temper in the people of +Virginia, but from those political considerations indispensibly +necessary, where slavery prevails to any great extent: I am moreover +happy to observe that our police respecting this unhappy class of +people, is not only less rigorous than formerly, but perhaps milder than +in any other country[17] where there are so many slaves, or so large a +proportion of them, in respect to the free inhabitants: it is also, I +trust, unjust to censure the present generation for the existence of +slavery in Virginia: for I think it unquestionably true, that a very +large proportion of our fellow-citizens lament that as a misfortune, +which is imputed to them as a reproach; it being evident from what has +been already shewn upon the subject, that, _antecedent to the +revolution_, no exertion to abolish, or even to check the progress of, +slavery, in Virginia, could have received the smallest countenance from +the crown, without whose assent the united wishes and exertions of every +individual here, would have been wholly fruitless and ineffectual: it +is, perhaps, also demonstrable, that at no period since the revolution, +could the abolition of slavery in this state have been safely undertaken +until the foundations of our newly established governments had been +found capable of supporting the fabric itself, under any shock, which so +arduous an attempt might have produced. But these obstacles being now +happily removed, considerations of policy, as well as justice and +humanity, must evince the necessity of eradicating the evil, before it +becomes impossible to do it, without tearing up the roots of civil +society with it. + +[Footnote 17: See Jefferson's Notes, 259.--The Marquis de Chatelleux's +Travels, I have not noted the page; the Law of Retribution, by Granville +Sharpe, pa. 151, 238, notes. The Just Limitation of Slavery, by the same +author; pa. 15, note. Ibidem, pa. 33, 50, Ib. Append. No. 2. +Encyclopédie. Tit. Esclave. Laws of Barbadoes, &c.] + +Having in the preceding part of this enquiry shewn the origin and +foundation of slavery, or the manner in which men have become slaves, as +also who are liable to be retained in slavery, in Virginia, at present, +with the legal consequences attendant upon their condition; it only +remains to consider the mode by which slaves have been or may be +emancipated; and the legal consequences thereof, in this +state.--Manumission, among the Israelites, if the bondman were an +Hebrew, was enjoined after six years' service, by the Mosaical law, +unless the servant chose to continue with his master, in which case the +master carried him before the judges, and took an awl, and thrust it +through his ear into the door [Exod. c. 21. Deut. c. 15.], and from +thenceforth he became a servant for ever: but if he sent him away free, +he was bound to furnish him liberally out of his flock, and out of his +floor, and out of his wine-press [Ibid.]. Among the Romans, in the time +of the commonwealth, liberty could be conferred only three ways. By +testament, by the _census_, and by the _vindicta_, or lictor's rod. A +man was said to be free by the census, "_liber censu_," when his name +was inserted in the censor's roll, with the approbation of his master. +When he was freed by the vindicta, the master placing his hand upon the +head of the slave, said in the presence of the prętor, it is my desire +that this man may be free, "_hunc hominem liberem esse volo_;" to which +the prętor replied, I pronounce him free after the manner of the +Romans, "_dico cum liberum esse more quiritum_."--then the lictor, +receiving the _vindicta_, struck the new freed man several blows with +it, upon the head, face, and back, after which his name was registered +in the roll of freed-men, and his head being close shaved, a cap was +given him as a token of liberty [Harris's Just. in notes.]. Under the +imperial constitutions liberty might have been conferred by several +other methods, as in the face of the church, in the presence of friends, +or by letter, or by testament [Just. Inst. lib. 1. tit. 5. Ib. lib. 1. +tit. 6.].--But it was not in the power of every master to manumit at +will; for if it were done with an intent to defraud creditors, the act +was void; that is, if the master were insolvent at the time of +manumission, or became insolvent by manumission, and intentionally +manumitted his slave for the purpose of defrauding his creditors. A +minor, under the age of twenty years, could not manumit his slave but +for a just cause assigned, which must have been approved by a council, +consisting of the prętor, five senators, and five knights [Ib. Harris's +Just. in notes.].--In England, the mode of enfranchising villeins is +said to have been thus prescribed by a law of William the Conqueror. "If +any person is willing to enfranchise his _slave_, let him, with his +right hand, deliver the slave to the sheriff in a full county, proclaim +him exempt from the bond of servitude by manumission, shew him open +gates and ways, and deliver him _free arms_, to wit, a lance and a +sword; thereupon he is a free man [Harris's Inst. in notes.]."--But +after that period freedom was more generally conferred by deed, of which +Mr. Harris, in his notes upon Justinian, has furnished a precedent. + +In what manner manumission was performed in this country during the +first century after the introduction of slavery does not appear: the act +of 1668, before mentioned [Ante, p. 36.], shews it to have been +practised before that period. In 1723 an act was passed, prohibiting the +manumission of slaves, upon any pretence whatsoever, except for +meritorious services, to be adjudged, and allowed by the governor and +council [1723. c. 4.]. This clause was re-enacted in 1748, and continued +to be the law, until after the revolution was accomplished. The number +of manumissions under such restrictions must necessarily have been very +few. In May 1782 an act passed authorizing, generally, the manumission +of slaves, but requiring such as might be set free, not being of sound +mind or body, or being above the age of forty-five years, or males under +twenty-one, or females under eighteen, to be supported by the person +liberating them, or out of his estate [May 1782. c. 21.]. The act of +manumission may be performed either by will, or by deed, under the hand +and seal of the party, acknowledged by him, or proved by two witnesses +in the court of the county where he resides. There is reason to believe +that great numbers have been emancipated since the passing of this act. +By the census of 1791 it appears that the number of free Negroes, +mulattoes and Indians in Virginia, was then 12,866. It would be a large +allowance, to suppose that there were 1800 free Negroes and mulattoes in +Virginia when the act took effect; so that upwards of ten thousand must +have been indebted to it for their freedom.[18] The number of Indians +and their descendants in Virginia at present, is too small to require +particular notice. The progress of emancipation in Virginia, is at this +time continual, but not rapid; a second census will enable us to form a +better judgment of it than at present. The act passed in 1792 accords in +some degree with the Justinian code [1794. c. 103.], by providing that +slaves emancipated may be taken in execution to satisfy any debt +contracted by the person emancipating them, before such emancipation is +made.[19] + +[Footnote 18: There are _more_ free Negroes and mulattoes in Virginia +alone, than are to be found in the four New-England states, and Vermont +in addition to them. The progress of emancipation in this state is +therefore much greater than our _Eastern_ brethren may at first suppose. +There are only 1087 free Negroes and mulattoes in the States of +New-York, New-Jersey and Pennsylvania, _more_, than in Virginia. Those +who take a subject in the gross, have little idea of the result of an +exact scrutiny. Out of 20,348 inhabitants on the Eastern Shore of +Virginia 1185 were free Negroes and mulattoes when the census was taken. +The number is since much augmented.] + +[Footnote 19: The act of 1795. c. 11. enacts, that any person held in +slavery may make complaint to a magistrate, or to the court of the +district county or corporation wherein he resides, and not elsewhere. +The magistrate, if the complaint be made to him, shall issue his warrant +to summon the owner before him, and compel him to give bond and security +to suffer the complainant to appear at the next court to petition the +court to be admitted to sue _in formā pauperis_. If the owner refuse, +the magistrate shall order the complainant into the custody of the +officer serving the warrant, at the expence of the master, who shall +keep him until the sitting of the court, and then produce him before it. +Upon petition to the court, if the court be satisfied as to the material +facts, they shall assign the complainant council, who shall state the +facts with his opinion thereon to the court; and unless from the +circumstances so stated, and the opinion thereon given, the court shall +_see manifest reason to deny their interference_, they shall order the +clerk to issue process against the owner, and the complainant shall +remain in the custody of the sheriff until the owner shall give bond and +security to have him forthcoming to answer the judgment of the court. +And by the general law in case of pauper's suits; the complainants shall +have writs of subpoena gratis; and by the practice of the courts, he is +permitted to attend the taking the depositions of witnesses, and go and +come freely to and from court, for the prosecution of his suit.] + +Among the Romans, the _libertini_, or freedmen, were formerly +distinguished by a threefold division [Just. Inst. lib. 1. tit. 5.]. +They sometimes obtained what was called the greater liberty, thereby +becoming _Roman citizens_. To this privilege, those who were +enfranchised by testament, by the census, or by the vindicta, appear to +have been alone admitted: sometimes they obtained the lesser liberty +only, and became _Latins_; whose condition is thus described by +Justinian. "They never enjoyed the right of succession [to +estates].--For although they led the lives of free men, yet with their +last breath they lost both their lives and liberties; for their +possessions, like the goods of slaves, were detained by the manumittor +[Harris's Inst. lib. 3. tit. 8.]." Sometimes they obtained only the +inferior liberty, being called _dedititii_: such were slaves who had +been condemned as criminals, and afterwards obtained manumission through +the indulgence of their masters: their conditions was equalled with that +of conquered revolters, whom the Romans called, in reproach, _dedititii, +quia se suaque omnia dediderunt_: but all these distinctions were +abolished by Justinian [Inst. lib. 1. tit. 5. s. 3.], by whom all freed +men in general were made citizens of Rome, without regard to the form of +manumission.--In England, the presenting the villein with _free arms_, +seems to have been the symbol of his restoration to all the rights which +a feudatory was entitled to. With us, we have seen that emancipation +does not confer the rights of citizenship on the person emancipated; on +the contrary, both he and his posterity, of the same complexion with +himself, must always labour under many civil incapacities. If he is +absolved from personal restraint, or corporal punishment, by a master, +yet the laws restrain his actions in many instances, where there is none +upon a free white man. If he can maintain a suit, he cannot be a +witness, a juror, or a judge in any controversy between one of his own +complexion and a white person. If he can acquire property in lands, he +cannot exercise the right of suffrage, which such a property would +confer on his former master; much less can he assist in making those +laws by which he is bound. Yet, even under these disabilities, his +present condition bears an enviable pre-eminence over his former state. +Possessing the liberty of loco-motion, which was formerly denied him, it +is in his choice to submit to that civil inferiority, inseparably +attached to his condition in this country, or seek some more favourable +climate, where all distinctions between men are either totally +abolished, or less regarded than in this. + +The extirpation of slavery from the United States, is a task equally +arduous and momentous. To restore the blessings of liberty to near a +million[20] of oppressed individuals, who have groaned under the yoke of +bondage, and to their descendants, is an object, which those who trust +in Providence, will be convinced would not be unaided by the divine +Author of our being, should we invoke his blessing upon our endeavours. +Yet human prudence forbids that we should precipitately engage in a work +of such hazard as a general and simultaneous emancipation. The mind of +man must in some measure be formed for his future condition. The early +impressions of obedience and submission, which slaves have received +among us, and the no less habitual arrogance and assumption of +superiority, among the whites, contribute, equally, to unfit the former +for _freedom_, and the latter for _equality_.[21] To expel them all at +once, from the United States, would in fact be to devote them only to a +lingering death by famine, by disease, and other accumulated miseries: +"We have in history but one picture of a similar enterprize, and there +we see it was necessary not only to open the sea by a miracle, for them +to pass, but more necessary to close it again to prevent their return +[Letter from Jas. Sullivan, Esq. to Dr. Belknap.]." To retain them among +us, would be nothing more than to throw so many of the human race upon +the earth without the means of subsistence: they would soon become idle, +profligate, and miserable. Unfit for their new condition, and unwilling +to return to their former laborious course, they would become the +caterpillars of the earth, and the tigers of the human race. The recent +history of the French West Indies exhibits a melancholy picture of the +probable consequences of a general, and momentary emancipation in any of +the states, where slavery has made considerable progress. In +Massachusetts the abolition of it was effected by a single stroke; a +clause in their constitution [Dr. Belknap.]: but the whites at that +time, were as sixty-five to one, in proportion to the blacks. The whole +number of free persons in the United States, south of Delaware state, +are 1,233,829, end there are 648,439 slaves; the proportion being less +than two to one. Of the cultivators of the earth in the same district, +it is probable that there are four slaves for one free white man.--To +discharge the former from their present condition, would be attended +with an immediate general famine, in those parts of the United States, +from which not all the productions of the other states, could deliver +them; similar evils might reasonably be apprehended from the adoption of +the measure by any one of the southern states; for in all of them the +proportion of slaves is too great, not to be attended with calamitous +effects, if they were immediately set free.[22] These are serious, I had +almost said unsurmountable obstacles, to general, simultaneous +emancipation.--There are other considerations not to be disregarded. A +great part of the _property_ of individuals consists in _slaves_. The +laws have sanctioned this species of property. Can the laws take away +the property of an individual without his own consent, or without a +_just compensation_? Will those who do not hold slaves agree to be taxed +to make this compensation? Creditors also, who have trusted their +debtors upon the faith of this visible property will be defrauded. If +justice demands the emancipation of the slave, she also, _under these +circumstances_, seems to plead for the owner, and for his creditor. The +claims of nature, it will be said are stronger than those which arise +from social institutions, only. I admit it, but nature also dictates to +us to provide for our _own_ safety, and authorizes all _necessary_ +measures for that purpose. And we have shewn that our own security, nay, +our very existence, might be endangered by the hasty adoption of any +measure for the _immediate_ relief of the _whole_ of this unhappy race. +Must we then quit the subject, in despair of the success of any project +for the amendment of their, as well as our own, condition? I think +not.--Strenuously as I feel my mind opposed to a simultaneous +emancipation, for the reasons already mentioned, the abolition of +slavery in the United States, and especially in that state, to which I +am attached by every tie that nature and society form, is _now_ my +_first_, and will probably be my last, expiring wish. But here let me +avoid the imputation of inconsistency, by observing, that the abolition +of slavery may be effected without the _emancipation_ of a single slave; +without depriving any man of the _property_ which he _possesses_, and +without defrauding a creditor who has trusted him on the faith of that +property. The experiment in that mode has already been begun in some of +our sister states. Pennsylvania, under the auspices of the immortal +Franklin,[23] begun the work of gradual abolition of slavery in the year +1780, by enlisting nature herself, on the side of humanity. Connecticut +followed the example four years after.[24] New-York very lately made an +essay which miscarried by a very inconsiderable majority. Mr. Jefferson +informs us, that the committee of revisors, of which he was a member, +had prepared a bill for the emancipation of all slaves born after +passing that act. This is conformable to the Pennsylvania and +Connecticut laws.--Why the measure was not brought forward in the +general assembly I have never heard. Possibly because objections were +foreseen to that part of the bill which relates to the disposal of the +blacks, after they had attained a certain age.[25] It certainly seems +liable to many, both as to the policy and the practicability of it. To +establish such a colony in the territory of the United States, would +probably lay the foundation of intestine wars, which would terminate +only in their extirpation, or final expulsion. To attempt it in any +other quarter of the globe would be attended with the utmost cruelty to +the colonists, themselves, and the destruction of their whole race. If +the plan were at this moment in operation, it would require the annual +exportation of 12,000 persons. This requisite number must, for a series +of years be considerably increased, in order to keep pace with the +increasing population of those people. In twenty years it would amount +to upwards of twenty thousand persons; which is half the number which +are now supposed to be annually exported from Africa.--Where would a +fund to support this expence be found? Five times the present revenue of +the state would barely defray the charge of their passage. Where +provisions for their support after their arrival? Where those +necessaries which must preserve them from perishing?--Where a territory +sufficient to support them?--Or where could they be received as friends, +and not as invaders? To colonize them in the United States might seem +less difficult. If the territory to be assigned them were beyond the +settlements of the whites, would they not be put upon a forlorn hope +against the Indians? Would not the expence of transporting them thither, +and supporting them, at least for the first and second year, be also far +beyond the revenues and abilities of the state? The expence attending a +small army in that country hath been found enormous. To transport as +many colonists, annually, as we have shewn were necessary to eradicate +the evil, would probably require five times as much money as the support +of such an army. But the expence would not stop there: they must be +assisted and supported at least for another year after their arrival in +their new settlements. Suppose them arrived. Illiterate and ignorant as +they are, is it probable that they would be capable of instituting such +a government, in their new colony, as would be necessary for their own +internal happiness, or to secure them from destruction from without? +European emigrants, from whatever country they arrive, have been +accustomed to the restraint of laws, and to respect for government. +These people, accustomed to be ruled with a rod of iron, will not easily +submit to milder restraints. They would become hordes of vagabonds, +robbers and murderers. Without the aids of an enlightened policy, +morality, or religion, what else could be expected from their still +savage state, and debased condition?--"But why not retain and +_incorporate_ the _blacks into the state_?" This question has been well +answered by Mr. Jefferson,[26] and who is there so free from prejudices +among us, as candidly to declare that he has none against such a +measure? The recent scenes transacted in the French colonies in the West +Indies are enough to make one shudder with the apprehension of realizing +similar calamities in this country. Such probably would be the event of +an attempt to smother those prejudices which have been cherished for a +period of almost two centuries. Those who secretly favour, whilst they +affect to regret, domestic slavery, contend that in abolishing it, we +must also abolish that scion from it which I have denominated _civil_ +slavery. That there must be no distinction of rights; that the +descendants of Africans, as men, have an equal claim to all civil +rights, as the descendants of Europeans; and upon being delivered from +the yoke of bondage have a right to be admitted to all the privileges of +a citizen.--But have not men when they enter into a state of society, a +right to admit, or exclude any description of persons, as they think +proper? If it be true, as Mr. Jefferson seems to suppose, that the +Africans are really an inferior race of mankind,[27] will not sound +policy advise their exclusion from a society in which they have not yet +been admitted to participate in civil rights; and even to guard against +such admission, at any future period, since it may eventually depreciate +the whole national character? And if prejudices have taken such deep +root in our minds, as to render it impossible to eradicate this opinion, +ought not so general an error, if it be one, to be respected? Shall we +not relieve the necessities of the naked diseased beggar, unless we will +invite him to a seat at our table; nor afford him shelter from the +inclemencies of the night air, unless we admit him also to share our +bed? To deny that we ought to abolish slavery, without incorporating the +Negroes into the state, and admitting them to a full participation of +all our civil and social rights, appears to me to rest upon a similar +foundation. The experiment so far as it has been already made among us, +proves that the emancipated blacks are not ambitious of civil rights. To +prevent the generation of such an ambition, appears to comport with +sound policy; for if it should ever rear its head, its partizans, as +well as its opponents, will be enlisted by nature herself, and always +ranged in formidable array against each other. We must therefore +endeavour to find some middle course, between the tyrannical and +iniquitous policy which holds so many human creatures in a state of +grievous bondage, and that which would turn loose a numerous, starving, +and enraged banditti, upon the innocent descendants of their former +oppressors. _Nature_, _time_, and _sound policy_ must co-operate with +each other to produce such a change: if either be neglected, the work +will be incomplete, dangerous, and not improbably destructive. + +[Footnote 20: The number of slaves in the United States at the time of +the late census, was something under 700,000.] + +[Footnote 21: Mr. Jefferson most forcibly paints the unhappy influence +on the manners of the people produced by the existence of slavery among +us. The whole commerce between master and slave, says he, is a perpetual +exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism +on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other. Our children +see this, and learn to imitate it; for man is an imitative animal. This +quality is the germ of education in him. From his cradle to his grave he +is learning what he sees others do. If a parent had no other motive +either in his own philanthropy or his self love, for restraining the +intemperance of passion towards his slave, it should always be a +sufficient one that his child is present. But generally it is not +sufficient. The parent storms, the child looks on, catches the +lineaments of wrath, puts on the same airs in the circle of smaller +slaves, gives a loose to his worst of passions; and thus nursed, +educated, and daily exercised in tyranny, cannot but be stamped by it +with odious peculiarities. The man must be a prodigy who can retain his +manners and morals undepraved by such circumstances. And with what +execrations would the statesman be loaded, who permitting one half the +citizens thus to trample on the rights of the other, transforms them +into despots, and these into enemies, destroys the morals of the one +part, and the amor patrię of the other. For if a slave can have a +country in this world, it must be any other in preference to that in +which he is born to live and labour for another; in which he must lock +up the faculties of his nature, contribute as far as depends on his +individual endeavours to the evanishment of the human race, or entail +his own miserable condition on the endless generations proceeding from +him. With the morals of the people, their industry also, is destroyed. +For in a warm climate, no man will labour for himself who can make +another labour for him. This is so true, that of the proprietors of +slaves a very small proportion indeed are ever seen to labour. And can +the liberties of a nation be ever thought secure when we have removed +their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people, that +these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated +but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that +God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever: that considering +numbers, nature, and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of +fortune, an exchange of situation is among possible events: that it may +become probable by supernatural interference! The Almighty has no +attribute which can take side with us in such a contest.--But it is +impossible to be temperate and to pursue this subject through the +various considerations of policy, of morals, of history, natural and +civil. We must be contented to hope they will force their way into every +one's mind. I think a change already perceptible, since the origin of +the present revolution. The spirit of the master is abating, that of the +slave rising from the dust; his condition mollifying; the way I hope +preparing, under the auspices of Heaven, for a total emancipation, and +that this is disposed in the order of events, to be with the consent of +their masters, rather than by their extirpation. Notes on Virginia, +298.] + +[Footnote 22: What is here advanced is not to be understood as implying +an opinion that the labour of slaves is more productive than that of +freemen.--The author of the Treatise on the Wealth of Nations, informs +us, "That it appears from the experience of all ages and nations, that +the work done by freemen comes cheaper in the end than that done by +slaves. That it is found to do so, even in Boston, New-York and +Philadelphia, where the wages of common labour are very high." Vol. 1. +pa. 123. Lond. edit. oct. Admitting this conclusion, it would not remove +the objection that emancipated slaves would not willingly labour.] + +[Footnote 23: Doctor Franklin, it is said, drew the bill for the gradual +abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania.] + +[Footnote 24: It is probable that similar laws have been passed in some +other states; but I have not been able to procure a note of them.] + +[Footnote 25: The object of the amendment proposed to be offered to the +legislature, was to emancipate all slaves born after a certain period; +and further directing that they should continue with their parents to a +certain age, then be brought up, at the public expence, to tillage, +arts, or sciences, according to their geniuses, till the females should +be eighteen, and the males twenty-one years of age, when they should be +colonized to such a place as the circumstances of the time should render +most proper; sending them out with arms, implements of household and of +the handicraft arts, seeds, pairs of the useful domestic animals, &c. to +declare them a free and independent people, and extend to them our +alliance and protection, till they shall have acquired strength; and to +send vessels at the same time to other parts of the world for an equal +number of white inhabitants; to induce whom to migrate hither, proper +encouragements should be proposed. Notes on Virginia, 251.] + +[Footnote 26: It will probably be asked, why not retain the blacks among +us and _incorporate them into the state_? Deep-rooted prejudices +entertained by the whites; ten thousand recollections by the blacks, of +the injuries they have sustained; new provocations; the _real +distinctions_ which _nature_ has made; and many other circumstances will +divide us into parties and produce convulsions, which will probably +never end but in the extermination of one or the other race. To these +objections which are political may be added others which are physical +and moral. The first difference which strikes us is that of colour.--&c. +The circumstance of superior beauty is thought worthy attention in the +propagation of our horses, dogs, and other domestic animals; Why not in +that of man? &c. In general their existence appears to participate more +of sensation than reflection. Comparing them by their faculties of +memory, reason and imagination, it appears to me that in memory they are +equal to the whites; in reason much inferior; that in imagination they +are dull, tasteless and anamolous. &c. The improvement of the blacks in +body and mind, in the first instance of their mixture with the whites, +has been observed by every one, and proves that their inferiority is not +the effect merely of their condition of life. We know that among the +Romans, about the Augustan age, especially, the condition of their +slaves was much more deplorable, than that of the blacks on the +continent of America. Yet among the Romans their slaves were often their +rarest artists. They excelled too in science, insomuch as to be usually +employed as tutors to their masters' children. Epictetus, Terence, and +Phoedrus were slaves. But they were of the race of whites. It is not +their condition then, but nature, which has produced the distinction. +The opinion that they are inferior in the faculties of reason and +imagination, must be hazarded with great diffidence. To justify a +general conclusion requires many observations. &c.--I advance it +therefore as a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a +distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior +to the whites both in the endowments of body and mind. &c. This +unfortunate difference of colour, and perhaps of faculty, is a powerful +obstacle to the emancipation of these people. Among the Romans +emancipation required but one effort. The slave, when made free, might +mix with, without staining, the blood of his master. But with us a +second is necessary, unknown to history.--See the passage at length, +Notes on Virginia, page 252 to 265. + +"In the present case, it is not only the slave who is beneath his +master, it is the Negroe who is beneath the white man. No act of +enfranchisement can efface this unfortunate distinction." Chatelleux's +Travels in America.] + +[Footnote 27: The celebrated David Hume, in his Essay on National +Character, advances the same opinion; Doctor Beattie, in his Essay on +Truth, controverts it with many powerful arguments. Early prejudices, +had we more satisfactory information than we can possibly possess on the +subject at present, would render an inhabitant of a country where Negroe +slavery prevails, an improper umpire between them.] + +The plan therefore which I would presume to propose for the +consideration of my countrymen is such, as the number of slaves, the +difference of their nature, and habits, and the state of agriculture, +among us, might render it _expedient_, rather than _desirable_ to adopt: +and would partake partly of that proposed by Mr. Jefferson, and adopted +in other states; and partly of such cautionary restrictions, as a due +regard to situation and circumstances, and even to _general_ prejudices, +might recommend to those, who engage in so arduous, and perhaps +unprecedented an undertaking. + +1. Let every female born after the adoption of the plan be free, and +transmit freedom to all her descendants, both male and female. + +2. As a compensation to those persons, in whose families such females, +or their descendants may be born, for the expence and trouble of their +maintenance during infancy, let them serve such persons until the age of +twenty-eight years: let them then receive twenty dollars in money, two +suits of clothes, suited to the season, a hat, a pair of shoes, and two +blankets. If these things be not voluntarily done, let the county courts +enforce the performance, upon complaint. + +3. Let all Negroe children be registered with the clerk of the county or +corporation court, where born, within one month after their birth: let +the person in whose family they are born take a copy of the register, +and deliver it to the mother, or if she die to the child, before it is +of the age of twenty-one years. Let any Negroe claiming to be free, and +above the age of puberty, be considered as of the age of twenty-eight +years, if he or she be not registered, as required. + +4. Let all such Negroe servants be put on the same footing as white +servants and apprentices now are, in respect to food, raiment, +correction, and the assignment of their service from one to another. + +5. Let the children of Negroes and mulattoes, born in the families of +their parents, be bound to service by the overseers of the poor, until +they shall attain the age of twenty-one years.--Let all above that age, +who are not housekeepers, nor have voluntarily bound themselves to +service for a year before the first day of February annually, be then +bound for the remainder of the year by the overseers of the poor. Let +the overseers of the poor receive fifteen per cent. of their wages, from +the person hiring them, as a compensation for their trouble, and ten per +cent. per annum out of the wages of such as they may bind apprentices. + +6. If at the age of twenty-seven years, the master of a Negroe or +mulattoe servant be unwilling to pay his freedom dues, above mentioned, +at the expiration of the succeeding year, let him bring him into the +county court, clad and furnished with necessaries as before directed, +and pay into court five dollars, for the use of the servant, and +thereupon let the court direct him to be hired by the overseers of the +poor for the succeeding year, in the manner before directed. + +7. Let no Negroe or mulattoe be capable of taking, holding, or +exercising, any public office, freehold, franchise or privilege, or any +estate in lands or tenements, other than a lease not exceeding +twenty-one years.--Nor of keeping, or bearing arms,[28] unless +authorised so to do by some act of the general assembly, whose duration +shall be limitted to three years. Nor of contracting matrimony with any +other than a Negroe or mulattoe; nor be an attorney; nor be a juror; nor +a witness in any court of judicature, except against; or between Negroes +and mulattoes. Nor be an executor or administrator; nor capable of +making any will or testament; nor maintain any real action; nor be a +trustee of lands or tenements himself, nor any other person to be a +trustee to him or to his use. + +8. Let all persons born after the passing of the act, be considered as +entitled to the same mode of trial in criminal cases, as free Negroes +and mulattoes are now entitled to. + +[Footnote 28: See Spirit of Laws, 12-15.----1. Black Com. 417.] + +The restrictions in this place may appear to favour strongly of +prejudice: whoever proposes any plan for the abolition of slavery, will +find that he must either encounter, or accommodate himself to +prejudice.--I have preferred the latter; not that I pretend to be wholly +exempt from it, but that I might avoid as many obstacles as possible to +the completion of so desirable a work, as the abolition of slavery. +Though I am opposed to the banishment of the Negroes, I wish not to +encourage their future residence among us. By denying them the most +valuable privileges which civil government affords, I wished to render +it their inclination and their interest to seek those privileges in some +other climate. There is an immense unsettled territory on this +continent[29] more congenial to their natural constitutions than ours, +where they may perhaps be received upon more favourable terms than we +can permit them to remain with us. Emigrating in small numbers, they +will be able to effect settlements more easily than in large numbers; +and without the expence or danger of numerous colonies. By releasing +them from the yoke of bondage, and enabling them to seek happiness +wherever they can hope to find it, we surely confer a benefit, which no +one can sufficiently appreciate, who has not tasted of the bitter curse +of compulsory servitude. By excluding them from offices, the seeds of +ambition would be buried too deep, ever to germinate: by disarming them, +we may calm our apprehensions of their resentments arising from past +sufferings; by incapacitating them from holding lands, we should add one +inducement more to emigration, and effectually remove the foundation of +ambition, and party-struggles. Their personal rights, and their +property, though limited, would whilst they remain among us be under the +protection of the laws; and their condition not at all inferior to that +of the _labouring_ poor in most other countries. Under such an +arrangement we might reasonably hope, that time would either remove from +us a race of men, whom we wish not to incorporate with us, or obliterate +those prejudices, which now form an obstacle to such incorporation. + +[Footnote 29: The immense territory of Louisiana, which extends as far +south as the lat. 25° and the two Floridas, would probably afford a +ready asylum for such as might choose to become Spanish subjects. How +far their political rights might be enlarged in these countries, is, +however questionable: but the climate is undoubtedly more favourable to +the African constitution than ours, and from this cause, it is not +improbable that emigrations from these states would in time be very +considerable.] + +But it is not from the want of liberality to the emancipated race of +blacks that I apprehend the most serious objections to the plan I have +ventured to suggest.--Those slave holders (whose numbers I trust are +few) who have been in the habit of considering their fellow creatures as +no more than cattle, and the rest of the brute creation, will exclaim +that they are to be deprived of their _property_, without compensation. +Men who will shut their ears against this moral truth, that all men are +by nature _free_, and _equal_, will not even be convinced that they do +not possess a _property_ in an _unborn_ child: they will not distinguish +between allowing to _unborn_ generations the absolute and unalienable +rights of human nature, and taking away that which they _now possess_; +they will shut their ears against truth, should you tell them, the loss +of the mother's labour for nine months, and the maintenance of a child +for a dozen or fourteen years, is amply compensated by the services of +that child for as many years more, as he has been an expence to them. +But if the voice of reason, justice and humanity be not stifled by +sordid avarice, or unfeeling tyranny, it would be easy to convince even +those who have entertained such erroneous notions, that the right of one +man over another is neither founded in nature, nor in sound policy. That +it cannot extend to those _not in being_; that no man can in reality be +_deprived_ of what he doth not possess: that fourteen years labour by a +young person in the prime of life, is an ample compensation for a few +months of labour lost by the mother, and for the maintenance of a child, +in that coarse homely manner that Negroes are brought up: And lastly, +that a state of slavery is not only perfectly incompatible with the +principles of government, but with the safety and security of their +masters. History evinces this. At this moment we have the most awful +demonstrations of it. Shall we then neglect a duty, which every +consideration, moral, religious, political, or _selfish_, recommends. +Those who wish to postpone the measure, do not reflect that every day +renders the task more arduous to be performed. We have now 300,000 +slaves among us. Thirty years hence we shall have double the number. In +sixty years we shall have 1,200,000. And in less than another century +from this day, even that enormous number will be doubled. Milo acquired +strength enough to carry an ox, by beginning with the ox while he was +yet a calf. If we complain that the calf is too heavy for our shoulders, +what will not the ox be? + +To such as apprehend danger to our agricultural interest, and the +depriving the families of those whose principal reliance is upon their +slaves, of support, it will be proper to submit a view of the gradual +operation, and effects of this plan. They will no doubt be surprized to +hear, that whenever it is adopted, the number of slaves will not be +diminished for forty years after it takes place; that it will even +encrease for thirty years; that at the distance of sixty years, there +will be one-third of the number at its first commencement: that it will +require _above a century_ to complete it; and that the number of blacks +_under twenty-eight_, and consequently bound to service, in the families +they are born in, will always be at least as great, as the present +number of slaves. These circumstances I trust will remove many +objections, and that they are truly stated will appear upon enquiry.[30] +It will further appear, that females only will arrive at the age of +emancipation within the first forty-five years; all the males during +that period, continuing either in slavery, or bound to service till the +age of twenty-eight years. The earth cannot want cultivators, whilst our +population increases as at present, and three-fourths of those employed +therein are held to service, and the remainder compellable to labour. +For we must not lose sight of this important consideration, that these +people must be _bound_ to labour, if they do not _voluntarily_ engage +therein. Their faculties are at present only calculated for that object; +if they be not employed therein they will become drones of the worst +description. In absolving them from the yoke of slavery, we must not +forget the interests of the society. Those interests require the +exertions of every individual in some mode or other; and those who have +not wherewith to support themselves honestly without corporal labour, +whatever be their complexion, ought to be compelled to labour. This is +the case in England, where domestic slavery has long been unknown. It +must also be the case in every well ordered society; and where the +numbers of persons without property increase, there the coertion of the +laws becomes more immediately requisite. The proposed plan would +necessarily have this effect, and therefore ought to be accompanied with +such a regulation. Though the rigours of our police in respect to this +unhappy race ought to be softened, yet, its regularity, and punctual +administration should be increased, rather than relaxed. If we doubt the +propriety of such measures, what must we think of the situation of our +country, when instead of 300,000, we shall have more than _two millions_ +of SLAVES among us? This _must happen within a_ CENTURY, if we do not +set about the abolition of slavery. Will not our posterity curse the +days of their nativity with all the anguish of Job? Will they not +execrate the memory of those ancestors, who, having it in their power to +avert evil, have, like their first parents, entailed a curse upon all +future generations? We know that the rigour of the laws respecting +slaves unavoidably must increase with their numbers: What a +blood-stained code must that be which is calculated for the restraint of +_millions_ held in bondage! Such must our unhappy country exhibit within +a century, unless we are both wise and just enough to avert from +posterity the calamity and reproach, which are otherwise unavoidable. + +[Footnote 30: As it may not be unacceptable to some readers to observe +the operation of this plan, I shall subjoin the following statement: + + +PRELIMINARY REMARKS. + +1. The number of slaves in Virginia by the late census being found to be +292,427, they may now, in round numbers be estimated at 300,000. + +2. Let it be supposed that the males and females are nearly or +altogether equal in number. + +3. According to Dr. Franklin, the people of America double their numbers +in about twenty-eight years; and according to Mr. Jefferson, the negroes +increase as fast as the whites, they will therefore double, at least +every thirty years. + +4. Let it be supposed that in thirty years one half of the present race +of negroes will be extinct. + +5. Let it be supposed that in forty-five years there will not remain +more than one-fifth of the present race alive. + +6. Let it be likewise supposed, that in sixty years the whole of the +present race will be extinct. + +7. For conciseness sake, let the present race be called _ante-nati_, +those born after the adoption of the plan, _post-nati_. + + +FROM HENCE IT WILL FOLLOW, + +1. That the present number of slaves being 300,000. + +2. In thirty years their numbers will amount to 600,000. + +3. But at that period as one half of them will be extinct, (rem. 4.) +their numbers will stand thus: + +Ante-nati, 150,000 + +Post-nati, 450,000 + ---- 600,000. + +4. The mean increase of the post-nati for +the next thirty years will therefore be 450000/30, annually, +or 15,000. + +5. If one half of these be males, who are still +to remain slaves, there will in the first sixteen years, +be born 120,000. + +6. After the first sixteen years, the post-nati females will +begin to breed; the proportion of males born to slavery in the next +twelve years may be estimated at one-fourth of the whole number +born after the commencement of that period. Their number +will be 52,000. + +7. The number of _slaves_ living in Virginia at the end of _thirty_ +years from the adoption of the plan, will be, ante-nati +(prop. 3.) 150,000 + +Post-nati males born in the first +16 years, 120,000 + +Post-nati males born in the last +12 years, 52,500 + + ---- 322,500. + +8. The number of _negroes_ at the same time will stand thus: + +Slaves, 322,500 + +Post-nati +free born, 277,500 + + ---- 600,000. + +9. After twenty-eight years from the first adoption, this plan of +gradual emancipation will first begin to manifest its effects, by the +complete emancipation of one twenty-eighth part of the post-nati free +born during that period each succeeding year, for twenty-eight years +more; their numbers will be, 277500/28, or 9,910. + +These will be all females. + +10. It being admitted that the negroes double every thirty years, the +supposition that in forty-five years, their numbers will be half as many +more as in thirty, will not be very erroneous, if so, the whole race of +them at that period will be 900,000. + +11. Their numbers will stand thus: + +Ante-nati, 60,000 + +Post-nati, 840,000 + + ---- 900,000. + +12. After twenty-eight years are past, the number of slaves born must +continually diminish. Suppose their number born in the last 17 years, to +be one-fourth as many as those born in the preceding twelve years, they +will be 52500/4, or 13,125. + +13. The slaves in Virginia in forty-five years will then be, +ante-nati, 60,000 + +Post-nati males born in the first +sixteen years, 120,000 + +Ditto, born in the next +twelve years 52,500 + +Ditto, born in the last +seventeen years, 13,125 + + ---- 245,625. + +At this period the emancipation of males will begin. + +14. But after twenty eight years it has been shewn that 9,910 negroes +will annually arrive at the age of emancipation, their whole number in +forty-five years will be 168,470. + +15. The state of the negroes at the end of 45 years, will then be, +slaves, 245,625 + +Post-nati fully emancipated +(females), 168,470 + +Post-nati not +emancipated, 485,905 + + ---- 900,000. + +16. In sixty years the whole number of negroes will be + + 1,200,000. + +17. At that period the whole of the present race will be extinct; and we +may also infer that one half of those born in the first thirty years +will be also extinct; the number of slaves born in that period has been +shewn, (prop. 7.) to be 172,500, the number of these then living will be +172,500/2, or 86,250. + +18. One half of the post-nati free born, during that period, being now +fully emancipated, may be likewise presumed to be extinct; their numbers +(prop. 8.) will be, 277,500/2, or 138,750. + +19. The state of the negroes at the end of sixty years, will therefore +be: + +Slaves born during the first +thirty years, 86,250 + +Ditto born after +that period, 13,125 + +Post-nati fully +emancipated, 138,750 + +Post-nati +under 28 years +of age, 961,875 + + ---- 1,200,000. + +20. At the end of ninety years the number of negroes will be + + 2,400,000 + +21. Of this number, those only born after the first thirty years, being +supposed to be living, the number of slaves (prop. 12) will then be +reduced to 13,125. + +22. And as the last mentioned number of slaves are supposed to be born +within forty-five years, their whole number will be extinct in fifteen +years more, that is, in _one hundred =and= five_ years from the first +adoption of the plan. + +23. By prop. 19. it appears, that out of 1,200,000 negroes, there will +then be 961,875 under the age of twenty-eight years, the period of +emancipation. + +24. We may therefore conclude, that from _two-thirds_ to _three-fourths_ +of the whole number of blacks will _always_ be liable to service.] + +I am not vain enough to presume the plan I have suggested entirely free +from objection; nor that in offering my own ideas on the subject, I have +been more fortunate than others: but from the communication of sentiment +between those who lament the evil, it is possible that an effectual +remedy may at length be discovered. Whenever that happens the golden age +of our country will begin. Till then, + +----_Non hospes ab hospite tutus, + +Non Herus ą Famulie: fratrum quoque gratia rara._ + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Dissertation on Slavery, by St. George Tucker + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DISSERTATION ON SLAVERY *** + +***** This file should be named 32239-8.txt or 32239-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/2/3/32239/ + +Produced by Curtis Weyant and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Dissertation on Slavery + With a Proposal for the Gradual Abolition of it, in the + State of Virginia + +Author: St. George Tucker + +Release Date: May 3, 2010 [EBook #32239] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DISSERTATION ON SLAVERY *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis Weyant and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p class="tn box">Transcribers' note: Original spelling has been maintained and not +standardized; footnotes were renumbered for consistency.</p> + + +<h1>A<br> +DISSERTATION<br> +<span class="smaller">ON</span><br> +<i>SLAVERY</i>:<br> +<span class="smaller">WITH</span><br> +A PROPOSAL<br> +<span class="smaller">FOR THE</span><br> +GRADUAL ABOLITION OF IT,<br> +<span class="smaller">IN THE</span><br> +<i>STATE OF VIRGINIA</i>.</h1> + +<p class="p4 center thin">BY ST. GEORGE TUCKER,<br> +<span class="smaller"><i>PROFESSOR OF LAW + IN THE UNIVERSITY OF WILLIAM AND MARY, AND ONE OF THE JUDGES + OF THE GENERAL COURT, IN VIRGINIA</i>.</span></p> + +<p class="p4 center thin"><i>Slavery not only violates the Laws of Nature, and of civil Society, + it also wounds the best Forms of Government: in a Democracy, where + all Men are equal, Slavery is contrary to the Spirit of the + Constitution.</i></p> +<p class="ralign20"><i>MONTESQUIEU.</i></p> + +<p class="p4 center smaller">PHILADELPHIA:<br> +PRINTED FOR MATHEW CAREY,<br> +No. 118, Market-Street.<br> +1796.</p> + +<p class="p4 center"><span class="smaller">TO THE</span><br> +<i>General Assembly of Virginia</i>,</p> + +<div class="thin"> +<p>To whom it belongs to decide +upon the expediency and practicability +of a plan for +the <i>gradual abolition</i> of <i>Slavery</i> +in this commonwealth,</p> + +<p>The following pages are most respectfully submitted + and inscribed,</p> + +<p class="ralign20">BY THE AUTHOR.</p> + +<p><i>Williamsburg, in Virginia,<br> +May 20, 1796.</i></p> +</div> + +<h2>TO THE READER.</h2> + +<p><i>The following pages form a part of a course of Lectures on Law and +Police, delivered in the University of William and Mary, in this +commonwealth. The Author considering the Abolition of Slavery in this +State, as an object of the first importance, not only to our moral +character and domestic peace, but even to our political salvation; and +being persuaded that the accomplishment of so momentous and desirable an +undertaking will in great measure depend upon the early adoption of some +plan for that purpose, with diffidence submits to the consideration of +his countrymen his ideas on a subject of such consequence. He flatters +himself that the plan he ventures to suggest, is liable to fewer +objections than most others that have been submitted to the +consideration of the public, as it will be attended with a gradual +change of condition in the blacks, and cannot possibly affect the +interest either of</i> creditors, <i>or any other description of persons of +the</i> present generation: <i>and posterity he makes no doubt will feel +themselves relieved from a perilous and grievous burden by the timely +adoption of a plan, whose operation may be felt by them, before they are +borne down by a weight which threatens destruction to our happiness both +public and private.</i></p> + + +<p class="p4"><span style="font-size: 1.8em;">☞</span> The following <span class="smcap">ADDITIONAL NOTES</span> have been received from the + Author since the body of this work was printed off.</p> + +<hr class="small"> + +<p class="noindent"><i>In page 20, after the word</i> arms, <i>in line 5, read this note:</i></p> + +<p>This was the case under the laws of the state; but the Act of 2. Cong. + c. 33. for establishing an uniform militia throughout the United + States, seems to have excluded all but free white men from bearing + arms in the militia.</p> + +<hr class="small"> + +<p class="noindent"><i>To the word</i> slave, <i>page 47, line 14, add the following note:</i></p> + +<p>It may not be improper here to note, that the first congress of + the United States, at their third session, Dec. 1793, passed an + act to prohibit the carrying on the slave trade from the United + States to any foreign place or country; the provisions of which + seem well calculated to restrain the citizens of united America + from embarking in so infamous a traffick.</p> + + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page9" name="page9"></a>[p. 9]</span> <h2><span class="smaller">ON THE</span><br> +STATE OF SLAVERY IN VIRGINIA.</h2> + +<p>In the preceding Enquiry<a id="FNanchor1" name="FNanchor1"></a><a href="#Footnote1" title="Go to footnote 1">[1]</a> into the absolute rights of the citizens of +united America, we must not be understood as if those rights were +equally and universally the privilege of all the inhabitants of the +United States, or even of all those, who may challenge this land of +freedom as their native country. Among the blessings which the Almighty +hath showered down on these states, there is a large portion of the +bitterest draught that ever flowed from the cup of affliction. Whilst +America hath been the land of promise to Europeans, and their +descendants, it hath been the vale of death to millions of the wretched +sons of Africa. The genial light of liberty, which hath here shone with +unrivalled lustre on the former, hath yielded no comfort to the latter, +but to them hath proved a pillar of darkness, whilst it hath <span class="pagenum"><a id="page10" name="page10"></a>[p. 10]</span> conducted +the former to the most enviable state of human existence. Whilst we were +offering up vows at the shrine of Liberty, and sacrificing hecatombs +upon her altars; whilst we swore irreconcilable hostility to her +enemies, and hurled defiance in their faces; whilst we adjured the God +of Hosts to witness our resolution to live free, or die, and imprecated +curses on their heads who refused to unite with us in establishing the +empire of freedom; we were imposing upon our fellow men, who differ in +complexion from us, a <i>slavery</i>, ten thousand times more cruel than the +utmost extremity of those grievances and oppressions, of which we +complained. Such are the inconsistencies of human nature; such the +blindness of those who pluck not the beam out of their own eyes, whilst +they can espy a moat, in the eyes of their brother; such that partial +system of morality which confines rights and injuries, to particular +complexions; such the effect of that self-love which justifies, or +condemns, not according to principle, but to the agent. Had we turned +our eyes inwardly when we supplicated the Father of Mercies to aid the +injured and oppressed; when we invoked the Author of Righteousness to +attest the purity of our motives, and the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page11" name="page11"></a>[p. 11]</span> justice of our cause;<a id="FNanchor2" name="FNanchor2"></a><a href="#Footnote2" title="Go to footnote 2">[2]</a> and +implored the God of Battles to aid our exertions in its defence, should +we not have stood more self convicted than the contrite publican! Should +we not have left our gift upon the altar, that we might be first +reconciled to our brethren whom we held in bondage? Should we not have +loosed their chains, and broken their fetters? Or if the difficulties +and dangers of such an experiment prohibited the attempt during the +convulsions of a revolution, is it not our duty to embrace the first +moment of constitutional health and vigour, to effectuate so desirable +an object, and to remove from us a stigma, with which our enemies will +never fail to upbraid us, nor our consciences to reproach us? To form a +just estimate of this obligation, to demonstrate the incompatibility of +a state of slavery with the principles of our government, and of that +revolution upon which it is founded, and to elucidate the practicability +of its total, though gradual, abolition, it will be proper to consider +the nature of slavery, its properties, attendants, and consequences in +general; its rise, progress, and present <span class="pagenum"><a id="page12" name="page12"></a>[p. 12]</span> state not only in this +commonwealth, but in such of our sister states as have either perfected, +or commenced the great work of its extirpation; with the means they have +adopted to effect it, and those which the circumstances and situation of +our country may render it most expedient for us to pursue, for the +attainment of the same noble and important end.<a id="FNanchor3" name="FNanchor3"></a><a href="#Footnote3" title="Go to footnote 3">[3]</a></p> + +<p>According to Justinian; <sup>(1)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>1</sup> Lib. 1. Tit. 2.</span> the first general division of +persons, in respect to their rights, is into freemen and slaves. It is +equally the glory and the happiness of that country from which the +citizens of the United States derive their origin, that the traces of +slavery, such as at present exists in several of the United States, are +there utterly extinguished. It is not my design to enter into a minute +enquiry whether it ever had existence there, nor to compare the +situation of villeins, during the existence of pure villenage, with that +of modern domestic slaves. The records of those times, at least, such as +have reached this <span class="pagenum"><a id="page13" name="page13"></a>[p. 13]</span> quarter of the globe, are too few to throw a +satisfactory light on the subject. Suffice it that our ancestors +migrating hither brought not with them any prototype of that slavery +which hath been established among us. The first introduction of it into +Virginia was by the arrival of a Dutch ship from the coast of Africa +having <i>twenty</i> Negroes on board, who were sold here in the year 1620. +<sup>(2)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>2</sup> Stith 182.</span> In the year 1638 we find them in Massachusetts.<a id="FNanchor4" name="FNanchor4"></a><a href="#Footnote4" title="Go to footnote 4">[4]</a> They +were introduced into Connecticut soon after the settlement of that +colony; that is to say, about the same period.<a id="FNanchor5" name="FNanchor5"></a><a href="#Footnote5" title="Go to footnote 5">[5]</a> Thus early had our +forefathers sown the seeds of an evil, which, like a leprosy, hath +descended upon their posterity with accumulated rancour, visiting the +sins of the fathers upon succeeding generations.—The climate of the +northern states less favourable to the constitution of the natives of +Africa, <sup>(3)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>3</sup> Dr. Belknap. Zephan. Swift.</span> than the southern, proved alike +unfavourable to their propagation, and to the increase of their numbers +by importations. As the southern colonies advanced in population, not +only importations increased there, but Nature herself, under a climate +more congenial to the African constitution, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page14" name="page14"></a>[p. 14]</span> assisted in multiplying the +blacks in those parts, no less than in diminishing their numbers in the +more rigorous climates of the north; this influence of climate moreover +contributed extremely to increase or diminish the value of the slave to +the purchasers, in the different colonies. White labourers, whose +constitutions were better adapted to the severe winters of the New +England colonies, were there found to be preferable to the Negroes, <sup>(4)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>4</sup> Dr. +Belknap. Zephan. Swift.</span> who, accustomed to the influence of an ardent +sun, became almost torpid in those countries, not less adapted to give +vigour to their laborious exercises, than unfavourable to the +multiplication of their species; in those colonies, where the winters +were not only milder, and of shorter duration, but succeeded by an +intense summer heat, as invigorating to the African, as debilitating to +the European constitution, the Negroes were not barely more capable of +performing labour than the Europeans, or their descendants, but the +multiplication of the species was at least equal; and, where they met +with humane treatment, perhaps greater than among the whites. The +purchaser therefore calculated not upon the value of the labour of his +slave only, but, if a female, he regarded her <span class="pagenum"><a id="page15" name="page15"></a>[p. 15]</span> as "the fruitful mother of +an hundred more:" and many of these unfortunate people have there been +in this state, whose descendants even in the compass of two or three +generations have gone near to realize the calculation.—The great +increase of slavery in the southern, in proportion to the northern +states in the union, is therefore not attributable, <i>solely</i>, to the +effect of sentiment, but to natural causes; as well as those +considerations of profit, which have, perhaps, an equal influence over +the conduct of mankind in general, in whatever country, or under +whatever climate their destiny hath placed them. What else but +considerations of this nature could have influenced the merchants of the +freest nation, at that time in the world, to embark in so nefarious a +traffic, as that of the human race, attended, as the African slave trade +has been, with the most atrocious aggravations of cruelty, perfidy, and +intrigues, the objects of which have been the perpetual fomentation of +predatory and intestine wars? What, but similar considerations, could +prevail on the government of the same country, even in these days, to +patronize a commerce so diametrically opposite to the generally received +maxims of that <span class="pagenum"><a id="page16" name="page16"></a>[p. 16]</span> government. It is to the operation of these +considerations in the parent country, not less than to their influence +in the colonies, that the rise, increase, and continuance of slavery in +those British colonies which now constitute united America, are to be +attributed, as I shall endeavour to shew in the course of the present +enquiry. It is now time to enquire into the nature of slavery, in +general, and take a view of its consequences, and attendants in this +commonwealth, in particular.</p> + +<p>Slavery, says a well informed writer <sup>(5)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>5</sup> Hargrave's case of Negroe +Somerset.</span> on the subject, has been attended with circumstances so +various in different countries, as to render it difficult to give a +general definition of it. Justinian calls it a constitution of the law +of nations, by which one man is made subject to another, contrary to +nature. <sup>(6)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>6</sup> Lib. 1. Tit. 3. Sect. 2.</span> Grotius describes it to be an +obligation to serve another for life, in consideration of diet, and +other common necessaries. <sup>(7)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>7</sup> Lib. 2. c. 5. Sect. 27</span> Dr. Rutherforth, +rejecting this definition, informs us, that perfect slavery is an +obligation to be directed by another in all one's actions. <sup>(8)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>8</sup> Lib. 1. c. +20. pa. 474.</span> Baron Montesquieu defines it to be the establishment of a +right, which gives one man such a power over another, as renders him +absolute master over his life and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page17" name="page17"></a>[p. 17]</span> fortune. <sup>(9)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>9</sup> Lib. 15. c. 1.</span> These +definitions appear not to embrace the subject fully, since they respect +the condition of the slave, in regard to his <i>master</i>, only, and not in +regard to the <i>state</i>, as well as the <i>master</i>. The author last +mentioned observes, that the constitution of a state may be free, and +the subject not so. The subject free, and not the constitution of the +state. <sup>(10)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>10</sup> Lib. 12. c. 1.</span> Pursuing this idea, instead of attempting a +general definition of slavery; I shall, by considering it under a +threefold aspect, endeavour to give a just idea of its nature.</p> + +<p>I. When a nation is, from any external cause, deprived of the right of +being governed by its own laws, only, such a nation may be considered +as in a state of <i>political slavery</i>. Such is the state of conquered +countries, and generally, of colonies, and other dependant +governments. Such was the state of united America before the +revolution. In this case the personal rights of the subject may be so +far secured by wholesome laws, as that the individual may be esteemed +free, whilst the state is subject to a higher power: this subjection +of one nation, or people, to the will of another, constitutes the +first species of slavery, which, in order to distinguish <span class="pagenum"><a id="page18" name="page18"></a>[p. 18]</span> it from the +other two, I have called political; inasmuch as it exists only in +respect to the governments, and not to the individuals of the two +countries. Of this it is not our business to speak, at present.</p> + +<p>II. Civil liberty being, no other than natural liberty so far +restrained by human laws, and no farther, as is necessary and +expedient for the general advantage of the public, <sup>(11)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>11</sup> Blackstone's Com. +c. 125</span> whenever that liberty is, by the laws of the state, further +restrained than is necessary and expedient for the general advantage, +a state of <i>civil slavery</i> commences immediately: this may affect the +whole society, and every description of persons in it, and yet the +constitution of the state be perfectly free. And this happens whenever +the laws of a state respect the form, or energy of the government, +more than the happiness of the citizen; as in Venice, where the most +oppressive species of civil slavery exists, extending to every +individual in the state, from the poorest gondolier to the members of +the senate, and the doge himself.</p> + +<p>This species of slavery also exists whenever there is an inequality of +rights, or privileges, between the subjects or citizens of the same +state, except such as necessarily result from the exercise of a public +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page19" name="page19"></a>[p. 19]</span> office; for the pre-eminence of one class of men must be founded and +erected upon the depression of another; and the measure of exaltation +in the former, is that of the slavery of the latter. In all +governments, however constituted, or by what description soever +denominated, wherever the distinction of rank prevails, or is admitted +by the constitution, this species of slavery exists. It existed in +every nation, and in every government in Europe before the French +revolution. It existed in the American colonies before they became +independent states; and notwithstanding the maxims of equality which +have been adopted in their several constitutions, it exists in most, +if not all, of them, at this day, in the persons of our free Negroes +and mulattoes; whose civil incapacities are almost as numerous as the +civil rights of our free citizens. A brief enumeration of them, may +not be improper before we proceed to the third head.</p> + +<p>Free Negroes and mulattoes are by our constitution excluded from the +right of suffrage,<a id="FNanchor6" name="FNanchor6"></a><a href="#Footnote6" title="Go to footnote 6">[6]</a> and by consequence, I apprehend, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page20" name="page20"></a>[p. 20]</span> from office +too: they were formerly incapable of serving in the militia, except as +drummers or pioneers, but now I presume they are enrolled in the lists +of those that bear arms, though formerly punishable for presuming to +appear at a muster-field. <sup>(12)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>12</sup> 1723. c. 2.</span> During the revolution war many +of them were enlisted as soldiers in the regular army. Even slaves +were not rejected from military service at that period, and such as +served faithfully during the period of their enlistment, were +emancipated by an act passed after the conclusion of the war. <sup>(13)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>13</sup> Oct. +1783. c. 3.</span> An act of justice to which they were entitled upon every +principle. All but housekeepers, and persons residing upon the +frontiers are prohibited from keeping, or carrying any gun, powder, +shot, club, or other weapon offensive or defensive: <sup>(14)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>14</sup> 1748. c. 31. Edit. +1794.</span> Resistance to a white person, in any case, was, formerly, and +now, in any case, except a wanton assault on the Negroe or mulattoe, +is punishable by whipping. <sup>(15)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>15</sup> Ib. c. 103.</span> No Negroe or mulattoe can be +a witness <span class="pagenum"><a id="page21" name="page21"></a>[p. 21]</span> in any prosecution, or civil suit in which a white person is +a party. <sup>(16)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>16</sup> 1794. c. 141.</span> Free Negroes together with slaves were +formerly denied the benefit of clergy in cases where it was allowed to +white persons; but they are now upon an equal footing as to the +allowance of clergy, though not as to the consequence of that +allowance, inasmuch as the court may superadd other corporal +punishments to the burning in the hand usually inflicted upon white +persons, in the like cases. <sup>(17)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>17</sup> 1794. c. 103.</span> Emancipated Negroes may be +sold to pay the debts of their former master contracted before their +emancipation; and they may be hired out to satisfy their taxes where +no sufficient distress can be had. Their children are to be bound out +apprentices by the overseers of the poor. Free Negroes have all the +advantages in capital cases, which white men are entitled to, except a +trial by a jury of their own complexion: and a slave suing for his +freedom shall have the same privilege. Free Negroes residing, or +employed to labour in any town must be registered; the same thing is +required of such as go at large in any county. The penalty in both +cases is a fine upon the person employing, or harbouring them, and +imprisonment of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page22" name="page22"></a>[p. 22]</span> Negroe. <sup>(18)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>18</sup> 1794. c. 163.</span> The migration of free +Negroes or mulattoes to this state is also prohibited; and those who +do migrate hither may be sent back to the place from whence they came. +<sup>(19)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>19</sup> 1794. c. 164.</span> Any person, not being a Negroe, having one-fourth or +more Negroe blood in him is deemed a mulattoe. The law makes no other +distinction between Negroes and mulattoes, whether slaves or freemen. +These incapacities and disabilities are evidently the fruit of the +third species of slavery, of which it remains to speak; or, rather, +they are scions from the same common stock: which is,</p> + +<p>III. That condition in which one man is subject to be directed by +another in all his actions; and this constitutes a state of <i>domestic +slavery</i>; to which state all the incapacities and disabilities of +civil slavery are incident, with the weight of other numerous +calamities superadded thereto. And here it may be proper to make a +short enquiry into the origin and foundation of domestic slavery in +other countries, previous to its fatal introduction into this.</p> + +<p>Slaves, says Justinian, are either born such or become so. <sup>(20)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>20</sup> Inst. lib. 1. +tit. 1.</span> They are born slaves when they are children of bond women; and +they become slaves, either <span class="pagenum"><a id="page23" name="page23"></a>[p. 23]</span> by the law of nations, that is, by captivity; +for it is the practice of our generals to sell their captives, being +accustomed to preserve, and not to destroy them: or by the civil law, +which happens when a free person, above the age of twenty, suffers +himself to be sold for the sake of sharing the price given for him. The +author of the Commentaries on the Laws of England thus combats the +reasonableness of all these grounds: <sup>(21)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>21</sup> 1. b. c. 423.</span> "The conqueror," +says he, "according to the civilians, had a right to the life of his +captives; and having spared that, has a right to deal with him as he +pleases. But it is an untrue position, when taken generally, that by the +law of nature or nations, a man may kill his enemy: he has a right to +kill him only in particular cases; in cases of absolute necessity for +self-defence; and it is plain that this absolute necessity did not +subsist, since the victor did not actually kill him, but made him +prisoner. War itself is justifiable only on principles of +self-preservation; and therefore it gives no other right over prisoners +but merely to disable them from doing harm to us, by confining their +persons: much less can it give a right to kill, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page24" name="page24"></a>[p. 24]</span> torture, abuse, plunder, +or even to enslave, an enemy, when the war is over. Since therefore the +right of <i>making</i> slaves by captivity, depends on a supposed right of +slaughter, that foundation failing, the consequence drawn from it must +fail likewise. But, secondly, it is said slavery may begin <i>jure +civili</i>; when one man sells himself to another. This, if only meant of +contracts to serve, or work for, another, is very just: but when applied +to strict slavery, in the sense of the laws of old Rome or modern +Barbary, is also impossible. Every sale implies a price, a <i>quid pro +quo</i>, an equivalent given to the seller, in lieu of what he transfers to +the buyer; but what equivalent can be given for life and liberty, both +of which, in absolute slavery, are held to be in the master's disposal? +His property, also, the very price he seems to receive, devolves, <i>ipso +facto</i>, to his master, the instant he becomes a slave. In this case, +therefore, the buyer gives nothing, and the seller receives nothing: of +what validity then can a sale be, which destroys the very principles +upon which all sales are founded? Lastly we are told, that <span class="pagenum"><a id="page25" name="page25"></a>[p. 25]</span> besides these +two ways by which slaves are acquired, they may also be hereditary; +"<i>servi nascuntur</i>;" the children of acquired slaves are, "jure naturę," +by a negative kind of birthright, slaves also.—But <i>this, being built +on the two former rights</i>, must <i>fall</i> together with them. If neither +captivity, nor the sale of one's self, can by the law of nature and +reason reduce the parent to slavery, <i>much less</i> can they reduce the +offspring." Thus by the most clear, manly, and convincing reasoning does +this excellent author refute every claim upon which the practice of +slavery is founded, or by which it has been supposed to be justified, at +least, in modern times.<a id="FNanchor7" name="FNanchor7"></a><a href="#Footnote7" title="Go to footnote 7">[7]</a> But were we even to admit, that a captive +taken in a <i>just war</i>, might by his conqueror be reduced to a state of +slavery, this could not justify the claim of Europeans to reduce the +natives of Africa to that state: it is a melancholy, though well-known +fact, that in order to furnish supplies of these unhappy people for the +purposes of the slave trade, the Europeans have constantly, by the most +insidious (I had almost said infernal) arts, fomented <span class="pagenum"><a id="page26" name="page26"></a>[p. 26]</span> a kind of +perpetual warfare among the ignorant and miserable people of Africa; and +instances have not been wanting, where, by the most shameful breach of +faith, they have trepanned end made slaves of the <i>sellers</i> as well as +the <i>sold</i>.<a id="FNanchor8" name="FNanchor8"></a><a href="#Footnote8" title="Go to footnote 8">[8]</a> <span class="pagenum"><a id="page27" name="page27"></a>[p. 27]</span> That such horrid practices have been sanctioned by a +civilized nation; that a <span class="pagenum"><a id="page28" name="page28"></a>[p. 28]</span> nation ardent in the cause of liberty, and +enjoying its blessings in the fullest extent, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page29" name="page29"></a>[p. 29]</span> can continue to vindicate +a right established upon such a foundation; that a people <span class="pagenum"><a id="page30" name="page30"></a>[p. 30]</span> who have +declared, "That <i>all men</i> are by nature <i>equally</i> <sup>(22)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>22</sup> Bill of Rights, art. +1.</span> <i>free</i> and <i>independent</i>," and have made this declaration the first +article in the foundation of their government, should in defiance of so +sacred a truth, recognized by themselves in so solemn a manner, and on +so important an occasion, tolerate a practice incompatible therewith, is +such an evidence of the weakness and inconsistency of human nature, as +every man who hath a spark of patriotic fire in his bosom must wish to +see removed from his own country. If ever there was a cause, if ever an +occasion, in which all hearts should be united, every nerve strained, +and every power exerted, surely the restoration of human nature to its +inalienable right is such: Whatever obstacles, therefore, may hitherto +have retarded the attempt, he that can appreciate the honour and +happiness of his country, will think it time that we should attempt to +surmount them.</p> + +<p>But how loudly soever reason, justice, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page31" name="page31"></a>[p. 31]</span> and (may I not add) religion,<a id="FNanchor9" name="FNanchor9"></a><a href="#Footnote9" title="Go to footnote 9">[9]</a> +condemn the practice of slavery, it is acknowledged to have been very +ancient, and almost universal. The Greeks, the Romans, and the ancient +Germans also practiced it, as well as the more ancient Jews and +Egyptians. By the Germans it was transmitted to the various kingdoms +which arose in Europe out of the ruins of the Roman empire. In England +it subsisted for some ages under the name of <i>villeinage</i>.<a id="FNanchor10" name="FNanchor10"></a><a href="#Footnote10" title="Go to footnote 10">[10]</a> In Asia +it seems to have <span class="pagenum"><a id="page32" name="page32"></a>[p. 32]</span> been general, and in Africa universal, and so remains +to this day: In Europe it hath long since declined; its first declension +there, is said to have been in Spain, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page33" name="page33"></a>[p. 33]</span> as early as the eighth century; +and it is alleged to have been general about the middle of the +fourteenth, and was near expiring in the sixteenth, when the discovery +of the American continent, and the eastern and western coasts of Africa +gave rise to the introduction of a new species of slavery. It took its +origin from the Portuguese, who, in order to supply the Spaniards with +persons able to sustain the fatigue of cultivating their new possessions +in America, particularly the islands, opened a trade between Africa and +America for the sale of Negroes, about the year 1508. The expedient of +having slaves for <span class="pagenum"><a id="page34" name="page34"></a>[p. 34]</span> labour was not long peculiar to the Spaniards, being +afterwards adopted by other European colonies: <sup>(23)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>23</sup> Hargrave, ib.</span> and +though some attempts have been made to stop its progress in most of the +United States, and several of them have the fairest prospects of success +in attempting the extirpation of it, yet is others, it hath taken such +deep root, as to require the most strenuous exertions to eradicate it.</p> + +<p>The first introduction of Negroes into Virginia happened, as we have +already mentioned, in the year 1620; from that period to the year 1662 +there is no compilation of our laws, in print, now to be met with. In +the revision made in that year, we find an act declaring that no +Englishman, trader, or other, who shall bring in any Indians as servants +and assign them over to any other, shall sell them for <i>slaves</i>, nor for +any other time than English of like age should serve by act of assembly. +<sup>(24)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>24</sup> 1662. c. 136.</span> The succeeding session all children born in this +country were declared to be bond, or free, according to the condition of +the mother. <sup>(25)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>25</sup> 1662. Sess. d. c. 12.</span> In 1667 it was declared, "That the +conferring of baptism doth not alter the condition of the person +baptized, as to his bondage or freedom." <sup>(26)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>26</sup> 1667. c. 2.</span> This was <span class="pagenum"><a id="page35" name="page35"></a>[p. 35]</span> done, +"that divers masters freed from this doubt may more carefully endeavour +the propagating of Christianity, by permitting their slaves to be +baptized." It would have been happy for this unfortunate race of men if +the same tender regard for their bodies, had always manifested itself in +our laws, as is shewn for their souls in this act. But this was not the +case; for two years after, we meet with an act, declaring, "That if any +slave resist his master, or others, by his master's orders correcting +him, and by the extremity of the correction should chance to die, such +death should not be accounted felony: but the master or other person +appointed by his master to punish him, be acquit from molestation: +<i>since it could not be presumed that prepensive malice</i>, which alone +makes <i>murder felony</i>, should induce any man to destroy his own +estate."<a id="FNanchor11" name="FNanchor11"></a><a href="#Footnote11" title="Go to footnote 11">[11]</a> This cruel and tyrannical <span class="pagenum"><a id="page36" name="page36"></a>[p. 36]</span> act was, at three different +periods <sup>(27)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>27</sup> 1705. c. 49. 1723. c. 4. 1748. c. 31.</span> re-enacted, with very +little alteration; and was not finally repealed till the year 1788 +<sup>(28)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>28</sup> 1788. c. 23.</span>—above a century after it had first disgraced our code. +In 1668 we meet with the first traces of emancipation, in an act which +subjects Negroe women set free to the tax on titheables. <sup>(29)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>29</sup> 1668. c. 7.</span> +Two years after, <sup>(30)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>30</sup> 1670. c. 5.</span> an act passed prohibiting <i>Indians</i> or +Negroes, manumitted, or otherwise set free, though baptized, from +purchasing Christian servants. <sup>(31)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>31</sup> 1670. c. 12.</span> From this act it is +evident that <i>Indians</i> had <i>before</i> that time been made slaves, as well +as Negroes, though we have no traces of the original act by which they +were reduced to that condition. An act of the same session recites that +disputes had arisen whether Indians taken in war by any other nation, +and by that nation sold to the English, are servants for <i>life</i>, or for +a term of years; and declaring that all <i>servants</i>, not being +Christians, imported into this country by <i>shipping</i>, shall be <i>slaves</i> +for their life-time; but that what shall come by land, shall serve, if +boys and girls, until thirty years of age; if men and women twelve +years, and no longer. On a rupture with the Indians in the year 1679 it +was, for the <i>better encouragement <span class="pagenum"><a id="page37" name="page37"></a>[p. 37]</span> of soldiers</i>, declared that what +<i>Indian</i> prisoners should be <i>taken in war</i> should be free purchase to +the soldier <i>taking</i> them. <sup>(32)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>32</sup> 1679. c. 1.</span> Three years after it was +declared that all <i>servants</i> brought into this country by sea or land, +not being Christians, whether Negroes, Moors, mulattoes or Indians, +except Turks and Moors in amity with Great Britain, and all Indians +which should thereafter be sold by neighbouring Indians, or any others +trafficking with us, as slaves, should be slaves to all intents and +purposes. <sup>(33)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>33</sup> 1682. c. 1.</span> This act was re-enacted in the year 1705, and +afterwards in 1753, <sup>(34)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>34</sup> 1705 c. 49. 1753. c. 2.</span> nearly in the same terms. +In 1705 an act was made, authorising a free and open trade for all +persons, at all times, and at all places, with all Indians whatsoever. +<sup>(35)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>35</sup> 1705 c. 52.</span> On the authority of this act, the general court in April +term 1787 decided that no Indians brought into Virginia since the +passing thereof, nor their descendants, can be slaves in this +commonwealth.<a id="FNanchor12" name="FNanchor12"></a><a href="#Footnote12" title="Go to footnote 12">[12]</a> <span class="pagenum"><a id="page38" name="page38"></a>[p. 38]</span> In October 1778 the general assembly passed the first +act which occurs in our code for prohibiting the importation of slaves; +<sup>(36)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>36</sup> 1778. c. 1.</span> thereby declaring that no slave should thereafter be +brought into this commonwealth by land, or by water; and that every +slave imported contrary thereto, should upon such importation be free: +with an exception as to such as might belong to persons migrating from +the other states, or be claimed by descent, devise, or marriage, or be +at that time the actual property of any citizen of this commonwealth, +residing in any other of the United States, or belonging to travellers +making a transient stay, and carrying their slaves away with them.—In +1705 this act unfortunately underwent some alteration, by declaring that +slaves thereafter brought into this commonwealth, and kept therein one +whole <i>year together</i>, or so long at different times as shall <i>amount to +a year</i>, shall be free. By <span class="pagenum"><a id="page39" name="page39"></a>[p. 39]</span> this means the difficulty of proving the +right to freedom will be not a little augmented: for the fact of the +first importation, where the right to freedom immediately ensued, might +have been always proved without difficulty; but where a slave is subject +to removal from place to place, and his right to freedom is postponed +for so long a time as a whole year, or perhaps several years, the +provisions in favour of liberty may be too easily evaded. The same act +declares that no persons shall thenceforth be slaves in this +commonwealth, except such as were so on the first day of that session +(Oct. 17th, 1785), and the descendants of the females of them. This act +was re-enacted in the revisal made in 1792. <sup>(37)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>37</sup> See acts of 1794, c. 103.</span> +In 1793 an additional act passed, authorising and requiring any justice +of the peace having notice of the importation of any slaves, directly or +indirectly, from any part of Africa or the West Indies, to cause such +slave to be immediately apprehended and transported out of the +commonwealth. <sup>(38)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>38</sup> Edit. of 1794. c. 164.</span> Such is the rise, progress, and +present foundation of slavery in Virginia, so far as I have been able to +trace it. The present number of slaves in Virginia, is immense, as +appears by the census taken in 1791, amounting <span class="pagenum"><a id="page40" name="page40"></a>[p. 40]</span> to no less than 292,427 +souls: nearly two-fifths of the whole population of the +commonwealth.<a id="FNanchor13" name="FNanchor13"></a><a href="#Footnote13" title="Go to footnote 13">[13]</a> We may console ourselves with the hope that this +proportion <span class="pagenum"><a id="page41" name="page41"></a>[p. 41]</span> will not increase, the further importation of slaves being +prohibited, whilst the free migrations of white people hither is +encouraged. But this hope affords no other relief from the evil of +slavery, than a diminution of those apprehensions which are naturally +excited by the detention of so large a number of oppressed individuals +among us, and the possibility that they may one day be roused to an +attempt to shake off their chains.</p> + +<p>Whatever inclination the first inhabitants of Virginia might have to +encourage slavery, a disposition to check its progress, and increase, +manifested itself in the legislature even before the close of the last +century. So long ago as the year 1669 we find the title of an act, <sup>(39)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>39</sup> Edit. +of 1733. c. 12.</span> laying an imposition upon <i>servants</i>, and <i>slaves</i>, +imported into this country; which was either continued, revised, or +increased, by a variety of temporary acts, passed between that period +and the revolution in 1776.<a id="FNanchor14" name="FNanchor14"></a><a href="#Footnote14" title="Go to footnote 14">[14]</a>—One of these acts passed in 1723, by a +marginal note appears to have been repealed by proclamation, Oct. 24, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page42" name="page42"></a>[p. 42]</span> 1724. In 1732 a duty of five per cent. was laid on slaves imported, to +be paid by the buyers; a measure calculated to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page43" name="page43"></a>[p. 43]</span> render it as little +obnoxious as possible to the <i>English</i> merchants trading to Africa, and +not improbably suggested by them, to the privy council in England. The +preamble to this act is in these remarkable words, "We your majesty's +most dutiful and loyal subjects, &c. taking into our serious +consideration the exigencies of your government here, and that the duty +laid upon liquors will not be sufficient to defray the necessary +expences thereof, do humbly represent to your majesty, that <i>no other</i> +duty can be laid upon our import or export, without oppressing your +subjects, than a duty upon <i>slaves imported</i>, to be paid by the buyers, +<i>agreeable to your majesty's instructions</i> to your lieutenant governor." +This act was only for the short period of four years, but seems to have +been continued from time to time till the year 1751, when the duty +expired, but was revived the next year. In the year 1740 an additional +duty of five per cent. was imposed for four years, for the purpose of an +expedition against the Spaniards, &c. to be likewise paid by the buyers: +and in 1742 the whole duty was continued till July 1, 1747.—The act of +1752, by which these duties were revived <span class="pagenum"><a id="page44" name="page44"></a>[p. 44]</span> and continued (as well as +several former acts), takes notice that the duty had been found <i>no ways +burdensome to the traders</i> in slaves. In 1754 an additional duty of five +per cent. was imposed for the term of three years, by an act for +encouraging and protecting the settlers on the Missisippi: this duty, +like all the former, was to be paid by the buyers. In 1759 a duty of 20 +per cent. was imposed upon all slaves imported into Virginia from +Maryland, North Carolina, or other places in America, to continue for +seven years. In 1769 the same duty was further continued. In the same +session the duty of five per cent. was continued for three years, and an +additional duty of ten per cent. to be likewise paid by the buyers, was +imposed for seven years; and a further duty of five per cent. was, by a +separate act of the same session, imposed for the better support of the +contingent charges of government, to be paid by the buyers. In 1772 all +these duties were further continued for the term of five years from the +expiration of the acts then in force: the assembly at the same time +petitioned the throne,<a id="FNanchor15" name="FNanchor15"></a><a href="#Footnote15" title="Go to footnote 15">[15]</a> <span class="pagenum"><a id="page45" name="page45"></a>[p. 45]</span> <i>to remove all those restraints which +inhibited</i> his majesty's governors assenting to such <i>laws</i> as <i>might +check so very pernicious a commerce</i>, as that of slavery.</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page46" name="page46"></a>[p. 46]</span> <p>In the course of this enquiry it is easy to trace the desire of the +legislature to put a stop to the further importation of slaves; and had +not this desire been uniformly opposed on the part of the crown, it is +highly probable that event would have taken effect at a much earlier +period than it did. A duty of five per cent. to be paid by the buyers, +at first, with difficulty obtained the royal assent. Requisitions from +the crown for aids, on particular occasions, afforded a pretext from +time to time for increasing the duty from five, to ten, and finally to +twenty per cent. with which the <i>buyer</i> was uniformly made chargeable. +The wishes of the people of this colony, were not sufficient to +counterbalance the interest of the English merchants, trading to Africa, +and it is probable, that however disposed to put a stop to so infamous a +traffic by law, we should never have been able to effect it, so long as +we might have continued dependant on the British government: an object +sufficient of itself to justify a <span class="pagenum"><a id="page47" name="page47"></a>[p. 47]</span> revolution. That the legislature of +Virginia were <i>sincerely</i> disposed to put a stop to it, cannot be +doubted; for even during the tumult and confusion of the revolution, we +have seen that they availed themselves of the earliest opportunity, to +crush for ever so pernicious and infamous a commerce, by an act passed +in October 1778, the penalties of which, though apparently lessened by +the act of 1792, are still equal to the value of the slave; being two +hundred dollars upon the importer, and one hundred dollars upon every +person buying or selling an imported slave.</p> + +<p>A system uniformly persisted in for nearly a whole century, and finally +carried into effect, so soon as the legislature was unrestrained by "the +inhuman exercise of the royal negative," evinces the sincerity of that +disposition which the legislature had shewn during so long a period, to +put a check to the growing evil. From the time that the duty was raised +above five per cent. it is probable that the importation of slaves into +this colony decreased. The demand for them in the more southern colonies +probably contributed also to lessen the numbers imported into this: for +some years immediately preceding the revolution, the importation of +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page48" name="page48"></a>[p. 48]</span> slaves into Virginia might almost be considered as at an end; and +probably would have been entirely so, if the ingenuity of the merchant +had not found out the means of evading the heavy duty, by pretended +sales, at which the slaves were bought in by some friend, at a quarter +of their real value.</p> + +<p>Tedious and unentertaining as this detail may appear to all others, a +citizen of Virginia will feel some satisfaction at reading so clear a +vindication of his country, from the opprobrium, but too lavishly +bestowed upon her of fostering slavery in her bosom, whilst she boasts a +sacred regard to the liberty of her citizens, and of mankind in general. +The acrimony of such censures must abate, at least in the breasts of the +candid, upon an impartial review of the subject here brought before +them; and if in addition to what we have already advanced, they consider +the difficulties attendant on any plan for the abolition of slavery, in +a country where so large a proportion of the inhabitants are slaves; and +where a still larger proportion of the cultivators of the earth are of +that description of men, they will probably feel emotions of sympathy +and compassion, both for the slave and for <span class="pagenum"><a id="page49" name="page49"></a>[p. 49]</span> his master, succeed to those +hasty prejudices, which even the best dispositions are not exempt from +contracting, upon subjects where there is a deficiency of information.</p> + +<p>We are next to consider the condition of slaves in Virginia, or +the legal consequences attendant on a state of slavery in this +commonwealth; and here it is not my intention to notice those +laws, which consider slaves, merely as <i>property</i>, and have from +time to time been enacted to regulate the disposition of them, +<i>as such</i>; for these will be more properly considered elsewhere: +my intention at present is therefore to take a view of such laws, +only, as regard slaves, as a distinct class of <i>persons</i>, whose +rights, if indeed they possess any, are reduced to a much +narrower compass, than those, of which we have been speaking +before.</p> + +<p>Civil rights, we may remember, are reducible to three primary heads; the +right of personal security; the right of personal liberty; and the right +of private property. In a state of slavery the two last are wholly +abolished, the person of the slave being at the absolute disposal of his +master; and property, what he is incapable, in that state, either of +acquiring, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page50" name="page50"></a>[p. 50]</span> or holding, to his own use. Hence it will appear how +perfectly irreconcilable a state of slavery is to the principles of a +democracy, which form the <i>basis</i> and <i>foundation</i> of our government. +For our bill of rights declares, "that all men are by nature <i>equally +free</i> and independent, and have certain rights of which they cannot +deprive or divest their posterity—namely, the enjoyment of life and +<i>liberty</i>, with the means of <i>acquiring</i> and <i>possessing property</i>." +This is indeed no more than a recognition of the first principles of the +law of nature, which teaches us this equality, and enjoins every man, +whatever advantages he may possess over another, as to the various +qualities or endowments of body or mind, to practice the precepts of the +law of nature to those who are in these respects his <i>inferiors</i>, no +less than it enjoins his <i>inferiors</i> to practise them towards <i>him</i>. +Since he has no more right to insult <i>them</i>, than they have to injure +him. Nor does the <i>bare unkindness of nature</i> or of fortune condemn a +man to a <i>worse</i> condition than others, as to the enjoyment of common +privileges. <sup>(40)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>40</sup> Spavan's Puff. vol. 1. c. 17.</span> It would be hard to +reconcile reducing the Negroes to a state of slavery to these +principles, unless we first <span class="pagenum"><a id="page51" name="page51"></a>[p. 51]</span> degrade them below the rank of human beings, +not only politically, but also physically and morally.—The Roman +lawyers look upon those only properly as <i>persons</i>, who are <i>free</i>, +putting <i>slaves</i> into the rank of <i>goods</i> and <i>chattels</i>; and the policy +of our legislature, as well as the practice of slave-holders in America +in general, seems conformable to that idea: but surely it is time we +should admit the evidence of moral truth, and learn to regard them as +our fellow men, and equals, except in those particulars where accident, +or perhaps nature, may have give us some advantage; a recompence for +which they perhaps enjoy in other respects.</p> + +<p>Slavery, says Hargrave, always imports an obligation of perpetual +service, which only the consent of the master can dissolve: it also +generally gives to the master an arbitrary power of administring every +sort of correction, however inhuman, not immediately affecting life or +limb, and even these in some countries, as formerly in Rome, and at this +day among the Asiatics and Africans, are left exposed to the arbitrary +will of a master, or protected only by fines or other slight +punishments. The property of the slave <span class="pagenum"><a id="page52" name="page52"></a>[p. 52]</span> also is absolutely the property +of his master, the slave himself being the subject of property, and as +such saleable, or transmissible at the will of his master.—A slavery, +so malignant as that described, does not leave to its wretched victims +the least vestige of any civil right, and even divests them of all their +natural rights. It does not, however, appear, that the rigours of +slavery in this country were ever as great, as those above described: +yet it must be confessed, that, at times, they have fallen very little +short of them.</p> + +<p>The first severe law respecting slaves, now to be met with in our code, +is that of 1669, already mentioned, which declared that the death of a +slave <i>resisting</i> his master, or other person correcting him by his +order, <i>happening by extremity of the correction</i>, should not be +accounted felony. The alterations which this law underwent in three +successive acts, <sup>(41)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>41</sup> 1705. c. 49. 1723, c. 4. 1748. c. 31.</span> were by no +means calculated effectually to mitigate its severity; it seems rather +to have been augmented by the act of 1723, which declared that a person +indicted for the murder of a slave, and found guilty of <i>manslaughter</i>, +should not incur any punishment for the same.<a id="FNanchor16" name="FNanchor16"></a><a href="#Footnote16" title="Go to footnote 16">[16]</a></p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page53" name="page53"></a>[p. 53]</span> <p>All these acts were at length repealed in 1788. <sup>(42)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>42</sup> 1788. 2. 23.</span> So that +homicide of a slave stands now upon the same footing, as in the case +of any other person. In 1672 it was declared lawful for any person +pursuing any runaway Negroe, mulattoe, Indian slave, or <i>servant for +life</i>, by virtue of an <i>hue and cry</i>, to kill them in case of +resistance, without being questioned for the same. <sup>(43)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>43</sup> 1672. c. 8.</span> A few +years afterwards this act was extended to persons <i>employed to +apprehend</i> runaways. <sup>(44)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>44</sup> 1680. c. 10.</span> In 1705, these acts underwent some +small alteration; two justices being authorised by proclamation to +<i>outlaw</i> runaways, who might thereafter be <i>killed</i> and destroyed by +any person whatsoever, by <i>such ways and means</i> as he may think fit, +without accusation or impeachment of any crime for so doing: <sup>(45)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>45</sup> 1705. c. +49.</span> And if any such slave were apprehended, he might be punished at +the discretion of the county court, either by <i>dismembering</i>, or in +any other manner not <i>touching life</i>. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page54" name="page54"></a>[p. 54]</span> The inhuman rigour of this act +was afterwards <sup>(46)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>46</sup> 1723. c. 4. 1748. c. 31.</span> extended to the venial +offence of going abroad by night, if the slave was <i>notoriously</i> +guilty of it.—Such are the cruelties to which a state of slavery +gives birth; such the horrors to which the human mind is capable of +being reconciled, by its adoption. The dawn of humanity at length +appeared in the year 1769, when the power of dismembering, even under +the authority of a county court, was restricted to the single offence +of <i>attempting</i> to ravish a white woman, <sup>(47)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>47</sup> 1769. c. 19.</span> in which case +perhaps the punishment is perhaps not more than commensurate to the +crime. In 1772 some restraints were laid upon the practice of +outlawing slaves, requiring that it should appear to the +<i>satisfaction</i> of the justices that the slaves were outlying, and +<i>doing mischief</i>. <sup>(48)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>48</sup> 1772. c. 9.</span> These loose expressions of the act, +left too much in the discretion of men, not much addicted to weighing +their import.—In 1792, every thing relative to the outlawry of slaves +was <i>expunged</i> from our code, <sup>(49)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>49</sup> Edit. 1794. c. 103.</span> and I trust will +never again find a place in it. By the act of 1680, a Negroe, +mulattoe, or Indian, bond or <i>free</i>, presuming to lift his hand in +opposition to any Christian, should receive thirty lashes on his bare +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page55" name="page55"></a>[p. 55]</span> back for every offence. <sup>(50)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>50</sup> 1680. c. 10. 1705. c.</span> The same act +prohibited slaves from carrying any club, staff, gun, sword, or other +weapon, offensive or defensive. This was afterwards extended to all +Negroes, mulattoes and Indians whatsoever, with a few exceptions in +favour of housekeepers, residents on a frontier plantation, and such +as were enlisted in the militia. <sup>(51)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>51</sup> 1723. c. 4.</span> Slaves, by these and +other acts, <sup>(52)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>52</sup> 1705. c. 49. 1723. c. 4. 1748. c. 31. 1753. c. 2. 1785. c. +77.</span> are prohibited from going abroad without leave in writing from +their masters, and if they do, may be whipped: any person suffering a +slave to remain on his plantation for four hours together, or dealing +with him without leave in writing from his master, is subject to a +fine. A runaway slave may be apprehended and committed to jail, and if +not claimed within three months (being first advertised) he shall be +hired out, having an iron collar first put about his neck: and if not +claimed within a year shall be sold. <sup>(53)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>53</sup> 1753. c. 2.</span> These provisions +were in general re-enacted in 1792, <sup>(54)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>54</sup> Edit. of 1794. c. 103. 131.</span> but +the punishment to be inflicted on a Negroe or mulattoe, for lifting +his hand against a white person, is restricted to those cases, where +the former is not wantonly assaulted. In this act the word Indian +appears to have been designedly omitted: the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page56" name="page56"></a>[p. 56]</span> small number of these +people, or their descendants remaining among us, concurring with a +more liberal way of thinking, probably gave occasion to this +circumstance. The act of 1748, c. 31, made it felony without benefit +of clergy for a slave to prepare, exhibit, or administer any medicine +whatever, without the order or consent of the master; but <i>allowed +clergy</i> if it appeared that the medicine was not administered with an +<i>ill intent</i>; the act of 1792, with more justice, directs that in such +case he shall be acquitted. <sup>(55)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>55</sup> Edit. 1794. c. 103.</span> To consult, advise, +or conspire, to rebel, or to plot, or conspire the death of any person +whatsoever, is still felony without benefit of clergy in a slave. +<sup>(56)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>56</sup> 1748. c. 31. 1794. c. 103.</span>—Riots, routs, unlawful assemblies, +trespasses and seditious speeches by slaves, are punishable with +stripes, at the discretion of a justice of the peace. <sup>(57)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>57</sup> 1785. c. 77. +1794. c. 103.</span>—The master of a slave permitting him to go at large +and trade as a freeman, is subject to a fine; <sup>(58)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>58</sup> 1769. c. 19. May 1782. +c. 32. 1794. Ib.</span> and if she suffers the slave to hire himself out, +the latter may be sold, and twenty-five per cent. of the price be +applied to the use of the county.—Negroes and mulattoes, whether +slaves or not, are incapable of being witnesses, but against, or +between Negroes and mulattoes; they are not permitted <span class="pagenum"><a id="page57" name="page57"></a>[p. 57]</span> to intermarry +with any white person; yet no punishment is annexed to the offence in +the slave; nor is the marriage void; but the white person contracting +the marriage, and the clergyman by whom it is celebrated are liable to +fine and imprisonment; and this is probably the only instance in which +our laws will be found more favourable to a Negroe than a white +person. These provisions though introduced into our code at different +periods, were all re-enacted in 1792. <sup>(59)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>59</sup> Edit. of 1794. c. 103.</span></p> + +<p>From this melancholy review it will appear that not only the right of +property, and the right of personal liberty, but even the right of +personal security, has been, at times, either wholly annihilated, or +reduced to a shadow: and even in these days, the protection of the +latter seems to be confined to very few cases. Many actions, indifferent +in themselves, being permitted by the law of nature to all mankind, and +by the laws of society to all free persons, are either rendered highly +criminal in a slave, or subject him to some kind of punishment or +restraint. Nor is it in this respect only, that his condition is +rendered thus deplorable by law. The measure of punishment for the same +offence, is often, and the manner of trial <span class="pagenum"><a id="page58" name="page58"></a>[p. 58]</span> and conviction is always, +different in the case of a slave, and a free-man. If the latter be +accused of any crime, he is entitled to an examination before the court +of the county where the offence is alleged to have been committed; whose +decision, if in his favour, is held to be a legal and final acquittal, +but it is not final if against him; for after this, both a grand jury, +and a petit jury of the county, must successively pronounce him guilty; +the former by the concurrent voices of twelve at least, of their body, +and the latter, by their unanimous verdict upon oath. He may take +exception to the proceedings against him, by a motion in arrest of +judgment; and in this case, or if there be a special verdict, the same +unanimity between his judges, as between his jurors, is necessary to his +condemnation. Lastly, through the punishment which the law pronounces +for his offence amount to death itself, he shall in many cases have the +benefit of clergy, unless he has before received it. But in the case of +a slave, the mode was formerly, and still remains essentially different. +How early this distinction was adopted I have not been able to discover. +The title of an act occurs, which passed in the year 1705 <sup>(60)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>60</sup> 1705. c. 11.</span> +for the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page59" name="page59"></a>[p. 59]</span> <i>speedy</i> and <i>easy</i> prosecution of slaves committing capital +crimes. In 1723 <sup>(61)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>61</sup> 1723. c. 4.</span> the governor was authorized, whenever any +slave was committed for any capital offence, to issue a special +commission of oyer and terminer, to <i>such persons as he should think +fit</i>, the number being left to his discretion, who should thereupon +proceed to the trial of such slave, taking for evidence the confession +of the defendant, the oath of one or more credible witnesses, or such +testimony of Negroes, mulattoes, or Indians, bond or free, with pregnant +circumstances, as to them should seem convincing, without the solemnity +of a jury. No exception, formerly, could be taken to the proceedings, on +the trial of a slave, <sup>(62)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>62</sup> 1748. c. 31.</span> but that proviso is omitted in the +act of 1792, and the justices moreover seem bound to allow him counsel +for his defence, whose fee shall be paid by his master <sup>(63)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>63</sup> Edit. 1794. c. +103.</span> In case of conviction, execution of the sentence was probably very +speedily performed, since the act of 1748, provides that, thereafter, it +should not be performed in less than ten days, except in case of +insurrection or rebellion; and further, that if the court be divided in +opinion the accused should be acquitted. In 1764, an act passed, +authorizing general, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page60" name="page60"></a>[p. 60]</span> instead of special, commissioners of oyer and +terminer, <sup>(64)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>64</sup> 1764. c. 9.</span> constituting all the justices of any county, +judges for the trial of slaves, committing capital offences, within +their respective counties; any four of whom, one being of the quorum, +should constitute a court for that purpose. In 1772 one step further was +made in favour of humanity, by an act declaring that no slave should +thereafter be condemned to die unless four of the court should concur in +opinion of his guilt. <sup>(65)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>65</sup> 1772. c. 9.</span> The act of 1786, c. 58, confirmed by +that of 1792, constitutes the justices of every county and corporation +justices of oyer and terminer for the trial of slaves; <sup>(66)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>66</sup> Edit. 1794. c. +103.</span> requires <i>five</i> justices, at least, to constitute a court, and +<i>unanimity</i> in the court for his condemnation; allows him counsel for +his defence, to be paid by his owner, and, I apprehend, admits him to +object to the proceedings against him; and finally enlarges the time of +execution to <i>thirty</i> days, instead of ten (except in cases of +conspiracy, insurrection, or rebellion), and extends the benefit of +clergy to him in all cases, where any other person should have the +benefit thereof, except in the cases before mentioned.</p> + +<p>To an attentive observer these gradual, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page61" name="page61"></a>[p. 61]</span> and almost imperceptible +amendments in our jurisprudence respecting slaves, will be found, upon +the whole, of infinite importance to that unhappy race. The mode of +trial in criminal cases, especially, is rendered infinitely more +beneficial to them, than formerly, though perhaps still liable to +exception for want of the aid of a jury: the solemnity of an oath +administered the moment the trial commences, may be considered as +operating more forcibly on the mind, than a general oath of office, +taken, perhaps, twenty years before. Unanimity may also be more readily +expected to take place among <i>five</i> men, than among <i>twelve</i>. These +objections to the want of a jury are not without weight: on the other +hand it may be observed, that if the number of triers be not equal to a +full jury, they may yet be considered as more select; a circumstance of +infinitely greater importance to the slave. The unanimity requisite in +the court in order to conviction, is a more happy acquisition to the +accused, than may at first appear; the opinions of the court must be +delivered openly, immediately, and seriatim, beginning with the youngest +judge. A single voice in favour of the accused, is an acquittal; for +unanimity is not necessary, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page62" name="page62"></a>[p. 62]</span> as with a jury, to acquit, as well as to +condemn: there is less danger in this mode of trial, where the suffrages +are to be openly delivered, that a few will be brought over to the +opinion of the majority, as may too often happen among jurors, whose +deliberations are in <i>private</i>, and whose impatience of confinement may +go further than real conviction, to produce the requisite unanimity. +That this happens not unfrequently in civil cases, there is too much +reason to believe; that it may also happen in criminal cases, especially +where the party accused is not one of their equals, might, not +unreasonably, be apprehended. In New-York, before the revolution, a +slave accused of a capital crime, should have been tried by a jury if +his master required it. This is, perhaps, still the law of that state. +Such a provision might not be amiss in this; but considering the +ordinary run of juries in the county-courts, I should presume the +privilege would be rarely insisted upon.</p> + +<p>Slaves, we have seen, are now entitled to the benefit of clergy in all +cases where it is allowed to any other offenders, except in cases of +consulting, advising, or conspiring to rebel, or make insurrection; <span class="pagenum"><a id="page63" name="page63"></a>[p. 63]</span> or +plotting or conspiring to murder any person; or preparing, exhibiting, +or administring medicine with an <i>ill</i> intent. The same lenity was not +extended to them formerly. The act of 1748, c. 31, denied it to a slave +in case of manslaughter; or the felonious breaking and entering <i>any</i> +house, in the night time: or breaking and entering <i>any</i> house in the +day time, and taking therefrom goods to the value of twenty shillings. +The act of 1764, c. 9, extended the benefit of clergy, to a slave +convicted of the manslaughter of a slave; and the act of 1772, c. 9, +extended it further, to a slave convicted of housebreaking in the night +time, unless such breaking be burglary; in the latter case, other +offenders would be equally deprived of it. But wherever the benefit of +clergy is allowed to a slave, the court, besides burning him in the hand +(the usual punishment inflicted on free persons) may inflict such +further corporal punishment as they may think fit; <sup>(67)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>67</sup> 1794. c. 103.</span> this +also seems to be the law in the case of free Negroes and mulattoes. By +the act of 1723, c. 4, it was enacted, that when <i>any Negroe</i> or +<i>mulattoe</i> shall be found, upon due proof made, or <i>pregnant +circumstances</i>, to have given false testimony, every such offender +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page64" name="page64"></a>[p. 64]</span> shall, <i>without further trial</i>, have his ears successively nailed to the +pillory for the space of an hour, and then cut off, and moreover receive +thirty-nine lashes on his bare back, or such other punishment as the +court shall think proper, not extending to life or limb. This act, with +the exception of the words <i>pregnant circumstances</i>, was re-enacted in +1792. The punishment of perjury, in a <i>white</i> person, is only a fine and +imprisonment. A slave convicted of hog-stealing, shall, for the first +offence, receive thirty-nine lashes: any other person twenty-five: but +the latter is also subject to a fine of thirty dollars, besides paying +eight dollars to the owner of the hog. The punishment for the second and +third offence, of this kind, is the same in the case of a free person, +as of a slave; namely, by the pillory and loss of ears, for the second +offence; the third is declared felony, to which clergy is, however, +allowed. The preceding are the only positive distinctions which now +remain between the punishment of a slave, and a white person, in those +cases, where the latter is liable to a determinate corporal punishment. +But we must not forget, that many actions, which are either not +punishable at all, when perpetrated <span class="pagenum"><a id="page65" name="page65"></a>[p. 65]</span> by a white person, or at most, by +fine and imprisonment, only, are liable to severe corporal punishment, +when done by a slave; nay, even to death itself, in some cases. To go +abroad without a written permission; to keep or carry a gun, or other +weapon; to utter any seditious speech; to be present at any unlawful +assembly of slaves; to lift the hand in opposition to a white person, +unless wantonly assaulted, are all offences punishable by whipping. +<sup>(68)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>68</sup> 1794. c. 103.</span> To attempt the chastity of a white woman, forcibly, is +punishable by dismemberment: such an attempt would be a high misdemeanor +in a white free man, but the punishment would be far short of that of a +slave. <sup>(69)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>69</sup> Ibidem.</span> To administer medicine without the order or consent of +the master, unless it <i>appear not to have been done with an ill intent</i>; +to <i>consult</i>, advise, or conspire, to rebel or make insurrection; or to +<i>conspire</i>, or <i>plot</i> to <i>murder</i> any person, we have seen, are all +capital offences, from which the benefit of clergy is utterly excluded. +But a <i>bare intention</i> to commit a felony, is not punishable in the case +of a free white man; and even the attempt, if not attended with an +actual breach of the peace, or prevented by such circumstance; only, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page66" name="page66"></a>[p. 66]</span> as +do not tend to lessen the guilt of the offender, is at most a +misdemeanor by the common law: and in statutable offences in general, to +consult, advise, and even to procure any person to commit a felony, does +not constitute the crime of felony in the adviser or procurer, unless +the felony be actually perpetrated.</p> + +<p>From this view of our jurisprudence respecting slaves, we are +unavoidably led to remark, how frequently the laws of nature have been +set aside in favour of institutions, the pure result of prejudice, +usurpation, and tyranny. We have found actions, innocent, or +indifferent, punishable with a rigour scarcely due to any, but the most +atrocious, offences against civil society; justice distributed by an +unequal measure to the master and the slave; and even the hand of mercy +arrested, where mercy might have been extended to the wretched culprit, +had his complexion been the same with that of his judges: for, the short +period of ten days, between his condemnation and execution, was often +insufficient to obtain a pardon for a slave, convicted in a remote part +of the country, whilst a free man, condemned at the seat of government, +and tried before the governor himself, in whom the power of pardoning +was vested, had a respite <span class="pagenum"><a id="page67" name="page67"></a>[p. 67]</span> of thirty days to implore the clemency of the +executive authority.—It may be urged, and I believe with truth, that +these rigours do not proceed from a sanguinary temper in the people of +Virginia, but from those political considerations indispensibly +necessary, where slavery prevails to any great extent: I am moreover +happy to observe that our police respecting this unhappy class of +people, is not only less rigorous than formerly, but perhaps milder than +in any other country<a id="FNanchor17" name="FNanchor17"></a><a href="#Footnote17" title="Go to footnote 17">[17]</a> where there are so many slaves, or so large a +proportion of them, in respect to the free inhabitants: it is also, I +trust, unjust to censure the present generation for the existence of +slavery in Virginia: for I think it unquestionably true, that a very +large proportion of our fellow-citizens lament that as a misfortune, +which is imputed to them as a reproach; it being evident from what has +been already shewn upon the subject, that, <i>antecedent <span class="pagenum"><a id="page68" name="page68"></a>[p. 68]</span> to the +revolution</i>, no exertion to abolish, or even to check the progress of, +slavery, in Virginia, could have received the smallest countenance from +the crown, without whose assent the united wishes and exertions of every +individual here, would have been wholly fruitless and ineffectual: it +is, perhaps, also demonstrable, that at no period since the revolution, +could the abolition of slavery in this state have been safely undertaken +until the foundations of our newly established governments had been +found capable of supporting the fabric itself, under any shock, which so +arduous an attempt might have produced. But these obstacles being now +happily removed, considerations of policy, as well as justice and +humanity, must evince the necessity of eradicating the evil, before it +becomes impossible to do it, without tearing up the roots of civil +society with it.</p> + +<p>Having in the preceding part of this enquiry shewn the origin and +foundation of slavery, or the manner in which men have become slaves, as +also who are liable to be retained in slavery, in Virginia, at present, +with the legal consequences attendant upon their condition; it only +remains to consider the mode by which <span class="pagenum"><a id="page69" name="page69"></a>[p. 69]</span> slaves have been or may be +emancipated; and the legal consequences thereof, in this +state.—Manumission, among the Israelites, if the bondman were an +Hebrew, was enjoined after six years' service, by the Mosaical law, +unless the servant chose to continue with his master, in which case the +master carried him before the judges, and took an awl, and thrust it +through his ear into the door, <sup>(70)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>70</sup> Exod. c. 21. Deut. c. 15.</span> and from +thenceforth he became a servant for ever: but if he sent him away free, +he was bound to furnish him liberally out of his flock, and out of his +floor, and out of his wine-press. <sup>(71)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>71</sup> Ibid.</span> Among the Romans, in the time +of the commonwealth, liberty could be conferred only three ways. By +testament, by the <i>census</i>, and by the <i>vindicta</i>, or lictor's rod. A +man was said to be free by the census, "<i>liber censu</i>," when his name +was inserted in the censor's roll, with the approbation of his master. +When he was freed by the vindicta, the master placing his hand upon the +head of the slave, said in the presence of the prętor, it is my desire +that this man may be free, "<i>hunc hominem liberem esse volo</i>;" to which +the prętor replied, I pronounce him free after the manner of the Romans, +"<i>dico cum liberum esse more quiritum</i>."—then <span class="pagenum"><a id="page70" name="page70"></a>[p. 70]</span> the lictor, receiving the +<i>vindicta</i>, struck the new freed man several blows with it, upon the +head, face, and back, after which his name was registered in the roll of +freed-men, and his head being close shaved, a cap was given him as a +token of liberty. <sup>(72)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>72</sup> Harris's Just. in notes.</span> Under the imperial +constitutions liberty might have been conferred by several other +methods, as in the face of the church, in the presence of friends, or by +letter, or by testament. <sup>(73)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>73</sup> Just. Inst. lib. 1. tit. 5. Ib. lib. 1. tit. +6.</span>—But it was not in the power of every master to manumit at will; +for if it were done with an intent to defraud creditors, the act was +void; that is, if the master were insolvent at the time of manumission, +or became insolvent by manumission, and intentionally manumitted his +slave for the purpose of defrauding his creditors. A minor, under the +age of twenty years, could not manumit his slave but for a just cause +assigned, which must have been approved by a council, consisting of the +prętor, five senators, and five knights. <sup>(74)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>74</sup> Ib. Harris's Just. in +notes.</span>—In England, the mode of enfranchising villeins is said to have +been thus prescribed by a law of William the Conqueror. "If any person +is willing to enfranchise his <i>slave</i>, let him, with his right hand, +deliver the slave to the sheriff in a full <span class="pagenum"><a id="page71" name="page71"></a>[p. 71]</span> county, proclaim him exempt +from the bond of servitude by manumission, shew him open gates and ways, +and deliver him <i>free arms</i>, to wit, a lance and a sword; thereupon he +is a free man." <sup>(75)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>75</sup> Harris's Inst. in notes.</span>—But after that period +freedom was more generally conferred by deed, of which Mr. Harris, in +his notes upon Justinian, has furnished a precedent.</p> + +<p>In what manner manumission was performed in this country during the +first century after the introduction of slavery does not appear: the act +of 1668, before mentioned, <sup>(76)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>76</sup> Ante, p. 36.</span> shews it to have been +practised before that period. In 1723 an act was passed, prohibiting the +manumission of slaves, upon any pretence whatsoever, except for +meritorious services, to be adjudged, and allowed by the governor and +council. <sup>(77)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>77</sup> 1723. c. 4.</span> This clause was re-enacted in 1748, and continued +to be the law, until after the revolution was accomplished. The number +of manumissions under such restrictions must necessarily have been very +few. In May 1782 an act passed authorizing, generally, the manumission +of slaves, but requiring such as might be set free, not being of sound +mind or body, or being above the age of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page72" name="page72"></a>[p. 72]</span> forty-five years, or males under +twenty-one, or females under eighteen, to be supported by the person +liberating them, or out of his estate. <sup>(78)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>78</sup> May 1782. c. 21.</span> The act of +manumission may be performed either by will, or by deed, under the hand +and seal of the party, acknowledged by him, or proved by two witnesses +in the court of the county where he resides. There is reason to believe +that great numbers have been emancipated since the passing of this act. +By the census of 1791 it appears that the number of free Negroes, +mulattoes and Indians in Virginia, was then 12,866. It would be a large +allowance, to suppose that there were 1800 free Negroes and mulattoes in +Virginia when the act took effect; so that upwards of ten thousand must +have been indebted to it for their freedom.<a id="FNanchor18" name="FNanchor18"></a><a href="#Footnote18" title="Go to footnote 18">[18]</a> The number of Indians +and their descendants in Virginia <span class="pagenum"><a id="page73" name="page73"></a>[p. 73]</span> at present, is too small to require +particular notice. The progress of emancipation in Virginia, is at this +time continual, but not rapid; a second census will enable us to form a +better judgment of it than at present. The act passed in 1792 accords in +some degree with the Justinian code, <sup>(79)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>79</sup> 1794. c. 103.</span> by providing that +slaves emancipated may be taken in execution to satisfy any debt +contracted by the person emancipating them, before such emancipation is +made.<a id="FNanchor19" name="FNanchor19"></a><a href="#Footnote19" title="Go to footnote 19">[19]</a></p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page74" name="page74"></a>[p. 74]</span> <p>Among the Romans, the <i>libertini</i>, or freedmen, were formerly +distinguished by a threefold division. <sup>(80)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>80</sup> Just. Inst. lib. 1. tit. 5.</span> +They sometimes obtained what was called the greater liberty, thereby +becoming <i>Roman citizens</i>. To this privilege, those who were +enfranchised by testament, by the census, or by the vindicta, appear to +have been alone admitted: sometimes they obtained the lesser liberty +only, and became <i>Latins</i>; whose condition is thus described by +Justinian. "They never enjoyed the right of succession. <sup>(81)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>81</sup> to +estates</span>—For although they led the lives of free men, yet with their +last breath they lost both their lives and liberties; for their +possessions, like the goods of slaves, were detained by the manumittor." +<sup>(82)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>82</sup> Harris's Inst. lib. 3. tit. 8.</span> Sometimes they obtained only the +inferior liberty, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page75" name="page75"></a>[p. 75]</span> being called <i>dedititii</i>: such were slaves who had +been condemned as criminals, and afterwards obtained manumission through +the indulgence of their masters: their conditions was equalled with that +of conquered revolters, whom the Romans called, in reproach, <i>dedititii, +quia se suaque omnia dediderunt</i>: but all these distinctions were +abolished by Justinian, <sup>(83)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>83</sup> Inst. lib. 1. tit. 5. s. 3.</span> by whom all freed +men in general were made citizens of Rome, without regard to the form of +manumission.—In England, the presenting the villein with <i>free arms</i>, +seems to have been the symbol of his restoration to all the rights which +a feudatory was entitled to. With us, we have seen that emancipation +does not confer the rights of citizenship on the person emancipated; on +the contrary, both he and his posterity, of the same complexion with +himself, must always labour under many civil incapacities. If he is +absolved from personal restraint, or corporal punishment, by a master, +yet the laws restrain his actions in many instances, where there is none +upon a free white man. If he can maintain a suit, he cannot be a +witness, a juror, or a judge in any controversy between one of his own +complexion and a white person. If he can <span class="pagenum"><a id="page76" name="page76"></a>[p. 76]</span> acquire property in lands, he +cannot exercise the right of suffrage, which such a property would +confer on his former master; much less can he assist in making those +laws by which he is bound. Yet, even under these disabilities, his +present condition bears an enviable pre-eminence over his former state. +Possessing the liberty of loco-motion, which was formerly denied him, it +is in his choice to submit to that civil inferiority, inseparably +attached to his condition in this country, or seek some more favourable +climate, where all distinctions between men are either totally +abolished, or less regarded than in this.</p> + +<p>The extirpation of slavery from the United States, is a task equally +arduous and momentous. To restore the blessings of liberty to near a +million<a id="FNanchor20" name="FNanchor20"></a><a href="#Footnote20" title="Go to footnote 20">[20]</a> of oppressed individuals, who have groaned under the yoke of +bondage, and to their descendants, is an object, which those who trust +in Providence, will be convinced would not be unaided by the divine +Author of our being, should we invoke his blessing upon our endeavours. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page77" name="page77"></a>[p. 77]</span> Yet human prudence forbids that we should precipitately engage in a work +of such hazard as a general and simultaneous emancipation. The mind of +man must in some measure be formed for his future condition. The early +impressions of obedience and submission, which slaves have received +among us, and the no less habitual arrogance and assumption of +superiority, among the whites, contribute, equally, to unfit the former +for <i>freedom</i>, and the latter for <i>equality</i>.<a id="FNanchor21" name="FNanchor21"></a><a href="#Footnote21" title="Go to footnote 21">[21]</a> To expel <span class="pagenum"><a id="page78" name="page78"></a>[p. 78]</span> them all at +once, from the United States, would in fact be to devote them only to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page79" name="page79"></a>[p. 79]</span> a +lingering death by famine, by disease, and other accumulated miseries: +"We have in history but one picture of a similar enterprize, and there +we see it was necessary not only to open the sea by a miracle, for them +to pass, but more necessary to close it again to prevent their return." +<sup>(84)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>84</sup> Letter from Jas. Sullivan, Esq. to Dr. Belknap.</span> To retain them among +us, would be nothing more than to throw so many of the human race upon +the earth without the means of subsistence: they would soon become idle, +profligate, and miserable. Unfit for their new condition, and unwilling +to return to their former laborious course, they would become the +caterpillars of the earth, and the tigers of the human race. The recent +history of the French West Indies exhibits a melancholy picture of the +probable consequences of a general, and momentary <span class="pagenum"><a id="page80" name="page80"></a>[p. 80]</span> emancipation in any of +the states, where slavery has made considerable progress. In +Massachusetts the abolition of it was effected by a single stroke; a +clause in their constitution: <sup>(85)</sup><span class="sidenote"><sup>85</sup> Dr. Belknap.</span> but the whites at that +time, were as sixty-five to one, in proportion to the blacks. The whole +number of free persons in the United States, south of Delaware state, +are 1,233,829, end there are 648,439 slaves; the proportion being less +than two to one. Of the cultivators of the earth in the same district, +it is probable that there are four slaves for one free white man.——To +discharge the former from their present condition, would be attended +with an immediate general famine, in those parts of the United States, +from which not all the productions of the other states, could deliver +them; similar evils might reasonably be apprehended from the adoption of +the measure by any one of the southern states; for in all of them the +proportion of slaves is too great, not to be attended with calamitous +effects, if they were immediately set free.<a id="FNanchor22" name="FNanchor22"></a><a href="#Footnote22" title="Go to footnote 22">[22]</a> These are serious, I had +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page81" name="page81"></a>[p. 81]</span> almost said unsurmountable obstacles, to general, simultaneous +emancipation.—There are other considerations not to be disregarded. A +great part of the <i>property</i> of individuals consists in <i>slaves</i>. The +laws have sanctioned this species of property. Can the laws take away +the property of an individual without his own consent, or without a +<i>just compensation</i>? Will those who do not hold slaves agree to be taxed +to make this compensation? Creditors also, who have trusted their +debtors upon the faith of this visible property will be defrauded. If +justice demands the emancipation of the slave, she also, <i>under these +circumstances</i>, seems to plead for the owner, and for his creditor. The +claims of nature, it will be said are stronger than those which arise +from social institutions, only. I admit it, but nature also dictates to +us to provide for our <i>own</i> safety, and authorizes all <i>necessary</i> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page82" name="page82"></a>[p. 82]</span> measures for that purpose. And we have shewn that our own security, nay, +our very existence, might be endangered by the hasty adoption of any +measure for the <i>immediate</i> relief of the <i>whole</i> of this unhappy race. +Must we then quit the subject, in despair of the success of any project +for the amendment of their, as well as our own, condition? I think +not.—Strenuously as I feel my mind opposed to a simultaneous +emancipation, for the reasons already mentioned, the abolition of +slavery in the United States, and especially in that state, to which I +am attached by every tie that nature and society form, is <i>now</i> my +<i>first</i>, and will probably be my last, expiring wish. But here let me +avoid the imputation of inconsistency, by observing, that the abolition +of slavery may be effected without the <i>emancipation</i> of a single slave; +without depriving any man of the <i>property</i> which he <i>possesses</i>, and +without defrauding a creditor who has trusted him on the faith of that +property. The experiment in that mode has already been begun in some of +our sister states. Pennsylvania, under the auspices of the immortal +Franklin,<a id="FNanchor23" name="FNanchor23"></a><a href="#Footnote23" title="Go to footnote 23">[23]</a> <span class="pagenum"><a id="page83" name="page83"></a>[p. 83]</span> begun the work of gradual abolition of slavery in the year +1780, by enlisting nature herself, on the side of humanity. Connecticut +followed the example four years after.<a id="FNanchor24" name="FNanchor24"></a><a href="#Footnote24" title="Go to footnote 24">[24]</a> New-York very lately made an +essay which miscarried by a very inconsiderable majority. Mr. Jefferson +informs us, that the committee of revisors, of which he was a member, +had prepared a bill for the emancipation of all slaves born after +passing that act. This is conformable to the Pennsylvania and +Connecticut laws.—Why the measure was not brought forward in the +general assembly I have never heard. Possibly because objections were +foreseen to that part of the bill which relates to the disposal of the +blacks, after they had attained a certain age.<a id="FNanchor25" name="FNanchor25"></a><a href="#Footnote25" title="Go to footnote 25">[25]</a> It certainly seems +liable <span class="pagenum"><a id="page84" name="page84"></a>[p. 84]</span> to many, both as to the policy and the practicability of it. To +establish such a colony in the territory of the United States, would +probably lay the foundation of intestine wars, which would terminate +only in their extirpation, or final expulsion. To attempt it in any +other quarter of the globe would be attended with the utmost cruelty to +the colonists, themselves, and the destruction of their whole race. If +the plan were at this moment in operation, it would require the annual +exportation of 12,000 persons. This requisite number must, for a series +of years be considerably increased, in order to keep pace with the +increasing population of those people. In twenty years it would amount +to upwards of twenty thousand persons; which is half the number which +are now supposed to be annually <span class="pagenum"><a id="page85" name="page85"></a>[p. 85]</span> exported from Africa.—Where would a +fund to support this expence be found? Five times the present revenue of +the state would barely defray the charge of their passage. Where +provisions for their support after their arrival? Where those +necessaries which must preserve them from perishing?—Where a territory +sufficient to support them?—Or where could they be received as friends, +and not as invaders? To colonize them in the United States might seem +less difficult. If the territory to be assigned them were beyond the +settlements of the whites, would they not be put upon a forlorn hope +against the Indians? Would not the expence of transporting them thither, +and supporting them, at least for the first and second year, be also far +beyond the revenues and abilities of the state? The expence attending a +small army in that country hath been found enormous. To transport as +many colonists, annually, as we have shewn were necessary to eradicate +the evil, would probably require five times as much money as the support +of such an army. But the expence would not stop there: they must be +assisted and supported at least for another year after their arrival in +their new settlements. Suppose them <span class="pagenum"><a id="page86" name="page86"></a>[p. 86]</span> arrived. Illiterate and ignorant as +they are, is it probable that they would be capable of instituting such +a government, in their new colony, as would be necessary for their own +internal happiness, or to secure them from destruction from without? +European emigrants, from whatever country they arrive, have been +accustomed to the restraint of laws, and to respect for government. +These people, accustomed to be ruled with a rod of iron, will not easily +submit to milder restraints. They would become hordes of vagabonds, +robbers and murderers. Without the aids of an enlightened policy, +morality, or religion, what else could be expected from their still +savage state, and debased condition?—"But why not retain and +<i>incorporate</i> the <i>blacks into the state</i>?" This question has been well +answered by Mr. Jefferson,<a id="FNanchor26" name="FNanchor26"></a><a href="#Footnote26" title="Go to footnote 26">[26]</a> and who is there so <span class="pagenum"><a id="page87" name="page87"></a>[p. 87]</span> free from prejudices +among us, as candidly to declare that he has none against <span class="pagenum"><a id="page88" name="page88"></a>[p. 88]</span> such a +measure? The recent scenes transacted in the French colonies in the West +Indies are enough to make one shudder with the apprehension of realizing +similar calamities in this country. Such probably would be the event of +an attempt to smother those prejudices which have been cherished for a +period of almost two centuries. Those who secretly favour, whilst they +affect to regret, domestic slavery, contend that in abolishing it, we +must also abolish that scion from it which I have denominated <i>civil</i> +slavery. That there must be no distinction of rights; that the +descendants of Africans, as men, have an equal claim to all civil +rights, as the descendants of Europeans; and upon being delivered from +the yoke of bondage have <span class="pagenum"><a id="page89" name="page89"></a>[p. 89]</span> a right to be admitted to all the privileges of +a citizen.—But have not men when they enter into a state of society, a +right to admit, or exclude any description of persons, as they think +proper? If it be true, as Mr. Jefferson seems to suppose, that the +Africans are really an inferior race of mankind,<a id="FNanchor27" name="FNanchor27"></a><a href="#Footnote27" title="Go to footnote 27">[27]</a> will not sound +policy advise their exclusion from a society in which they have not yet +been admitted to participate in civil rights; and even to guard against +such admission, at any future period, since it may eventually depreciate +the whole national character? And if prejudices have taken such deep +root in our minds, as to render it impossible to eradicate this opinion, +ought not so general an error, if it be one, to be respected? Shall we +not relieve the necessities of the naked diseased beggar, unless we will +invite him to a seat at our table; nor afford him shelter from the +inclemencies of the night air, unless we admit him also <span class="pagenum"><a id="page90" name="page90"></a>[p. 90]</span> to share our +bed? To deny that we ought to abolish slavery, without incorporating the +Negroes into the state, and admitting them to a full participation of +all our civil and social rights, appears to me to rest upon a similar +foundation. The experiment so far as it has been already made among us, +proves that the emancipated blacks are not ambitious of civil rights. To +prevent the generation of such an ambition, appears to comport with +sound policy; for if it should ever rear its head, its partizans, as +well as its opponents, will be enlisted by nature herself, and always +ranged in formidable array against each other. We must therefore +endeavour to find some middle course, between the tyrannical and +iniquitous policy which holds so many human creatures in a state of +grievous bondage, and that which would turn loose a numerous, starving, +and enraged banditti, upon the innocent descendants of their former +oppressors. <i>Nature</i>, <i>time</i>, and <i>sound policy</i> must co-operate with +each other to produce such a change: if either be neglected, the work +will be incomplete, dangerous, and not improbably destructive.</p> + +<p>The plan therefore which I would presume to propose for the +consideration of my <span class="pagenum"><a id="page91" name="page91"></a>[p. 91]</span> countrymen is such, as the number of slaves, the +difference of their nature, and habits, and the state of agriculture, +among us, might render it <i>expedient</i>, rather than <i>desirable</i> to adopt: +and would partake partly of that proposed by Mr. Jefferson, and adopted +in other states; and partly of such cautionary restrictions, as a due +regard to situation and circumstances, and even to <i>general</i> prejudices, +might recommend to those, who engage in so arduous, and perhaps +unprecedented an undertaking.</p> + +<p>1. Let every female born after the adoption of the plan be free, + and transmit freedom to all her descendants, both male and female.</p> + +<p>2. As a compensation to those persons, in whose families such + females, or their descendants may be born, for the expence and + trouble of their maintenance during infancy, let them serve such + persons until the age of twenty-eight years: let them then receive + twenty dollars in money, two suits of clothes, suited to the + season, a hat, a pair of shoes, and two blankets. If these things + be not voluntarily done, let the county courts enforce the + performance, upon complaint.</p> + +<p>3. Let all Negroe children be registered with the clerk of the + county or corporation <span class="pagenum"><a id="page92" name="page92"></a>[p. 92]</span> court, where born, within one month after + their birth: let the person in whose family they are born take a + copy of the register, and deliver it to the mother, or if she die + to the child, before it is of the age of twenty-one years. Let any + Negroe claiming to be free, and above the age of puberty, be + considered as of the age of twenty-eight years, if he or she be + not registered, as required.</p> + +<p>4. Let all such Negroe servants be put on the same footing as + white servants and apprentices now are, in respect to food, + raiment, correction, and the assignment of their service from one + to another.</p> + +<p>5. Let the children of Negroes and mulattoes, born in the families + of their parents, be bound to service by the overseers of the + poor, until they shall attain the age of twenty-one years.—Let + all above that age, who are not housekeepers, nor have voluntarily + bound themselves to service for a year before the first day of + February annually, be then bound for the remainder of the year by + the overseers of the poor. Let the overseers of the poor receive + fifteen per cent. of their wages, from the person hiring them, as + a compensation for their trouble, and ten per cent. per annum out + of the wages <span class="pagenum"><a id="page93" name="page93"></a>[p. 93]</span> of such as they may bind apprentices.</p> + +<p>6. If at the age of twenty-seven years, the master of a Negroe or + mulattoe servant be unwilling to pay his freedom dues, above + mentioned, at the expiration of the succeeding year, let him bring + him into the county court, clad and furnished with necessaries as + before directed, and pay into court five dollars, for the use of + the servant, and thereupon let the court direct him to be hired by + the overseers of the poor for the succeeding year, in the manner + before directed.</p> + +<p>7. Let no Negroe or mulattoe be capable of taking, holding, or + exercising, any public office, freehold, franchise or privilege, + or any estate in lands or tenements, other than a lease not + exceeding twenty-one years.—Nor of keeping, or bearing arms,<a id="FNanchor28" name="FNanchor28"></a><a href="#Footnote28" title="Go to footnote 28">[28]</a> + unless authorised so to do by some act of the general assembly, + whose duration shall be limitted to three years. Nor of + contracting matrimony with any other than a Negroe or mulattoe; + nor be an attorney; nor be a juror; nor a witness in any court of + judicature, except against; <span class="pagenum"><a id="page94" name="page94"></a>[p. 94]</span> or between Negroes and mulattoes. Nor + be an executor or administrator; nor capable of making any will or + testament; nor maintain any real action; nor be a trustee of lands + or tenements himself, nor any other person to be a trustee to him + or to his use.</p> + +<p>8. Let all persons born after the passing of the act, be + considered as entitled to the same mode of trial in criminal + cases, as free Negroes and mulattoes are now entitled to.</p> + +<p>The restrictions in this place may appear to favour strongly of +prejudice: whoever proposes any plan for the abolition of slavery, will +find that he must either encounter, or accommodate himself to +prejudice.—I have preferred the latter; not that I pretend to be wholly +exempt from it, but that I might avoid as many obstacles as possible to +the completion of so desirable a work, as the abolition of slavery. +Though I am opposed to the banishment of the Negroes, I wish not to +encourage their future residence among us. By denying them the most +valuable privileges which civil government affords, I wished to render +it their inclination and their interest to seek those privileges in some +other climate. There <span class="pagenum"><a id="page95" name="page95"></a>[p. 95]</span> is an immense unsettled territory on this +continent<a id="FNanchor29" name="FNanchor29"></a><a href="#Footnote29" title="Go to footnote 29">[29]</a> more congenial to their natural constitutions than ours, +where they may perhaps be received upon more favourable terms than we +can permit them to remain with us. Emigrating in small numbers, they +will be able to effect settlements more easily than in large numbers; +and without the expence or danger of numerous colonies. By releasing +them from the yoke of bondage, and enabling them to seek happiness +wherever they can hope to find it, we surely confer a benefit, which no +one can sufficiently appreciate, who has not tasted of the bitter curse +of compulsory servitude. By excluding them from offices, the seeds of +ambition would be buried too deep, ever to germinate: by disarming them, +we may calm our apprehensions of their resentments arising from past +sufferings; by <span class="pagenum"><a id="page96" name="page96"></a>[p. 96]</span> incapacitating them from holding lands, we should add one +inducement more to emigration, and effectually remove the foundation of +ambition, and party-struggles. Their personal rights, and their +property, though limited, would whilst they remain among us be under the +protection of the laws; and their condition not at all inferior to that +of the <i>labouring</i> poor in most other countries. Under such an +arrangement we might reasonably hope, that time would either remove from +us a race of men, whom we wish not to incorporate with us, or obliterate +those prejudices, which now form an obstacle to such incorporation.</p> + +<p>But it is not from the want of liberality to the emancipated race of +blacks that I apprehend the most serious objections to the plan I have +ventured to suggest.—Those slave holders (whose numbers I trust are +few) who have been in the habit of considering their fellow creatures as +no more than cattle, and the rest of the brute creation, will exclaim +that they are to be deprived of their <i>property</i>, without compensation. +Men who will shut their ears against this moral truth, that all men are +by nature <i>free</i>, and <i>equal</i>, will not even be convinced that they do +not <span class="pagenum"><a id="page97" name="page97"></a>[p. 97]</span> possess a <i>property</i> in an <i>unborn</i> child: they will not distinguish +between allowing to <i>unborn</i> generations the absolute and unalienable +rights of human nature, and taking away that which they <i>now possess</i>; +they will shut their ears against truth, should you tell them, the loss +of the mother's labour for nine months, and the maintenance of a child +for a dozen or fourteen years, is amply compensated by the services of +that child for as many years more, as he has been an expence to them. +But if the voice of reason, justice and humanity be not stifled by +sordid avarice, or unfeeling tyranny, it would be easy to convince even +those who have entertained such erroneous notions, that the right of one +man over another is neither founded in nature, nor in sound policy. That +it cannot extend to those <i>not in being</i>; that no man can in reality be +<i>deprived</i> of what he doth not possess: that fourteen years labour by a +young person in the prime of life, is an ample compensation for a few +months of labour lost by the mother, and for the maintenance of a child, +in that coarse homely manner that Negroes are brought up: And lastly, +that a state of slavery is not only perfectly incompatible with the +principles of government, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page98" name="page98"></a>[p. 98]</span> but with the safety and security of their +masters. History evinces this. At this moment we have the most awful +demonstrations of it. Shall we then neglect a duty, which every +consideration, moral, religious, political, or <i>selfish</i>, recommends. +Those who wish to postpone the measure, do not reflect that every day +renders the task more arduous to be performed. We have now 300,000 +slaves among us. Thirty years hence we shall have double the number. In +sixty years we shall have 1,200,000. And in less than another century +from this day, even that enormous number will be doubled. Milo acquired +strength enough to carry an ox, by beginning with the ox while he was +yet a calf. If we complain that the calf is too heavy for our shoulders, +what will not the ox be?</p> + +<p>To such as apprehend danger to our agricultural interest, and the +depriving the families of those whose principal reliance is upon their +slaves, of support, it will be proper to submit a view of the gradual +operation, and effects of this plan. They will no doubt be surprized to +hear, that whenever it is adopted, the number of slaves will not be +diminished for forty years after it takes place; that it will even +encrease for thirty years; that <span class="pagenum"><a id="page99" name="page99"></a>[p. 99]</span> at the distance of sixty years, there +will be one-third of the number at its first commencement: that it will +require <i>above a century</i> to complete it; and that the number of blacks +<i>under twenty-eight</i>, and consequently bound to service, in the families +they are born in, will always be at least as great, as the present +number of slaves. These circumstances I trust will remove many +objections, and that they are truly stated will appear upon enquiry.<a id="FNanchor30" name="FNanchor30"></a><a href="#Footnote30" title="Go to footnote 30">[30]</a> +It <span class="pagenum"><a id="page100" name="page100"></a>[p. 100]</span> will further appear, that females only will arrive at the age of +emancipation within the first forty-five years; all the males during +that period, continuing either in slavery, or bound to service till <span class="pagenum"><a id="page101" name="page101"></a>[p. 101]</span> the +age of twenty-eight years. The earth cannot want cultivators, whilst our +population increases as at present, and three-fourths of those employed +therein are held to service, and the remainder compellable <span class="pagenum"><a id="page102" name="page102"></a>[p. 102]</span> to labour. +For we must not lose sight of this important consideration, that these +people must be <i>bound</i> to labour, if they <span class="pagenum"><a id="page103" name="page103"></a>[p. 103]</span> do not <i>voluntarily</i> engage +therein. Their faculties are at present only calculated for that object; +if they be not employed <span class="pagenum"><a id="page104" name="page104"></a>[p. 104]</span> therein they will become drones of the worst +description. In absolving them from the yoke of slavery, we must not +forget the interests of the society. Those interests require the +exertions of every individual in some mode or other; and those who have +not wherewith to support themselves honestly without corporal labour, +whatever be their complexion, ought to be compelled to labour. This is +the case in England, where domestic slavery has long been unknown. It +must also be the case in every well ordered society; and where the +numbers of persons without property increase, there the coertion of the +laws becomes more immediately requisite. The proposed plan would +necessarily have this effect, and therefore ought to be accompanied with +such a regulation. Though the rigours of our police in respect to this +unhappy race ought <span class="pagenum"><a id="page105" name="page105"></a>[p. 105]</span> to be softened, yet, its regularity, and punctual +administration should be increased, rather than relaxed. If we doubt the +propriety of such measures, what must we think of the situation of our +country, when instead of 300,000, we shall have more than <i>two millions</i> +of <span class="smcap">SLAVES</span> among us? This <i>must happen within a</i> <span class="smcap">CENTURY</span>, if we do not +set about the abolition of slavery. Will not our posterity curse the +days of their nativity with all the anguish of Job? Will they not +execrate the memory of those ancestors, who, having it in their power to +avert evil, have, like their first parents, entailed a curse upon all +future generations? We know that the rigour of the laws respecting +slaves unavoidably must increase with their numbers: What a +blood-stained code must that be which is calculated for the restraint of +<i>millions</i> held in bondage! Such must our unhappy country exhibit within +a century, unless we are both wise and just enough to avert from +posterity the calamity and reproach, which are otherwise unavoidable.</p> + +<p>I am not vain enough to presume the plan I have suggested entirely free +from objection; nor that in offering my own ideas on the subject, I have +been more <span class="pagenum"><a id="page106" name="page106"></a>[p. 106]</span> fortunate than others: but from the communication of sentiment +between those who lament the evil, it is possible that an effectual +remedy may at length be discovered. Whenever that happens the golden age +of our country will begin. Till then,</p> + +<p class="left10"><i>——Non hospes ab hospite tutus,<br> + Non Herus ą Famulie: fratrum quoque gratia rara.</i></p> + +<p class="p2 center">THE END.</p> +<h2>Footnotes</h2> + +<p><a name="Footnote1" id="Footnote1"></a><a href="#FNanchor1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The subject of a preceding Lecture, with which the + present was immediately connected, was, An Enquiry into the Rights + of Persons, as Citizens of the United States of America.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote2" id="Footnote2"></a><a href="#FNanchor2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> The American standard, at the commencement of those + hostilities which terminated in the revolution, had these words + upon it——<span class="smcap">An Appeal to Heaven!</span></p> + +<p><a name="Footnote3" id="Footnote3"></a><a href="#FNanchor3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> The Author here takes the liberty of making his + acknowledgments to the reverend Jeremiah Belknap, D. D. of Boston, + and to Zephaniah Swift, Esq. representative in congress from + Connecticut, for their obliging communications; he hath + occasionally made use of them in several parts of this Lecture, + where he may have omitted referring to them.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote4" id="Footnote4"></a><a href="#FNanchor4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Dr. Belknap's answers to St. G. T.'s queries.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote5" id="Footnote5"></a><a href="#FNanchor5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Letter from Zephaniah Swift to St. G. T.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote6" id="Footnote6"></a><a href="#FNanchor6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> The Constitution of Virginia, art. 7. declares, that + the right of suffrage shall remain as then exercised: the act of + 1723, c. 4 (edit. 1733,), sect. 23, declared, that no Negroe, + mulattoe, or Indian, shall have any vote at the election of + burgesses, or any other election whatsoever.—This act, it is + presumed, was in force at the adoption of the constitution.—The + act of 1785, c. 55 (edit. of 1794, c. 17,), also expressly + excludes them from the right of suffrage.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote7" id="Footnote7"></a><a href="#FNanchor7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> These arguments are, in fact, borrowed from the + Spirit of Laws.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote8" id="Footnote8"></a><a href="#FNanchor8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> "About the same time (the reign of queen Elizabeth) a + traffic in the human species, called Negroes, was introduced into + England, which is one of the most odious and unnatural branches of + trade the sordid and avaricious mind of mortals ever invented.—It + had been carried on before this period by Genoese traders, who + bought a patent from Charles the fifth, containing an exclusive + right of carrying Negroes from the Portuguese settlements in + Africa, to America and the West Indies; but the English nation had + not yet engaged in the iniquitous traffic.—One William Hawkins, + an expert English seaman, having made several voyages to the coast + of Guinea, and from thence to Brazil and the West Indies, had + acquired considerable knowledge of the countries. At his death he + left his journals with his son, John Hawkins, in which he + described the lands of America and the West Indies as exceedingly + rich and fertile, but utterly neglected for want of hands to + improve them. He represented the natives of Europe as unequal to + the task in such a scorching climate; but those of Africa as well + adapted to undergo the labours requisite. Upon which John Hawkins + immediately formed a design of transporting Africans into the + western world; and having drawn a plan for the execution of it, he + laid it before some of his opulent neighbours for encouragement + and approbation. To them it appeared promising and advantageous. A + subscription was opened and speedily filled up, by Sir Lionel + Ducket, Sir Thomas Lodge, Sir William Winter, and others, who + plainly perceived the vast profits that would result from such a + trade. Accordingly three ships were fitted out, and manned by an + hundred select sailors, whom Hawkins encouraged to go with him by + promises of good treatment and great pay. In the year 1562 he set + sail for Africa, and in a few weeks arrived at the country called + Sierra Leona, where he began his commerce with the Negroes. While + he trafficked with them, he found the means of giving them a + charming description of the country to which he was bound; the + unsuspicious Africans listened to him with apparent joy and + satisfaction, and seemed remarkably fond of his European trinkets, + food, and clothes. He pointed out to them the barrenness of the + country, and their naked and wretched condition, and promised if + any of them were weary of their miserable circumstances, and would + go along with him, he would carry them to a plentiful land, where + they should <i>live happy</i>, and <i>receive</i> an abundant <i>recompence</i> + for their labours. He told them the country was inhabited by such + men as himself and his jovial companions, and <i>assured</i> them of + <i>kind usage</i> and <i>great friendship</i>. In short, the Negroes were + overcome by his flattering promises, and <i>three hundred</i> stout + fellows accepted his offer, and consented to embark along with + him. Every thing being settled on the most amicable terms between + them, Hawkins made preparations for his voyage. But in the night + before his departure his Negroes were attacked by a large body + from a different quarter; Hawkins, being alarmed with the shrieks + and cries of dying persons, ordered his men to the assistance of + his slaves, and having surrounded the assailants, carried a number + of them on board as prisoners of war. The next day he set sail for + Hispaniola with his cargo of human creatures; but during the + passage, he treated the prisoners of war in a different manner + from his volunteers. Upon his arrival he disposed of his cargo to + great advantage; and endeavoured to inculcate on the Spaniards who + bought the negroes the same distinction to be observed: but they + having <i>purchased all at the same rate</i>, considered them as slaves + of the same condition, and consequently treated all alike."</p> + +<p>Hawkins having returned to England, soon after made preparations + for a second voyage. "In his passage he fell in with the Minion + man of war, which accompanied him to the Coast of Africa. After + his arrival he began as formerly to traffic with the Negroes, + endeavouring by persuasions and <i>prospects</i> of <i>reward</i>, to induce + them to go along with him—but now they were more reserved and + jealous of his designs, and as none of their neighbours had + returned, they were apprehensive he had killed and eat them. The + crew of the man of war observing the Africans backward and + suspicious, began to laugh at his gentle and dilatory methods of + proceeding, and proposed having immediate recourse to force and + compulsion—but Hawkins considered it as cruel and unjust, and + tried by persuasions, promises and threats, to prevail on them to + desist from a purpose so unwarrantable and barbarous. In vain did + he urge his authority and instructions from the Queen: the bold + and headstrong sailors would hear of no restraints. Drunkenness + and avarice are deaf to the voice of humanity. They pursue their + violent design, and, after several unsuccessful attacks, in which + <i>many</i> of them lost their <i>lives</i>, the cargo was at length + compleated by barbarity and force.</p> + +<p>"Hence arose that horrid and inhuman practice of dragging Africans + into slavery, which has since been <i>so</i> pursued, in defiance of + every principle of justice and religion. Had Negroes been brought + from the flames, to which in some countries they were devoted on + their falling prisoners of war, and in others, sacrificed at the + funeral obsequies of the great and powerful among themselves; in + short had they by this traffic been delivered from <i>torture</i> or + <i>death</i>, European merchants <i>might have some excuse</i> to plead in + its vindication. <i>But according to the common mode in which it has + been conducted</i>, we must confess it a difficult matter to conceive + a <i>single</i> argument in its defence. And though policy has given + countenance and sanction to the trade, yet every candid and + impartial man must confess, that it is atrocious and unjustifiable + in every light in which it can be viewed, and turns merchants into + a band of robbers, and trade into atrocious acts of fraud and + violence." Historical Account of South-Carolina and Georgia. + Anonymous. London printed in 1779—page 20, &c.</p> + +<p>"The number of Negroe slaves bartered for in one year (viz. 1768), + on the Coast of Africa from Cape Blanco, to Rio Congo, amounted to + 104,000 souls, whereof more than half (viz. 53,000) were shipped + on account of British merchants, and 6,300 on the account of + British Americans." The Law of Retribution by Granville Sharpe, + Esq. page 147. note.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote9" id="Footnote9"></a><a href="#FNanchor9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> See the various tracts on this subject, by Granville + Sharpe, Esq. of London.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote10" id="Footnote10"></a><a href="#FNanchor10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> The condition of a <i>villein</i> had most of the + incidents I have before described in giving the idea of <i>slavery</i>, + in general. His services were uncertain and indeterminate, such as + his lord thought fit to require; or as some of our ancient writers + express it, he knew not in the evening what he was to do in the + morning, he was bound to do whatever he was commanded. He was + liable to beating, imprisonment, and every other chastisement his + lord could devise, except killing and maiming. He was incapable of + acquiring property for his own benefit; he was himself the subject + of property; as such saleable and transmissible. If he was a + villein regardant he passed with the land to which he was annexed, + but might be severed at the will of his lord; if he was a villein + in gross, he was an hereditament, or a chattel real, according to + his lord's interest; being descendible to the heir, where the lord + was absolute <i>owner</i>, and transmissible to the executor where the + lord had only a term of years in him. Lastly, the slavery extended + to the issue, if the father was a villein, our law deriving the + condition of the child from that of the father, contrary to the + Roman law, in which the rule was, <i>partus sequitur ventum</i>. + Hargrave's Case of Negroe Somerset, page 26 and 27.</p> + +<p>The same writer refers the origin of vassalage in England, + principally to the wars between the British, Saxon, Danish, and + Norman nations, contending for the sovereignty of that country, in + opposition to the opinion of judge Fitzherbert, who supposes + villeinage to have commenced at the conquest. Ib. 27, 28. And this + he proves from Spelman and other antiquaries. Ib. The writ <i>de + nativo habendo</i>, by which the lord was enabled to recover his + villein that had absconded from him, creates a presumption that + all the natives of England were at some period reduced to a state + of villeinage, the word <i>nativus</i>, which signified a villein, most + clearly designating the person meant thereby to be a <i>native</i>: + this etymon is obvious, as well from the import of the word + <i>nativus</i>, as from the history of the more remote ages of Britain. + Sir Edward Coke's Etymology, "<i>quia plerumque nascuntur servi</i>," + is one of those puerile conceits, which so frequently occur in his + works, and are unworthy of so great a man.</p> + +<p>Barrington in his observations upon <i>magna carta</i> c. 4. observes, + that the villeins who held by servile tenures were considered as + so many negroes on a sugar plantation; the words "<i>liber homo</i>," + in magna carta, c. 14. with all deference to sir Edward Coke, who + says they mean a <i>free-holder</i>, I understand as meaning <i>a free + man</i>,[Liber homo, &c. the title of <i>freeman</i> was formerly + <i>confined</i> to the <i>nobility</i> and <i>gentry</i> who were <i>descended</i> of + free ancestors.—Burgh's Political Disquisitions, vol. iii. p. + 400, who cites Spelman's Glossary, voc. Liber homo.] as + contradistinguished from a <i>villein</i>: for in the very next + sentence the words "et <i>villanus</i> alterius quam noster," occur. + Villeins must certainly have been numerous at that day, to have + obtained a place in the Great Charter. It is no less an evidence + that their condition was in a state of melioration.</p> + +<p>In Poland, at this day, the peasants seem to be in an absolute + state of slavery, or at least of villeinage, to the nobility, who + are the land-holders.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote11" id="Footnote11"></a><a href="#FNanchor11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Among the Israelites, according to the Mosaical law, + "If a man smote his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he died + under his hand, he should surely be punished—notwithstanding if + he continue a day or two, he should not be punished [Exod. c. + 21]:" for, saith the text, he is <i>his money</i>. Our legislators + appear to have adopted the reason of the latter clause, without + the humanity of the former part of the law.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote12" id="Footnote12"></a><a href="#FNanchor12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Hannah and other Indians, against Davis.—Since this + adjudication, I have met with a manuscript act of assembly made in + 1691 c. 9 entitled, "An Act for a free Trade with Indians," the + enacting clause of which is in the very words of the act of 1705. + c. 52. A similar title to an act of that session occurs in the + edition of 1733. p. 94. and the chapter is numbered as in the + manuscript. If this manuscript be authentic (which there is some + reason to presume, it being copied in some blank leaves at the end + of Purvis's edition, and apparently written about the time of the + passage of the act), it would seem that no Indians brought into + Virginia for more than a century, nor any of their descendents, + can be retained in slavery in this commonwealth.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote13" id="Footnote13"></a><a href="#FNanchor13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Although it be true that the number of slaves in the + <i>whole</i> state bears the proportion of 292,427, to 747,610, the + whole number of souls in the state, that is, nearly as <i>two</i> to + <i>five</i>; yet this proportion is by no means <i>uniform</i> throughout + the state. In the forty-four counties lying upon the Bay, and the + great rivers of the state, and comprehended by a line including + Brunswick, Cumberland, Goochland, Hanover, Spottsylvania, + Stafford, Prince William and Fairfax, and the counties eastward + thereof, the number of slaves is 196,542, and the number of free + persons, including free Negroes and mulattoes, 198,371 only. So + that the blacks in that populous and extensive district of country + are <i>more numerous</i> than the whites. In the second class, + comprehending nineteen counties, and extending from the last + mentioned line to the Blue Ridge, and including the populous + counties of Frederick and Berkeley, beyond the Blue Ridge, there + are 82,286 slaves, and 136,251 free persons; the number of free + persons in that class not being two to one, to the slaves. In the + third class the proportion is considerably increased; the eleven + counties of which it consists contain only 11,218 slaves, and + 76,281 free persons. This class reaches to the Allegany ridge of + mountains: the fourth and last class, comprehending fourteen + counties westward of the third class, contains only 2,381 slaves, + and 42,288 free persons. It is obvious from this statement that + almost all the dangers and inconveniences which may be apprehended + from a state of slavery on the one hand, or an attempt to abolish + it, on the other, will be confined to the people eastward of the + blue ridge of mountains.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote14" id="Footnote14"></a><a href="#FNanchor14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> The following is a list of the acts, or titles of + acts, imposing duties on slaves imported, which occur in the + various compilations of our laws, or in the Sessions Acts, or + Journals.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" summary="List of Acts."> +<colgroup> + <col width="10%"> + <col width="70%"> + <col width="20%"> +</colgroup> +<tr> +<td>1699,</td> +<td>c. 12. title only retained. Edit. of 1733,</td> +<td class="right">p. 113</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1701,</td> +<td>c. 5. the same, </td> +<td class="right">116</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1704,</td> +<td>c. 4. the same, </td> +<td class="right">122</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1705,</td> +<td>c. 1. the same, </td> +<td class="right">126</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1710,</td> +<td>c. 1. the same, </td> +<td class="right">239</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1712,</td> +<td>c. 3. the same, </td> +<td class="right">282</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1723,</td> +<td>c. 1. repealed by proclamation, </td> +<td class="right">333</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1727,</td> +<td>c. 1. enacted with a suspending clause, and the royal assent + refused, </td> +<td class="right">376</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1732,</td> +<td>c. 3. printed at large, </td> +<td class="right">469</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1734,</td> +<td colspan="2">c. 3. printed at large in Sessions Acts.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1736,</td> +<td colspan="2">c. 1. the same.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1738,</td> +<td colspan="2">c. 6. the same.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1740,</td> +<td colspan="2">c. 2. the same.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1742,</td> +<td colspan="2">c. 2. the same.</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>From this period I have not been able to refer to the Sessions + Acts.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" summary="List of Acts."> +<colgroup> + <col width="10%"> + <col width="70%"> + <col width="20%"> +</colgroup> +<tr> +<td>1752,</td> +<td>c. 1. printed at large in the edit. of 1769,</td> +<td class="right">281</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1754,</td> +<td>c. 1. the same,</td> +<td class="right">319</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1755,</td> +<td colspan="2">c. 2. Sessions Acts. Ten per cent. in addition to all former + duties.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1759,</td> +<td>c. 1. printed at large, edition of 1769,</td> +<td class="right">369</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1763,</td> +<td colspan="2">c. 1. Journals of that session.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td rowspan="2" style="vertical-align: top;">1766,</td> +<td>c. 3, 4. printed at large, edit. of 1769,</td> +<td class="right">461, 462</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>c. 15. + additional duty, the title only is printed, being repealed by the + crown, Ib.</td> +<td class="right">473</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1769,</td> +<td>c. 7, 8, and 12. title only printed, edition of 1785,</td> +<td class="right">6, 7</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1772,</td> +<td>c. 15. title only printed,</td> +<td class="right">Ibidem, 24</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p><a name="Footnote15" id="Footnote15"></a><a href="#FNanchor15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> <span style="font-size: 1.8em;">☞</span> The following extract from a petition to the + throne, presented from the house of burgesses of Virginia, April + 1, 1772, will shew the sense of the people of Virginia on the + subject of slavery at that period.</p> + +<p>"The many instances of your majesty's benevolent intentions and + more gracious disposition to promote the prosperity and happiness + of your subjects in the colonies, encourages us to look up to the + throne, and implore your majesty's paternal assistance in averting + a calamity of a most alarming nature."</p> + +<p>"The importation of slaves into the colonies from the coast of + Africa hath long been considered as a trade of great inhumanity, + and under its <i>present encouragement</i>, we have too much reason to + fear <i>will endanger the very existence</i> of your majesty's American + dominions."</p> + +<p>"We are sensible that some of your majesty's subjects of <i>Great + Britain</i> may reap emoluments from this sort of traffic, but when + we consider that it greatly retards the settlement of the + colonies, with <i>more useful</i> inhabitants, and may, in time, have + the most destructive influence, we presume to hope that the + <i>interest of a few</i> be disregarded when placed in competition with + the security and happiness of such numbers of your majesty's + dutiful and loyal subjects."</p> + +<p>"Deeply impressed with these sentiments, we most humbly beseech + your majesty to <i>remove all those restraints</i> on your majesty's + governors of this colony, <i>which inhibit their assenting to such + laws as might check so very pernicious a commerce</i>." Journals of + the House of Burgesses, page 131.</p> + +<p>This petition produced no effect, as appears from the first clause + of our <span class="smcap">constitution</span>, where among other acts of misrule, "the + inhuman use of the royal negative" in refusing us permission to + exclude slaves from among us by law, is enumerated, among the + reasons for <i>separating from Great Britain</i>.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote16" id="Footnote16"></a><a href="#FNanchor16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> In December term 1788, one John Huston was tried in + the general court for the murder of a slave; the jury found him + guilty of manslaughter, and the court, upon a motion in arrest of + judgment, discharged him without any punishment. The general + assembly being then sitting, some of the members of the court + mentioned the case to some leading characters in the legislature, + and the act was at the same session repealed.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote17" id="Footnote17"></a><a href="#FNanchor17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> See Jefferson's Notes, 259.—The Marquis de + Chatelleux's Travels, I have not noted the page; the Law of + Retribution, by Granville Sharpe, pa. 151, 238, notes. The Just + Limitation of Slavery, by the same author; pa. 15, note. Ibidem, + pa. 33, 50, Ib. Append. No. 2. Encyclopédie. Tit. Esclave. Laws of + Barbadoes, &c.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote18" id="Footnote18"></a><a href="#FNanchor18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> There are <i>more</i> free Negroes and mulattoes in + Virginia alone, than are to be found in the four New-England + states, and Vermont in addition to them. The progress of + emancipation in this state is therefore much greater than our + <i>Eastern</i> brethren may at first suppose. There are only 1087 free + Negroes and mulattoes in the States of New-York, New-Jersey and + Pennsylvania, <i>more</i>, than in Virginia. Those who take a subject + in the gross, have little idea of the result of an exact scrutiny. + Out of 20,348 inhabitants on the Eastern Shore of Virginia 1185 + were free Negroes and mulattoes when the census was taken. The + number is since much augmented.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote19" id="Footnote19"></a><a href="#FNanchor19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> The act of 1795. c. 11. enacts, that any person held + in slavery may make complaint to a magistrate, or to the court of + the district county or corporation wherein he resides, and not + elsewhere. The magistrate, if the complaint be made to him, shall + issue his warrant to summon the owner before him, and compel him + to give bond and security to suffer the complainant to appear at + the next court to petition the court to be admitted to sue <i>in + forma pauperis</i>. If the owner refuse, the magistrate shall order + the complainant into the custody of the officer serving the + warrant, at the expence of the master, who shall keep him until + the sitting of the court, and then produce him before it. Upon + petition to the court, if the court be satisfied as to the + material facts, they shall assign the complainant council, who + shall state the facts with his opinion thereon to the court; and + unless from the circumstances so stated, and the opinion thereon + given, the court shall <i>see manifest reason to deny their + interference</i>, they shall order the clerk to issue process against + the owner, and the complainant shall remain in the custody of the + sheriff until the owner shall give bond and security to have him + forthcoming to answer the judgment of the court. And by the + general law in case of pauper's suits; the complainants shall have + writs of subpoena gratis; and by the practice of the courts, he is + permitted to attend the taking the depositions of witnesses, and + go and come freely to and from court, for the prosecution of his + suit.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote20" id="Footnote20"></a><a href="#FNanchor20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> The number of slaves in the United States at the + time of the late census, was something under 700,000.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote21" id="Footnote21"></a><a href="#FNanchor21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Mr. Jefferson most forcibly paints the unhappy + influence on the manners of the people produced by the existence + of slavery among us. The whole commerce between master and slave, + says he, is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, + the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading + submissions on the other. Our children see this, and learn to + imitate it; for man is an imitative animal. This quality is the + germ of education in him. From his cradle to his grave he is + learning what he sees others do. If a parent had no other motive + either in his own philanthropy or his self love, for restraining + the intemperance of passion towards his slave, it should always be + a sufficient one that his child is present. But generally it is + not sufficient. The parent storms, the child looks on, catches the + lineaments of wrath, puts on the same airs in the circle of + smaller slaves, gives a loose to his worst of passions; and thus + nursed, educated, and daily exercised in tyranny, cannot but be + stamped by it with odious peculiarities. The man must be a prodigy + who can retain his manners and morals undepraved by such + circumstances. And with what execrations would the statesman be + loaded, who permitting one half the citizens thus to trample on + the rights of the other, transforms them into despots, and these + into enemies, destroys the morals of the one part, and the amor + patrię of the other. For if a slave can have a country in this + world, it must be any other in preference to that in which he is + born to live and labour for another; in which he must lock up the + faculties of his nature, contribute as far as depends on his + individual endeavours to the evanishment of the human race, or + entail his own miserable condition on the endless generations + proceeding from him. With the morals of the people, their industry + also, is destroyed. For in a warm climate, no man will labour for + himself who can make another labour for him. This is so true, that + of the proprietors of slaves a very small proportion indeed are + ever seen to labour. And can the liberties of a nation be ever + thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a + conviction in the minds of the people, that these liberties are of + the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his + wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is + just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever: that considering + numbers, nature, and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel + of fortune, an exchange of situation is among possible events: + that it may become probable by supernatural interference! The + Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in such a + contest.—But it is impossible to be temperate and to pursue this + subject through the various considerations of policy, of morals, + of history, natural and civil. We must be contented to hope they + will force their way into every one's mind. I think a change + already perceptible, since the origin of the present revolution. + The spirit of the master is abating, that of the slave rising from + the dust; his condition mollifying; the way I hope preparing, + under the auspices of Heaven, for a total emancipation, and that + this is disposed in the order of events, to be with the consent of + their masters, rather than by their extirpation. Notes on + Virginia, 298.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote22" id="Footnote22"></a><a href="#FNanchor22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> What is here advanced is not to be understood as + implying an opinion that the labour of slaves is more productive + than that of freemen.—The author of the Treatise on the Wealth of + Nations, informs us, "That it appears from the experience of all + ages and nations, that the work done by freemen comes cheaper in + the end than that done by slaves. That it is found to do so, even + in Boston, New-York and Philadelphia, where the wages of common + labour are very high." Vol. 1. pa. 123. Lond. edit. oct. Admitting + this conclusion, it would not remove the objection that + emancipated slaves would not willingly labour.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote23" id="Footnote23"></a><a href="#FNanchor23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Doctor Franklin, it is said, drew the bill for the + gradual abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote24" id="Footnote24"></a><a href="#FNanchor24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> It is probable that similar laws have been passed in + some other states; but I have not been able to procure a note of + them.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote25" id="Footnote25"></a><a href="#FNanchor25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> The object of the amendment proposed to be offered + to the legislature, was to emancipate all slaves born after a + certain period; and further directing that they should continue + with their parents to a certain age, then be brought up, at the + public expence, to tillage, arts, or sciences, according to their + geniuses, till the females should be eighteen, and the males + twenty-one years of age, when they should be colonized to such a + place as the circumstances of the time should render most proper; + sending them out with arms, implements of household and of the + handicraft arts, seeds, pairs of the useful domestic animals, &c. + to declare them a free and independent people, and extend to them + our alliance and protection, till they shall have acquired + strength; and to send vessels at the same time to other parts of + the world for an equal number of white inhabitants; to induce whom + to migrate hither, proper encouragements should be proposed. Notes + on Virginia, 251.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote26" id="Footnote26"></a><a href="#FNanchor26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> It will probably be asked, why not retain the blacks + among us and <i>incorporate them into the state</i>? Deep-rooted + prejudices entertained by the whites; ten thousand recollections + by the blacks, of the injuries they have sustained; new + provocations; the <i>real distinctions</i> which <i>nature</i> has made; and + many other circumstances will divide us into parties and produce + convulsions, which will probably never end but in the + extermination of one or the other race. To these objections which + are political may be added others which are physical and moral. + The first difference which strikes us is that of colour.—&c. The + circumstance of superior beauty is thought worthy attention in the + propagation of our horses, dogs, and other domestic animals; Why + not in that of man? &c. In general their existence appears to + participate more of sensation than reflection. Comparing them by + their faculties of memory, reason and imagination, it appears to + me that in memory they are equal to the whites; in reason much + inferior; that in imagination they are dull, tasteless and + anamolous. &c. The improvement of the blacks in body and mind, in + the first instance of their mixture with the whites, has been + observed by every one, and proves that their inferiority is not + the effect merely of their condition of life. We know that among + the Romans, about the Augustan age, especially, the condition of + their slaves was much more deplorable, than that of the blacks on + the continent of America. Yet among the Romans their slaves were + often their rarest artists. They excelled too in science, insomuch + as to be usually employed as tutors to their masters' children. + Epictetus, Terence, and Phoedrus were slaves. But they were of the + race of whites. It is not their condition then, but nature, which + has produced the distinction. The opinion that they are inferior + in the faculties of reason and imagination, must be hazarded with + great diffidence. To justify a general conclusion requires many + observations. &c.—I advance it therefore as a suspicion only, + that the blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or made + distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to the whites + both in the endowments of body and mind. &c. This unfortunate + difference of colour, and perhaps of faculty, is a powerful + obstacle to the emancipation of these people. Among the Romans + emancipation required but one effort. The slave, when made free, + might mix with, without staining, the blood of his master. But + with us a second is necessary, unknown to history.—See the + passage at length, Notes on Virginia, page 252 to 265.</p> + +<p>"In the present case, it is not only the slave who is beneath his + master, it is the Negroe who is beneath the white man. No act of + enfranchisement can efface this unfortunate distinction." + Chatelleux's Travels in America.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote27" id="Footnote27"></a><a href="#FNanchor27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> The celebrated David Hume, in his Essay on National + Character, advances the same opinion; Doctor Beattie, in his Essay + on Truth, controverts it with many powerful arguments. Early + prejudices, had we more satisfactory information than we can + possibly possess on the subject at present, would render an + inhabitant of a country where Negroe slavery prevails, an improper + umpire between them.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote28" id="Footnote28"></a><a href="#FNanchor28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> See Spirit of Laws, 12-15.——1. Black Com. 417.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote29" id="Footnote29"></a><a href="#FNanchor29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> The immense territory of Louisiana, which extends as + far south as the lat. 25° and the two Floridas, would probably + afford a ready asylum for such as might choose to become Spanish + subjects. How far their political rights might be enlarged in + these countries, is, however questionable: but the climate is + undoubtedly more favourable to the African constitution than ours, + and from this cause, it is not improbable that emigrations from + these states would in time be very considerable.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote30" id="Footnote30"></a><a href="#FNanchor30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> As it may not be unacceptable to some readers to + observe the operation of this plan, I shall subjoin the following + statement:</p> + +<p class="p2 center">PRELIMINARY REMARKS.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="3" summary="Estimation of slaves."> +<colgroup> + <col width="60%"> + <col width="20%"> + <col width="20%"> +</colgroup> +<tr> +<td colspan="2">1. The number of slaves in Virginia by the late census being found + to be 292,427, they may now, in round numbers be estimated at</td> +<td style="vertical-align: bottom;" class="right">300,000.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">2. Let it be supposed that the males and females are nearly or + altogether equal in number.</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">3. According to Dr. Franklin, the people of America double their + numbers in about twenty-eight years; and according to Mr. + Jefferson, the negroes increase as fast as the whites, they will + therefore double, at least every thirty years.</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">4. Let it be supposed that in thirty years one half of the present + race of negroes will be extinct.</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">5. Let it be supposed that in forty-five years there will not + remain more than one-fifth of the present race alive.</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">6. Let it be likewise supposed, that in sixty years the whole of + the present race will be extinct.</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">7. For conciseness sake, let the present race be called + <i>ante-nati</i>, those born after the adoption of the plan, + <i>post-nati</i>.</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> + +<tr><td colspan="3"> </td></tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="3" class="center">FROM HENCE IT WILL FOLLOW,</td> +</tr> +<tr><td colspan="3"> </td></tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">1. That the present number of slaves being</td> +<td style="vertical-align: bottom;" class="right">300,000.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">2. In thirty years their numbers will amount to</td> +<td style="vertical-align: bottom;" class="right">600,000.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">3. But at that period as one half of them will be extinct, (rem. + 4.) their numbers will stand thus:</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="right">Ante-nati,</td> +<td class="right">150,000</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="right">Post-nati,</td> +<td class="right">450,000</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td class="right">———</td> +<td class="right">600,000.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">4. The mean increase of the post-nati for the next thirty years + will therefore be 450000/30, annually, or</td> +<td style="vertical-align: bottom;" class="right">15,000.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">5. If one half of these be males, who are still to remain slaves, + there will in the first sixteen years, be born</td> +<td style="vertical-align: bottom;" class="right">120,000.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">6. After the first sixteen years, the post-nati females will begin + to breed; the proportion of males born to slavery in the next + twelve years may be estimated at one-fourth of the whole number + born after the commencement of that period. Their number will be</td> +<td style="vertical-align: bottom;" class="right">52,000.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">7. The number of <i>slaves</i> living in Virginia at the end of + <i>thirty</i> years from the adoption of the plan, will be,</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="add2em">ante-nati (prop. 3.)</td> +<td class="right">150,000</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="add2em">Post-nati males born in the first 16 years,</td> +<td class="right">120,000</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="add2em">Post-nati males born in the last 12 years,</td> +<td class="right">52,500</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td class="right">———</td> +<td class="right">322,500.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">8. The number of <i>negroes</i> at the same time will stand thus:</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="add2em">Slaves,</td> +<td class="right">322,500</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="add2em">Post-nati free born,</td> +<td class="right">277,500</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td class="right">———</td> +<td class="right">600,000.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">9. After twenty-eight years from the first adoption, this plan of + gradual emancipation will first begin to manifest its effects, by + the complete emancipation of one twenty-eighth part of the + post-nati free born during that period each succeeding year, for + twenty-eight years more; their numbers will be, 277500/28, or</td> +<td style="vertical-align: bottom;" class="right">9,910.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="3">These will be all females.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">10. It being admitted that the negroes double every thirty years, + the supposition that in forty-five years, their numbers will be + half as many more as in thirty, will not be very erroneous, if so, + the whole race of them at that period will be</td> +<td style="vertical-align: bottom;" class="right">900,000.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">11. Their numbers will stand thus:</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="add2em">Ante-nati,</td> +<td class="right">60,000</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="add2em">Post-nati,</td> +<td class="right">840,000</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td class="right">———</td> +<td class="right">600,000.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">12. After twenty-eight years are past, the number of slaves born + must continually diminish. Suppose their number born in the last + 17 years, to be one-fourth as many as those born in the preceding + twelve years, they will be 52500/4, or</td> +<td style="vertical-align: bottom;" class="right">13,125.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">13. The slaves in Virginia in forty-five years will then be,</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="add2em">ante-nati,</td> +<td class="right">60,000</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="add2em">Post-nati males born in the first sixteen years,</td> +<td class="right">120,000</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="add2em">Ditto, born in the next twelve years,</td> +<td class="right">52,500</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="add2em">Ditto, born in the last seventeen years,</td> +<td class="right">13,125</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td class="right">———</td> +<td class="right">245,625.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="3">At this period the emancipation of males will begin.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">14. But after twenty eight years it has been shewn that 9,910 + negroes will annually arrive at the age of emancipation, their + whole number in forty-five years will be</td> +<td style="vertical-align: bottom;" class="right">168,470.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">15. The state of the negroes at the end of 45 years, will then be,</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="add2em">slaves,</td> +<td class="right">245,625</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="add2em">Post-nati fully emancipated (females),</td> +<td class="right">168,470</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="add2em">Post-nati not emancipated,</td> +<td class="right">485,905</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td class="right">———</td> +<td class="right">900,000.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">16. In sixty years the whole number of negroes will be</td> +<td style="vertical-align: bottom;" class="right">1,200,000.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">17. At that period the whole of the present race will be extinct; + and we may also infer that one half of those born in the first + thirty years will be also extinct; the number of slaves born in + that period has been shewn, (prop. 7.) to be 172,500, the number + of these then living will be 172,500/2, or</td> +<td style="vertical-align: bottom;" class="right">86,250.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">18. One half of the post-nati free born, during that period, being + now fully emancipated, may be likewise presumed to be extinct; + their numbers (prop. 8.) will be, 277,500/2, or</td> +<td style="vertical-align: bottom;" class="right">138,750.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">19. The state of the negroes at the end of sixty years, will + therefore be:</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="add2em">Slaves born during the first thirty years,</td> +<td class="right">86,250</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="add2em">Ditto born after that period,</td> +<td class="right">13,125</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="add2em">Post-nati fully emancipated,</td> +<td class="right">138,750</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="add2em">Post-nati under 28 years of age,</td> +<td class="right">961,875</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td class="right">———</td> +<td class="right">1,200,000.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">20. At the end of ninety years the number of negroes will be</td> +<td style="vertical-align: bottom;" class="right">2,400,000.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">21. Of this number, those only born after the first thirty years, + being supposed to be living, the number of slaves (prop. 12) will + then be reduced to</td> +<td style="vertical-align: bottom;" class="right">13,125.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">22. And as the last mentioned number of slaves are supposed to be + born within forty-five years, their whole number will be extinct + in fifteen years more, that is, in <i>one hundred</i> and <i>five</i> years + from the first adoption of the plan.</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">23. By prop. 19. it appears, that out of 1,200,000 negroes, there + will then be 961,875 under the age of twenty-eight years, the + period of emancipation.</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td colspan="2">24. We may therefore conclude, that from <i>two-thirds</i> to + <i>three-fourths</i> of the whole number of blacks will <i>always</i> be + liable to service.</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +</table> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Dissertation on Slavery, by St. George Tucker + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DISSERTATION ON SLAVERY *** + +***** This file should be named 32239-h.htm or 32239-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/2/3/32239/ + +Produced by Curtis Weyant and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Dissertation on Slavery + With a Proposal for the Gradual Abolition of it, in the + State of Virginia + +Author: St. George Tucker + +Release Date: May 3, 2010 [EBook #32239] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DISSERTATION ON SLAVERY *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis Weyant and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + +Transcriber's note: Original spelling has been maintained and not +standardized. The numerous short bibliographical reference notes that +were originally printed as sidenotes have been set in brackets here and +included directly into the text; the longer text footnotes have been +renumbered for consistency. To indicate text in italic font, +_underscores_ have been used. Words without italics inside longer italic +sentences are indicated by =equal signs=. + + + + +A DISSERTATION ON _SLAVERY_: WITH A PROPOSAL FOR THE GRADUAL ABOLITION +OF IT, IN THE _STATE OF VIRGINIA_. + +BY ST. GEORGE TUCKER, _PROFESSOR OF LAW IN THE UNIVERSITY OF WILLIAM AND +MARY, AND ONE OF THE JUDGES OF THE GENERAL COURT, IN VIRGINIA_. + +_Slavery not only violates the Laws of Nature, and of civil Society, it +also wounds the best Forms of Government: in a Democracy, where all Men +are equal, Slavery is contrary to the Spirit of the Constitution. +MONTESQUIEU._ + +PHILADELPHIA: PRINTED FOR MATHEW CAREY, No. 118, MARKET-STREET. 1796. + + + + +TO THE + +_General Assembly of Virginia_, + +To whom it belongs to decide upon the expediency and practicability of a +plan for the _gradual abolition_ of _Slavery_ in this commonwealth, + +The following pages are most respectfully submitted and inscribed, + +BY THE AUTHOR. + +_Williamsburg, in Virginia, May 20, 1796._ + + + + +TO THE READER. + + +_The following pages form a part of a course of Lectures on Law and +Police, delivered in the University of William and Mary, in this +commonwealth. The Author considering the Abolition of Slavery in this +State, as an object of the first importance, not only to our moral +character and domestic peace, but even to our political salvation; and +being persuaded that the accomplishment of so momentous and desirable an +undertaking will in great measure depend upon the early adoption of some +plan for that purpose, with diffidence submits to the consideration of +his countrymen his ideas on a subject of such consequence. He flatters +himself that the plan he ventures to suggest, is liable to fewer +objections than most others that have been submitted to the +consideration of the public, as it will be attended with a gradual +change of condition in the blacks, and cannot possibly affect the +interest either of =creditors=, or any other description of persons of +the =present generation=: and posterity he makes no doubt will feel +themselves relieved from a perilous and grievous burden by the timely +adoption of a plan, whose operation may be felt by them, before they are +borne down by a weight which threatens destruction to our happiness both +public and private._ + + + + +====>The following ADDITIONAL NOTES have been received from the Author +since the body of this work was printed off. + +_In page 20, after the word =arms=, in line 5, read this note:_ + +This was the case under the laws of the state; but the Act of 2. Cong. +c. 33. for establishing an uniform militia throughout the United States, +seems to have excluded all but free white men from bearing arms in the +militia. + +_To the word =slave=, page 47, line 14, add the following note:_ + +It may not be improper here to note, that the first congress of the +United States, at their third session, Dec. 1793, passed an act to +prohibit the carrying on the slave trade from the United States to any +foreign place or country; the provisions of which seem well calculated +to restrain the citizens of united America from embarking in so infamous +a traffick. + + + + +ON THE STATE OF SLAVERY IN VIRGINIA. + + +In the preceding Enquiry[1] into the absolute rights of the citizens of +united America, we must not be understood as if those rights were +equally and universally the privilege of all the inhabitants of the +United States, or even of all those, who may challenge this land of +freedom as their native country. Among the blessings which the Almighty +hath showered down on these states, there is a large portion of the +bitterest draught that ever flowed from the cup of affliction. Whilst +America hath been the land of promise to Europeans, and their +descendants, it hath been the vale of death to millions of the wretched +sons of Africa. The genial light of liberty, which hath here shone with +unrivalled lustre on the former, hath yielded no comfort to the latter, +but to them hath proved a pillar of darkness, whilst it hath conducted +the former to the most enviable state of human existence. Whilst we were +offering up vows at the shrine of Liberty, and sacrificing hecatombs +upon her altars; whilst we swore irreconcilable hostility to her +enemies, and hurled defiance in their faces; whilst we adjured the God +of Hosts to witness our resolution to live free, or die, and imprecated +curses on their heads who refused to unite with us in establishing the +empire of freedom; we were imposing upon our fellow men, who differ in +complexion from us, a _slavery_, ten thousand times more cruel than the +utmost extremity of those grievances and oppressions, of which we +complained. Such are the inconsistencies of human nature; such the +blindness of those who pluck not the beam out of their own eyes, whilst +they can espy a moat, in the eyes of their brother; such that partial +system of morality which confines rights and injuries, to particular +complexions; such the effect of that self-love which justifies, or +condemns, not according to principle, but to the agent. Had we turned +our eyes inwardly when we supplicated the Father of Mercies to aid the +injured and oppressed; when we invoked the Author of Righteousness to +attest the purity of our motives, and the justice of our cause;[2] and +implored the God of Battles to aid our exertions in its defence, should +we not have stood more self convicted than the contrite publican! Should +we not have left our gift upon the altar, that we might be first +reconciled to our brethren whom we held in bondage? Should we not have +loosed their chains, and broken their fetters? Or if the difficulties +and dangers of such an experiment prohibited the attempt during the +convulsions of a revolution, is it not our duty to embrace the first +moment of constitutional health and vigour, to effectuate so desirable +an object, and to remove from us a stigma, with which our enemies will +never fail to upbraid us, nor our consciences to reproach us? To form a +just estimate of this obligation, to demonstrate the incompatibility of +a state of slavery with the principles of our government, and of that +revolution upon which it is founded, and to elucidate the practicability +of its total, though gradual, abolition, it will be proper to consider +the nature of slavery, its properties, attendants, and consequences in +general; its rise, progress, and present state not only in this +commonwealth, but in such of our sister states as have either perfected, +or commenced the great work of its extirpation; with the means they have +adopted to effect it, and those which the circumstances and situation of +our country may render it most expedient for us to pursue, for the +attainment of the same noble and important end.[3] + +[Footnote 1: The subject of a preceding Lecture, with which the present +was immediately connected, was, An Enquiry into the Rights of Persons, +as Citizens of the United States of America.] + +[Footnote 2: The American standard, at the commencement of those +hostilities which terminated in the revolution, had these words upon +it----AN APPEAL TO HEAVEN!] + +[Footnote 3: The Author here takes the liberty of making his +acknowledgments to the reverend Jeremiah Belknap, D. D. of Boston, and +to Zephaniah Swift, Esq. representative in congress from Connecticut, +for their obliging communications; he hath occasionally made use of them +in several parts of this Lecture, where he may have omitted referring to +them.] + +According to Justinian [Lib. 1. Tit. 2.], the first general division of +persons, in respect to their rights, is into freemen and slaves. It is +equally the glory and the happiness of that country from which the +citizens of the United States derive their origin, that the traces of +slavery, such as at present exists in several of the United States, are +there utterly extinguished. It is not my design to enter into a minute +enquiry whether it ever had existence there, nor to compare the +situation of villeins, during the existence of pure villenage, with that +of modern domestic slaves. The records of those times, at least, such as +have reached this quarter of the globe, are too few to throw a +satisfactory light on the subject. Suffice it that our ancestors +migrating hither brought not with them any prototype of that slavery +which hath been established among us. The first introduction of it into +Virginia was by the arrival of a Dutch ship from the coast of Africa +having _twenty_ Negroes on board, who were sold here in the year 1620 +[Stith 182.]. In the year 1638 we find them in Massachusetts.[4] They +were introduced into Connecticut soon after the settlement of that +colony; that is to say, about the same period.[5] Thus early had our +forefathers sown the seeds of an evil, which, like a leprosy, hath +descended upon their posterity with accumulated rancour, visiting the +sins of the fathers upon succeeding generations.--The climate of the +northern states less favourable to the constitution of the natives of +Africa [Dr. Belknap. Zephan. Swift.], than the southern, proved alike +unfavourable to their propagation, and to the increase of their numbers +by importations. As the southern colonies advanced in population, not +only importations increased there, but Nature herself, under a climate +more congenial to the African constitution, assisted in multiplying the +blacks in those parts, no less than in diminishing their numbers in the +more rigorous climates of the north; this influence of climate moreover +contributed extremely to increase or diminish the value of the slave to +the purchasers, in the different colonies. White labourers, whose +constitutions were better adapted to the severe winters of the New +England colonies, were there found to be preferable to the Negroes [Dr. +Belknap. Zephan. Swift.], who, accustomed to the influence of an ardent +sun, became almost torpid in those countries, not less adapted to give +vigour to their laborious exercises, than unfavourable to the +multiplication of their species; in those colonies, where the winters +were not only milder, and of shorter duration, but succeeded by an +intense summer heat, as invigorating to the African, as debilitating to +the European constitution, the Negroes were not barely more capable of +performing labour than the Europeans, or their descendants, but the +multiplication of the species was at least equal; and, where they met +with humane treatment, perhaps greater than among the whites. The +purchaser therefore calculated not upon the value of the labour of his +slave only, but, if a female, he regarded her as "the fruitful mother of +an hundred more:" and many of these unfortunate people have there been +in this state, whose descendants even in the compass of two or three +generations have gone near to realize the calculation.--The great +increase of slavery in the southern, in proportion to the northern +states in the union, is therefore not attributable, _solely_, to the +effect of sentiment, but to natural causes; as well as those +considerations of profit, which have, perhaps, an equal influence over +the conduct of mankind in general, in whatever country, or under +whatever climate their destiny hath placed them. What else but +considerations of this nature could have influenced the merchants of the +freest nation, at that time in the world, to embark in so nefarious a +traffic, as that of the human race, attended, as the African slave trade +has been, with the most atrocious aggravations of cruelty, perfidy, and +intrigues, the objects of which have been the perpetual fomentation of +predatory and intestine wars? What, but similar considerations, could +prevail on the government of the same country, even in these days, to +patronize a commerce so diametrically opposite to the generally received +maxims of that government. It is to the operation of these +considerations in the parent country, not less than to their influence +in the colonies, that the rise, increase, and continuance of slavery in +those British colonies which now constitute united America, are to be +attributed, as I shall endeavour to shew in the course of the present +enquiry. It is now time to enquire into the nature of slavery, in +general, and take a view of its consequences, and attendants in this +commonwealth, in particular. + +[Footnote 4: Dr. Belknap's answers to St. G. T.'s queries.] + +[Footnote 5: Letter from Zephaniah Swift to St. G. T.] + +Slavery, says a well informed writer [Hargrave's case of Negroe +Somerset.] on the subject, has been attended with circumstances so +various in different countries, as to render it difficult to give a +general definition of it. Justinian calls it a constitution of the law +of nations, by which one man is made subject to another, contrary to +nature [Lib. 1. Tit. 3. Sect. 2.]. Grotius describes it to be an +obligation to serve another for life, in consideration of diet, and +other common necessaries [Lib. 2. c. 5. Sect. 27]. Dr. Rutherforth, +rejecting this definition, informs us, that perfect slavery is an +obligation to be directed by another in all one's actions [Lib. 1. c. +20. pa. 474.]. Baron Montesquieu defines it to be the establishment of a +right, which gives one man such a power over another, as renders him +absolute master over his life and fortune [Lib. 15. c. 1.]. These +definitions appear not to embrace the subject fully, since they respect +the condition of the slave, in regard to his _master_, only, and not in +regard to the _state_, as well as the _master_. The author last +mentioned observes, that the constitution of a state may be free, and +the subject not so. The subject free, and not the constitution of the +state [Lib. 12. c. 1.]. Pursuing this idea, instead of attempting a +general definition of slavery; I shall, by considering it under a +threefold aspect, endeavour to give a just idea of its nature. + +I. When a nation is, from any external cause, deprived of the right of +being governed by its own laws, only, such a nation may be considered as +in a state of _political slavery_. Such is the state of conquered +countries, and generally, of colonies, and other dependant governments. +Such was the state of united America before the revolution. In this case +the personal rights of the subject may be so far secured by wholesome +laws, as that the individual may be esteemed free, whilst the state is +subject to a higher power: this subjection of one nation, or people, to +the will of another, constitutes the first species of slavery, which, in +order to distinguish it from the other two, I have called political; +inasmuch as it exists only in respect to the governments, and not to the +individuals of the two countries. Of this it is not our business to +speak, at present. + +II. Civil liberty being, no other than natural liberty so far restrained +by human laws, and no farther, as is necessary and expedient for the +general advantage of the public [Blackstone's Com. c. 125], whenever +that liberty is, by the laws of the state, further restrained than is +necessary and expedient for the general advantage, a state of _civil +slavery_ commences immediately: this may affect the whole society, and +every description of persons in it, and yet the constitution of the +state be perfectly free. And this happens whenever the laws of a state +respect the form, or energy of the government, more than the happiness +of the citizen; as in Venice, where the most oppressive species of civil +slavery exists, extending to every individual in the state, from the +poorest gondolier to the members of the senate, and the doge himself. + +This species of slavery also exists whenever there is an inequality of +rights, or privileges, between the subjects or citizens of the same +state, except such as necessarily result from the exercise of a public +office; for the pre-eminence of one class of men must be founded and +erected upon the depression of another; and the measure of exaltation in +the former, is that of the slavery of the latter. In all governments, +however constituted, or by what description soever denominated, wherever +the distinction of rank prevails, or is admitted by the constitution, +this species of slavery exists. It existed in every nation, and in every +government in Europe before the French revolution. It existed in the +American colonies before they became independent states; and +notwithstanding the maxims of equality which have been adopted in their +several constitutions, it exists in most, if not all, of them, at this +day, in the persons of our free Negroes and mulattoes; whose civil +incapacities are almost as numerous as the civil rights of our free +citizens. A brief enumeration of them, may not be improper before we +proceed to the third head. + +Free Negroes and mulattoes are by our constitution excluded from the +right of suffrage,[6] and by consequence, I apprehend, from office too: +they were formerly incapable of serving in the militia, except as +drummers or pioneers, but now I presume they are enrolled in the lists +of those that bear arms, though formerly punishable for presuming to +appear at a muster-field [1723. c. 2.]. During the revolution war many +of them were enlisted as soldiers in the regular army. Even slaves were +not rejected from military service at that period, and such as served +faithfully during the period of their enlistment, were emancipated by an +act passed after the conclusion of the war [Oct. 1783. c. 3.]. An act of +justice to which they were entitled upon every principle. All but +housekeepers, and persons residing upon the frontiers are prohibited +from keeping, or carrying any gun, powder, shot, club, or other weapon +offensive or defensive [1748. c. 31. Edit. 1794.]: Resistance to a white +person, in any case, was, formerly, and now, in any case, except a +wanton assault on the Negroe or mulattoe, is punishable by whipping [Ib. +c. 103.]. No Negroe or mulattoe can be a witness in any prosecution, or +civil suit in which a white person is a party [1794. c. 141.]. Free +Negroes together with slaves were formerly denied the benefit of clergy +in cases where it was allowed to white persons; but they are now upon an +equal footing as to the allowance of clergy, though not as to the +consequence of that allowance, inasmuch as the court may superadd other +corporal punishments to the burning in the hand usually inflicted upon +white persons, in the like cases [1794. c. 103.]. Emancipated Negroes +may be sold to pay the debts of their former master contracted before +their emancipation; and they may be hired out to satisfy their taxes +where no sufficient distress can be had. Their children are to be bound +out apprentices by the overseers of the poor. Free Negroes have all the +advantages in capital cases, which white men are entitled to, except a +trial by a jury of their own complexion: and a slave suing for his +freedom shall have the same privilege. Free Negroes residing, or +employed to labour in any town must be registered; the same thing is +required of such as go at large in any county. The penalty in both cases +is a fine upon the person employing, or harbouring them, and +imprisonment of the Negroe [1794. c. 163.]. The migration of free +Negroes or mulattoes to this state is also prohibited; and those who do +migrate hither may be sent back to the place from whence they came +[1794. c. 164.]. Any person, not being a Negroe, having one-fourth or +more Negroe blood in him is deemed a mulattoe. The law makes no other +distinction between Negroes and mulattoes, whether slaves or freemen. +These incapacities and disabilities are evidently the fruit of the third +species of slavery, of which it remains to speak; or, rather, they are +scions from the same common stock: which is, + +III. That condition in which one man is subject to be directed by +another in all his actions; and this constitutes a state of _domestic +slavery_; to which state all the incapacities and disabilities of civil +slavery are incident, with the weight of other numerous calamities +superadded thereto. And here it may be proper to make a short enquiry +into the origin and foundation of domestic slavery in other countries, +previous to its fatal introduction into this. + +[Footnote 6: The Constitution of Virginia, art. 7. declares, that the +right of suffrage shall remain as then exercised: the act of 1723, c. 4 +(edit. 1733,), sect. 23, declared, that no Negroe, mulattoe, or Indian, +shall have any vote at the election of burgesses, or any other election +whatsoever.--This act, it is presumed, was in force at the adoption of +the constitution.--The act of 1785, c. 55 (edit. of 1794, c. 17,), also +expressly excludes them from the right of suffrage.] + +Slaves, says Justinian, are either born such or become so [Inst. lib. 1. +tit. 1.]. They are born slaves when they are children of bond women; and +they become slaves, either by the law of nations, that is, by captivity; +for it is the practice of our generals to sell their captives, being +accustomed to preserve, and not to destroy them: or by the civil law, +which happens when a free person, above the age of twenty, suffers +himself to be sold for the sake of sharing the price given for him. The +author of the Commentaries on the Laws of England thus combats the +reasonableness of all these grounds [1. b. c. 423.]: "The conqueror," +says he, "according to the civilians, had a right to the life of his +captives; and having spared that, has a right to deal with him as he +pleases. But it is an untrue position, when taken generally, that by the +law of nature or nations, a man may kill his enemy: he has a right to +kill him only in particular cases; in cases of absolute necessity for +self-defence; and it is plain that this absolute necessity did not +subsist, since the victor did not actually kill him, but made him +prisoner. War itself is justifiable only on principles of +self-preservation; and therefore it gives no other right over prisoners +but merely to disable them from doing harm to us, by confining their +persons: much less can it give a right to kill, torture, abuse, plunder, +or even to enslave, an enemy, when the war is over. Since therefore the +right of _making_ slaves by captivity, depends on a supposed right of +slaughter, that foundation failing, the consequence drawn from it must +fail likewise. But, secondly, it is said slavery may begin _jure +civili_; when one man sells himself to another. This, if only meant of +contracts to serve, or work for, another, is very just: but when applied +to strict slavery, in the sense of the laws of old Rome or modern +Barbary, is also impossible. Every sale implies a price, a _quid pro +quo_, an equivalent given to the seller, in lieu of what he transfers to +the buyer; but what equivalent can be given for life and liberty, both +of which, in absolute slavery, are held to be in the master's disposal? +His property, also, the very price he seems to receive, devolves, _ipso +facto_, to his master, the instant he becomes a slave. In this case, +therefore, the buyer gives nothing, and the seller receives nothing: of +what validity then can a sale be, which destroys the very principles +upon which all sales are founded? Lastly we are told, that besides these +two ways by which slaves are acquired, they may also be hereditary; +"_servi nascuntur_"; the children of acquired slaves are, "jure +naturae", by a negative kind of birthright, slaves also.--But _this, +being built on the two former rights, =must= fall_ together with them. +If neither captivity, nor the sale of one's self, can by the law of +nature and reason reduce the parent to slavery, _much less_ can they +reduce the offspring." Thus by the most clear, manly, and convincing +reasoning does this excellent author refute every claim upon which the +practice of slavery is founded, or by which it has been supposed to be +justified, at least, in modern times.[7] But were we even to admit, that +a captive taken in a _just war_, might by his conqueror be reduced to a +state of slavery, this could not justify the claim of Europeans to +reduce the natives of Africa to that state: it is a melancholy, though +well-known fact, that in order to furnish supplies of these unhappy +people for the purposes of the slave trade, the Europeans have +constantly, by the most insidious (I had almost said infernal) arts, +fomented a kind of perpetual warfare among the ignorant and miserable +people of Africa; and instances have not been wanting, where, by the +most shameful breach of faith, they have trepanned end made slaves of +the _sellers_ as well as the _sold_.[8] That such horrid practices have +been sanctioned by a civilized nation; that a nation ardent in the cause +of liberty, and enjoying its blessings in the fullest extent, can +continue to vindicate a right established upon such a foundation; that a +people who have declared, "That _all men =are by nature= equally[Bill of +Rights, art. 1.]-free =and= independent_", and have made this +declaration the first article in the foundation of their government, +should in defiance of so sacred a truth, recognized by themselves in so +solemn a manner, and on so important an occasion, tolerate a practice +incompatible therewith, is such an evidence of the weakness and +inconsistency of human nature, as every man who hath a spark of +patriotic fire in his bosom must wish to see removed from his own +country. If ever there was a cause, if ever an occasion, in which all +hearts should be united, every nerve strained, and every power exerted, +surely the restoration of human nature to its inalienable right is such: +Whatever obstacles, therefore, may hitherto have retarded the attempt, +he that can appreciate the honour and happiness of his country, will +think it time that we should attempt to surmount them. + +[Footnote 7: These arguments are, in fact, borrowed from the Spirit of +Laws.] + +[Footnote 8: "About the same time (the reign of queen Elizabeth) a +traffic in the human species, called Negroes, was introduced into +England, which is one of the most odious and unnatural branches of trade +the sordid and avaricious mind of mortals ever invented.--It had been +carried on before this period by Genoese traders, who bought a patent +from Charles the fifth, containing an exclusive right of carrying +Negroes from the Portuguese settlements in Africa, to America and the +West Indies; but the English nation had not yet engaged in the +iniquitous traffic.--One William Hawkins, an expert English seaman, +having made several voyages to the coast of Guinea, and from thence to +Brazil and the West Indies, had acquired considerable knowledge of the +countries. At his death he left his journals with his son, John Hawkins, +in which he described the lands of America and the West Indies as +exceedingly rich and fertile, but utterly neglected for want of hands to +improve them. He represented the natives of Europe as unequal to the +task in such a scorching climate; but those of Africa as well adapted to +undergo the labours requisite. Upon which John Hawkins immediately +formed a design of transporting Africans into the western world; and +having drawn a plan for the execution of it, he laid it before some of +his opulent neighbours for encouragement and approbation. To them it +appeared promising and advantageous. A subscription was opened and +speedily filled up, by Sir Lionel Ducket, Sir Thomas Lodge, Sir William +Winter, and others, who plainly perceived the vast profits that would +result from such a trade. Accordingly three ships were fitted out, and +manned by an hundred select sailors, whom Hawkins encouraged to go with +him by promises of good treatment and great pay. In the year 1562 he set +sail for Africa, and in a few weeks arrived at the country called Sierra +Leona, where he began his commerce with the Negroes. While he trafficked +with them, he found the means of giving them a charming description of +the country to which he was bound; the unsuspicious Africans listened to +him with apparent joy and satisfaction, and seemed remarkably fond of +his European trinkets, food, and clothes. He pointed out to them the +barrenness of the country, and their naked and wretched condition, and +promised if any of them were weary of their miserable circumstances, and +would go along with him, he would carry them to a plentiful land, where +they should _live happy_, and _receive_ an abundant _recompence_ for +their labours. He told them the country was inhabited by such men as +himself and his jovial companions, and _assured_ them of _kind usage_ +and _great friendship_. In short, the Negroes were overcome by his +flattering promises, and _three hundred_ stout fellows accepted his +offer, and consented to embark along with him. Every thing being settled +on the most amicable terms between them, Hawkins made preparations for +his voyage. But in the night before his departure his Negroes were +attacked by a large body from a different quarter; Hawkins, being +alarmed with the shrieks and cries of dying persons, ordered his men to +the assistance of his slaves, and having surrounded the assailants, +carried a number of them on board as prisoners of war. The next day he +set sail for Hispaniola with his cargo of human creatures; but during +the passage, he treated the prisoners of war in a different manner from +his volunteers. Upon his arrival he disposed of his cargo to great +advantage; and endeavoured to inculcate on the Spaniards who bought the +negroes the same distinction to be observed: but they having _purchased +all at the same rate_, considered them as slaves of the same condition, +and consequently treated all alike." + +Hawkins having returned to England, soon after made preparations for a +second voyage. "In his passage he fell in with the Minion man of war, +which accompanied him to the Coast of Africa. After his arrival he began +as formerly to traffic with the Negroes, endeavouring by persuasions and +_prospects_ of _reward_, to induce them to go along with him--but now +they were more reserved and jealous of his designs, and as none of their +neighbours had returned, they were apprehensive he had killed and eat +them. The crew of the man of war observing the Africans backward and +suspicious, began to laugh at his gentle and dilatory methods of +proceeding, and proposed having immediate recourse to force and +compulsion--but Hawkins considered it as cruel and unjust, and tried by +persuasions, promises and threats, to prevail on them to desist from a +purpose so unwarrantable and barbarous. In vain did he urge his +authority and instructions from the Queen: the bold and headstrong +sailors would hear of no restraints. Drunkenness and avarice are deaf to +the voice of humanity. They pursue their violent design, and, after +several unsuccessful attacks, in which _many_ of them lost their +_lives_, the cargo was at length compleated by barbarity and force. + +"Hence arose that horrid and inhuman practice of dragging Africans into +slavery, which has since been _so_ pursued, in defiance of every +principle of justice and religion. Had Negroes been brought from the +flames, to which in some countries they were devoted on their falling +prisoners of war, and in others, sacrificed at the funeral obsequies of +the great and powerful among themselves; in short had they by this +traffic been delivered from _torture_ or _death_, European merchants +_might have some excuse_ to plead in its vindication. _But according to +the common mode in which it has been conducted_, we must confess it a +difficult matter to conceive a _single_ argument in its defence. And +though policy has given countenance and sanction to the trade, yet every +candid and impartial man must confess, that it is atrocious and +unjustifiable in every light in which it can be viewed, and turns +merchants into a band of robbers, and trade into atrocious acts of fraud +and violence." Historical Account of South-Carolina and Georgia. +Anonymous. London printed in 1779--page 20, &c. + +"The number of Negroe slaves bartered for in one year (viz. 1768), on +the Coast of Africa from Cape Blanco, to Rio Congo, amounted to 104,000 +souls, whereof more than half (viz. 53,000) were shipped on account of +British merchants, and 6,300 on the account of British Americans." The +Law of Retribution by Granville Sharpe, Esq. page 147. note.] + +But how loudly soever reason, justice, and (may I not add) religion,[9] +condemn the practice of slavery, it is acknowledged to have been very +ancient, and almost universal. The Greeks, the Romans, and the ancient +Germans also practiced it, as well as the more ancient Jews and +Egyptians. By the Germans it was transmitted to the various kingdoms +which arose in Europe out of the ruins of the Roman empire. In England +it subsisted for some ages under the name of _villeinage_.[10] In Asia +it seems to have been general, and in Africa universal, and so remains +to this day: In Europe it hath long since declined; its first declension +there, is said to have been in Spain, as early as the eighth century; +and it is alleged to have been general about the middle of the +fourteenth, and was near expiring in the sixteenth, when the discovery +of the American continent, and the eastern and western coasts of Africa +gave rise to the introduction of a new species of slavery. It took its +origin from the Portuguese, who, in order to supply the Spaniards with +persons able to sustain the fatigue of cultivating their new possessions +in America, particularly the islands, opened a trade between Africa and +America for the sale of Negroes, about the year 1508. The expedient of +having slaves for labour was not long peculiar to the Spaniards, being +afterwards adopted by other European colonies [Hargrave, ib.]: and +though some attempts have been made to stop its progress in most of the +United States, and several of them have the fairest prospects of success +in attempting the extirpation of it, yet is others, it hath taken such +deep root, as to require the most strenuous exertions to eradicate it. + +[Footnote 9: See the various tracts on this subject, by Granville +Sharpe, Esq. of London.] + +[Footnote 10: The condition of a _villein_ had most of the incidents I +have before described in giving the idea of _slavery_, in general. His +services were uncertain and indeterminate, such as his lord thought fit +to require; or as some of our ancient writers express it, he knew not in +the evening what he was to do in the morning, he was bound to do +whatever he was commanded. He was liable to beating, imprisonment, and +every other chastisement his lord could devise, except killing and +maiming. He was incapable of acquiring property for his own benefit; he +was himself the subject of property; as such saleable and transmissible. +If he was a villein regardant he passed with the land to which he was +annexed, but might be severed at the will of his lord; if he was a +villein in gross, he was an hereditament, or a chattel real, according +to his lord's interest; being descendible to the heir, where the lord +was absolute _owner_, and transmissible to the executor where the lord +had only a term of years in him. Lastly, the slavery extended to the +issue, if the father was a villein, our law deriving the condition of +the child from that of the father, contrary to the Roman law, in which +the rule was, _partus sequitur ventum_. Hargrave's Case of Negroe +Somerset, page 26 and 27. + +The same writer refers the origin of vassalage in England, principally +to the wars between the British, Saxon, Danish, and Norman nations, +contending for the sovereignty of that country, in opposition to the +opinion of judge Fitzherbert, who supposes villeinage to have commenced +at the conquest. Ib. 27, 28. And this he proves from Spelman and other +antiquaries. Ib. The writ _de nativo habendo_, by which the lord was +enabled to recover his villein that had absconded from him, creates a +presumption that all the natives of England were at some period reduced +to a state of villeinage, the word _nativus_, which signified a villein, +most clearly designating the person meant thereby to be a _native_: this +etymon is obvious, as well from the import of the word _nativus_, as +from the history of the more remote ages of Britain. Sir Edward Coke's +Etymology, "_quia plerumque nascuntur servi_," is one of those puerile +conceits, which so frequently occur in his works, and are unworthy of so +great a man. + +Barrington in his observations upon _magna carta_ c. 4. observes, that +the villeins who held by servile tenures were considered as so many +negroes on a sugar plantation; the words "_liber homo_," in magna carta, +c. 14. with all deference to sir Edward Coke, who says they mean a +_free-holder_, I understand as meaning _a free man_,[Liber homo, &c. the +title of _freeman_ was formerly _confined_ to the _nobility_ and +_gentry_ who were _descended_ of free ancestors.--Burgh's Political +Disquisitions, vol. iii. p. 400, who cites Spelman's Glossary, voc. +Liber homo.] as contradistinguished from a _villein_: for in the very +next sentence the words "et _villanus_ alterius quam noster," occur. +Villeins must certainly have been numerous at that day, to have obtained +a place in the Great Charter. It is no less an evidence that their +condition was in a state of melioration. + +In Poland, at this day, the peasants seem to be in an absolute state of +slavery, or at least of villeinage, to the nobility, who are the +land-holders.] + +The first introduction of Negroes into Virginia happened, as we have +already mentioned, in the year 1620; from that period to the year 1662 +there is no compilation of our laws, in print, now to be met with. In +the revision made in that year, we find an act declaring that no +Englishman, trader, or other, who shall bring in any Indians as servants +and assign them over to any other, shall sell them for _slaves_, nor for +any other time than English of like age should serve by act of assembly +[1662. c. 136.]. The succeeding session all children born in this +country were declared to be bond, or free, according to the condition of +the mother [1662. Sess. d. c. 12.]. In 1667 it was declared, "That the +conferring of baptism doth not alter the condition of the person +baptized, as to his bondage or freedom [1667. c. 2.]." This was done, +"that divers masters freed from this doubt may more carefully endeavour +the propagating of Christianity, by permitting their slaves to be +baptized." It would have been happy for this unfortunate race of men if +the same tender regard for their bodies, had always manifested itself in +our laws, as is shewn for their souls in this act. But this was not the +case; for two years after, we meet with an act, declaring, "That if any +slave resist his master, or others, by his master's orders correcting +him, and by the extremity of the correction should chance to die, such +death should not be accounted felony: but the master or other person +appointed by his master to punish him, be acquit from molestation: +_since it could not be presumed that prepensive malice_, which alone +makes _murder felony_, should induce any man to destroy his own +estate."[11] This cruel and tyrannical act was, at three different +periods [1705. c. 49. 1723. c. 4. 1748. c. 31.] re-enacted, with very +little alteration; and was not finally repealed till the year 1788 +[1788. c. 23.]--above a century after it had first disgraced our code. +In 1668 we meet with the first traces of emancipation, in an act which +subjects Negroe women set free to the tax on titheables [1668. c. 7.]. +Two years after [1670. c. 5.], an act passed prohibiting _Indians_ or +Negroes, manumitted, or otherwise set free, though baptized, from +purchasing Christian servants [1670. c. 12.]. From this act it is +evident that _Indians_ had _before_ that time been made slaves, as well +as Negroes, though we have no traces of the original act by which they +were reduced to that condition. An act of the same session recites that +disputes had arisen whether Indians taken in war by any other nation, +and by that nation sold to the English, are servants for _life_, or for +a term of years; and declaring that all _servants_, not being +Christians, imported into this country by _shipping_, shall be _slaves_ +for their life-time; but that what shall come by land, shall serve, if +boys and girls, until thirty years of age; if men and women twelve +years, and no longer. On a rupture with the Indians in the year 1679 it +was, for the _better encouragement of soldiers_, declared that what +_Indian_ prisoners should be _taken in war_ should be free purchase to +the soldier _taking_ them [1679. c. 1.]. Three years after it was +declared that all _servants_ brought into this country by sea or land, +not being Christians, whether Negroes, Moors, mulattoes or Indians, +except Turks and Moors in amity with Great Britain, and all Indians +which should thereafter be sold by neighbouring Indians, or any others +trafficking with us, as slaves, should be slaves to all intents and +purposes [1682. c. 1.]. This act was re-enacted in the year 1705, and +afterwards in 1753 [1705 c. 49. 1753. c. 2.], nearly in the same terms. +In 1705 an act was made, authorising a free and open trade for all +persons, at all times, and at all places, with all Indians whatsoever +[1705 c. 52.]. On the authority of this act, the general court in April +term 1787 decided that no Indians brought into Virginia since the +passing thereof, nor their descendants, can be slaves in this +commonwealth.[12] In October 1778 the general assembly passed the first +act which occurs in our code for prohibiting the importation of slaves +[1778. c. 1.]; thereby declaring that no slave should thereafter be +brought into this commonwealth by land, or by water; and that every +slave imported contrary thereto, should upon such importation be free: +with an exception as to such as might belong to persons migrating from +the other states, or be claimed by descent, devise, or marriage, or be +at that time the actual property of any citizen of this commonwealth, +residing in any other of the United States, or belonging to travellers +making a transient stay, and carrying their slaves away with them.--In +1705 this act unfortunately underwent some alteration, by declaring that +slaves thereafter brought into this commonwealth, and kept therein one +whole _year together_, or so long at different times as shall _amount to +a year_, shall be free. By this means the difficulty of proving the +right to freedom will be not a little augmented: for the fact of the +first importation, where the right to freedom immediately ensued, might +have been always proved without difficulty; but where a slave is subject +to removal from place to place, and his right to freedom is postponed +for so long a time as a whole year, or perhaps several years, the +provisions in favour of liberty may be too easily evaded. The same act +declares that no persons shall thenceforth be slaves in this +commonwealth, except such as were so on the first day of that session +(Oct. 17th, 1785), and the descendants of the females of them. This act +was re-enacted in the revisal made in 1792 [See acts of 1794, c. 103.]. +In 1793 an additional act passed, authorising and requiring any justice +of the peace having notice of the importation of any slaves, directly or +indirectly, from any part of Africa or the West Indies, to cause such +slave to be immediately apprehended and transported out of the +commonwealth [Edit. of 1794. c. 164.]. Such is the rise, progress, and +present foundation of slavery in Virginia, so far as I have been able to +trace it. The present number of slaves in Virginia, is immense, as +appears by the census taken in 1791, amounting to no less than 292,427 +souls: nearly two-fifths of the whole population of the +commonwealth.[13] We may console ourselves with the hope that this +proportion will not increase, the further importation of slaves being +prohibited, whilst the free migrations of white people hither is +encouraged. But this hope affords no other relief from the evil of +slavery, than a diminution of those apprehensions which are naturally +excited by the detention of so large a number of oppressed individuals +among us, and the possibility that they may one day be roused to an +attempt to shake off their chains. + +[Footnote 11: Among the Israelites, according to the Mosaical law, "If a +man smote his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he died under his +hand, he should surely be punished--notwithstanding if he continue a day +or two, he should not be punished [Exod. c. 21]:" for, saith the text, +he is _his money_. Our legislators appear to have adopted the reason of +the latter clause, without the humanity of the former part of the law.] + +[Footnote 12: Hannah and other Indians, against Davis.--Since this +adjudication, I have met with a manuscript act of assembly made in 1691 +c. 9 entitled, "An Act for a free Trade with Indians," the enacting +clause of which is in the very words of the act of 1705. c. 52. A +similar title to an act of that session occurs in the edition of 1733. +p. 94. and the chapter is numbered as in the manuscript. If this +manuscript be authentic (which there is some reason to presume, it being +copied in some blank leaves at the end of Purvis's edition, and +apparently written about the time of the passage of the act), it would +seem that no Indians brought into Virginia for more than a century, nor +any of their descendents, can be retained in slavery in this +commonwealth.] + +[Footnote 13: Although it be true that the number of slaves in the +_whole_ state bears the proportion of 292,427, to 747,610, the whole +number of souls in the state, that is, nearly as _two_ to _five_; yet +this proportion is by no means _uniform_ throughout the state. In the +forty-four counties lying upon the Bay, and the great rivers of the +state, and comprehended by a line including Brunswick, Cumberland, +Goochland, Hanover, Spottsylvania, Stafford, Prince William and Fairfax, +and the counties eastward thereof, the number of slaves is 196,542, and +the number of free persons, including free Negroes and mulattoes, +198,371 only. So that the blacks in that populous and extensive district +of country are _more numerous_ than the whites. In the second class, +comprehending nineteen counties, and extending from the last mentioned +line to the Blue Ridge, and including the populous counties of Frederick +and Berkeley, beyond the Blue Ridge, there are 82,286 slaves, and +136,251 free persons; the number of free persons in that class not being +two to one, to the slaves. In the third class the proportion is +considerably increased; the eleven counties of which it consists contain +only 11,218 slaves, and 76,281 free persons. This class reaches to the +Allegany ridge of mountains: the fourth and last class, comprehending +fourteen counties westward of the third class, contains only 2,381 +slaves, and 42,288 free persons. It is obvious from this statement that +almost all the dangers and inconveniences which may be apprehended from +a state of slavery on the one hand, or an attempt to abolish it, on the +other, will be confined to the people eastward of the blue ridge of +mountains.] + +Whatever inclination the first inhabitants of Virginia might have to +encourage slavery, a disposition to check its progress, and increase, +manifested itself in the legislature even before the close of the last +century. So long ago as the year 1669 we find the title of an act [Edit. +of 1733. c. 12.], laying an imposition upon _servants_, and _slaves_, +imported into this country; which was either continued, revised, or +increased, by a variety of temporary acts, passed between that period +and the revolution in 1776.[14]--One of these acts passed in 1723, by a +marginal note appears to have been repealed by proclamation, Oct. 24, +1724. In 1732 a duty of five per cent. was laid on slaves imported, to +be paid by the buyers; a measure calculated to render it as little +obnoxious as possible to the _English_ merchants trading to Africa, and +not improbably suggested by them, to the privy council in England. The +preamble to this act is in these remarkable words, "We your majesty's +most dutiful and loyal subjects, &c. taking into our serious +consideration the exigencies of your government here, and that the duty +laid upon liquors will not be sufficient to defray the necessary +expences thereof, do humbly represent to your majesty, that _no other_ +duty can be laid upon our import or export, without oppressing your +subjects, than a duty upon _slaves imported_, to be paid by the buyers, +_agreeable to your majesty's instructions_ to your lieutenant governor." +This act was only for the short period of four years, but seems to have +been continued from time to time till the year 1751, when the duty +expired, but was revived the next year. In the year 1740 an additional +duty of five per cent. was imposed for four years, for the purpose of an +expedition against the Spaniards, &c. to be likewise paid by the buyers: +and in 1742 the whole duty was continued till July 1, 1747.--The act of +1752, by which these duties were revived and continued (as well as +several former acts), takes notice that the duty had been found _no ways +burdensome to the traders_ in slaves. In 1754 an additional duty of five +per cent. was imposed for the term of three years, by an act for +encouraging and protecting the settlers on the Missisippi: this duty, +like all the former, was to be paid by the buyers. In 1759 a duty of 20 +per cent. was imposed upon all slaves imported into Virginia from +Maryland, North Carolina, or other places in America, to continue for +seven years. In 1769 the same duty was further continued. In the same +session the duty of five per cent. was continued for three years, and an +additional duty of ten per cent. to be likewise paid by the buyers, was +imposed for seven years; and a further duty of five per cent. was, by a +separate act of the same session, imposed for the better support of the +contingent charges of government, to be paid by the buyers. In 1772 all +these duties were further continued for the term of five years from the +expiration of the acts then in force: the assembly at the same time +petitioned the throne,[15] _to remove all those restraints which +inhibited_ his majesty's governors assenting to such _laws_ as _might +check so very pernicious a commerce_, as that of slavery. + +[Footnote 14: The following is a list of the acts, or titles of acts, +imposing duties on slaves imported, which occur in the various +compilations of our laws, or in the Sessions Acts, or Journals. + +1699, c. 12. title only retained. Edit. of 1733, p. 113 +1701, c. 5. the same, 116 +1704, c. 4. the same, 122 +1705, c. 1. the same, 126 +1710, c. 1. the same, 239 +1712, c. 3. the same, 282 +1723, c. 1. repealed by proclamation, 333 +1727, c. 1. enacted with a suspending clause, and the royal assent +refused, 376 + +1732, c. 3. printed at large, 469 +1734, c. 3. printed at large in Sessions Acts. +1736, c. 1. the same. +1738, c. 6. the same. +1740, c. 2. the same. +1742, c. 2. the same. + +From this period I have not been able to refer to the Sessions Acts. + +1752, c. 1. printed at large in the edit. of 1769, 281 +1754, c. 1. the same, 319 +1755, c. 2. Sessions Acts. Ten per cent. in addition to all former +duties. + +1759, c. 1. printed at large, edition of 1769, 369 +1763, c. 1. Journals of that session. +1766, c. 3, 4. printed at large, edit. of 1769, 461, 462 c. 15. +additional duty, the title only is printed, being repealed by the crown, +Ib. 473 + +1769, c. 7, 8, and 12. title only printed, edition of 1785, 6, 7 +1772, c. 15. title only printed, Ibidem, 24] + +[Footnote 15:====>The following extract from a petition to the throne, +presented from the house of burgesses of Virginia, April 1, 1772, will +shew the sense of the people of Virginia on the subject of slavery at +that period. + +"The many instances of your majesty's benevolent intentions and more +gracious disposition to promote the prosperity and happiness of your +subjects in the colonies, encourages us to look up to the throne, and +implore your majesty's paternal assistance in averting a calamity of a +most alarming nature." + +"The importation of slaves into the colonies from the coast of Africa +hath long been considered as a trade of great inhumanity, and under its +_present encouragement_, we have too much reason to fear _will endanger +the very existence_ of your majesty's American dominions." + +"We are sensible that some of your majesty's subjects of _Great Britain_ +may reap emoluments from this sort of traffic, but when we consider that +it greatly retards the settlement of the colonies, with _more useful_ +inhabitants, and may, in time, have the most destructive influence, we +presume to hope that the _interest of a few_ be disregarded when placed +in competition with the security and happiness of such numbers of your +majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects." + +"Deeply impressed with these sentiments, we most humbly beseech your +majesty to _remove all those restraints_ on your majesty's governors of +this colony, _which inhibit their assenting to such laws as might check +so very pernicious a commerce_." Journals of the House of Burgesses, +page 131. + +This petition produced no effect, as appears from the first clause of +our CONSTITUTION, where among other acts of misrule, "the inhuman use of +the royal negative" in refusing us permission to exclude slaves from +among us by law, is enumerated, among the reasons for _separating from +Great Britain_.] + +In the course of this enquiry it is easy to trace the desire of the +legislature to put a stop to the further importation of slaves; and had +not this desire been uniformly opposed on the part of the crown, it is +highly probable that event would have taken effect at a much earlier +period than it did. A duty of five per cent. to be paid by the buyers, +at first, with difficulty obtained the royal assent. Requisitions from +the crown for aids, on particular occasions, afforded a pretext from +time to time for increasing the duty from five, to ten, and finally to +twenty per cent. with which the _buyer_ was uniformly made chargeable. +The wishes of the people of this colony, were not sufficient to +counterbalance the interest of the English merchants, trading to Africa, +and it is probable, that however disposed to put a stop to so infamous a +traffic by law, we should never have been able to effect it, so long as +we might have continued dependant on the British government: an object +sufficient of itself to justify a revolution. That the legislature of +Virginia were _sincerely_ disposed to put a stop to it, cannot be +doubted; for even during the tumult and confusion of the revolution, we +have seen that they availed themselves of the earliest opportunity, to +crush for ever so pernicious and infamous a commerce, by an act passed +in October 1778, the penalties of which, though apparently lessened by +the act of 1792, are still equal to the value of the slave; being two +hundred dollars upon the importer, and one hundred dollars upon every +person buying or selling an imported slave. + +A system uniformly persisted in for nearly a whole century, and finally +carried into effect, so soon as the legislature was unrestrained by "the +inhuman exercise of the royal negative," evinces the sincerity of that +disposition which the legislature had shewn during so long a period, to +put a check to the growing evil. From the time that the duty was raised +above five per cent. it is probable that the importation of slaves into +this colony decreased. The demand for them in the more southern colonies +probably contributed also to lessen the numbers imported into this: for +some years immediately preceding the revolution, the importation of +slaves into Virginia might almost be considered as at an end; and +probably would have been entirely so, if the ingenuity of the merchant +had not found out the means of evading the heavy duty, by pretended +sales, at which the slaves were bought in by some friend, at a quarter +of their real value. + +Tedious and unentertaining as this detail may appear to all others, a +citizen of Virginia will feel some satisfaction at reading so clear a +vindication of his country, from the opprobrium, but too lavishly +bestowed upon her of fostering slavery in her bosom, whilst she boasts a +sacred regard to the liberty of her citizens, and of mankind in general. +The acrimony of such censures must abate, at least in the breasts of the +candid, upon an impartial review of the subject here brought before +them; and if in addition to what we have already advanced, they consider +the difficulties attendant on any plan for the abolition of slavery, in +a country where so large a proportion of the inhabitants are slaves; and +where a still larger proportion of the cultivators of the earth are of +that description of men, they will probably feel emotions of sympathy +and compassion, both for the slave and for his master, succeed to those +hasty prejudices, which even the best dispositions are not exempt from +contracting, upon subjects where there is a deficiency of information. + +We are next to consider the condition of slaves in Virginia, or the +legal consequences attendant on a state of slavery in this commonwealth; +and here it is not my intention to notice those laws, which consider +slaves, merely as _property_, and have from time to time been enacted to +regulate the disposition of them, _as such_; for these will be more +properly considered elsewhere: my intention at present is therefore to +take a view of such laws, only, as regard slaves, as a distinct class of +_persons_, whose rights, if indeed they possess any, are reduced to a +much narrower compass, than those, of which we have been speaking +before. + +Civil rights, we may remember, are reducible to three primary heads; the +right of personal security; the right of personal liberty; and the right +of private property. In a state of slavery the two last are wholly +abolished, the person of the slave being at the absolute disposal of his +master; and property, what he is incapable, in that state, either of +acquiring, or holding, to his own use. Hence it will appear how +perfectly irreconcilable a state of slavery is to the principles of a +democracy, which form the _basis_ and _foundation_ of our government. +For our bill of rights declares, "that all men are by nature _equally +free_ and independent, and have certain rights of which they cannot +deprive or divest their posterity--namely, the enjoyment of life and +_liberty_, with the means of _acquiring_ and _possessing property_." +This is indeed no more than a recognition of the first principles of the +law of nature, which teaches us this equality, and enjoins every man, +whatever advantages he may possess over another, as to the various +qualities or endowments of body or mind, to practice the precepts of the +law of nature to those who are in these respects his _inferiors_, no +less than it enjoins his _inferiors_ to practise them towards _him_. +Since he has no more right to insult _them_, than they have to injure +him. Nor does the _bare unkindness of nature_ or of fortune condemn a +man to a _worse_ condition than others, as to the enjoyment of common +privileges [Spavan's Puff. vol. 1. c. 17.]. It would be hard to +reconcile reducing the Negroes to a state of slavery to these +principles, unless we first degrade them below the rank of human beings, +not only politically, but also physically and morally.--The Roman +lawyers look upon those only properly as _persons_, who are _free_, +putting _slaves_ into the rank of _goods_ and _chattels_; and the policy +of our legislature, as well as the practice of slave-holders in America +in general, seems conformable to that idea: but surely it is time we +should admit the evidence of moral truth, and learn to regard them as +our fellow men, and equals, except in those particulars where accident, +or perhaps nature, may have give us some advantage; a recompence for +which they perhaps enjoy in other respects. + +Slavery, says Hargrave, always imports an obligation of perpetual +service, which only the consent of the master can dissolve: it also +generally gives to the master an arbitrary power of administring every +sort of correction, however inhuman, not immediately affecting life or +limb, and even these in some countries, as formerly in Rome, and at this +day among the Asiatics and Africans, are left exposed to the arbitrary +will of a master, or protected only by fines or other slight +punishments. The property of the slave also is absolutely the property +of his master, the slave himself being the subject of property, and as +such saleable, or transmissible at the will of his master.--A slavery, +so malignant as that described, does not leave to its wretched victims +the least vestige of any civil right, and even divests them of all their +natural rights. It does not, however, appear, that the rigours of +slavery in this country were ever as great, as those above described: +yet it must be confessed, that, at times, they have fallen very little +short of them. + +The first severe law respecting slaves, now to be met with in our code, +is that of 1669, already mentioned, which declared that the death of a +slave _resisting_ his master, or other person correcting him by his +order, _happening by extremity of the correction_, should not be +accounted felony. The alterations which this law underwent in three +successive acts [1705. c. 49. 1723, c. 4. 1748. c. 31.], were by no +means calculated effectually to mitigate its severity; it seems rather +to have been augmented by the act of 1723, which declared that a person +indicted for the murder of a slave, and found guilty of _manslaughter_, +should not incur any punishment for the same.[16] + +[Footnote 16: In December term 1788, one John Huston was tried in the +general court for the murder of a slave; the jury found him guilty of +manslaughter, and the court, upon a motion in arrest of judgment, +discharged him without any punishment. The general assembly being then +sitting, some of the members of the court mentioned the case to some +leading characters in the legislature, and the act was at the same +session repealed.] + +All these acts were at length repealed in 1788 [1788. 2. 23.]. So that +homicide of a slave stands now upon the same footing, as in the case of +any other person. In 1672 it was declared lawful for any person pursuing +any runaway Negroe, mulattoe, Indian slave, or _servant for life_, by +virtue of an _hue and cry_, to kill them in case of resistance, without +being questioned for the same [1672. c. 8.]. A few years afterwards this +act was extended to persons _employed to apprehend_ runaways [1680. c. +10.]. In 1705, these acts underwent some small alteration; two justices +being authorised by proclamation to _outlaw_ runaways, who might +thereafter be _killed_ and destroyed by any person whatsoever, by _such +ways and means_ as he may think fit, without accusation or impeachment +of any crime for so doing [1705. c. 49.]: And if any such slave were +apprehended, he might be punished at the discretion of the county court, +either by _dismembering_, or in any other manner not _touching life_. +The inhuman rigour of this act was afterwards [1723. c. 4. 1748. c. 31.] +extended to the venial offence of going abroad by night, if the slave +was _notoriously_ guilty of it.--Such are the cruelties to which a state +of slavery gives birth; such the horrors to which the human mind is +capable of being reconciled, by its adoption. The dawn of humanity at +length appeared in the year 1769, when the power of dismembering, even +under the authority of a county court, was restricted to the single +offence of _attempting_ to ravish a white woman [1769. c. 19.], in which +case perhaps the punishment is perhaps not more than commensurate to the +crime. In 1772 some restraints were laid upon the practice of outlawing +slaves, requiring that it should appear to the _satisfaction_ of the +justices that the slaves were outlying, and _doing mischief_ [1772. c. +9.]. These loose expressions of the act, left too much in the discretion +of men, not much addicted to weighing their import.--In 1792, every +thing relative to the outlawry of slaves was _expunged_ from our code +[Edit. 1794. c. 103.], and I trust will never again find a place in it. +By the act of 1680, a Negroe, mulattoe, or Indian, bond or _free_, +presuming to lift his hand in opposition to any Christian, should +receive thirty lashes on his bare back for every offence [1680. c. 10. +1705. c.]. The same act prohibited slaves from carrying any club, staff, +gun, sword, or other weapon, offensive or defensive. This was afterwards +extended to all Negroes, mulattoes and Indians whatsoever, with a few +exceptions in favour of housekeepers, residents on a frontier +plantation, and such as were enlisted in the militia [1723. c. 4.]. +Slaves, by these and other acts [1705. c. 49. 1723. c. 4. 1748. c. 31. +1753. c. 2. 1785. c. 77.], are prohibited from going abroad without +leave in writing from their masters, and if they do, may be whipped: any +person suffering a slave to remain on his plantation for four hours +together, or dealing with him without leave in writing from his master, +is subject to a fine. A runaway slave may be apprehended and committed +to jail, and if not claimed within three months (being first advertised) +he shall be hired out, having an iron collar first put about his neck: +and if not claimed within a year shall be sold [1753. c. 2.]. These +provisions were in general re-enacted in 1792 [Edit. of 1794. c. 103. +131.], but the punishment to be inflicted on a Negroe or mulattoe, for +lifting his hand against a white person, is restricted to those cases, +where the former is not wantonly assaulted. In this act the word Indian +appears to have been designedly omitted: the small number of these +people, or their descendants remaining among us, concurring with a more +liberal way of thinking, probably gave occasion to this circumstance. +The act of 1748, c. 31, made it felony without benefit of clergy for a +slave to prepare, exhibit, or administer any medicine whatever, without +the order or consent of the master; but _allowed clergy_ if it appeared +that the medicine was not administered with an _ill intent_; the act of +1792, with more justice, directs that in such case he shall be acquitted +[Edit. 1794. c. 103.]. To consult, advise, or conspire, to rebel, or to +plot, or conspire the death of any person whatsoever, is still felony +without benefit of clergy in a slave [1748. c. 31. 1794. c. +103.].--Riots, routs, unlawful assemblies, trespasses and seditious +speeches by slaves, are punishable with stripes, at the discretion of a +justice of the peace [1785. c. 77. 1794. c. 103.].--The master of a +slave permitting him to go at large and trade as a freeman, is subject +to a fine [1769. c. 19. May 1782. c. 32. 1794. Ib.]; and if she suffers +the slave to hire himself out, the latter may be sold, and twenty-five +per cent. of the price be applied to the use of the county.--Negroes and +mulattoes, whether slaves or not, are incapable of being witnesses, but +against, or between Negroes and mulattoes; they are not permitted to +intermarry with any white person; yet no punishment is annexed to the +offence in the slave; nor is the marriage void; but the white person +contracting the marriage, and the clergyman by whom it is celebrated are +liable to fine and imprisonment; and this is probably the only instance +in which our laws will be found more favourable to a Negroe than a white +person. These provisions though introduced into our code at different +periods, were all re-enacted in 1792 [Edit. of 1794. c. 103.]. + +From this melancholy review it will appear that not only the right of +property, and the right of personal liberty, but even the right of +personal security, has been, at times, either wholly annihilated, or +reduced to a shadow: and even in these days, the protection of the +latter seems to be confined to very few cases. Many actions, indifferent +in themselves, being permitted by the law of nature to all mankind, and +by the laws of society to all free persons, are either rendered highly +criminal in a slave, or subject him to some kind of punishment or +restraint. Nor is it in this respect only, that his condition is +rendered thus deplorable by law. The measure of punishment for the same +offence, is often, and the manner of trial and conviction is always, +different in the case of a slave, and a free-man. If the latter be +accused of any crime, he is entitled to an examination before the court +of the county where the offence is alleged to have been committed; whose +decision, if in his favour, is held to be a legal and final acquittal, +but it is not final if against him; for after this, both a grand jury, +and a petit jury of the county, must successively pronounce him guilty; +the former by the concurrent voices of twelve at least, of their body, +and the latter, by their unanimous verdict upon oath. He may take +exception to the proceedings against him, by a motion in arrest of +judgment; and in this case, or if there be a special verdict, the same +unanimity between his judges, as between his jurors, is necessary to his +condemnation. Lastly, through the punishment which the law pronounces +for his offence amount to death itself, he shall in many cases have the +benefit of clergy, unless he has before received it. But in the case of +a slave, the mode was formerly, and still remains essentially different. +How early this distinction was adopted I have not been able to discover. +The title of an act occurs, which passed in the year 1705 [1705. c. 11.] +for the _speedy_ and _easy_ prosecution of slaves committing capital +crimes. In 1723 [1723. c. 4.] the governor was authorized, whenever any +slave was committed for any capital offence, to issue a special +commission of oyer and terminer, to _such persons as he should think +fit_, the number being left to his discretion, who should thereupon +proceed to the trial of such slave, taking for evidence the confession +of the defendant, the oath of one or more credible witnesses, or such +testimony of Negroes, mulattoes, or Indians, bond or free, with pregnant +circumstances, as to them should seem convincing, without the solemnity +of a jury. No exception, formerly, could be taken to the proceedings, on +the trial of a slave [1748. c. 31.], but that proviso is omitted in the +act of 1792, and the justices moreover seem bound to allow him counsel +for his defence, whose fee shall be paid by his master [Edit. 1794. c. +103.] In case of conviction, execution of the sentence was probably very +speedily performed, since the act of 1748, provides that, thereafter, it +should not be performed in less than ten days, except in case of +insurrection or rebellion; and further, that if the court be divided in +opinion the accused should be acquitted. In 1764, an act passed, +authorizing general, instead of special, commissioners of oyer and +terminer [1764. c. 9.], constituting all the justices of any county, +judges for the trial of slaves, committing capital offences, within +their respective counties; any four of whom, one being of the quorum, +should constitute a court for that purpose. In 1772 one step further was +made in favour of humanity, by an act declaring that no slave should +thereafter be condemned to die unless four of the court should concur in +opinion of his guilt [1772. c. 9.]. The act of 1786, c. 58, confirmed by +that of 1792, constitutes the justices of every county and corporation +justices of oyer and terminer for the trial of slaves [Edit. 1794. c. +103.]; requires _five_ justices, at least, to constitute a court, and +_unanimity_ in the court for his condemnation; allows him counsel for +his defence, to be paid by his owner, and, I apprehend, admits him to +object to the proceedings against him; and finally enlarges the time of +execution to _thirty_ days, instead of ten (except in cases of +conspiracy, insurrection, or rebellion), and extends the benefit of +clergy to him in all cases, where any other person should have the +benefit thereof, except in the cases before mentioned. + +To an attentive observer these gradual, and almost imperceptible +amendments in our jurisprudence respecting slaves, will be found, upon +the whole, of infinite importance to that unhappy race. The mode of +trial in criminal cases, especially, is rendered infinitely more +beneficial to them, than formerly, though perhaps still liable to +exception for want of the aid of a jury: the solemnity of an oath +administered the moment the trial commences, may be considered as +operating more forcibly on the mind, than a general oath of office, +taken, perhaps, twenty years before. Unanimity may also be more readily +expected to take place among _five_ men, than among _twelve_. These +objections to the want of a jury are not without weight: on the other +hand it may be observed, that if the number of triers be not equal to a +full jury, they may yet be considered as more select; a circumstance of +infinitely greater importance to the slave. The unanimity requisite in +the court in order to conviction, is a more happy acquisition to the +accused, than may at first appear; the opinions of the court must be +delivered openly, immediately, and seriatim, beginning with the youngest +judge. A single voice in favour of the accused, is an acquittal; for +unanimity is not necessary, as with a jury, to acquit, as well as to +condemn: there is less danger in this mode of trial, where the suffrages +are to be openly delivered, that a few will be brought over to the +opinion of the majority, as may too often happen among jurors, whose +deliberations are in _private_, and whose impatience of confinement may +go further than real conviction, to produce the requisite unanimity. +That this happens not unfrequently in civil cases, there is too much +reason to believe; that it may also happen in criminal cases, especially +where the party accused is not one of their equals, might, not +unreasonably, be apprehended. In New-York, before the revolution, a +slave accused of a capital crime, should have been tried by a jury if +his master required it. This is, perhaps, still the law of that state. +Such a provision might not be amiss in this; but considering the +ordinary run of juries in the county-courts, I should presume the +privilege would be rarely insisted upon. + +Slaves, we have seen, are now entitled to the benefit of clergy in all +cases where it is allowed to any other offenders, except in cases of +consulting, advising, or conspiring to rebel, or make insurrection; or +plotting or conspiring to murder any person; or preparing, exhibiting, +or administring medicine with an _ill_ intent. The same lenity was not +extended to them formerly. The act of 1748, c. 31, denied it to a slave +in case of manslaughter; or the felonious breaking and entering _any_ +house, in the night time: or breaking and entering _any_ house in the +day time, and taking therefrom goods to the value of twenty shillings. +The act of 1764, c. 9, extended the benefit of clergy, to a slave +convicted of the manslaughter of a slave; and the act of 1772, c. 9, +extended it further, to a slave convicted of housebreaking in the night +time, unless such breaking be burglary; in the latter case, other +offenders would be equally deprived of it. But wherever the benefit of +clergy is allowed to a slave, the court, besides burning him in the hand +(the usual punishment inflicted on free persons) may inflict such +further corporal punishment as they may think fit [1794. c. 103.]; this +also seems to be the law in the case of free Negroes and mulattoes. By +the act of 1723, c. 4, it was enacted, that when _any Negroe_ or +_mulattoe_ shall be found, upon due proof made, or _pregnant +circumstances_, to have given false testimony, every such offender +shall, _without further trial_, have his ears successively nailed to the +pillory for the space of an hour, and then cut off, and moreover receive +thirty-nine lashes on his bare back, or such other punishment as the +court shall think proper, not extending to life or limb. This act, with +the exception of the words _pregnant circumstances_, was re-enacted in +1792. The punishment of perjury, in a _white_ person, is only a fine and +imprisonment. A slave convicted of hog-stealing, shall, for the first +offence, receive thirty-nine lashes: any other person twenty-five: but +the latter is also subject to a fine of thirty dollars, besides paying +eight dollars to the owner of the hog. The punishment for the second and +third offence, of this kind, is the same in the case of a free person, +as of a slave; namely, by the pillory and loss of ears, for the second +offence; the third is declared felony, to which clergy is, however, +allowed. The preceding are the only positive distinctions which now +remain between the punishment of a slave, and a white person, in those +cases, where the latter is liable to a determinate corporal punishment. +But we must not forget, that many actions, which are either not +punishable at all, when perpetrated by a white person, or at most, by +fine and imprisonment, only, are liable to severe corporal punishment, +when done by a slave; nay, even to death itself, in some cases. To go +abroad without a written permission; to keep or carry a gun, or other +weapon; to utter any seditious speech; to be present at any unlawful +assembly of slaves; to lift the hand in opposition to a white person, +unless wantonly assaulted, are all offences punishable by whipping +[1794. c. 103.]. To attempt the chastity of a white woman, forcibly, is +punishable by dismemberment: such an attempt would be a high misdemeanor +in a white free man, but the punishment would be far short of that of a +slave [Ibidem.]. To administer medicine without the order or consent of +the master, unless it _appear not to have been done with an ill intent_; +to _consult_, advise, or conspire, to rebel or make insurrection; or to +_conspire_, or _plot_ to _murder_ any person, we have seen, are all +capital offences, from which the benefit of clergy is utterly excluded. +But a _bare intention_ to commit a felony, is not punishable in the case +of a free white man; and even the attempt, if not attended with an +actual breach of the peace, or prevented by such circumstance; only, as +do not tend to lessen the guilt of the offender, is at most a +misdemeanor by the common law: and in statutable offences in general, to +consult, advise, and even to procure any person to commit a felony, does +not constitute the crime of felony in the adviser or procurer, unless +the felony be actually perpetrated. + +From this view of our jurisprudence respecting slaves, we are +unavoidably led to remark, how frequently the laws of nature have been +set aside in favour of institutions, the pure result of prejudice, +usurpation, and tyranny. We have found actions, innocent, or +indifferent, punishable with a rigour scarcely due to any, but the most +atrocious, offences against civil society; justice distributed by an +unequal measure to the master and the slave; and even the hand of mercy +arrested, where mercy might have been extended to the wretched culprit, +had his complexion been the same with that of his judges: for, the short +period of ten days, between his condemnation and execution, was often +insufficient to obtain a pardon for a slave, convicted in a remote part +of the country, whilst a free man, condemned at the seat of government, +and tried before the governor himself, in whom the power of pardoning +was vested, had a respite of thirty days to implore the clemency of the +executive authority.--It may be urged, and I believe with truth, that +these rigours do not proceed from a sanguinary temper in the people of +Virginia, but from those political considerations indispensibly +necessary, where slavery prevails to any great extent: I am moreover +happy to observe that our police respecting this unhappy class of +people, is not only less rigorous than formerly, but perhaps milder than +in any other country[17] where there are so many slaves, or so large a +proportion of them, in respect to the free inhabitants: it is also, I +trust, unjust to censure the present generation for the existence of +slavery in Virginia: for I think it unquestionably true, that a very +large proportion of our fellow-citizens lament that as a misfortune, +which is imputed to them as a reproach; it being evident from what has +been already shewn upon the subject, that, _antecedent to the +revolution_, no exertion to abolish, or even to check the progress of, +slavery, in Virginia, could have received the smallest countenance from +the crown, without whose assent the united wishes and exertions of every +individual here, would have been wholly fruitless and ineffectual: it +is, perhaps, also demonstrable, that at no period since the revolution, +could the abolition of slavery in this state have been safely undertaken +until the foundations of our newly established governments had been +found capable of supporting the fabric itself, under any shock, which so +arduous an attempt might have produced. But these obstacles being now +happily removed, considerations of policy, as well as justice and +humanity, must evince the necessity of eradicating the evil, before it +becomes impossible to do it, without tearing up the roots of civil +society with it. + +[Footnote 17: See Jefferson's Notes, 259.--The Marquis de Chatelleux's +Travels, I have not noted the page; the Law of Retribution, by Granville +Sharpe, pa. 151, 238, notes. The Just Limitation of Slavery, by the same +author; pa. 15, note. Ibidem, pa. 33, 50, Ib. Append. No. 2. +Encyclopedie. Tit. Esclave. Laws of Barbadoes, &c.] + +Having in the preceding part of this enquiry shewn the origin and +foundation of slavery, or the manner in which men have become slaves, as +also who are liable to be retained in slavery, in Virginia, at present, +with the legal consequences attendant upon their condition; it only +remains to consider the mode by which slaves have been or may be +emancipated; and the legal consequences thereof, in this +state.--Manumission, among the Israelites, if the bondman were an +Hebrew, was enjoined after six years' service, by the Mosaical law, +unless the servant chose to continue with his master, in which case the +master carried him before the judges, and took an awl, and thrust it +through his ear into the door [Exod. c. 21. Deut. c. 15.], and from +thenceforth he became a servant for ever: but if he sent him away free, +he was bound to furnish him liberally out of his flock, and out of his +floor, and out of his wine-press [Ibid.]. Among the Romans, in the time +of the commonwealth, liberty could be conferred only three ways. By +testament, by the _census_, and by the _vindicta_, or lictor's rod. A +man was said to be free by the census, "_liber censu_," when his name +was inserted in the censor's roll, with the approbation of his master. +When he was freed by the vindicta, the master placing his hand upon the +head of the slave, said in the presence of the praetor, it is my desire +that this man may be free, "_hunc hominem liberem esse volo_;" to which +the praetor replied, I pronounce him free after the manner of the +Romans, "_dico cum liberum esse more quiritum_."--then the lictor, +receiving the _vindicta_, struck the new freed man several blows with +it, upon the head, face, and back, after which his name was registered +in the roll of freed-men, and his head being close shaved, a cap was +given him as a token of liberty [Harris's Just. in notes.]. Under the +imperial constitutions liberty might have been conferred by several +other methods, as in the face of the church, in the presence of friends, +or by letter, or by testament [Just. Inst. lib. 1. tit. 5. Ib. lib. 1. +tit. 6.].--But it was not in the power of every master to manumit at +will; for if it were done with an intent to defraud creditors, the act +was void; that is, if the master were insolvent at the time of +manumission, or became insolvent by manumission, and intentionally +manumitted his slave for the purpose of defrauding his creditors. A +minor, under the age of twenty years, could not manumit his slave but +for a just cause assigned, which must have been approved by a council, +consisting of the praetor, five senators, and five knights [Ib. Harris's +Just. in notes.].--In England, the mode of enfranchising villeins is +said to have been thus prescribed by a law of William the Conqueror. "If +any person is willing to enfranchise his _slave_, let him, with his +right hand, deliver the slave to the sheriff in a full county, proclaim +him exempt from the bond of servitude by manumission, shew him open +gates and ways, and deliver him _free arms_, to wit, a lance and a +sword; thereupon he is a free man [Harris's Inst. in notes.]."--But +after that period freedom was more generally conferred by deed, of which +Mr. Harris, in his notes upon Justinian, has furnished a precedent. + +In what manner manumission was performed in this country during the +first century after the introduction of slavery does not appear: the act +of 1668, before mentioned [Ante, p. 36.], shews it to have been +practised before that period. In 1723 an act was passed, prohibiting the +manumission of slaves, upon any pretence whatsoever, except for +meritorious services, to be adjudged, and allowed by the governor and +council [1723. c. 4.]. This clause was re-enacted in 1748, and continued +to be the law, until after the revolution was accomplished. The number +of manumissions under such restrictions must necessarily have been very +few. In May 1782 an act passed authorizing, generally, the manumission +of slaves, but requiring such as might be set free, not being of sound +mind or body, or being above the age of forty-five years, or males under +twenty-one, or females under eighteen, to be supported by the person +liberating them, or out of his estate [May 1782. c. 21.]. The act of +manumission may be performed either by will, or by deed, under the hand +and seal of the party, acknowledged by him, or proved by two witnesses +in the court of the county where he resides. There is reason to believe +that great numbers have been emancipated since the passing of this act. +By the census of 1791 it appears that the number of free Negroes, +mulattoes and Indians in Virginia, was then 12,866. It would be a large +allowance, to suppose that there were 1800 free Negroes and mulattoes in +Virginia when the act took effect; so that upwards of ten thousand must +have been indebted to it for their freedom.[18] The number of Indians +and their descendants in Virginia at present, is too small to require +particular notice. The progress of emancipation in Virginia, is at this +time continual, but not rapid; a second census will enable us to form a +better judgment of it than at present. The act passed in 1792 accords in +some degree with the Justinian code [1794. c. 103.], by providing that +slaves emancipated may be taken in execution to satisfy any debt +contracted by the person emancipating them, before such emancipation is +made.[19] + +[Footnote 18: There are _more_ free Negroes and mulattoes in Virginia +alone, than are to be found in the four New-England states, and Vermont +in addition to them. The progress of emancipation in this state is +therefore much greater than our _Eastern_ brethren may at first suppose. +There are only 1087 free Negroes and mulattoes in the States of +New-York, New-Jersey and Pennsylvania, _more_, than in Virginia. Those +who take a subject in the gross, have little idea of the result of an +exact scrutiny. Out of 20,348 inhabitants on the Eastern Shore of +Virginia 1185 were free Negroes and mulattoes when the census was taken. +The number is since much augmented.] + +[Footnote 19: The act of 1795. c. 11. enacts, that any person held in +slavery may make complaint to a magistrate, or to the court of the +district county or corporation wherein he resides, and not elsewhere. +The magistrate, if the complaint be made to him, shall issue his warrant +to summon the owner before him, and compel him to give bond and security +to suffer the complainant to appear at the next court to petition the +court to be admitted to sue _in forma pauperis_. If the owner refuse, +the magistrate shall order the complainant into the custody of the +officer serving the warrant, at the expence of the master, who shall +keep him until the sitting of the court, and then produce him before it. +Upon petition to the court, if the court be satisfied as to the material +facts, they shall assign the complainant council, who shall state the +facts with his opinion thereon to the court; and unless from the +circumstances so stated, and the opinion thereon given, the court shall +_see manifest reason to deny their interference_, they shall order the +clerk to issue process against the owner, and the complainant shall +remain in the custody of the sheriff until the owner shall give bond and +security to have him forthcoming to answer the judgment of the court. +And by the general law in case of pauper's suits; the complainants shall +have writs of subpoena gratis; and by the practice of the courts, he is +permitted to attend the taking the depositions of witnesses, and go and +come freely to and from court, for the prosecution of his suit.] + +Among the Romans, the _libertini_, or freedmen, were formerly +distinguished by a threefold division [Just. Inst. lib. 1. tit. 5.]. +They sometimes obtained what was called the greater liberty, thereby +becoming _Roman citizens_. To this privilege, those who were +enfranchised by testament, by the census, or by the vindicta, appear to +have been alone admitted: sometimes they obtained the lesser liberty +only, and became _Latins_; whose condition is thus described by +Justinian. "They never enjoyed the right of succession [to +estates].--For although they led the lives of free men, yet with their +last breath they lost both their lives and liberties; for their +possessions, like the goods of slaves, were detained by the manumittor +[Harris's Inst. lib. 3. tit. 8.]." Sometimes they obtained only the +inferior liberty, being called _dedititii_: such were slaves who had +been condemned as criminals, and afterwards obtained manumission through +the indulgence of their masters: their conditions was equalled with that +of conquered revolters, whom the Romans called, in reproach, _dedititii, +quia se suaque omnia dediderunt_: but all these distinctions were +abolished by Justinian [Inst. lib. 1. tit. 5. s. 3.], by whom all freed +men in general were made citizens of Rome, without regard to the form of +manumission.--In England, the presenting the villein with _free arms_, +seems to have been the symbol of his restoration to all the rights which +a feudatory was entitled to. With us, we have seen that emancipation +does not confer the rights of citizenship on the person emancipated; on +the contrary, both he and his posterity, of the same complexion with +himself, must always labour under many civil incapacities. If he is +absolved from personal restraint, or corporal punishment, by a master, +yet the laws restrain his actions in many instances, where there is none +upon a free white man. If he can maintain a suit, he cannot be a +witness, a juror, or a judge in any controversy between one of his own +complexion and a white person. If he can acquire property in lands, he +cannot exercise the right of suffrage, which such a property would +confer on his former master; much less can he assist in making those +laws by which he is bound. Yet, even under these disabilities, his +present condition bears an enviable pre-eminence over his former state. +Possessing the liberty of loco-motion, which was formerly denied him, it +is in his choice to submit to that civil inferiority, inseparably +attached to his condition in this country, or seek some more favourable +climate, where all distinctions between men are either totally +abolished, or less regarded than in this. + +The extirpation of slavery from the United States, is a task equally +arduous and momentous. To restore the blessings of liberty to near a +million[20] of oppressed individuals, who have groaned under the yoke of +bondage, and to their descendants, is an object, which those who trust +in Providence, will be convinced would not be unaided by the divine +Author of our being, should we invoke his blessing upon our endeavours. +Yet human prudence forbids that we should precipitately engage in a work +of such hazard as a general and simultaneous emancipation. The mind of +man must in some measure be formed for his future condition. The early +impressions of obedience and submission, which slaves have received +among us, and the no less habitual arrogance and assumption of +superiority, among the whites, contribute, equally, to unfit the former +for _freedom_, and the latter for _equality_.[21] To expel them all at +once, from the United States, would in fact be to devote them only to a +lingering death by famine, by disease, and other accumulated miseries: +"We have in history but one picture of a similar enterprize, and there +we see it was necessary not only to open the sea by a miracle, for them +to pass, but more necessary to close it again to prevent their return +[Letter from Jas. Sullivan, Esq. to Dr. Belknap.]." To retain them among +us, would be nothing more than to throw so many of the human race upon +the earth without the means of subsistence: they would soon become idle, +profligate, and miserable. Unfit for their new condition, and unwilling +to return to their former laborious course, they would become the +caterpillars of the earth, and the tigers of the human race. The recent +history of the French West Indies exhibits a melancholy picture of the +probable consequences of a general, and momentary emancipation in any of +the states, where slavery has made considerable progress. In +Massachusetts the abolition of it was effected by a single stroke; a +clause in their constitution [Dr. Belknap.]: but the whites at that +time, were as sixty-five to one, in proportion to the blacks. The whole +number of free persons in the United States, south of Delaware state, +are 1,233,829, end there are 648,439 slaves; the proportion being less +than two to one. Of the cultivators of the earth in the same district, +it is probable that there are four slaves for one free white man.--To +discharge the former from their present condition, would be attended +with an immediate general famine, in those parts of the United States, +from which not all the productions of the other states, could deliver +them; similar evils might reasonably be apprehended from the adoption of +the measure by any one of the southern states; for in all of them the +proportion of slaves is too great, not to be attended with calamitous +effects, if they were immediately set free.[22] These are serious, I had +almost said unsurmountable obstacles, to general, simultaneous +emancipation.--There are other considerations not to be disregarded. A +great part of the _property_ of individuals consists in _slaves_. The +laws have sanctioned this species of property. Can the laws take away +the property of an individual without his own consent, or without a +_just compensation_? Will those who do not hold slaves agree to be taxed +to make this compensation? Creditors also, who have trusted their +debtors upon the faith of this visible property will be defrauded. If +justice demands the emancipation of the slave, she also, _under these +circumstances_, seems to plead for the owner, and for his creditor. The +claims of nature, it will be said are stronger than those which arise +from social institutions, only. I admit it, but nature also dictates to +us to provide for our _own_ safety, and authorizes all _necessary_ +measures for that purpose. And we have shewn that our own security, nay, +our very existence, might be endangered by the hasty adoption of any +measure for the _immediate_ relief of the _whole_ of this unhappy race. +Must we then quit the subject, in despair of the success of any project +for the amendment of their, as well as our own, condition? I think +not.--Strenuously as I feel my mind opposed to a simultaneous +emancipation, for the reasons already mentioned, the abolition of +slavery in the United States, and especially in that state, to which I +am attached by every tie that nature and society form, is _now_ my +_first_, and will probably be my last, expiring wish. But here let me +avoid the imputation of inconsistency, by observing, that the abolition +of slavery may be effected without the _emancipation_ of a single slave; +without depriving any man of the _property_ which he _possesses_, and +without defrauding a creditor who has trusted him on the faith of that +property. The experiment in that mode has already been begun in some of +our sister states. Pennsylvania, under the auspices of the immortal +Franklin,[23] begun the work of gradual abolition of slavery in the year +1780, by enlisting nature herself, on the side of humanity. Connecticut +followed the example four years after.[24] New-York very lately made an +essay which miscarried by a very inconsiderable majority. Mr. Jefferson +informs us, that the committee of revisors, of which he was a member, +had prepared a bill for the emancipation of all slaves born after +passing that act. This is conformable to the Pennsylvania and +Connecticut laws.--Why the measure was not brought forward in the +general assembly I have never heard. Possibly because objections were +foreseen to that part of the bill which relates to the disposal of the +blacks, after they had attained a certain age.[25] It certainly seems +liable to many, both as to the policy and the practicability of it. To +establish such a colony in the territory of the United States, would +probably lay the foundation of intestine wars, which would terminate +only in their extirpation, or final expulsion. To attempt it in any +other quarter of the globe would be attended with the utmost cruelty to +the colonists, themselves, and the destruction of their whole race. If +the plan were at this moment in operation, it would require the annual +exportation of 12,000 persons. This requisite number must, for a series +of years be considerably increased, in order to keep pace with the +increasing population of those people. In twenty years it would amount +to upwards of twenty thousand persons; which is half the number which +are now supposed to be annually exported from Africa.--Where would a +fund to support this expence be found? Five times the present revenue of +the state would barely defray the charge of their passage. Where +provisions for their support after their arrival? Where those +necessaries which must preserve them from perishing?--Where a territory +sufficient to support them?--Or where could they be received as friends, +and not as invaders? To colonize them in the United States might seem +less difficult. If the territory to be assigned them were beyond the +settlements of the whites, would they not be put upon a forlorn hope +against the Indians? Would not the expence of transporting them thither, +and supporting them, at least for the first and second year, be also far +beyond the revenues and abilities of the state? The expence attending a +small army in that country hath been found enormous. To transport as +many colonists, annually, as we have shewn were necessary to eradicate +the evil, would probably require five times as much money as the support +of such an army. But the expence would not stop there: they must be +assisted and supported at least for another year after their arrival in +their new settlements. Suppose them arrived. Illiterate and ignorant as +they are, is it probable that they would be capable of instituting such +a government, in their new colony, as would be necessary for their own +internal happiness, or to secure them from destruction from without? +European emigrants, from whatever country they arrive, have been +accustomed to the restraint of laws, and to respect for government. +These people, accustomed to be ruled with a rod of iron, will not easily +submit to milder restraints. They would become hordes of vagabonds, +robbers and murderers. Without the aids of an enlightened policy, +morality, or religion, what else could be expected from their still +savage state, and debased condition?--"But why not retain and +_incorporate_ the _blacks into the state_?" This question has been well +answered by Mr. Jefferson,[26] and who is there so free from prejudices +among us, as candidly to declare that he has none against such a +measure? The recent scenes transacted in the French colonies in the West +Indies are enough to make one shudder with the apprehension of realizing +similar calamities in this country. Such probably would be the event of +an attempt to smother those prejudices which have been cherished for a +period of almost two centuries. Those who secretly favour, whilst they +affect to regret, domestic slavery, contend that in abolishing it, we +must also abolish that scion from it which I have denominated _civil_ +slavery. That there must be no distinction of rights; that the +descendants of Africans, as men, have an equal claim to all civil +rights, as the descendants of Europeans; and upon being delivered from +the yoke of bondage have a right to be admitted to all the privileges of +a citizen.--But have not men when they enter into a state of society, a +right to admit, or exclude any description of persons, as they think +proper? If it be true, as Mr. Jefferson seems to suppose, that the +Africans are really an inferior race of mankind,[27] will not sound +policy advise their exclusion from a society in which they have not yet +been admitted to participate in civil rights; and even to guard against +such admission, at any future period, since it may eventually depreciate +the whole national character? And if prejudices have taken such deep +root in our minds, as to render it impossible to eradicate this opinion, +ought not so general an error, if it be one, to be respected? Shall we +not relieve the necessities of the naked diseased beggar, unless we will +invite him to a seat at our table; nor afford him shelter from the +inclemencies of the night air, unless we admit him also to share our +bed? To deny that we ought to abolish slavery, without incorporating the +Negroes into the state, and admitting them to a full participation of +all our civil and social rights, appears to me to rest upon a similar +foundation. The experiment so far as it has been already made among us, +proves that the emancipated blacks are not ambitious of civil rights. To +prevent the generation of such an ambition, appears to comport with +sound policy; for if it should ever rear its head, its partizans, as +well as its opponents, will be enlisted by nature herself, and always +ranged in formidable array against each other. We must therefore +endeavour to find some middle course, between the tyrannical and +iniquitous policy which holds so many human creatures in a state of +grievous bondage, and that which would turn loose a numerous, starving, +and enraged banditti, upon the innocent descendants of their former +oppressors. _Nature_, _time_, and _sound policy_ must co-operate with +each other to produce such a change: if either be neglected, the work +will be incomplete, dangerous, and not improbably destructive. + +[Footnote 20: The number of slaves in the United States at the time of +the late census, was something under 700,000.] + +[Footnote 21: Mr. Jefferson most forcibly paints the unhappy influence +on the manners of the people produced by the existence of slavery among +us. The whole commerce between master and slave, says he, is a perpetual +exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism +on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other. Our children +see this, and learn to imitate it; for man is an imitative animal. This +quality is the germ of education in him. From his cradle to his grave he +is learning what he sees others do. If a parent had no other motive +either in his own philanthropy or his self love, for restraining the +intemperance of passion towards his slave, it should always be a +sufficient one that his child is present. But generally it is not +sufficient. The parent storms, the child looks on, catches the +lineaments of wrath, puts on the same airs in the circle of smaller +slaves, gives a loose to his worst of passions; and thus nursed, +educated, and daily exercised in tyranny, cannot but be stamped by it +with odious peculiarities. The man must be a prodigy who can retain his +manners and morals undepraved by such circumstances. And with what +execrations would the statesman be loaded, who permitting one half the +citizens thus to trample on the rights of the other, transforms them +into despots, and these into enemies, destroys the morals of the one +part, and the amor patriae of the other. For if a slave can have a +country in this world, it must be any other in preference to that in +which he is born to live and labour for another; in which he must lock +up the faculties of his nature, contribute as far as depends on his +individual endeavours to the evanishment of the human race, or entail +his own miserable condition on the endless generations proceeding from +him. With the morals of the people, their industry also, is destroyed. +For in a warm climate, no man will labour for himself who can make +another labour for him. This is so true, that of the proprietors of +slaves a very small proportion indeed are ever seen to labour. And can +the liberties of a nation be ever thought secure when we have removed +their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people, that +these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated +but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that +God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever: that considering +numbers, nature, and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of +fortune, an exchange of situation is among possible events: that it may +become probable by supernatural interference! The Almighty has no +attribute which can take side with us in such a contest.--But it is +impossible to be temperate and to pursue this subject through the +various considerations of policy, of morals, of history, natural and +civil. We must be contented to hope they will force their way into every +one's mind. I think a change already perceptible, since the origin of +the present revolution. The spirit of the master is abating, that of the +slave rising from the dust; his condition mollifying; the way I hope +preparing, under the auspices of Heaven, for a total emancipation, and +that this is disposed in the order of events, to be with the consent of +their masters, rather than by their extirpation. Notes on Virginia, +298.] + +[Footnote 22: What is here advanced is not to be understood as implying +an opinion that the labour of slaves is more productive than that of +freemen.--The author of the Treatise on the Wealth of Nations, informs +us, "That it appears from the experience of all ages and nations, that +the work done by freemen comes cheaper in the end than that done by +slaves. That it is found to do so, even in Boston, New-York and +Philadelphia, where the wages of common labour are very high." Vol. 1. +pa. 123. Lond. edit. oct. Admitting this conclusion, it would not remove +the objection that emancipated slaves would not willingly labour.] + +[Footnote 23: Doctor Franklin, it is said, drew the bill for the gradual +abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania.] + +[Footnote 24: It is probable that similar laws have been passed in some +other states; but I have not been able to procure a note of them.] + +[Footnote 25: The object of the amendment proposed to be offered to the +legislature, was to emancipate all slaves born after a certain period; +and further directing that they should continue with their parents to a +certain age, then be brought up, at the public expence, to tillage, +arts, or sciences, according to their geniuses, till the females should +be eighteen, and the males twenty-one years of age, when they should be +colonized to such a place as the circumstances of the time should render +most proper; sending them out with arms, implements of household and of +the handicraft arts, seeds, pairs of the useful domestic animals, &c. to +declare them a free and independent people, and extend to them our +alliance and protection, till they shall have acquired strength; and to +send vessels at the same time to other parts of the world for an equal +number of white inhabitants; to induce whom to migrate hither, proper +encouragements should be proposed. Notes on Virginia, 251.] + +[Footnote 26: It will probably be asked, why not retain the blacks among +us and _incorporate them into the state_? Deep-rooted prejudices +entertained by the whites; ten thousand recollections by the blacks, of +the injuries they have sustained; new provocations; the _real +distinctions_ which _nature_ has made; and many other circumstances will +divide us into parties and produce convulsions, which will probably +never end but in the extermination of one or the other race. To these +objections which are political may be added others which are physical +and moral. The first difference which strikes us is that of colour.--&c. +The circumstance of superior beauty is thought worthy attention in the +propagation of our horses, dogs, and other domestic animals; Why not in +that of man? &c. In general their existence appears to participate more +of sensation than reflection. Comparing them by their faculties of +memory, reason and imagination, it appears to me that in memory they are +equal to the whites; in reason much inferior; that in imagination they +are dull, tasteless and anamolous. &c. The improvement of the blacks in +body and mind, in the first instance of their mixture with the whites, +has been observed by every one, and proves that their inferiority is not +the effect merely of their condition of life. We know that among the +Romans, about the Augustan age, especially, the condition of their +slaves was much more deplorable, than that of the blacks on the +continent of America. Yet among the Romans their slaves were often their +rarest artists. They excelled too in science, insomuch as to be usually +employed as tutors to their masters' children. Epictetus, Terence, and +Phoedrus were slaves. But they were of the race of whites. It is not +their condition then, but nature, which has produced the distinction. +The opinion that they are inferior in the faculties of reason and +imagination, must be hazarded with great diffidence. To justify a +general conclusion requires many observations. &c.--I advance it +therefore as a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a +distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior +to the whites both in the endowments of body and mind. &c. This +unfortunate difference of colour, and perhaps of faculty, is a powerful +obstacle to the emancipation of these people. Among the Romans +emancipation required but one effort. The slave, when made free, might +mix with, without staining, the blood of his master. But with us a +second is necessary, unknown to history.--See the passage at length, +Notes on Virginia, page 252 to 265. + +"In the present case, it is not only the slave who is beneath his +master, it is the Negroe who is beneath the white man. No act of +enfranchisement can efface this unfortunate distinction." Chatelleux's +Travels in America.] + +[Footnote 27: The celebrated David Hume, in his Essay on National +Character, advances the same opinion; Doctor Beattie, in his Essay on +Truth, controverts it with many powerful arguments. Early prejudices, +had we more satisfactory information than we can possibly possess on the +subject at present, would render an inhabitant of a country where Negroe +slavery prevails, an improper umpire between them.] + +The plan therefore which I would presume to propose for the +consideration of my countrymen is such, as the number of slaves, the +difference of their nature, and habits, and the state of agriculture, +among us, might render it _expedient_, rather than _desirable_ to adopt: +and would partake partly of that proposed by Mr. Jefferson, and adopted +in other states; and partly of such cautionary restrictions, as a due +regard to situation and circumstances, and even to _general_ prejudices, +might recommend to those, who engage in so arduous, and perhaps +unprecedented an undertaking. + +1. Let every female born after the adoption of the plan be free, and +transmit freedom to all her descendants, both male and female. + +2. As a compensation to those persons, in whose families such females, +or their descendants may be born, for the expence and trouble of their +maintenance during infancy, let them serve such persons until the age of +twenty-eight years: let them then receive twenty dollars in money, two +suits of clothes, suited to the season, a hat, a pair of shoes, and two +blankets. If these things be not voluntarily done, let the county courts +enforce the performance, upon complaint. + +3. Let all Negroe children be registered with the clerk of the county or +corporation court, where born, within one month after their birth: let +the person in whose family they are born take a copy of the register, +and deliver it to the mother, or if she die to the child, before it is +of the age of twenty-one years. Let any Negroe claiming to be free, and +above the age of puberty, be considered as of the age of twenty-eight +years, if he or she be not registered, as required. + +4. Let all such Negroe servants be put on the same footing as white +servants and apprentices now are, in respect to food, raiment, +correction, and the assignment of their service from one to another. + +5. Let the children of Negroes and mulattoes, born in the families of +their parents, be bound to service by the overseers of the poor, until +they shall attain the age of twenty-one years.--Let all above that age, +who are not housekeepers, nor have voluntarily bound themselves to +service for a year before the first day of February annually, be then +bound for the remainder of the year by the overseers of the poor. Let +the overseers of the poor receive fifteen per cent. of their wages, from +the person hiring them, as a compensation for their trouble, and ten per +cent. per annum out of the wages of such as they may bind apprentices. + +6. If at the age of twenty-seven years, the master of a Negroe or +mulattoe servant be unwilling to pay his freedom dues, above mentioned, +at the expiration of the succeeding year, let him bring him into the +county court, clad and furnished with necessaries as before directed, +and pay into court five dollars, for the use of the servant, and +thereupon let the court direct him to be hired by the overseers of the +poor for the succeeding year, in the manner before directed. + +7. Let no Negroe or mulattoe be capable of taking, holding, or +exercising, any public office, freehold, franchise or privilege, or any +estate in lands or tenements, other than a lease not exceeding +twenty-one years.--Nor of keeping, or bearing arms,[28] unless +authorised so to do by some act of the general assembly, whose duration +shall be limitted to three years. Nor of contracting matrimony with any +other than a Negroe or mulattoe; nor be an attorney; nor be a juror; nor +a witness in any court of judicature, except against; or between Negroes +and mulattoes. Nor be an executor or administrator; nor capable of +making any will or testament; nor maintain any real action; nor be a +trustee of lands or tenements himself, nor any other person to be a +trustee to him or to his use. + +8. Let all persons born after the passing of the act, be considered as +entitled to the same mode of trial in criminal cases, as free Negroes +and mulattoes are now entitled to. + +[Footnote 28: See Spirit of Laws, 12-15.----1. Black Com. 417.] + +The restrictions in this place may appear to favour strongly of +prejudice: whoever proposes any plan for the abolition of slavery, will +find that he must either encounter, or accommodate himself to +prejudice.--I have preferred the latter; not that I pretend to be wholly +exempt from it, but that I might avoid as many obstacles as possible to +the completion of so desirable a work, as the abolition of slavery. +Though I am opposed to the banishment of the Negroes, I wish not to +encourage their future residence among us. By denying them the most +valuable privileges which civil government affords, I wished to render +it their inclination and their interest to seek those privileges in some +other climate. There is an immense unsettled territory on this +continent[29] more congenial to their natural constitutions than ours, +where they may perhaps be received upon more favourable terms than we +can permit them to remain with us. Emigrating in small numbers, they +will be able to effect settlements more easily than in large numbers; +and without the expence or danger of numerous colonies. By releasing +them from the yoke of bondage, and enabling them to seek happiness +wherever they can hope to find it, we surely confer a benefit, which no +one can sufficiently appreciate, who has not tasted of the bitter curse +of compulsory servitude. By excluding them from offices, the seeds of +ambition would be buried too deep, ever to germinate: by disarming them, +we may calm our apprehensions of their resentments arising from past +sufferings; by incapacitating them from holding lands, we should add one +inducement more to emigration, and effectually remove the foundation of +ambition, and party-struggles. Their personal rights, and their +property, though limited, would whilst they remain among us be under the +protection of the laws; and their condition not at all inferior to that +of the _labouring_ poor in most other countries. Under such an +arrangement we might reasonably hope, that time would either remove from +us a race of men, whom we wish not to incorporate with us, or obliterate +those prejudices, which now form an obstacle to such incorporation. + +[Footnote 29: The immense territory of Louisiana, which extends as far +south as the lat. 25 deg. and the two Floridas, would probably afford a +ready asylum for such as might choose to become Spanish subjects. How +far their political rights might be enlarged in these countries, is, +however questionable: but the climate is undoubtedly more favourable to +the African constitution than ours, and from this cause, it is not +improbable that emigrations from these states would in time be very +considerable.] + +But it is not from the want of liberality to the emancipated race of +blacks that I apprehend the most serious objections to the plan I have +ventured to suggest.--Those slave holders (whose numbers I trust are +few) who have been in the habit of considering their fellow creatures as +no more than cattle, and the rest of the brute creation, will exclaim +that they are to be deprived of their _property_, without compensation. +Men who will shut their ears against this moral truth, that all men are +by nature _free_, and _equal_, will not even be convinced that they do +not possess a _property_ in an _unborn_ child: they will not distinguish +between allowing to _unborn_ generations the absolute and unalienable +rights of human nature, and taking away that which they _now possess_; +they will shut their ears against truth, should you tell them, the loss +of the mother's labour for nine months, and the maintenance of a child +for a dozen or fourteen years, is amply compensated by the services of +that child for as many years more, as he has been an expence to them. +But if the voice of reason, justice and humanity be not stifled by +sordid avarice, or unfeeling tyranny, it would be easy to convince even +those who have entertained such erroneous notions, that the right of one +man over another is neither founded in nature, nor in sound policy. That +it cannot extend to those _not in being_; that no man can in reality be +_deprived_ of what he doth not possess: that fourteen years labour by a +young person in the prime of life, is an ample compensation for a few +months of labour lost by the mother, and for the maintenance of a child, +in that coarse homely manner that Negroes are brought up: And lastly, +that a state of slavery is not only perfectly incompatible with the +principles of government, but with the safety and security of their +masters. History evinces this. At this moment we have the most awful +demonstrations of it. Shall we then neglect a duty, which every +consideration, moral, religious, political, or _selfish_, recommends. +Those who wish to postpone the measure, do not reflect that every day +renders the task more arduous to be performed. We have now 300,000 +slaves among us. Thirty years hence we shall have double the number. In +sixty years we shall have 1,200,000. And in less than another century +from this day, even that enormous number will be doubled. Milo acquired +strength enough to carry an ox, by beginning with the ox while he was +yet a calf. If we complain that the calf is too heavy for our shoulders, +what will not the ox be? + +To such as apprehend danger to our agricultural interest, and the +depriving the families of those whose principal reliance is upon their +slaves, of support, it will be proper to submit a view of the gradual +operation, and effects of this plan. They will no doubt be surprized to +hear, that whenever it is adopted, the number of slaves will not be +diminished for forty years after it takes place; that it will even +encrease for thirty years; that at the distance of sixty years, there +will be one-third of the number at its first commencement: that it will +require _above a century_ to complete it; and that the number of blacks +_under twenty-eight_, and consequently bound to service, in the families +they are born in, will always be at least as great, as the present +number of slaves. These circumstances I trust will remove many +objections, and that they are truly stated will appear upon enquiry.[30] +It will further appear, that females only will arrive at the age of +emancipation within the first forty-five years; all the males during +that period, continuing either in slavery, or bound to service till the +age of twenty-eight years. The earth cannot want cultivators, whilst our +population increases as at present, and three-fourths of those employed +therein are held to service, and the remainder compellable to labour. +For we must not lose sight of this important consideration, that these +people must be _bound_ to labour, if they do not _voluntarily_ engage +therein. Their faculties are at present only calculated for that object; +if they be not employed therein they will become drones of the worst +description. In absolving them from the yoke of slavery, we must not +forget the interests of the society. Those interests require the +exertions of every individual in some mode or other; and those who have +not wherewith to support themselves honestly without corporal labour, +whatever be their complexion, ought to be compelled to labour. This is +the case in England, where domestic slavery has long been unknown. It +must also be the case in every well ordered society; and where the +numbers of persons without property increase, there the coertion of the +laws becomes more immediately requisite. The proposed plan would +necessarily have this effect, and therefore ought to be accompanied with +such a regulation. Though the rigours of our police in respect to this +unhappy race ought to be softened, yet, its regularity, and punctual +administration should be increased, rather than relaxed. If we doubt the +propriety of such measures, what must we think of the situation of our +country, when instead of 300,000, we shall have more than _two millions_ +of SLAVES among us? This _must happen within a_ CENTURY, if we do not +set about the abolition of slavery. Will not our posterity curse the +days of their nativity with all the anguish of Job? Will they not +execrate the memory of those ancestors, who, having it in their power to +avert evil, have, like their first parents, entailed a curse upon all +future generations? We know that the rigour of the laws respecting +slaves unavoidably must increase with their numbers: What a +blood-stained code must that be which is calculated for the restraint of +_millions_ held in bondage! Such must our unhappy country exhibit within +a century, unless we are both wise and just enough to avert from +posterity the calamity and reproach, which are otherwise unavoidable. + +[Footnote 30: As it may not be unacceptable to some readers to observe +the operation of this plan, I shall subjoin the following statement: + + +PRELIMINARY REMARKS. + +1. The number of slaves in Virginia by the late census being found to be +292,427, they may now, in round numbers be estimated at 300,000. + +2. Let it be supposed that the males and females are nearly or +altogether equal in number. + +3. According to Dr. Franklin, the people of America double their numbers +in about twenty-eight years; and according to Mr. Jefferson, the negroes +increase as fast as the whites, they will therefore double, at least +every thirty years. + +4. Let it be supposed that in thirty years one half of the present race +of negroes will be extinct. + +5. Let it be supposed that in forty-five years there will not remain +more than one-fifth of the present race alive. + +6. Let it be likewise supposed, that in sixty years the whole of the +present race will be extinct. + +7. For conciseness sake, let the present race be called _ante-nati_, +those born after the adoption of the plan, _post-nati_. + + +FROM HENCE IT WILL FOLLOW, + +1. That the present number of slaves being 300,000. + +2. In thirty years their numbers will amount to 600,000. + +3. But at that period as one half of them will be extinct, (rem. 4.) +their numbers will stand thus: + +Ante-nati, 150,000 + +Post-nati, 450,000 + ---- 600,000. + +4. The mean increase of the post-nati for +the next thirty years will therefore be 450000/30, annually, +or 15,000. + +5. If one half of these be males, who are still +to remain slaves, there will in the first sixteen years, +be born 120,000. + +6. After the first sixteen years, the post-nati females will +begin to breed; the proportion of males born to slavery in the next +twelve years may be estimated at one-fourth of the whole number +born after the commencement of that period. Their number +will be 52,000. + +7. The number of _slaves_ living in Virginia at the end of _thirty_ +years from the adoption of the plan, will be, ante-nati +(prop. 3.) 150,000 + +Post-nati males born in the first +16 years, 120,000 + +Post-nati males born in the last +12 years, 52,500 + + ---- 322,500. + +8. The number of _negroes_ at the same time will stand thus: + +Slaves, 322,500 + +Post-nati +free born, 277,500 + + ---- 600,000. + +9. After twenty-eight years from the first adoption, this plan of +gradual emancipation will first begin to manifest its effects, by the +complete emancipation of one twenty-eighth part of the post-nati free +born during that period each succeeding year, for twenty-eight years +more; their numbers will be, 277500/28, or 9,910. + +These will be all females. + +10. It being admitted that the negroes double every thirty years, the +supposition that in forty-five years, their numbers will be half as many +more as in thirty, will not be very erroneous, if so, the whole race of +them at that period will be 900,000. + +11. Their numbers will stand thus: + +Ante-nati, 60,000 + +Post-nati, 840,000 + + ---- 900,000. + +12. After twenty-eight years are past, the number of slaves born must +continually diminish. Suppose their number born in the last 17 years, to +be one-fourth as many as those born in the preceding twelve years, they +will be 52500/4, or 13,125. + +13. The slaves in Virginia in forty-five years will then be, +ante-nati, 60,000 + +Post-nati males born in the first +sixteen years, 120,000 + +Ditto, born in the next +twelve years 52,500 + +Ditto, born in the last +seventeen years, 13,125 + + ---- 245,625. + +At this period the emancipation of males will begin. + +14. But after twenty eight years it has been shewn that 9,910 negroes +will annually arrive at the age of emancipation, their whole number in +forty-five years will be 168,470. + +15. The state of the negroes at the end of 45 years, will then be, +slaves, 245,625 + +Post-nati fully emancipated +(females), 168,470 + +Post-nati not +emancipated, 485,905 + + ---- 900,000. + +16. In sixty years the whole number of negroes will be + + 1,200,000. + +17. At that period the whole of the present race will be extinct; and we +may also infer that one half of those born in the first thirty years +will be also extinct; the number of slaves born in that period has been +shewn, (prop. 7.) to be 172,500, the number of these then living will be +172,500/2, or 86,250. + +18. One half of the post-nati free born, during that period, being now +fully emancipated, may be likewise presumed to be extinct; their numbers +(prop. 8.) will be, 277,500/2, or 138,750. + +19. The state of the negroes at the end of sixty years, will therefore +be: + +Slaves born during the first +thirty years, 86,250 + +Ditto born after +that period, 13,125 + +Post-nati fully +emancipated, 138,750 + +Post-nati +under 28 years +of age, 961,875 + + ---- 1,200,000. + +20. At the end of ninety years the number of negroes will be + + 2,400,000 + +21. Of this number, those only born after the first thirty years, being +supposed to be living, the number of slaves (prop. 12) will then be +reduced to 13,125. + +22. And as the last mentioned number of slaves are supposed to be born +within forty-five years, their whole number will be extinct in fifteen +years more, that is, in _one hundred =and= five_ years from the first +adoption of the plan. + +23. By prop. 19. it appears, that out of 1,200,000 negroes, there will +then be 961,875 under the age of twenty-eight years, the period of +emancipation. + +24. We may therefore conclude, that from _two-thirds_ to _three-fourths_ +of the whole number of blacks will _always_ be liable to service.] + +I am not vain enough to presume the plan I have suggested entirely free +from objection; nor that in offering my own ideas on the subject, I have +been more fortunate than others: but from the communication of sentiment +between those who lament the evil, it is possible that an effectual +remedy may at length be discovered. Whenever that happens the golden age +of our country will begin. Till then, + +----_Non hospes ab hospite tutus, + +Non Herus a Famulie: fratrum quoque gratia rara._ + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Dissertation on Slavery, by St. George Tucker + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DISSERTATION ON SLAVERY *** + +***** This file should be named 32239.txt or 32239.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/2/3/32239/ + +Produced by Curtis Weyant and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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