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diff --git a/old/66398-0.txt b/old/66398-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index aefb46c..0000000 --- a/old/66398-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9346 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Gift of Black Folk, by William Edward -Burghardt Du Bois - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Gift of Black Folk - The Negroes in the Making of America - -Author: William Edward Burghardt Du Bois - -Contributor: Edward F. McSweeney - -Release Date: September 27, 2021 [eBook #66398] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Nick Wall and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at - https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images - generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIFT OF BLACK FOLK *** - - - - - - THE - GIFT _of_ BLACK FOLK - - _The Negroes in the - Making of America_ - - by - W. E. BURGHARDT DUBOIS - PH. D. (HARV.) - Author of “The Souls of Black Folk,” “Darkwater,” etc. - Editor of _The Crisis_ - - _Introduction by_ - EDWARD F. McSWEENEY, LL. D. - - [Illustration] - - 1924 - THE STRATFORD CO., _Publishers_ - BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - - Copyright, 1924 - By THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS - - Printed in the United States of America - - - - -CONTENTS - - - Chapter Page - - Foreword i - - Prescript 33 - - I The Black Explorers 35 - - II Black Labor 52 - - III Black Soldiers 80 - - IV The Emancipation of Democracy 135 - - V The Reconstruction of Freedom 184 - - VI The Freedom of Womanhood 259 - - VII The American Folk Song 274 - - VIII Negro Art and Literature 287 - - IX The Gift of the Spirit 320 - - - - -FOREWORD - - -It is not uncommon for casual thinkers to assume that the United States -of America is practically a continuation of English nationality. -Our speech is English and the English played so large a part in our -beginnings that it is easy to fall more or less consciously into the -thought that the history of this nation has been but a continuation and -development of these beginnings. A little reflection, however, quickly -convinces us that at least there was present French influence in the -Mississippi Valley and Spanish influence in the southeast and southwest. -Everything else however that has been added to the American nationality -is often looked upon as a sort of dilution of more or less doubtful -value: peoples that had to be assimilated as far as possible and made -over to the original and basic type. Thus we continually speak of Germans -and Scandinavians, of Irish and Jews, Poles, Austrians and Hungarians; -and, with few exceptions, we regard the coming of the Negroes as an -unmitigated error and a national liability. - -It is high time that this course of our thinking should be changed. -America is conglomerate. This is at once her problem and her -glory—perhaps indeed her sole and greatest reason for being. Her physical -foundation is not English and while it is primarily it is not entirely -European. It represents peculiarly a coming together of the peoples of -the world. American institutions have been borrowed from England and -France in the main, but with contributions from many and widely scattered -groups. American history has no prototype and has been developed -from the various racial elements. Despite the fact that our mother -tongue is called English we have developed an American speech with its -idiosyncrasies and idioms, a speech whose purity is not to be measured -by its conformity to the speech of the British Isles. And finally the -American spirit is a new and interesting result of divers threads of -thought and feeling coming not only from America but from Europe and Asia -and indeed from Africa. - -This essay is an attempt to set forth more clearly than has hitherto -been done the effect which the Negro has had upon American life. Its -thesis is that despite slavery, war and caste, and despite our present -Negro problem, the American Negro is and has been a distinct asset to -this country and has brought a contribution without which America could -not have been; and that perhaps the essence of our so-called Negro -problem is the failure to recognize this fact and to continue to act as -though the Negro was what we once imagined and wanted to imagine him—a -representative of a subhuman species fitted only for subordination. - -A moment’s thought will easily convince open minded persons that the -contribution of the Negro to American nationality as slave, freedman -and citizen was far from negligible. No element in American life has -so subtly and yet clearly woven itself into the warp and woof of our -thinking and acting as the American Negro. He came with the first -explorers and helped in exploration. His labor was from the first the -foundation of the American prosperity and the cause of the rapid growth -of the new world in economic and social importance. Modern democracy -rests not simply on the striving white men in Europe and America but also -on the persistent struggle of the black men in America for two centuries. -The military defense of this land has depended upon Negro soldiers from -the time of the Colonial wars down to the struggle of the World War. Not -only does the Negro appear, reappear and persist in American literature -but a Negro American literature has arisen of deep significance, and -Negro folk lore and music are among the choicest heritages of this land. - -Finally the Negro had played a peculiar spiritual rôle in America as a -sort of living, breathing test of our ideals and an example of the faith, -hope and tolerance of our religion. - - - - -THE RACIAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE UNITED STATES - -By EDW. F. MCSWEENEY, LL. D. - - -In a general way, the Racial Contribution Series in the Knights of -Columbus historical program is intended as a much needed and important -contribution to national solidarity. The various studies are treated by -able writers, citizens of the United States, each being in full sympathy -with the achievements in this country of the racial group of whom he -treats. The standard of the writers is the only one that will justify -historical writing;—the truth. No censorship has been exercised. - -No subject now actively before the people of the United States has been -more written on, and less understood, than alien immigration. Until -1819, there were no official statistics of immigration of any sort; the -so-called census of 1790 was simply a report of the several states of -their male white population under and over 16 years of age, all white -females, slaves, and others. Statements as to the country of origin of -the inhabitants of this country were, in the main, guesswork, with the -result that, while the great bulk of such estimates was honestly and -patriotically done, some of the most quoted during the present day were -inspired, obviously to prove a predetermined case, rather than to recite -the ascertained fact. - -From the beginning the dominant groups in control in the United -States have regarded each group of newer arrivals as more or less -the “enemy” to be feared, and, if possible, controlled. A study of -various cross-sections of the country will show dominant alien groups -who formerly had to fight for their very existence. With increased -numerical strength and prosperity they frequently attempted to do to -the later aliens, frequently even of their own group, what had formerly -been done to them:—decry and stifle their achievements, and deny them -opportunity,—the one thing that may justly be demanded in a Democracy,—by -putting them in a position of inferiority. - -To attempt, in this country, to set up a “caste” control, based on the -accident of birth, wealth, or privilege, is a travesty of Democracy. When -Washington and his compatriots, a group comprising the most efficiently -prepared men in the history of the world, who had set themselves -definitely to form a democratic civilization, dreamed of and even planned -by Plato, but held back by slavery and paganism, they found their sure -foundations in the precepts of Christianity, and gave them expression -in the Declaration of Independence. The liberty they sought, based on -obedience to the law of God as well as of man, was actually established, -but from the beginning it has met a constant effort to substitute -some form of absolutism tending to break down or replace democratic -institutions. - -What may be called, for want of a better term, the colonial spirit, which -is the essence of hyphenism, has persisted in this country to hamper -national progress and national unity. Wherever this colonial spirit shows -itself it is a menace to be fought, whether the secret or acknowledged -attachment binds to England, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Greece or -any other nation. - -Jefferson pointed out that we have on this soil evolved a new race of -men who may inexactly be called “Americans”. This term, as a monopoly of -the United States, is properly objected to by our neighbors, North and -South—yet it has a definite meaning for the world. - -During the Great War one aspect of war duty was to direct the labor -activities growing out of the war, to divert labor from “non-essential” -to “essential” industry and to arbitrate and mediate on wage matters. -It was found necessary to study and to analyze the greatly feared, but -infrequently discovered “enemy alien”; and as a preparation for this -duty, with the assistance of several hundred local agents, the population -of Massachusetts was separated into naturally allied groups based on -birth, racial descent, religious, social and industrial affiliations. -The astonishing result was that, counting as “native Americans” only -the actual descendants of all those living in Massachusetts in 1840, -of whatever racial stock prior to that time, only two-sevenths, even -with the most liberal classification, came within the group of colonial -descent, while the remaining five-sevenths were found in the various -racial groups coming later than 1840. More than this: While the -“Colonial” group had increased in numbers for three decades after 1840, -in 1918 they were found actually to be fewer in number than in 1840, a -diminution due to excess of deaths over births, proceeding in increasing -ratio. - -Membership in the Society of Mayflower descendants is eagerly sought as -the hallmark of American ancestry. In anticipation of the tercentenary -of the Mayflower-coming in 1620, about a dozen years ago a questionnaire -was sent to every known eligible for Mayflower ancestry, and the replies -were submitted to the experts in one of the national universities for -review and report. When this report was presented later, it contained the -statement that, considering the prevailing number of marriages in this -group, and children per family,—when the six-hundredth celebration of the -Pilgrims’ Landing is held in 2220, three hundred years hence, a ship the -size of the original Mayflower will be sufficient to carry back to Europe -all the then living Mayflower descendants. - -The future of America is in the keeping of the 80 per cent. of the -population, separate in blood and race from the colonial descent group. -Love of native land is one of the strongest and noblest passions of which -a man is capable. Family life, religion, the soil which holds the dust -of our fathers, sentiment for ancestral property, and many other bonds, -make the ties of home so strong and enduring, and unite a man’s life so -closely with its native environment, that grave and powerful reasons must -exist before a change of residence is contemplated. Escape from religious -persecution and political tyranny were unquestionably the chief reasons -which induced the early comers to America to brave the dangers of an -unknown world. Yet that very intolerance against which this was a protest -soon began to be exercised against all those unwilling to accept in their -new homes the religious leadership of those in control. - -It is not necessary to go into the persecutions due to religious bigotry -of the colonial period. While the spirit of liberty was in the free air -of the colonies and would finally have secured national independence, it -is not possible to underestimate the support brought to the revolting -colonials because of the attitude of Great Britain in allowing religious -freedom to Canada after it had been taken from the French. After the -victory of New Orleans, a spirit of national consciousness on a -democratic basis was built up and the narrow spirit of colonialism and -of religious intolerance was to a great degree repudiated by the people, -when they had become inspired with the American spirit,—only to be -revived later on. - -The continued manifestation of intolerance has been the most persistent -effort in our national life. It has done incalculable harm. It is -apparently deep-rooted, an active force in almost every generation. -Present in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, stopped temporarily for two decades -by the Civil War, it has recurred subsequently again and again; revived -since the Armistice, it is unfortunately shown today in as great a -virulence and power of destructiveness as at any time during the last -hundred years. - -After the 70’s, as the aliens became numerically powerful and began to -demand political representation, movements based on religious prejudice -were started from time to time, some of which came to temporary -prominence, later to die an inglorious death; but all these movements -which attempted to deprive aliens of their right of freedom to worship -were calculated to bring economic discontent and to add to the measure of -national disunion and unhappiness. - -Sixty years ago[1] the bigoted slogan was “_No Irish need apply_.” During -the World War, the principal attack was on the German-American citizens -of this country, whose fathers had come here seeking a new land as a -protest against tyranny. Today the current attempt is to deprive the -Jews[2] of the right to educational equality. In short, while there have -been spasmodic manifestations of movements based on intolerance in many -countries, the United States has the unenviable record for continuous -effort to keep alive a bogey based on an increasing fear of something -which never existed, and cannot ever exist in this country. - -For a hundred years the potent cause which has poured millions of human -beings into the United States has been its marvellous opportunities, -and unprecedented economic urge. Ever since 1830 a graphic chart of the -variations in immigration from year to year will reflect the industrial -situation in the United States for the same period. In 1837, the total -immigration was 79,430.[3] After the panic of that year it decreased in -1838 to 38,914.[4] In 1842, it increased to 104,565,[5] but a business -depression in 1844 caused it to shrink to 78,615.[6] Thus the influx of -aliens increased or decreased according to the industrial conditions -prevalent here. The business prosperity of the United States was not only -the urge to entice immigrants hither, but it made their coming possible -as they were helped by the savings of relatives and friends already here. - -The English were not immigrants, but colonists, merely going from one -part of national territory to another. With few exceptions, the majority -of the early colonists came from England. The first English settlement -was made in Virginia under the London Company in 1607. It took twelve -years of hard struggling to establish this colony on a permanent basis. - -The New England region was settled by a different class of colonists. -Plymouth was the first settlement, in 1620, followed in 1630 by the -Massachusetts Bay Colony, which later absorbed the Plymouth settlement. -Population, after the first ten years, increased rapidly by natural -growth, and soon colonies in Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Connecticut -resulted from the overflow in the original settlements. - -While this English settlement was going on North and South, the Dutch, -under the Dutch West India Company, took possession of the region -between, and founded New Netherlands and New Amsterdam, later New York -City. Intervening, as it did, between their Northern and Southern -colonies, New Netherlands, which the English considered a menace, was -seized by the English during a war with Holland, and became New York and -New Jersey. - -Early in the seventeenth century there was a substantial French -immigration to the Dutch colonies. There was a constant stream of French -immigration to the English colonies in New England and in Virginia by -many of the Huguenots who had originally emigrated to the West Indies. - -In 1681, Penn settled Pennsylvania under a royal charter and thus the -whole Atlantic coast from Canada to Florida became subject to England. -During the colonial period, England contributed to the population of the -colonies. But, by the middle of the seventeenth century, the coming of -the English to New England was practically over. From 1628 to 1641 about -20,000 came from England to New England, but for the next century and a -half more persons went back to Old England than came from there to New -England.[7] Due to the relaxing of religious persecution of dissenting -Protestants in England, the great formerly impelling force to seek a new -home across the ocean in America had ceased. - -In 1653 an Irish immigration to New England, much larger in numbers -than the original Plymouth Colony, was proposed. Bristol merchants, -who realized the necessity of populating the colonies to make them -prosperous, treated with the government for men, women and girls to be -sent to the West Indies and to New England.[8] At the very fountain head -of American life we find, therefore, men and women of pure Celtic blood -from the South of Ireland, infused into the primal stock of America. -But these apparently were only a drop in this early tide of Irish -immigration.[9] - -No complete memorial has been transmitted of the emigrations that took -place from Europe to America, but (from the few illustrative facts -actually preserved) they seem to have been amazingly copious. In the -years 1771-72, the number of emigrants to America from the North of -Ireland alone amounted to 17,350. Almost all of these emigrated at their -own charge; a great majority of them were persons employed in the linen -manufacture, or farmers possessed of some property which they converted -into money and carried with them. Within the first fortnight of August, -1773, there arrived at Philadelphia 3,500 emigrants from Ireland, and -from the same document which has recorded this circumstance it appears -that vessels were arriving every month freighted with emigrants from -Holland, Germany, and especially from Ireland and the Highlands of -Scotland.[10] - -That many Irish settled in Maryland is shown by the fact that in 1699 and -again a few years later an act was passed to prevent too great a number -of Irish Papists being imported into the province.[11] Shipmasters were -required to pay two shillings per poll for such. “Shipping records of -the colonial period show that boatload after boatload left the southern -and eastern shores of Ireland for the New World. Undoubtedly thousands -of their passengers were Irish of the native stock.”[12] So besides the -so-called Scotch-Irish from the North of Ireland, the distinction always -being Protestantism, not race, it is indisputable that thousands, Celtic -in race and Catholic in religion, came to the colonies. These newcomers -made their homes principally in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, -the Carolinas and the frontiers of the New England colonies. Later -they pushed on westward and founded Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. An -interesting essay by the well-known writer, Irvin S. Cobb, on _The Lost -Irish Tribes in the South_ is an important contribution to this subject. - -The Germans were the next most important element of the early population -of America. A number of the artisans and carpenters in the first -Jamestown colony were of German descent. In 1710, a body of 3,000 Germans -came to New York—the largest number of immigrants supposed to have -arrived at one time during the colonial period.[13] Most of the early -German immigrants settled in New Jersey, the Carolinas, and Pennsylvania. -It has been estimated that at the end of the colonial period the number -of Germans was fully two hundred thousand. - -Though the Irish and the Germans contributed most largely to colonial -immigration, as distinguished from the English, who are classed as the -Colonials, there were other races who came even thus early to our shores. -The Huguenots came from France to escape religious persecution. The -Jews, then as ever, engaged in their age-old struggle for religious and -economic toleration, came from England, France, Spain and Portugal. The -Dutch Government of New Amsterdam, fearing their commercial competition, -ordered a group of Portuguese Jews to leave the colony, but this decision -was appealed to the home Government at Holland and reversed, so that -they were allowed to remain. On the whole, their freedom to live and to -trade in the colonies was so much greater than in their former homes that -there were soon flourishing colonies of Jewish merchants in Newport, -Philadelphia and Charleston. - -In 1626 a company of Swedish merchants organized, under the patronage of -the Great King Gustavus Adolphus, to promote immigration to America. The -King contributed four hundred thousand dollars to the capital raised, but -did not live to see the fruition of his plans. In 1637, the first company -of Swedes and Finns left Stockholm for America. They reached Delaware -Bay and called the country New Sweden. The Dutch claimed, by right of -priority, this same territory and in 1655 the flag of Holland replaced -that of Sweden. The small Swedish colony in Delaware came under Penn’s -rule and became, like Pennsylvania, cosmopolitan in character. - -The Dutch in New York preserved their racial characteristics for more -than a hundred years after the English conquest of 1664. At the end of -the colonial period, over one-half of the 170,000 inhabitants of New York -were descendants of the original Dutch. - -Many of the immigrants who came here in the early days paid their -own passage. However, the actual number of such is only a matter of -conjecture. From the shipping records of the period we do know positively -that thousands came who were unable to pay. Shipowners and others who -had the means furnished the passage money to those too poor to pay for -themselves, and in return received from these persons a promise or bond. -This bond provided that the person named in it should work for a certain -number of years to repay the money advanced. Such persons were called -“indentured servants” and they were found throughout the colonies, -working in the fields, the shops and the homes of the colonists. The -term of service was from five to seven years. Many found it impossible -to meet their obligations and their servitude dragged on for years. -Others, on the contrary, became free and prosperous. In Pennsylvania -often there were as many as fifty bond servants on estates. The condition -of indentured servants in Virginia “was little better than that of -slaves. Loose indentures and harsh laws put them at the mercy of their -masters.”[14] This seems to have been their fate in all the colonies, as -their treatment depended upon the character of their masters. - -Besides these indentured servants who came here voluntarily, a large -number of early settlers were forced to come here. The Irish before -mentioned are one example. In order to secure settlers, men, women and -children were kidnapped from the cities and towns and “spirited away” to -America by the companies and proprietors who had colonies here. In 1680 -it was officially computed that 10,000 were sent thus to American shores. -In 1627, about 1,500 children were shipped to Virginia, probably orphans -and dependents whom their relatives were unwilling to support.[15] -Another class sent here were convicts, the scourings of English centers -like Bristol and Liverpool. The colonists protested vehemently against -this practise, but it was continued up to the very end of the colonial -period, when this convict tide was diverted to “Botany Bay.” - -In 1619, another race was brought here against their will and sold into -slavery. This was the Negro, forced to leave his home near the African -equator that he might contribute to the material wealth of shipmasters -and planters. Slowly but surely chattel slavery took firm root in the -South and at last became the leading source of the labor supply. The -slave traders found it very easy to seize Negroes in Africa and make -great profits by selling them in Southern ports. The English Royal -African Company sent to America annually between 1713 and 1743 from -5,000 to 10,000 slaves.[16] After a time, when the Negroes were so -numerous that whole sections were overrun, the Southern colonies tried -ineffectually to curb the trade. Virginia in 1710 placed a duty of five -pounds on each slave but the Royal Governor vetoed the bill. Bills of -like import were passed in other colonies from time to time, but the -English crown disapproved in every instance and the trade, so lucrative -to British shipowners, went on. At the time of the Revolution, there were -almost half a million slaves in the colonies.[17] The exact proportions -of the slave trade to America can be but approximately determined. From -1680 to 1688 the African Company sent 249 ships to Africa, shipped there -60,783 Negro slaves, and after losing 14,387 on the middle passage, -delivered 46,396 in America. The trade increased early in the eighteenth -century, 104 ships clearing for Africa in 1701; it then dwindled until -the signing of the Assiento, standing at 74 clearances in 1724. The -final dissolution of the monopoly in 1750 led—excepting in the years -1754-57, when the closing of Spanish marts sensibly affected the trade—to -an extraordinary development, 192 clearances being made in 1771. The -Revolutionary War nearly stopped the traffic, but by 1786 the clearances -had risen again to 146. - -To these figures must be added the unregistered trade of Americans and -foreigners. It is probable that about 25,000 slaves were brought to -America each year between 1698 and 1707. The importation then dwindled -but after the Assiento rose to perhaps 30,000. The proportion of these -slaves carried to the continent now began to increase. Of about 20,000 -whom the English annually imported from 1733 to 1766, South Carolina -alone received some 3,000. Before the Revolution the total exportation to -America is variously estimated as between 40,000 and 100,000 each year. -Bancroft places the total slave population of the continental colonies -at 59,000 in 1714; 78,000 in 1727; and 293,000 in 1754. The census of -1790 showed 697,897 slaves in the United States. Not all the Negroes who -came to America were slaves and not all remained slaves. There were the -following free Negroes in the decades between 1790 and 1860: - - 1790 59,557 - 1800 108,435 - 1810 186,446 - 1820 233,634 - 1830 319,599 - 1840 386,293 - 1850 434,495 - 1860 488,070 - -Immigration of Negroes is still taking place, especially from the West -Indies. It has been estimated that there are the following foreign-born -Negroes in the United States: - - 1890 19,979 - 1900 20,336 - 1910 40,339 - 1920 75,000 - -In 1790, Negroes were one-fifth of the total population; in 1860 they -were one-seventh; in 1900 one-ninth;[18] today they are approximately -one-tenth. - -With the beginning of the national era—1783—all peoples subsequently -coming to the United States must be classed as immigrants. During the -first years of our national life, no accurate statistics of immigration -were kept. The Federal Government took no control of the matter and the -State records are incomplete and unreliable. A pamphlet published by the -Bureau of Statistics in 1903, _Immigration into the United States_, says, -“The best estimates of the total immigration into the United States prior -to the official count puts the total number of arrivals at not to exceed -250,000 in the entire period between 1776 and 1820.” - -From 1806 to 1816, the unfriendly relations which existed between the -United States and England and France precluded any extensive immigration -to this country. England maintained and for a time successfully enforced -the doctrine that “a man once a subject was always a subject.” The -American Merchant Service, because of the pay and good treatment given, -was very attractive to English sailors and a very great enticement to -them to come to America and enter the American service. However, the -fear of impressment deterred many from so doing. The Blockade Decrees -of England against France in 1806 and the retaliation decrees of France -against England in that same year were other influences which retarded -immigration. These decrees were succeeded by the British Orders in -Council, the Milan Decree of Napoleon, and the United States law of 1809 -prohibiting intercourse with both Great Britain and France. - -In 1810, the French decrees were annulled and American commerce began -again with France, only to have the vessels fall into the hands of the -British. Then came the War of 1812. The German immigration suffered -greatly from this condition of affairs, as the Germans sailed principally -from the ports of Liverpool and Havre. At these points ships were more -numerous and expenses less heavy. In December, 1814, a few days before -the Battle of New Orleans, a treaty of peace was concluded between the -United States and England and after a few months immigration was resumed -once more. - -In 1817, about 22,240 persons arrived at ports of the United States from -foreign countries. This number included American citizens returning from -abroad. In no previous year had so many immigrants come to our shores. - -In 1819 a law was passed by Congress and approved by the President -“regulating passenger ships and vessels.” In 1820, the official history -of immigration began. The Port Collectors then began to keep records -which included numbers, sexes, ages, and occupations of all incoming -persons. However, up to 1856, no distinction was made between travellers -and immigrants. - -Immigration increased from 8,358 in 1820—of which 6,024 came from Great -Britain and Ireland—to 22,633 in 1831.[19] The decade of the twenties -was a time of great industrial activity in the United States. The Erie -Canal was built, other canals were projected, the railroads were started, -business increased by leaps and bounds. As a consequence, the demand -for labor was imperative and Europe responded. During the entire period -of our early national life, the United States encouraged the coming of -foreign artisans and laborers as the necessity for strength, skill and -courage in the upbuilding of our country began to be realized. - -From 1831 the number of immigrants steadily increased until from -September 30, 1849, to September 30, 1850, they totaled 315,334[20] The -largest increases during those years were from 1845 to 1848, when the -famine in Ireland and the revolution in Germany drove thousands to the -shores of free America. These causes continued to increase the number of -arrivals until in 1854 the crest was attained with 460,474[21]—a figure -not again reached for nearly twenty years. - -From September 30, 1819, when the official count of immigrants began to -be taken, to December 31, 1855, a total of 4,212,624 persons of foreign -birth arrived in the United States.[22] Of these Bromwell, who wrote -in 1856 a work compiled entirely from official data, estimates that -1,747,930 were Irish.[23] Next comes Germany,[24] with 1,206,087; England -third with 207,492; France fourth with 188,725. - -The exodus of the Irish during those famine years furnishes one of the -many examples recorded in history of a subject race driven from its home -by the economic injustice of a dominant race. Later, we see the same -thing true in Austria-Hungary where the Slavs were tyrannized by the -Magyars; again we find it in Russia where the Jew sought freedom from the -Slav; and once again in Armenia and Syria where the native people fled -from the Turk. - -After 1855, the tide of immigration began to decrease steadily. During -the first two years of the Civil War, it was less than 100,000.[25] In -1863, an increase was noticeable again and 395,922[26] immigrants are -recorded in 1869. - -During all these years up to 1870, the great part of the immigration was -from Northern Europe. The largest racial groups were composed of Irish, -Germans, Scandinavians and French. About the middle of the nineteenth -century French-speaking Canadians were attracted by the opportunities for -employment in the mills and factories of New England. - -The number of Irish coming here steadily decreased after 1880 until -it has fallen far below that of other European peoples. Altogether, -the total Irish immigration from 1820 to 1906 is placed at something -over 4,000,000, thus giving the Irish second place as contributors to -the foreign-born population of the United States. The Revolution of -1848 was the contributing cause of a large influx of Germans, many of -whom were professional men and artisans. From 1873 to 1879 there was -great industrial depression in Germany and consequently another large -immigration to America took place. Since 1882, there has also been a -noticeable decline in German immigrants. From 1820 to 1903, a total of -over 5,000,000 Germans was recorded as coming to the United States.[27] - -In the period from 1880 to 1910 immigration from Italy totaled 4,018,404. -It will be remembered that the law requiring the registration of outgoing -aliens was not passed until 1908, and it may, therefore, be estimated -that 3,000,000 represents the total number of arrivals from Italy, who -remained here permanently. - -After 1903, up to the outbreak of the Great War, the number of alien -arrivals steadily increased. In 1905, it was more than 1,000,000; in -1906, it passed the 1,100,000 mark and in 1907 the 1,200,000 mark; in -1913 and 1914, the total number for each year exceeded 1,400,000.[28] - -During the ten years from 1905 to 1915, nearly 12,000,000 aliens landed -in the United States, a yearly average of 1,200,000 arrivals. These -alone form more than 37 per cent. of all recorded immigration since 1820 -and make up about 88 out of every 100 of our present total foreign-born -population.[29] Until interrupted by the European War, the immigration -to the United States was the greatest movement of the largest number -of peoples that the world has ever known. Of course, there have been -economic upheavals from time to time which have noticeably affected -this movement. The Civil War, as before noted, and financial panics and -industrial depressions in our country interrupted the incoming tide -repeatedly. The Great War with its social and economic upheaval had a -tremendous effect on our immigration. The twelve months following the -declaration of war shows the smallest number of alien arrivals since -1899. The number was slightly over 325,000. The statistics compiled by -the Federal Bureau of Immigration show that by far the greater part of -the immigrants who come to the United States are from Europe. Of the -1,403,000 alien immigrants who came here in 1914, about 1,114,000 were -from Europe; about 35,000 came from Asia; the remainder, about 254,000, -came from all other countries combined, principally Canada, the West -Indies, and Mexico. Eighty out of every 100, therefore, came from Europe. -As many as sixty of that eighty came from the three countries of Italy, -Austria-Hungary and Russia. Italy sent 294,689; Austria-Hungary was -second with 286,059; Russia contributed 262,409. From all of England, -Ireland, Scotland and Wales came only 88,000 or about 6 out of every 100; -and from Norway, Sweden and Denmark came about 31,000 or 2 out of every -100. - -Greece, France, Portugal, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Spain, Turkey, the -Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and Roumania contributed virtually all -the remainder of our 1914 immigrants from Europe, given in the order of -importance. - -However, we should bear in mind always that the country of origin or -nationality or jurisdiction (as determined by political boundaries) is -not always identical with race. Immigration statistics have followed -national or political boundaries. Take the immigrants from Russia. The -statistics say that 262,000 arrived from that country in 1914. But of -this number, less than 5 out of every 100 are Russians; the rest or 95 -out of every 100, are Hebrews, Poles, Lithuanians, Finns and Germans. - -Austria-Hungary was another country made of a medley of races. The -Germanic Austrians who ruled Austria and the Hungarian Magyars who ruled -Hungary were less than one-half of the total population of the one time -Austria-Hungary. - -The record of alien arrivals from Poland is not accurate because it is -divided into three national statistical divisions—Russia, Germany and -Austria-Hungary. The best estimate is that the total Polish arrivals to -the United States since 1820 approximates 2,500,000. - -The Slav, the Magyar, the German, the Latin, and the Jew were all in -Austria-Hungary and moreover, these were all numerously subdivided. The -most numerous of the Slavs are the Czechs and Slovaks. These gave the -United States in 1914 a combined immigration of 37,000. Poles, Ruthenians -and Roumanians also came here from northern Austria, and from the -vicinity of the Black Sea came Roumanians more Latin than Slavic. Besides -these, the one time dual kingdom sent Jews, Greeks and Turks. - -Although the most important Slavic country of Europe is Russia, yet it -was from Austria-Hungary that we received most of our Slavic immigrants. -In 1914, as many as 23 out of every 100 of our total immigration were -Slavic, and the larger part of this racial group which reached 319,000 -that year, came from Austria-Hungary. - -That mere recording of country or origin does not give accurate racial -information is illustrated in the case of the many Greeks under Turkish -rule, and the large number of Armenians found in almost all large Turkish -towns. The Armenians are probably the most numerous of the immigrants -from Asia. In 1914, the total immigration from Turkey was about 20,000, -but the actual Turkish immigration was only 3,000. The remaining 27,000 -were Greeks, Bulgarians, Serbians, Montenegrins, Syrians, Armenians and -Hebrews.[30] - -The “country of origin” tells us almost nothing about the large Hebrew -immigration which comes to the United States. The Jew comes from many -countries. The greater part of all our recent Jewish immigration comes -from Russia, from what is called the “Jewish Pale of Settlement” in the -western part of that country. Other Jews come from Austria, Roumania, -Germany and Turkey. In 1914, the Jews were the fourth largest in numbers -among our immigrants, nearly 143,000.[31] - -We must also bear in mind that all of these millions who came to America -do not remain with us. There is a constant emigration going on, a -departure of aliens back to their native land either for a time, or for -all time. Up to 1908, the Bureau of Immigration kept no record of the -“ebb of the tide” but since that time vessels taking aliens out of the -United States, are obliged by law to make a list containing name, age, -sex, nationality, residence in the United States, occupation, and time -of last arrival of each alien passenger, which must be filed with the -Federal Collector of Customs. - -The first year of this record, 1908, followed the financial panic of -October, 1907, and due to the economic conditions prevalent in the United -States a very large emigration to Europe was disclosed. - -The records show also that the volume of emigration, like that of -immigration, varies from year to year. Just as prosperity here increases -immigration, “bad” times increase emigration from our shores. - -There was a time when emigration was so slight that it was of little -importance, but since the early nineties it has assumed large -proportions. After the panic of 1907, for months a larger number left the -country than came into it, and thousands and thousands swarmed the ports -of departure awaiting a chance to return home. In the earlier years, -the immigrant sometimes spent months making the journey here. Besides -the difficulty of the trip, ocean transportation was more expensive. -Therefore, the earlier immigrants came to remain, to make homes here -for themselves and their children. The Irish, the Germans, the early -Bohemians, the Scandinavians, and in fact all the early comers brought -their families and their “household goods”, ready to settle down for all -time and to become citizens of their adopted country. - -A large number of the alien arrivals of recent years come here initially -with only a vague intention of remaining permanently, and these make up -the large emigration streaming constantly from our ports. However, it -is only fair to say that eventually many of these people come back to -America and become permanent residents. Anyone who has had experience at -our ports of entry can substantiate the statement that during a period of -years the same faces are seen incoming again and again. - -Although immigrants have come by millions into the United States, -and have been the main contributing cause of its wonderful national -expansion, yet opposition to their coming has manifested itself strongly -at different times. - -In the colonial period the people objected, and rightly, to the maternal -solicitude which England evidenced by making the colonies the dumping -ground for criminals and undesirables. However, these objections were -disregarded and convicts and criminals continued to come while the -colonies remained under British rule. - -After the national era, immigration was practically unrestricted down -to 1875. At different periods there were manifestations of a strong -desire to restrict immigration, but Congress never responded with -exclusion laws. The alien and sedition laws of 1798 had for their -object the removal of foreigners already residents in the United -States. The naturalization laws passed that same year, lengthening the -time of residence necessary for citizenship to fourteen years, were -another severe measure against resident aliens. The native American -and the Know-nothing uprisings were still other indications of that -same spirit of antagonism to the alien based on religious grounds. This -religious antagonism in many of the States took the form of opposition -to immigration itself and a demand for restrictions. But this all -proved futile, for the National Government recognized the necessity of -settling the limitless West. Then, too, another subject loomed large and -threatening at this time, and engrossed the attention of the people away -from the dire evils which the Irish and the Catholics would precipitate -upon “our free and happy people”. This was the State Rights and Slavery -question; and soon the country forgot immigration in the throes of the -Civil War. - -By an act of March 3, 1875, the National Government made its first -attempt to restrict immigration; this act prohibited the bringing in -of alien convicts and of women for immoral purposes. On May 6, 1882, -Congress passed and the President approved another act “to regulate -immigration”, by which the coming of Chinese laborers was forbidden -for ten years. The story which led up to this Act of Congress is a -long one, and the details cannot be given here. Briefly, conditions in -California following the Burlingame treaty of 1868, owing to the influx -of Chinese labor, resulted in the organization of a workingman’s party -headed by Dennis Kearney, and forced the Chinese question as one of the -dominant issues of State politics. Resolutions embodying the feelings of -the people on Chinese immigration were presented to the Constitutional -Convention of 1879. The State Legislature enacted laws against this -immigration. Subsequently pressure was brought to bear on the National -Government, a new treaty with China was negotiated, and finally the law -of 1882 was passed by Congress, restricting for ten years the admission -of Chinese laborers, both skilled and unskilled, and of mine workers also. - -Ever since the passage of this law, the Federal Government has pursued -a more restrictive and exclusive immigration policy. The next law was -passed in August, 1882, prohibiting the immigration of “any convict, -lunatic, idiot, or any person unable to take care of himself or herself -without becoming a public charge.” Then, in 1885, came another act -known as the “Alien Contract Labor Law”, forbidding the importation -and immigration of foreigners and aliens under contract or agreement -to perform labor in the United States. In 1891 came the law called the -“Geary Act” which amended “the various acts relative to immigration and -the importation of aliens under contract or agreement to perform labor”. -This act extended Chinese exclusion for another ten years, and required -the Chinese in the country to register and submit to the Bertillon test -as a means of identification. In 1893 two acts were passed; one which -gave the quarantine service greater powers and placed additional duties -upon the Public Health Service, and another which properly enforced -the existing immigration and contract labor laws. In 1902 the law -of exclusion was made permanent against Chinese laborers. So, since -1875, the United States has passed laws excluding Chinese entirely and -virtually excluding the Japanese, and both these races are ineligible to -citizenship. In 1907, an act was passed “to regulate the immigration of -Aliens into the United States”, which excluded imbeciles, epileptics, -those so defective either physically or mentally that they might become -public charges; children under sixteen not with a parent, etc. - -A far more restrictive measure known as the “literacy” or “educational” -test has been before Congress at different times and has, on three -different occasions, failed to become a law. President Cleveland vetoed -it in 1897, Taft in 1913, and Wilson in 1915. All three Presidents -objected to this bill principally on the ground that it was such “a -radical departure” from all previous national policy in regard to -immigration. President Wilson’s veto of 1917 was overcome and the bill -became a law by a two-thirds majority vote of both houses. This law -requires that entering aliens must be able to read the English language -or some other language or dialect. The one thing which the literacy test -was designed to accomplish—to decrease the volume of immigration—was -brought about suddenly and unexpectedly by the European War. From the -opening of the war, the number of immigrants steadily decreased until, -for the year ending June 30, 1916, it was only 298,826[32] and for the -year ending June 30, 1917, only 110,618.[33] Then it began again to -increase steadily until for the year ending June 30, 1920, it reached a -total of 430,001.[34] - -On June 3, 1921, an emergency measure known as the three per cent. -law was passed. This act provided that the number of aliens of any -nationality who could be admitted to the United States in any one year -should be limited to three per cent. of the number of foreign-born -persons of such nationality resident in the United States as determined -by the census of 1910. Certain ones were not counted, such as foreign -government officials and their families and employees, aliens in -transit through the United States, tourists, aliens from countries -having immigration treaties with the United States, aliens who have -lived for one year previous to their admission in Canada, Newfoundland, -Mexico, Central America, or South America, and aliens under eighteen -who have parents who are American citizens. More than twenty per cent. -of a country’s full quota could not be admitted in one month except in -the case of actors, artists, lecturers, singers, nurses, clergymen, -professors, members of the learned professions or domestic servants who -could always come in even though the month’s or the year’s quota had been -used. - -A well organized effort is under way in the Congress which began its -session in December 1923, to reduce the quota to two per cent. of the -immigrants recorded as coming to the United States in 1890. This bill, -which will probably be passed, is being opposed vigorously, by the -Jews and Italians who are immediately the particular racial groups -to be affected, but since neither the Jews nor Italians, separately -or collectively, have political strength to be a voting factor to be -considered, except in a half dozen of the industrial states, the passage -of the bill seems to be inevitable. - -The recent immigration restriction laws make a decided break with past -national history and tradition. There is little doubt that these laws -are in part the fruit of an organized movement which, especially since -the war, is attempting to classify all aliens, except those of one -special group, as “hyphenates” and “mongrels”. These laws are haphazard, -unscientific, based on unworthy prejudice and likely, ultimately, to be -disastrous in their economic consequences. The present three per cent. -immigration law is not based on any fundamental standard of fitness. Once -the percentage of maximum admissions is reached, in any given month, the -next alien applying for entrance may be a potential Washington, Lincoln -or Edison to whom the unyielding process of the law must deny admission. -Such laws, worked out under the hysteria of “after war psychology”, seem -to be one of the instances, so frequent in history, where Democracy must -take time to work out its own mistakes. - -Under the circumstances, there is all the more reason that the priceless -heritage of racial achievement by the descendants of various racial -groups in the United States be told. - -The United States has departed a long way from the policy which was -recorded in 1795 by the series of coins known as the “Liberty and -Security” coins, on which appeared the words “A Refuge for the Oppressed -of all Nations”. - - ARRIVALS OF ALIEN PASSENGERS AND IMMIGRANTS IN THE UNITED - STATES FROM 1820 TO 1892 - - Prepared by the Bureau of Statistics and published in 1893 by - the Government Printing Office. - - ===================================================================== - - - 1821 to 1831 to 1841 to - Countries Whence Arrived 1830 1840 1850 - --------------------------------------------------------------------- - Austria-Hungary - Belgium 27 22 5,074 - Denmark 169 1,063 539 - France 3,497 45,575 77,262 - Germany 6,761 152,454 434,626 - Italy 408 2,253 1,870 - Netherlands 1,078 1,412 8,251 - Norway and Sweden 91 1,201 13,903 - Russia and Poland 91 646 656 - Spain and Portugal 2,622 2,954 2,759 - Switzerland 3,226 4,821 4,644 - ========= ========= ========= - United Kingdom - England(a) 22,167 73,143 263,332 - Scotland 2,912 2,667 3,712 - Ireland 50,724 207,381 780,719 - Total United Kingdom 75,803 283,191 1,047,763 - ========= ========= ========= - All other countries of Europe 43 96 165 - --------- --------- --------- - Total Europe 98,816 495,688 1,597,502 - ========= ========= ========= - British North American Possessions 2,277 13,624 41,723 - Mexico 4,817 6,599 3,271 - Central America 105 44 368 - South America 531 856 3,579 - West Indies 3,834 12,301 13,528 - --------- --------- --------- - Total America 11,564 33,424 62,469 - ===================================================================== - - ===================================================================== - 1851 Jan. 1 Fiscal - to 1861 Years - Dec. 31, to June 1871 to - Countries Whence Arrived 1860 30, 1870 1880 - --------------------------------------------------------------------- - Austria-Hungary 7,800 72,969 - Belgium 4,738 6,734 7,221 - Denmark 3,749 17,094 31,771 - France 76,358 35,984 72,206 - Germany 951,667 787,468 718,182 - Italy 9,231 11,728 55,759 - Netherlands 10,789 9,102 16,541 - Norway and Sweden 20,931 109,298 211,245 - Russia and Poland 1,621 4,536 52,254 - Spain and Portugal 10,353 8,493 9,893 - Switzerland 25,011 23,286 28,293 - ========= ========= ========= - United Kingdom - England(a) 385,643 568,128 460,479 - Scotland 38,331 38,768 87,564 - Ireland 914,119 435,778 436,871 - Total United Kingdom 1,338,093 1,042,674 984,914 - ========= ========= ========= - All other countries of Europe 116 210 656 - --------- --------- --------- - Total Europe 2,452,657 2,064,407 2,261,904 - ========= ========= ========= - British North American Possessions 59,309 153,871 383,269 - Mexico 3,078 2,191 5,362 - Central America 449 96 210 - South America 1,224 1,396 928 - West Indies 10,660 9,043 13,957 - --------- --------- --------- - Total America 74,720 166,597 403,726 - ===================================================================== - - ===================================================================== - Fiscal Fiscal - Years Years - 1881 to 1891 and - Countries Whence Arrived 1890 1892 Total - --------------------------------------------------------------------- - Austria-Hungary 353,719 151,178 585,666 - Belgium 20,177 7,340 51,333 - Denmark 88,132 21,252 163,769 - France 50,464 13,291 379,637 - Germany 1,452,970 244,312 4,748,440 - Italy 307,309 138,191 526,749 - Netherlands 53,701 12,466 113,340 - Norway and Sweden 568,362 107,157 1,032,188 - Russia and Poland 265,088 192,615 517,507 - Spain and Portugal 6,535 5,657 49,266 - Switzerland 81,988 14,219 185,488 - ========= ========= ========= - United Kingdom - England(a) 657,488 104,575 2,534,955 - Scotland 149,869 24,077 347,900 - Ireland 655,482 111,173 3,592,247 - Total United Kingdom 1,462,839 239,825 6,475,102 - ========= ========= ========= - All other countries of Europe 10,318 4,954 16,548 - --------- --------- --------- - Total Europe 4,721,602 (b)1,152,457 14,845,038 - ========= ========= ========= - British North American Possessions 392,802 (c) 1,046,875 - Mexico 1,913 (c) 27,231 - Central America 462 576 2,310 - South America 2,304 1,344 12,162 - West Indies 29,042 5,673 98,038 - --------- --------- --------- - Total America 426,523 7,593 1,186,616 - ===================================================================== - - Alien Passengers from October 1, 1820, to December 31, 1867, and - Immigrants from January 1, 1868, to June 30, 1892. - -(a) Includes Wales and Great Britain not specified. According to William -J. Bromwell’s _History of Emigration to the United States_, published in -1856 by Redfield of New York, 1,000,000 of this number were from Ireland, -which is probably accurate. During and after the Irish famine large -numbers of Irish who could not find money for the passage to the United -States did find it possible to go to England to work in coal mines, -factories, and in seasonal agricultural employment; the money secured -from which enabled them to embark for the United States from various -English ports, which explains Bromwell’s estimate. - -(b) Includes 777 from Azores and 5 from Greenland. - -(c) Immigrants from British North American Possessions and Mexico are not -included since July 1, 1885. - -Author’s Note: Official statistics of immigration to the United States -began in 1819, so that statements as to the number of aliens arriving -prior to that time are largely guesswork. - -The “panic” of 1893 had the effect to turn the alien tide the other -way—back to Europe. Official statistics as to aliens returning from the -United States were not required by law until 1908. - -The quarter of a century which has passed since the character of alien -arrivals to the United States beginning in the forties, changed so -markedly in the decade of 1880 to 1890, is not long enough for accurate -analysis of the economic, political and social influence on the United -States of the coming of these newer races, so that the statistical -records here given do not extend beyond 1892. - - - - -THE GIFT OF BLACK FOLK - - - - -PRESCRIPT - - -Who made America? Who made this land that swings its empire from the -Atlantic to the Sea of Peace and from Snow to Fire—this realm of New -Freedom, with Opportunity and Ideal unlimited? - -Now that its foundations are laid, deep but bare, there are those as -always who would forget the humble builders, toiling wan mornings and -blazing noons, and picture America as the last reasoned blossom of mighty -ancestors; of those great and glorious world builders and rulers who know -and see and do all things forever and ever, amen! How singular and blind! -For the glory of the world is the possibilities of the commonplace and -America is America even because it shows, as never before, the power of -the common, ordinary, unlovely man. This is real democracy and not that -vain and eternal striving to regard the world as the abiding place of -exceptional genius with great black wastes of hereditary idiots. - -We who know may not forget but must forever spread the splendid sordid -truth that out of the most lowly and persecuted of men, Man made America. -And that what Man has here begun with all its want and imperfection, with -all its magnificent promise and grotesque failure will some day blossom -in the souls of the Lowly. - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE BLACK EXPLORERS - - How the Negro helped in the discovery of America and gave his - ancient customs to the land. - - -Garcia de Montalvo published in 1510 a Spanish romance which said: -“Know ye that on the right hand of the Indies there is an island called -California very near the Terrestrial Paradise which is peopled with black -women without any men among them, because they were accustomed to live -after the fashion of the Amazons. They were of strong and hardy bodies, -of ardent courage and of great force.”[35] - -The legend that the Negro race had touched America even before the -day of Columbus rests upon a certain basis of fact: First, the Negro -countenance, clear and unmistakable, occurs repeatedly in Indian -carvings, among the relics of the Mound Builders and in Mexican -temples.[36] Secondly, there are evidences of Negro customs among the -Indians in their religious worship; in their methods of building defenses -such as the mounds probably were; and particularly in customs of trade. -Columbus said that he had been told of a land southwest of the Cape Verde -Islands where the black folk had been trading and had used in their trade -the well known African alloy of gold called guanin.[37] - -“There can be no question whatever as to the reality of the statement in -regard to the presence in America of the African pombeiros[38] previous -to Columbus because the guani is a Mandingo word and the very alloy is -of African origin. In 1501 a law was passed forbidding persons to sell -guanin to the Indians of Hispaniola.”[39] - -Wiener thinks “The presence of Negroes with their trading masters in -America before Columbus is proved by the representation of Negroes in -American sculpture and design, by the occurrence of a black nation at -Darien early in the 16th century, but more specifically by Columbus’ -emphatic reference to Negro traders from Guinea, who trafficked in a gold -alloy, guanin, of precisely the same composition and bearing the same -name, as frequently referred to by early writers in Africa.”[40] - -And thirdly, many of the productions of America which have hitherto been -considered as indigenous and brought into use especially by the Indians, -may easily have been African in origin, as for instance, tobacco, cotton, -sweet potatoes and peanuts. It is quite possible that many if not all -of these came through the African Negro, being in some cases indigenous -to Negro Africa and in other cases transmitted from the Arabs by the -Negroes. Tobacco particularly was known in Africa and is mentioned in -early America continually in connection with the Negroes. All of these -things were spread in America along the same routes starting with the -mingling of Negroes and Indians in the West Indies and coming up through -Florida and on to Canada. The Arawak Indians, who especially show the -effects of contact with Negroes, and fugitive Negroes, together with -Negroid Caribs, migrated northward and it was they who led Ponce de Leon -to search for the Fountain Bimini where old men became young.[41] - -Oviedo says that the sweet potato “came with that evil lot of Negroes and -it has taken very well and it is profitable and good sustenance for the -Negroes of whom there is a greater number than is necessary on account of -their rebellions.”[42] In the same way maize and sugar cane may have been -imported from Africa. - -Further than this the raising of bread roots, manioc, yam and sweet -potatoes may have come to America from Guinea by way of Brazil. From -Brazil the culture of these crops spread and many of the words referring -to them are of undoubted African origin. - -Negroes probably reached the eastern part of South America from the West -Indies while others from the same source went north along the roads -marked by the Mound Builders as far as Canada. - -“The chief cultural influence of the Negro in America was exerted by a -Negro colony in Mexico, most likely from Teotihuacan and Tuxtla, who may -have been instrumental in establishing the city of Mexico. From here -their influence pervaded the neighboring tribes and ultimately, directly -or indirectly, reached Peru.”[43] - -The mounds of the “Mound Builders” were probably replicas of Negro forts -in Africa. “That this tendency to build forts and stockades proceeded -from the Antilles, whence the Arawaks had come in the beginning of the -sixteenth century, is proved by the presence of similar works in Cuba. -These are found in the most abandoned and least-explored part of the -island and there can be little doubt that they were locations of fugitive -Negro and Indian stockades, precisely such as were in use in Africa. -It is not possible to prove the direct participation of the Negroes in -the fortifications of the North American Indians, but as the civilizing -influence on the Indians to a great extent proceeded from Cuba over -Florida towards the Huron Country in the north, the solution of the -question of the Mound Builders is to be looked for in the perpetuation of -Arawak or Carib methods, acquired from the Negroes, as well attested by -Ovando’s complaint in 1503 that the Negroes spoiled the manners of the -Indians; and transferred to the white traders, who not only adopted the -methods of the Indians, but frequently lived among the Indians as part of -them, especially in Brazil where we have ample documentary evidence of -the fact.”[44] - -All this is prehistoric and in part conjectural and yet it seems -reasonable to suppose that much in custom, trade and religion which has -been regarded as characteristic of the American Indian arose from strong -Negro influences of the pre-Columbian period. - -After the discovery of America by Columbus many Negroes came with the -early explorers. Many of these early black men were civilized Christians -and sprung from the large numbers of Negroes imported into Spain and -Portugal during the fifteenth century, where they replaced as laborers -the expelled Moors. Afterward came the mass of slaves brought by the -direct African slave trade. - -From the beginning of the fifteenth century mention of the Negro in -America becomes frequent. In 1501 they were permitted to enter the -colonies; in 1503 the Governor of Hispaniola sought to prohibit their -transportation to America because they fled to the Indians and taught -them bad manners. By 1506 they were coming again because the work of one -Negro was worth more than that of four Indians. In 1518 the new sugar -culture in Spain and the Canary Islands began to be transferred to the -West Indies and Negroes were required as laborers. In 1521 Negroes were -not to be used on errands because they incited Indians to rebellion and -the following year they rose in rebellion on Diego Columbus’ mill. In -1540, in Quivera, Mexico, there was a Negro priest and in 1542 there were -at Guamango, Mexico, three Brotherhoods of the True Cross of Spaniards, -one of which was of Negroes and one of Indians. - -Thus the Negro is seen not only entering as a laborer but becoming a -part of the civilization of the New World. Helps says: “Very early in -the history of the American Continent there are circumstances to show -that Negroes were gradually entering into that part of the New World. -They constantly appear at remarkable points in the narrative. When the -Marquis Pizarro had been slain by the conspirators, his body was dragged -to the Cathedral by two Negroes. The murdered Factor, Illan Suarez, was -buried by Negroes and Indians. After the battle of Anaquito, the head of -the unfortunate Viceroy, Blasco Nunez Vela, was cut off by a Negro. On -the outbreak of the great earthquake at Guatemala, the most remarkable -figure in that night’s terrors was a gigantic Negro, who was seen in -many parts of the city, and who assisted no one, however much he was -implored. In the narrative of the return of Las Casas to his diocese, it -has been seen that he was attended by a Negro. And many other instances -might be adduced, showing that, in the decade from 1535 to 1545, Negroes -had come to form part of the household of the wealthier colonists. At the -same time, in the West Indian Islands which had borne the first shock -of the conquest, and where the Indians had been more swiftly destroyed, -the Negroes were beginning to form the bulk of the population; and the -licenses for importation were steadily increasing in number.”[45] - -Continually they appear with the explorers. Nuflo de Olana, a Negro, -was with Balboa when he discovered the Pacific Ocean,[46] and afterward -thirty Negroes helped Balboa direct the work of over 500 Indians in -transporting the material for his ships across the mountains to the South -Sea.[47] - -Cortes carried Negroes and Indians with him from Cuba to Mexico and one -of these Negroes was the first to sow and reap grain in Mexico. There -were two Negroes with Velas in 1520 and 200 black slaves with Alvarado -on his desperate expedition to Quito. Almagro and Valdivia in 1525 were -saved from death by Negroes.[48] - -As early as 1528 there were about 10,000 Negroes in the New World. We -hear of one sent as an agent of the Spanish to burn a native village in -Honduras. In 1539 they accompanied De Soto and one of them stayed among -the Indians in Alabama and became the first settler from the old world. -In 1555 in Santiago de Chile a free Negro owns land in the town. Menendez -had a company of trained Negro artisans and agriculturalists when he -founded St. Augustine in 1565 and in 1570 Negroes founded the town of -Santiago del Principe. - -In most of these cases probably leadership and initiative on the part -of the early Negro pioneers in America was only spasmodic or a matter -of accident. But this was not always true and there is one well-known -case which, despite the propaganda of 400 years, survives as a clear -and important instance of Negro leadership in exploration. This is -the romantic story of Stephen Dorantes or as he is usually called, -Estevanico, who sailed from Spain in 1527 with the expedition of -Panfilo de Narvaez.[49] This fleet of five vessels and 600 colonists -and soldiers started from Cuba and landed in Tampa Bay in 1582. But -disaster followed disaster until at last there were but four survivors -of whom one was Estevanico “an Arab Negro from Azamor on the Atlantic -coast of Morocco”; he is elsewhere described as “black” and a “person of -intelligence.” Besides him there was his master Dorantes and two other -Spaniards, de Vaca and Maldonado.[50] For six years these men maintained -themselves by practicing medicine among the Indians, and were the first -to reach Mexico from Florida by the overland route. - -Estevanico and de Vaca went forward to meet the outposts of the Spaniards -established in Mexico. Estevanico returned with an escort and brought on -the other two men. The four then went west to the present Mexican cities, -Chihuahua and Sonora and reached Culiacan, the capital of the state of -Sinaloa, in April, 1536. - -Coronado was governor of Sinaloa and on hearing the story of the -wanderers, he immediately hastened with them to the viceroy, Mendoza, -in the city of Mexico. They told the viceroy not only of their own -adventures but what they had heard of the rich lands toward the North and -of the cities with houses four and five stories high which were really -the Pueblos of New Mexican Indians. Mendoza was eager to explore these -lands. He had already heard something about them and he and Cortes had -planned to make the exploration together but could not agree upon terms. -Cortes therefore hurried to fit out a small fleet in 1537. He took 400 -Spaniards and 300 Negroes, sailed up the Gulf of California and called -the country “California”. He then returned to Spain for the last time. - -Meantime, de Vaca and Maldonado after several unsuccessful attempts -also went to Spain leaving Dorantes and Estevanico. Dorantes refused to -take part in the proposed expedition to the North but sold his slave -Estevanico to Mendoza. Certain Franciscan Monks joined the expedition and -Fray Marcos de Niza became the leader, having already had some experience -in exploration in Peru. Estevanico, because of his knowledge of the -Indian language and especially of the sign language, was the guide, and -the party started North for what the viceroy dreamed were the Seven -Cities of Cibola. They left March 7th, 1539, and arrived at Vacapa in -central Sinaloa on the 21st. Fray Marcos, probably from timidity, sent -Estevanico on ahead with an escort of Indians whom he could send back -as messengers.[51] The Negro marked his journey by large wooden crosses -and in this way with Estevanico far ahead they traveled for two weeks -until suddenly Fray Marcos was met by a fleeing band of badly frightened -Indians who told him that Estevanico had reached Cibola and had been -killed. Fray Marcos named the country “El Nuevo Reyno de San Francisco” -but being himself scared, distributed among the Indians everything which -his party had in their packs, except the vestments for saying Mass, and -traveling by double marches, returned to Mexico. - -Meantime let us follow the adventure of Estevanico: Knowing how much -depended upon appearance in that unknown and savage land, Estevanico -traveled in magnificence, decorated with bells and feathers and carrying -a symbolic gourd which was recognized among the Indian tribes thereabouts -as a symbol of authority. When he reached the Pueblos, the Indian chiefs -were in a quandary. First of all they recognized in Estevanico’s retinue, -numbers of their ancient Indian enemies. Secondly, they were frightened -because Estevanico informed them “that two white men were coming behind -him who had been sent by a great Lord and knew about the things in the -sky and that they were coming to instruct them in divine matters.” They -had good reason to fear that this meant the onslaught of some powerful -enemy. And, moreover, they were puzzled because this black man came -as a representative of white men: “The Lord of Cibola, inquiring of -him whether he had other brethren, he answered that he had an infinite -number and that they had a great store of weapons with them and that they -were not very far thence. When they heard this, many of the chief men -consulted together and resolved to kill him that he might not give news -unto these brethren where they dwelt[52] and that for this cause they -slew him and cut him into many pieces, which were divided among all the -chief Lords that they might know assuredly that he was dead....” - -This climax is still told in a legend current among the Zuni Indians -today: “It is to be believed that a long time ago, when roofs lay over -the walls of Kya-ki-me, when smoke hung over the housetops, and the -ladder rounds were still unbroken in Kya-ki-me, then the black Mexicans -came from their abodes in Everlasting Summer-land. One day, unexpectedly, -out of Hemlock Canon they came, and descended to Kya-ki-me. But when -they said they would enter the covered way, it seems that our ancients -looked not gently at them; for with these black Mexicans came many -Indians of So-no-li, as they call it now, ... who were enemies of our -ancients. Therefore, these our ancients, being always bad-tempered, and -quick to anger, made fools of themselves after their fashion, rushing -into their town and out of their town, shouting, skipping and shooting -with their sling-stones and arrows and tossing their war-clubs. Then the -Indians of So-no-li set up a great howl, and thus they and our ancients -did much ill to one another. Then and thus was killed by our ancients, -right where the stone stands down by the arroyo of Kya-ki-me, one of the -black Mexicans, a large man with chilli lips [i. e., lips swollen from -eating chilli peppers] and some of the Indians they killed, catching -others. Then the rest ran away, chased by our grandfathers, and went back -toward their country in the Land of Everlasting Summer....”[53] - -The village reached by Estevanico was Hawi-kih as it was called by the -Indians and Grenada as the Spaniards named it. It is fifteen miles -southwest of the present village of Zuni and is thus within New Mexico -and east of the boundary between New Mexico and Arizona. Thus Estevanico -was the first European to discover Arizona and New Mexico. Fray Marcos -returned with Coronado and came as far as the village in 1540 while -Mendoza sent others to pursue explorations that same year within the -present confines of Arizona and they brought back various stories of the -death of Estevanico. - -After that for 40 years explorations rested until 1582 when again the -Spaniards entered the territory. With all the Spanish explorers in -Florida, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Kansas, there were Negro slaves -and helpers but none with the initiative, perseverance and success of -Estevanico. - -In the after pioneering that took place in later days in the great -western wilderness, the Negro was often present. There was a black man -with Lewis and Clark in 1804; Jacob Dodson, a free Negro of Washington, -volunteered to accompany Fremont in his California expedition of 1843. -He was among the 25 persons selected by Fremont to accompany him in -the discovery of Clamath Lake and also in his ride from Los Angeles to -Monterey. Among the early settlers of California coming up from Mexico -were many Negroes and mulattoes.[54] - -William Alexander Leidsdroff was the most distinguished Negro pioneer of -California and at one time lived in the largest house in San Francisco. -He owned the first steamship sailing in San Francisco Bay, and was a -prominent business man, a member of the City Council and treasurer -and member of the school committee. H. H. Bancroft says: “William -Alexander Leidsdroff, a native of Danish West Indies, son of a Dane by a -mulattress, who came to the United States as a boy and became a master of -vessels sailing between New York and New Orleans, came to California as -manager of the ‘Julia Ann,’ on which he made later trips to the Islands, -down to 1845.” His correspondence from 1845, when he became United States -Vice-Consul is a valuable source of historical information. Many Negroes -came in the rush of the “forty-niners” as pioneers and miners as well as -slaves. - -The Negro’s work as a pioneer extends down until our day. The late -Commodore Peary who discovered the North Pole said: “Matthew A. Henson, -my Negro assistant, has been with me in one capacity or another since my -second trip to Nicaragua in 1887. I have taken him on each and all of my -expeditions, except the first, and also without exception on each of my -farthest sledge trips. This position I have given him primarily because -of his adaptability and fitness for the work, and secondly on account of -his loyalty. He is a better dog driver and can handle a sledge better -than any man living, except some of the best Esquimo hunters themselves.” -This leaves Henson today as the only living human being who has stood at -the North Pole. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -BLACK LABOR - - How the Negro gave his brawn and brain to fell the forests, - till the soil and make America a rich and prosperous land. - - -The primary reason for the presence of the black man in America was, of -course, his labor and much has been written of the influence of slavery -as established by the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and English. Most -writers have written of slavery as a moral and economic evil or of the -worker, white and black, as a victim of this system. In this chapter, -however, let us think of the slave as a laborer, as one who furnished -the original great labor force of the new world and differed from modern -labor only in the wages received, the political and civil rights enjoyed, -and the cultural surroundings from which he was taken. - -Negro labor has played a peculiar and important part in the history of -the modern world. The black man was the pioneer in the hard physical work -which began the reduction of the American wilderness and which not only -hastened the economic development of America directly but indirectly -released for other employment, thousands of white men and thus enabled -America to grow economically and spiritually at a rate previously -unparalleled anywhere in history. It was black labor that established -the modern world commerce which began first as a commerce in the bodies -of the slaves themselves and was the primary cause of the prosperity of -the first great commercial cities of our day. Then black labor was thrown -into the production of four great crops—tobacco, sugar, rice and cotton. -These crops were not new but their production on a large cheap scale was -new and had a special significance because they catered to the demands of -the masses of men and thus made possible an interchange of goods such as -the luxury trade of the Middle Ages catering to the rich could not build. -Black labor, therefore, beneath these crops became an important part of -the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. - -Moreover the black slave brought into common labor certain new spiritual -values not yet fully realized. As a tropical product with a sensuous -receptivity to the beauty of the world he was not as easily reduced to be -the mechanical draft-horse which the northern European laborer became. -He was not easily brought to recognize any ethical sanctions in work as -such but tended to work as the results pleased him and refused to work -or sought to refuse when he did not find the spiritual returns adequate; -thus he was easily accused of laziness and driven as a slave when in -truth he brought to modern manual labor a renewed valuation of life. - -The Negro worked as farm hand and peasant proprietor, as laborer, artisan -and inventor and as servant in the house, and without him, America as we -know it, would have been impossible. - -The numerical growth of the Negro population in America indicates his -economic importance. The exact number of slaves exported to America -will never be known. Probably 25,000 Negroes a year arrived in America -between 1698 and 1707. After 1713 this rose to 30,000 and by 1775 to -over 40,000 a year. The American Revolution stopped the trade, but it -was revived afterward and reached enormous proportions. One estimate is -that a million Negroes came in the sixteenth century, three million in -the seventeenth, seven million in the eighteenth and four million in the -nineteenth or fifteen million in all. Certainly at least ten million came -and this meant sixty million killed and stolen in Africa because of the -methods of capture and the horror of the middle passage. This, with the -Asiatic trade, cost black Africa a hundred million souls.[55] Bancroft -places the total slave population of the continental colonies at 59,000 -in 1714, 78,000 in 1727, and 293,000 in 1754. - -In the West Indies the whole laboring population early became Negro or -Negro with an infiltration of Indian and white blood. In the United -States at the beginning of our independent national existence, Negroes -formed a fifth of the population of the whole nation. The exact figures -are:[56] - - PERCENTAGE NEGRO IN THE POPULATION - - United States South - - 1920 9.9 26.1 - 1910 10.7 29.8 - 1900 11.6 32.3 - 1890 11.9 33.8 - 1880 13.1 36.0 - 1870 12.7 36.0 - 1860 14.1 36.8 - 1850 15.7 37.3 - 1840 16.8 38.0 - 1830 18.1 37.9 - 1820 18.4 37.2 - 1810 19.0 36.7 - 1800 18.9 35.0 - 1790 19.3 35.2 - -If we consider the number of Negroes for each 1,000 whites, we have: - - United States South - - 1920 110 369 - 1910 120 426 - 1900 132 480 - 1890 136 512 - 1880 152 564 - 1870 145 562 - 1860 165 582 - 1850 186 595 - 1840 203 613 - 1830 221 610 - 1820 225 592 - 1810 235 579 - 1800 233 539 - 1790 239 543 - -The proportion of Negroes in the North was small, falling from 3.4% in -1790 to 1.8% in 1910. Nevertheless even here the indirect influence of -the Negro worker was large. The trading colonies, New England and New -York, built up a lucrative commerce based largely on the results of his -toil in the South and in the West Indies, and this commerce supported -local agriculture and manufacture. I have said in my _Suppression of the -Slave Trade_: “Vessels from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, -and, to a less extent from New Hampshire, were early and largely -engaged in the carrying slave-trade. ‘We know,’ said Thomas Pemberton -in 1795, ‘that a large trade to Guinea was carried on for many years by -the citizens of Massachusetts Colony, who were the proprietors of the -vessels and their cargoes, out and home. Some of the slaves purchased in -Guinea, and I suppose the greatest part of them, were sold in the West -Indies.’ Dr. John Eliot asserted that ‘it made a considerable branch -of our commerce.... It declined very little until the Revolution.’ Yet -the trade of this colony was said not to equal that of Rhode Island. -Newport was the mart for slaves offered for sale in the North, and a -point of reshipment for all slaves. It was principally this trade that -raised Newport to her commercial importance in the eighteenth century. -Connecticut, too, was an important slave-trader, sending large numbers -of horses and other commodities to the West Indies in exchange for -slaves, and selling the slaves in other colonies. - -“This trade formed a perfect circle. Owners of slavers carried slaves to -South Carolina, and brought home naval stores for their ship-building; or -to the West Indies and brought home molasses; or to other colonies, and -brought home hogsheads. The molasses was made into the highly prized New -England rum, and shipped in these hogsheads to Africa for more slaves. -Thus the rum-distilling industry indicated to some extent the activity of -New England in the slave-trade. In May, 1752, one Captain Freeman found -so many slavers fitting out that, in spite of the large importations of -molasses, he could get no rum for his vessel. In Newport alone twenty-two -stills were at one time running continuously; and Massachusetts annually -distilled 15,000 hogsheads of molasses into this ‘chief manufacture.’”[57] - -In New York and New Jersey Negroes formed between 7 and 8% of the total -population in 1790, which meant that they were probably 25% of the labor -force of those colonies, especially on the farms. - -The growth of the great slave crops shows the increasing economic value -of Negro labor. In 1619, 20,000 pounds of tobacco went from Virginia to -England. Just before the Revolutionary War, 100 million pounds a year -were being sent, and at the beginning of the twentieth century, 800 -millions were raised in the United States alone. Sugar was a luxury for -the rich and physicians until the eighteenth century, when it began to -pour out of the West Indies. By the middle of the nineteenth century a -million tons of cane sugar were raised each year and this had increased -to nearly 3 millions in 1900. The cotton crop rose correspondingly. -England, the chief customer at first, consumed 13,000 bales in 1781, -572,000 in 1820, 871,000 in 1830 and 3,366,000 in 1860. The United States -raised 6 million bales in 1880, and at the beginning of the twentieth -century raised 11 million bales annually. - -This tremendous increase in crops which formed a large part of modern -commerce was due primarily to black labor. At first most of this labor -was brute toil of the lowest sort. Our estimate of the value of this work -and what it has done for America depends largely upon our estimate of -the value of such toil. It must be confessed that, measured in wages and -in public esteem, such work stands low in America and in the civilized -world. On the other hand the fact that it does stand so low constitutes -one of the greatest problems of social advance. Hard manual labor, and -much of it of a disagreeable sort, must for a long time lie at the -basis of civilized life. We are continually transmitting some of it to -machines, but the residuum remains large. In an ideal society it would -be highly-paid work because of its unpleasantness and necessity; and -even today, no matter what we may say of the individual worker or of the -laboring class, we know that the foundation of America is built on the -backs of the manual laborer. - -This was particularly true in the earlier centuries. The problem of -America in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was the problem of -manual labor. It was settled by importing white bond servants from -Europe, and black servants from Africa, and compelling the American -Indians to work. Indian slavery failed to play any great part because the -comparatively small number of Indians in the West Indies were rapidly -killed off by the unaccustomed toil or mingled their blood and pooled -their destinies with the Negroes. On the continent, on the other hand, -the Indians were too powerful, both in numbers and organization, to be -successfully enslaved. The white bond servants and the Negroes therefore -became the main laboring force of the new world and with their toil the -economic development of the continent began. - -There arose a series of special laws to determine the status of laborers -which became the basis of the great slave codes. As the free European -white artisans poured in, these labor codes gradually came to distinguish -between slavery based on race and free labor. The slave codes greatly -weakened the family ties and largely destroyed the family as a center -of government or of economic organization. They made the plantation -the center of economic life and left more or less religious autonomy. -They provided punishment by physical torture, death or sale, but they -always left some minimum of incentive by which the slave could have the -beginnings of private possession. - -In this way the economic organization was provided by which the middle -classes of the world were supplied with a cheap sweetening material -derived from sugar cane; a cheap luxury, tobacco; larger quantities -of rice; and finally, and above all, a cheap and universal material -for clothing, cotton. These were things that all men wanted who had -anything to offer in labor or materials for the satisfaction of their -wants. The cost of raising them was a labor cost almost entirely because -land in America was at that time endless in fertility and extent. The -old world trade therefore which sought luxuries in clothing, precious -metal and stones, spices, etc., for the rich, transformed itself to a -world-wide trade in necessities incomparably richer and bigger than its -medieval predecessor because of its enormous basis of demand. Its first -appearance was in the slave trade where the demand for the new American -crops showed itself in a demand for the labor necessary to raise them; -thus the slave trade itself was at the bottom of the rise of great -commerce, and the beginning of modern international commerce. This trade -stimulated invention and was stimulated by it. The wellbeing of European -workers increased and their minds were stimulated. Economic and political -revolution followed, to which America fell heir. New immigrants poured -in. New conceptions of religion, government and work arose and at the -bottom of it all and one of its efficient causes was the toil of the -increasing millions of black slaves. - -As the nation developed this slave labor became confined more and more -to the raising of cotton, although sugar continued to be the chief crop -in the West Indies and Louisiana, and rice on the southeast coast and -tobacco in Virginia. This world importance of cotton brought an economic -crisis: Rich land in America, adapted to slave methods of culture, was -becoming limited, and must either be increased or slavery would die an -economic death. On the other hand, beside the plantation hands, there -had grown up a large class of Negro servants and laborers who were -distributed both north and south. These laborers in particular came into -competition with the white laborer and especially the new immigrants. -This and other economic causes led to riots in Philadelphia, New York and -Cincinnati and a growing conviction on the part of a newly enfranchised -white workingmen that one great obstacle in America was slave labor, -together with the necessarily low status of the freedmen. These economic -reasons overthrew slavery.[58] - -After the legal disappearance of slavery its natural results remained in -the mass of freedmen who had been trained in the necessary ignorance and -inefficiency of slave labor. On such a foundation it was easy to build -and emphasize race prejudice. On the other hand, however, there was still -plenty of work for even the ignorant and careless working man, so that -the Negro continued to raise cotton and the other great crops and to do -throughout the country the work of the unskilled laborer and the servant. -He continued to be the main laboring force of the South in industrial -lines and began to invade the North. - -His full power as a labor reservoir was not seen until the transformation -of the World War. In a few short months 500,000 black laborers came -North to fill the void made by the stoppage of immigration and the -rush of white working men into the munitions industry. This was simply -a foretaste of what will continue to happen. The Negro still is the -mightiest single group of labor force in the United States. As this labor -grows more intelligent, self-conscious and efficient, it will turn to -higher and higher grades of work and it will reinforce the workingman’s -point of view.[59] - -It must not be assumed, however, that the labor of the Negro has been -simply the muscle-straining unintelligent work of the lowest grade. On -the contrary he has appeared both as personal servant, skilled laborer -and inventor. That the Negroes of colonial times were not all ignorant -savages is shown by the advertisements concerning them. Continually -runaway slaves are described as speaking very good English; sometimes -as speaking not only English but Dutch and French. Some could read and -write and play musical instruments. Others were blacksmiths, limeburners, -bricklayers and cobblers. Others were noted as having considerable -sums of money.[60] In the early days in the South the whole conduct of -the house was in the hands of the Negro house servant; as butler, cook, -nurse, valet and maid, the Negro conducted family life. - -Thus by social contact and mingling of blood the Negro house servant -became closely identified with the civilization of the South and -contributed to it in many ways. For a long time before emancipation the -house servant had been pushing steadily upward; in many cases he had -learned to read and write despite the law. Sometimes he had entered the -skilled trades and was enabled by hiring his time to earn money of his -own and in rare cases to buy his own freedom. Sometimes he was freed and -sent North and given money and land; but even when he was in the South -and in the family and an ambitious menial, he influenced the language and -the imagination of his masters; the children were nursed at the breast -of black women, and in daily intercourse the master was thrown in the -company of Negroes more often than in the company of white people. - -From this servile work there went a natural development. The private -cook became the public cook in boarding houses, and restaurant keeper. -The butler became the caterer; the “Black Mammy” became the nurse, and -the work of all these in their various lines was of great influence. The -cooks and caterers led and developed the art of good-eating throughout -the South and particularly in cities like New Orleans and Charleston; -and in northern cities like Philadelphia and New York their methods of -cooking chicken and terrapin, their invention of ice cream and their -general good taste set a standard which has seldom been surpassed in the -world. Moreover, it gave economic independence to numbers of Negroes. It -enabled them to educate their children and it furnished to the abolition -movement a class of educated colored people with some money who were -able to help. After emancipation these descendants of the house servant -became the leading class of American Negroes. Notwithstanding the social -stigma connected with menial service and still lingering there, partially -because slaves and freedmen were so closely connected with it, it is -without doubt one of the most important of the Negro’s gifts to America. - -During the existence of slavery all credit for inventions was denied the -Negro slave as a slave could not take out a patent. Nevertheless Negroes -did most of the mechanical work in the South before the Civil War and -more than one suggestion came from them for improving machinery. We are -told that in Virginia: “The county records of the seventeenth century -reveal the presence of many Negro mechanics in the colony during that -period, this being especially the case with carpenters and coopers.”[61] - -As example of slave mechanics it is stated that among the slaves of -the first Robert Beverly was a carpenter valued at £30, and that Ralph -Wormeley, of Middlesex county, owned a cooper and a carpenter each valued -at £35. Colonel William Byrd mentions the use of Negroes in iron mining -in 1732. In New Jersey slaves were employed as miners, ironworkers, -sawmill hands, house and ship carpenters, wheelwrights, coopers, tanners, -shoemakers, millers and bakers, among other employments, before the -Revolutionary War. As early as 1708 there were enough slave mechanics -in Pennsylvania to make the freemen feel their competition severely. In -Massachusetts and other states we hear of an occasional artisan.[62] - -During the early part of the nineteenth century the Negro artisans -increased. The Spanish Governor Salcedo, early in the nineteenth century, -in trying to keep the province of Louisiana loyal to Spain, made the -militia officers swear allegiance and among them were two companies of -colored men from New Orleans “who composed all the mechanics which the -city possessed.”[63] - -Later, black refugees from San Domingo saved Louisiana from economic -ruin. Formerly, Louisiana had had prosperous sugar-makers; but these -industries had been dead for nearly twenty-five years when the attempt -to market sugar was revived. Two Spaniards erected near New Orleans, a -distillery and a battery of sugar kettles and began to manufacture rum -and syrup. They had little success until Etienne de Boré, a colored San -Dominican, appeared. “Face to face with ruin because of the failure -of the indigo crop, he staked his all on the granulation of sugar. He -enlisted the services of these successful San Dominicans and went to -work. In all American history there can be fewer scenes more dramatic -than the one described by careful historians of Louisiana, the day when -the final test was made and the electrical word was passed around, ‘It -granulates!’” - -De Boré sold $12,000 worth of sugar that year. Agriculture in the Delta -began to flourish and seven years later New Orleans was selling 2,000,000 -gallons of rum, 250,000 gallons of molasses and 5,000,000 pounds of -sugar. It was the beginning of the commercial reign of one of the great -commercial cities of America and it started with the black refugees from -San Domingo.[64] - -In the District of Columbia many “were superior mechanics.” Olmsted, in -his journeys through the slave states just before the Civil War, found -slave artisans in all the states. In Virginia they worked in tobacco -factories, ran steamboats, made barrels, etc. On a South Carolina -plantation he was told by the master that the Negro mechanic “exercised -as much skill and ingenuity as the ordinary mechanics that he was used -to employ in New England.” In Charleston and some other places they were -employed in cotton factories. In Alabama he saw a black carpenter—careful -and accurate calculator and excellent workman; he was bought for $2,000. -In Louisiana he was told that master mechanics often bought up slave -mechanics and acted as contractors. In Kentucky the slaves worked in -factories for hemp-bagging, and in iron work on the Cumberland river, and -also in tobacco factories. In the newspapers advertisements for runaway -mechanics were often seen, as, for instance a blacksmith in Texas, “very -smart”; a mason in Virginia, etc. In Mobile an advertisement read “good -blacksmiths and horseshoers for sale on reasonable terms.”[65] - -Such men naturally showed inventive genius, here and there. There is a -strong claim that the real credit for the invention of the cotton gin is -due to a Negro on the plantation where Eli Whitney worked. Negroes early -invented devices for handling sails, corn harvesters, and an evaporating -pan for refining sugar. In the United States patent office there is a -record of 1500 inventions made by Negroes and this is only a part of -those that should be credited to Negroes as the race of the inventor is -not usually recorded. - -In 1846 Norbert Rillieux, a colored man of Louisiana, invented and -patented a Vacuum pan which revolutionized the method of refining sugar. -He was a machinist and engineer of fine reputation, and devised a system -of sewerage for New Orleans which the city refused to accept because of -his color. - -Sydney W. Winslow, president of the United Shoe Machinery Company, laid -the foundation of his great organization by the purchase of an invention -by a native of Dutch Guiana named Jan E. Matzeliger. Matzeliger was the -son of a Negro woman and her husband, a Dutch engineer. He came to -America as a young man and worked as a cobbler in Philadelphia and Lynn. -He died in 1889 before he had realized the value of his invention. - -Matzeliger invented a machine for lasting shoes. It held the shoe on -the last, gripped and pulled the leather down around the sole and heel, -guided and drove the nails into place and released a completed shoe from -the machine. This patent was bought by Mr. Winslow and on it was built -the great United Shoe Machinery Company, which now has a capital stock -of more than twenty million dollars, and employs over 5,000 operatives -in factories covering 20 acres of ground. This business enterprise is -one of the largest in our country’s industrial development. Since the -formation of this company in 1890, the product of American shoe factories -has increased from $200,000,000 to $552,631,000, and the exportation of -American shoes from $1,000,000 to $11,000,000. This development is due to -the superiority of the shoes produced by machines founded on the original -Matzeliger type.[66] The cost of shoes has been cut in half, the quality -greatly improved, the wages of workers increased, the hours of labor -diminished, and all these factors have made “the Americans the best shod -people in the world.” - -After Matzeliger’s death his Negro blood was naturally often denied, but -in the shoe-making districts the Matzeliger type of machine is still -referred to as the “Nigger machine”; or the “Niggerhead” machine; and -“A certified copy of the death certificate of Matzeliger, which was -furnished the writer by William J. Connery, Mayor of Lynn, on October -23rd, 1912, states that Matzeliger was a mulatto.”[67] - -Elijah McCoy is the pioneer inventor of automatic lubricators for -machinery. He completed and patented his first lubricating cup in -1872 and since then has made some fifty different inventions relating -principally to the automatic lubrication of machinery. He is regarded -as the pioneer in the art of steadily supplying oil to machinery in -intermittent drops from a cup so as to avoid the necessity for stopping -the machine to oil it. His lubricating cup was in use for years on -stationary and locomotive machinery in the West including the great -railway locomotives, the boiler engines of the steamers on the Great -Lakes, on transatlantic steamships, and in many of our leading factories. -“McCoy’s lubricating cups were famous thirty years ago as a necessary -equipment in all up-to-date machinery, and it would be rather interesting -to know how many of the thousands of machinists who used them daily had -any idea then that they were the invention of a colored man.”[68] - -Another great Negro inventor was Granville T. Woods who patented more -than fifty devices relating to electricity. Many of his patents were -assigned to the General Electric Company of New York, the Westinghouse -Company of Pennsylvania, the American Bell Telephone Company of Boston -and the American Engineering Company of New York. His work and that of -his brother Liates Wood has been favorably mentioned in technical and -scientific journals. - -J. H. Dickinson and his son S. L. Dickinson of New Jersey have been -granted more than 12 patents for devices connected with player pianos. W. -B. Purvis of Philadelphia was an early inventor of machinery for making -paper bags. Many of his patents were sold to the Union Paper Bag Company -of New York. - -Today the Negro is an economic factor in the United States to a degree -realized by few. His occupations were thus grouped in 1920:[69] - -The men were employed as follows: - - in agriculture 1,566,627 - in extraction of minerals 72,892 - in manufacturing and mechanical industries 781,827 - in transportation 308,896 - in trade 129,309 - in public service 49,586 - in professional service 41,056 - in domestic and personal service 273,959 - in clerical occupations 28,710 - -The women were employed as follows: - - in agriculture 612,261 - in manufacturing and mechanical industries 104,983 - in trade 11,158 - in professional service 39,127 - in domestic and personal service 790,631 - in clerical occupations 8,301 - -A list of occupations in which at least 10,000 Negroes were engaged in -1920 is impressive: - - MALES - - Farmers 845,299 - Farm laborers 664,567 - Garden laborers 15,246 - Lumber men 25,400 - Coal miners 54,432 - Masons 10,606 - Carpenters 34,217 - Firemen (not locomotive) 23,152 - Laborers 127,860 - Laborers in chemical industries 17,201 - Laborers in cigar and tobacco factories 12,951 - Laborers in clay, glass and stone industries 18,130 - Laborers in food industries 24,638 - Laborers in iron and steel industries 104,518 - Laborers in lumber and furniture industries 103,154 - Laborers in cotton mills 10,182 - Laborers in other industries 80,583 - Machinists 10,286 - Semi-skilled operatives in food industries 11,160 - Semi-skilled operatives in iron and steel industries 22,916 - Semi-skilled operatives in other industries 14,745 - Longshoremen 27,206 - Chauffeurs 38,460 - Draymen 56,556 - Street laborers 35,673 - Railway laborers 99,967 - Delivery men 24,352 - Laborers in coal yards, warehouses, etc. 27,197 - Laborers, etc., in stores 39,446 - Retail dealers 20,390 - Laborers in public service 29,591 - Soldiers, sailors 12,511 - Clergymen 19,343 - Barbers, etc. 18,692 - Janitors 38,662 - Porters not in stores 59,197 - Servants 80,209 - Waiters 31,681 - Clerks except in stores 14,014 - Messengers 12,587 - - FEMALES - - Farmers 79,893 - Farm laborers 527,937 - Dressmakers and seamstresses 26,961 - Semi-skilled operatives in cigar and tobacco factories 13,446 - Teachers 29,244 - Hairdressers and manicurists 12,660 - Housekeepers and stewards 13,250 - Laundresses not in laundries 283,557 - Laundry operatives 21,084 - Midwives and nurses (not trained) 13,888 - Servants 401,381 - Waiters 14,155 - -This has been the gift of labor, one of the greatest that the Negro has -made to American nationality. It was in part involuntary, but whether -given willingly or not, it was given and America profited by the gift. -This labor was always of the highest economic and even spiritual -importance. During the World War for instance, the most important single -thing that America could do for the Allies was to furnish them with -materials. The actual fighting of American troops, while important, was -not nearly as important as American food and munitions; but this material -must not only be supplied, it must be transported, handled and delivered -in America and in France; and it was here that the Negro stevedore troops -behind the battle line—men who received no medals and little mention and -were in fact despised as all manual workers have always been despised,—it -was these men that made the victory of the Allies certain by their -desperately difficult but splendid work. The first colored stevedores -went over in June, 1917, and were followed by about 50,000 volunteers. To -these were added later nearly 200,000 drafted men. - -To all this we must add the peculiar spiritual contribution which the -Negro made to Labor. Always physical fact has its spiritual complement, -but in this case the gift is apt to be forgotten or slurred over. This -gift is the thing that is usually known as “laziness”. Again and again -men speak of the laziness of Negro labor and some suppose that slavery of -Negroes was necessary on that account; and that even in freedom Negroes -must be “driven”. On the other hand and in contradiction to this is the -fact that Negroes do work and work efficiently. In South Africa and in -Nigeria, in the Sudan and in Brazil, in the West Indies and all over -the United States Negro labor has accomplished tremendous tasks. One -of its latest and greatest tasks has been the building of the Panama -Canal. These two sets of facts, therefore, would seem to be mutually -contradictory, and many a northern manager has seen the contradiction -when, facing the apparent laziness of Negro hands, he has attempted to -drive them and found out that he could not and at the same time has -afterward seen someone used to Negro labor get a tremendous amount -of work out of the same gangs. The explanation of all this is clear -and simple: The Negro laborer has not been trained in modern organized -industry but rather in quite a different school. - -The European workman works long hours and every day in the week because -it is only in this way that he can support himself and family. With -the present organization of industry and methods of distributing the -results of industry any failure of the European workingman to toil hard -and steadily would mean either starvation or social disgrace through -the lowering of his standard of living. The Negro workingman on the -other hand came out of an organization of industry which was communistic -and did not call for unlimited toil on the part of the workers. There -was work and hard work to do, for even in the fertile tropical lands -the task of fighting weeds, floods, animals, insects and germs was no -easy thing. But on the other hand the distribution of products was much -simpler and fairer and the wants of the people were less developed. The -black tropical worker therefore looked upon work as a necessary evil -and maintained his right to balance the relative allurements of leisure -and satisfaction at any particular day, hour or season. Moreover in the -simple work-organization of tropical or semi-tropical life individual -desires of this sort did not usually disarrange the whole economic -process or machine.[70] - -The white laborer therefore brought to America the habit of regular, -continuous toil which he regarded as a great moral duty. The black -laborer brought the idea of toil as a necessary evil ministering to the -pleasure of life. While the gift of the white laborer made America rich, -or at least made many Americans rich, it will take the psychology of -the black man to make it happy. New and better organization of industry -and a clearer conception of the value of effort and a wider knowledge -of the process of production must come in, so as to increase the wage -of the worker and decrease rent, interest, and profit; and then the -black laborer’s subconscious contribution to current economics will be -recognized as of tremendous and increasing importance. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -BLACK SOLDIERS - - How the Negro fought in every American war for a cause that was - not his and to gain for others a freedom which was not his own. - - -1. COLONIAL WARS - -The day is past when historians glory in war. Rather, with all thoughtful -men, they deplore the barbarism of mankind which has made war so large a -part of human history. As long, however, as there are powerful men who -are determined to have their way by brute force, and as long as these -men can compel or persuade enough of their group, nation or race to -support them even to the limit of destruction, rape, theft and murder, -just so long these men will and must be opposed by force—moral force if -possible, physical force in the extreme. The world has undoubtedly come -to the place where it defends reluctantly such defensive war, but has no -words of excuse for offensive war, for the initiation of the program of -physical force. - -There is, however, one further consideration: the man in the ranks -has usually little chance to decide whether the war is defensive or -offensive, righteous or wrong. He is called upon to put life and limb -in jeopardy. He responds, sometimes willingly with uplifted soul and -high resolve, persuaded that he is under Divine command; sometimes by -compulsion and by the iron of discipline. In all cases he has by every -nation been given credit; and certainly the man who voluntarily lays -down his life for a cause which he has been led to believe is righteous -deserves public esteem, although the world may weep at his ignorance and -blindness. - -From the beginning America was involved in war because it was born in -a day of war. First, there were wars, mostly of aggression but partly -of self-defense, against the Indians. Then there was a series of wars -which were but colonial echoes of European brawls. Next the United States -fought to make itself independent of the economic suzerainty of England. -After that came the conquest of Mexico and the war for the Union which -resolved itself in a war against slavery, and finally the Spanish War and -the great World War. - -In all these wars the Negro has taken part. He cannot be blamed for -them so far as they were unrighteous wars (and some of them were -unrighteous), because he was not a leader: he was for the most part a -common soldier in the ranks and did what he was told. Yet in the majority -of cases he was not compelled to fight. He used his own judgment and he -fought because he believed that by fighting for America he would gain -the respect of the land and personal and spiritual freedom. His problem -as a soldier was always peculiar: no matter for what America fought and -no matter for what her enemies fought, the American Negro always fought -for his own freedom and for the self-respect of his race. Whatever the -cause of war, therefore, his cause was peculiarly just. He appears, -therefore, in American wars always with double motive,—the desire to -oppose the so-called enemy of his country along with his fellow white -citizens, and before that, the motive of deserving well of those citizens -and securing justice for his folk. In this way he appears in the earliest -times fighting with the whites against the Indians as well as with the -Indians against the whites, and throughout the history of the West Indies -and Central America as well as the Southern United States we find here -and there groups of Negroes fighting with the whites. For instance: in -Louisiana early in the eighteenth century when Governor Perier took -office, the colony was very much afraid of a combination between the -Choctaw Indians and the fierce Banbara Negroes who had begun to make -common cause with them. To offset this, Perier armed a band of slaves in -1729 and sent them against the Indians. He says: “The Negroes executed -their mission with as much promptitude as secrecy.” Later, in 1730, the -Governor sent twenty white men and six Negroes to carry ammunition to the -Illinois settlement up the Mississippi River. Perier says fifteen Negroes -“in whose hands we had put weapons performed prodigies of valor. If the -blacks did not cost so much and if their labor was not so necessary to -the colony it would be better to turn them into soldiers and to dismiss -those we have who are so bad and so cowardly that they seem to have -been manufactured purposely for this colony.” But this policy of using -the Negroes against the Indians led the Indians to retaliate and seek -alliance with the blacks and in August 1730, the Natchez Indians and the -Chickshaws conspired with the Negroes to revolt. The head of the revolt, -Samba, with eight of his confederates was executed before the conspiracy -came to a head. In 1733, when Governor Bienville returned to power, he -had an army consisting of 544 white men and 45 Negroes, the latter with -free black officers.[71] - -In the colonial wars which distracted America during the seventeenth and -early part of the eighteenth centuries the Negro took comparatively small -part because the institution of slavery was becoming more settled and -the masters were afraid to let their slaves fight. Notwithstanding this, -there were black freedmen who voted and were enrolled in the militia -and went to war, while some masters sent their slaves as laborers and -servants. As early as 1652 a law of Massachusetts as to the militia -required “Negro, Scotchmen and Indians” to enroll in the militia. -Afterward the policy was changed and Negroes and Indians were excluded -but Negroes often acted as sentinels at meeting-house doors. At other -times slaves ran away and enlisted as soldiers or as sailors, thus often -gaining their liberty. The New York _Gazette_ in 1760 advertises for a -slave who is suspected of having enlisted “in the provincial service.” In -1763 the Boston _Evening Post_ was looking for a Negro who “was a soldier -last summer.” One mulatto in 1746 is advertised for in the Pennsylvania -_Gazette_. He had threatened to go to the French and Indians and fight -for them. And in the Maryland _Gazette_, 1755, gentlemen are warned that -their slaves may run away to the French and Indians.[72] - - -2. THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR - -The estimates of the Negro soldiers who fought on the American side of -the Revolutionary War vary from four to six thousand, or one out of every -50 or 60 of the colonial troops. - -On August 24, 1778, the following report was made of Negroes in the -Revolutionary Army:[73] - - Sick On - Brigades Present Absent Command Total - - North Carolina 42 10 6 58 - Woodford 36 3 1 40 - Muhlenburg 64 26 8 98 - Smallwood 20 3 1 24 - 2nd Maryland 43 15 2 60 - Wayne 2 .. .. 2 - 2nd Pennsylvania 33 1 1 35 - Clinton 33 2 4 62 - Parsons 117 12 19 148 - Huntington 56 2 4 62 - Nixon 26 .. 1 27 - Paterson 64 13 12 89 - Late Learned 34 4 8 46 - Poor 16 7 4 27 - ---- ---- ---- ---- - Total 586 98 71 755 - - Alex. Scammell, _Adj. Gen._ - -This report does not include Negro soldiers enlisted in Rhode Island, -Connecticut, New York, New Hampshire and other States not mentioned nor -does it include those who were in the army at both earlier and later -dates. Other records prove that Negroes served in as many as 18 brigades. - -It was a Negro who in a sense began the actual fighting. In 1750 William -Brown of Framingham, Mass., advertised three times for “A Molatto Fellow -about 27 Years of Age, named _Crispas_, 6 Feet 2 Inches high, short -Curl’d Hair.” This runaway slave was the same Crispus Attucks who in -1779 led a mob on the 5th of March against the British soldiers in the -celebrated “Boston Massacre.” - -Much has been said about the importance and lack of importance of this -so-called “Boston Massacre.” Whatever the verdict of history may be, -there is no doubt that the incident loomed large in the eyes of the -colonists. Distinguished men were orators on the 5th of March for years -after, until that date was succeeded by the 4th of July. Daniel Webster -in his great Bunker Hill oration said: “From that moment we may date the -severance of the British Empire.” - -Possibly these men exaggerated the actual importance of a street brawl -between citizens and soldiers, led by a runaway slave; but there is no -doubt that the colonists, who fought for independence from England, -thought this occasion of tremendous importance and were nerved to great -effort because of it. - -Livermore says: “The presence of the British soldiers in King Street -excited the patriotic indignation of the people. The whole community was -stirred, and sage counsellors were deliberating and writing and talking -about the public grievances. But it was not for the ‘wise and prudent’ to -be first to act against the encroachments of arbitrary power. ‘A motley -rabble of saucy boys, Negroes and mulattoes, Irish Teagues and outlandish -Jack tars,’ (as John Adams described them in his plea in defense of the -soldiers) could not restrain their emotion or stop to enquire if what -they _must do_ was according to the letter of the law. Led by Crispus -Attucks, the mulatto slave, and shouting, ‘The way to get rid of these -soldiers is to attack the main guard; strike at the root; this is the -nest’; with more valor than discretion they rushed to King Street and -were fired upon by Captain Preston’s company. Crispus Attucks was the -first to fall; he and Samuel Gray and Jonas Caldwell were killed on -the spot. Samuel Maverick and Patrick Carr were mortally wounded. The -excitement which followed was intense. The bells of the town were rung. -An impromptu town meeting was held and an immense assembly gathered. -Three days after, on the 8th, a public funeral of the Martyrs took place. -The shops in Boston were closed and all the bells of Boston and the -neighboring towns were rung. It is said that a greater number of persons -assembled on this occasion than ever before gathered on this continent -for a similar purpose. The body of Crispus Attucks, the mulatto, had been -placed in Faneuil Hall with that of Caldwell, both being strangers in the -city. Maverick was buried from his mother’s house in Union Street, and -Gray from his brother’s in Royal Exchange Lane. The four hearses formed -a junction in King Street and then the procession marched in columns six -deep, with a long file of coaches belonging to the most distinguished -citizens, to the Middle Burying Ground, where the four victims were -deposited in one grave over which a stone was placed with the inscription: - - ‘Long as in Freedom’s cause the wise contend, - Dear to your country shall your fame extend; - While to the world the lettered stone shall tell - Where Caldwell, Attucks, Gray and Maverick fell.’ - - “The anniversary of this event was publicly commemorated in - Boston by an oration and other exercises every year until our - National Independence was achieved, when the Fourth of July - was substituted for the Fifth of March as the more proper day - for a general celebration. Not only was the event commemorated - but the martyrs who then gave up their lives were remembered - and honored.”[74] - -The relation of the Negro to the Revolutionary War was peculiar. If his -services were used by the Colonists this would be an excuse for the -English to use the Indians and to emancipate the slaves. If he were not -used not only was this source of strength to the small loyal armies -neglected but there still remained the danger that the English would bid -for the services of Negroes. At first then the free Negro went quite -naturally into the army as he had for the most part been recognized as -liable to military service. Then Congress hesitated and ordered that -no Negroes be enlisted. Immediately there appeared the determination -of the Negroes, whether deliberately arrived at or by the more or less -unconscious development of thought under the circumstances, to give their -services to the side which promised them freedom and decent treatment. -When therefore Governor Dunmore of Virginia and English generals like -Cornwallis and Clinton made a bid for the services of Negroes, coupled -with promises of freedom, they got considerable numbers and in the case -of Dunmore one Negro unit fought a pitched battle against the Colonists. - -The Continental Congress took up the question of Negroes in the Army -in September, 1775. A committee consisting of Lynch, Lee and Adams -reported a letter which they had drafted to Washington. Rutledge of South -Carolina moved that Washington be instructed to discharge all Negroes -whether slave or free from the army, but this was defeated. October 8th -Washington and other generals in council of war, agreed unanimously -that slaves should be rejected and a large majority declared that they -refuse free Negroes. October 18th, the question came up again before the -committee consisting of Benjamin Franklin, General Washington, certain -deputies, governors and others. This council agreed that Negroes should -be rejected and Washington issued orders to this effect November 12th, -1775. Meantime, however, Dunmore’s proclamation came and his later -success in raising a black regiment which greatly disturbed Washington. -In July, 1776, the British had 200 Negro soldiers on Long Island and -later two regiments of Negroes were raised by the British in North -Carolina. The South lost thousands of Negroes through the British. In -Georgia a corps of fugitives calling themselves the “King of England -Soldiers” kept attacking on both sides of the Savannah River even after -the Revolution and many feared a general insurrection of slaves. - -The colonists soon began to change their attitude. Late in 1775, -Washington reversed his decision and ordered his recruiting officers -to accept free Negroes who had already served in the army and laid the -matter before the Continental Congress. The Committee recommended that -these Negroes be reenlisted but no others. Various leaders advised that -it would be better to enlist the slaves, among them Samuel Hopkins, -Alexander Hamilton, General Greene, James Madison. Even John Laurens of -South Carolina tried to make the South accept the proposition.[75] - -Thus Negroes again were received into the American army and from that -time on they played important rôles. They had already distinguished -themselves in individual cases at Bunker Hill. For instance, fourteen -white officers sent the following statement to the Massachusetts -Legislature on December 5, 1775: “The subscribers beg leave to report to -your Honorable House (which we do in justice to the character of so brave -a man) that under our own observation we declare that a Negro man named -Salem Poor, of Colonel Frye’s regiment, Captain Ames’ company, in the -late battle at Charlestown, behaved like an experienced officer as well -as an excellent soldier. To set forth particulars of his conduct would -be tedious. We only beg leave to say, in the person of this said Negro, -centers a brave and gallant soldier. The reward due to so great and -distinguished a character we submit to the Congress.”[76] - -They afterward fought desperately in Long Island and at the battle of -Monmouth. Foreign travellers continually note the presence of Negroes in -the American army. - -Less known however is the help which the black republic of Haiti offered -to the struggling Colonists. In December 1778 Savannah was captured -by the British, and Americans were in despair until the French fleet -appeared on the coast of Georgia in September 1779. The fleet offered to -help recapture Savannah. It had on board 1900 French troops of whom 800 -were black Haitian volunteers. Among these volunteers were Christophe, -afterward king of Haiti, Rigaud, André, Lambert and others. They were a -significant and faithful band which began by helping freedom in America, -then turned and through the French revolution freed Haiti and finally -helped in the emancipation of South America. The French troops landed -below the city with the Americans at their right and together they made -an attack. American and French flags were planted on the British outposts -but their bearers were killed and a general retreat was finally ordered. -Seven hundred and sixty Frenchmen and 312 Americans were killed and -wounded. As the army began to retreat the British general attacked the -rear, determined to annihilate the Americans. It was then that the black -and mulatto freedmen from Haiti under the command of Viscount de Fontages -made the charge on the English and saved the retreating Americans. They -returned to Haiti to prepare eventually to make that country the second -one in America which threw off the domination of Europe.[77] - -Some idea of the number of Negro soldiers can be had by reference to -documents mentioning the action of the States. Rhode Island raised -a regiment of slaves, and Governor Cooke said that it was generally -thought that at least 300 would enlist. Four companies were finally -formed there at a cost of over £10,000. Most of the 629 slaves in New -Hampshire enlisted and many of the 15,000 slaves in New York. Connecticut -had Negroes in her regiments and also a regiment of colored soldiers. -Maryland sought in 1781 to raise 750 Negro troops. Massachusetts had -colored troops in her various units from 72 towns in that State. “In view -of these numerous facts it is safe to conclude that there were at least -4,000 Negro soldiers scattered throughout the Continental Army.”[78] - -In a debate in Congress in 1820 two men, one from the North and one -from the South, gave the verdict of that time on the value of the Negro -in the Revolutionary War. William Eustis of Massachusetts said: “The -war over and peace restored, these men returned to their respective -States, and who could have said to them on their return to civil life -after having shed their blood in common with the whites in the defense -of the liberties of the country, ‘You are not to participate in the -rights secured by the struggle or in the liberty for which you have been -fighting?’ Certainly no white man in Massachusetts.” - -Charles Pinckney of South Carolina said: that the Negroes, “then were, as -they still are, as valuable a part of our population to the Union as any -other equal number of inhabitants. They were in numerous instances the -pioneers and, in all, the laborers of your armies. To their hands were -owing the erection of the greatest part of the fortifications raised for -the protection of our country; some of which, particularly Fort Moultrie, -gave at that early period of the inexperience and untried valor of our -citizens, immortality to American arms: and, in the Northern States -numerous bodies of them were enrolled into and fought by the sides of the -whites, the battles of the Revolution.”[79] - -In 1779 in the war between Spain and Great Britain, the Spanish Governor -of Louisiana, Galvez, had in his army which he led against the British, -numbers of blacks and mulattoes who he said “behaved on all occasions -with as much valor and generosity as the whites.”[80] - - -3. THE WAR OF 1812 - -In the War of 1812 the Negro appeared not only as soldier but -particularly as sailor and in the dispute concerning the impressment -of American sailors which was one of the causes of the war, Negro -sailors repeatedly figured as seized by England and claimed as American -citizens by America for whose rights the nation was apparently ready to -go to war. For instance, on the Chesapeake were three Negro sailors -whom the British claimed but whom the Americans declared were American -citizens,—Ware, Martin and Strachen. As Bryant says: “The citizenship -of Negroes was sought and defended by England and America at this time -but a little later it was denied by the United States Supreme Court that -Negroes could be citizens.” On demand two of these Negroes were returned -to America by the British government; the other one died in England. - -Negroes fought under Perry and Macdonough. On the high seas Negroes were -fighting. Nathaniel Shaler, captain of a privateer, wrote to his agent in -New York in 1813: - -“Before I could get our light sails on and almost before I could -turn around, I was under the guns, not of a transport but of a large -frigate! And not more than a quarter of a mile from her.... Her first -broadside killed two men and wounded six others.... My officers conducted -themselves in a way that would have done honor to a more permanent -service.... The name of one of my poor fellows who was killed ought to be -registered in the book of fame, and remembered with reverence as long as -bravery is considered a virtue. He was a black man by the name of John -Johnson.... When America has such tars, she has little to fear from the -tyrants of the ocean.”[81] - -A few Negroes were in the northern armies. A Congressman said in 1828: “I -myself saw a battalion of them—as fine martial looking men as I ever saw -attached to the northern army in the last war (1812) on its march from -Plattsburg to Sacketts Harbor where they did service for the country with -credit to New York and honor to themselves.”[82] - -But it was in the South that they furnished the most spectacular instance -of participation in this war. Governor Claiborne appealed to General -Jackson to use colored soldiers. “These men, Sir, for the most part, -sustain good characters. Many of them have extensive connections and much -property to defend, and all seem attached to arms. The mode of acting -toward them at the present crisis, is an inquiry of importance. If we -give them not our confidence, the enemy will be encouraged to intrigue -and corrupt them.”[83] - -September 21, 1814, Jackson issued a spirited appeal to the free Negroes -of Louisiana: “Through a mistaken policy, you have heretofore been -deprived of a participation in the glorious struggle for national rights -in which our country is engaged. This no longer shall exist. - -“As sons of freedom, you are now called upon to defend our most -inestimable blessing. As Americans, your country looks with confidence to -her adopted children for a valorous support as a faithful return for the -advantages enjoyed under her mild and equitable government. As fathers, -husbands and brothers, you are summoned to rally around the standard of -the Eagle, to defend all which is dear in existence.... In the sincerity -of a soldier and the language of truth I address you.”[84] - -He promised them the same bounty as whites and they were to have colored -non-commissioned officers. There was some attempt to have Jackson tone -down this appeal and say less of “equality,” but he refused to change his -first draft. - -The news of this proclamation created great surprise in the North but not -much criticism. Indeed, things were going too badly for the Americans. -The Capitol at Washington had been burned, the State of Maine was in -British hands, enlistment had stopped and Northern States like New York -were already arming Negroes. The Louisiana legislature, a month after -Jackson’s proclamation, passed an act authorizing two regiments of “men -of color” by voluntary enlistment. Slaves were allowed to enlist and were -publicly manumitted for their services. There were 3200 white and 430 -colored soldiers in the battle of New Orleans. The first battalion of 280 -Negroes was commanded by a white planter, La Coste; a second battalion -of 150 was raised by Captain J. B. Savary, a colored man, from the San -Dominican refugees, and commanded by Major Daquin who was probably a -quadroon. - -Besides these soldiers slaves were used in throwing up the famous cotton -bale ramparts, which saved the city, and this was the idea of a black -slave from Africa, who had seen the same thing done at home. Colored men -were used to reconnoitre, and the slave trader Lafitte brought a mixed -band of white and black fighters to help. Curiously enough there were -also Negroes on the other side, Great Britain having imported a regiment -from the West Indies which was at the head of the attacking column moving -against Jackson’s right, together with an Irish regiment. Conceive this -astounding anomaly! - -The American Negro soldiers were stationed very near Jackson and his -staff. Jackson himself in an address to the soldiers after the battle, -complimenting the “embodied militia,” said: - -“To the Men of Color.—Soldiers! From the shores of Mobile I collected -you to arms,—I invited you to share in the perils and to divide the -glory of your white countrymen. I expected much from you; for I was not -uninformed of those qualities which must render you so formidable to an -invading foe. I knew that you could endure hunger and thirst and all the -hardships of war. I knew that you loved the land of your nativity and -that, like ourselves, you had to defend all that is most dear to man. But -you surpass my hopes. I have found in you, united to these qualities, -that noble enthusiasm which impels to great deeds.”[85] - -In the celebration of the victory which followed in the great public -square, the Place d’Armes, now Jackson Square, the colored troops shared -the glory and the wounded prisoners were met by colored nurses.[86] - - -4. THE CIVIL WAR - -There were a few Negroes in the Mexican War but they went mostly as -body servants to white officers and there were probably no soldiers and -certainly no distinct Negro organizations. The Negro, therefore, shares -little of the blood guilt of that unhallowed raid for slave soil. - -At the time of the Civil War when the call came for volunteers free -Negroes everywhere offered their services to the Northern States and -everywhere their services were declined. Indeed, it was almost looked -upon as insolence that they should offer to fight in this “white man’s -war.” Not only was the war to be fought by white men but desperate effort -was made to cling to the technical fact that this was a war to save the -Union and not a war against slavery. Federal officials and northern -army officers made effort to reassure the South that they were not -abolitionists and that they were not going to touch slavery.[87] - -Meantime there began to crystallize the demand that the real object of -the war be made the abolition of slavery and that the slaves and colored -men in general be allowed to fight for freedom. - -This met bitter opposition. The New York _Herald_ voiced this August -5, 1862. “The efforts of those who love the Negro more than the Union -to induce the President to swerve from his established policy are -unavailing. He will neither be persuaded by promises nor intimidated -by threats. Today he was called upon by two United States Senators -and rather peremptorily requested to accept the services of two Negro -regiments. They were flatly and unequivocally rejected. The President -did not appreciate the necessity of employing the Negroes to fight the -battles of the country and take the positions which the white men of -the nation, the voters, and sons of patriotic sires, should be proud to -occupy; there were employments in which the Negroes of rebel masters -might well be engaged, but he was not willing to place them upon an -equality with our volunteers who had left home and family and lucrative -occupations to defend the Union and the Constitution while there were -volunteers or militia enough in the loyal States to maintain the -Government without resort to this expedient. If the loyal people were not -satisfied with the policy he had adopted, he was willing to leave the -administration to other hands. One of the Senators was impudent enough to -tell the President he wished to God he would resign.” - -In the spring of 1862 General Hunter was sent into South Carolina -with less than 11,000 men and charged with the duty of holding the -whole seacoast of Georgia, South Carolina and Florida. He asked for -re-enforcement but was told frankly from Washington, “Not a man from the -North can be spared.” The only way to guard the position was to keep -long lines of entrenchment thrown up against the enemy. General Hunter -calmly announced his intention of forming a Negro regiment to help him. -They were to be paid as laborers by the quartermaster but he expected -eventually to have them recognized as soldiers by the government. At -first he could find no officers. They were shocked at being asked to -command “niggers.” Even non-commissioned officers were difficult to find. -But eventually the regiment was formed and became an object of great -curiosity when on parade. Reports of the first South Carolina infantry -were sent to Washington but there was no reply. Then suddenly the matter -came up in Congress and Hunter was ordered to explain whether he had -enlisted fugitive slaves and upon what authority. Hunter immediately sent -a sharp reply: - -“To the first question, therefore, I reply: That no regiment of ‘fugitive -slaves’ has been, or is being, organized in this department. There is, -however, a fine regiment of loyal persons whose late masters are fugitive -rebels—men who everywhere fly before the appearance of the National flag, -leaving their loyal and unhappy servants behind them, to shift as best -they can for themselves. So far, indeed, are the loyal persons composing -the regiment from seeking to evade the presence of their late owners, -that they are now one and all endeavoring with commendable zeal to -acquire the drill and discipline requisite to place them in a position -to go in full and effective pursuit of their fugacious and traitorous -proprietors. - -“The experiment of arming the blacks, so far as I have made it, has been -a complete and even marvellous success. They are sober, docile, attentive -and enthusiastic, displaying great natural capacities in acquiring the -duties of the soldier. They are now eager beyond all things to take the -field and be led into action; and it is the unanimous opinion of the -officers who have had charge of them, that in the peculiarities of this -climate and country, they will prove invaluable auxiliaries, fully equal -to the similar regiments so long and so successfully used by the British -authorities in the West India Islands. - -“In conclusion, I would say, it is my hope—there appearing no possibility -of other reinforcements, owing to the exigencies of the campaign in -the peninsula—to have organized by the end of next fall and to be able -to present to the government from 48,000 to 50,000 of these hardy and -devoted soldiers.”[88] - -The reply was read in Congress amid laughter despite the indignation of -the Kentucky Congressman who instituted the inquiry. - -Protests now came from the South but no answer was forthcoming and -despite all the agitation the regiment remained until at last Hunter was -officially ordered to raise 50,000 black laborers of whom 5,000 might be -armed and dressed as soldiers. - -Horace Greeley stated the case clearly August 20, 1862 in his “Prayer of -Twenty Million”:[89] - -“On the face of this wide earth, Mr. President, there is not one -disinterested, determined, intelligent champion of the Union cause who -does not feel that all attempts to put down the rebellion and at the -same time uphold its inciting cause are preposterous and futile—that -the rebellion if crushed out tomorrow would be renewed within a year if -slavery were left in full vigor—that army officers who remain to this day -devoted to slavery can at best be but half-way loyal to the Union—and -that every hour of deference to slavery is an hour of added and deepened -peril to the Union.... - -“I close as I began, with the statement that what an immense majority -of the loyal millions of your countrymen require of you is a frank, -declared, unqualified, ungrudging execution of the laws of the land, more -especially of the Confiscation Act. That Act gives freedom to the slaves -of rebels coming within our lines or whom those lines may at any time -enclose,—we ask you to render it due obedience by publicly requiring all -your subordinates to recognize and obey it. The rebels are everywhere -using the late anti-Negro riots in the North—as they have long used your -officers’ treatment of Negroes in the South—to convince the slaves that -they have nothing to hope from a Union success—that we mean in that case -to sell them into bitter bondage to defray the cost of the war. Let them -impress this as a truth on the great mass of their ignorant and credulous -bondsmen, and the Union will never be restored—never. We cannot conquer -ten millions of people united in solid phalanx against us, powerfully -aided by northern sympathizers and European allies. We must have scouts, -guides, spies, cooks, teamsters, diggers and choppers from the blacks of -the South—whether we allow them to fight for us or not—or we shall be -baffled and repelled.” - -A month later, September 22, Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary -Emancipation Proclamation. He had considered this step before and his -final decision was caused, first, by a growing realization of the immense -task that lay before the Union armies and, secondly, by the fear that -Europe was going to recognize the Confederacy, since she saw as between -North and South little difference in attitude toward slavery. - -The effect of the step was undoubtedly decisive for ultimate victory, -although at first it spread dismay. Six of the Northern States went -Democratic in the fall elections and elsewhere the Republicans lost -heavily. In the army some officers resigned and others threatened to -because “The war for the Union was changed into a war for the Negro.” - -In the South men like Beauregard urged the raising of the “Black Flag” -while Jefferson Davis in his third annual message wrote: “We may well -leave it to the instincts of that common humanity which a beneficent -Creator has implanted in the breasts of our fellowmen of all countries to -pass judgment on a measure by which several millions of human beings of -an inferior race, peaceful and contented laborers in their sphere, are -doomed to extermination.”[90] - -With emancipation foreshadowed the full recognition of the Negro soldier -was inevitable. In September 1862 came a black Infantry Regiment from -Louisiana and later a regiment of heavy artillery and by the end of -1862 four Negro regiments had enlisted. Immediately after the signing -of the Emancipation Proclamation came the Kansas Colored volunteers and -the famous 54th Massachusetts Regiment. A Bureau was established in -Washington to handle the colored enlistments and before the end of the -war 178,975 Negroes had enlisted. - -“In the Department [of War] the actual number of Negroes enlisted was -never known, from the fact that a practice prevailed of putting a live -Negro in a dead one’s place. For instance, if a company on picket or -scouting lost ten men, the officer would immediately put ten new men in -their places and have them answer to the dead men’s names. I learn from -very reliable sources that this was done in Virginia, also in Missouri -and Tennessee. If the exact number of men could be ascertained, instead -of 180,000 it would doubtless be in the neighborhood of 220,000 who -entered the ranks of the army.”[91] - -General orders covering the enlistment of Negro troops were sent out from -the War Department October 13, 1863. The Union League in New York city -raised 2,000 black soldiers in 45 days, although no bounty was offered -them and no protection promised their families. The regiment had a -triumphal march through the city and a daily paper stated: “In the month -of July last the homes of these people were burned and pillaged by an -infuriated political mob; they and their families were hunted down and -murdered in the public streets of this city; and the force and majesty -of the law were powerless to protect them. Seven brief months have passed -and a thousand of these despised and persecuted men marched through the -city in the garb of the United States soldiers, in vindication of their -own manhood and with the approval of a countless multitude—in effect -saving from inevitable and distasteful conscription the same number of -those who hunted their persons and destroyed their homes during those -days of humiliation and disgrace. This is noble vengeance—a vengeance -taught by Him who commanded, ‘Love them that hate you; do good to them -that persecute you.’” - -The enlistment of Negroes caused difficulty and friction among the -white troops. In South Carolina General Gilmore had to forbid the white -troops using Negro troops for menial service in cleaning up the camps. -Black soldiers in uniform often had their uniforms stripped off by white -soldiers. - -“I attempted to pass Jackson Square in New Orleans one day in my uniform -when I was met by two white soldiers of the 24th Conn. They halted me and -then ordered me to undress. I refused, when they seized me and began to -tear my coat off. I resisted, but to no good purpose; a half dozen others -came up and began to assist. I recognized a sergeant in the crowd, an -old shipmate on board of a New Bedford, Mass., whaler; he came to my -rescue, my clothing was restored and I was let go. It was nothing strange -to see a black soldier _à la_ Adam come into the barracks out of the -streets.”[92] This conduct led to the killing of a portion of a boat’s -crew of the U. S. Gunboat Jackson, at Ship Island, Miss., by members of a -Negro regiment stationed there. - -Then, too, there was contemptible discrimination in pay. While white -soldiers received $13 a month and clothing, Negro soldiers, by act of -Congress, were given $10 a month with $3 deducted for clothing, leaving -only $7 a month as actual pay. This was only remedied when the 54th -Massachusetts Infantry refused all pay for a year until it should be -treated as other regiments. The State of Massachusetts made up the -difference between the $7 and $13 to disabled soldiers until June 16, -1864, when the government finally made the Negroes’ pay equal to that of -the whites. - -On the Confederate side there was a movement to use Negro soldiers -fostered by Judah Benjamin, General Lee and others. In 1861 a Negro -company from Nashville offered its services to the Confederate states and -free Negroes of Memphis were authorized by the Committee of Safety to -organize a volunteer company. Companies of free Negroes were raised in -New Orleans,—“Very well drilled and comfortably uniformed.” In Richmond -colored troops were also raised in the last days. Few if any of these -saw actual service. Plantation hands from Alabama built the redoubts -at Charleston, and Negroes worked as teamsters and helpers throughout -the South. In February, 1864, the Confederate congress provided for the -impressment of 20,000 slaves for menial service, and President Davis -suggested that the number be doubled and that they be emancipated at -the end of their service. Before the war started local authorities -had in many cases enrolled free Negroes as soldiers and some of these -remained in the service of the Confederacy. The adjutant general of -the Louisiana militia issued an order which said “the Governor and the -Commander-in-Chief, relying implicitly upon the loyalty of the free -colored population of the city and State, for the protection of their -homes, their property and for southern rights, from the population of -a ruthless invader, and believing that the military organization which -existed prior to February 15, 1862, and elicited praise and respect for -the patriotic motives which prompted it, should exist for and during the -war, calls upon them to maintain their organization and hold themselves -prepared for such orders as may be transmitted to them.” These native -guards did not leave the city when the Confederates did and explained to -General Butler that they dared not refuse to work with the Confederates -and that they hoped by their service to gain greater equality with -the whites and that they would be glad now to join the Union forces. -Two weeks after the fall of Sumter colored volunteers passed through -Georgia on their way to Virginia. There were 16 or more companies. In -November, 1861, a regiment of 1,400 free colored men were in the line of -march at New Orleans. The idea of calling the Negroes grew as the power -of the Confederacy waned and the idea of emancipation as compensation -spread. President Davis said “Should the alternative ever be presented -of subjugation or of the employment of slaves as soldiers there seems no -reason to doubt what should be our decision.” - -There was, of course, much difference of opinion. General Cobb said “If -slaves make good soldiers our whole theory of slavery is wrong,” while -a Georgian replied “Some say that Negroes will not fight, I say they -will fight. They fought at Ocean Pond, Honey Hill and other places.” -General Lee, in January ’64, gave as his opinion that they should employ -them without delay. “I believe with proper regulations they may be made -efficient soldiers.” He continued, “Our chief aim should be to secure -their fidelity. There have been formidable armies composed of men having -no interest in the cause for which they fought beyond their pay or the -hope of plunder. But it is certain that the surest foundation upon which -the fidelity of an army can rest, especially in a service which imposes -hardships and privations, is the personal interest of the soldier in the -issue of the contest. Such an interest we can give our Negroes by giving -immediate freedom to all who enlist, and freedom at the end of the war to -the families of those who discharge their duties faithfully (whether they -survive or not), together with the privilege of residing at the South. To -this might be added a bounty for faithful service.” - -Finally, March 13, 1865, it was directed that slaves be enrolled in the -Confederate army, each state to furnish its quota of 300,000. Recruiting -officers were appointed, but before the plan could be carried out Lee and -Johnson surrendered.[93] - -The central fact which we forget in these days is that the real question -in the minds of most white people in the United States in 1863 was -whether or not the Negro really would fight. The generation then living -had never heard of the Negro in the Revolution and in the War of 1812, -much less of his struggles and insurrections before. From 1820 down to -the time of the war a determined and far-reaching propaganda had led most -men to believe in the natural inferiority, cowardice and degradation of -the Negro race. We have already seen Abraham Lincoln suggest that if arms -were put into the hands of the Negro soldier it might be simply a method -of arming the rebels. The New York _Times_ discussed the matter soberly, -defending the right to employ Negroes but suggesting four grounds which -might make it inexpedient; that Negroes would not fight, that prejudice -was so strong that whites would not fight with them, that no free Negroes -would volunteer and that slaves could not be gotten hold of and that the -use of Negroes would exasperate the South. “The very best thing that can -be done under existing circumstances, in our judgment, is to possess our -souls in patience while the experiment is being tried. The problem will -probably speedily solve itself—much more speedily than heated discussion -or harsh criminations can solve it.” - -This was in February 16, 1863. It was not long before the results of -using Negro troops began to be reported and we find the _Times_ saying -editorially on the 31st of July: “Negro soldiers have now been in -battle at Port Hudson and at Milliken’s Bend in Louisiana; at Helena -in Arkansas, at Morris Island in South Carolina, and at or near Fort -Gibson in the Indian Territory. In two of these instances they assaulted -fortified positions and led the assault; in two they fought on the -defensive, and in one they attacked rebel infantry. In all of them -they acted in conjunction with white troops and under command of white -officers. In some instances they acted with distinguished bravery, and in -all they acted as well as could be expected of raw troops.” - -On the 11th of February, 1863, the news columns of the _Times_ were still -more enthusiastic. “It will not need many such reports as this—and there -have been several before it—to shake our inveterate Saxon prejudice -against the capacity and courage of Negro troops. Everybody knows -that they were used in the Revolution, and in the last war with Great -Britain fought side by side with white troops, and won equal praises -from Washington and Jackson. It is shown also that black sailors are on -equal terms with their white comrades. If on the sea, why not on the -land? No officer who has commanded black troops has yet reported against -them. They are tried in the most unfavorable and difficult circumstances, -but never fail. When shall we learn to use the full strength of the -formidable ally who is only waiting for a summons to rally under the flag -of the Union? Colonel Higginson says: ‘No officer in this regiment now -doubts that the successful prosecution of this war lies in the unlimited -employment of black troops.’ The remark is true in a military sense, and -it has a still deeper political significance. - -“When General Hunter has scattered 50,000 muskets among the Negroes of -the Carolinas, and General Butler has organized the 100,000 or 200,000 -blacks for whom he may perhaps shortly carry arms to New Orleans, the -possibility of restoring the Union as it was, with slavery again its -dormant power, will be seen to have finally passed away. The Negro is -indeed the key to success.” - -The Negroes began to fight and fight hard; but their own and peculiar -characteristics stood out even in the blood of war. A Pennsylvania -Major wrote home: “I find that these colored men learn everything that -pertains to the duties of a soldier much faster than any white soldiers -I have ever seen.... They are willing, obedient, and cheerful; move with -agility, and are full of music.”[94] - -Certain battles, carnivals of blood, stand out and despite their horror -must not be forgotten. One of the earliest encounters was the terrible -massacre at Fort Pillow, April 18, 1863. The fort was held with a -garrison of 557 men, of whom 262 were colored soldiers of the 6th United -States Heavy Artillery. The Union commander refused to surrender. - -“Upon receiving the refusal of Major Booth to capitulate, Forrest gave -a signal and his troops made a frantic charge upon the fort. It was -received gallantly and resisted stubbornly, but there was no use of -fighting. In ten minutes the enemy, assaulting the fort in the centre, -and striking it on the flanks, swept in. The Federal troops surrendered; -but an indiscriminate massacre followed. Men were shot down in their -tracks; pinioned to the ground with bayonet and sabre. Some were clubbed -to death while dying of wounds; others were made to get down upon their -knees, in which condition they were shot to death. Some were burned -alive, having been fastened into the buildings, while still others were -nailed against the houses, tortured and then burned to a crisp.”[95] - -May 27, 1863, came the battle of Port Hudson. “Hearing the firing -apparently more fierce and continuous to the right than anywhere else, -I turned in that direction, past the sugar house of Colonel Chambers, -where I had slept, and advanced to near the pontoon bridge across the Big -Sandy Bayou, which the Negro regiments had erected, and where they were -fighting most desperately. I had seen these brave and hitherto despised -fellows the day before as I rode along the lines, and I had seen General -Banks acknowledge their respectful salute as he would have done that of -any white troops; but still the question was—with too many—‘Will they -fight?’ - -“General Dwight, at least, must have had the idea, not only that they -were men, but something more than men, from the terrific test to which -he put their valor. Before any impression had been made upon the -earthworks of the enemy, and in full face of the batteries belching forth -their 62-pounders, these devoted people rushed forward to encounter -grape, canister, shell, and musketry, with no artillery but two small -howitzers—that seemed mere popguns to their adversaries—and no reserve -whatever. - -“Their force consisted of the 1st Louisiana Native Guards (with colored -field officers) under Lieutenant-Colonel Bassett, and the 3d Louisiana -Native Guards, Colonel Nelson (with white field officers), the whole -under command of the latter officer. - -“On going into action they were 1,080 strong, and formed into four lines, -Lieutenant-Colonel Bassett, 1st Louisiana, forming the first line, and -Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Finnegas the second. When ordered to charge up -the works, they did so with the skill and nerve of old veterans (black -people, be it remembered who had never been in action before). Oh, but -the fire from the rebel guns was so terrible upon the unprotected masses, -that the first few shots mowed them down like grass and so continued. - -“Colonel Bassett being driven back, Colonel Finnegas took his place, -and his men being similarly cut to pieces, Lieutenant-Colonel Bassett -reformed and recommenced; and thus these brave people went in from -morning until 3:30 P.M., under the most hideous carnage that men ever -had to withstand, and that very few white ones would have had nerve to -encounter, even if ordered to. - -“During this time, they rallied, and were ordered to make six distinct -charges, losing 37 killed, and 155 wounded, and 116 missing,—the -majority, if not all, of these being, in all probability, now lying dead -on the gory field, and without the rites of sepulture; for when, by flag -of truce, our forces in other directions were permitted to reclaim their -dead, the benefit, through some neglect, was not extended to these black -regiments. - -“The deeds of heroism performed by these colored men were such as the -proudest white men might emulate. Their colors are torn to pieces by -shot and literally bespattered by blood and brains. The color-sergeant -of the 1st Louisiana, on being mortally wounded, hugged the colors to -his breast, when a struggle ensued between the two color-corporals on -each side of him, as to who should have the honor of bearing the sacred -standard, and during this generous contention one was seriously wounded. -One black lieutenant actually mounted the enemy’s works three or four -times, and in one charge the assaulting party came within fifty paces of -them. Indeed, if only ordinarily supported by artillery and reserve, no -one can convince us that they would not have opened a passage through the -enemy’s works. - -“Captain Callioux of the 1st Louisiana, a man so black that he actually -prided himself upon his blackness, died the death of a hero, leading on -his men in the thickest of the fight.”[96] - -In July 13, 1863, came the draft riot in New York when the daily papers -told the people that they were called upon to fight the battles of -“niggers and abolitionists,” when the governor did nothing but “request” -the rioters to await the report of his demand that the President suspend -the draft. Meantime the city was given over to rapine and murder, -property destroyed, Negroes killed and the colored orphans’ asylum burned -to the ground and property robbed and pillaged. - -At that very time in South Carolina black soldiers were preparing to take -Fort Wagner, their greatest battle. It will be noted that continually -Negroes were called upon to rescue lost causes, many times as a sort of -deliberate test of their courage. Fort Wagner was a case in point. The -story may be told from two points of view, that of the white Unionist and -that of the Confederate. The Union account says: - -“The signal given, our forces advanced rapidly towards the fort, while -our mortars in the rear tossed their bombs over their heads. The 54th -Massachusetts (a Negro Regiment) led the attack, supported by the 6th -Connecticut, 48th New York, 3rd New Hampshire, 76th Pennsylvania, and -the 9th Maine Regiments.... The silent and shattered walls of Wagner -all at once burst forth into a blinding sheet of vivid light, as though -they had suddenly been transformed by some magic power into the living, -seething crater of a volcano! Down came the whirlwind of destruction -along the beach with the swiftness of lightning! How fearfully the -hissing shot, the shrieking bombs, the whistling bars of iron, and the -whispering bullet struck and crushed through the dense masses of our -brave men! I never shall forget the terrible sound of that awful blast of -death, which swept down, shattered or dead, a thousand of our men. Not -a shot had missed its aim. Every bolt of steel, every globe of iron and -lead, tasted of human blood.... - -“In a moment the column recovered itself, like a gallant ship at sea when -buried for an instant under the immense wave. - -“The ditch is reached; a thousand men leap into it, clamber up the -shattered ramparts, and grapple with the foe, which yields and falls back -to the rear of the fort. Our men swarm over the walls, bayoneting the -desperate rebel cannoneers. Hurrah! the fort is ours! - -“But now came another blinding blast from concealed guns in the rear of -the fort, and our men went down by scores.... The struggle is terrific. -Our supports hurry up to the aid of their comrades, but as they reach the -ramparts they fire a volley which strikes down many of our men. Fatal -mistake! Our men rally once more; but, in spite of an heroic resistance, -they are forced back again to the edge of the ditch. Here the brave Shaw, -with scores of his black warriors, went down, fighting desperately.” - -When asking for the body of Colonel Shaw, a confederate major said: “We -have buried him with his niggers.” - -The Confederate account is equally eloquent. - -“The carnage was frightful. It is believed the Federals lost more men on -that eventful night than twice the entire strength of the Confederate -garrison.... According to the statement of Chaplain Dennison the -assaulting columns, in two brigades, commanded by General Strong and -Colonel Putnam (the division under General Seymour), consisted of the -54th Massachusetts, 3rd and 7th New Hampshire, 6th Connecticut and 100th -New York, with a reserve brigade commanded by General Stephenson. One of -the assaulting regiments was composed of Negroes (the 54th Massachusetts) -and to it was assigned the honor of leading the white columns to the -charge. It was a dearly purchased compliment. Their Colonel (Shaw) was -killed upon the parapet and the regiment almost annihilated, although -the Confederates in the darkness could not tell the color of their -assailants.”[97] - -At last it was seen that Negro troops could do more than useless or -helpless or impossible tasks, and in the siege of Petersburg they were -put to important work. When the general attack was ordered on the 16th of -June, 1864, a division of black troops was used. The Secretary of War, -Stanton himself, saw them and said: - -“The hardest fighting was done by the black troops. The forts they -stormed were the worst of all. After the affair was over General Smith -went to thank them, and tell them he was proud of their courage and dash. -He says they cannot be exceeded as soldiers, and that hereafter he will -send them in a difficult place as readily as the best white troops.”[98] - -It was planned to send the colored troops under Burnside against the -enemy after the great mine was exploded. Inspecting officers reported to -Burnside that the black division was fitted for this perilous work. The -white division which was sent made a fiasco of it. Then, after all had -been lost Burnside was ready to send in his black division and though -they charged again and again they were repulsed and the Union lost over -4,000 men killed, wounded and captured. - -All the officers of the colored troops in the Civil War were not white. -From the first there were many colored non-commissioned officers, and -the Louisiana regiments raised under Butler had 66 colored officers, -including one Major and 27 Captains, besides the full quota of -non-commissioned colored officers. In the Massachusetts colored troops -there were 10 commissioned Negro officers and 3 among the Kansas troop. -Among these officers was a Lieutenant-Colonel Reed of North Carolina, -who was killed in battle. In Kansas there was Captain H. F. Douglas, and -in other United States’ volunteer regiments were Major M. H. Delaney -and Captain O. S. B. Wall; Dr. A. T. Augusta, surgeon, was brevetted -Lieutenant-Colonel. The losses of Negro troops in the Civil War, killed, -wounded and missing has been placed at 68,178. - -Such was the service of the Negro in the Civil War. Men say that the -nation gave them freedom, but the verdict of history is written on the -Shaw monument at the head of Boston Common: - - THE WHITE OFFICERS - - Taking Life and Honor in their Hands—Cast their lot with - Men of a Despised Race Unproved in War—and Risked Death as - Inciters of a Servile Insurrection if Taken Prisoners, Besides - Encountering all the Common Perils of Camp, March, and Battle. - - THE BLACK RANK AND FILE - - Volunteered when Disaster Clouded the Union Cause—Served - without Pay for Eighteen Months till Given that of White - Troops—Faced Threatened Enslavement if Captured—Were Brave in - Action—Patient under Dangerous and Heavy Labors and Cheerful - amid Hardships and Privations. - - TOGETHER - - They Gave to the Nation Undying Proof that Americans of African - Descent Possess the Pride, Courage, and Devotion of the Patriot - Soldier—One Hundred and Eighty Thousand Such Americans Enlisted - Under the Union Flag in MDCCCLXIII-MDCCCLXV. - - -5. THE WAR IN CUBA - -In the Spanish-American War four Negro regiments were among the first -to be ordered to the front. They were the regular army regiments, 24th -and 25th Infantry, and the 9th and 10th Cavalry. President McKinley -recommended that new regiments of regular army troops be formed among -Negroes but Congress took no action. Colored troops with colored officers -were formed as follows: The 3rd North Carolina, the 8th Illinois, the 9th -Battalion, Ohio and the 23rd Kansas. Regiments known as the Immunes, -being immune to Yellow fever, were formed with colored lieutenants and -white captains and field officers, and called the 7th, 8th, 9th and -10th United States Volunteers. In addition to those there were the -6th Virginia with colored lieutenants and the 3rd Alabama with white -officers. Indiana had two companies attached to the 8th Immunes. None -of the Negro volunteer companies reached the front in time to take part -in battle. The 8th Illinois formed a part of the Army of Occupation and -was noted for its policing and cleaning up of Santiago. Colonel John R. -Marshall, commanding the 8th Illinois, and Major Charles Young, a regular -army commander, both colored, were in charge of the battalion. - -The colored regular army regiments took a brilliant part in the war. -The first regiment ordered to the front was the 24th Infantry. Negro -soldiers were in the battles around Santiago. The Tenth Cavalry made an -effective attack at Las Quasimas and at El Caney on July 1 they saved -Roosevelt’s Rough Riders from annihilation. The 24th Infantry volunteered -in the Yellow fever epidemic and cleaned the camp in one day. _Review of -Reviews_ says: “One of the most gratifying incidents of the Spanish War -has been the enthusiasm that the colored regiments of the regular army -have aroused throughout the whole country. Their fighting at Santiago -was magnificent. The Negro soldiers showed excellent discipline, the -highest qualities of personal bravery, very superior physical endurance, -unfailing good temper, and the most generous disposition toward all -comrades-in-arms, whether white or black. Roosevelt’s Rough Riders have -come back singing the praises of the colored troops. There is not a -dissenting voice in the chorus of praise.... Men who can fight for their -country as did these colored troops ought to have their full share of -gratitude and honor.” - - -6. CARRIZAL - -In 1916 the United States sent a punitive expedition under General -Pershing into Mexico in pursuit of the Villa forces which had raided -Columbus, New Mexico. Two Negro regiments, the 10th Cavalry and the 24th -Infantry, were a part of his expedition. On June 21, Troop C and K of -the 10th Cavalry were ambushed at Carrizal by some 700 Mexican soldiers. -Although outnumbered almost ten to one, these black soldiers dismounted -in the face of a withering machine-gun fire, deployed, charged the -Mexicans and killed their commander. - -This handful of men fought on until, of the three officers commanding -them, two were killed and one was badly wounded. Seventeen of the men -were killed and twenty-three were made prisoners. One of the many -outstanding heroes of this memorable engagement was Peter Bigstaff, who -fought to the last beside his commander, Lieutenant Adair. A Southern -white man, with no love for blacks, wrote: - -“The black trooper might have faltered and fled a dozen times, saving -his own life and leaving Adair to fight alone. But it never seemed to -occur to him. He was a comrade to the last blow. When Adair’s broken -revolver fell from his hand the black trooper pressed another into it, -and together, shouting in defiance, they thinned the swooping circle of -overwhelming odds before them. - -“The black man fought in the deadly shambles side by side with the white -man, following always, fighting always as his lieutenant fought. - -“And finally, when Adair, literally shot to pieces, fell in his tracks, -his last command to his black trooper was to leave him and save his life. -Even then the heroic Negro paused in the midst of that Hell of carnage -for a final service to his officer. Bearing a charmed life, he had -fought his way out. He saw that Adair had fallen with his head in the -water. With superb loyalty the black trooper turned and went back to the -maelstrom of death, lifted the head of his superior, leaned him against a -tree and left him there dead with dignity when it was impossible to serve -any more. - -“There is not a finer piece of soldierly devotion and heroic comradeship -in the history of modern warfare than that of Henry Adair and the black -trooper who fought by him at Carrizal.”[99] - - -7. THE WORLD WAR - -Finally we come to the World War the history of which is not yet written. -At first and until the United States entered the war the Negro figured -as a laborer and a great exodus took place from the South as we have -already noted. Some effort was made to keep the Negro from the draft but -finally he was called and although constituting less than a tenth of the -population he furnished 13% of the soldiers called to the colors. The -registry for the draft had insulting color discriminations and determined -effort was made to confine Negroes to stevedore and labor regiments under -white officers. Most of the Negro draftees were thus sent to the Service -of Supplies where they were largely under illiterate whites and suffered -greatly. Finally a camp for training Negro officers was established and -nearly 700 Negroes commissioned, none of them, however, above the rank of -captain; Charles Young, the highest ranking Negro graduate of West Point -and one of the best officers in the army was kept from the front, because -being already a colonel with a distinguished record he would surely have -become a general if sent to France. - -Two Negro divisions were planned, the 92nd and the 93rd. The 93rd was to -be composed of the Negro National Guard regiments all of whom had some -and one all Negro officers. The latter division was never organized as -a complete division but four of its regiments were sent to France and -encountered bitter discrimination from the Americans on account of their -Negro officers. They were eventually brigaded with the French and saw -some of the hardest fighting of the war in the final drive toward Sedan. -They were cited in General Orders as follows by General Goybet:[100] - - “In transmitting to you with legitimate pride the thanks and - congratulations of the General Garnier Duplessis, allow me, my - dear friends of all ranks, Americans and French, to thank you - from the bottom of my heart as a chief and a soldier for the - expression of gratitude for the glory which you have lent our - good 157th Division. I had full confidence in you but you have - surpassed my hopes. - - “During these nine days of hard fighting you have progressed - nine kilometers through powerful organized defenses, taken - nearly 600 prisoners, 15 guns of different calibers, 20 - minnewerfers, and nearly 150 machine guns, secured an enormous - amount of engineering material, an important supply of - artillery ammunition, brought down by your fire three enemy - aeroplanes. - - “Your troops have been admirable in their attack. You must be - proud of the courage of your officers and men; and I consider - it an honor to have them under my command. - - “The bravery and dash of your regiment won the admiration of - the 2nd Moroccan Division who are themselves versed in warfare. - Thanks to you, during those hard days, the Division was at all - times in advance of all other divisions of the Army Corps. I am - sending you all my thanks and beg you to transmit them to your - subordinates. - - “I called on your wounded. Their morale is higher than any - praise. - - GOYBET.” - -The 92nd Division encountered difficulties in organization and was never -assembled as a Division until it arrived in France. There it was finally -gotten in shape and took a small part in the Argonne offensive and in the -fight just preceding the armistice. Their Commanding General said:[101] - -“Five months ago today the 92nd Division landed in France. - -“After seven weeks of training, it took over a sector in the front line, -and since that time some portion of the Division has been practically -continuously under fire. - -“It participated in the last battle of the war with creditable success, -continuously pressing the attack against highly organized defensive -works. It advanced successfully on the first day of the battle, -attaining its objectives and capturing prisoners. This in the face of -determined opposition by an alert enemy, and against rifle, machine-gun -and artillery fire. The issue of the second day’s battle was rendered -indecisive by the order to cease firing at eleven A.M.—when the armistice -became effective.” - -With the small chance thus afforded Negro troops nevertheless made a -splendid record and especially those under Negro officers. If they had -had larger opportunity and less organized prejudice they would have -done much more. Perhaps their greatest credit is from the fact that -they withstood so bravely and uncomplainingly the barrage of hatred -and offensive prejudice aimed against them. The young Negro officers -especially made a splendid record as to thinking, guiding leaders of an -oppressed group. - -Thus has the black man defended America from the beginning to the World -War. To him our independence from Europe and slavery is in no small -degree due. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE EMANCIPATION OF DEMOCRACY - - How the black slave by his incessant struggle to be free has - broadened the basis of democracy in America and in the world. - - -Help in exploration, labor unskilled and to some extent skilled, and -fighting, have been the three gifts which so far we have considered as -having been contributed by black folk to America. We now turn to a matter -more indefinite and yet perhaps of greater importance. - -Without the active participation of the Negro in the Civil War, the -Union could not have been saved nor slavery destroyed in the nineteenth -century.[102] Without the help of black soldiers, the independence of -the United States could not have been gained in the eighteenth century. -But the Negro’s contribution to America was at once more subtle and -important than these things. Dramatically the Negro is the central thread -of American history. The whole story turns on him whether we think of -the dark and flying slave ship in the sixteenth century, the expanding -plantations of the seventeenth, the swelling commerce of the eighteenth, -or the fight for freedom in the nineteenth. It was the black man that -raised a vision of democracy in America such as neither Americans nor -Europeans conceived in the eighteenth century and such as they have not -even accepted in the twentieth century; and yet a conception which every -clear sighted man knows is true and inevitable. - - -1. DEMOCRACY - -Democracy was not planted full grown in America. It was a slow growth -beginning in Europe and developing further and more quickly in America. -It did not envisage at first the man farthest down as a participant in -democratic privilege or even as a possible participant. This was not -simply because of the inability of the ignorant and degraded to express -themselves and act intelligently and efficiently, but it was a failure -to recognize that the mass of men had any rights which the better class -were bound to respect. Thus democracy to the world first meant simply -the transfer of privilege and opportunity from waning to waxing power, -from the well-born to the rich, from the nobility to the merchants. -Divine Right of birth yielded the Divine Right of wealth. Growing -industry, business and commerce were putting economic and social power -into the hands of what we call the middle class. Political opportunity -to correspond with this power was the demand of the eighteenth century -and this was what the eighteenth century called Democracy. On the -other hand, both in Europe and in America, there were classes, and -large classes, without power and without consideration whose place in -democracy was inconceivable both to Europeans and Americans. Among -these were the agricultural serfs and industrial laborers of Europe and -the indentured servants and black slaves of America. The white serfs, -as they were transplanted in America, began a slow, but in the end, -effective agitation for recognition in American democracy. And through -them has risen the modern American labor movement. But this movement -almost from the first looked for its triumph along the ancient paths of -aristocracy and sought to raise the white servant and laborer on the -backs of the black servant and slave. If now the black man had been -inert, unintelligent, submissive, democracy would have continued to mean -in America what it means so widely still in Europe, the admission of the -powerful to participation in government and privilege in so far and only -in so far as their power becomes irresistible. It would not have meant a -recognition of human beings as such and the giving of economic and social -power to the powerless. - -It is usually assumed in reading American history that whatever the -Negro has done for America has been passive and unintelligent, that he -accompanied the explorers as a beast of burden and accomplished whatever -he did by sheer accident; that he labored because he was driven to -labor and fought because he was made to fight. This is not true. On the -contrary, it was the rise and growth among the slaves of a determination -to be free and an active part of American democracy that forced American -democracy continually to look into the depths; that held the faces of -American thought to the inescapable fact that as long as there was a -slave in America, America could not be a free republic; and more than -that: as long as there were people in America, slave or nominally free, -who could not participate in government and industry and society as -free, intelligent human beings, our democracy had failed of its greatest -mission. - -This great vision of the black man was, of course, at first the vision -of the few, as visions always are, but it was always there; it grew -continuously and it developed quickly from wish to active determination. -One cannot think then of democracy in America or in the modern world -without reference to the American Negro. The democracy established in -America in the eighteenth century was not, and was not designed to be, a -democracy of the masses of men and it was thus singularly easy for people -to fail to see the incongruity of democracy and slavery. It was the -Negro himself who forced the consideration of this incongruity, who made -emancipation inevitable and made the modern world at least consider if -not wholly accept the idea of a democracy including men of all races and -colors. - - -2. INFLUENCE ON WHITE THOUGHT - -Naturally, at first, it was the passive presence of the Negro with his -pitiable suffering and sporadic expression of unrest that bothered -the American colonists. Massachusetts and Connecticut early in the -seventeenth century tried to compromise with their consciences by -declaring that there should be no slavery except of persons “willingly -selling themselves” or “sold to us.” And these were to have “All the -liberties and Christian usages which the law of God established in -Israel.” Massachusetts even took a strong stand against proven “man -stealing”; but it was left to a little band of Germans in Pennsylvania, -in 1688, to make the first clear statement the moment they looked upon -a black slave: “Now, though they are black, we cannot conceive there is -more liberty to have them slaves than it is to have other white ones. -There is a saying that we shall do to all men like as we will be done to -ourselves, making no difference of what generation, descent or color they -are. Here is liberty of conscience which is right and reasonable. Here -ought also to be liberty of the body.”[103] - -In the eighteenth century, Sewall of Massachusetts attacked slavery. -From that time down until 1863 man after man and prophet after prophet -spoke against slavery and they spoke not so much as theorists but as -people facing extremely uncomfortable facts. Oglethorpe would keep -slavery out of Georgia because he saw how the strength of South Carolina -went to defending themselves against possible slave insurrection rather -than to defending the English colonies against the Spanish. The matter -of baptizing the heathen whom slavery was supposed to convert brought -tremendous heart searchings and argument and disputations and explanatory -laws throughout the colonies. Contradictory benevolences were evident as -when the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel sought to convert the -Negroes and American legislatures sought to make the perpetual slavery of -the converts sure. - -The religious conscience, especially as it began to look upon America -as a place of freedom and refuge, was torn by the presence of slavery. -Late in the eighteenth and early in the nineteenth centuries pressure -began to be felt from the more theoretical philanthropists of Europe -and the position of American philanthropists was made correspondingly -uncomfortable. Benjamin Franklin pointed out some of the evils of -slavery; James Otis inveighing against England’s economic tyranny -acknowledged the rights of black men. Patrick Henry said that slavery -was “repugnant to the first impression of right and wrong” and George -Washington hoped slavery might be abolished. Thomas Jefferson made the -celebrated statement: “Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect -that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever; 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.”[104] - -Henry Laurens said to his son: “You know, my dear son, I abhor slavery. -I was born in a country where slavery had been established by British -kings and parliaments, as well as by the laws of that country ages before -my existence. I found the Christian religion and slavery growing under -the same authority and cultivation. I nevertheless disliked it. In former -days there was no combating the prejudices of men supported by interest; -the day I hope is approaching when, from principles of gratitude as well -as justice, every man will strive to be foremost in showing his readiness -to comply with the golden rule.”[105] - -The first draft of the Declaration of Independence harangued King George -III of Britain for the presence of slavery in the United States: - -“He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most -sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who -never offended him; captivating and carrying them into slavery in another -hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. -This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of Infidel powers, is the warfare -of the Christian king of Great Britain. Determined to keep open market -where men should be bought and sold, he has prostituted his negative for -suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this -execrable commerce. And, that this assemblage of horrors might want no -fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those very people to rise -in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived -them, by murdering the people on whom we also obtruded them; thus paying -off former crimes committed against the liberties of one people with -crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another.”[106] - -The final draft of the Declaration said: “We hold these truths to be -self-evident:—that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by -their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, -liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, -governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the -consent of the governed.” - -It was afterward argued that Negroes were not included in this general -statement and Judge Taney in his celebrated decision said in 1857: - -“They had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of -an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white -race, either in social or political relations; and so far inferior that -they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that -the Negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his -benefit....”[107] - -This _obiter dictum_ was disputed by equally learned justices. Justice -McLean said in his opinion: - -“Our independence was a great epoch in the history of freedom; and while -I admit the Government was not made especially for the colored race, -yet many of them were citizens of the New England States, and exercised -the rights of suffrage when the Constitution was adopted; and it was -not doubted by any intelligent person that its tendencies would greatly -ameliorate their condition.”[108] - -Justice Curtis also said: - -“It has been often asserted, that the Constitution was made exclusively -by and for the white race. It has already been shown that in five of the -thirteen original States, colored persons then possessed the elective -franchise and were among those by whom the Constitution was ordained -and established. If so, it is not true, in point of fact, that the -Constitution was made exclusively by the white race. And that it was made -exclusively for the white race is, in my opinion, not only an assumption -not warranted by anything in the Constitution, but contradicted by its -opening declaration, that it was ordained and established by the people -of the United States, for themselves and their posterity. And, as free -colored persons were then citizens of at least five States, they were -among those for whom and whose posterity the Constitution was ordained -and established.”[109] - -After the Revolution came the series of State acts abolishing slavery, -beginning with Vermont in 1777; and then came the pause and retrogression -followed by the slow but determined rise of the Cotton Kingdom. But even -in that day the prophets protested. Hezekiah Niles said in 1819: “We are -ashamed of the thing we practice; ... there is no attribute of Heaven -that takes part with us, and we know it. And in the contest that must -come, and will come, there will be a heap of sorrows such as the world -has rarely seen.”[110] While the wild preacher, Lorenzo Dow, raised his -cry from the wilderness even in Alabama and Mississippi, saying: “In -the rest of the Southern States the influence of these Foreigners will -be known and felt in its time, and the seeds from the HORY ALLIANCE -and the DECAPIGANDI, who have a hand in those grades of Generals, from -the Inquisitor to the Vicar General and down.... The STRUGGLE will be -DREADFUL! The CUP will be BITTER! and when the agony is over, those who -survive may see better days! FAREWELL!”[111] Finally came William Lloyd -Garrison and John Brown. - - -3. INSURRECTION - -It may be said, and it usually has been said, that all this showed -the natural conscience and humanity of white Americans protesting and -eventually triumphing over political and economic temptations. But to -this must be added the inescapable fact that the attitude, thought and -action of the Negro himself was in the largest measure back of this heart -searching, discomfort and warning; and first of all was the physical -force which the Negro again and again and practically without ceasing -from the first days of the slave trade down to the war of emancipation, -used to effect his own freedom. - -We must remember that the slave trade itself was war; that from -surreptitious kidnapping of the unsuspecting it was finally organized so -as to set African tribes warring against tribes, giving the conquerors -the actual aid of European or Arabian soldiers and the tremendous -incentive of high prices for results of successful wars through the -selling of captives. The captives themselves fought to the last ditch. -It is estimated that every single slave finally landed upon a slave -ship meant five corpses either left behind in Africa or lost through -rebellion, suicide, sickness, and murder on the high seas. This which is -so often looked upon as passive calamity was one of the most terrible and -vindictive and unceasing struggles against misfortune that a group of -human beings ever put forth. It cost Negro Africa perhaps sixty million -souls to land ten million slaves in America. - -The first influence of the Negro on American Democracy was naturally -force to oppose force—revolt, murder, assassination coupled with running -away. It was the primitive, ancient effort to avenge blood with blood, -to bring good out of evil by opposing evil with evil. Whether right or -wrong, effective or abortive, it is the human answer to oppression which -the world has tried for thousands of years. - -Two facts stand out in American history with regard to slave -insurrections: on the one hand, there is no doubt of the continuous -and abiding fear of them. The slave legislation of the Southern States -is filled with ferocious efforts to guard against this. Masters were -everywhere given peremptory and unquestioned power to kill a slave or -even a white servant who should “resist his master.” The Virginia law of -1680 said: “If any Negro or other slave shall absent himself from his -master’s service and lie, hide and lurk in obscure places, committing -injuries to the inhabitants, and shall resist any person or persons that -shall by lawful authority be employed to apprehend and take the said -Negro, that then, in case of such resistance, it shall be lawful for -such person or persons to kill the said Negro or slave so lying out and -resisting.”[112] - -In 1691 and in 1748, there were Virginia acts to punish conspiracies and -insurrections of slaves. In 1708 and in 1712 New York had laws against -conspiracies and insurrections of Negroes. North Carolina passed such -a law in 1741, and South Carolina in 1743 was legislating “against the -insurrection and other wicked attempts of Negroes and other slaves.” The -Mississippi code of 1839 provides for slave insurrections “with arms in -the intent to regain their liberty by force.” Virginia in 1797 decreed -death for any one exciting slaves to insurrection. In 1830 North Carolina -made it a felony to incite insurrection among slaves. The penal code of -Texas, passed in 1857, had a severe section against insurrection.[113] - -Such legislation, common in every slave state, could not have been based -on mere idle fear, and when we follow newspaper comment, debates and -arguments and the history of insurrections and attempted insurrections -among slaves, we easily see the reason. No sooner had the Negroes landed -in America than resistance to slavery began. - -As early as 1503 the Governor of Hispaniola stopped the transportation -of Negroes “because they fled to the Indians and taught them bad manners -and they could never be apprehended.” In 1518 in the sugar mills of Haiti -the Negroes “quit working and fled whenever they could in squads and -started rebellions and committed murders.” In 1522 there was a rebellion -on the sugar plantations. Twenty Negroes from Diego Columbus’ mill fled -and killed several Spaniards. They joined with other rebellious Negroes -on neighboring plantations. In 1523 many Negro slaves “fled to the -Zapoteca and walked rebelliously through the country.” In 1527 there was -an uprising of Indians and Negroes in Florida. In 1532 the Wolofs and -other rebellious Negroes caused insurrection among the Carib Indians. -These Wolofs were declared to be “haughty, disobedient, rebellious and -incorrigible.” In 1548 there was a rebellion in Honduras and the Viceroy -Mendoza in Mexico writes of an uprising among the slaves and Indians -in 1537.[114] One of the most remarkable cases of resistance was the -establishment and defense of Palmares in Brazil where 40 determined -Negroes in 1560 established a city state which lived for nearly a half -century growing to a population of 20,000 and only overthrown when 7,000 -soldiers with artillery were sent against it. The Chiefs committed -suicide rather than surrender.[115] - -Early in the sixteenth century and from that time down until the -nineteenth the black rebels whom the Spanish called “Cimarrones” and whom -we know as “Maroons” were infesting the mountains and forests of the -West Indies and South America. Gage says between 1520 and 1530: “What -the Spaniards fear most until they get out of these mountains are two -or three hundred Negroes, Cimarrones, who for the bad treatment they -received have fled from masters in order to resort to these woods; there -they live with their wives and children and increase in numbers every -year, so that the entire force of Guatemala (City) and its environments -is not capable to subdue them.” Gage himself was captured by a mulatto -corsair who was sweeping the seas in his own ship.[116] - -The history of these Maroons reads like romance.[117] When England took -Jamaica, in 1565, they found the mountains infested with Maroons whom -they fought for ten years and finally, in 1663, acknowledged their -freedom, gave them land and made their leader, Juan de Bolas, a colonel -in the militia. He was killed, however, in the following year and from -1664 to 1778 some 3,000 black Maroons were in open rebellion against -the British Empire. The English fought them with soldiers, Indians, and -dogs and finally again, in 1738, made a formal treaty of peace with -them, recognizing their freedom and granting them 25,000 acres of land. -The war again broke out in 1795 and blood-hounds were again imported. -The legislature wished to deport them but as they could not get their -consent, peace was finally made on condition that the Maroons surrender -their arms and settle down. No sooner, however, had they done this -than the whites treacherously seized 600 of them and sent them to Nova -Scotia. The Legislature voted a sword to the English general, who made -the treaty; but he indignantly refused to accept it. Eventually these -Maroons were removed to Sierra Leone where they saved that colony to the -British by helping them put down an insurrection. - -In the United States insurrection and attempts at insurrection among -the slaves extended from Colonial times down to the Civil War. For the -most part they were unsuccessful. In many cases the conspiracies were -insignificant in themselves but exaggerated by fear of the owners. And -yet a record of the attempts at revolt large and small is striking. - -In Virginia there was a conspiracy in 1710 in Surrey County. In 1712 the -City of New York was threatened with burning by slaves. In 1720 whites -were attacked in the homes and on the streets in Charleston, S. C. In -1730 both in South Carolina and Virginia, slaves were armed to kill the -white people and they planned to burn the City of Boston in 1723. In -1730 there was an insurrection in Williamsburg, Va., and five counties -furnished armed men. In 1730 and 1731 homes were burned by slaves in -Massachusetts and in Rhode Island and in 1731 and 1732 three ships crews -were murdered by slaves. In 1729 the Governor of Louisiana reported that -in an expedition sent against the Indians, fifteen Negroes had “performed -prodigies of valor.” But the very next year the Indians, led by a -desperate Negro named Samba, were trying to exterminate the whites.[118] -In 1741 an insurrection of slaves was planned in New York City, for which -thirteen slaves were burned, eighteen hanged and eighty transported. In -1754 and 1755 slaves burned and poisoned certain masters in Charleston, -S. C.[119] - - -4. HAITI AND AFTER - -On the night of August 23, 1791, the great Haitian rebellion took -place. It had been preceded by a small rebellion of the mulattoes who -were bitterly disappointed at the refusal of the planters to assent to -what the free Negroes thought were the basic principles of the French -Revolution. When 450,000 slaves joined them, they began a murderous -civil war seldom paralleled in history. French, English and Spaniards -participated. Toussaint, the first great black leader, was deceived, -imprisoned and died perhaps by poisoning. Twenty-five thousand French -soldiers were sent over by Napoleon Bonaparte to subdue the Negroes and -begin the extension of his American empire through the West Indies and up -the Mississippi valley. Despite all this, the Negroes were triumphant, -established an independent state, made Napoleon give up his dream -of American empire and sell Louisiana for a song:[120] “Thus, all of -Indian Territory, all of Kansas and Nebraska and Iowa and Wyoming and -Montana and the Dakotas, and most of Colorado and Minnesota, and all -of Washington and Oregon states, came to us as the indirect work of a -despised Negro. Praise if you will, the work of Robert Livingston or a -Jefferson, but today let us not forget our debt to Toussaint L’Ouverture -who was indirectly the means of America’s expansion by the Louisiana -Purchase of 1803.”[121] - -The Haitian revolution immediately had its effect upon both North and -South America. We have read how Haitian volunteers helped in the American -revolution. They returned to fight for their own freedom. Afterward when -Bolivar, the founder of five free republics in South America, undertook -his great rebellion in 1811 he at first failed. He took refuge in -Jamaica and implored the help of England but was unsuccessful. Later in -despair he visited Haiti. The black republic was itself at that time in -a precarious position and had to act with great caution. Nevertheless -President Pétion furnished Bolivar, soldiers, arms and money. Bolivar -embarked secretly and again sought to free South America. Again he -failed and a second time returned to Haiti. Money and reinforcements -were a second time furnished him and with the help of these achieved the -liberation of Mexico and Central America. - -Thus black Haiti not only freed itself but helped to kindle liberty -all through America. Refugees from Haiti and San Domingo poured into -the United States both colored and white and had great influence in -Maryland and Louisiana.[122] Moreover the news of the black revolt -filtered through to the slaves in the United States. Here the chains of -slavery were stronger and the number of whites much larger. As I have -said in another place: “A long, awful process of selection chose out the -listless, ignorant, sly and humble and sent to heaven the proud, the -vengeful and the daring. The old African warrior spirit died away of -violence and a broken heart.”[123] - -Nevertheless a series of attempted rebellions took place which can be -traced to the influence of Haiti. In 1800 came the Prosser conspiracy -in Virginia which planned a force of 11,000 Negroes to march in three -columns in the city and seize the arsenal. A terrific storm thwarted -these men and thirty-six were executed for the attempt. In 1791 Negroes -of Louisiana sought to imitate Toussaint leading to the execution of -twenty-three slaves. Other smaller attempts were made in South Carolina -in 1816 and in Georgia in 1819. In 1822 came the celebrated attempt of -Denmark Vesey, an educated freedman who through his trade as carpenter -accumulated considerable wealth. He spoke French and English and was -familiar with the Haitian revolution, the African Colonization scheme -and the agitation attending the Missouri compromise. He openly discussed -slavery and ridiculed the slaves for their cowardice and submission; he -worked through the church and planned the total annihilation of the men, -women and children of Charleston. Thousands of slaves were enrolled but -one betrayed him and this led to the arrest of 137 blacks of whom 35 were -hanged and 37 banished. A white South Carolinian writing after this plot -said: “We regard our Negroes as the Jacobins of the country, against whom -we should always be upon our guard and who although we fear no permanent -effects from any insurrectionary movements on their part, should be -watched with an eye of steady and unremitted observation.”[124] - -Less than ten years elapsed before another insurrection was planned and -partially carried through. Its leader was Nat Turner, a slave born in -Virginia in 1800. He was precocious and considered as “marked” by the -Negroes. He had experimented in making paper, gun powder and pottery; -never swore, never drank and never stole. For the most part he was a -sort of religious devotee, fasting and praying and reading the Bible. -Once he ran away but was commanded by spirit voices to return. By 1825 -he was conscious of a great mission and on May 12, 1831, “a great voice -said unto him that the serpent was loosed, that Christ had laid down -the yoke.” He believed that he, Nat Turner, was to lead the movement -and that “the first should be last and the last first.” An eclipse of -the sun in February, 1831 was a further sign to him. He worked quickly. -Gathering six friends together August 21, they made their plans and then -started the insurrection by killing Nat’s master and the family. About -forty Negroes were gathered in all and they killed sixty-one white men, -women and children. They were headed toward town when finally the whites -began to arm in opposition. It was not, however, until two months later, -October 30, that Turner himself was captured. He was tried November 5 and -sentenced to be hanged. When asked if he believed in the righteousness -of his mission he replied “Was not Christ crucified?” He made no -confession.[125] - -T. R. Grey—Turner’s attorney—said “As to his ignorance, he certainly -had not the advantages of education, but he can read and write and for -natural intelligence and quickness of apprehension is surpassed by -few men I have ever seen. Further the calm, deliberate composure with -which he spoke of his late deeds and intentions, the expression of his -fiend-like face when excited by enthusiasm; still bearing the stains of -the blood of helpless innocence about him; clothed with rags and covered -with chains, yet daring to raise his manacled hands to heaven; with a -spirit soaring above the attributes of man, I looked on him and my blood -curdled in my veins.”[126] - -Panic seized the whole of Virginia and the South. Military companies -were mobilized, both whites and Negroes fled to the swamps, slaves were -imprisoned and even as far down as Macon, Ga., the white women and -children were guarded in a building against supposed insurrections. -New slave codes were adopted, new disabilities put upon freedmen, the -carrying of fire arms was especially forbidden. The Negro churches in -the South were almost stopped from functioning and the Negro preachers -from preaching. Traveling and meeting of slaves was stopped, learning to -read and write was forbidden and incendiary pamphlets hunted down. Free -Negroes were especially hounded, sold into slavery or driven out and a -period of the worst oppression of the Negro in the land followed. - -In 1839 and 1841 two cases of mutiny of slaves on the high seas caused -much commotion in America. In 1839 a schooner, the Amistad, started -from Havana for another West Indian port with 53 slaves. Led by a black -man, Cinque, the slaves rose, killed the captain and some of the crew, -allowed the rest of the crew to escape and put the two owners in irons. -The Negroes then tried to escape to Africa, but after about two months -they landed in Connecticut and a celebrated law case arose over the -disposition of the black mutineers which went to the Supreme Court of -the United States. John Quincy Adams defended them and won his case. -Eventually money was raised and the Negroes returned to Africa. While -this case was in the court the brig Creole in 1841 sailed from Richmond -to New Orleans with 130 slaves. Nineteen of the slaves mutinied and -led by Madison Washington took command of the vessel and sailed to the -British West Indies. Daniel Webster demanded the return of the slaves -but the British authorities refused. - -During these years, rebellion and agitation among Negroes, and agitation -among white friends in Europe, was rapidly freeing the Negroes of the -West Indies and beginning their incorporation into the body politic—a -process not yet finished but which means possibly the eventual -development of a free black and mulatto republic in the isles of the -Caribbean. - -It may be said that in most of these cases the attempts of the Negro to -rebel were abortive, and this is true. Yet it must be remembered that in -a few cases they had horrible success; in others nothing but accident or -the actions of favorite slaves saved similar catastrophe, and more and -more the white South had the feeling that it was sitting upon a volcano -and that nothing but the sternest sort of repression would keep the Negro -“in his place.” The appeal of the Negro to force invited reaction and -retaliation not only in the South, as we have noted, but also in the -North. Here the common white workingman and particularly the new English, -Scotch and Irish immigrants entirely misconceived the writhing of the -black man. These white laborers, themselves so near slavery, did not -recognize the struggle of the black slave as part of their own struggle; -rather they felt the sting of economic rivalry and underbidding for home -and job; they easily absorbed hatred and contempt for Negroes as their -first American lesson and were flattered by the white capitalists, slave -owners and sympathizers with slavery into lynching and clubbing their -dark fellow victims back into the pit whence they sought to crawl. It was -a scene for angels’ tears. - -In 1826 Negroes were attacked in Cincinnati and also in 1836 and 1841. At -Portsmouth, Ohio, nearly one-half of the Negroes were driven out of the -city in 1830 while mobs drove away free Negroes from Mercer County, Ohio. -In Philadelphia, Negroes were attacked in 1820, 1830 and 1834, having -their churches and property burned and ruined. In 1838 there was another -anti-Negro riot and in 1842, when the blacks attempted to celebrate -abolition in the West Indies. Pittsburg had a riot in 1839 and New York -in 1843 and 1863.[127] - -Thus we can see that the fear and heart searchings and mental upheaval of -those who saw the anomaly of slavery in the United States was based not -only upon theoretical democracy but on force and fear of force as used -by the degraded blacks, and on the reaction of that appeal on southern -legislatures and northern mobs. - - -5. THE APPEAL TO REASON - -The appeal of the Negro to democracy, however, was not entirely or -perhaps even principally an appeal of force. There was continually the -appeal to reason and justice. Take the significant case of Paul Cuffee of -Massachusetts, born in 1759, of a Negro father and Indian mother. When -the selectmen of the town of Dartmouth refused to admit colored children -to the public schools, or even to make separate provision for them, he -refused to pay his school taxes. He was duly imprisoned, but when freed -he built at his own expense a school house and opened it to all without -race discrimination. His white neighbors were glad to avail themselves of -this school as it was more convenient and just as good as the school in -town. The result was that the colored children were soon admitted to all -schools. Cuffee was a ship owner and trader, and afterward took a colony -to Liberia at his own expense.[128] Again Prince Hall, the Negro founder -of the African Lodge of Masons which the English set up in 1775, aroused -by the revolution in Haiti and a race riot in Boston said in 1797: - -“Patience, I say, for were we not possessed of a great measure of it you -could not bear up under the daily insults you meet with in the streets -of Boston; much more on public days of recreation, how are you shamefully -abused, and that at such a degree that you may truly be said to carry -your lives in your own hands.... - -“My brethren, let us not be cast down under these and many other abuses -we at present labor under; for the darkest hour is before the break of -day. My brethren, let us remember what a dark day it was with our African -brethren six years ago, in the French West Indies.... But blessed be to -God, the scene is changed, they now confess that God hath no respect of -persons, and therefore receive them as their friends and treat them as -brothers. Thus doth Ethiopia begin to stretch forth her hand from a sink -of slavery to freedom and equality.”[129] - -A more subtle appeal was made by seven Massachusetts Negroes on -taxation without representation. In a petition to the General Court -of Massachusetts in 1780 they said: “We being chiefly of the African -extract, and by reason of long bondage and hard slavery, we have been -deprived of enjoying the profits of our labor or the advantage of -inheriting estates from our parents, as our neighbors the white people -do, having some of us not long enjoyed our own freedom; yet of late, -contrary to the invariable custom and practice of the country, we have -been, and now are, taxed both in our polls and that small pittance of -estate which, through much hard labor and industry, we have got together -to sustain ourselves and families withall. We apprehend it therefore, to -be hard usage, and will doubtless (if continued) reduce us to a state -of beggary, whereby we shall become a burden to others, if not timely -prevented by the interposition of your justice and power. - -“Your petitioners further show, that we apprehend ourselves to be -aggrieved, in that, while we are not allowed the privilege of free men -of the State, having no vote or influence in the election of those that -tax us, yet many of our color (as is well known) have cheerfully entered -the field of battle in the defence of the common cause, and that (as we -conceive) against similar exertion of power (in regard to taxation) too -well known to need a recital in this place.”[130] - -Perhaps though the most startling appeal and challenge came from David -Walker, a free Negro, born of a free mother and slave father in North -Carolina in 1785. He had some education, had traveled widely and -conducted a second-hand clothing store in Boston in 1827. He spoke to -various audiences of Negroes in 1828 and the following year published -the celebrated “Appeal in four articles, together with a preamble to -the Colored Citizens of the World but in particular and very expressly -to those of the United States of America.” It was a thin volume of 76 -octavol pages, but it was frank and startlingly clear: - -“Can our condition be any worse? Can it be more mean and abject? If there -are any changes, will they not be for the better though they may appear -for the worst at first? Can they get us any lower? Where can they get -us? They cannot treat us worse; for they well know the day they do it -they are gone. But against all accusations which may or can be preferred -against me, I appeal to heaven for my motive in writing—who knows that my -object is if possible to awaken in the breasts of my afflicted, degraded -and slumbering brethren a spirit of enquiry and investigation respecting -our miseries and wretchedness in this Republican land of Liberty!!!! - -“My beloved brethren:—The Indians of North and South America—the -Greeks—the Irish, subjected under the King of Great Britain—the Jews, -that ancient people of the Lord—the inhabitants of the Islands of the -Sea—in fine, all the inhabitants of the Earth, (except, however, the sons -of Africa) are called men and of course are and ought to be free.—But -we, (colored people) and our children are brutes and of course are and -ought to be slaves to the American people and their children forever—to -dig their mines and work their farms; and thus go on enriching them from -one generation to another with our blood and our tears!!!! - -“I saw a paragraph, a few years since, in a South Carolina paper, which, -speaking of the barbarity of the Turks, it said: ‘The Turks are the most -barbarous people in the world—they treat the Greeks more like brutes than -human beings.’ And in the same paper was an advertisement which said: -‘Eight well built Virginia and Maryland Negro fellows and four wenches -will positively be sold this day to the highest bidder!’ - -“Beloved brethren—here let me tell you, and believe it, that the Lord our -God as true as He sits on His throne in heaven and as true as our Saviour -died to redeem the world, will give you a Hannibal, and when the Lord -shall have raised him up and given him to you for your possession, Oh! -my suffering brethren, remember the divisions and consequent sufferings -of Carthage and of Haiti. Read the history particularly of Haiti and -see how they were butchered by the whites and do you take warning. The -person whom God shall give you, give him your support and let him go -his length and behold in him the salvation of your God. God will indeed -deliver you through him from your deplorable and wretched condition under -the Christians of America. I charge you this day before my God to lay -no obstacle in his way, but let him go.... What the American preachers -can think of us, I aver this day before my God I have never been able to -define. They have newspapers and monthly periodicals which they receive -in continual succession but on the pages of which you will scarcely ever -find a paragraph respecting slavery which is ten thousand times more -injurious to this country than all the other evils put together; and -which will be the final overthrow of its government unless something is -very speedily done; for their cup is nearly full.—Perhaps they will laugh -at or make light of this; but I tell you, Americans! that unless you -speedily alter your course, you and your Country are gone! - -“Do you understand your own language? Hear your language proclaimed to -the world, July 4, 1776—‘We hold these truths to be self evident—that -ALL men are created EQUAL!! That they are endowed by their Creator with -certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the -pursuit of happiness!!! Compare your own language above, extracted -from your Declaration of Independence, with your cruelties and murders -inflicted by your cruel and unmerciful fathers and yourselves on our -fathers and on us—men who have never given your fathers or you the least -provocation!!! - -“Now Americans! I ask you candidly, was your suffering under Great -Britain one hundredth part as cruel and tyrannical as you have rendered -ours under you? Some of you, no doubt, believe that we will never throw -off your murderous government and provide new guards for our future -‘security’. If Satan has made you believe it, will he not deceive you?” - -The book had a remarkable career. It appeared in September, was in a -third edition by the following March and aroused the South to fury. -Special laws were passed and demands made that Walker be punished. He -died in 1830, possibly by foul play. - - -6. THE FUGITIVE SLAVE - -Beside force and the appeal to reason there was a third method which -practically was more effective and decisive for eventual abolition, and -that was the escape from slavery through running away. On the islands -this meant escape to the mountains and existence as brigands. In South -America it meant escape to the almost impenetrable forest. - -As I have said elsewhere:[131] - -“One thing saved the South from the blood sacrifice of Haiti—not, to be -sure, from so successful a revolt, for the disproportion of races was -less, but from a desperate and bloody effort—and that was the escape of -the fugitive. - -“Along the Great Black Way stretched swamps and rivers and the forests -and crests of the Alleghanies. A widening, hurrying stream of fugitives -swept to the havens of refuge, taking the restless, the criminal and the -unconquered—the natural leaders of the more timid mass. These men saved -slavery and killed it. They saved it by leaving it to a false seductive -dream of peace and the eternal subjugation of the laboring class. They -destroyed it by presenting themselves before the eyes of the North and -the world as living specimens of the real meaning of slavery.” - -“Three paths were opened to the slaves: to submit, to fight or to run -away. Most of them submitted, as do most people everywhere, to force and -fate. To fight singly meant death and to fight together meant plot and -insurrection—a difficult thing, but one often tried. Easiest of all was -to run away, for the land was wide and bare and the slaves were many. -At first they ran to the swamps and mountains and starved and died. Then -they ran to the Indians and in Florida founded a nation, to overthrow -which cost the United States $20,000,000 and more in slave raids known as -the Seminole ‘wars.’ Then gradually, after the War of 1812 had used so -many black sailors to fight for free trade that the Negroes learned of -the North and Canada as cities of refuge, they fled northward.” - -From the sixteenth century Florida Indians had Negro blood, but from -early part of the nineteenth century the Seminoles gained a large new -infiltration of Negro blood from the numbers of slaves who fled to them -and with whom they intermarried. The first Seminole war, therefore, -in 1818 was not simply a defense of the frontiers against the Indians -and a successful raid to drive Spain from Florida, it was also a slave -raid by Georgia owners determined to have back their property. By 1815 -Negroes from Georgia among the Creeks and Seminoles numbered not less -than 11,000 and were settled along the Appalachicola river, many of them -with good farms and with a so-called Negro “fort” for protection. The war -was disastrous to Negroes and Indians but not fatal and in 1822 some 800 -Negroes were counted among the Indians who inhabited the new territory -seized from Spain. Pressure to secure alleged fugitives and Negroes from -the Indians was kept up for the next three years and the second Seminole -war broke out because the whites treacherously seized the mulatto wife of -the Indian chief Osceola. The war broke out in 1837 and its real nature, -as a New Orleans paper said in 1839, was to subdue the Seminoles and -decrease the danger of uprisings “among the serviles.” Finally after a -total cost of twenty million dollars the Indians were subdued and moved -to the West and a part of the Negroes driven back into slavery, but not -all.[132] - -Through the organization which came to be known as the Underground -Railroad, thousands of slaves escaped through Kentucky and into the -Middle West and thence into Canada and also by way of the Appalachian -Mountains into Pennsylvania and the East. Not only were they helped by -white abolitionists but they were guided by black men and women like -Joshua Henson and Harriet Tubman. - -Beside this there came the effort for emigration to Africa which was very -early suggested. Two colored men sailed from New York for Africa in 1774 -but the Revolutionary War stopped the effort thus begun. The Virginia -legislature in secret session after Gabriel’s insurrection in 1800, -tried to suggest the buying of some land for the colonization of free -Negroes, following the proposal of Thomas Jefferson made in 1781. Paul -Cuffee, mentioned above, started the actual migration in 1815 carrying -nine colored families, thirty-eight persons in all, to Sierra Leone at -an expense of $4,000 which he paid himself. Finally came the American -Colonization Society in 1817 but it was immediately turned from a real -effort to abolish slavery gradually into an effort to get rid of free -Negroes and obstreperous slaves. Even the South saw it and Robert Y. -Hayne said in Congress: “While this process is going on, the colored -classes are gradually diffusing themselves throughout the country and are -making steady advances in intelligence and refinement and if half the -zeal were displayed in bettering their condition that is now wasted in -the vain and fruitless effort of sending them abroad, their intellectual -and moral improvement would be steady and rapid.” - - -7. BARGAINING - -The Negro early learned a lesson which he may yet teach the modern world -and which may prove his crowning gift to America and the world: Force -begets force and you cannot in the end run away successfully from the -world’s problems. The Negro early developed the shrewd foresight of -recognizing the fact that as a minority of black folk in a growing white -country, he could not win his battle by force. Moreover, for the mass of -Negroes it was impracticable to run away and find refuge in some other -land. - -Even the appeal to reason had its limitations in an unreasoning land. It -could not unfortunately base itself on justice and right in the midst -of the selfish, breathless battle to earn a living. There was however a -chance to prove that justice and self interest sometimes go hand in hand. -Force and flight might sometimes help but there was still the important -method of co-operating with the best forces of the nation in order to -help them to win and in order to prove that the Negro was a valuable -asset, not simply as a laborer but as a worker for social uplift, as an -American. Sometimes this co-operation was in simple and humble ways and -nevertheless striking. There was, for instance, the yellow fever epidemic -in Philadelphia in 1793. The blacks were not suffering from it or at -least not supposed to suffer from it as much as the whites. The papers -appealed to them to come forward and help with the sick. Led by Jones, -Gray and Allen, Negroes volunteered their services and worked with the -sick and in burying the dead, even spending some of their own funds in -the gruesome duty. The same thing happened much later in New Orleans, -Memphis and Cuba. - -In larger ways it must be remembered that the Abolition crusade itself -could not have been successful without the co-operation of Negroes. -Black folk like Remond, Frederick Douglass, and Sojourner Truth, were -not simply advocates for freedom but were themselves living refutations -of the whole doctrine of slavery. Their appeal was tremendous in its -efficiency and besides, the free Negroes helped by work and money to -spread the Abolition campaign.[133] - -In addition to this there was much deliberate bargaining,—careful -calculation on the part of the Negro that if the whites would aid them, -they in turn would aid the whites at critical times and that otherwise -they would not. Much of this went on at the time of the Revolution and -was clearly recognized by the whites. - -Alexander Hamilton (himself probably of Negro descent) said in 1779: -“The contempt we have been taught to entertain for the blacks makes us -fancy many things that are founded neither in reason nor experience; -and an unwillingness to part with property of so valuable a kind will -furnish a thousand arguments to show the impracticability or pernicious -tendency of a scheme which requires such a sacrifice. But it should be -considered that if we do not make use of them in this way, the enemy -probably will; and that the best way to counteract the temptations they -will hold out will be to offer them ourselves. An essential part of the -plan is to give them their freedom with their muskets. This will secure -their fidelity, animate their courage, and, I believe, will have a good -influence upon those who remain by opening a door to their emancipation. -This circumstance, I confess, has no small weight in inducing me to wish -the success of the project; for the dictates of humanity and true policy -equally interest me in favor of this unfortunate class of men.”[134] - -Dr. Hopkins wrote in 1776: “God is so ordering it in His providence that -it seems absolutely necessary something should speedily be done with -respect to the slaves among us in order to our safety and to prevent -their turning against us in our present struggle in order to get their -liberty. Our oppressors have planned to gain the blacks and induce them -to take up arms against us by promising them liberty on this condition; -and this plan they are prosecuting to the utmost of their power.... The -only way pointed out to prevent this threatening evil is to set the -blacks at liberty ourselves by some public acts and laws; and then give -them proper encouragement to labor or take arms in the defense of the -American cause, as they shall choose. This would at once be doing them -some degree of justice and defeating our enemies in the scheme they are -prosecuting.”[135] - -When Dunmore appealed to the slaves of Virginia at the beginning of the -Revolution, the slave owners issued an almost plaintive counter appeal: - -“Can it, then, be supposed that the Negroes will be better used by the -English who have always encouraged and upheld this slavery than by their -present masters who pity their condition; who wish, in general, to make -it easy and comfortable as possible; and who would, were it in their -power, or were they permitted, not only prevent any more Negroes from -losing their freedom but restore it to such as have already unhappily -lost it?”[136] - -In the South, where Negroes for the most part were not received as -soldiers, the losses of the slaveholders by defection among the slaves -was tremendous. John Adams says that the Georgia delegates gave him “a -melancholy account of the State of Georgia and South Carolina. They said -if one thousand regular troops should land in Georgia and their commander -be provided with arms and clothes enough and proclaim freedom to all -the Negroes who would join his camp, twenty thousand Negroes would join -it from the two provinces in a fortnight. The Negroes have a wonderful -art of communicating intelligence among themselves; it will run several -hundreds of miles in a week or fortnight. They said their only security -was this,—that all the King’s friends and tools of Government have large -plantations and property in Negroes, so that the slaves of the Tories -would be lost as well as those of the Whigs.”[137] - -Great Britain, after Cornwallis surrendered, even dreamed of reconquering -America with Negroes. A Tory wrote to Lord Dunmore in 1782: - -“If, my Lord, this scheme is adopted, arranged and ready for being put -in execution, the moment the troops penetrate into the country after the -arrival of the promised re-enforcements, America is to be conquered with -its own force (I mean the Provincial troops and the black troops to be -raised), and the British and Hessian army could be spared to attack the -French where they are most vulnerable....” - -“‘What! Arm the slaves? We shudder at the very idea, so repugnant to -humanity, so barbarous and shocking to human nature,’ etc. One very -simple answer is, in my mind, to be given: Whether it is better to -make this vast continent become an acquisition of power, strength and -consequence to Great Britain again, or tamely give it up to France who -will reap the fruits of American independence to the utter ruin of -Britain? ... experience will, I doubt not, justify the assertion that -by embodying the most hardy, intrepid and determined blacks, they would -not only keep the rest in good order but by being disciplined and under -command be prevented from raising cabals, tumults, and even rebellion, -what I think might be expected soon after a peace; but so far from -making even our lukewarm friends and secret foes greater enemies by this -measure, I will, by taking their slaves, engage to make them better -friends.”[138] - -On the other hand, the Colonial General Greene wrote to the Governor of -South Carolina the same year: - -“The natural strength of the country in point of numbers appears to me -to consist much more in the blacks than in the whites. Could they be -incorporated and employed for its defence, it would afford you double -security. That they would make good soldiers, I have not the least doubt; -and I am persuaded the State has it not in its power to give sufficient -re-enforcements without incorporating them either to secure the country -if the enemy mean to act vigorously upon an offensive plan or furnish a -force sufficient to dispossess them of Charleston should it be defensive.” - -This spirit of bargaining, more or less carefully carried out, can be -seen in every time of stress and war. During the Civil War certain groups -of Negroes sought repeatedly to make terms with the Confederacy. Judah -Benjamin said at a public meeting in Richmond in 1865: - -“We have 680,000 blacks capable of bearing arms and who ought now to -be in the field. Let us now say to every Negro who wishes to go into -the ranks on condition of being free, go and fight—you are free. My -own Negroes have been to me and said, ‘Master, set us free and we’ll -fight for you.’ You must make up your minds to try this or see your -army withdrawn from before your town. I know not where white men can be -found.”[139] - -Robert E. Lee said: “We should not expect slaves to fight for prospective -freedom when they can secure it at once by going to the enemy in whose -service they will incur no greater risk than in ours. The reasons that -induce me to recommend the employment of Negro troops at all render the -effect of the measures I have suggested upon slavery immaterial and in -my opinion the best means of securing the efficiency and fidelity of the -auxiliary force would be to accompany the measure with a well-digested -plan of gradual and general emancipation. As that will be the result of -the continuance of the war and will certainly occur if the enemy succeed, -it seems to me most advisable to adopt it at once and thereby obtain all -the benefits that will accrue to our cause. - -“The employment of Negro troops under regulations similar to those -indicated would, in my opinion, greatly increase our military strength -and enable us to relieve our white population to some extent. I think we -could dispense with the reserve forces except in cases of emergency. It -would disappoint the hopes which our enemies have upon our exhaustion, -deprive them in a great measure of the aid they now derive from black -troops and thus throw the burden of the war upon their own people. In -addition to the great political advantages that would result to our -cause from the adoption of a system of emancipation, it would exercise a -salutary influence upon our Negro population by rendering more secure the -fidelity of those who become soldiers and diminishing inducements to the -rest to abscond.”[140] - -At the time of the World War there was a distinct attitude on the part of -the Negro population that unless they were recognized in the draft and -had Negro officers and were not forced to become simply laborers, they -would not fight and while expression of this determination was not always -made openly it was recognized even by an administration dominated by -Southerners. Especially were there widespread rumors of German intrigue -among Negroes, which had some basis of fact. - -Within the Negro group every effort for organization and uplift was -naturally an effort toward the development of American democracy. -The motive force of democracy has nearly always been the push from -below rather than the aristocratic pull from above; the effort of the -privileged classes to outstrip the surging forward of the bourgeoisie has -made groups and nations rise; the determination of the “poor whites” in -the South not to be outdone by the “nigger” has been caused by the black -man’s frantic efforts to rise rather than by any innate ambition on the -part of the lower class of whites. It was a push from below and it made -the necessity of recognizing the white laborer even more apparent. The -great democratic movement which took place during the reign of Andrew -Jackson from 1829-1837 was caused in no small degree by the persistent -striving of the Negroes. They began their meeting together in conventions -in 1830, they organized migration to Canada.[141] In the trouble with -Canada in 1837 and 1838 Negro refugees from America helped to defend -the frontiers. Bishop Loguen says: “The colored population of Canada at -that time was small compared to what it now is; nevertheless, it was -sufficiently large to attract the attention of the government. They were -almost to a man fugitives from the States. They could not, therefore, -be passive when the success of the invaders would break the only arm -interposed for their security, and destroy the only asylum for African -freedom in North America. The promptness with which several companies -of blacks were organized and equipped, and the desperate valor they -displayed in this brief conflict, are an earnest of what may be expected -from the welling thousands of colored fugitives collecting there, in the -event of a war between the two countries.”[142] - -In America during this time they sought to establish a manual training -college, they established their first weekly newspaper and they made -a desperate fight for admission to the schools. They helped thus -immeasurably the movement for universal popular education, joined the -anti-slavery societies and organized churches and beneficial societies; -bought land and continued to appeal. Wealthy free Negroes began to appear -even in the South, as in the case of Jehu Jones, proprietor of a popular -hotel in Charleston, and later Thomé Lafon of New Orleans who accumulated -nearly a half million dollars and eventually left it to Negro charities -which still exist. In the North there were tailors and lumber merchants -and the guild of the caterers; taxable property slowly but surely -increased. - -All this in a peculiar way forced a more all-embracing democracy upon -America, and it blossomed to fuller efficiency after the Civil War. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE RECONSTRUCTION OF FREEDOM - - How the black fugitive, soldier and freedman after the Civil - War helped to restore the Union, establish public schools, - enfranchise the poor white and initiate industrial democracy in - America. - - -There have been four great steps toward democracy taken in America: -The refusal to be taxed by the English Parliament; the escape from -European imperialism; the discarding of New England aristocracy; and the -enfranchisement of the Negro slave. - -What did the Emancipation of the slave really mean? It meant such -property rights as would give him a share in the income of southern -industry large enough to support him as a modern free laborer; and such -a legal status as would enable him by education and experience to bear -his responsibility as a worker and citizen. This was an enormous task -and meant the transformation of a slave holding oligarchy into a modern -industrial democracy. - -Who could do this? Some thought it done by the Emancipation Proclamation -and the 13th amendment and Garrison with naive faith in bare law abruptly -stopped the issue of the _Liberator_ when the slave was declared “free.” -The Negro was not freed by edict or sentiment but by the Abolitionists -backed by the persistent action of the slave himself as fugitive, soldier -and voter. - -Slavery was the cause of the war. There might have been other questions -large enough and important enough to have led to a disruption of the -Union but none have successfully done so except slavery. But the North -fought for union and not against slavery and for a long time it refused -to recognize that the Civil War was essentially a war against Negro -slavery. Abraham Lincoln said to Horace Greeley as late as August, 1862, -“If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the -same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object -is to save the Union and not either to save or destroy slavery.” - -Despite this attitude it was evident very soon that the Nation was -fighting against the symptom of disease and not against the cause. If we -look at the action of the North taken by itself, we find these singular -contradictions: They fought for the Union; they suddenly emancipated the -slave; they enfranchised the Freedmen; they abandoned the Freedmen. If -now this had been the deliberate action of the North it would have been a -crazy program; but it was not. The action of the American Negro himself -forced the nation into many of these various contradictions; and the -motives of the Negro were primarily economic. He was trying to achieve -economic emancipation. And it is this fact that makes Reconstruction one -of the greatest attempts to spread democracy which the modern world has -seen. - -There were in the South in 1860, 3,838,765 Negro slaves and 258,346 -free Negroes. The question of land and fugitive slaves had precipitated -the war: that is, if slavery was to survive it had to have more slave -territory, and this the North refused. Moreover if slavery was to survive -the drain of fugitive slaves must stop or the slave trade be reopened. -The North refused to consider the reopening of the slave trade and only -half-heartedly enforced the fugitive slave laws. - -No sooner then did the war open in April, 1861, than two contradictory -things happened: Fugitive slaves began to come into the lines of the -Union armies at the very time that Union Generals were assuring the South -that slavery would not be interfered with. In Virginia, Colonel Tyler -said “The relation of master and servant as recognized in your state -shall be respected.” At Port Royal, General T. W. Sherman declared that -he would not interfere with “Your social and local institution.” Dix in -Virginia refused to admit fugitive slaves within his lines and Halleck in -Missouri excluded them. Later, both Buell at Nashville and Hooker on the -upper Potomac allowed their camps to be searched by masters for fugitive -slaves.[143] - -Against this attitude, however, there appeared, even in the first year -of the War, some unanswerable considerations. For instance three slaves -escaped into General Butler’s lines at Fortress Monroe just as they were -about to be sent to North Carolina to work on Confederate fortifications. -Butler immediately said “These men are contraband of war, set them at -work.” Butler’s action was sustained.[144] But when Fremont, in August -freed the slaves of Missouri under martial law, declaring it an act -of war, Lincoln hastened to repudiate his action;[145] and the same -thing happened the next year when Hunter at Hilton Head, S. C. declared -“Slavery and martial law in a free country ... incompatible.”[146] -Nevertheless here loomed difficulty and the continued coming of the -fugitive slaves increased the difficulty and forced action. - -The year 1862 saw the fugitive slave recognized as a worker and helper -within the Union lines and eventually as a soldier bearing arms. -Thousands of black men during that year, of all ages and both sexes, -clad in rags and with their bundles on their backs, gathered wherever -the Union Army gained foothold—at Norfolk, Hampton, at Alexandria and -Nashville and along the border towards the West. There was sickness and -hunger and some crime but everywhere there was desire for employment. -It was in vain that Burnside was insisting that slavery was not to be -touched and that McClellan repeated this on his Peninsular Campaign. - -A change of official attitude began to appear as indeed it had to. When -for instance General Saxton, with headquarters at Beauford, S. C., took -military control of that district, he began to establish market houses -for the sale of produce from the plantations and to put the Negroes to -work as wage laborers. When, in the West, Grant’s army occupied Grand -Junction, Mississippi and a swarm of fugitives appeared, naked and -hungry, some were employed as teamsters, servants and cooks and finally -Grant appointed a “Chief of Negro affairs” for the entire district -under his jurisdiction. Crops were harvested, wages paid, wood cutters -swarmed in forests to furnish fuel for the Federal gun-boats, cabins were -erected and a regular “Freedmen’s Bureau” came gradually into operation. -The Negroes thus employed as regular helpers and laborers in the army, -swelled to more than 200,000 before the end of the war; and if we count -transient workers and spies who helped with information, the number -probably reached a half million. - -If now the Negro could work for the Union Army why could he not also -fight? We have seen in the last chapter how the nation hesitated and then -yielded in 1862. The critical Battle of Antietam took place September -17th and the confederate avalanche was checked. Five days later, Abraham -Lincoln proclaimed that he was going to recommend an appropriation -by Congress for encouraging the gradual abolition of slavery through -payment for the slaves; and that on the following January 1st, in all the -territory which was still at war with the United States, he proposed to -declare the slaves free as a military measure.[147] Thus the year 1862 -saw the Negro as an active worker in the army and as a soldier. - -This fact together with the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1st, -made the year 1863 a significant year. Not only were most of the -slaves legally freed by military edict but by the very fact of their -emancipation the stream of fugitives became a vast flood. The Army had to -organize departments and appoint officials for the succor and guidance of -these fugitives in their work; relief on a large scale began to appear -from the North and the demand of the Negro for education began to be felt -in the starting of schools here and there. - -“The fugitives poured into the lines and gradually were used as laborers -and helpers. Immediately teaching began and gradually schools sprang up. -When at last the Emancipation Proclamation was issued and Negro soldiers -called for, it was necessary to provide more systematically for Negroes. -Various systems and experiments grew up here and there. The Freedmen -were massed in large numbers at Fortress Monroe, Va., Washington, D. C., -Beaufort and Port Royal, S. C., New Orleans, La., Vicksburg and Corinth, -Miss., Columbus, Ky., Cairo, Ill., and elsewhere. In such places schools -immediately sprang up under the army officers and chaplains. The most -elaborate system, perhaps, was that under General Banks in Louisiana. -It was established in 1863 and soon had a regular Board of Education, -which laid and collected taxes and supported eventually nearly a hundred -schools with ten thousand pupils, under 162 teachers. At Port Royal, -S. C., were gathered Edward L. Pierce’s ‘Ten Thousand Clients’.... In -the west, General Grant appointed Colonel John Eaton, afterwards United -States Commissioner of Education to be Superintendent of Freedmen -in 1862. He sought to consolidate and regulate the schools already -established and succeeded in organizing a large system.”[148] - -The Treasury Department of the Government, solicitous for the cotton -crop, took charge of certain plantations in order to encourage the -workers and preserve the crop. Thus during the Spring of 1863, there were -groups of Freedmen and refugees in long broken lines between the two -armies reaching from Maryland to the Kansas border and down the coast -from Norfolk to New Orleans. - -In 1864 a significant action took place: the petty and insulting -discrimination in the pay of white and colored soldiers was stopped. -The Negro began to be a free man and the center of the problem -of Emancipation became land and organized industry. Eaton, the -Superintendent of Freedmen reports, July 15, for his particular district: - -“These Freedmen are now disposed of as follows: In military service as -soldiers’ laundresses, cooks, officers’ servants and laborers in the -various staff departments, 41,150; in cities, on plantations and in -freedmen’s villages and cared for, 72,500. Of these 62,300 are entirely -self-supporting—the same as any individual class anywhere else—as -planters, mechanics, barbers, hackmen, draymen, etc., conducting on -their own responsibility or working as hired laborers. The remaining -10,200 receive subsistence from the government. Three thousand of them -are members of families whose heads are carrying on plantations and have -under cultivation 4,000 acres of cotton. They are to pay the government -for their subsistence from the first income of the crop. The other 7,200 -include the paupers, that is to say, all Negroes over and under the -self-supporting age, the crippled and sick in hospitals, of the 113,650, -and those engaged in their care. Instead of being unproductive this class -has now under cultivation 500 acres of corn, 970 acres of vegetables -and 1,500 acres of cotton besides working at wood-chopping and other -industries. There are reported in the aggregate over 100,000 acres of -cotton under cultivation. Of these about 7,000 acres are leased and -cultivated by blacks. Some Negroes are managing as high as 300 or 400 -acres....”[149] - -The experiment at Davis Bend, Mississippi, was of especial interest: -“Late in the season—in November and December, 1864,—the Freedmen’s -Department was restored to full control over the camps and plantations -on President’s Island and Palmyra or Davis Bend. Both these points had -been originally occupied at the suggestion of General Grant and were -among the most successful of our enterprises for the Negroes. With -the expansion of the lessee system, private interests were allowed to -displace the interest of the Negroes whom we had established there under -the protection of the government, but orders issued by General N. J. T. -Dana, upon whose sympathetic and intelligent co-operation my officers -could always rely, restored to us the full control of these lands. The -efforts of the freedmen on Davis Bend were particularly encouraging, and -this property under Colonel Thomas’ able direction, became in reality the -“Negro Paradise” that General Grant had urged us to make of it.”[150] - -The United States Treasury went further in overseeing Freedmen and -abandoned lands and appointed special agents over “Freedmen’s home -colonies.” Down the Mississippi Valley, General Thomas issued a -lengthy series of instructions covering industry. He appointed three -Commissioners to lease plantations and care for the employees; fixed the -rate of wages and taxed cotton. At Newbern, N. C., there were several -thousand refugees to whom land was assigned and about 800 houses rented. -After Sherman’s triumphant March to the Sea, Secretary Stanton himself -went to Savannah to investigate the condition of the Negroes. - -It was significant that even this early Abraham Lincoln himself was -suggesting limited Negro suffrage. Already he was thinking of the -reconstruction of the states; Louisiana had been in Union hands for two -years and Lincoln wrote to Governor Hahn, March 13th, 1864: “Now you are -about to have a convention, which, ... will probably define the elective -franchise. I barely suggest, for your private consideration, whether -some of the colored people may not be let in, as, for instance, the very -intelligent, and especially those who have fought gallantly in our ranks. -They would probably help, in some trying time to come, to keep the jewel -of liberty within the family of freedom. But this is only a suggestion, -not to the public, but to you alone.”[151] - -Here again the development had been logical. The Negroes were voting -in many Northern states. At least one-half million of them were taking -part in the war, nearly 200,000 as armed soldiers. They were beginning -to be reorganized in industry by the army officials as free laborers. -Naturally the question must come sooner or later: Could they be expected -to maintain their freedom, either political or economic, unless they had -a vote? And Lincoln with rare foresight saw this several months before -the end of the war. - -The year 1865 brought fully to the front the question of Negro suffrage -and Negro free labor. They were recognized January 16th, when Sherman -settled large numbers of Negroes on the Sea Islands. His order said: - -“The Islands from Charleston, south, the abandoned rice fields along the -rivers for thirty miles from the sea, and the country bordering the St. -John’s river, Florida, are reserved and set apart for the settlement of -the Negroes now made free by the acts of war and the proclamation of the -President of the United States. - -“At Beaufort, Hilton Head, Savannah, Fernandina, St. Augustine, and -Jacksonville, the blacks may remain in their chosen or accustomed -vocations but on the islands, and in the settlements hereafter to be -established, no white person whatever, unless military officers and -soldiers detailed for duty, will be permitted to reside; and the sole -and exclusive management of affairs will be left to the freed people -themselves, subject only to the United States military authority and -the acts of Congress. By the laws of war and orders of the President of -the United States the Negro is free, and must be dealt with as such. -He cannot be subjected to conscription or forced military service, -save by the written orders of the highest military authority of the -department, under such regulations as the President or Congress may -prescribe. Domestic servants, blacksmiths, carpenters, and other -mechanics, will be free to select their own work and residence, but the -young and able-bodied Negroes must be encouraged to enlist as soldiers -in the service of the United States, to contribute their share towards -maintaining their own freedom, and securing their rights as citizens of -the United States. - -“Whenever three respectable Negroes, heads of families shall desire to -settle on lands, and shall have selected for that purpose an island -or a locality clearly defined, within the limits above designated, -the Inspector of Settlements and Plantations will himself, or by such -subordinate officer as he may appoint, give them a license to settle -such island or district, and afford them such assistance as he can to -enable them to establish a peaceful agricultural settlement. The three -parties named will subdivide the land, under the supervision of the -Inspector, among themselves and such others as may choose to settle near -them, so that each family shall have a plot of not more than forty (40) -acres of tillable ground, and when it borders on some water channel, -with not more than 800 feet water front, in the possession of which land -the military authorities will afford them protection until such time -as they can protect themselves, or until Congress shall regulate their -title.”[152] - -On March 3, 1865 the Nation came to the parting of the ways. Two measures -passed Congress on this momentous date. First, a Freedmen’s Bank was -incorporated at Washington “to receive on deposit therefore, by or on -behalf of persons heretofore held in slavery in the United States or -their descendants, and investing the same in the stocks, bonds, Treasury -notes, or other securities of the United States.”[153] The first year it -had $300,000 of deposits and the deposits increased regularly until in -1871 there were nearly $20,000,000. Also on March 3rd, the Freedmen’s -Bureau Act was passed. The war was over. Sometime the South must have -restored home rule. When that came what would happen to the freedmen? - -These paths were before the nation: - -1. They might abandon the freedman to the mercy of his former masters. - -2. They might for a generation or more make the freedmen the wards of -the nation—protecting them, encouraging them, educating their children, -giving them land and a minimum of capital and thus inducting them into -real economic and political freedom. - -3. They might force a grant of Negro suffrage, support the Negro voters -for a brief period and then with hands off let them sink or swim. - -The second path was the path of wisdom and statesmanship. But the country -would not listen to such a comprehensive plan. If the form of this Bureau -had been worked out by Charles Sumner today instead of sixty years ago, -it would have been regarded as a proposal far less revolutionary than -the modern labor legislation of America and Europe. A half-century ago, -however, and in a country which gave the _laisser-faire_ economics -their extremest trial the Freedmen’s Bureau struck the whole nation as -unthinkable save as a very temporary expedient and to relieve the more -pointed forms of distress following war. Yet the proposals of the Bureau -as actually established by the laws of 1865 and 1866 were both simple and -sensible: - -1. To oversee the making and enforcement of wage contracts. - -2. To appear in the courts as the freedmen’s best friend. - -3. To furnish the freedmen with a minimum of land and of capital. - -4. To establish schools. - -5. To furnish such institutions of relief as hospitals, outdoor stations, -etc. - -How a sensible people could expect really to conduct a slave into freedom -with less than this is hard to see. Of course even with such tutelage -extending over a period of two or three decades the ultimate end had to -be enfranchisement and political and social freedom for those freedmen -who attained a certain set standard. Otherwise the whole training had -neither object nor guarantee. - -Naturally the Bureau was no sooner established than it faced implacable -enemies. The white South naturally opposed to a man because it -practically abolished private profit in the exploitation of labor. To -step from slave to free labor was economic catastrophe in the opinion of -the white South: but to step further to free labor organized primarily -for the laborers’ benefit, this not only was unthinkable for the white -South but it even touched the economic sensibilities of the white -North. Already the nation owed a staggering debt. It would not face any -large increase for such a purpose. Moreover, who could conduct such an -enterprise? It would have taxed in ordinary times the ability and self -sacrifice of the nation to have found men in sufficient quantity who -could and would have conducted honestly and efficiently such a tremendous -experiment in human uplift. And these were not ordinary times. - -Nevertheless a bureau had to be established at least temporarily as a -clearing house for the numberless departments of the armies dealing with -freedmen and holding land and property in their name. - -As General Howard, the head of the Bureau said, this Bureau was really a -government and partially ruled the South from the close of the war until -1870. “It made laws, executed them and interpreted them. It laid and -collected taxes, defined and punished crime, maintained and used military -force and dictated such measures as it thought necessary and proper for -the accomplishment of its varied ends.” Its establishment was a herculean -task both physically and socially, and it accomplished a great work -before it was repudiated. Carl Schurz in 1864 felt warranted in saying, -“Not half of the labor that has been done in the South this year, or will -be done there next year, would have been or would be done but for the -exertions of the Freedmen’s Bureau.... No other agency, except one placed -there by the national government, could have wielded the moral power -whose interposition was so necessary to prevent the Southern society -from falling at once into the chaos of a general collision between its -different elements.”[154] - -The nation knew, however, that the Freedmen’s Bureau was temporary. What -should follow it? The attitude of the South was not reassuring. Carl -Schurz reported that: “Some planters held back their former slaves on -their plantations by brute force. Armed bands of white men patrolled the -country roads to drive back the Negroes wandering about. Dead bodies -of murdered Negroes were found on and near the highways and by-paths. -Gruesome reports came from the hospitals—reports of colored men and women -whose ears had been cut off, whose skulls had been broken by blows, whose -bodies had been slashed by knives or lacerated by scourges. A number of -such cases I had occasion to examine myself. A veritable reign of terror -prevailed in many parts of the South. The Negro found scant justice in -the local courts against the white man. He could look for protection only -to the military forces of the United States still garrisoning the ‘states -lately in rebellion’ and to the Freedmen’s Bureau.” - -The determination to reconstruct the South without recognizing the Negro -as a voter was manifest. The provisional governments set up by Lincoln -and Johnson were based on white male suffrage. In Louisiana for instance, -where free Negroes had wealth and prestige and had furnished thousands of -soldiers under the proposed reconstruction and despite Lincoln’s tactful -suggestion—“Not one Negro was allowed to vote, though at that very time -the wealthy, intelligent free colored people of the State paid taxes -on property assessed at $15,000,000 and many of them were well known -for their patriotic zeal and love for the Union. Thousands of colored -men whose homes were in Louisiana served bravely in the national army -and navy and many of the so-called Negroes in New Orleans could not be -distinguished by the most intelligent strangers from the best class of -white gentlemen either by color or manner, dress or language; still, as -it was known by tradition and common fame that they were not of pure -Caucasian descent, they could not vote.”[155] - -Johnson feared this Southern program and like Lincoln suggested limited -Negro suffrage. August 15th, 1865, he wrote to Governor Sharkey of -Mississippi: “If you could extend the elective franchise to all persons -of color who can read the Constitution of the United States in English -and write their names, and to all persons of color who own real estate -valued at not less than two hundred and fifty dollars, and pay taxes -thereon, you would completely disarm the adversary and set an example -the other states will follow. This you can do with perfect safety and -you thus place the Southern States, in reference to free persons of -color, upon the same basis with the free States. I hope and trust your -convention will do this.”[156] - -The answer of the South to all such suggestions was the celebrated “Black -Codes”: “Alabama declared ‘stubborn or refractory servants’ or ‘those -who loiter away their time’ to be ‘vagrants’ who could be hired out at -compulsory service by law, while all Negro minors, far from being sent -to school, were to be ‘apprenticed’ preferably to their father’s former -‘masters and mistresses.’ In Florida it was decreed that no Negro could -‘own, use or keep any bowie-knife, dirk, sword, firearms or ammunition of -any kind’ without a license from the Judge of Probate. In South Carolina -the Legislature declared that ‘no person of color shall pursue the -practice of art, trade or business of an artisan, mechanic or shopkeeper -or any other trade or employment besides that of husbandry or that of -servant under contract for labor until he shall have obtained a license -from the Judge of the District Court.’ Mississippi required that ‘if a -laborer shall quit the service of the employer before the expiration of -his term of service without just cause, he shall forfeit his wages for -that year.’ Louisiana said that ‘every adult freed man or woman shall -furnish themselves with a comfortable home and visible means of support -within twenty days after the passage of this act’ and that any failing to -do so should ‘be immediately arrested’, delivered to the court and ‘hired -out’ by public advertisement, to some citizen, being the highest bidder, -for the remainder year.”[157] - -These Codes were not reassuring to the friends of freedom. To be sure it -was not a time to expect calm, cool, thoughtful action on the part of the -South. Its economic condition was pitiable. Property in slaves to the -extent perhaps of two thousand million dollars had suddenly disappeared. -One thousand five hundred more millions representing the Confederate war -debt, had largely disappeared. Large amounts of real estate and other -property had been destroyed, industry had been disorganized, 250,000 men -had been killed and many more maimed. With this went the moral effect of -an unsuccessful war with all its letting down of social standards and -quickening of hatred and discouragement—a situation which would make it -difficult under any circumstances to reconstruct a new government and -a new civilization. Moreover any human being of any color “doomed in -his own person and his posterity to live without knowledge and without -capacity to make anything his own and to toil that another may reap the -fruits,” is bound on sudden emancipation to loom like a great dread on -the horizon. - -The fear of Negro freedom in the South was increased by its own -consciousness of guilt, yet it was reasonable to expect from it something -more than mere repression and reaction toward slavery. To some small -extent this expectation was fulfilled: the abolition of slavery was -recognized and the civil rights of owning property and appearing as a -witness in cases in which he was a party were generally granted the -Negro; yet with these went such harsh regulations as largely neutralized -the concessions and gave ground for the assumption that once free from -Northern control the South would virtually re-enslave the Negro. The -colored people themselves naturally feared this and protested, as in -Mississippi, “against the reactionary policy prevailing and expressing -the fear that the Legislature will pass such proscriptive laws as will -drive the freedmen from the State or practically re-enslave them.”[158] - -As Professor Burgess (whom no one accuses of being Negrophile) says: -“Almost every act, word or gesture of the Negro not consonant with -good taste and good manners as well as good morals was made a crime or -misdemeanor, for which he could first be fined by the magistrates and -then be consigned to a condition of almost slavery for an indefinite time -if he could not pay the bill.” - -All things considered, it seems probable that if the South had been -permitted to have its way in 1865 the harshness of Negro slavery would -have been mitigated so as to make slave trading difficult and to make it -possible for a Negro to hold property if he got any and to appear in some -cases in court; but that in most other respects the blacks would have -remained in slavery. And no small number of whites even in the North -were quite willing to contemplate such a solution. - -In October, the democratic platform of Louisiana said “This is a -government of white people,” and although Johnson reported in December -that Reconstruction was complete in North and South Carolina, Georgia, -Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee, yet everyone -knew that the real problems of Reconstruction had just begun. The war -caused by slavery could be stopped only by a real abolition of slavery. - -It was as though the Germans invading France had found flocking to their -camps the laboring forces of the invaded land, poor and destitute, but -willing to work and willing to fight. What would have been the attitude -of the successful invader when the war was ended? Gratitude alone -counseled help for the Freedmen; wisdom counseled a real abolition of -slavery; so far slavery had not been abolished in spite of the fact that -the 13th Amendment proposed in February had been proclaimed in December. -Freedom and citizenship were primarily a matter of state legislation; -and emancipation from slavery was an economic problem—a question of work -and wages, of land and capital—all these things were matters of state -legislation. Unless then something was done to insure a proper legal -status and legal protection for the Freedmen, the so-called abolition -of slavery would be but a name. Furthermore there were grave political -difficulties: According to the celebrated compromise in the Constitution, -three-fifths of the slaves were counted in the Southern states as a basis -of representation and this gave the white South as compared with the -North a large political advantage. This advantage was now to be increased -because, as freemen, the whole Negro population was to be counted and -still the voting was confined to whites. The North, therefore, found -themselves faced by the fact that the very people whom they had overcome -in a costly and bloody war were now coming back with increased political -power, with determination to keep just as much of slavery as they could -and with freedom to act toward the nation that they had nearly destroyed, -in whatever way the deep hatreds of a hurt and conquered people tempted -them to act. All this was sinister and dangerous. Assume as large minded -and forgiving an attitude as one could, either the abolition of slavery -must be made real or the war was fought in vain. - -The Negroes themselves naturally began to insist that without political -power it was impossible to accomplish their economic freedom. Frederick -Douglass said to President Johnson: “Your noble and humane predecessor -placed in our hands the sword to assist in saving the nation and we do -hope that you, his able successor, will favorably regard the placing in -our hands the ballot with which to save ourselves.” And when Johnson -demurred on account of the hostility between blacks and poor whites, a -committee of prominent colored men replied: - -“Even if it were true, as you allege, that the hostility of the blacks -toward the poor whites must necessarily project itself into a state of -freedom, and that this enmity between the two races is even more intense -in a state of freedom than in a state of slavery, in the name of heaven, -we reverently ask, how can you, in view of your professed desire to -promote the welfare of the black man, deprive him of all means of defense -and clothe him, whom you regard as his enemy, in the panoply of political -power?”[159] - -Again as the Negro fugitive slave was already in camp before the nation -was ready to receive him and was even trying to drive him back to his -master; just as the Negro was already bearing arms before he was legally -recognized as a soldier; so too he was voting before Negro suffrage was -contemplated; to cite one instance at Davis Bend, Mississippi. “Early in -1865 a system was adopted for their government in which the freedmen -took a considerable part. The Bend was divided into districts, each -having a sheriff and judge appointed from among the more reliable and -intelligent colored men. A general oversight of the proceedings was -maintained by our officers in charge, who confirmed or modified the -findings of the court. The shrewdness of the colored judges was very -remarkable, though it was sometimes necessary to decrease the severity of -the punishment they proposed. Fines and penal service on the Home Farm -were the usual sentences they imposed. Petty theft and idleness were the -most frequent causes of trouble, but my officers were able to report -that exposed property was as safe on Davis Bend as it would be anywhere. -The community distinctly demonstrated the capacity of the Negro to take -care of himself and exercised under honest and competent direction the -functions of self-government.”[160] - -Carl Schurz said in his celebrated report: “The emancipation of the -slaves is submitted to only in so far as chattel slavery in the old form -could not be kept up. But although the freedman is no longer considered -the property of the individual master, he is considered the slave of -society and all independent State legislation will share the tendency to -make him such. - -“The solution of the problem would be very much facilitated by enabling -all the loyal and free labor elements in the South to exercise a healthy -influence upon legislation. It will hardly be possible to secure the -freedman against oppressive class legislation and private persecution -unless he be endowed with a certain measure of political power.” - -To the argument of ignorance Schurz replied: “The effect of the extension -of the franchise to the colored people upon the development of free labor -and upon the security of human rights in the South being the principal -object in view, the objections raised on the ground of the ignorance of -the freedmen become unimportant. Practical liberty is a good school.... -It is idle to say that it will be time to speak of Negro suffrage when -the whole colored race will be educated, for the ballot may be necessary -to him to secure his education.”[161] - -Thus Negro suffrage was forced to the front, not as a method of -humiliating the South; not as a theoretical and dangerous gift to the -Freedmen; not according to any preconcerted plan but simply because of -the grim necessities of the situation. The North must either give up -the fruits of war, keep a Freedmen’s Bureau for a generation or use -the Negro vote to reconstruct the Southern states and to insure such -legislation as would at least begin the economic emancipation of the -slave. - -_In other words the North being unable to free the slave, let him try to -free himself. And he did, and this was his greatest gift to this nation._ - -Let us return to the steps by which the Negro accomplished this task. - -In 1866, the joint committee of Congress on Reconstruction said that in -the South: “A large proportion of the population had become, instead -of mere chattels, free men and citizens. Through all the past struggle -these had remained true and loyal and had, in large numbers, fought on -the side of the Union. It was impossible to abandon them without securing -them their rights as free men and citizens. The whole civilized world -would have cried out against such base ingratitude and the bare idea is -offensive to all right thinking men. Hence it became important to inquire -what could be done to secure their rights, civil and political.” - -The report then proceeded to emphasize the increased political power of -the South and recommended the Fourteenth Amendment, since: “It appeared -to your committee that the rights of these persons by whom the basis -of representation had been thus increased should be recognized by the -General Government. While slaves, they were not considered as having any -rights, civil or political. It did not seem just or proper that all the -political advantages derived from their becoming free should be confined -to their former masters who had fought against the Union and withheld -from themselves who had always been loyal.”[162] - -Nor did there seem to be any hope that the South would voluntarily change -its attitude within any reasonable time. As Carl Schurz wrote: “I deem it -proper, however, to offer a few remarks on the assertion frequently put -forth, that the franchise is likely to be extended to the colored man by -the voluntary action of the southern whites themselves. My observation -leads me to a contrary opinion. Aside from a very few enlightened men, -I found but one class of people in favor of the enfranchisement of the -blacks: it was the class of Unionists who found themselves politically -ostracised and looked upon the enfranchisement of the loyal Negroes as -the salvation of the whole loyal element.... The masses are strongly -opposed to colored suffrage; anybody that dares to advocate it is -stigmatized as a dangerous fanatic. - -“The only manner in which, in my opinion, the southern people can be -induced to grant to the freedmen some measure of self-protecting power -in the form of suffrage, is to make it a consideration precedent to -‘readmission’.”[163] - -During 1866, the Freedmen’s Bureau received over a million dollars mostly -from the Freedmen’s fund, sales of crop, rent of lands and buildings -and school taxes. The chief expenditure was in wages, rent and schools. -It was evident that the Negro was demanding education. Schools arose -immediately among the refugees and Negro soldiers. They were helped by -voluntary taxation of the Negroes and then by the activity of Northern -religious bodies. Seldom in the history of the world has an almost -totally illiterate population been given the means of self-education in -so short a time. The movement started with the Negroes themselves and -they continued to form the dynamic force behind it. “This great multitude -arose up simultaneously and asked for intelligence.” There can be no -doubt that these schools were a great conservative steadying force to -which the South owes much. It must not be forgotten that among the agents -of the Freedmen’s Bureau were not only soldiers and politicians but -school teachers and educational leaders like Ware and Cravath. - -In 1866, nearly 100,000 Negroes were in the schools under 1300 teachers -and schools for Negroes had been opened in nearly all the southern -states. A second Freedmen’s Bureau act was passed extending the work of -the Bureau, and the Freedmen’s Bank which had been started in 1865 and -had by 1866 twenty branches and $300,000 in savings. - -Congress came to blows with President Johnson. His plan of reconstruction -with white male suffrage was repudiated and the 14th Amendment was -proposed by Congress which was designed to force the South to accept -Negro suffrage on penalty of losing a proportionate amount of their -representation in Congress. The 14th Amendment was long delayed and did -not in fact become a law until July, 1868. Meantime, Congress adopted -more drastic measures. By the Reconstruction Acts, the first of which -passed March 2nd, the South was divided into five military districts, -Negro suffrage was established for the constitutional conventions and the -14th Amendment made a prerequisite for readmission of states to the Union. - -What was the result? No language has been spared to describe the results -of Negro suffrage as the worst imaginable. Every effort of historical -and social science and propaganda have supported this view; and its -acceptance has been well nigh universal, because it was so clearly to the -interests of the chief parties involved to forget their own shortcomings -and put the blame on the Negro. As a colored man put it, they closed -the “bloody chasm” but closed up the Negro inside. Yet, without Negro -suffrage, slavery could not have been abolished in the United States -and while there were bad results arising from the enfranchisement of -the slaves as there necessarily had to be, the main results were not -bad. Let us not forget that the white South believed it to be of vital -interest to its welfare that the experiment of Negro suffrage should -fail ignominiously and that almost to a man the whites were willing to -insure this failure either by active force or passive resistance; that -beside this there were, as might be expected in a day of social upheaval, -men, white and black, Northern and Southern, only too eager to take -advantage of such a situation for feathering their own nests. The results -in such case had to be evil but to charge the evil to Negro suffrage is -unfair. It may be charged to anger, poverty, venality and ignorance, but -the anger and poverty were the almost inevitable aftermath of war; the -venality was much more reprehensible as exhibited among whites than among -Negroes, and while ignorance was the curse of the Negroes, the fault was -not theirs and they took the initiative to correct it. - -Negro suffrage was without doubt a tremendous experiment but with all -its manifest failure it succeeded to an astounding degree; it made the -immediate re-establishment of the old slavery impossible and it was -probably the only quick method of doing this; it gave the Freedmen’s sons -a chance to begin their education. It diverted the energy of the white -South from economic development to the recovery of political power and -in this interval—small as it was—the Negro took his first steps toward -economic freedom. It was the greatest and most important step toward -world democracy of all men of all races ever taken in the modern world. - -Let us see just what happened when the Negroes gained the right to vote, -first in the conventions which reconstructed the form of government and -afterward in the regular state governments. The continual charge is made -that the South was put under Negro government—that ignorant ex-slaves -ruled the land. This is untrue. Negroes did not dominate southern -legislatures, and in only two states did they have a majority of the -legislature at any time. In Alabama in the years of 1868-69 there were -106 whites and 27 Negroes in the legislature; in the year 1876 there were -104 whites and 29 Negroes. In Arkansas, 1868-69 there were 8 Negroes -and 96 whites. In Georgia there were 186 whites and 33 Negroes. In -Mississippi, 1870-1, there were 106 whites and 34 Negroes and in 1876, -132 whites and 21 Negroes. In North Carolina, 149 whites and 21 Negroes; -in South Carolina 1868-69, 72 whites and 85 Negroes and in 1876, 70 -whites and 54 Negroes. In Texas, 1870-71 there were 110 whites and 10 -Negroes. In Virginia, 1868-69, 119 whites and 18 Negroes and in 1876, 112 -whites and 13 Negroes.[164] - -“Statistics show, however, that with the exception of South Carolina and -Mississippi, no state and not even any department of a state government -was ever dominated altogether by Negroes. The Negroes never wanted and -never had complete control in the Southern states. The most important -offices were generally held by white men. Only two Negroes ever served -in the United States Senate, Hiram R. Revells and B. K. Bruce; and only -twenty ever became representatives in the House and all these did not -serve at the same time, although some of them were elected for more than -one term.”[165] - -The Negroes who held office, held for the most part minor offices and -most of them were ignorant men. Some of them were venal and vicious but -this was not true in all cases. Indeed the Freedmen were pathetic too in -their attempt to choose the best persons but they were singularly limited -in their choice. Their former white masters were either disfranchised or -bitterly hostile or ready to deceive them. The “carpet-baggers” often -cheated them; their own ranks had few men of experience and training. Yet -some of the colored men who served them well deserve special mention: - -Samuel J. Lee, a member of the South Carolina legislature, was considered -by the whites as one of the best criminal lawyers of the state. When -he died local courts were adjourned and the whole city mourned. Bishop -Isaac Clinton who served as Treasurer of Orangeburg, S. C. for eight -years was held in highest esteem by his white neighbors and upon the -occasion of his death business was suspended as a mark of respect. In -certain communities Negroes were retained in office for years after -the restoration of Democratic party control as, for example Mr. George -Harriot in Georgetown, S. C. who was Superintendent of Education for the -county. Beaufort, South Carolina, retained Negroes as sheriffs and school -officials. - -J. T. White who was Commissioner of Public Works and Internal -Improvements in Arkansas; M. W. Gibbs who was Municipal Judge in Little -Rock, and J. C. Corbin, who was State Superintendent of Schools in -Arkansas, had creditable records.[166] John R. Lynch, when speaker of -Mississippi House of Representatives, was given a public testimonial by -Republicans and Democrats and the leading Democratic paper said: “His -bearing in office had been so proper and his rulings in such marked -contrast to the partisan conduct of the ignoble whites of his party -who have aspired to be leaders of the blacks, that the conservatives -cheerfully joined in the testimonial.”[167] - -Of the colored treasurer of South Carolina, Governor Chamberlain said: -“I have never heard one word or seen one act of Mr. Cardoza’s which did -not confirm my confidence in his personal integrity and his political -honor and zeal for the honest administration of the State Government. On -every occasion and under all circumstances he has been against fraud and -jobbery and in favor of good measures and good men.”[168] - -Jonathan C. Gibbs, a colored man and the first State Superintendent of -Instructions in Florida, was a graduate of Dartmouth. He established -the system and brought it to success, dying in harness in 1874. The -first Negro graduate of Harvard College served in South Carolina, before -he became chief executive officer of the association that erected the -Grant’s Tomb in New York. - -In Louisiana we may mention Acting-Governor Pinchback, and -Lieutenant-Governor Dunn, and Treasurer Dubuclet who was investigated -by United States officials. E. P. White, afterward Chief Justice of the -United States, reported that his funds had been honestly handled. Such -men—and there were others—ought not to be forgotten or confounded with -other types of colored and white Reconstruction leaders. - -Between 1871 and 1901, twenty-two Negroes sat in Congress—two as senators -and twenty as representatives; three or four others were undoubtedly -elected but were not seated. Ten of these twenty-two Negroes were college -bred: Cain of South Carolina was trained at Wilberforce and afterward -became bishop of the African Methodist Church; Revels was educated at -Knox College, Illinois, or at a Quaker Seminary, in Indiana; Cheatham -was a graduate of Shaw; Murray was trained at the University of South -Carolina; Langston was a graduate of Oberlin; five others were lawyers of -whom the most brilliant was Robert Brown Elliott; he was a graduate of -Eton College, England; Rapier was educated in Canada and O’Hara studied -at Howard University; Miller graduated from Lincoln and White from Howard -University. The other twelve men were self-taught: one was a thriving -merchant tailor, one a barber, three were farmers, one a photographer, -one a pilot and one a merchant.[169] - -Of those who served in the Senate, one served an unexpired term and the -other six years. In the House, one representative served one term from -Virginia. From North Carolina one served one term and two, two terms. -Georgia was represented by a Negro for one term and Mississippi for two -terms. South Carolina had eight representatives, two of them served five -terms, three two terms, and the rest one term. Beside these there were -other Negro office holders who were fully the peers of white men; and -those without formal training in the schools were in many cases men of -unusual force and native ability. - -James G. Blaine who served with nearly all these men approved of sending -them to Congress: “If it is to be viewed simply as an experiment, it was -triumphantly successful. The colored men who took seats in both Senate -and House did not appear ignorant or helpless. They were as a rule -studious, earnest, ambitious men whose public conduct—as illustrated by -Mr. Revels and Mr. Bruce in the Senate and by Mr. Rapier, Mr. Lynch and -Mr. Rainey in the House would be honorable to any race. Coals of fire -were heaped on the heads of all their enemies when the colored men in -Congress heartily joined in removing the disabilities of those who had -before been their oppressors, and who, with deep regret be it said, have -continued to treat them with injustice and ignominy.”[170] - -He cites the magnanimity of Senator Rainey: “When the Amnesty Bill -came before the House for consideration, Mr. Rainey of South Carolina, -speaking for the colored race whom he represented said: ‘It is not the -disposition of my constituents that these disabilities should longer -be retained. We are desirous of being magnanimous; it may be that we -are so to a fault. Nevertheless we have open and frank hearts towards -those who were our oppressors and taskmasters. We foster no enmity now, -and we desire to foster none, for their acts in the past to us or to -the Government we love so well. But while we are willing to accord them -their enfranchisement and here today give our votes that they may be -amnestied, while we declare our hearts open and free from any vindictive -feelings toward them, we would say to those gentlemen on the other side -that there is another class of citizens in the country who have certain -rights and immunities which they would like you, sirs, to remember and -respect.... We invoke you gentlemen, to show the same kindly feeling -towards us, a race long oppressed, and in demonstration of this humane -and just feeling, I implore you, give support to the Civil Rights Bill, -which we have been asking at your hands, lo! these many days.”[171] - -The chief charge against Negro governments has to do with property. These -governments are charged with attacking property and the charge is true. -This, although not perhaps sensed at the time, was their real reason -for being. The ex-slaves must have land and capital or they would fall -back into slavery. The masters had both; there must be a transfer. It -was at first proposed that land be confiscated in the South and given to -the Freedmen. “Forty Acres and a Mule” was the widespread promise made -several times with official sanction. This was perhaps the least that -the United States Government could have done to insure emancipation, but -such a program would have cost money. In the early anger of the war, it -seemed to many fair to confiscate land for this purpose without payment -and some land was thus sequestered. But manifestly with all the losses -of war and with the loss of the slaves it was unfair to take the land of -the South without some compensation. The North was unwilling to add to -its tremendous debt anything further to insure the economic independence -of the Freedmen. The Freedmen therefore themselves with their political -power and with such economic advantage as the war gave them, tried to get -hold of land. - -The Negro party platform of 1876, in one state, advocated “division of -lands of the state as far as practical into small farms in order that -the masses of our people may be enabled to become landholders.” In the -Constitutional Convention of South Carolina, a colored man said: “One -of the greatest of slavery bulwarks was the infernal plantation system, -one man owning his thousand, another his twenty, another fifty thousands -acres of land. This is the only way by which we will break up that -system, and I maintain that our freedom will be of no effect if we allow -it to continue. What is the main cause of the prosperity of the North. -It is because every man has his own farm and is free and independent. -Let the lands of the South be similarly divided. I would not say for one -moment they should be confiscated but if sold to maintain the war, now -that slavery is destroyed, let the plantation system go with it. We -will never have true freedom until we abolish the system of agriculture -which existed in the Southern States. It is useless to have any schools -while we maintain the stronghold of slavery as the agricultural system -of the country.”[172] This question kept coming up in the South Carolina -convention and elsewhere. Such arguments led in South Carolina to a -scheme to buy land and distribute it and some $800,000 was appropriated -for this purpose. - -In the second place, property was attacked through the tax system. The -South had been terribly impoverished and was saddled with new social -burdens. Many of the things which had been done well or indifferently by -the plantations—like the punishment of crime and the care of the sick -and the insane, and such schooling as there was, with most other matters -of social uplift were, after the war, transferred to the control of the -state. Moreover the few and comparatively indifferent public buildings -of slavery days had been ruined either by actual warfare or by neglect. -Thus a new and tremendous burden of social taxation was put upon the -reconstructed states. - -As a southern writer says of the state of Mississippi: “The work -of restoration which the government was obliged to undertake, made -increased expenses necessary. During the period of the war, and for -several years thereafter, public buildings and state institutions were -permitted to fall into decay. The state house and grounds, the executive -mansion, the penitentiary, the insane asylum, and the buildings for the -blind, deaf and dumb, were in a dilapidated condition and had to be -extended and repaired. A new building for the blind was purchased and -fitted up. The reconstructionists established a public school system -and spent money to maintain and support it, perhaps too freely, in view -of the impoverishment of the people. When they took hold, warrants -were worth but sixty or seventy cents on the dollar, a fact which -made the price of building materials used in the work of construction -correspondingly higher.”[173] - -In addition to all this there was fraud and stealing. There were white -men who cheated and secured large sums. Most of $800,000 appropriated for -land in South Carolina was wasted in graft. Bills for wine and furniture -in South Carolina were enormous; the printing bill of Mississippi was -ridiculously extravagant. Colored men shared in this loot but they at -least had some excuse. We may not forget that among slaves stealing -is not the crime that it becomes in free industry. The slave is victim -of a theft so hateful that nothing he can steal can ever match it. The -freedmen of 1868 still shared the slave psychology. The larger part of -the stealing was done by white men—Northerners and Southerners—and we -must remember that it was not the first time that there had been stealing -and corruption in the South and that the whole moral tone of the nation -had been ruined by war. For instance: - -In 1839 it was reported in Mississippi that ninety per cent of the -fines collected by sheriffs and clerks were unaccounted for. In 1841 -the State Treasurer acknowledged himself “at a loss to determine the -precise liabilities of the state and her means of paying the same.” And -in 1839 the auditor’s books had not been posted for eighteen months, -no entries made for a year, and no vouchers examined for three years. -Congress gave Jefferson College, Natchez, more than 46,000 acres of land; -before the war this whole property had “disappeared” and the college -was closed. Congress gave to Mississippi among other states, the “16th -section” of the public lands for schools. In thirty years the proceeds -of this land in Mississippi were embezzled to the amount of at least one -and a half millions of dollars. In Columbus, Mississippi a receiver of -public monies stole $100,000 and resigned. His successor stole $55,000 -and a treasury agent wrote: “Another receiver would probably follow in -the footsteps of the two. You will not be surprised if I recommend him -being retained in preference to another appointment.” From 1830 to 1860 -southern men in federal offices alone embezzled more than a million -dollars—a far greater sum then than now. - -There might have been less stealing in the South during Reconstruction -without Negro suffrage but it is certainly highly instructive to remember -that the mark of the thief which dragged its slime across nearly every -great Northern State and almost up to the presidential chair could not -certainly in those cases be charged against the vote of black men. This -was the day when a national Secretary of War was caught stealing, a vice -president presumably took bribes, a private secretary of the president, -a chief clerk of the Treasury, and eighty-six government officials stole -millions in the Whiskey frauds; while the “Credit Mobilier” filched -millions and bribed the government to an extent never fully revealed; not -to mention less distinguished thieves like Tweed. - -Is it surprising that in such an atmosphere a new race learning the a-b-c -of government should have become the tools of thieves? And when they -did, was the stealing their fault or was it justly chargeable to their -enfranchisement? Then too, a careful examination of the alleged stealing -in the South reveals much: First, there is repeated exaggeration. For -instance, it is said that the taxation in Mississippi was fourteen times -as great in 1874 as in 1869. This sounds staggering until we learn that -the State taxation in 1869 was only ten cents on one hundred dollars -and that the expenses of government in 1874 were only twice as great as -in 1860 and that too with a depreciated currency. It could certainly -be argued that the State government in Mississippi was doing enough -additional work in 1874 to warrant greatly increased cost. The character -of much of the stealing shows who were the thieves. The frauds through -the manipulation of State and railway bonds and of bank notes must have -inured chiefly to the benefit of experienced white men and this must -have been largely the case in the furnishing and printing frauds. It was -chiefly in the extravagance for “sundries and incidentals” and direct -money payments for votes that the Negroes received their share. The -character of the real thieving shows that white men must have been the -chief beneficiaries and that as a former South Carolina slaveholder said: - -“The legislature, ignorant as it is, could not have been bribed without -money; that must have been furnished from some source that it is our -duty to discover. A legislature composed chiefly of our former slaves -has been bribed. One prominent feature of this transaction is the part -which native Carolinians have played in it, some of our own household men -whom the State, in the past, has delighted to honor, appealing to their -cupidity and avarice make them the instruments to effect the robbery of -their impoverished white brethren. Our former slaves have been bribed by -these men to give them the privilege by law of plundering the property -holders of the state.”[174] - -Even those who mocked and sneered at Negro legislators brought now and -then words of praise: “But beneath all this shocking burlesque upon -Legislative proceedings we must not forget that there is something very -real to this uncouth and untutored multitude. It is not all shame, not -all burlesque. They have a genuine interest and a genuine earnestness -in the business of the assembly which we are bound to recognize and -respect.... They have an earnest purpose, born of conviction that their -conditions are not fully assured, which lends a sort of dignity to their -proceedings. The barbarous, animated jargon in which they so often -indulge is on occasion seen to be so transparently sincere and weighty -in their own minds that sympathy supplants disgust. The whole thing is -a wonderful novelty to them as well as to observers. Seven years ago -these men were raising corn and cotton under the whip of the overseer. -Today they are raising points of order and questions of privilege. They -find they can raise one as well as the other. They prefer the latter. It -is easier and better paid. Then, it is the evidence of an accomplished -result. It means escape and defence from old oppressors. It means -liberty. It means the destruction of prison walls only too real to them. -It is the sunshine of their lives. It is their day of jubilee. It is -their long promised vision of the Lord God Almighty.”[175] - -But with the memory of the Freedmen’s Bank before it, America should -utter no sound as to Negro dishonesty during reconstruction. Here from -the entrenched philanthropy of America with some of the greatest names -of the day like Peter Cooper, William Cullen Bryant, Simon P. Chase, A. -A. Low, Gerritt Smith, John Jay, A. S. Barnes, S. G. Howe, George L. -Stearns, Edward Atkinson, Levi Coffin and others, a splendid scheme was -launched to help the Freedmen save their pittance and encourage thrift -and hope. On the covers of the pass books is said: “This is a benevolent -institution and profits go to the depositors or to educational purposes -for the Freedmen and their descendants. The whole institution is under -the charter of Congress and receives the commendation of the President, -Abraham Lincoln.” With blare of trumpet it was chartered March 3rd, 1865; -it collapsed in hopeless bankruptcy in 1873. It had received fifty-six -millions of dollars in deposits and failed owing over three millions -most of which was never repaid. A committee of Congress composed of both -Democrats and Republicans said in 1876: - -“The law lent no efficacy to the moral obligations assumed by the -trustees, officers, and agents and the whole concern inevitably became -as a ‘whited sepulchre’.... The inspectors ... were of little or no -value, either through the connivance and ignorance of the inspectors or -the indifference of the trustees to their reports.... The committee of -examination ... were still more careless and inefficient, while the board -of trustees, as a supervising and administrative body, intrusted with -the fullest power of general control over the management, proved utterly -faithless to the trust reposed in them.... - -“The depositors were of small account now compared with the personal -interest of the political jobbers, real estate pools, and fancy-stock -speculators, who were organizing a raid upon the Freedmen’s money -and resorted to ... amendment of the charter to facilitate their -operations.... This mass of putridity, the District government, now -abhorred of all men, and abandoned and repudiated even by the political -authors of its being, was represented in the bank by no less than five -of its high officers ... all of whom were in one way or other concerned -in speculations involving a free use of the funds of the Freedmen’s -Bank. They were high in power, too, with the dominant influence in -Congress, as the legislation they asked or sanctioned and obtained, fully -demonstrated. Thus it was that without consulting the wishes or regarding -the interests of those most concerned—the depositors—the vaults of the -bank were literally thrown open to unscrupulous greed and rapacity. -The toilsome savings of the poor Negroes hoarded and laid by for a -rainy day, through the carelessness and dishonest connivance of their -self-constituted guardians, melted away....”[176] - -Even in bankruptcy the institution was not allowed to come under the -operation of the ordinary laws but was liquidated and protected by a -special law, the liquidators picking its corpse and the helpless victims -being finally robbed not only of their money but of much of their faith -in white folk. - -Let us laugh hilariously if we must over the golden spittoons of South -Carolina but let us also remember that at most the freedmen filched bits -from those who had all and not all from those who had nothing; and that -the black man had at least the saving grace to hide his petty theft by -enshrining the nasty American habit of spitting in the sheen of sunshine. - -With all these difficulties and failings, what did the Freedmen in -politics during the critical years of their first investment with the -suffrage accomplish? We may recognize three things which Negro rule gave -to the South: - -1. Democratic government. - -2. Free public schools. - -3. New social legislation. - -Two states will illustrate conditions of government in the South before -and after Negro rule. In South Carolina there was before the war a -property qualification for office holders, and in part, for voters. -The Constitution of 1868, on the other hand, was a modern democratic -document starting (in marked contrast to the old constitution) with a -declaration that “We, the People,”[177] framed it and preceded by a -broad Declaration of Rights which did away with property qualifications -and based representation directly on population instead of property. -It especially took up new subjects of social legislation, declaring -navigable rivers free public highways, instituting homestead exemptions, -establishing boards of county commissioners, providing for a new -penal code of laws, establishing universal manhood suffrage “without -distinction of race or color,” devoting six sections to charitable and -penal institutions and six to corporations, providing separate property -for married women, etc. Above all, eleven sections of the Tenth Article -were devoted to the establishment of a complete public school system. - -So satisfactory was the constitution thus adopted by Negro suffrage -and by a convention composed of a majority of blacks that the States -lived twenty-seven years under it without essential change and when the -constitution was revised in 1895, the revision was practically nothing -more than an amplification of the Constitution of 1868. No essential -advance step of the former document was changed except the suffrage -article to disfranchise Negroes. - -In Mississippi the Constitution of 1868 was, as compared with that before -the war, more democratic. It not only forbade distinctions on account -of color but abolished all property qualifications for jury service and -property and educational qualifications for suffrage; it required less -rigorous qualifications for office; it prohibited the lending of the -credit of the State for private corporations—an abuse dating back as far -as 1830. It increased the powers of the governor, raised the low State -salaries, and increased the number of state officials. New ideas like -the public school system and the immigration bureau were introduced and -in general the activity of the State greatly and necessarily enlarged. -Finally that was the only constitution of the State ever submitted to -popular approval at the polls. This constitution remained in force -twenty-two years. - -In general the words of Judge Albion W. Tourgee, “a carpet-bagger,” are -true when he says of the Negro governments: “They obeyed the Constitution -of the United States and annulled the bonds of states, counties and -cities which had been issued to carry on the war of rebellion and -maintain armies in the field against the Union. They instituted a public -school system in a realm where public schools had been unknown. They -opened the ballot box and jury box to thousands of white men who had -been debarred from them by a lack of earthly possessions. They introduced -home rule in the South. They abolished the whipping post, the branding -iron, the stocks and other barbarous forms of punishment which had up to -that time prevailed. They reduced capital felonies from about twenty to -two or three. In an age of extravagance they were extravagant in the sums -appropriated for public works. In all of that time no man’s rights of -person were invaded under the forms of law. Every Democrat’s life, home, -fireside and business were safe. No man obstructed any white man’s way to -the ballot box, interfered with his freedom of speech or boycotted him, -on account of his political faith.”[178] - -A thorough study of the legislation accompanying these constitutions and -its changes since would, of course, be necessary before a full picture -of the situation could be given. This has not been done but so far as my -studies have gone I have been surprised at the comparatively small amount -of change in law and government which the overthrow of Negro rule brought -about. There were sharp and often hurtful economies introduced, marking -the return of property to power, there was a sweeping change in officials -but the main body of Reconstruction legislation stood. - -There is no doubt but that the thirst of the black man for knowledge—a -thirst which has been too persistent and durable to be mere curiosity -or whim—gave birth to the public free school system of the South. It -was the question upon which the black voters and legislators insisted -more than anything else and while it is possible to find some vestiges -of free schools in some of the Southern States before the war yet a -universal, well established system dates from the day that the black -man got political power. Common school instruction in the South, in the -modern sense of the term, was begun for Negroes by the Freedmen’s Bureau -and missionary societies, and the State public school systems for all -children were formed mainly by Negro Reconstruction governments. - -The earlier state constitutions of Mississippi “from 1817 to 1864 -contained a declaration that ‘Religion, morality and knowledge being -necessary to good government, the preservation of liberty and the -happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever -be encouraged.’ It was not, however, until 1868 that encouragement -was given to any general system of public schools meant to embrace -the whole youthful population.” The Constitution of 1868 makes it the -duty of the legislature to establish “a uniform system of free public -schools by taxation or otherwise for all children between the ages of -five and twenty-one years.” In Alabama the Reconstruction Constitution -of 1868 provided that “It shall be the duty of the Board of Education -to establish throughout the State in each township or other school -district which it may have created, one or more schools at which all -children of the state between the ages of five and twenty-one years may -attend free of charge.” Arkansas in 1868, Florida in 1869, Virginia -in 1870, established school systems. The Constitution of 1868 in -Louisiana required the general assembly to establish “at least one free -public school in every parish,” and that these schools should make no -“distinction of race, color or previous condition.” Georgia’s system was -not fully established until 1873. - -We are apt to forget that in all human probability the granting of Negro -manhood suffrage was decisive in rendering permanent the foundation -of the Negro common school. Even after the overthrow of the Negro -governments, if the Negroes had been left a servile caste, personally -free but politically powerless, it is not reasonable to think that -a system of common schools would have been provided for them by the -Southern states. Serfdom and education have ever proven contradictory -terms. But when Congress, backed by the nation, determined to make the -Negroes full-fledged voting citizens, the South had a hard dilemma before -her; either to keep the Negroes under as an ignorant proletariat and -stand the chance of being ruled eventually from the slums and jails, or -to join in helping to raise these wards of the nation to a position of -intelligence and thrift by means of a public school system.[179] - -The “carpet-bag” governments hastened the decision of the South and -although there was a period of hesitation and retrogression after the -overthrow of Negro rule in the early seventies, yet the South saw that -to abolish Negro schools in addition to nullifying the Negro vote would -invite Northern interference; and thus eventually every Southern state -confirmed the work of the Negro legislators and maintained the Negro -public schools along with the white. - -Finally, in legislation covering property the wider functions of the -State, the punishment of crime and the like, it is sufficient to say that -the laws on these points established by Reconstruction legislatures were -not only different and even revolutionary to the laws of the older South, -but they were so wise and so well suited to the needs of the new South -that in spite of a retrogressive movement following the overthrow of the -Negro governments, the mass of this legislation with elaboration and -development still stands on the statute books of the South. - -Reconstruction constitutions, practically unaltered, were kept in - - Florida, 1868-1885 17 years - Virginia, 1870-1902 32 years - South Carolina, 1868-1895 27 years - Mississippi, 1868-1890 22 years - -Even in the case of states like Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and -Louisiana, which adopted new constitutions to signify the overthrow -of Negro rule, the new constitutions are nearer the model of the -Reconstruction document than they are to the previous constitutions. They -differ from the Negro constitutions in minor details but very little in -general conception. - -Here then on the whole was a much more favorable result of a great -experiment in democracy than the world had a right to await. But -even on its more sinister side and in the matter of the ignorance of -inexperience and venality of the colored voters there came signs of -better things. The theory of democratic government is not that the will -of the people is always right, but rather that normal human beings of -average intelligence will, if given a chance, learn the right and best -course by bitter experience. This is precisely what the Negro voters -showed indubitable signs of doing. First, they strove for schools to -abolish their ignorance, and second, a large and growing number of them -revolted against the carnival of extravagance and stealing that marred -the beginning of Reconstruction and joined with the best elements to -institute reform; and the greatest stigma on the white South is not -that it opposed Negro suffrage and resented theft and incompetence, but -that when it saw the reform movement growing and even in some cases -triumphing, and a larger and larger number of black voters learning to -vote for honesty and ability, it still preferred a Reign of Terror to -a campaign of education and disfranchised Negroes instead of punishing -rascals. - -No one has expressed this more convincingly than a Negro who was himself -a member of the Reconstruction legislature of South Carolina and who -spoke at the convention which disfranchised him, against one of the -onslaughts of Tillman: - -“The gentleman from Edgefield (Mr. Tillman) speaks of the piling up of -the State debt; of jobbery and speculation during the period between -1869 and 1873 in South Carolina, but he has not found voice eloquent -enough nor pen exact enough to mention those imperishable gifts bestowed -upon South Carolina between 1873 and 1876 by Negro legislators—the laws -relative to finance, the building of penal and charitable institutions -and, greatest of all, the establishment of the public school system. -Starting as infants in legislation in 1869, many wise measures were not -thought of, many injudicious acts were passed. But in the administration -of affairs for the next four years, having learned by experience the -result of bad acts, we immediately passed reformatory laws touching -every department of state, county, municipal and town governments. These -enactments are today upon the statute books of South Carolina. They stand -as living witnesses of the Negro’s fitness to vote and legislate upon the -rights of mankind. - -“When we came into power, town governments could lend the credit of -their respective towns to secure funds at any rate of interest that the -council saw fit to pay. Some of the towns paid as high as twenty percent. -We passed an act prohibiting town governments from pledging the credit -of their hamlets for money bearing a greater rate of interest than five -percent. - -“Up to 1874, inclusive, the State Treasurer had the power to pay out -State funds as he pleased. He could elect whether he would pay out the -funds on appropriations that would place the money in the hands of the -speculators, or would apply them to appropriations that were honest and -necessary. We saw the evil of this and passed an act making specific -levies and collections of taxes for specific appropriations. - -“Another source of profligacy in the expenditure of funds was the law -that provided for and empowered the levying and collecting of special -taxes by school districts, in the name of the schools. We saw its evil -and by a Constitutional amendment provided that there should only be -levied and collected annually a tax of two mills for school purposes, -and took away from the school districts the power to levy and to collect -taxes of any kind. By this act we cured the evils that had been inflicted -upon us in the name of the schools, settled the public school question -for all time to come and established the system upon an honest financial -basis. - -“Next, we learned during the period from 1869 to 1874 inclusive, that -what was denominated the floating indebtedness, covering the printing -schemes and other indefinite expenditures, amounted to nearly $2,000,000. -A conference was called of the leading Negro representatives in the -two Houses together with the State Treasurer, also a Negro. After this -conference we passed an act for the purpose of ascertaining the bona fide -floating debt and found that it did not amount to more than $250,000 for -the four years; we created a commission to sift that indebtedness and to -scale it. Hence when the Democratic party came into power they found the -floating debt covering the legislative and all other expenditures, fixed -at the certain sum of $250,000. This same class of Negro legislators, -led by the State Treasurer, Mr. F. L. Cardoza, knowing that there were -millions of fraudulent bonds charged against the credit of the State, -passed another act to ascertain the true bonded indebtedness and to -provide for its settlement. Under this law, at one sweep, those entrusted -with the power to do so, through Negro legislators, stamped six millions -of bonds, denominated as conversion bonds, ‘fraudulent.’ The commission -did not finish its work before 1876. In that year when the Hampton -government came into power, there were still to be examined into and -settled under the terms of the act passed by us and providing for the -legitimate bonded indebtedness of the State, a little over two and a half -million dollars worth of bonds and coupons which had not been passed upon. - -“Governor Hampton, General Hagood, Judge Simonton, Judge Wallace and -in fact, all of the conservative thinking Democrats aligned themselves -under the provision enacted by us for the certain and final settlement -of the bonded indebtedness and appealed to their Democratic legislators -to stand by the Republican legislation on the subject and to confirm it. -A faction in the Democratic party obtained a majority of the Democrats -in the legislature against settling the question and they endeavored to -open up anew the whole subject of the State debt. We had a little over -thirty members in the House and enough Republican senators to sustain the -Hampton conservative faction and to stand up for honest finance, or by -our votes to place the debt question of the old State into the hands of -the plunderers and speculators. We were appealed to by General Hagood, -through me, and my answer to him was in these words: ‘General, our people -have learned the difference between profligate and honest legislation. -We have passed acts of financial reform, and with the assistance of God, -when the vote shall have been taken, you will be able to record for the -thirty-odd Negroes, slandered though they have been through the press, -that they voted solidly with you all for the honest legislation and the -preservation of the credit of the State.’ The thirty-odd Negroes in -the legislature and their senators by their votes did settle the debt -question and saved the State $13,000,000. - -“We were eight years in power. We had built school houses, established -charitable institutions, built and maintained the penitentiary system, -provided for the education of the deaf and dumb, rebuilt the jails -and court houses, rebuilt the bridges and re-established the ferries. -In short, we had reconstructed the State and placed it upon the road -to prosperity and, at the same time, by our acts of financial reform, -transmitted to the Hampton government an indebtedness not greater by more -than $2,500,000 than was the bonded debt of the State in 1868, before the -Republican Negroes and their white allies came into power.”[180] - -So too in Louisiana in 1872 and in Mississippi later the better element -of the Republicans triumphed at the polls and joining with the Democrats -instituted reforms, repudiated the worst extravagances and started toward -better things. But unfortunately there was one thing that the white South -feared more than Negro dishonesty, ignorance and incompetency, and that -was Negro honesty, knowledge and efficiency. - -Paint the “carpet-bag” governments and Negro rule as black as may be, the -fact remains that the essence of the revolution which the overturning -of the Negro governments made was to put these black men and their -friends out of power. Outside the curtailing of expenses and stopping -of extravagance, not only did their successors make few changes in the -work which these legislatures and conventions had done, but they largely -carried out their plans, followed their suggestions and strengthened -their institutions. Practically the whole new growth of the South has -been accomplished under laws which black men helped to frame thirty years -ago. I know of no greater compliment to Negro suffrage, and no greater -contribution to real American democracy.[181] - -The counter revolution came but it was too late. The Negro had stepped -so far into new economic freedom that he could never be put back into -slavery; and he had widened democracy to include not only a goodly and -increasing number of his own group but the mass of the poor white South. -The economic results of Negro suffrage were so great during the years -from 1865 to 1876 that they have never been overthrown. The Freedmen’s -Bureau came virtually to an end in 1869. General Howard’s report of -that year said: “In spite of all disorders that have prevailed and the -misfortunes that have fallen upon many parts of the South, a good degree -of prosperity and success has already been attained. To the oft-repeated -slander that the Negroes will not work and are incapable of taking care -of themselves, it is a sufficient answer that their voluntary labor has -produced nearly all the food that supported the whole people, besides -a large amount of rice, sugar and tobacco for export, and two millions -of bales of cotton each year, on which was paid into the United States -Treasury during the years 1866 to 1867 a tax of more than forty millions -of dollars ($40,000,000). It is not claimed that this result was wholly -due to the care and oversight of this Bureau but it is safe to say as it -has been said repeatedly by intelligent Southern white men, that without -the Bureau or some similar agency, the material interests of the country -would have greatly suffered and the government would have lost a far -greater amount than has been expended in its maintenance.... - -“Of the nearly eight hundred thousand (800,000) acres of farming land -and about five thousand (5,000) pieces of town property transferred to -this Bureau by military and treasury officers, or taken up by assistant -commissioners, enough was leased to produce a revenue of nearly four -hundred thousand dollars ($400,000). Some farms were set apart in -each state as homes for the destitute and helpless and a portion was -cultivated by freedmen prior to its restoration.... - -“Notice the appropriations by Congress: - - For the year ending July 1st, 1867 $6,940,450.00 - For the year ending July 1st, 1868 3,936,300.00 - For the relief of the destitute citizens in - District of Columbia 40,000.00 - For relief of destitute freedmen in the same 15,000.00 - For expenses of paying bounties in 1869 214,000.00 - For expenses for famine in Southern states and - transportation 1,865,645.00 - For support of hospitals 50,000.00 - Making a total received from all sources of $12,961,395.00 - -“Our expenditures from the beginning (including assumed accounts of the -‘Department of Negro Affairs’ from January 1st, 1865, to August 31, -1869) have been eleven million two hundred and forty-nine thousand and -twenty-eight dollars and ten cents ($11,249,028.10). In addition to -this cash expenditure the subsistence, medical supplies, quartermasters -stores, issued to the refugees and freedmen prior to July 1st, 1866, were -furnished by the commissary, medical and quartermasters department, and -accounted for in the current expenses of those departments; they were -not charged to nor paid for by my officers. They amounted to two million -three hundred and thirty thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight dollars -and seventy-two cents ($2,330,788.72) in original cost; but a large -portion of these stores being damaged and condemned as unfit for issue -to troops, their real value to the Government was probably less than one -million dollars ($1,000,000). Adding their original cost to the amount -expended from appropriations and other sources, the total expenses of -our Government for refugees and freedmen to August 31, 1869, have been -thirteen million five hundred and seventy-nine thousand eight hundred -and sixteen dollars and eighty-two cents ($13,579,816.82). And deducting -fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) set apart as a special relief fund for -all classes of destitute people in the Southern states, the real cost -has been thirteen million twenty-nine thousand eight hundred and sixteen -dollars and eighty-two cents ($13,029,816.82).”[182] - -By 1875, Negroes owned not less than 2,000,000 and perhaps as much as -4,000,000 acres of land and by 1880 this had increased to 6,000,000. - -Notwithstanding the great step forward that the Negro had made this -sinister fact faced him and his friends: he formed a minority of the -population of the South. If that population was solidly arrayed against -him his legal status was in danger and his economic progress was going -to be difficult. It has been repeatedly charged that the action of the -Negro solidified Southern opposition; and that the Negro refusing to -listen to and make fair terms with his white neighbors, sought solely -Northern alliance and the protection of Northern bayonets. This is not -true and is turning facts hindside before. The ones who did the choosing -were the Southern master class. When they got practically their full -political rights in 1872 they had a chance to choose, if they would, the -best of the Negroes as their allies and to work with them as against the -most ruthless elements of the white South. Gradually there could have -been built up a political party or even parties of the best of the black -and white South. The Negroes would have been more than modest in their -demands so long as they saw a chance to keep moving toward real freedom. -But the master class did not choose this, although some like Wade Hampton -of South Carolina, made steps toward it. On the whole, the masters -settled definitely upon a purely racial line, recognizing as theirs -everything that had a white skin and putting without the pale of sympathy -and alliance, everything of Negro descent. By bitter and unyielding -social pressure they pounded the whites into a solid phalanx, but in -order to do this they had to give up much. - -In the first place the leadership of the South passed from the hands of -the old slave owners into the hands of the newer town capitalists who -were largely merchants and the coming industrial leaders. Some of them -represented the older dominant class and some of them the newer poor -whites. They were welded, however, into a new economic mastership, less -cultivated, more ruthless and more keen in recognizing the possibilities -of Negro labor if “controlled” as they proposed to control it. This new -leadership, however, did not simply solidify the South, it proceeded to -make alliance in the North and to make alliance of the most effective -kind, namely economic alliance. The sentimentalism of the war period had -in the North changed to the recognition of the grim fact of destroyed -capital, dead workers and high prices. The South was a field which could -be exploited if peaceful conditions could be reached and the laboring -class made sufficiently content and submissive. It was the business then -of the “New” South to show to the northern capitalists that by uniting -the economic interests of both, they could exploit the Negro laborer and -the white laborer—pitting the two classes against each other, keeping -out labor unions and building a new industrial South which would pay -tremendous returns. This was the program which began with the withdrawal -of Northern troops in 1876 and was carried on up to 1890 when it gained -political sanction by open laws disfranchising the Negro. - -But the experiment was carried on at a terrific cost. First, the Negro -could not be cowed and beaten back from his new-found freedom without a -mass of force, fraud and actual savagery such as strained the moral fibre -of the white South to the utmost. It will be a century before the South -recovers from this _débacle_ and this explains why this great stretch of -land has today so meager an output of science, literature and art and can -discuss practically nothing but the “Negro” problem. It explains why the -South is the one region in the civilized world where sometimes men are -publicly burned alive at the stake. - -On the other hand, even this display of force and hatred did not keep -the Negro from advancing and the reason for this was that he was in -competition with a white laboring class which, despite all efforts and -advantages could not outstrip the Negroes and put them wholly under -their feet. By judiciously using this rivalry, the Negro gained economic -advantage after advantage, and foothold after foothold until today -while by no means free and still largely deprived of political rights, -we have a mass of 10,000,000 people whose economic condition may be -thus described: If we roughly conceive of something like a tenth of the -white population as below the line of decent free economic existence, we -may guess that a third of the black American population of 12 millions -is still in economic serfdom, comparable to condition of the submerged -tenth in cities, and held in debt and crime peonage in the sugar, rice -and cotton belts. Six other millions are emerging and fighting, in -competition with white laborers, a fairly successful battle for rising -wages and better conditions. In the last ten years a million of these -have been willing and able to move physically from Southern serfdom to -the freer air of the North. - -The other three millions are as free as the better class of white -laborers; and are pushing and carrying the white laborer with them in -their grim determination to hold advantages gained and gain others. -The Negro’s agitation for the right to vote has made any step toward -disfranchising the poor white unthinkable, for the white vote is needed -to help disfranchise the blacks; the black man is pounding open the doors -of exclusive trade guilds; for how can unions exclude whites when Negro -competition can break a steel strike? The Negro is making America and -the world acknowledge democracy as feasible and desirable for all white -folk, for only in this way do they see any possibility of defending their -world wide fear of yellow, brown and black folk. - -In a peculiar way, then, the Negro in the United States has emancipated -democracy, reconstructed the threatened edifice of Freedom and been a -sort of eternal test of the sincerity of our democratic ideals. As a -Negro minister, J. W. C. Pennington, said in London and Glasgow before -the Civil war: “The colored population of the United States has no -destiny separate from that of the nation in which they form an integral -part. Our destiny is bound up with that of America. Her ship is ours; her -pilot is ours; her storms are ours; her calms are ours. If she breaks -upon a rock, we break with her. If we, born in America, cannot live upon -the same soil upon terms of equality with the descendants of Scotchmen, -Englishmen, Irishmen, Frenchmen, Germans, Hungarians, Greeks and Poles, -then the fundamental theory of America fails and falls to the ground.” - -This is still true and it puts the American Negro in a peculiar strategic -position with regard to the race problems of the whole world. What do -we mean by democracy? Do we mean democracy of the white races and the -subjection of the colored races? Or do we mean the gradual working -forward to a time when all men will have a voice in government and -industry and will be intelligent enough to express the voice? - -It is this latter thesis for which the American Negro stands and has -stood, and more than any other element in the modern world it has slowly -but continuously forced America toward that point and is still forcing. -It must be remembered that it was the late Booker T. Washington who -planned the beginning of an industrial democracy in the South, based -on education, and that in our day the National Association for the -Advancement of Colored People, nine-tenths of whose members are Negroes, -is the one persistent agency in the United States which is voicing a -demand for democracy unlimited by race, sex or religion. American Negroes -have even crossed the waters and held three Pan-African Congresses -to arouse black men through the world to work for modern democratic -development. Thus the emancipation of the Negro slave in America becomes -through his own determined effort simply one step toward the emancipation -of all men. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE FREEDOM OF WOMANHOOD - - How the black woman from her low estate not only united two - great human races but helped lift herself and all women to - economic independence and self-expression. - - -The emancipation of woman is, of course, but one phase of the growth -of democracy. It deserves perhaps separate treatment because it is an -interesting example of the way in which the Negro has helped American -democracy. - -In the United States in 1920 there were 5,253,695 women of Negro descent; -over twelve hundred thousand of these were children, another twelve -hundred thousand were girls and young women under twenty, and two and a -half million were adults. As a mass these women have but the beginnings -of education,—twelve percent of those from sixteen to twenty years of -age were unable to write, and twenty-eight percent of those twenty-one -years of age and over. These women are passing through, not only a moral, -but an economic revolution. Their grandmothers married at twelve and -fifteen, but in 1910 twenty-seven percent of these women who had passed -fifteen were still single. - -Yet these black women toil and toil hard. There were in 1910 two and a -half million Negro homes in the United States. Out of these homes walked -daily to work two million women and girls over ten years of age,—one -half of the colored female population as against a fifth in the case of -white women. These, then, are a group of workers, fighting for their -daily bread like men; independent and approaching economic freedom! They -furnished a million farm laborers, 80,000 farmers, 22,000 teachers, -600,000 servants and washerwomen, and 50,000 in trades and merchandizing. -In 1920, 38.9% of colored women were at work as contrasted with 17.2% -of native white women. Of the colored women 39% were farming and 50% in -service. - -The family group, however, which is the ideal of the culture into which -these folk have been born, is not based on the idea of an economically -independent working mother. Rather its ideal harks back to the sheltered -harem with the mother emerging at first as nurse and homemaker, while the -man remains the sole breadwinner. Thus the Negro woman more than the -women of any other group in America is the protagonist in the fight for -an economically independent womanhood in modern countries. Her fight has -not been willing or for the most part conscious but it has, nevertheless, -been curiously effective in its influence on the working world. - -This matter of economic independence is, of course, the central fact in -the struggle of women for equality. In the earlier days the slave woman -was found to be economically as efficient as the man. Moreover, because -of her production of children she became in many ways more valuable; -but because she was a field hand the slave family differed from the -free family. The children were brought up very largely in common on the -plantation, there was comparatively small parental control or real family -life and the chief function of the woman was working and not making a -home. We can see here pre-figured a type of social development toward -which the world is working again for similar and larger reasons. In -our modern industrial organization the work of women is being found as -valuable as that of men. They are consequently being taken from the home -and put into industry and the rapidity by which this process is going on -is only kept back by the problem of the child; and more and more the -community is taking charge of the education of children for this reason. - -In America the work of Negro women has not only pre-figured this -development but it has had a direct influence upon it. The Negro woman as -laborer, as seamstress, as servant and cook, has come into competition -with the white male laborer and with the white woman worker. The fact -that she could and did replace the white man as laborer, artisan and -servant, showed the possibility of the white woman doing the same thing, -and led to it. Moreover, the usual sentimental arguments against women -at work were not brought forward in the case of Negro womanhood. Nothing -illustrates this so well as the speech of Sojourner Truth before the -second National Woman Suffrage Convention, in 1852. - -Sojourner Truth came from the lowest of the low, a slave whose children -had been sold away from her, a hard, ignorant worker without even a name, -who came to this meeting of white women and crouched in a corner against -the wall. “Don’t let her speak,” was repeatedly said to the presiding -officer. “Don’t get our cause mixed up with abolition and ‘niggers’.” -The discussion became warm, resolutions were presented and argued. Much -was said of the superiority of man’s intellect, the general helplessness -of women and their need for courtesy, the sin of Eve, etc. Most of the -white women, being “perfect ladies,” according to the ideals of the time, -were not used to speaking in public and finally to their dismay the black -woman arose from the corner. The audience became silent. - -Sojourner Truth was an Amazon nearly six feet high, black, erect and with -piercing eyes, and her speech in reply was to the point: - -“Dat man ober dar say dat women needs to be helped into carriages, and -lifted ober ditches, and to have the best places every whar. Nobody eber -help me into carriages, or ober mud puddles, or gives me any best place” -(and raising herself to her full height and her voice to a pitch like -rolling thunder, she asked), “and ai’n’t I a woman? Look at me! Look -at my arm!” (And she bared her right arm to the shoulder, showing her -tremendous muscular power.) “I have plowed, and planted, and gathered -into barns, and no man could head me—and ai’n’t I a woman? I could work -as much and eat as much as a man (when I could get it), and bear de lash -as well—and ai’n’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen chilern and seen ’em -mos’ all sold off into slavery, and when I cried out with a mother’s -grief, none but Jesus heard—and ai’n’t I a woman? Den dey talks ’bout -dis ting in de head—what dis dey call it?” (“Intellect,” whispered some -one near.) “Dat’s it honey. What’s dat got to do with women’s rights or -niggers’ rights? If my cup won’t hold but a pint and yourn holds a quart, -wouldn’t ye be mean not to let me have my little half-measure full?” ... -She ended by asserting that “If de fust woman God ever made was strong -enough to turn the world upside down, all ’lone, dese togedder” (and she -glanced her eye over us,) “ought to be able to turn it back and get it -right side up again, and now dey is asking to do it, de men better let -’em....” - -“Amid roars of applause, she turned to her corner, leaving more than one -of us with streaming eyes and hearts beating with gratitude. She had -taken us up in her strong arms and carried us safely over the slough -of difficulty, turning the whole tide in our favor. I have never in my -life seen anything like the magical influence that subdued the mobbish -spirit of the day and turned the jibes and sneers of an excited crowd -into notes of respect and admiration. Hundreds rushed up to shake hands, -and congratulate the glorious old mother and bid her God speed on her -mission of ‘testifying again concerning the wickedness of this ’ere -people’.”[183] - -Again and in more concrete ways the Negro woman has influenced America -and that is by her personal contact with the family—its men, women and -children. As housekeeper, maid and nurse—as confidante, adviser and -friend, she was often an integral part of the white family life of the -South, and transmitted her dialect, her mannerisms, her quaint philosophy -and her boundless sympathy. - -Beyond this she became the concubine. It is a subject scarcely to be -mentioned today with our conventional morals and with the bitter racial -memories swirling about this institution of slavery. Yet the fact remains -stark, ugly, painful, beautiful. - -Let us regard it dispassionately, remembering that the concubine is as -old as the world and that birth is a biological fact. It is usual to -speak of the Negro as being the great example of the unassimiliated -group in American life. This, of course, is flatly untrue; probably of -the strains of blood longest present in America since the discovery by -Columbus, the Negro has been less liable to absorption than other groups; -but this does not mean that he has not been absorbed and that his blood -has not been spread throughout the length and breadth of the land. - -“We southern ladies are complimented with the names of wives; but we are -only the mistresses of seraglios,” said a sister of President Madison; -and a Connecticut minister who lived 14 years in Carolina said: “As it -relates to amalgamation, I can say, that I have been in respectable -families (so-called), where I could distinguish the family resemblance in -the slaves who waited upon the table. I once hired a slave who belonged -to his own uncle. It is so common for the female slaves to have white -children, that little is ever said about it. Very few inquiries are made -as to who the father is.”[184] - -One has only to remember the early histories of cities like Charleston -and New Orleans to see what the Negro concubine meant and how she -transfigured America. Paul Alliot said in his reflections of Louisiana in -1803: “The population of that city counting the people of all colors is -only twelve thousand souls. Mulattoes and Negroes are openly protected by -the Government. He who strikes one of those persons, even though he had -run away from him, would be severely punished. Also twenty whites could -be counted in the prisons of New Orleans against one man of color. The -wives and daughters of the latter are much sought after by the white men, -and white women at times esteem well-built men of color.”[185] The same -writer tells us that few white men marry, preferring to live with their -slaves or with women of color. - -A generation later the situation was much the same in spite of reaction. -In 1818, a traveler says of New Orleans: “Here may be seen in the same -crowds, Quadroons, Mulattoes, Samboes, Mustizos, Indians and Negroes; and -there are other commixtures which are not yet classified.”[186] - -“The minor distinctions of complexion and race so fiercely adhered to -by the Creoles of the old regime were at their height at this time. The -glory and shame of the city were her quadroons and octoroons, apparently -constituting two aristocratic circles of society, the one as elegant -as the other, the complexions the same, the men the same, the women -different in race, but not in color, nor in dress nor in jewels. Writers -on fire with the romance of this continental city love to speak of the -splendors of the French Opera House, the first place in the country where -grand opera was heard, and tell of the tiers of beautiful women with -their jewels and airs and graces. Above the orchestra circle were four -tiers; the first filled with the beautiful dames of the city; the second -filled with a second array of beautiful women, attired like those of -the first, with no apparent difference; yet these were the octoroons and -quadroons, whose beauty and wealth were all the passports needed. The -third was for the _hoi polloi_ of the white race, and the fourth for the -people of color whose color was more evident. It was a veritable sandwich -of races.”[187] - -Whatever judgment we may pass upon all this and however we may like or -dislike it, the fact remains that the colored slave women became the -medium through which two great races were united in America. Moreover -it is the fashion to assume that all this was merely infiltration -of white blood into the black; but we must remember it was just as -surely infiltration of black blood into white America and not even an -extraordinary drawing of the color line against all visible Negro blood -has ever been able to trace its true limits. - -There is scarcely an American, certainly none of the South and no Negro -American, who does not know in his personal experience of Americans -of Negro descent who either do not know or do not acknowledge their -African ancestry. This is their right, if they do know, and a matter -of but passing importance if they do not. But without doubt the -spiritual legacy of Africa has been spread through this mingling of -blood. First, of course, we may think of those more celebrated cases -where the mixed blood is fairly well known but nevertheless the man has -worked and passed as a white man. One of the earliest examples was that -of Alexander Hamilton. Alexander Hamilton was a case in point of the -much disputed “Creole” blood. Theoretically the Creole was a person of -European descent on both sides born in the West Indies or America; but -as there were naturally few such persons in earlier times because of the -small number of European women who came to America, those descendants of -European fathers and mulatto mothers were in practice called “Creole” -and consequently it soon began to be _prima facie_ evidence, in the -West Indies, that an illegitimate child of a white father was of Negro -descent. Alexander Hamilton was such an illegitimate child. He had -colored relatives whose descendants still live in America and he was -currently reported to be colored in the island of Nevis. Further than -this, of course, proof is impossible. But to those who have given careful -attention to the subject, little further proof is needed. - -To this can be added a long list of American notables,—bishops, generals -and members of Congress. Many writers and artists have found hidden -inspiration in their Negro blood and from the first importation in the -fifteenth century down to today there has been a continual mingling -of white and Negro blood in the United States both within and without -the bonds of wedlock that neither law nor slavery nor cruel insult and -contempt has been able to stop. - -Besides these influences in economics and the home there has come the -work of Negro women in revolt which cannot be forgotten. We mention two -cases. - -Harriet Tubman was a woman absolutely illiterate, who, from 1849 down to -the Civil War, spent her time journeying backward and forward between -the free and slave states and leading hundreds of black fugitives into -freedom. Thousands of dollars were put upon her head as rewards for her -capture; and she was continually sought by northern abolitionists and -was a confidant of John Brown. During the War, she acted as a spy, guide -and nurse and in all these days, worked without pay or reward. William -H. Seward said: “A nobler, higher spirit or truer, seldom dwells in the -human form,” and Wendell Phillips added: “In my opinion there are few -captains, perhaps few colonels who have done more for the loyal cause -since the War began and few men who did before that time more for the -colored race than our fearless and most sagacious friend, Harriet.” -Abraham Lincoln gave her ready audience.[188] - -Quite a different kind of woman and yet strangely effective and -influential was Mammy Pleasants of California. Here was a colored -woman who became one of the shrewdest business minds of the State. She -anticipated the development in oil; she was the trusted confidant of many -of the California pioneers like Ralston, Mills and Booth and for years -was a power in San Francisco affairs. Yet, she held her memories, her -hatreds, her deep designs and throughout a life that was perhaps more -than unconventional, she treasured a bitter hatred for slavery and a -certain contempt for white people. - -As a field hand in Georgia she had attracted the attention of a planter -by her intelligence and was bought and sent to Boston for training. Here -she was made a household drudge and eventually married Alexander Smith -who was associated with Garrison and the abolitionists. With $50,000 -from his estate, she came to California and made a fortune. The epitaph -which she wanted on her tombstone was, “She was a friend of John Brown.” -When she first heard of the projects of Brown she determined to help -him and April 5, 1858, when John Brown was captured at Harper’s Ferry, -they found upon him a letter reading: “The ax is laid at the foot of the -tree; when the first blow is struck there will be more money to help.” -This was signed by three initials which the authorities thought were -“W. E. P.”—in fact they were “M. E. P.” and stood for Mammy Pleasants. -She had come East the spring before with a $30,000 United States draft -which she changed into coin and meeting John Brown in Chatham or Windsor, -Canada, had turned this money over to him. It was agreed, however, that -he was not to strike his blow until she had helped to arouse the slaves. -Disguised as a jockey, she went South and while there heard of Brown’s -raid and capture at Harper’s Ferry. She fled to New York and finally -reached California on a ship that came around Cape Horn, sailing in the -steerage under an assumed name. - -Mammy Pleasants “always wore a poke bonnet and a plaid shawl,” and she -was “very black with thin lips” and “she handled more money during -pioneers days in California than any other colored person.”[189] - -Here then, we have the types of colored women who rose out of the black -mass of slaves not only to guide their own folk but to influence the -nation. - -We have noted then the Negro woman in America as a worker tending to -emancipate all women workers; as a mother nursing the white race and -uniting the black and white race; as a conspirator urging forward -emancipation in various sorts of ways; and we have finally only to -remember that today the women of America who are doing humble but on the -whole the most effective work in the social uplift of the lowly, not so -much by money as by personal contact, are the colored women. Little is -said or known about it but in thousands of churches and social clubs, -in missionary societies and fraternal organizations, in unions like the -National Association of Colored Women, these workers are founding and -sustaining orphanages and old folk homes; distributing personal charity -and relief; visiting prisoners; helping hospitals; teaching children; -and ministering to all sorts of needs. Their work, as it comes now and -then in special cases to the attention of individuals of the white world, -forms a splendid bond of encouragement and sympathy, and helps more than -most realize in minimizing racial difficulties and encouraging human -sympathy.[190] - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THE AMERICAN FOLK SONG - - How black folk sang their sorrow songs in the land of their - bondage and made this music the only American folk music. - - -“Little of beauty has America given the world save the rude grandeur God -himself stamped on her bosom; the human spirit in this new world has -expressed itself in vigor and ingenuity rather than in beauty. And so by -fateful chance the Negro folk-song—the rhythmic cry of the slave—stands -today not simply as the sole American music, but as the most beautiful -expression of human experience born this side the seas. It has been -neglected, it has been persistently mistaken and misunderstood; but -notwithstanding, it still remains as the singular spiritual heritage of -the nation and the greatest gift of the Negro people.”[191] - -Around the Negro folk-song there has arisen much of controversy and of -misunderstanding. For a long time they were utterly neglected; then every -once in a while and here and there they forced themselves upon popular -attention. In the thirties, they emerged and in tunes like “Near the lake -where droop the willow” and passed into current song or were caricatured -by the minstrels. Then came Stephen Foster who accompanied a mulatto maid -often to the Negro church and heard the black folk sing; he struck a new -note in songs like “Old Kentucky Home,” “Old Folks at Home” and “Nellie -was a Lady.” But it was left to war and emancipation to discover the real -primitive beauty of this music to the world. - -When northern men and women who knew music, met the slaves at Port Royal -after its capture by Federal troops, they set down these songs in their -original form for the first time so that the world might hear and sing -them. The sea islands of the Carolinas where these meetings took place -“with no third witness” were filled with primitive black folk, uncouth -in appearance, and queer in language, but their singing was marvellous. -Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Miss McKim and others collected these -songs in 1867, making the first serious study of Negro American music. -The preface said: - -“The musical capacity of the Negro race has been recognized for so many -years that it is hard to explain why no systematic effort has hitherto -been made to collect and preserve their melodies. More than thirty -years ago those plantation songs made their appearance which were so -extraordinarily popular for a while; and if ‘Coal-black Rose,’ ‘Zip -Coon’ and ‘Ole Virginny nebber tire’ have been succeeded by spurious -imitations, manufactured to suit the somewhat sentimental taste of our -community, the fact that these were called ‘Negro melodies’ was itself a -tribute to the musical genius of the race. - -“The public had well-nigh forgotten these genuine slave songs, and with -them the creative power from which they sprung, when a fresh interest -was excited through the educational mission to the Port Royal Islands in -1861.”[192] - -Still the world listened only half credulously until the Fisk Jubilee -Singers sang the slave songs “so deeply into the world’s heart that -it can never wholly forget them again.” The story of the Fisk Jubilee -singers is romantic. In abandoned barracks at Nashville hundreds of -colored children were being taught and the dream of a Negro University -had risen in the minds of the white teachers. But even the lavish -contribution for missionary work, which followed the war, had by 1870 -begun to fall off. It happened that the treasurer of Fisk, George L. -White, loved music. He began to instruct the Fisk students in singing -and he used the folk-songs. He met all sorts of difficulties. The white -people of the nation and especially the conventional church folk who were -sending missionary money, were not interested in “minstrel ditties.” The -colored people looked upon these songs as hateful relics of slavery. -Nevertheless, Mr. White persisted, gathered a pioneer band of singers and -in 1871 started north. - -“It was the sixth day of October in the year of our Lord, one thousand -eight hundred and seventy-one, when George L. White started out from -Fisk School with his eleven students to raise money, that Fisk might -live. Professor Adam K. Spence, who was principal of the school, gave -Mr. White all the money in his possession save one dollar, which he -held back, that the treasury might not be empty. While friends and -parents wept, waved, and feared, the train puffed out of the station. -All sorts of difficulties, obstacles, oppositions and failures faced -them until through wonderful persistence, they arrived at Oberlin, Ohio. -Here the National Council of Congregational Churches was in session. -After repeated efforts, Mr. White gained permission for his singers to -render one song. Many of the members of the Council objected vigorously -to having such singers. During the time of the session the weather -had been dark and cloudy. The sun had not shone one moment, it had not -cast one ray upon the village. The singers went into the gallery of the -church, unobserved by all save the moderator and a few who were on the -rostrum. At a lull in the proceeding, there floated sweetly to the ears -of the audience the measures of ‘Steal Away to Jesus.’ Suddenly the sun -broke through the clouds, shone through the windows upon the singers, -and verily they were a heavenly choir. For a time the Council forgot its -business and called for more and more. It was at this point that Henry -Ward Beecher almost demanded of Mr. White that he cancel all engagements -and come straight to his church in Brooklyn....” - -The New York papers ridiculed and sneered at Beecher’s “nigger -minstrels.” But Beecher stuck to his plan and it was only a matter of -hearing them once when audiences went into ecstasies. - -“When the Metropolitan newspapers called the company ‘Nigger Minstrels,’ -Mr. White was face to face with a situation as serious as it was -awkward. His company had no appropriate name, and the odium of the title -attributed by the New York newspapers pained him intensely. If they were -to be known as ‘Nigger Minstrels,’ they could never realize his vision; -they were both handicapped and checkmated, and their career was dead.... -The suggestiveness of the Hebrew Jubilee had been borne in upon his mind -and with joy of a deep conviction he exclaimed, ‘Children, you are the -Jubilee Singers’.”[193] - -For seven years the career of this company of Jubilee Singers was a -continual triumph. They crowded the concert halls of New England; they -began to send money back to Fisk; they went to Great Britain and sang -before Queen Victoria, Lord Shaftesbury and Mr. Gladstone. Gladstone -cried: “It’s wonderful!” Queen Victoria wept. Moody, the evangelist, -brought them again and again to his London meetings, and the singers -were loaded with gifts. Then they went to Germany, and again Kings and -peasants listened to them. In seven years they were able to pay not -only all of their own expenses but to send $150,000 in cash to Fisk -University, and out of this money was built Jubilee Hall, on the spot -that was once a slave market. “There it stands, lifting up its grateful -head to God in His heaven.” - -For a long time after some people continued to sneer at Negro music. They -declared it was a “mere imitation,” that it had little intrinsic value, -that it was not the music of Negroes at all. Gradually, however, this -attitude has completely passed and today critics vie with each other in -giving tribute to this wonderful gift of the black man to America. - -Damrosch says: “The Negro’s music isn’t ours, it is the Negro’s. It -has become a popular form of musical expression and is interesting, -but it is not ours. Nothing more characteristic of a race exists, but -it is characteristic of the Negro, not the American race. Through it a -primitive people poured out its emotions with wonderful expressiveness. -It no more expresses our emotions than the Indian music does.” - -Recently, numbers of serious studies of the Negro folk-song have been -made. James Weldon Johnson says: “In the ‘spirituals,’ or slave songs, -the Negro has given America not only its only folk-songs, but a mass of -noble music. I never think of this music but that I am struck by the -wonder, the miracle of its production. How did the men who originated -these songs manage to do it? The sentiments are easily accounted for; -they are, for the most part, taken from the Bible. But the melodies, -where did they come from? Some of them so weirdly sweet, and others so -wonderfully strong. Take, for instance, ‘Go Down, Moses’; I doubt that -there is a stronger theme in the whole musical literature of the world. - -“It is to be noted that whereas the chief characteristic of Ragtime is -rhythm, the chief characteristic of the ‘spirituals’ is melody. The -melodies of ‘Steal Away to Jesus,’ ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,’ ‘Nobody -Knows de Trouble I See,’ ‘I couldn’t hear Nobody Pray,’ ‘Deep River,’ -‘O, Freedom Over Me,’ and many others of these songs possess a beauty -that is—what shall I say? Poignant. In the riotous rhythms of Ragtime -the Negro expressed his irrepressible buoyancy, his keen response to the -sheer joy of living; in the ‘spirituals’ he voiced his sense of beauty -and his deep religious feeling.”[194] - -H. E. Krehbiel says: “There was sunshine as well as gloom in the life -of the black slaves in the Southern colonies and States, and so we have -songs which are gay as well as grave; but as a rule the finest songs are -the fruits of suffering undergone and the hope of the deliverance from -bondage which was to come with translation to heaven after death. The -oldest of them are the most beautiful, and many of the most striking -have never yet been collected, partly because they contained elements, -melodic as well as rhythmical, which baffled the ingenuity of the early -collectors. Unfortunately, trained musicians have never entered upon the -field, and it is to be feared that it is now too late. The peculiarities -which the collaborators on ‘Slave Songs of the United States’ -recognized, but could not imprison on the written page, were elements -which would have been of especial interest to the student of art. - -“Is it not the merest quibble to say that these songs are not American? -They were created in America under American influences and by people who -are Americans in the same sense that any other element of our population -is American—every element except the aboriginal.... Is it only an African -who can sojourn here without becoming an American and producing American -things; is it a matter of length of stay in the country? Scarcely that; -or some Negroes would have at least as good a claim on the title as the -descendants of the Puritans and Pilgrims. Negroes figure in the accounts -of his voyages to America made by Columbus.... A year before the English -colonists landed on Plymouth Rock Negroes were sold into servitude in -Virginia.”[195] - -The most gifted and sympathetic student of the folk-song in Africa and -America was Natalie Curtis, and it is scarcely necessary to add to what -she has so carefully and sympathetically written. She has traced the -connection between African and Afro-American music which has always been -assumed but never carefully proven. The African rhythm, through the use -of the drum as a leading instrument, produced musical emphasis which we -call syncopation. Primitive music usually shows rhythm and melody of the -voice sung in unison. But in Africa, part singing was developed long -before it appeared in Europe. The great difference between the music of -Africa and the music of Europe lies in rhythm; in Europe the music is -accented on the regular beats of the music while in Africa the accents -fall often on the unstressed beats. It is this that coming down through -the Negro folk-song in America has produced what is known as ragtime. - -Mrs. Curtis Burlin shows that the folk-song of the African in America -can be traced direct to Africa: “As a creator of beauty the black man is -capable of contributing to the great art of the world. - -“The Negro’s pronounced gift for music is today widely recognized. That -gift, brought to America in slave-ships, was nurtured by that mother of -woe, human slavery, till out of suffering and toil there sprang a music -which speaks to the heart of mankind—the prayer-song of the American -Negro. In Africa is rooted the parent stem of that out-flowering of Negro -folk-song in other lands. - -“Through the Negro this country is vocal with a folk-music intimate, -complete and beautiful. It is the Negro music with its by-product of -‘ragtime’ that today most widely influences the popular song-life of -America, and Negro rhythms have indeed captivated the world at large. Nor -may we foretell the impress that the voice of the slave will leave upon -the art of the country—a poetic justice, this! For the Negro everywhere -discriminated against, segregated and shunned, mobbed and murdered—he -it is whose melodies are on all our lips, and whose rhythms impel our -marching feet in a ‘war for democracy.’ The irresistible music that wells -up from this sunny and unresentful people is hummed and whistled, danced -to and marched to, laughed over and wept over, by high and low and rich -and poor throughout the land. The downtrodden black man whose patient -religious faith has kept his heart still unembittered, is fast becoming -the singing voice of all America. And in his song we hear a prophecy of -the dignity and worth of Negro genius.”[196] - -The Negro folk-song entered the Church and became the prayer song and -the sorrow song, still with its haunting melody but surrounded by the -inhibitions of a cheap theology and a conventional morality. But the -musical soul of a race unleashed itself violently from these bonds and -in the saloons and brothels of the Mississippi bottoms and gulf coast -flared to that crimson license of expression known as “ragtime,” “jazz” -and the more singular “blues” retaining with all their impossible words -the glamour of rhythm and wild joy. White composers hastily followed with -songs like “A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight,” and numerous successors -in popular favor. - -Out of ragtime grew a further development through both white and black -composers. The “blues,” a curious and intriguing variety of love song -from the levees of the Mississippi, became popular and was spread by the -first colored man who was able to set it down, W. C. Handy of Memphis. -Other men, white and colored, from Stephen Foster to our day, have -taken another side of Negro music and developed its haunting themes -and rippling melody into popular songs and into high and fine forms of -modern music, until today the influence of the Negro reaches every part -of American music, of many foreign masters like Dvorak; and certainly no -program of concert music could be given in America without voicing Negro -composers and Negro themes. - -We can best end this chapter with the word of a colored man: “But there -is something deeper than the sensuousness of beauty that makes for the -possibilities of the Negro in the realm of the arts, and that is the soul -of the race. The wail of the old melodies and the plaintive quality that -is ever present in the Negro voice are but the reflection of a background -of tragedy. No race can rise to the greatest heights of art until it has -yearned and suffered. The Russians are a case in point. Such has been -their background in oppression and striving that their literature and -art are today marked by an unmistakable note of power. The same future -beckons to the American Negro. There is something very elemental about -the heart of the race, something that finds its origin in the African -forest, in the sighing of the night wind, and in the falling of the -stars. There is something grim and stern about it all, too, something -that speaks of the lash, of the child torn from its mother’s bosom, of -the dead body riddled with bullets and swinging all night from a limb by -the roadside.”[197] - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -NEGRO ART AND LITERATURE - - How the tragic story of the black slave has become a central - theme of the story of America and has inspired literature and - created art. - - -The Negro is primarily an artist. The usual way of putting this is to -speak disdainfully of his “sensuous” nature. This means that the only -race which has held at bay the life destroying forces of the tropics, -has gained therefrom in some slight compensation a sense of beauty, -particularly for sound and color, which characterizes the race. The Negro -blood which flowed in the veins of many of the mightiest of the Pharaohs -accounts for much of Egyptian art, and indeed Egyptian civilization owes -much in its origin to the development of the large strain of Negro blood -which manifested itself in every grade of Egyptian society. - -Semitic civilization also had its Negroid influences, and these -continually turn toward art as in the case of black Nosseyeb, one of the -five great poets of Damascus under the Ommiades, and the black Arabian -hero, Antar. It was therefore not to be wondered at that in modern days -one of the greatest of modern literatures, the Russian, should have been -founded by Pushkin, the grandson of a full blooded Negro, and that among -the painters of Spain was the mulatto slave, Gomez. Back of all this -development by way of contact, come the artistic sense of the indigenous -Negro as shown in the stone figures of Sherbro, the bronzes of Benin, -the marvelous hand work in iron and other metals which has characterized -the Negro race so long that archaeologists today, with less and less -hesitation, are ascribing the discovery of the welding of iron to the -Negro race. - -Beyond the specific ways in which the Negro has contributed to American -art stands undoubtedly his spirit of gayety and the exotic charm which -his presence has loaned the parts of America which were spiritually free -enough to enjoy it. In New Orleans, for instance, after the war of 1812 -and among the free people of color there was a beautiful blossoming of -artistic life which the sordid background of slavery had to work hard -to kill. The “people of color” grew in number and waxed wealthy. Famous -streets even today bear testimony of their old importance. Congo Square -in the old Creole quarter where Negroes danced the weird “Bamboula” long -before colored Coleridge-Taylor made it immortal and Gottschalk wrote -his Negro dance. Camp street and Julia street took their names from -the old Negro field and from the woman who owned land along the Canal. -Americans and Spanish both tried to get the support and sympathy of the -free Negroes. The followers of Aaron Burr courted them. - -“Writers describing the New Orleans of this period agree in presenting a -picture of a continental city, most picturesque, most un-American, and as -varied in color as a street of Cairo. There they saw French, Spaniards, -English, Bohemians, Negroes, mulattoes, varied clothes, picturesque white -dresses of the fairer women, brilliant cottons of the darker ones. The -streets, banquettes, we should say, were bright with color, the nights -filled with song and laughter. Through the scene, the people of color add -the spice of color; in the life, they add the zest of romance.”[198] - -Music is always back of this gay Negro spirit and the folk song which the -Negro brought to America was developed not simply by white men but by the -Negro himself. Musicians and artists sprung from the Louisiana group. -There was Eugene Warburg who distinguished himself as a sculptor in -Italy. There was Victor Sejour who became a poet and composer in France, -Dubuclet became a musician in Bordeaux and the seven Lamberts taught -and composed in America, France and Brazil. One of the brothers Sydney -was decorated for his work by the King of Portugal. Edmund Dèdè became a -director of a leading orchestra in France.[199] - -Among other early colored composers of music are J. Hemmenway who lived -in Philadelphia in the twenties; A. J. Conner of Philadelphia between -1846-57 published numbers of compositions; in the seventies Justin -Holland was well known as a composer in Cleveland, Ohio; Samuel Milady, -known by his stage name as Sam Lucas, was born in 1846 and died in 1916. -He wrote many popular ballads, among them “Grandfather’s Clock Was Too -Tall For The Shelf.” George Melbourne, a Negro street minstrel, composed -“Listen to the Mocking-Bird,” although a white man got the credit. James -Bland wrote “Carry me Back to Ole Virginny”; Gussie L. Davis composed -popular music at Cincinnati.[200] - -Coming to our day we remember that the Anglo-African Samuel -Coleridge-Taylor received much of his inspiration from his visits to -the American Negro group; then comes Harry T. Burleigh, perhaps the -greatest living song writer in America. Among his works are “Five Songs” -by Laurence Hope; “The Young Warrior,” which became one of the greatest -of the war songs; “The Grey Wolf” and “Ethiopia Saluting the Colors.” His -adaptations of Negro folk-songs are widely known and he assisted Dvorak -in his “New World Symphony.” R. Nathaniel Dett has written “Listen to -the Lambs,” a carol widely known, and “The Magnolia Suite.” Rosamond -Johnson wrote “Under the Bamboo Tree” and a dozen popular favorites -beside choruses and marches. Clarence Cameron White has composed and -adapted and Maud Cuney Hare has revived and explained Creole music. -Edmund T. Jenkins has won medals at the Royal Academy in London. Among -the colored performers on the piano are R. Augustus Lawson, who has often -been soloist at the concerts of the Hartford Philharmonic Orchestra; -Hazel Harrison, a pupil of Busoni; and Helen Hagen who took the Sanford -scholarship at Yale. Carl Diton is a pianist who has transcribed many -Negro melodies. Melville Charlton has done excellent work on the organ. - -Then we must remember the Negro singers, the “Black Swan” of the early -19th century whose voice compared with Jenny Lind’s; the Hyer sisters, -Flora Batson, Florence Cole Talbert, and Roland W. Hayes, the tenor -whose fine voice has charmed London, Paris and Vienna and who is now one -of the leading soloists of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. - -The Negro has been one of the greatest originators of dancing in the -United States and in the world. He created the “cake walk” and most of -the steps in the “clog” dance which has so enthralled theatre audiences. -The modern dances which have swept over the world like the “Tango” and -“Turkey Trot” originated among the Negroes of the West Indies. The Vernon -Castles always told their audiences that their dances were of Negro -origin.[201] - -We turn now to other forms of art and more particularly literature. Here -the subject naturally divides itself into three parts: _first_, the -influence which the Negro has had on American literature,—and _secondly_, -the development of a literature for and by Negroes. And lastly the number -of Negroes who have gained a place in National American literature. - -From the earliest times the presence of the black man in America has -inspired American writers. Among the early Colonial writers the Negro was -a subject as, for instance, in Samuel Sewall’s “Selling of Joseph,” the -first American anti-slavery tract published in 1700. But we especially -see in the influence of the Negro’s condition in the work of the masters -of the 19th century, like Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Greenleaf Whittier, -James Russell Lowell, Walt Whitman, Julia Ward Howe, Harriet Beecher -Stowe and Lydia Maria Child. With these must be named the orators Wendell -Phillips, Charles Sumner, John C. Calhoun, Henry Ward Beecher. In our own -day, we have had the writers of fiction, George U. Cable, Thomas Nelson -Page, Thomas Dixson, Ruth McEnery Stewart, William Dean Howells, Thomas -Wentworth Higginson. - -It may be said that the influence of the Negro here is a passive -influence and yet one must remember that it would be inconceivable to -have an American literature, even that written by white men, and not have -the Negro as a subject. He has been the lay figure, but after all, the -figure has been alive, it has moved, it has talked, felt and influenced. - -In the minds of these and other writers how has the Negro been portrayed? -It is a fascinating subject which I can but barely touch: in the days -of Shakespeare and Southerne the black man of fiction was a man, a -brave, fine, if withal over-trustful and impulsive, hero. In science he -was different but equal, cunning in unusual but mighty possibilities. -Then with the slave trade he suddenly became a clown and dropped -from sight. He emerged slowly beginning about 1830 as a dull stupid -but contented slave, capable of doglike devotion, superstitious and -incapable of education. Then, in the abolition controversy he became a -victim, a man of sorrows, a fugitive chased by blood-hounds, a beautiful -raped octoroon, a crucified Uncle Tom, but a lay figure, objectively -pitiable but seldom subjectively conceived. Suddenly a change came after -Reconstruction. The black man was either a faithful old “Befoh de wah” -darky worshipping lordly white folk, or a frolicking ape, or a villain, -a sullen scoundrel, a violator of womanhood, a low thief and misbirthed -monster. He was sub-normal and congenitally incapable. He was represented -as an unfit survival of Darwinian natural selection. Philanthropy and -religion stood powerless before his pigmy brain and undeveloped morals. -In a “thousands years”? Perhaps. But at present, an upper beast. Out of -this today he is slowly but tentatively, almost apologetically rising—a -somewhat deserving, often poignant, but hopeless figure; a man whose -only proper end is dramatic suicide physically or morally. His trouble -is natural and inborn inferiority, slight by scientific measurement -but sufficient to make absolute limits to his possibilities, save in -exceptional cases. - -And here we stand today. As a normal human being reacting humanly to -human problems the Negro has never appeared in the fiction or the science -of white writers, with a bare half dozen exceptions; while to the white -southerner who “knows him best” he is always an idiot or a monster, -and he sees him as such, no matter what is before his very eyes. And -yet, with all this, the Negro has held the stage. In the South he is -everything. You cannot discuss religion, morals, politics, social life, -science, earth or sky, God or devil without touching the Negro. It is -a perennial and continuous and continual subject of books, editorials, -sermons, lectures and smoking car confabs. In the north and west while -seldom in the center, the Negro is always in the wings waiting to appear -or screaming shrill lines off stage. What would intellectual America do -if she woke some fine morning to find no “Negro” Problem? - -Coming now to the slowly swelling stream of a distinct group literature, -by and primarily for the Negro, we enter a realm only partially known -to white Americans. First, there come the rich mass of Negro folk lore -transplanted from Africa and developed in America. A white writer, Joel -Chandler Harris, first popularized “Uncle Remus” and “Brer Rabbit” for -white America; but he was simply the deft and singularly successful -translator—the material was Negroid and appears repeatedly among the -black peasants and in various forms and versions. Take for instance the -versions of the celebrated tar-baby story of Joel Chandler Harris. C. -C. Jones took down a striking version apparently direct from Negro lips -early in the 19th century: - -“‘Do Buh Wolf, bun me: broke me neck, but don’t trow me in de brier -patch. Lemme dead one time. Don’t tarrify me no mo.’ Buh Wolf yet bin -know wuh Buh Rabbit up teh. Eh tink eh bin guine tare Bur Rabbit hide -off. So, wuh eh do? Eh loose Buh Rabbit from de spakleberry bush, an eh -tek um by de hine leg, an eh swing um roun’, en eh trow um way in de tick -brier patch fuh tare eh hide and cratch eh yeye out. De minnit Buh Rabbit -drap in de brier patch, eh cock up eh tail, eh jump, an holler back to -Buh Wolf: ‘Good bye, Budder! Dis de place me mammy fotch me up,—dis de -place me mammy fotch me up.’ An eh gone before Buh Wolf kin ketch um. Buh -Rabbit too scheemy.” - -The Harris version shows the literary touch added by the white man. But -the Negro version told by Jones has all the meat of the primitive tale. - -Next we note the folk rhymes and poetry of Negroes, sometimes -accompanying their music and sometimes not. A white instructor in English -literature at the University of Virginia says: - -“Of all the builders of the nation the Negro alone has created a species -of lyric verse that all the world may recognize as a distinctly American -production.” - -T. W. Talley, a Negro, has recently published an exhaustive collection of -these rhymes. They form an interesting collection of poetry often crude -and commonplace but with here and there touches of real poetry and quaint -humor.[202] - -The literary expression of Negroes themselves has had continuous -development in America since the eighteenth century.[203] It may however -be looked upon from two different points of view: We may think of the -writing of Negroes as self-expression and as principally for themselves. -Here we have a continuous line of writers. Only a few of these, however -would we think of as contributing to American literature as such and -yet this inner, smaller stream of Negro literature overflows faintly at -first and now evidently more and more into the wider stream of American -literature; on the other hand there have been figures in American -literature who happen to be of Negro descent and who are but vaguely to -be identified with the group stream as such. Both these points of view -are interesting but let us first take up the succession of authors who -form a group literature by and for Negroes. - -As early as the eighteenth century, and even before the Revolutionary -War the first voices of Negro authors were heard in the United States. -Phyllis Wheatley, the black poetess, was easily the pioneer, her first -poems appearing in 1773, and other editions in 1774 and 1793. Her -earliest poem was in memory of George Whitefield. She was honored by -Washington and leading Englishmen and was as a writer above the level of -her American white contemporaries. - -She was followed by Richard Allen, first Bishop of the African Methodist -Church whose autobiography, published in 1793 was the beginning of -that long series of personal appears and narratives of which Booker -T. Washington’s “Up From Slavery” was the latest. Benjamin Banneker’s -almanacs represented the first scientific work of American Negroes, and -began to be issued in 1792. - -Coming now to the first decades of the nineteenth century we find some -essays on freedom by the African Society of Boston, and an apology for -the new Negro church formed in Philadelphia. Paul Cuffe, disgusted with -America, wrote an early account of Sierra Leone, while the celebrated -Lemuel Haynes, ignoring the race question, dipped deeply into the New -England theological controversy about 1815. In 1829 came the first -full-voiced, almost hysterical, protest against slavery and the color -line in David Walker’s Appeal which aroused Southern legislatures to -action. This was followed by the earliest Negro conventions which issued -interesting minutes; two appeals against disfranchisement in Pennsylvania -appeared in this decade, one written by Robert Purvis, who also wrote a -biography of his father-in-law, Mr. James Forten, and the other appeal -written by John Bowers and others. The life of Gustavus Vassa, also known -by his African name of Olaudah Equiana, was published in America in 1837 -continuing the interesting personal narratives. - -In 1840 some strong writers began to appear. Henry Highland Garnet and -J. W. C. Pennington preached powerful sermons and gave some attention -to Negro history in their pamphlets: R. B. Lewis made a more elaborate -attempt at Negro history. Whitfield’s poems appeared in 1846, and William -Wells Brown began a career of writing which lasted from 1847 until after -the Civil War. He began his literary career by the publication of his -“Narrative of a Fugitive Slave” in 1847. This was followed by a novel in -1853, “Sketches” from abroad in 1855, a play in 1858, “The Black Man” in -1863, “The Negro in the American Rebellion” in 1867, and “The Rising Son” -in 1874. The Colored Convention in Cincinnati and Cleveland published -reports in this decade and Bishop Loguen wrote his life history. In -1845 Douglass’ autobiography made its first appearance, destined to run -through endless editions until the last in 1893. Moreover it was in 1841 -that the first Negro magazine appeared in America, edited by George -Hogarth and published by the A. M. E. Church. - -In the fifties James Whitfield published further poems, and a new poet -arose in the person of Frances E. W. Harper, a woman of no little ability -who died lately; Martin R. Delaney and William Cooper Nell wrote further -of Negro history, Nell especially making valuable contributions of the -history of the Negro soldiers. Three interesting biographies were added -in this decade to the growing number; Josiah Henson, Samuel C. Ward and -Samuel Northrop; while Catto, leaving general history came down to the -better known history of the Negro church. - -In the sixties slave narratives multiplied, like that of Linda Brent, -while two studies of Africa based on actual visits were made by Robert -Campbell and Dr. Alexander Crummell; William Douglass and Bishop Daniel -Payne continued the history of the Negro church, and William Wells Brown -carried forward his work in general Negro history. In this decade, too, -Bishop Tanner began his work in Negro theology. - -Most of the Negro talent in the seventies was taken up in politics; -the older men like Bishop Wayman wrote of their experiences; Sojourner -Truth added her story to the slave narratives. A new poet arose in the -person of A. A. Whitman, while James Monroe Trotter was the first to take -literary note of the musical ability of his race. Robert Brown Elliott -stirred the nation by his eloquence in Congress. The Fisk edition of the -Songs of the Jubilee Singers appeared. - -In the eighties there are signs of unrest and conflicting streams of -thought. On the one hand the rapid growth of the Negro church is shown -by the writers on church subjects like Moore and Wayman. The historical -spirit was especially strong. Still wrote of the Underground Railroad; -Simmons issued his interesting biographical dictionary, and the greatest -historian of the race appeared when George W. Williams issued his -two-volume history of the Negro Race in America. The political turmoil -was reflected in Langston’s Freedom and Citizenship, Fortune’s Black and -White, and Straker’s New South, and found its bitterest arraignment in -Turner’s pamphlets; but with all this went other new thought: Scarborough -published “First Greek Lessons”; Bishop Payne issued his Treatise on -Domestic Education, and Stewart studied Liberia. - -In the nineties came histories, essays, novels and poems, together with -biographies and social studies. The history was represented by Payne’s -History of the A. M. E. Church, Hood’s One Hundred Years of the A. M. -E. Zion Church, Anderson’s sketch of Negro Presbyterianism and Hagood’s -Colored Man in the M. E. Church; general history of the older type -was represented by R. L. Perry’s Cushite and of the newer type in E. -A. Johnson’s histories, while one of the secret societies found their -historian in Brooks; Crogman’s essays appeared and Archibald Grimke’s -biographies. The race question was discussed in Frank Grimke’s published -sermons, social studies were made by Penn, Wright, Mossell, Crummell, -Majors and others. Most notable, however, was the rise of the Negro -novelist and poet with national recognition: Frances Harper was still -writing and Griggs began his racial novels, but both of these spoke -primarily to the Negro race; on the other hand, Chesnutt’s six novels -and Dunbar’s inimitable works spoke of the whole nation. J. T. Wilson’s -“Black Phalanx,” the most complete study of the Negro soldier, came in -these years. - -Booker T. Washington’s work began with his address at Atlanta in 1895, -“Up From Slavery” in 1901, “Working with the Hands” in 1904, and “The Man -Farthest Down” in 1912. The American Negro Academy, a small group, began -the publication of occasional papers in 1897 and has published a dozen -or more numbers including a “Symposium on the Negro and the Elective -Franchise” in 1905, a “Comparative Study of the Negro Problem” in 1899, -Love’s “Disfranchisement of the Negro” in 1899, Grimke’s Study of Denmark -Vesey in 1901 and Steward’s “Black St. Domingo Legion” in 1899. Since -1900 the stream of Negro writing has continued. Dunbar has found a -successor in the critic and compiler of anthologies, W. S. Braithwaite; -Booker T. Washington has given us his biography and Story of the Negro; -Kelly Miller’s trenchant essays have appeared in book form and he has -issued numbers of critical monographs on the Negro problem with wide -circulation. Scientific historians have appeared in Benjamin Brawley and -Carter Woodson and George W. Mitchell. Sinclair’s Aftermath of Slavery -has attracted attention, as have the studies made by Atlanta University. -The Negro in American Sculpture has been studied by H. F. M. Murray. - -The development in poetry has been significant, beginning with Phyllis -Wheatley.[204] Jupiter Hammon came in the 18th century, George M. Horton -in the early part of the 19th century followed by Frances Harper who -began publishing in 1854 and A. A. Whitman whose first attempts at epic -poetry were published in the seventies. In 1890 came the first thin -volume of Paul Lawrence Dunbar, the undoubted laureate of the race, who -published poems and one or two novels up until the beginning of the 20th -century. He was succeeded by William Stanley Braithwaite whose fame rests -chiefly upon his poetic criticism and his anthologies, and finally by -James Weldon Johnson, Claud McKay who came out of the West Indies with a -new and sincere gift, Fenton Johnson, Georgia Johnson and Jessie Fauset. -Joseph S. Cotter, Jr., Langston Hughes, Roscoe C. Jamison and Countée -Cullen have done notable work in verse. Campbell, Davis and others have -continued the poetic tradition of Negro dialect. - -On the whole, the literary output of the American Negro has been both -large and creditable, although, of course, comparatively little known; -few great names have appeared and only here and there work that could be -called first class, but this is not a peculiarity of Negro literature. - -The time has not yet come for the great development of American Negro -literature. The economic stress is too great and the racial persecution -too bitter to allow the leisure and the poise for which literature calls. -“The Negro in the United States is consuming all his intellectual energy -in this gruelling race-struggle.” And the same statement may be made -in a general way about the white South. Why does not the white South -produce literature and art? The white South, too, is consuming all of its -intellectual energy in this lamentable conflict. Nearly all of the mental -efforts of the white South run through one narrow channel. The life of -every southern white man and all of his activities are impassably limited -by the ever present Negro problem. And that is why, as Mr. H. L. Mencken -puts it, in all that vast region, with its thirty or forty million people -and its territory as large as half a dozen Frances or Germanys, “there is -not a single poet, not a serious historian, not a creditable composer, -not a critic good or bad, not a dramatist dead or alive.” - -On the other hand, never in the world has a richer mass of material been -accumulated by a people than that which the Negroes possess today and are -becoming increasingly conscious of. Slowly but surely they are developing -artists of technic who will be able to use this material. The nation -does not notice this for everything touching the Negro has hitherto been -banned by magazines and publishers unless it took the form of caricature -or bitter attack, or was so thoroughly innocuous as to have no literary -flavor. This attitude shows signs of change at last. - -Most of the names in this considerable list except those toward the last -would be unknown to the student of American literature. Nevertheless they -form a fairly continuous tradition and a most valuable group expression. -From them several have arisen, as I have said, to become figures in the -main stream of American literature. Phyllis Wheatley was an American -writer of Negro descent just as Dumas was a French writer of Negro -descent. She was the peer of her best American contemporaries but she -represented no conscious Negro group. Lemuel Haynes wrote for Americans -rather than for Negroes. - -Dunbar occupies a unique place in American literature. He raised a -dialect and a theme from the minstrel stage to literature and became -and remains a national figure. Charles W. Chesnutt followed him as a -novelist, and many white people read in form of fiction a subject which -they did not want to read or hearken to. He gained his way unaided and -by sheer merit and is a recognized American novelist. Braithwaite is a -critic whose Negro descent is not generally known and has but slightly -influenced his work. His place in American literature is due more to his -work as a critic and anthologist than to his work as a poet. “There is -still another rôle he has played, that of friend of poetry and poets. It -is a recognized fact that in the work which preceded the present revival -of poetry in the United States, no one rendered more unremitting and -valuable service than Mr. Braithwaite. And it can be said that no future -study of American poetry of this age can be made without reference to -Braithwaite.” - -Of McKay’s poems, Max Eastman writes that it “should be illuminating to -observe that while these poems are characteristic of that race as we most -admire it—they are gentle, simple, candid, brave and friendly, quick of -laughter and of tears—yet they are still more characteristic of what is -deep and universal in mankind. There is no special or exotic kind of -merit in them, no quality that demands a transmutation of our own natures -to perceive. Just as the sculptures and wood and ivory carvings of the -vast forgotten African Empires of Ife and Benin, although so wistful in -their tranquility, are tranquil in the possession of the qualities of all -classic and great art, so these poems, the purest of them, move with a -sovereignty that is never new to the lovers of the high music of human -utterance.”[205] - -The later writers like Jean Toomer, Claud McKay, Jessie Fauset and others -have come on the stage when the stream of Negro literature has grown to -be of such importance and gained so much of technique and merit that -it tends to merge into the broad flood of American literature and any -notable Negro writer became _ipso facto_ a national writer. - -One must not forget the Negro orator. While in the white world the human -voice as a vehicle of information and persuasion has waned in importance -until the average man is somewhat suspicious of “eloquence,” in the Negro -world the spoken word is still dominant and Negro orators have wielded -great influence upon both white and black from the time of Frederick -Douglass and Samuel Ward down to the day of J. C. Price and Booker T. -Washington. There is here, undoubtedly, something of unusual gift and -personal magnetism. - -One must note in this connection the rise and spread of a Negro -press—magazines and weeklies which are voicing to the world with -increasing power the thought of American Negroes. The influence of this -new force in America is being recognized and the circulation of these -papers aggregate more than a million copies. - -On the stage the Negro has naturally had a most difficult chance to be -recognized. He has been portrayed by white dramatists and actors, and for -a time it seemed but natural for a character like Othello to be drawn, or -for Southerne’s Oroonoko to be presented in 1696 in England with a black -Angola prince as its hero. Beginning, however, with the latter part of -the 18th century the stage began to make fun of the Negro and the drunken -character Mungo was introduced at Drury Lane. - -In the United States this tradition was continued by the “Negro -Minstrels” which began with Thomas D. Rice’s imitation of a Negro -cripple, Jim Crow. Rice began his work in Louisville in 1828 and had -great success. Minstrel companies imitating Negro songs and dances -and blackening their faces gained a great vogue until long after the -Civil War. Negroes themselves began to appear as principals in minstrel -companies after a time and indeed as early as 1820 there was an -“African company” playing in New York. No sooner had the Negro become -the principal in the minstrel shows than he began to develop and uplift -the art. This took a long time but eventually there appeared Cole and -Johnson, Ernest Hogan and Williams and Walker. Their development of a new -light comedy marked an epoch and Bert Williams was at his recent death -without doubt the leading comedian on the American stage. - -In the legitimate drama there was at first no chance for the Negro in the -United States. Ira Aldridge, born in Maryland, had to go to Europe for -opportunity. There he became associated with leading actors like Edmund -Keene and was regarded in the fifties as one of the two or three greatest -actors in the world. He was honored and decorated by the King of Sweden, -the King of Prussia, the Emperor of Austria and the Czar of Russia. He -had practically no successor until Charles Gilpin triumphed in “The -Emperor Jones” in New York during the season 1920-21. - -Efforts to develop a new distinctly racial drama and portray the dramatic -struggle of the Negro in America and elsewhere have rapidly been made. -Mrs. Emily Hapgood made determined effort to initiate a Negro theatre. -She chose the plays of Ridgeley Torrence, a white playwright, who wrote -for the Negro players “Granny Maumee” and “The Rider of Dreams,” pieces -singularly true to Negro genius. The plays were given with unusual merit -and gained the highest praise. - -This movement, interrupted by the war, has been started again by the -Ethiopian Players of Chicago and especially by the workers at Howard -University where a Negro drama with Negro instructors, Negro themes and -Negro players is being developed. One of the most interesting pageants -given in America was written, staged and performed by Negroes in New -York, Philadelphia and Washington. - -Charles Gilpin had been trained with Williams and Walker and other -colored companies. He got his first chance on the legitimate stage by -playing the part of Curtis in Drinkwater’s “Abraham Lincoln.” Then he -became the principal in O’Neill’s wonderful play and was nominated by the -Drama League in 1921 as one of the ten persons who had contributed most -to the American theatre during the year. Paul Robeson and Evelyn Preer -are following Gilpin’s footsteps. - -There is no doubt of the Negro’s dramatic genius. Stephen Graham writes: - -“I visited one evening a Negro theatre where a musical comedy was going -on—words and music both by Negroes. It opened with the usual singing and -dancing chorus of Negro girls. They were clad in yellow and crimson and -mauve combinations with white tapes on one side from the lace edge of the -knicker to their dusky arms. They danced from the thigh rather than from -the knee, moving waist and bosom in unrestrained undulation, girls with -large, startled seeming eyes and uncontrollable masses of dark hair.... A -dance of physical joy and abandon, with no restraint in the toes or the -knees, no veiling of the eyes, no half shutting of the lips, no holding -in of the hair. Accustomed to the very aesthetic presentment of the -Bacchanalia in the Russian ballet, it might be difficult to call one of -those Negro dancers a Bacchante, and yet there was one whom I remarked -again and again, a Queen of Sheba in her looks, a face like starry night, -and she was clad slightly in mauve, and went into such ecstacies during -the many encores that her hair fell down about her bare shoulders, and -her cheeks and knees, glistening with perspiration, outshone her eyes.... -I had seen nothing so pretty or so amusing, so bewilderingly full of life -and color, since Sanine’s production of the ‘Fair of Sorochinsky’ in -Moscow.” - -Turning now to painting, we note a young African painter contemporary -with Phyllis Wheatley who had gained some little renown. Then a half -century ago came E. M. Banister, the center of a group of artists forming -the Rhode Island Art Club, and one of whose pictures took a medal at the -Centennial Exposition in 1876. - -William A. Harper died in 1910. His “Avenue of Poplars” took a prize of -$100 at the Chicago Art Institute. William Edward Scott studied in Paris -under Tanner. His picture “La Pauvre Voisine” was hung in the salon in -1910 and bought by the government of the Argentine Republic. Another -picture was hung in Paris and took first prize at the Indiana State Fair, -and a third picture was exhibited in the Royal Academy in London. Lately -Mr. Scott has specialized in mural painting. His work is found in ten -public schools in Chicago, in four in Indianapolis and in the latter city -he decorated two units in the City Hospital with 300 life sized pictures. -In many of these pictures he has especially emphasized the Negro type. - -Richard Brown, Edwin Harleston, Albert A. Smith, Laura Wheeler and a -number of rising young painters have shown the ability of the Negro in -this line of art; but their dean is, of course, Henry Ossawa Tanner. -Tanner is today one of the leading painters of the world and universally -is so recognized. He was born an American Negro in Pittsburgh in 1859, -the son of an African Methodist minister; he studied at the Academy of -Fine Arts in Philadelphia and became a photographer in Atlanta. Afterward -he taught at Clark University in Atlanta. In all this time he had sold -less than $200 worth of pictures; but finally he got to Paris and was -encouraged by Benjamin Constant. He soon turned toward his greatest -forte, religious pictures. His “Daniel in the Lion’s Den” was hung in -the salon in 1896 and the next year the “Raising of Lazarus” was bought -by the French government and hung in the Luxembourg. Since then he has -won medals in all the greatest expositions, and his works are sought by -connoisseurs. He has recently received knighthood in the French Legion of -Honor. - -In sculpture we may again think of two points of view,—first, there is -the way in which the Negro type has figured in American sculpture as, for -instance, the libyan Sybil of W. A. Story, Bissell’s Emancipation group -in Scotland, the Negro woman on the military monument in Detroit, Ball’s -Negro in the various emancipation groups, Ward’s colored woman on the -Beecher monument, the panel on the Cleveland monument of Scofield, Africa -in D. C. French’s group in front of the Custom’s House in New York City, -Calder’s black boy in the Nations of the West group in the Panama-Pacific -exhibition and, of course, the celebrated Shaw monument in Boston.[206] -On the other hand, there have been a few Negro sculptors, three of whom -merit mention: Edmonia Lewis, who worked during the Civil War, Meta -Warrick Fuller, a pupil of Rodin, and May Howard Jackson, who has done -some wonderful work in the portraying of the mulatto type. - -To appraise rightly this body of art one must remember that it represents -mainly the work of those artists whom accident set free; if the artist -had a white face his Negro blood did not militate against him in the -fight for recognition; if his Negro blood was visible white relatives may -have helped him; in a few cases ability was united to indomitable will. -But the shrinking, modest, black artist without special encouragement had -little or no chance in a world determined to make him a menial. Today the -situation is changing. The Negro world is demanding expression in art and -beginning to pay for it. The white world is able to see dimly beyond the -color line. This sum of accomplishment then is but a beginning and an -imperfect indication of what the Negro race is capable of in America and -in the world. - -Science, worse luck, has in these drab days little commerce with art -and yet for lack of better place a word may drop here of the American -Negro’s contribution. Science today is a matter chiefly for endowed -fellowships and college chairs. Negroes have small chance here because -of race exclusion and yet no scientist in the world can today write -of insects and ignore the work of C. H. Turner of St. Louis; or of -insanity and forget Dr. S. C. Fuller of Massachusetts. Ernest Just’s -investigations of the origin of life make him stand among the highest -two or three modern scientists in that line and the greatest American -interpreter of Wasserman reactions is a colored man; Dr. Julien H. Lewis -of the University of Chicago, is building a reputation in serology. There -are also a number of deft Negro surgeons including Dr. Dan Williams who -first sewed up a wounded human heart. The great precursors of all these -colored men of science were Thomas Derham and Benjamin Banneker. - -Derham was a curiosity more than a great scientist measuring by absolute -standards, and yet in the 18th century and at the age of twenty-six he -was regarded as one of the most eminent physicians in New Orleans. Dr. -Rush of Philadelphia testified to his learning and ability. - -Benjamin Banneker was a leading American scientist. He was the grandson -of an English woman and her black slave. Their daughter married a Negro -and Benjamin was their only son. Born in 1731 in Maryland he was educated -in a private school with whites and spent his life on his father’s farm. -He had taste for mathematics and early constructed an ingenious clock. -He became expert in the solution of difficult mathematical problems, -corresponding with interested persons of leisure. - -Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Marquis de Condorcet: “We now have in the -United States a Negro, the son of a black man born in Africa and a black -woman born in the United States, who is a very respectable mathematician. -I procured him to be employed under one of our chief directors in laying -out the new Federal City on the Potomac and in the intervals of his -leisure, while on that work, he made an almanac for the next year, which -he sent me in his own handwriting and which I enclose to you. I have -seen very elegant solutions of geometrical problems by him. Add to this -that he is a very worthy and respectable member of society. He is a -free man. I shall be delighted to see these instances of moral eminence -so multiplied as to prove that the want of talents observed in them, -is merely the effect of their degraded condition, and not proceeding -from any difference in the structure of the parts on which intellect -depends.”[207] - -Banneker became greatly interested in astronomy. He made a number of -calculations and finally completed an almanac covering the year 1792. A -member of John Adams’ cabinet had this almanac published in Baltimore. -This patron, James McHenry, said that the almanac was begun and finished -without outside assistance except the loan of books “so that whatever -merit is attached to his present performance, is exclusively and -peculiarly his own.” The publishers declared that the almanac met the -approbation of several of the most distinguished astronomers of America. -The almanac was published yearly until 1802. When the City of Washington -was laid out in 1793 under Major Pierre Charles L’Enfant, President -Washington at the suggestion of Thomas Jefferson appointed Banneker as -one of the six commissioners. He performed a most important part of the -mathematical calculations of the survey and sat in conference with the -other commissioners. Later he wrote essays on bees and studied methods -to promote peace, suggesting a Secretary of Peace in the president’s -cabinet. He “was a brave looking pleasant man with something very noble -in his appearance.” His color was not jet black but decided Negroid. He -died in 1806, with both an American and European reputation and was among -the most learned men of his day in America. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -THE GIFT OF THE SPIRIT - - How the fine sweet spirit of black folk, despite superstition - and passion has breathed the soul of humility and forgiveness - into the formalism and cant of American religion. - - -Above and beyond all that we have mentioned, perhaps least tangible but -just as true, is the peculiar spiritual quality which the Negro has -injected into American life and civilization. It is hard to define or -characterize it—a certain spiritual joyousness; a sensuous, tropical love -of life, in vivid contrast to the cool and cautious New England reason; a -slow and dreamful conception of the universe, a drawling and slurring of -speech, an intense sensitiveness to spiritual values—all these things and -others like to them, tell of the imprint of Africa on Europe in America. -There is no gainsaying or explaining away this tremendous influence of -the contact of the north and south, of black and white, of Anglo Saxon -and Negro. - -One way this influence has been brought to bear is through the actual -mingling of blood. But this is the smaller cause of Negro influence. -Heredity is always stronger through the influence of acts and deeds and -imitations than through actual blood descent; and the presence of the -Negro in the United States quite apart from the mingling of blood has -always strongly influenced the land. We have spoken of its influence in -politics, literature and art, but we have yet to speak of that potent -influence in another sphere of the world’s spiritual activities: religion. - -America early became a refuge for religion—a place of mighty spaces and -glorious physical and mental freedom where silent men might sit and -think quietly of God and his world. Hither out of the blood and dust of -war-wrecked Europe with its jealousies, blows, persecutions and fear -of words and thought, came Puritans, Anabaptists, Catholics, Quakers, -Moravians, Methodists—all sorts of men and “isms” and sects searching for -God and Truth in the lonely bitter wilderness. - -Hither too came the Negro. From the first he was the concrete test of -that search for Truth, of the strife toward a God, of that body of belief -which is the essence of true religion. His presence rent and tore and -tried the souls of men. “Away with the slave!” some cried—but where away -and why? Was not his body there for work and his soul—what of his soul? -Bring hither the slaves of all Africa and let us convert their souls, -this is God’s good reason for slavery. But convert them to what? to -freedom? to emancipation? to being white men? Impossible. Convert them, -yes. But let them still be slaves for their own good and ours. This was -quibbling and good men felt it, but at least here was a practical path, -follow it. - -Thus arose the great mission movements to the blacks. The Catholic Church -began it and not only were there Negro proselytes but black priests and -an order of black monks in Spanish America early in the 16th century. -In the middle of the 17th century a Negro freedman and charcoal burner -lived to see his son, Francisco Xavier de Luna Victoria, raised to head -the Bishopric of Panama where he reigned eight years as the first native -Catholic Bishop in America. - -In Spanish America and in French America the history of Negro religion is -bound up with the history of the Catholic Church. On the other hand in -the present territory of the United States with the exception of Maryland -and Louisiana organized religion was practically and almost exclusively -Protestant and Catholics indeed were often bracketed with Negroes for -persecution. They could not marry Protestants at one time in colonial -South Carolina; Catholics and Negroes could not appear in court as -witnesses in Virginia by the law of 1705; Negroes and Catholics were held -to be the cause of the “Negro plot” in New York in 1741. - -The work then of the Catholic Church among Negroes began in the United -States well into the 19th century and by Negroes themselves. In -Baltimore, for instance, in 1829, colored refugees from the French West -Indies established a sisterhood and academy and gave an initial endowment -of furniture, real estate and some $50,000 in money. In 1842 in New -Orleans, four free Negro women gave their wealth to form the Sisters of -the Holy Family and this work expanded and grew especially after 1893 -when a mulatto, Thomy Lafon, endowed the work with over three quarters -of a million dollars, his life savings. Later, in 1896, a colored man, -Colonel John McKee of Philadelphia, left a million dollars in real estate -to the Catholic Church for colored and white orphans. - -Outside of these colored sisterhoods and colored philanthropists, the -church hesitated long before it began any systematic proselyting among -Negroes. This was because of the comparative weakness of the church in -early days and later when the Irish migration strengthened it the new -Catholics were thrown into violent economic competition with slaves and -free Negroes, and their fight to escape slave competition easily resolved -itself into a serious anti-Negro hatred which was back of much of the -rioting in Cincinnati, Philadelphia and New York. It was not then until -the 20th century that the church began active work by establishing a -special mission for Negroes and engaging in it nearly two hundred white -priests. This new impetus was caused by the benevolence of Katherine -Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. Notwithstanding all this -and since the beginning of the 18th century only six Negroes have been -ordained to the Catholic priesthood. - -The main question of the conversion of the Negro to Christianity in the -United States was therefore the task of the Protestant Church and it -was, if the truth must be told, a task which it did not at all relish. -The whole situation was fraught with perplexing contradictions; Could -Christians be slaves? Could slaves be Christians? Was the object of -slavery the Christianizing of the black man, and when the black man was -Christianized was the mission of slavery done and ended? Was it possible -to make modern Christians of these persons whom the new slavery began -to paint as brutes? The English Episcopal Church finally began the -work in 1701 through the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. -It had notable officials, the Archbishop of Canterbury being its first -president; it worked in America 82 years, accomplishing something but -after all not very much, on account of the persistent objection of the -masters. The Moravians were more eager and sent missionaries to the -Negroes, converting large numbers in the West Indies and some in the -United States in the 18th century. Into the new Methodist Church which -came to America in 1766, large numbers of Negroes poured from the first, -and finally the Baptists in the 18th century had at least one fourth of -their membership composed of Negroes, so that in 1800 there were 14,000 -black Methodists and some 20,000 black Baptists.[208] - -It must not be assumed that this missionary work acted on raw material. -Rather it reacted and was itself influenced by a very definite and -important body of thought and belief on the part of the Negroes. -Religion in the United States was not simply brought to the Negro by -the missionaries. To treat it in that way is to miss the essence of the -Negro action and reaction upon American religion. We must think of the -transplanting of the Negro as transplanting to the United States a -certain spiritual entity, and an unbreakable set of world-old beliefs, -manners, morals, superstitions and religious observances. The religion -of Africa is the universal animism or fetishism of primitive peoples, -rising to polytheism and approaching monotheism chiefly, but not wholly, -as a result of Christian and Islamic missions. Of fetishism there is much -misapprehension. It is not mere senseless degradation. It is a philosophy -of life. Among primitive Negroes there can be, as Miss Kingsley reminds -us, no such divorce of religion from practical life as is common in -civilized lands. Religion is life, and fetish an expression of the -practical recognition of dominant forces in which the Negro lives. To him -all the world is spirit. Miss Kingsley says: “It is this power of being -able logically to account for everything that is, I believe, at the back -of the tremendous permanency of fetish in Africa, and the cause of many -of the relapses into it by Africans converted to other religions; it is -also the explanation of the fact that white men who live in the districts -where death and danger are everyday affairs, under a grim pall of -boredom, are liable to believe in fetish, though ashamed of so doing. For -the African, whose mind has been soaked in fetish during his early and -most impressionable years, the voice of fetish is almost irresistible -when affliction comes to him.”[209] - -At first sight it would seem that slavery completely destroyed every -vestige of spontaneous social movement among the Negroes; the home had -deteriorated; political authority and economic initiative was in the -hands of the masters; property, as a social institution, did not exist -on the plantation; and, indeed, it is usually assumed by historians and -sociologists that every vestige of internal development disappeared, -leaving the slaves no means of expression for their common life, thought, -and striving. This is not strictly true; the vast power of the priest -in the African state still survived; his realm alone—the province of -religion and medicine—remained largely unaffected by the plantation -system in many important particulars. The Negro priest, therefore, early -became an important figure on the plantation and found his function as -the interpreter of the supernatural, the comforter of the sorrowing, and -as the one who expressed, rudely, but picturesquely, the longing and -disappointment and resentment of a stolen people. From such beginnings -arose and spread with marvellous rapidity the Negro church, the first -distinctively Negro American social institution. It was not at first -by any means a Christian Church, but a mere adaptation of those -heathen rites which we roughly designate by the term Obe Worship or -“Voodooism.” Association and missionary effort soon gave these rites a -veneer of Christianity, and gradually, after two centuries, the Church -became Christian, with a simple Calvinistic creed, but with many of -the old customs still clinging to the services. It is this historic -fact that the Negro Church today bases itself upon the sole surviving -social institution of the African fatherland, that accounts for its -extraordinary growth and vitality. We easily forget that in the United -States today there is a Church organization for every sixty Negro -families. This institution, therefore, naturally assumed many functions -which the other harshly suppressed social organs had to surrender; the -Church became the center of amusements, of what little spontaneous -economic activity remained, of education, and of all social intercourse, -of music and art.[210] - -For these reasons the tendency of the Negro worshippers from the very -first was to integrate into their own organizations. As early as 1775 -distinct Negro congregations with Negro ministers began to appear here -and there in the United States. They multiplied, were swept away, -effort was made to absorb them in the white church, but they kept on -growing until they established national bodies with Episcopal control or -democratic federation and these organizations today form the strongest, -most inclusive and most vital of the Negro organizations. They count in -the United States four million members and their churches seat these four -million and six million other guests. They are houses in 40,000 centers, -worth $60,000,000 and have some 200,000 leaders. - -On the part of the white church this tendency among the Negroes met with -alternate encouragement and objection: encouragement because they did not -want Negroes in their churches even when they occupied the back seats or -in the gallery; objection when the church became, as it so often did, a -center of intelligent Negro life and even of plotting against slavery. -There arose out of the church the first leaders of the Negro group; and -in the first rank among these stands Richard Allen.[211] - -Richard Allen was born in 1760 as a slave in Philadelphia and was -licensed to preach in 1782. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Asbury -and he led the Negroes in their secession from St. George’s Church in -Philadelphia when they tried to stop black folk from praying on the main -floor. He formed first the Free African Society and finally established -Bethel Church. - -As this church grew and multiplied it became the African Methodist -Episcopal Church which now boasts three quarters of a million members. -Allen was its first bishop. With Allen was associated Absalom Jones, born -a slave in Delaware in 1746. He became the first Negro priest in the -Episcopal Church. John Gloucester became the pioneer Negro minister among -colored Presbyterians and gave that church his four sons as ministers. -George Leile became a missionary of the American Negroes to the Negroes -of Jamaica and began missionary work on that island while Lott Carey -in a similar way became a missionary to Africa. Then came Nat Turner, -the preacher revolutionist. James Varick, a free negro of New York who -was the first bishop of the black Zion Methodist revolt, and afterward -there followed the stream of Negro leaders who have built and led the -organization of colored churches. But this is only part of the story. - -It will be seen that the development of the Negro church was not separate -from the white. Black preachers led white congregations, white preachers -addressed blacks. In many other ways Negroes influenced white religion -continuously and tremendously. There was the “Shout,” combining the -trance and demoniac possession as old as the world, and revivified and -made widespread by the Negro religious devotees in America. Methodist and -Baptist ways of worship, songs and religious dances absorbed much from -the Negroes and whatever there is in American religion today of stirring -and wild enthusiasm, of loud conversions and every day belief in an -anthropomorphic God owes its origin in a no small measure to the black -man. - -Of course most of the influence of the Negro preachers was thrown into -their own churches and to their own people and it was from the Negro -church as an organization that Negro religious influence spread most -widely to white people. Many would say that this influence had little -that was uplifting and was a detriment rather than an advantage in that -it held back and holds back the South particularly in its religious -development. There is no doubt that influences of a primitive sort and -customs that belong to the unlettered childhood of the race rather than -to the thinking adult life of civilization crept in with the religious -influence of the slave. Much of superstition, even going so far as -witchcraft, conjury and blood sacrifice for a long time marked Negro -religion here and there in the swamps and islands. But on the other hand -it is just as true that the cold formalism of upper class England and -New England needed the wilder spiritual emotionalism of the black man to -weld out of both a rational human religion based on kindliness and social -uplift; and whether the influence of Negro religion was on the whole good -or bad, the fact remains that it was potent in the white South and still -is. - -Several black leaders of white churches are worth remembering.[212] -Lemuel Hayes was born in Connecticut in 1753 of a black father and white -mother. He received his Master of Arts from Middlebury College in 1804, -was a soldier in the Revolution and pastored various churches in New -England. “He was the embodiment of piety and honesty.” Harry Hosier, the -black servant and companion of Bishop Asbury, was called by Dr. Benjamin -Rush, the greatest orator in America. He travelled north and south and -preached to white and black between 1784 and his death in 1810. - -John Chavis was a full-blooded Negro, born in Granville county, N. C., -near Oxford, in 1753. He was born free and was sent to Princeton, and -studied privately under Dr. Witherspoon, where he did well. He went to -Virginia to preach to Negroes. In 1802, in the county court, his freedom -and character were certified to and it was declared that he had passed -“through a regular course of academic studies” at what is now Washington -and Lee University. In 1805 he returned to North Carolina, where he, in -1809 was made a licentiate in the Presbyterian Church and preached. His -English was remarkably pure, his manner impressive, his explanations -clear and concise. For a long time he taught school and had the best -whites as pupils—a United States senator, the sons of a chief justice -of North Carolina, a governor of the state and many others. Some of his -pupils boarded in his family, and his school was regarded as the best in -the State. “All accounts agree that John Chavis was a gentleman” and he -was received socially among the best whites and asked to table. In 1830 -he was stopped from preaching by the law. Afterward he taught school for -free Negroes in Raleigh. - -Henry Evans was a full-blooded Virginia free Negro, and was the pioneer -of Methodism in Fayetteville, N. C. He found the Negroes there, about -1800, without religious instruction. He began preaching and the town -council ordered him away; he continued and whites came to hear him. -Finally the white auditors outnumbered the black, and sheds were erected -for Negroes at the side of the church. The gathering became a regular -Methodist Church, with a white and Negro membership, but Evans continued -to preach. He exhibited “rare self-control before the most wretched of -castes! Henry Evans did much good, but he would have done more good had -his spirit been untrammelled by this sense of inferiority.”[213] - -His dying words uttered as he stood, aged and bent beside his pulpit, are -of singular pathos: - -“I have come to say my last word to you. It is this: None but Christ. -Three times I have had my life in jeopardy for preaching the gospel to -you. Three times I have broken ice on the edge of the water and swam -across the Cape Fear to preach the gospel to you; and, if in my last -hour I could trust to that, or anything but Christ crucified, for my -salvation, all should be lost and my soul perish forever.” - -Early in the nineteenth century, Ralph Freeman was a slave in Anson -county, N. C. He was a full-blooded Negro, and was ordained and became an -able Baptist preacher. He baptised and administered communion, and was -greatly respected. When the Baptists split on the question of missions he -sided with the anti-mission side. Finally the law forbade him to preach. - -The story of Jack of Virginia is best told in the words of a Southern -writer: - -“Probably the most interesting case in the whole South is that of an -African preacher of Nottoway county, popularly known as ‘Uncle Jack,’ -whose services to white and black were so valuable that a distinguished -minister of the Southern Presbyterian Church felt called upon to memorize -his work in a biography. - -“Kidnapped from his idolatrous parents in Africa, he was brought over -in one of the last cargoes of slaves admitted to Virginia and sold -to a remote and obscure planter in Nottoway county, a region at that -time in the backwoods and destitute particularly as to religious life -and instruction. He was converted under the occasional preaching of -Rev. Dr. John Blair Smith, President of Hampden-Sidney College, and of -Dr. William Hill and Dr. Archibald Alexander of Princeton, then young -theologues, and by hearing the scriptures read. Taught by his master’s -children to read, he became so full of the spirit and knowledge of the -Bible that he was recognized among the whites as a powerful expounder of -Christian doctrine, was licensed to preach by the Baptist Church, and -preached from plantation to plantation within a radius of thirty miles, -as he was invited by overseers or masters. His freedom was purchased by -a subscription of whites, and he was given a home and a tract of land -for his support. He organized a large and orderly Negro church, and -exercised such a wonderful controlling influence over the private morals -of his flock that masters, instead of punishing their slaves, often -referred them to the discipline of their pastor, which they dreaded far -more. - -“He stopped a heresy among the Negro Christians of Southern Virginia, -defeating in open argument a famous fanatical Negro preacher named -Campbell, who advocated noise and ‘the spirit’ against the Bible, winning -over Campbell’s adherents in a body. For over forty years and until he -was nearly a hundred years of age, he labored successfully in public and -private among black and whites, voluntarily giving up his preaching in -obedience to the law of 1832, the result of ‘Old Nat’s war.’... - -“The most refined and aristocratic people paid tribute to him, and he -was instrumental in the conversion of many whites. Says his biographer, -Rev. Dr. William S. White: ‘He was invited into their houses, sat with -their families, took part in their social worship, sometimes leading the -prayer at the family altar. Many of the most intelligent people attended -upon his ministry and listened to his sermons with great delight. Indeed, -previous to the year 1825, he was considered by the best judges to be the -best preacher in that county. His opinions were respected, his advice -followed, and yet he never betrayed the least symptoms of arrogance or -self-conceit. His dwelling was a rude log cabin, his apparel of the -plainest and coarsest materials.’ This was because he wished to be fully -identified with his class. He refused gifts of better clothing saying -‘These clothes are a great deal better than are generally worn by people -of my color, and besides if I wear them I find shall be obliged to think -about them even at meeting’.” - -All this has to do with organized religion. - -But back of all this and behind the half childish theology of formal -religion there has run in the heart of black folk the greatest of human -achievements, love and sympathy, even for their enemies, for those -who despised them and hurt them and did them nameless ill. They have -nursed the sick and closed the staring eyes of the dead. They have given -friendship to the friendless, they have shared the pittance of their -poverty with the outcast and nameless; they have been good and true and -pitiful to the bad and false and pitiless and in this lies the real -grandeur of their simple religion, the mightiest gift of black to white -America. - -Above all looms the figure of the Black Mammy, one of the most pitiful -of the world’s Christs. Whether drab and dirty drudge or dark and -gentle lady she played her part in the uplift of the South. She was an -embodied Sorrow, an anomaly crucified on the cross of her own neglected -children for the sake of the children of masters who bought and sold -her as they bought and sold cattle. Whatever she had of slovenliness or -neatness, of degradation or of education she surrendered it to those who -lived to lynch her sons and ravish her daughters. From her great full -breast walked forth governors and judges, ladies of wealth and fashion, -merchants and scoundrels who lead the South. And the rest gave her memory -the reverence of silence. But a few snobs have lately sought to advertise -her sacrifice and degradation and enhance their own cheap success by -building on the blood of her riven heart a load of stone miscalled a -monument. - -In religion as in democracy, the Negro has been a peculiar test of white -profession. The American church, both Catholic and Protestant, has been -kept from any temptation to over-righteousness and empty formalism by -the fact that just as Democracy in America was tested by the Negro, so -American religion has always been tested by slavery and color prejudice. -It has kept before America’s truer souls the spirit of meekness and self -abasement, it has compelled American religion again and again to search -its heart and cry “I have sinned;” and until the day comes when color -caste falls before reason and economic opportunity the black American -will stand as the last and terrible test of the ethics of Jesus Christ. - -Beyond this the black man has brought to America a sense of meekness -and humility which America never has recognized and perhaps never will. -If there is anybody in this land who thoroughly believes that the meek -shall inherit the earth they have not often let their presence be known. -On the other hand it has become almost characteristic of America to look -upon position, self assertion, determination to go forward at all odds, -as typifying the American spirit. This is natural. It is at once the -rebound from European oppression and the encouragement which America -offers physically, economically and socially to the human spirit. But -on the other hand, it is in many of its aspects a dangerous and awful -thing. It hardens and hurts our souls, it contradicts our philanthropy -and religion; and here it is that the honesty of the black race, its -hesitancy and heart searching, its submission to authority and its deep -sympathy with the wishes of the other man comes forward as a tremendous, -even though despised corrective. It is not always going to remain; even -now we see signs of its disappearance before contempt, lawlessness and -lynching. But it is still here, it still works and one of the most -magnificent anomalies in modern human history is the labor and fighting -of a half-million black men and two million whites for the freedom of -four million slaves and these same slaves, dumbly but faithfully and not -wholly unconsciously, protecting the mothers, wives and children of the -very white men who fought to make their slavery perpetual. - -This then is the Gift of Black Folk to the new world. Thus in singular -and fine sense the slave became master, the bond servant became free and -the meek not only inherited the earth but made that heritage a thing of -questing for eternal youth, of fruitful labor, of joy and music, of the -free spirit and of the ministering hand, of wide and poignant sympathy -with men in their struggle to live and love which is, after all, the end -of being. - - - - -POSTSCRIPT - - -Listen to the Winds, O God the Reader, that wail across the whip-cords -stretched taut on broken human hearts; listen to the Bones, the bare -bleached bones of slaves, that line the lanes of Seven Seas and beat -eternal tom-toms in the forests of the laboring deep; listen to the -Blood, the cold thick blood that spills its filth across the fields and -flowers of the Free; listen to the Souls that wing and thrill and weep -and scream and sob and sing above it all. What shall these things mean, O -God the Reader? You know. You know. - - - - -FOOTNOTES - - -[1] In the fifties it was customary for the merchants, etc., to have -posted at their door a list of help wanted. Many of these help wanted -signs were accompanied by another which read “No Irish need apply.” -During the Civil War there was an Anti-Draft song with a refrain to the -effect that when it came to drafting they did not practice “No Irish need -apply.” - -[2] “Americans only” in a real estate advertisement today usually means -“No Jews need apply.” It sometimes means Irish (i. e., Catholic) also. - -[3] Wm. J. Bromwell, _History of Immigration to United States_, p. 96. - -[4] _Ibid._, p. 100. - -[5] _Ibid._, p. 116. - -[6] _Ibid._, p. 124. - -[7] _Commercial Relations of the United States_, 1885-1886, Appendix III, -p. 1967. - -[8] “The Commissioners for Ireland gave them orders upon the governors -of garrisons, to deliver to them prisoners of war; upon the keepers of -gaols, for offenders in custody; upon masters of workhouses, for the -destitute in their care ‘who were of an age to labor, or if women were -marriageable and not past breeding’; and gave directions to all in -authority to seize those who had no visible means of livelihood, and -deliver them to these agents of the Bristol sugar merchants, in execution -of which latter direction Ireland must have exhibited scenes in every -part like the slave hunts in Africa. How many girls of gentle birth have -been caught and hurried to the private prisons of these man-catchers none -can tell. Messrs. Sellick and Leader, Mr. Robert Yeomans, Mr. Joseph -Lawrence, and others, all of Bristol, were active agents. As one instance -out of many: Captain John Vernon was employed by the Commissioners for -Ireland, into England, and contracted in their behalf with Mr. David -Sellick and Mr. Leader under his hand, bearing date the 14th September, -1653, to supply them with two hundred and fifty women of the Irish -nation above twelve years, and under the age of forty-five, also three -hundred men above twelve years of age, and under fifty, to be found in -the country within twenty miles of Cork, Youghal, and Kinsale, Waterford -and Wexford, to transport them into New England.” J. P. Prendergast, _The -Cromwellian Settlement of Ireland_, London, 1865. 2d. ed., pp. 89-90. - -[9] “It is calculated that in four years (1653-1657) English firms of -slave-dealers shipped 6,400 Irish men and women, boys and maidens, to the -British colonies of North America.” A. J. Thebaud, _The Irish Race in the -Past and Present_, N. Y., 1893, p. 385. - -[10] Rev. T. A. Spencer, _History of the United States_, Vol. I, p. 305. - -[11] Henry Pratt Fairchild, _Immigration: A world movement, and its -American significance_, N. Y., 1913, p. 47. See also _Archives of -Maryland_, Vol. 22, p. 497. - -[12] Charles A. and Mary R. Beard, _History of the United States_, N. Y., -1921, p. 11. - -[13] Fairchild, p. 35. - -[14] Henry Cabot Lodge, _A Short History of the English Colonies in -America_, N. Y., 1881, p. 70. - -[15] Beard, p. 15. - -[16] Beard, p. 16. - -[17] W. E. Burghardt DuBois, _Suppression of the Slave Trade_, Harvard -Historical Studies, No. 1, p. 5. - -[18] John R. Commons, _Races and Immigrants in America_, N. Y., 1907, p. -53. - -[19] Adam Seybert, _Statistical Annals of the United States_, Phila., -1818, p. 29. - -[20] Young, _Special Report on Immigration_, Phila., 1871, p. 5. - -[21] Bromwell, p. 145. - -[22] _Ibid._, p. 16. - -[23] _Ibid._, p. 18. - -[24] _Ibid._, pp. 16-17. - -[25] Young, p. 6. - -[26] _Ibid._, p. 6. - -[27] _Special Consular Reports_, Vol. 30, p. 8. - -[28] _Immigration and Emigration_, Bureau of Labor Statistics, -Washington, 1915, p. 1099. - -[29] _Ibid._ - -[30] _Reports of Department of Labor_, Washington, 1915. - -[31] _Ibid._ - -[32] _Reports of Department of Labor_, Washington, 1918, p. 208. - -[33] _Reports of Department of Labor_, Washington, 1920, p. 400. - -[34] _Reports of Department of Labor_, Washington, 1921, p. 365. - -[35] From a Spanish Romance called _La Sergas de Espladian_, by Garcia -de Montalvo, published in 1510; translated in Beasley’s _The Negro Trail -Blazers of California_, p. 18. - -[36] Cf. Wiener, _Africa and the Discovery of America_, Vol. 1, pp. -169-70, 172, 174-5; Vol. 3, p. 322; Thurston, _Antiquities of Tennessee_, -etc., 1890, p. 105; De Charnay, _Ancient Cities of the New World_ (trans. -by Gonino and Conant, 1887), pp. 132ff.; Kabell, _America för Columbus_, -1892, p. 235. - -[37] J. B. Thacher, _Christopher Columbus_, 1903, Vol. 2, pp. 379-80; -_Raccolta di documenti e studi publicati dalla R. Commissione Colombiana -pel quarto centenario dalla scoperta dell’ America_, parte I, Rome, 1892, -Vol. 1, p. 96. - -[38] i. e., Negro Traders. - -[39] Thacher, Vol. 2, pp. 379, 380; Wiener, Vol. 2, pp. 116-17. - -[40] Wiener, Vol. 3, p. 365. - -[41] _Memoir of Hernando de Essalante Fontanedo, respecting Florida_, -translated from the Spanish by Buckingham Smith, Washington, 1854. - -[42] Oviedo y Valdes, _Historia general_, etc., Vol. 1, p. 286. - -[43] Wiener, Vol. 3, p. 365. - -[44] Wiener, Vol. 1, p. 190. - -[45] Helps, _Spanish Conquest in America_, Vol. 4, p. 401. - -[46] J. F. Rippy in _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 6, p. 183. - -[47] Helps, Vol. 1, p. 421. - -[48] Rippy, _loc. cit._ - -[49] The following narrative is based on: H. O. Flipper, _Did a Negro -discover Arizona and New Mexico_ (contains a translation of parts of the -narrative of Pedro de Castaneda de Majera); Pedro de Castaneda, “Account -of the Expedition to Cibola which took place in the year 1540....” -translated in _Spanish Explorers in the Southern United States_ (J. -F. Jameson Ed.); Beasley, _Trail Blazers of California_, Chapter 2; -Rippy, in _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 6, pp. 183ff.; _American -Anthropologist_, Vol. 4. - -[50] A fifth survivor, a Spaniard, stayed with the Indians and was -afterward found by DeSoto. - -[51] Another story is that Estevanico and the Monks did not get on well -together. - -[52] The story that Estevanico was killed because of his greed is -evidently apocryphal. - -[53] Legends of the Zuni Pueblos of New Mexico quoted in Lowery _Spanish -Settlements in the United States, 1513-1561_, pp. 281-82. - -[54] Cf. Beasley, Chapter 10. - -[55] Cf. Du Bois, _Suppression of the Slave Trade_; Du Bois, _The Negro_ -(Home University Library). - -[56] United States Census, _Negro Population 1790-1915_; Fourteenth -Census, Vol. 3. - -[57] Du Bois, _Suppression of the Slave Trade_, Chapter 4. - -[58] Cf. Du Bois, _The Philadelphia Negro_, Chapter 4. - -[59] Cf. Woodson, _A Century of Negro Migration_; E. J. Scott: _Negro -Migration During the War_. - -[60] _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 1, p. 163. - -[61] Bruce, _Economic History of Virginia_, Vol. 2, pp. 405-6. - -[62] Atlanta University Publications: Cf. _The Negro Artisan_, 1902-1912, -and _Economic Cooperation among Negro Americans_, 1907. - -[63] Alice Dunbar Nelson in _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 2, p. 52. - -[64] Alice Dunbar Nelson, in the _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 1, p. -375. - -[65] Olmsted, _A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States, Journey through -Texas_, and _Journey in the Back Country_. - -[66] Prior to the Matzeliger machine the McKay machine was patented, -designed for making the heaviest and cheapest kind of men’s shoes. The -Matzeliger machine was designed for light work, women’s shoes, etc., and -was the most important invention necessary to the formation of the United -Shoe Machinery Company. - -[67] H. E. Baker, in _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 2, pp. 21ff. - -[68] Baker: _The Colored Inventor_, p. 7. - -[69] U. S. Census of 1920. Wilcox-Du Bois, _Negroes in the United States_ -(U. S. Census bulletin No. 8, 1904). - -[70] Olivier, _White Capital and Coloured Labor_, Chapter 8, London, 1906. - -[71] Alice Dunbar Nelson, _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 1, pp. 369, -370, 371. - -[72] Cf. Livermore, _Opinion of the Founders of the Republic_, etc., part -2; _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 1, p. 198ff. - -[73] G. H. Moore, _Historical Notes_, etc., N. Y., 1862. - -[74] Livermore, pp. 115-16. - -[75] Cf. Livermore and Moore as above; also _Journal of Negro History_, -Vol. 1, pp. 114-20. - -[76] Livermore, p. 122. See also the account of Peter Salem, _do._, pp. -118-21. - -[77] T. G. Steward, in _Publications American Negro Academy_, No. 5, p. -12. - -[78] W. B. Hartgrove, _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 1, pp. 125-9. - -[79] Wilson, _Black Phalanx_, p. 71. - -[80] _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 1, pp. 373-4; Gayarre’s _History of -Louisiana_, Vol. 3, p. 108. - -[81] Niles’ _Register_, Feb. 26, 1814. - -[82] Wilson, _Black Phalanx_, p. 88. - -[83] Alice Dunbar-Nelson in _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 2, p. 58. - -[84] Niles’ Register, Vol. 7, p. 205. - -[85] Niles’ Register, Vol. 7, pp. 345-6. - -[86] Dunbar-Nelson in _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 2, pp. 59-60. - -[87] Williams, _Negro Race in America_, Vol. 2, pp. 244ff. - -[88] Williams, _Negro Race in America_, Vol. 2, pp. 280-82. - -[89] New York _Tribune_, Aug. 19, 1862. - -[90] Williams, Vol. 2, p. 271. - -[91] Wilson, p. 123. - -[92] Wilson, p. 132. - -[93] Wesley, in _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 4, pp. 239ff. - -[94] New York _Tribune_, Nov. 14, 1863; Williams, Vol. 2, p. 347. - -[95] Williams, Vol. 2, p. 360. - -[96] New York _Times_, June 13, 1863. - -[97] Wilson, pp. 250-54. - -[98] Williams, Vol. 2, p. 338. - -[99] John Temple Graves in _Review of Reviews_. - -[100] MS. Copies of orders. - -[101] MS. Copies of orders. - -[102] At least this was the opinion of Abraham Lincoln—cf. Wilson’s -_Black Phalanx_, p. 108. - -[103] Thomas, _Attitude of Friends toward Slavery_, p. 267 and Appendix. - -[104] Jefferson’s Writings, Vol. 8, pp. 403-4. - -[105] George Livermore, _Opinions of the Founders of the Republic on -Negroes as Slaves, as Citizens, and as Soldiers_, Boston, 1862, p. 61. - -[106] Jefferson’s Works, Vol. 1, pp. 23-4. - -[107] Howard’s Reports, Vol. 19. - -[108] Howard’s Reports, pp. 536-8. - -[109] Howard’s Reports, pp. 572-3, 582. - -[110] Niles’ Register, Vol. 16, May 22, 1819. - -[111] Benjamin Brawley, _A Social History of the American Negro_, New -York, 1921, p. 90. - -[112] Hening’s Statutes. - -[113] John C. Hurd, _The Law of Freedom and Bondage_, Boston, 1858-1862. - -[114] Wiener, _Africa and the Discovery of America_, Vol. 1, pp. 155-8. - -[115] C. E. Chapman in _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 3, p. 29. - -[116] J. Kunst, _Negroes in Guatemala_, _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. -1, pp. 392-8. - -[117] Cf. Bryan Edward’s _West Indies_, 4th Edition, Vol. 1, pp. 337-98. - -[118] Gayarre, _History of Louisiana_, Vol. 1, pp. 435, 440. - -[119] Du Bois’ _Slave Trade_, pp. 6, 10, 22, 206; J. Coppin, _Slave -Insurrections_, 1860; Brawley, _Social History_, pp. 39, 86, 132. - -[120] Cf. T. G. Steward, _The Haitian Revolution_. - -[121] DeWitt Talmadge in the _Christian Herald_, Nov. 28, 1906; Du Bois’ -_Slave Trade_, Chapter 7. - -[122] Cf. Dunbar-Nelson in the _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 1. - -[123] Du Bois, _John Brown_, p. 81. - -[124] A. H. Grimke, _Right on the Scaffold in Occasional Papers_, No. 7, -American Negro Academy. - -[125] Brawley, p. 140; T. W. Higginson, _Atlantic Monthly_, Vol. 8, p. -173. - -[126] I. W. Cromwell, in _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 5, pp. 208ff. - -[127] Cf. Du Bois’ _Philadelphia Negro_, Chapter 4; Woodson’s _Negro in -our History_, pp. 140-1. - -[128] Brawley, pp. 123-4; _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 2, pp. 209-28. - -[129] Brawley, p. 71. - -[130] Williams’ _Negro Race_, Vol. 2, p. 126. - -[131] Du Bois’ _John Brown_, pp. 82ff. - -[132] Cf. Joshua R. Giddings, _Exiles of Florida_, Columbus, Ohio, 1858. - -[133] Among the first subscribers to Garrison’s _Liberator_ were free -Negroes and one report is that the very first paid subscriber was a -colored Philadelphia caterer. - -[134] Livermore, p. 170. - -[135] Livermore, pp. 125-6. - -[136] Force’s Archives, 4th series, Vol. 3, p. 1387. - -[137] Works of John Adams, Vol. 2, p. 428. - -[138] Livermore, pp. 183, 184. - -[139] Wilson, pp. 491-92. - -[140] J. T. Wilson, _The History of the Black Phalanx_, Hartford, 1897, -p. 490. - -[141] Cf. Cromwell, _Negro In American History_, Chapter 2. - -[142] J. W. Loguen, _As a Slave and as a Freeman_, p. 344. - -[143] George W. Williams, _History of the Negro Race in America_, New -York, 1882, Vol. 1, Chapter 15. - -[144] Williams, Vol. 1, pp. 250-1. - -[145] Williams, Vol. 2, pp. 255-7. - -[146] Williams, Vol. 1, pp. 257-9. - -[147] Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, Sept. 22, 1862. - -[148] Atlanta University Publications, Atlanta, Ga., 1906, No. 8, p. 23. - -[149] John Eaton, _Grant, Lincoln and the Freedmen_, New York, 1907, p. -134. - -[150] Eaton, 165. - -[151] Walter L. Fleming, _Documentary History of Reconstruction_, -Cleveland, Ohio, 1907, Vol. 1, p. 112. - -[152] Fleming, Vol. 1, pp. 350-1. - -[153] Fleming, Vol. 2, p. 382. - -[154] Report of Carl Schurz to President Johnson, in Senate Exec. Doc. -No. 2, 39th Cong., 1st Sess. - -[155] Brewster, _Sketches of Southern Mystery, Treason and Murder_, p. -116. - -[156] McPherson, _Reconstruction_, p. 19. - -[157] Atlanta University Publications, Atlanta, Ga., 1901, No. 6, p. 36. - -[158] October 7, 1865. - -[159] McPherson, pp. 52, 56. - -[160] A. U. Publications, No. 12, p. 38; Cf. also Fleming, Vol. 1, P. 355. - -[161] Schurz’ Report. - -[162] House Reports, No. 30, 39th Congress, 1st Session. - -[163] Schurz’ Report. - -[164] _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 5, p. 238. - -[165] _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 7, pp. 127ff. - -[166] _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 7, p. 424. - -[167] Jackson, Miss., _Clarion_, April 24, 1873. - -[168] Walter Allen, _Governor Chamberlain’s Administration in South -Carolina_, New York, 1888, p. 82. - -[169] _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 7, pp. 127ff. - -[170] Blaine, _Twenty Years in Congress_, Vol. 2, p. 515. - -[171] Blaine, _Twenty Years in Congress_, pp. 513-14. - -[172] Fleming, Vol. 1, pp. 450-1. - -[173] J. W. Garner, _Reconstruction in Mississippi_, New York, 1901, p. -322. - -[174] Warley in _Brewster’s Sketches_, p. 150. - -[175] A Liberal Republican’s description of the S. C. Legislature in -1871, Fleming, Vol. 2, pp. 53-4. - -[176] Fleming, Vol. 1, pp. 382ff. - -[177] Some of the Reconstruction Constitutions preceding Negro Suffrage -showed tendencies toward democratization among the whites. - -[178] Chicago Weekly _Inter-Ocean_, Dec. 26, 1890. - -[179] Cf. Atlanta University Pub. No. 6 and No. 16. - -[180] This speech was made in the South Carolina Constitutional -Convention of 1890 which disfranchised the Negro, by the Hon. Thomas -E. Miller, ex-congressman and one of the six Negro members of the -Convention. The Convention did not have the courage to publish it in -their proceedings but it may be found in the Occasional Papers of the -American Negro Academy No. 6, pp. 11-13. - -[181] Cf. W. E. B. Du Bois, _Reconstruction_ (American Historical Review, -XV, No. 4, p. 871). - -W. E. B. Du Bois, _Economics of Negro Emancipation_ (Sociological Review, -Oct., 1911, p. 303). - -[182] O. O. Howard, _Autobiography_, New York, 1907, Vol. 2, pp. 361-7, -371-2. - -[183] Testimony of the presiding officer, Mrs. Frances D. Gage, in -“_Narrative of Sojourner Truth_,” 1884, pp. 134-5. - -[184] Goodell, _Slave Code_, p. 111. - -[185] Robertson, _Louisiana under the Rule of Spain_, Vol. 1, pp. 67, -103, 111; Dunbar-Nelson, in _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 2, p. 56. - -[186] Dunbar-Nelson, _loc. cit._ - -[187] Dunbar-Nelson, _op. cit._, p. 62; Martineau, _Society in America_, -p. 326ff. - -[188] Brownie’s Book, March, 1921. - -[189] Beasley, _Negro Trail Blazers_, pp. 95-7. - -[190] Cf. Annual Reports National Association of Colored Women; Atlanta -University Publications, No. 14. - -[191] Du Bois, _Souls of Black Folk_, Chapter No. 14. - -[192] W. F. Allen and others, _Slave Songs of the United States_, New -York, 1867. - -[193] G. D. Pike, _The Jubilee Singers_, New York, 1873. - -[194] James Weldon Johnson, _Book of American Negro Poetry_, New York, -1922. - -[195] H. E. Krehbiel, _Afro-American Folksongs_, New York, 1914; cf. also -John W. Work, _Folksong of the American Negro_, Nashville, Tenn., 1915. - -[196] Natalie Curtis-Burlin, _Negro Folksongs_, 4 books, 1918-19; _Songs -and Tales from the Dark Continent_, 1920. - -[197] Benjamin Brawley, _Negro in Literature and Art_. - -[198] Alice Dunbar-Nelson in _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 2, p. 55. - -[199] Washington, _Story of the Negro_, Vol. 2, pp. 276-7. - -[200] Cf. Benjamin Brawley, _The Negro in Literature and Art_, New York, -1921. - -[201] Cf. Preface to James Weldon Johnson’s _The Book of American Negro -Poetry_, New York, 1922. - -[202] T. W. Talley, _Negro Folk Rhymes_. - -[203] Cf. W. E. B. Du Bois, _The Negro in Literature and Art_ (Annals -American Academy, Sept., 1913). - -[204] A. A. Schomberg, _A Bibliographical Checklist of American Negro -Poetry_, New York, 1916. - -[205] Preface to Claud McKay’s _Harlem Shadows_. - -[206] Cf. Freeman H. M. Murray, _Emancipation and the Freed in American -Sculpture_, Washington, D. C., 1916. - -[207] _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. 3, p. 99ff. Later, Jefferson -writing to an American thought Banneker had “a mind of very common -stature indeed”. - -[208] Charles C. Jones, _Religious Instruction of the Negroes_, Savannah, -1842. - -[209] M. H. Kingsley, _West African Studies_. - -[210] Atlanta University Publications, _The Negro Church_, 1903. - -[211] Richard Allen, _Life, Experience and Gospel Labors_, Philadelphia, -1880. - -[212] Cf. Carter G. Woodson, _The History of the Negro Church_, -Washington, D. C., 1921; Atlanta University Publications, _The Negro -Church_; and J. E. Bassett, _Slavery in North Carolina_. - -[213] Bassett, pp. 58-9. - - - - -INDEX - - - Adair, Lieut., 129, 130 - - Adams, John, 87, 90, 159, 176, 177, 317 - - Adolphus, King Gustavus, 11 - - Aldridge, Ira, 310 - - Alexander, Dr. Archibald, 335 - - Allen, 173, 298, 329, 330 - - Allen, Walter, 220, 276 - - Alliot, Paul, 266 - - Almagro, 42 - - Alvarado, 42 - - Ames, Capt., 92 - - Anderson, 302 - - André, 92 - - Antar, 288 - - Atkinson, Edward, 232 - - Attucks, Crispus, 86, 87, 88 - - Augusta, Dr. A. T., 125 - - - Baker, H. E., 72, 73 - - Balboa, 42 - - Ball, 314 - - Bancroft, H. H., 50, 55 - - Banister, E. M., 313 - - Banks, General, 118 - - Banneker, Benjamin, 298, 316, 317, 318 - - Bassett, Lieut.-Col., 119, 332, 334 - - Batson, Flora, 291 - - Beard, Charles A. & Mary R., 9, 12, 16 - - Beasley, 43, 49, 272 - - Beauregard, 137 - - Beecher, Henry Ward, 278, 293 - - Benjamin, Judah, 179 - - Beverly, Robert, 67 - - Bienville, Governor, 83 - - Bigstaff, Peter, 129 - - Bissell, 314 - - Blaine, James G., 222, 223, 224 - - Bland, James, 290 - - Bolas, Juan de, 151 - - Bolivar, 154, 155 - - Bonaparte, Napoleon, 153, 154 - - Booth, Major, 117, 271 - - Boré, Etienne de, 68 - - Bowers, John, 299 - - Braithwaite, W. S., 303, 304, 307 - - Brawley, Benjamin, 146, 153, 158, 162, 163, 285, 290, 303 - - Brent, Linda, 301 - - Brewster, 203 - - Bromwell, 17 - - Brooks, 302 - - Brown, John, 146, 270, 271, 272 - - Brown, Richard, 313 - - Brown, William, 86, 301, 299 - - Browne, 271 - - Bruce, B. K., 67, 218, 223 - - Bryant, William Cullen, 232 - - Buell, 187 - - Burgess, Prof., 206 - - Burleigh, Harry T., 290, 291 - - Burlin, Mrs. Curtis, 283, 284 - - Burnside, 124 - - Burr, Aaron, 289 - - Butler, General, 112, 116, 187 - - Byrd, Col., 67 - - - Cable, George U., 293 - - Cain, 221 - - Calder, 314 - - Caldwell, Jonas, 87, 88 - - Calhoun, John C., 293 - - Callioux, Capt., 120 - - Campbell, Robert, 301, 304, 336 - - Carey, Lott, 330 - - Carr, Patrick, 87 - - Castaneda, Pedro de, 43 - - Castle, Vernon, 292 - - Catto, 300 - - Chamberlain, Governor, 220 - - Chambers, Colonel, 118 - - Chapman, C. E., 150 - - Charlton, Melville, 291 - - Chase, Simon P., 232 - - Chavis, John, 332, 333 - - Cheatham, 221 - - Chesnutt, Charles W., 303, 307 - - Child, Lydia Marcia, 293 - - Christophe, 92 - - Church, A. M. E., 300 - - Cinque, 159 - - Claiborne, Governor, 97 - - Clark, 49 - - Cleveland, 26 - - Clinton, Bishop Isaac, 89, 219 - - Cobb, General, 112 - - Cobb, Irvin S., 10 - - Coffin, Levi, 232 - - Cole, 310 - - Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel, 289, 290 - - Columbus, 35, 36, 37, 40, 265, 282 - - Commons, John R., 15 - - Conant, 36 - - Conner, A. J., 290 - - Connery, William J., 72 - - Constant, Benjamin, 314 - - Cooke, Governor, 93 - - Cooper, Peter, 232 - - Coppin, J., 153 - - Corbin, J. C., 220 - - Cardoza, F. L., 220-246 - - Cornwallis, 89, 177 - - Coronado, 44, 49 - - Cortes, 42, 45 - - Cotter, Joseph C. Jr., 304 - - Cravath, 214 - - Crogman, 302 - - Cromwell, J. W., 158, 182 - - Crummell, Dr. Alexander, 301, 302 - - Cuffee, Paul, 162, 172, 299 - - Cullen, Countée, 304 - - Curtis, Justice, 144 - - Curtis, Natalie, 282 - - Cushite, R. L. Perry, 302 - - - Damrosch, 280 - - Dana, Gen. N. J. T., 193 - - Daquin, Major, 99 - - Davis, 304 - - Davis, Pres., 111, 112 - - Davis, Gussie L., 290 - - Davis, Jefferson, 107 - - De Charnay, 36 - - Dèdè, Edmund, 290 - - Delaney, Major M. H., 125 - - Delaney, Martin R., 300 - - Dennison, Chaplain, 123 - - Derham, Thomas, 316 - - De Soto, 43, 44 - - Dett, R. Nathaniel, 291 - - Dickinson, J. H., 73 - - Dickinson, S. L., 73 - - Diton, Carl, 291 - - Dix, 187 - - Dixon, Thomas, 293 - - Dodson, Jacob, 49 - - Dorantes, Stephen, 43, 44, 45 - - Douglas, Captain H. F., 125 - - Douglass, Frederick, 174, 208, 300, 301, 308 - - Dow, Lorenzo, 145 - - Drexel, Katherine, 324 - - Drinkwater, 311 - - DuBois, W. E. B., 13, 55, 58, 63, 153, 155, 161, 169, 249, 274, 297 - - DuBois, Wilcox, 73 - - Dubuclet, 221, 290 - - Dumas, 306 - - Dunbar, Paul Lawrence, 303, 304, 306 - - Dunmore, Governor, 89, 90, 176, 177 - - Dunn, Lieut.-Gov., 221 - - Duplessis, General Garnier, 131 - - Dvorak, 285, 291 - - Dwight, General, 118 - - - Eaton, Col. John, 191, 193 - - Eastman, Max, 307 - - Edison, 28 - - Edward, Bryan, 151 - - Eliot, Dr. John, 57 - - Elliott, Robert Brown, 221, 301 - - Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 293 - - Equiana, Olaudah (See Gustavus Vassa) - - Estevanico, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49 - - Eustis, William, 94 - - Evans, Henry, 333, 334 - - - Fairchild, Henry Pratt, 9 - - Fauset, Jessie, 304, 308 - - Finnegas, Lieut.-Col. Henry, 119 - - Fleming, Walter L., 194, 197, 226, 232, 234 - - Flipper, H. O., 43 - - Fontages, Viscount de, 93 - - Force, 176 - - Forrest, 117 - - Foster, Stephen, 275, 285 - - Forten, James, 299 - - Franklin, Benjamin, 90, 141 - - Freeman, Captain, 58 - - Freeman, Ralph, 334 - - Fremont, 49 - - French, D. C., 314 - - Frye, Colonel, 92 - - Fuller, Meta Warrick, 315 - - - Gabriel, 172 - - Gage, Mrs. Frances D., 151, 264 - - Galvez, 95 - - Garner, J. W., 227 - - Garnet, Henry Highland, 299 - - Garrison, 174, 271 - - Garrison, William Lloyd, 146, 185 - - Gayarre, 95, 153 - - Geary, 25 - - Gibbs, Jonathan C., 220 - - Gibbs, M. W., 220 - - Giddings, Joshua R., 171 - - Gilmore, General, 109 - - Gilpin, Charles, 310, 311 - - Gladstone, 279 - - Gloucester, John, 330 - - Gomez, 288 - - Gonino, 36 - - Goodell, 266 - - Gottschalk, 289 - - Goybet, General, 131, 132 - - Graham, Stephen, 311 - - Grant, General, 188, 191, 193 - - Graves, John Temple, 130 - - Gray, Samuel, 87, 88, 173 - - Greeley, Horace, 105, 185 - - Greene, General, 91, 178 - - Grey, T. R., 158 - - Griggs, 302 - - Grimke, A. H., 156, 302 - - Grimke, Frank, 302, 303 - - - Hagen, Helen, 291 - - Hagood, General, 246, 247, 302 - - Hahn, Governor, 194 - - Hall, Prince, 162 - - Halleck, 187 - - Hamilton, Alexander, 91, 174, 269 - - Hammon, Jupiter, 304 - - Hampton, Governor, 246 - - Hampton, Wade, 283 - - Handy, W. C., 285 - - Hapgood, Mrs. Emily, 310 - - Hare, Maude-Cuney, 291 - - Harleston, Edwin, 313 - - Harper, Frances E. W., 300, 302, 304 - - Harper, William A., 313 - - Harriot, George, 29, 94 - - Harris, Joel Chandler, 295, 296 - - Harrison, Hazel, 291 - - Hartgrove, W. B., 94 - - Hayes, Roland W., 292 - - Hayne, Robert Y., 172 - - Haynes, Lemuel, 299, 306, 332 - - Helps, 42 - - Hemmenway, J., 290 - - Hening, 148 - - Henry, Patrick, 141 - - Henson, Joshua, 171, 300 - - Henson, Matthew A., 50, 51 - - Higginson, Colonel, 116, 158, 275, 293 - - Hill, Dr. William, 335 - - Hogarth, George, 300 - - Hogan, Ernest, 310 - - Holland, Justin, 290 - - Hood, 302 - - Hooker, 187 - - Hope, Lawrence, 291 - - Hopkins, Samuel, 91, 175 - - Horton, George M., 304 - - Hosier, Harry, 332 - - Howard, General, 144, 145, 200, 249, 252 - - Howe, Julia Ward, 293 - - Howells, William Dean, 293 - - Hughes, Langston, 304 - - Hunter, General, 102, 103, 105, 116, 187 - - Hurd, John C., 148 - - Hyer, Sisters, 291 - - - Jackson, General, 97, 99, 115, 182, 220 - - Jackson, M. Howard, 315 - - Jamison, J. F., 43 - - Jamison, Roscoe C., 304 - - Jay, John, 232 - - Jefferson, Thomas, 3, 141, 143, 154, 172, 317 - - Jenkins, Edmund T., 291 - - Johnson, E. A., 302 - - Johnson, Fenton, 304 - - Johnson, Georgia, 304 - - Johnson, James Weldon, 280, 292, 314 - - Johnson, John, 96, 113 - - Johnson, President, 201, 202, 203, 207, 208, 209, 214, 281 - - Johnson, Rosamond, 291 - - Jones, 173, 183, 330 - - Jones, C. C., 296, 325 - - Just, Ernest, 316 - - - Kabell, 36 - - Keene, Edmund, 310 - - King George, 3rd of Britain, 142 - - Kingsley, Miss, 326, 327 - - Krehbiel, H. E., 281, 282 - - Kunst, J., 151 - - - La Coste, 99 - - Lafitte, 99 - - Lafon, Thomé, 183, 323 - - Lambert, 92, 291 - - Langston, 22, 302 - - Las Casas, 42 - - Laurens, Henry, 141 - - Laurens, John, 91 - - Lawrence, Joseph, 8 - - Lawson, A. Augustus, 291 - - Leader, 8 - - Lee, Samuel J., 219 - - Leile, George, 330 - - Leon, Ponce de, 38 - - L’Enfant, Major Pierre, 318 - - Lewis, 49 - - Lewis, Edmonia, 315 - - Lewis, Julien H., 316 - - Lewis, R. B., 299 - - Lind, Jenny, 291 - - Lincoln, Abraham, 28, 106, 114, 135, 185, 187, 189, 195, 202, 203, - 233, 271 - - Livermore, 84, 87, 89, 91, 92, 142, 175, 176, 178, 194 - - Livingston, Robert, 154 - - Lodge, Henry Cabot, 12 - - Loguen, Bishop, 182, 300 - - Low, A. A., 232 - - Lowell, James Russell, 293 - - Lucas, Sam (See Samuel Milady) - - Lynch, 90 - - Lynch, John R., 220, 223 - - - Macdonough, 96 - - Madison, James, 91 - - Majors, 302 - - Maldonado, 44, 45 - - Marcos, Fray, 45, 46, 49 - - Marquis de Condorcet, 317 - - Marshall, Colonel John R., 127 - - Martin, 96 - - Martineau, 268 - - Matzeliger, Jan E., 70, 71, 72 - - Maverick, Samuel, 87, 88 - - McCoy, Elijah, 72 - - McHenry, James, 318 - - McKay, 71, 304, 307 - - McKay, Claud, 308 - - McKee, Colonel John, 323 - - McKim, Miss, 275 - - McKinley, President, 126 - - McLean, Justice, 144 - - McClellan, 188 - - McPherson, 203, 209 - - McSweeney, Edw. F., Introduction to series - - Melbourne, George, 290 - - Mencken, H. L., 305 - - Mendoza, 44, 45, 49, 150 - - Menendez, 43 - - Milady, Samuel, 290 (See Sam Lucas also) - - Miller, Kelly, 303 - - Miller, Hon. Thomas E., 248 - - Mills, 271 - - Mitchell, George W., 303 - - Montalvo, Garcia de, 35 - - Moody, 279 - - Moore, G. H., 85, 91 - - Mossell, 302 - - Murray, 221 - - Murray, Freeman H. M., 304, 315 - - - Narvaez, Panfilo de, 43 - - Nell, William Cooper, 300 - - Nelson, Alice Dunbar, 68, 69, 83, 97, 100, 145, 155, 267, 268, 289 - - Nelson, Colonel, 119 - - Niles, 97, 98, 100, 145 - - Northrop, Samuel, 300 - - Nosseyeb, 287 - - - Oglethorpe, 140 - - O’Hara, 222 - - Olana, Nuflo de, 42 - - Olivier, 79 - - Olmsted, 69, 70 - - O’Neill, 311 - - Osceola, 171 - - Otis, James, 141 - - Ouverture, Toussaint le, 154, 156 - - Ovando, 39 - - Oviedo, 38 - - - Page, Thomas Nelson, 293 - - Payne, Bishop Daniel, 301, 302 - - Peary, Commodore, 50 - - Pemberton, Thomas, 57 - - Penn, 7, 302 - - Pennington, J. W. C., 257, 299 - - Perier, Governor, 82, 83 - - Perry, 96 - - Pétion, President, 154 - - Phillips, Wendell, 270, 293 - - Pierce, Edward L., 191 - - Pike, G. D., 279 - - Pinchback, 221 - - Pinckney, Charles, 94 - - Pizarro, Marquis, 41 - - Plato, 2 - - Pleasants, Mammy, 271, 272 - - Poor, Salem, 92 - - Portugal, King of, 290 - - Preer, Evelyn, 311 - - Prendergast, J. P., 8 - - Preston, Captain, 87 - - Price, J. C., 308 - - Purvis, Robert, 299 - - Purvis, W. L., 73 - - Pushkin, 288 - - Putnam, Colonel, 123 - - - Rainey, 223 - - Ralston, 271 - - Rapier, 221, 223 - - Redmond, 174 - - Reed, Lieut.-Col., 125 - - Revels, 221, 223 - - Revells, Hiram R., 218 - - Rice, Thomas D., 309 - - Rigaud, 92 - - Rillieux, Robert, 70 - - Rippy, J. F., 42, 43 - - Robertson, 267 - - Robeson, Paul, 311 - - Rodin, 315 - - Rush, Dr. Benjamin, 316, 332 - - Rutledge, 90 - - - Salcedo, Governor, 67 - - Samba, 83 - - Sanine, 312 - - Savary, J. B. Capt., 99 - - Saxton, General, 188 - - Scammell, Alexander, 85 - - Scarborough, 302 - - Schomberg, A. A., 304 - - Schurz, Carl, 201, 210, 211, 213, 214 - - Scofield, 314 - - Scott, William Edward, 313 - - Sejour, Victor, 289 - - Sellick, 8 - - Sewall, 140 - - Seward, William H., 140 - - Seybert, Adam, 16 - - Seymour, General, 123 - - Shaftesbury, Lord, 279 - - Shakespeare, 293 - - Shaler, Governor, 203 - - Sharkey, Governor, 203 - - Sherman, General T. W., 187, 194 - - Shaw, Colonel, 123, 315 - - Simmons, 301 - - Simonton, Judge, 246 - - Sinclair, 303 - - Smith, Albert A., 313 - - Smith, Alexander, 271 - - Smith, Buckingham, 38 - - Smith, General, 124 - - Smith, Gerritt, 232 - - Smith, Rev. John Blair, 335 - - Southerne, 293, 309 - - Spence, Adam K., 277 - - Spencer, Rev. T. A., 9 - - Stanton, 124, 194 - - Stearns, George L., 232 - - Stephenson, General, 123 - - Steward, 93, 154, 303 - - Stewart, Ruth M., 293, 302 - - Story, W. A., 314 - - Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 293 - - Strachen, 96 - - Straker, 302 - - Strong, Gen., 123 - - Suarez, Illan, 41 - - Sumner, Charles, 198, 293 - - - Talbert, Cole, 291 - - Talley, T. W., 297 - - Talmadge, DeWitt, 154 - - Taney, Judge, 143 - - Tanner, Bishop, 301, 313 - - Thacher, J. C., 36 - - Thebaud, A. J., 8 - - Thomas, General, 140, 193, 194 - - Thurston, 36 - - Tillman, 243 - - Toomer, Jean, 308 - - Tourgee, Judge Albion W., 237 - - Trotter, James Monroe, 301 - - Truth, Sojourner, 174 - - Tubman, Harriet, 171, 270, 271 - - Turner, C. H., 316 - - Turner, Nat., 157, 158, 302, 330 - - Tyler, Col., 186 - - - Vaca de, 44, 45 - - Valdivia, 42 - - Vassa, Gustavus, 279 (See Olaudah Equiana) - - Varick, James, 330 - - Vela, Blasco Nunez, 41, 42 - - Vernon, Capt. John, 8 - - Vesey, Denmark, 156 - - Victoria, Francisco Xavier de, 322 - - Victoria, Queen, 279 - - - Walker, David, 164, 168, 299, 310, 311 - - Wall, Capt. O. S. B., 125 - - Wallace, Judge, 246 - - Warburg, Eugene, 289 - - Ward, Samuel C., 300, 308, 314 - - Ware, 214 - - Work, John W., 282 - - Warley, 231 - - Washington, 2, 38, 89, 102, 103, 115, 141, 298, 318 - - Washington, Booker T., 258, 298, 303, 308 - - Washington, Madison, 159 - - Wayman, Bishop, 301 - - Webster, Daniel, 86, 160 - - Wiener, 36, 37, 38, 40, 150 - - Wesley, 113 - - Wheatley, Phyllis, 298, 304, 306, 312 - - Wheeler, Laura, 313 - - White, Clarence Cameron, 291 - - White, E. P., 221 - - White, George L., 276, 277, 278 - - White, J. L., 219 - - White, Dr. William S., 336 - - Whitfield, James, 299, 300 - - Whitefield, George, 298 - - Whittier, John Greenleaf, 293 - - Whitman, A. A., 301, 304 - - Whitman, Walt, 293 - - Whitney, Eli, 70 - - Williams, 101, 104, 107, 117, 118, 124, 164, 187, 301, 310, 311 - - Williams, Bert, 310 - - Williams, Dr. Dan, 316 - - Wilson, 26, 95, 97, 108, 110, 124, 135, 179, 181, 303 - - Winslow, Sydney W., 70, 71 - - Witherspoon, D., 332 - - Wood, Liates, 73 - - Woods, Granville T., 73 - - Woodson, Carter, 64, 161, 303, 332 - - Wormeley, Ralph, 67 - - Wright, 302 - - - Yeomans, Robert, 8 - - Young, Major Charles, 17, 18, 127, 131 - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIFT OF BLACK FOLK *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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