Historic Sketches 02 Roch

7/29/2019 Historic Sketches 02 Roch

1/188

447.K67

copy 2

stonehe South

ma Langdon Roche


2/188

Class

Book.

OopyrigMCOPYRIGHT DEPOSIT.


3/188


4/188


5/188


6/188


7/188


8/188

Drawn by Emma Roche.Abache.


9/188

Historic Sketches ofthe South

ByEmma Langdon Roche

Drawings and Photographs by Author \

TLbc ftnfcfterbocfter pressNew York1914


10/188

CopyrightbyEMMA LANGDON ROCHE1914

Ebc IRnicherbocfeer press, *Uw 19otft

AUG 15 1914CI.A3S0000


11/188

CONTENTSCHAPTER PAGE

I. Beginnings of American Slavery . iII. Early Legislation against the Slave

Traffic 19III. Illegal Traffic in Slaves . . 49IV. Preparations for " Clotilde's "

Voyage ..... 65V. The Capture of the Tarkars . 74VI. Voyage of the " Clotilde " . . 84VII. The Return 92VIII. The Tarkars at Dabney's Planta-

tion ...... 98IX. Tarkar Life in America . . 103X. Impressions of Alabama in 1846 ' . 129

1 Reprinted from "South Atlantic Quarterly," July, 1908.

iii


12/188

Fff77T6r


13/188

ILLUSTRATIONSFrontispiecebache ....

Drawn by Emma Roche.POLEETE ....

Drawn by Emma Roche.Abache AND Kazoola .Map Drawn by KazoolaKazoola ....

Drawn by Emma Roche.Wreck of the "Clotilde." .Charlee ....Olouala ....Drawn by Emma Roche.Charlee, Head of the Tarkars

Drawn by Emma Roche.Kazoola ....Zoom a, the Last Tarkbar .

(/) Tarkar Village. (2) Dahomey's Land, (jWavering line showing stealthy march of Dahomeyans through forest. (4) Route by which captiveTarkars were taken to the sea. (5), (d), (7), (#),Eko, Budigree, Abachg, Whydah, towns throughwhich Tarkars passed. (p) River. (/o) Beachand sea.

73

798997

103109117

127

131139


14/188


15/188

Historic Sketches of theSouth

CHAPTER ITHE BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN SLAVERY

To fully understand the opposition of thoughtwherein our "irrepressible conflict" had its incep-tion and lay so long in embryo, to burst forth atlast in the awful and bloody travail of a nationdivided and at arms, some knowledge of the his-tory and psychology of the peoples who settledthe American colonies is necessary; for a nation'scataclysms are not spontaneously generated, butare the result of forces which though for genera-tions are silent and hidden are gathering strengthunder the evils of superstition, oppression, orfanaticism, and only need such an explosive asthe tongue of a Danton, Robespierre, Garrison,Beecher, or Stowe to hurl the people into deathand desolation.


16/188

2 Historic Sketches of the SouthThe early settlers who have left their impress on

American life and character were of the samecountry and traditions, but their manners andideals had been developed by the opposing forceswhich began to stir England during the Renais-sancea hundred and fifty years before the Refor-mationforces of which our own Civil War seemsas direct a sequence as were the religio-politicalfeuds of the 16th and 17th century England. Inthe New World the exponents of these contrastingforces were divided for the first century and a halfby what afterwards became known as Mason'sand Dixon's Line and by vast areas of uninhabitedwilderness.

Virginia was no Mecca for the religiously orpolitically oppressed, but drew to her soldiers offortunemen impelled by a spirit of adventure,or those who for some delinquency wished to losetheir identity in the vast, unknown New World;among them were many gentlemen who more oftenthan not possessed the vices and follies of a corruptage. The first who became permanent settlerswere divided on the outward voyages by jealousiesand dissensions. These differences were carried


17/188

Beginnings of American Slavery 3into the colony; aggravated by the greed and self-ishness of those placed in authority, they becamegreater hardships than the illness, starvation, andIndian treacheries which hampered early progress.There were "poor gentlemen, Tradesmen, Serving-men, libertines, and such like, ten times more fitto spoyle a Commonwealth, than either begin one,or but helpe to maintain one. For when neitherthe feare of God, nor the law, nor shame, nor dis-pleasure of their friends could rule them here,there is small hope ever to bring one in twenty ofthem ever to be good there. Notwithstanding,I confesse divers amongst them, had better mindesand grew much more industrious than was ex-pected." " Amid treacheries and deceits, JohnSmith stands forth a hero. Through his thoughtand action the colony not only survived the vi-cissitudes of fire, starvation, and massacre, butwas saved from itself, for the evils of its ownlawless, disturbing elements were greater dangersthan those which came from without. The hopeof gold was ostensibly the colony's raison d'etre:"The worst of all was our gilded refiners with

1 Smith's Historie of Virginia.


18/188

4 Historic Sketches of the Souththeir golden promises made all men their slavesin hope of recompenses; there was no talke, nohope, no worke, but dig gold, wash gold, refinegold, loade gold, such a bruit of gold, that onemad fellow desired to be buried in the sands leastthey should by their art make gold of his bones."This search for gold proved futile; in 1615 the landwas parceled off to each settler in fifty-acre lots,tobacco was planted, and thus began Virginia'sprosperity.Tobacco was introduced into Europe by the

first Columbian voyagers and into England byRaleigh and Drake. Despite the strong social andreligious pressureeven King James instituting apropaganda which led him to write the Counter-blast to Tobaccothe habit spread with alarmingrapidity, and was not confined to the menalone; chewing and smoking were indulgencescommon to the older women, while snuff was thefavorite with the younger ones. This new tastecreated a demand which increased Virginia's popu-lation and greatly extended her cultivated fields.Women were scarce, and the planters growingrich had a natural desire to return to England.


19/188

Beginnings of American Slavery 5This, however, was obviated by the importationof widows and virgins who were shipped to thecolony as any other cargo. The nature of thisbartering, which is unique in American history,may best be described from a letter, dated August21, 1 62 1, which accompanied one of these cargoesof colonial dames: "We send you in this shipone widow and eleven maids for wives for thepeople of Virginia. There hath been especialcare had in the choice of them, for there hath notany one of them been received, but upon goodrecommendations

"In case they can not be presently married, wedesire that they be put in several households thathave wives, till they can be provided with hus-bands. There are near fifty more which areshortly to come, are sent by our most honorablelord and treasurer, the Earl of Southampton (thepatron of Shakspere), and certain worthy gentle-men, who taking into consideration that the plant-ations can never flourish till families be planted,and the respects of wives and children fix thesepeople on the soil, therefore have given this fairbeginning for the reimbursing those charges. It


20/188

6 Historic Sketches of the Southis ordered, that every man that marries them giveone hundred and twenty pounds of the best leaftobacco for each of them."Though we are desirous that the marriage be

free according to the law of nature, yet we wouldnot have these maids deceived and married toservants, but only to such freemen or tenants ashave means to maintain them. We pray you,therefore to be as a father to them in this businessnot enforcing them to marry against their wills."

Labor for the ever-increasing fields was anotherproblem confronting the planter. King Jamesdecided that the London Company should solvethis by transporting to Virginia English convicts,who thus removed from old environments andtemptations might form a valuable industrialasset. Only one shipload of a hundred was sent,for about the same time a Dutch man-of-wararrived at Jamestown (August, 1619) and twentynegro slaves were sold to the planters. Qualmsabout such a transaction could scarcely be ex-pected, for through all historic times it was onlyas a slave that the negro had been associated withother races. In ancient times he had been sub-


21/188

Beginnings of American Slavery 7servient to the Egyptians, bought for the Cartha-ginian galleys; slave to Assyrian, Arabian, Indian,Greek, Etruscan, and Roman; and in early Chris-tian centuries sold by the Venetians to the Moorsof Spain. 1

1 " Their features are recorded by their ancient enemies, neverby themselves. Egyptian kings, who from earliest times ofantiquity, came often into collision with the blacks, and hadthem figured as defeated enemies, as prisoners of war, and as sub-ject nations bringing tribute. Their grotesque features, so muchdiffering from the Egyptian type, made them a favorite subjectfor sculptural supports of thrones, chairs, vases, etc.; or paintedunder the soles of sandals, of which instances abound in museumsas well as in the larger works on Egypt. . . . The other artisticalnations of antiquity knew little of the negro race. They did notcome before Solomon's epoch into immediate and constant con-tact with it. We see soon after, however, a negro in an Assyrianbattle scene of the time of Sargon, at Korsabad. He might havebeen exported from Memphis by Phoenician slave-dealers toAsia, where he fell fighting for his master against the Assyrians.. . . On the remarkable relief of the tomb of Darius Hystaspes, atPcrsepolis, we have the negro as a representative of Africa.The Greeks seldom drew the blacks; still, on beautiful vases ofthe British Museum, we meet with the well known negro featuresin a battle scene. Another such vase with the representation ofHercules slaying negroes has been published by Mecali. Etrus-can potters, who liked to draw Oriental types, molded vases inthe shape of a negro head and coupled it sometimes with the headof white males or females. The British Museum containsseveral of these very characteristic utensils. . . . We possesseffigies of negroes drawn by six different nations of antiquity:Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Etruscans and Romans,from about the eighteenth century B.C. to the first centuries ofour era, which all speak for the unalterable constancy of thenegro type such as in our day."Nott and Gliddon's IndigenousRaces of the Earth.


22/188

8 Historic Sketches of the SouthWhen the existence of new lands became known

and labor was needed for their development, the"^egro's native country became a hunting groundwhere he was not only stalked by the Dutch andPortuguese, but by the French and English whoalso had posts for that purpose in Africa. In factthe English, including therein the colonists of NewEngland, became more extensively engaged inthe traffic than all other slave-trading Europeannations combined. Compunctions about slaveryas about many other things came only with themoral awakening of a later generation. "Scarcelyany one seems to have regarded the trade as wrong.Theologians had so successfully labored to producea sense of the amazing, I might almost say gener-ical, difference between those who were Christiansand those who were not, that to apply to the latterthe principles that were applied to the former,would have been deemed a glaring paradox. Ifthe condition of the "taegroes in this world wasaltered for the worse, it was felt that their pros-pects in the next were greatly improved. Besides,it was remembered that, shortly after the delugeHam had behaved disrespectfully to his drunken


23/188

Beginnings of American Slavery 9father, and it was believed that the Almighty had,in consequence, ordained negro slavery." 1 Theutility of thcliegro being at once proven, Africanslavery had become something of an institution inVirginia, before the Mayflower with its handful ofmen, women, and children landed on PlymouthRock.The stern, uncompromising attitude of these

people in whom there was no quibbling with rightor wrong as they perceived it, which gave themthe physical courage to endure persecution, muti-lation, and even death, was the result of the religiousagitations which began in England with Wycliffeand were directed against the oppressions andcorruptions which nourished within the Church'spowerful organization. Though suppressed, theleaven had sifted down to the people who, stulti-fied by centuries of grossest superstition, hadsilently and patiently borne the yoke. In the stir-rings of this religious Renaissance the book thatreached them was Wycliffe's translation of theBible; this gave to them the Semitic conceptionof Godthe one Godwhich the voices of those

1 Lecky, Rationalism in Europe.


24/188

io Historic Sketches of the South"primitive Puritans the Prophets" had saved fromthe obliterating dangers of idolatry and supersti-tion. The stolid somberness of the Northern racesresponded to the majestic swing of this wonderfulcollection of Hebrew documents which traced apeople's struggles and thought development. Someof its characters as Huxley says of "Jepthah, Gid-eon, and Sampson are men of the old heroic stamp,who would look as much in place in a Norse Sagaas where they are." Stray chapters sometimescame into the possession of some yeoman whowas fortunate enough to read ; in silence and sec-recy, when the day's work was done, there wouldgather round him eager listeners. To know whatthis book's message meant to them, one needsbut read their subsequent history. To hear it,possess it, and believe it, they suffered the diabol-ical tortures and fiendish perpetrations which atonce made martyrs and tyrants of men, and whichlaid in England the foundation of what Rankecalls the "heroic age of Protestantism in WesternEurope." Of this breed were the Pilgrims ofPlymouth Rock. Their inherent independencehad been fostered by a long exile in Leyden ; there


25/188

Beginnings of American Slavery uthe old Teutonic spirit of freedom had survived,and had given her men that sublime courage anddetermination, when besieged by the Duke ofAlva and starving, "that rather than yield theywould devour their left arms to enable them tocontinue the defense with their right." 1 Leydenafterwards became a haven for those of other coun-tries who, breaking from prescribed thought, daredto act accordingly. It was also a university centerpolitical and religious tenets were subjects of com-mon debate. Robinson who became one of thePilgrim fathers took an active part in thesediscussions.To these exiles the New World became a hope.

Though homeless, they were loyal to James.While petitioning the London Company forlands, they begged of him the freedom to thereworship God according to their own consciences.Though this was not actually granted it was per-mitted. An unkindly fate seemed to preside overtheir voyagebuffeting storms drove them farthernorth than their proposed destination; some his-torians state they were purposely steered out of

1 Rankc, History of the Popes.


26/188

12 Historic Sketches of the Souththeir course by their Dutch pilot, and were forcedto land on Plymouth Rock.By a solemn covenant entered into aboard ship,

they agreed that while they would be faithful tothe English Crown, the polity they would establishamong themselves would be an ideal statecommunity of interestsfascinating as expoundedby Plato, More, and Rousseau, but unfeasible forhuman nature as yet evolved since completebarbarism. United by a common faithgloomy,austereputting aside as mortal sin all the joysof lifeforced to endure together in a wild, bleak,strange land, starvation, disease, frightful cold,and the terror of hostile Indians, by whom theywould have probably been exterminated had nota deadly pestilence broken out among thesesavagespossibly no better opportunity forsuch an experiment has ever been offered civilizedman. But among them too was the natural in-equality of individuals which will probably alwaysrender futile and unenduring similar sociologicalexperiments.The Puritan settlements were gradually aug-

mented by the persecuted from their native land,


27/188

Beginnings of American Slavery 13and it would seem that they could at last possessthe religious security and contentment for whichthey had so long clamored, but dissent had be-come second nature; combativeness seemed essen-tial to zeal, and as there was no Established orRoman Church at which to hurl themselves, theirown tenets became mooted points; bitter differ-ences arose. They showed themselves as intoler-ant in the New World as they had been intolerablein the Old, and those without the might toprove their right were driven forth. In thismanner Rhode Island, Connecticut, and NewHampshire were settled. Much of their laterhistory has to do with religious bickerings, mutila-tions, and witch-burnings. It was an outgrowthof this same spirit which confronted the Southfor thirty years before the final rupture whichresulted in the War of Secession.Thus from the beginning theNorth and the South

were necessarily distinctive ; settled under differentcircumstances, the one drew from England thestern, severe, and rigorously religious, while theother became the habitat for the Puritan's oppo-sitethe impecunious gentleman, the roistering


28/188

14 Historic Sketches of the Southcavalier, the insolvent debtor, and the Catholicnoblemana class in which there had been a verygeneral "reversion from virtuous and noble man-hood to the lewdness of the ape and the cunningferocity of the tiger." 1 In the New Worldall alike were brought face to face with a great,overshadowing nature which presented thediversified physical conditions along which eachsection's economic development would tend. Agri-culture in austere New England would have beena too uneven wrestling with nature; existencewrought from the soil meant unending toil andoften heart-breaking disappointment, so the NewEnglander's pursuits became mercantile and sea-faringoccupations in which the negro couldbe of little value, but following England's in-itiative he found the slave-trade profitable,and the Southern planter a ready buyer. Torepress Nature's exuberance, the fields of to-bacco, cotton, rice, indigo, and cane requiredman's watchful care, and the negro, inuredthrough all previous generations to the sun andrain, the jungle and the swamp, properly directed,

1 Dean Farrar.


29/188

Beginnings of American Slavery 15became, and still is, the ideal laborer for workof the soil.

Since then our "mental endyses" have beenmany; we have associations for the prevention ofcruelty to animals, and sympathetic and indignantthrills pass through us at sight of ill-treatment toone of these, so we cannot bring our attitude ofto-day or of the last hundred years to judge thebeginnings of American slavery. To 16th and17th century Europeans it was palpable thatthe difference between theftiegro and the man-like apes was no greater than that existingbetween the ]tyegro and themselves, and it wasdebatable "with that bruitishness which com-monly appeareth in all their actions whether thepeople generally may be thought to be men in theskins of beasts; or beasts created in the likenesseand shape of man." 1 The sentimentality whichobtained some years ago and which led to suchbitter hatred and misunderstanding seems almostmaudlin when that phase of the question in whichthe indescribable wretchedness of the ^kegro in hisnative land is consideredhis gross and pitiable

1 Heylyn's Cosmogtaphic, 1657.


30/188

16 Historic Sketches of the Southsuperstitions, his indifference to death and his regardfor cruelty as a virtue; what slavery did for himseems analogous to what we suppose primitive manaccomplished with the wolfadopted it from thewild and made of it a faithful, domestic animal.True, the motives were utility and gain, but whocan deny the mighty uplift in value and sagacity,both for the dog and the \]Jegro? Among theAfrican tribes described in Pigafetta's account ofLopez's African Travels (1598), and spoken of byHeylyn mh.isCosmographie(i6$y),are theAnziques,"the cruellest Cannibals in the world; for they donot onely eat their Enemies, but their friends andKinsfolk. And that they may be sure not to wantthese Dainties, they have shambles of man'sflesh, as in other parts of Beef and Mutton. Socovetous withall, that if their Slaves will yield but apenny more when sold joynt by joynt than if soldalive, they will cut them out, and sell them uponthe shambles. Yet with these barbarous quali-ties they have many good ... of so great fidelityto their masters and to those which trust them,that they will rather choose to be killed than eitherabuse the trust, or betray their Masters. For


31/188

Beginnings of American Slavery 17that cause more esteemed by the Portugals thanother Slaves." So even the most bloodthirstypossessed potentially the quality of faithfulness,which when he was removed from his naturalenvironmentwhere for thousands of years he hadnot progressedmade all his later developmentpossible, and which aside from the cases wherethere has been an infusion of white or Indianblood, is largely responsible for what the best typeof American^ftegro is to-day. It was this quality,fostered by care and kindness, that has filledSouthern tradition with touching and oftentimesheroic incidents of the slave's devotion. Whenthe old differences of Puritan and Cavalier, underother guises, called men to arms, it was to thefidelity of these blacks that the Southerner trustedwife, children, and home. That this trust was sel-dom violated is sufficient encomium for master andslave. Under the regime established in manyplaces, after emancipation had converted the"slave from a well-fed animal into a pauperizedman " (Huxley), when he was incited to open rebel-lion and nameless atrocities, to what sorrows wouldthe desolated South have been subjected, had the


32/188

18 Historic Sketches of the Southold status of master and slave been different?Had the South been guilty of the charges laid toher door, despite Klu-Klux Klans and other pre-cautions, the negro's temper would have beenmuch the same as that of the French canaille, who

^ during the Commune "drank blood to vomitcrime." They had shown, in the San Domingo in-surrections, that revenge lay within their nature.


33/188

CHAPTER IIEARLY LEGISLATION AGAINST SLAVERY

The Cavalier and adventurer in working outtheir destiny in the New World became purged ofthe foibles that continued to debauch their com-peers in England; among their descendants of afew generations were those men of unimpeachablehonor and integrity of purpose who will be heldforever as the highest types of American chivalryand manhood. Those of Virginia, with whomcolonial slavery was most ancient, were the firstto be aroused to the full ethical significance of theevilto the grave injustice to the unfortunatelower race, and to the detriment to the moralnature of the higher. They were the first to at-tempt to legislate against the evil. In 1770,Virginia protested against the importation ofslaves, but to no avail as royalty itself was finan-cially interested in the traffic. At the meetingof the delegates from each county of Virginia held

19


34/188

20 Historic Sketches of the Southat Williamsburg in August, 1774, to considerBritish oppression and indignities, the secondarticle of the protest resolved and agreed uponbore upon the slave traffic: "We will neither our-selves import nor purchase any slave, or slaves,imported by any person, after the first day ofNovember next, either from Africa, the WestIndies, or any other place." This meeting was afull one, and among the one hundred and eightsignersall prominent in Virginia life and annalsare Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, GeorgeWashington, Benjamin Harrison, Patrick Henry,Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Marshall, ThomasRandolph, and Francis Lightfoot Lee. The in-structions of Thomas Jefferson, with whom theabolition of slavery was always a great aim, to theVirginia delegates to the first Congress (August,1774), voiced the sentiments of Virginia's mostthoughtful men: "For the most trifling reason,and sometimes for no reason at all, His Majestyhas rejected laws of the most salutary tendency.The abolition of domestic slavery is the greatobject of desire in those colonies, where it was,unhappily introduced in their infant state. But


35/188


36/188

22 Historic Sketches of the Southdizement, they were finally sent to Sierra Leone,which in the following seventy-five years receivedthe thousands taken by the British from theslavers.

During this fearful crisis, Virginia's spirit to-wards these misguided people was one of mercyand humanitarianism. At the next convention itwas resolved: "Whereas Lord Dunmore, by hisproclamation, dated on board the ship Williamoff Norfolk, the 7th day of November, 1775, hathoffered freedom to such able-bodied slaves as arewilling to join him, and take up arms against thegood people of this colony, giving encouragementto a general insurrection, which may induce anecessity of inflicting the severest punishmentsupon these unhappy people already deluded byhis base and insiduous arts, and whereas, by anact of the general assembly now in force in thiscolony, it is enacted, that all negro, or other slaves,conspiring to rebel or make insurrection, shall suf-fer death, and be excluded all benefit of clergywe think it proper to declare, that all slaves whohave been, or shall be seduced by his lordship'sproclamation, or others to desert their masters'


37/188

Early Legislation against Slavery 23service and take up arms against the inhabitantsof this colony, shall be liable to such punishmentas shall hereafter be directed by the convention.And to the end that all such, who have taken thisunlawful and wicked step, may return in safety,to their duty, and escape the punishment due theircrimes, we hereby promise pardon to them, sur-rendering themselves to Colonel William Woodfordor any other commander of our troops, and notappearing in arms after the publication hereof.And we do further earnestly recommend it to allhumane and benevolent persons in the colony,to explain and make known this offer of mercyto those unfortunate people."About this time, some feeling against American

slavery, but more against the "aristocratic spiritof Virginia and the Southern colonists," stirredEngland, and a general enfranchisement of theslaves was proposed. Edmund Burke, in hisfamous speech of March 22, 1775, on the "Con-ciliation with America," touches on the incongruityof such a proposition of freedom coming fromEngland :" Slaves as these unfortunate black peopleare, and dull as all men arc from slavery, must they


38/188

24 Historic Sketches of the Southnot a little suspect the offer of freedom from thatvery nation, one of whose causes of quarrel withthose masters is their refusal to deal any more inthat inhuman traffic? An offer of freedom fromEngland would come rather oddly, shipped tothem in an African vessel, which is refused entryinto the ports of Virginia or Carolina, with a cargoof three hundred Angola negroes. It would becurious to see the Guinea captain attempt at thesame instant to publish his proclamation of libertyand to advertise the sale of slaves."

After throwing off the British yoke, the aboli-tion of the slave traffic and of slavery was still aparamount issue with these men of Virginia, andin the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson haddrafted a clause relative to the moral obliquity;this clause, "reprobating the enslaving the in-habitants of Africa, was struck out in complai-sance to South Carolina and Georgia, who hadnever attempted to restrain the importation ofslaves, and who on the contrary still wished tocontinue it. Our Northern brethren also, I be-lieve, felt a little tender under these censures; forthough their people had few slaves themselves,


39/188

Early Legislation Against Slavery 25yet they had been very considerable carriersof them to others." 1The disposition to emancipate was strongest inVirginia. In 1778, when Jefferson introduced abill into the Assembly to stop the further importa-tion of slaves either by land or seaa fine of onethousand pounds to be imposed upon any trans-gressorit was passed without opposition andtemporarily decreased the evil, but the time wasnot ripe for so philanthropic an innovation, andthe bill was repealed by a later Assembly. Manyof the younger men, however, were imbued with arealization of the evil, especially those who atWilliam and Mary's College, had come under theinfluence of George Wythe, and it was to thesethat many looked for the ultimate righting of thewrong. Adumbrations of a future catastrophebroke upon Jefferson, but in that period of patri-otism, his almost prophetic vision saw not the dim,distant conflict as one arising out of the inherentdifferences of North and South, though this cameto sadden his declining years, but rather as one ofrace against race: "Indeed I tremble for my

1 Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson.


40/188

26 Historic Sketches of the Southcountry when I reflect that God is just; that Hisjustice cannot sleep forever; that considering num-bers, nature, and natural means only, a revolu-tion of the wheel of fortune, an exchange ofsituation is among possible events." The hopeof eradicating negro slavery before it took a toovital hold upon the needs and institutions of hisland stirred his patriotic and spiritual zeal;throughout a long life he took a vigorous standagainst its growth. In 1784, when Virginia gaveto the United States her portion of the NorthwestTerritory, it was Jefferson, assisted by Chase andHowell, who drafted and ardently advocated theordinance that "after the year 1800 there shouldbe neither slavery nor involuntary servitude inany of the said States, otherwise than in punish-ment of crime." This was defeated, but led tothe Ordinance of 1787 which forever excludedslavery from the territory northwest of the OhioRiver.At the Constitutional Convention held in Phila-

delphia in 1787, Jefferson urged as a step towardsthe ultimate ending of slavery, the immediateabolition of the importation, but Pinckney of


41/188

Early Legislation Against Slavery 27South Carolina moved that the traffic be extendeduntil 1808, and he was seconded by Gorman ofMassachusetts. The motion carried in all theNew England States, in South Carolina, Georgia,and Maryland; Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jer-sey, and Delaware were against it. This exigencyof extending it for twenty years was a subject ofgrave apprehension to many thoughtful and patri-otic men who were slave owners, among themJefferson, Washington, and Madison; though theattitude of the last was frequently ambiguousabout many questions, he commits himself veryfully on this clause of the Constitution in TheFederalist: "It were doubtless to be wished thatthe power of prohibiting the importation of slaveshad not been postponed until 1808, or, rather,that it had been suffered to have immediateoperation. But it is not difficult to account eitherfor the restriction on the general government orfor the manner in which the whole clause is ex-pressed. It ought to be considered as a greatpoint gained in favor of humanity, that a periodof twenty years may terminate forever withinthese States, a traffic which has so long and so


42/188

28 Historic Sketches of the Southloudly upbraided the barbarism of modernpolity."

It may be assumed that the majority of thoseengaged in framing the Constitution regardedslavery as a domestic problem nearing its end,and it was a policy which at that time receivedmore vehement denunciation from men of theSouth than those of the North, probably becausea part of the North was actively engaged in thetraffic and that the humanitarians of the South,born in the midst of slavery, were not only awaketo the ethical significance of the evil, but wereaverse to raising within their midst thousandsof an alien race. That the disposition to discon-tinue all avenues which led to a continuation ofslavery was not more general was incomprehensibleto Jefferson, and absolutely out of harmony withthe spirit of freedom which permeated Americanlife: "What a stupendous, what an incomprehen-sible machine is man! who can endure toil, famine,stripes, imprisonment, and death itself in vindica-tion of his own liberty, and the next moment bedeaf to all those motives whose power supportedhim through trial, and inflict on his fellow-men a


43/188

Early Legislation Against Slavery 29bondage, one hour of which is fraught with moremisery, than ages of that which he rose in rebellionto oppose. But we must await, with patience,the workings of an over-ruling Providence, andhope that that is preparing the deliverance ofthose, our suffering brethren. When the measureof their tears shall be full, when their groans shallhave involved heaven itself in darkness, doubtless,a God of justice will awaken to their distress, andby diffusing light and liberality among their op-pressors, or at length, by his exterminating thun-der, manifest his attention to the things of thisworld, and that they are not left to the guidanceof a blind fatality." 1

This constitutional postponement did noteven settle the question temporarily. The Quakerspresented a memorial for the abolition of theslave trade to the very first Congress (1790).This was reported by a committee to the wholeHouse; and after various amendments was re-turned with the following:

"1st, That migration or importation of suchpersons, as any of the States now existing shall

1 Jefferson's observations to Meunier.


44/188

30 Historic Sketches of the Souththink proper to admit, can not be prohibited byCongress prior to the year 1808.

"2d, That Congress have no authority to inter-fere in emancipation of slaves or in the treatmentof them within any of the States; it remainingwith the several States alone to provide any regu-lations therein, which humanity and true politymay require."

This was a perilous and critical timea time oftrial for the new Constitutionwhen the States,watchful and alert, were jealous of their rights,and the Quakers' action was regarded by many asa flagrant violation of those rights. Washingtonconsidered their petition inopportune, especiallyas the question had been recently disposed of andwas contained in an article of the Constitution,and so expressed himself in a letter : "The memorialof the Quakers [and a very malapropos one it was]has at length been put to sleep, and will scarcelyawake before the year 1808." However, theQuakers' attitude was not equivocal, as was thatof the Puritan New Englander. Their petitiongrew from earnest convictionsconvictions whichwere deep-rooted before they came to America,


45/188

Early Legislation Against Slavery 31for they had expressed their repugnance to theEnglish slave trade in 1671, and after coming toAmerica had discouraged participation in slaveryas early as 1696; in 1776 they placed their ulti-matum upon it by excluding from membershipany Quaker slaveholder.

This constitutional extension of the slavetraffic closed all possibility of the question everbeing settled amicably. Short-sightedness canscarcely be charged to those responsible, for atthat time there was no thought of an acquisitionof territory on the south and southwest, and thecultivation of cotton was still in its infancy. Be-fore another decade Eli Whitney had inventedthe cotton-gin ; this gave an impetus to the growingof cotton; agriculture in the South was revolu-tionized. To make way for the industry Georgiaceded her western territory to the United Statesand a tide of Southern immigration from the oldercenters of Virginia and the Carolinas rapidlyflowed into Alabama and Mississippi. The wan-derlust of a hardy, pioneer ancestry was in thesemen's veins. Accompanied often by gentle fami-lies, their household goods, and their negroes they


46/188

2,2 Historic Sketches of the Southstarted overland. By long and tedious journey-ings, across mountain, stream, and swampthrough seemingly boundless stretches of majesticpinessometimes encountering hostile Indiansand again exchanging friendly courtesies with thefriendly Choctaws and Chickasaws, they reachedthe new frontier, and established themselves alongthe river courses. Others came by sailing vessels,and passing through the French and Spanishcities of Pensacola, Mobile, and New Orleans,followed the river courses into the interior. Thelog cabins which sprang up in the wilderness,were soon supplanted by comfortable, substantialhomes frequently built of brick made upon theplantations or of hand-hewn lumber; each becamea nucleus of activities around which all things nec-essary for the maintenance of life were produced.On the well-ordered plantations the African wasnot only field laborer and faithful domestic,but became cobbler, mason, carpenter, and aspinner and weaver of cotton and wool. In thisvirgin region, far removed from the life and influ-ences of the older States, there grew up a vital andmutual dependence between master and slave;


47/188

Early Legislation Against Slavery 33as such, each was necessary to the other; but itwas not a combination out of which sentiments forthe ultimate freedom of the negro were apt togrow ; and it was these who were farthest removedfrom the later machinations of the Abolitionists,who were most bitter and strenuous in their oppo-sition. In this close relation which in all but rareexceptions was a kindly one, the Southerner cameto know the negro as the negro then could notknow himself, realized his limitations, directedhim along useful lines, and knew how rapidly hewould revert were the civilizing and humanizinginfluence of slavery as it existed in the Southremoved. In later years when Southerners stoodbefore a questioning world, there was no sophistryin the protests of those who declared that slaverywas beneficial, and it was an argument restingupon truth that the Southern negro's conditionwas happier than that of the laboring classes inother parts of the world.

European events also conspired towards anextension of slavery. After the French troops,already depleted by yellow fever, were defeatedby the negro insurgents at San Domingo, Napo-


48/188

34 Historic Sketches of the Southleon realized the uncertainty of France retainingthe great Louisiana Territory which had beenbut recently repossessed from Spain. To cir-cumvent the English, who had long coveted thisdomain, Napoleon, in 1803, offered it to the UnitedStates for fifteen million dollars. American settlersalong the Mississippi had already experienced diffi-culties with the Spanish who claimed completecontrol of the Mississippi River south of the Yazoo,and though Congress had been given no constitu-tional prerogative for acquiring new territory,Jefferson, who was then President, saw the variedimportance of this acquisition, and successfullyand with very little criticism directed the nego-tiations. This brought into the United States,not only a vast terra incognita, but an extensiveFranco-Spanish civilization stretching along theGulf of Mexico, with French outposts scatteredalong the great river systems and reaching intothe very heart of America.The divergence of this civilization from that of

English colonization was not only racial, but itstone had been qualified by the spirit in which thesettlements had been made and the polity adopted


49/188

Early Legislation Against Slavery 35by each. It possessed nothing of New England'sausterity, or of Virginia's somewhat stolid state-liness, but was characterized by a graceful pic-turesqueness and a delightful bonhomie. Theblack-robed priest if not the pathfinder whoblazed the way for French settlements was usu-ally the comrade and companion of those who did.Religion and settlement went hand in hand.None of the torturing and enslaving methodsused by the Puritans to force upon the natives acold, stern religion, unattractive even to otherChristian sects, or by the Spanish in Mexico andFlorida, were resorted to by the French. Where-ever there was a priest, Mass began the day. Themystic ceremony, performed in the dewy fresh-ness of early morning within the forest's depths,or on a strip of sandy beach beside the mightywaters; the solemn gestures of the celebrant andthe adoring attitude of the worshippers appealedto the Indian imagination, and the French weresoon importuned to invoke their Great Spirit toaid the red man, to bring rain or to heal the sickor wounded.From Mobile, the oldest and for many years the


50/188

36 Historic Sketches of the Southchief French settlement, the genius of Ibervilleand Bienville Lemoyne, aided by ardent and inde-fatigable missioners, reached out to remote Indiantribes, conciliating and binding them as allies.They dealt fairly with the Indian, but in cases oftreachery used the Indian's own method of punish-ment. From the Indians they also adopted thecustom of making slaves of hostile captives.Negro slavery also existed in these settlementsfrom very early years, for in the quaint baptismalregister of 1 704-1 778, forming a part of thearchives of the Catholic Cathedral of Mobile, isrecorded the baptism of two negro children be-longing to Bienville in 1707, and in the same yeara negro woman belonging to him bore the firstnegro child born on the Gulf coast.

Gold was not found, nor did the French settle-ments on the Gulf lay in the wake of the treasure-ladened Spanish galleons, but the climate wasbenign, the lands rich, and the forests afforded anabundance of food, and in times of scarcity Bien-ville sometimes quartered his soldiers among thefriendly natives. There was leisure for the ameni-

1 Hamilton's Colonial Mobile.


51/188

Early Legislation Against Slavery 37ties, and the priest and nun who had given up lifeand ambition in the Old World were not only thespiritual advisers and educators of the young ofNew France, but as missioners guided and in-structed the Indian and the slave. Their insti-tutions became asylums for the sick and desolateof any race, and to their influence may be tracedthe easy, happy condition of the negro slaveamong the French of Louisiana. There was thatin the temperament of these French which whileappropriating the Indian's and negro's usefulnessat the same time beguiled and won them. Anincident of a slave's heroic loyalty to the Frenchis related by Gayarre in his Louisiana. After theFrench settlements passed under Spanish control,New Orleans revolted, and the leaders were sen-tenced to be shot; Jeannot the negro hangmancut off his right arm rather than raise it against aFrenchman.

In March, 1724, Bienville issued a code, oneclause of which forbade marriages between whitesand blacks. Such marriages had taken place,and had given rise to what afterwards became anextensive Afro-Latin population. In many places


52/188

38 Historic Sketches of the Southalong the Gulf coast it is among these so-calledCreoles who have clung to their original habita-tions along the river banks, the creeks, and bays,that the old French names are found and a patoisspoken. The result of this amalgamation did notseem mongrel, but distinctive, and in their localhistory, covering two hundred years, duringwhich time they have lived under five differentflags, there has been a pride of race which has keptthe original strain pure. Deeply religious, theyhave been characterized by honesty, frugality,and industry. They were never slaves, but werein many instances slave owners.A Societe des Amis des Noirs had been formed

in Paris, in 1788. Its object was to end the slavetrade and slavery, especially in San Domingofrom which came many reports of cruelty andoppression. A little later, France in establishingthe rights and equality of man passed throughher awful revolution. Though Louisiana was inconstant touch and sympathy with France, amongher peaceful, pleasure-loving people no sentimentabout negro freedom or equality seems to havebeen evolved. When this great territory passed


53/188

Early Legislation Against Slavery 39into the United States, it carried with it its insti-tution of slavery, which, established as it was inthe habits and thoughts of these people, strength-ened slavery's hold upon the South, pushed fur-ther away, and complicated with added difficultiesthe fulfillment of the hope of those great Southern-ers who had looked for its gradual and peaceful ter-mination. In the government of this new territorywe again meet with the large vision of Jeffersonand his desire to curtail slavery. Outside import-ations were forbidden, and only slaves who hadbeen brought to this country before 1 798 could becarried by their masters for the purpose of settle-ment into Louisiana. All others carried in wouldbe freed and the penalty for each offense wouldbe three hundred dollars.To prepare the seafaring interests for the

statute of 1808, and to lead American sentimentto its acceptance, Congress in the early part ofthe same year (1803) prohibited after April 1,1803, the importation of any persons of color, orthe entry of any vessels containing such personsinto those States whose laws already debarredsuch importation. Indians were not included in


54/188

40 Historic Sketches of the Souththis prohibition. The penalty for the first viola-tion was a fine of one thousand dollars for everysuch person, one half to be appropriated to theUnited States and the other to be given to theinformer. For the latter offense, the vessel andall appurtenances were to be confiscated by theUnited States, one half the net proceeds to begiven to such "person or persons on whoseinformation the seizure of such forfeiture shallbe made." xWhen New Jersey abolished slavery in 1804,

this statute obtained in all the Northern States.In their economy slavery was an incubus. Thisstatute imposed no financial sacrifice on individu-als, for in most cases the relatively few slaves hadbeen transferred and sold in the South. Thoughthere were threatening party differences, as yetthere seems no general feeling against slavery inthose States to which it was peculiar, and suchsentiments as were entertained were more abstractthan those common in the South itself. 2 Many

1 United States Statutes at Large.2 "The Reverend Mr. Coffin of New England who is now here

soliciting donations for a college in Green County, in Tennessee,tells me that when he first determined to engage in this enterprise,


55/188

Early Legislation Against Slavery 41Northern fortunes had been built upon the slavetrade; though prohibiting the importation intotheir own States, numbers were still actively en-gaged in the trafficand the Southern Stateswere the only ports legally open to them, for anact forbidding the direct or indirect importationof slaves into foreign countries had become aUnited States statute in 1794. The South itselfseldom engaged in this trafficit was a degrada-tion to which her aristocratic tendencies could notstoop; a "nigger-trade" was taboo; and thoughslave vessels plied to and from her ports, they wereusually a part of Yankee enterprise.

Jefferson, to whom the question had so longbeen a momentous one, welcomed the time whenthe traffic would end, and in his sixth annualhe wrote a paper recommendatory of the enterprise, which hemeant to get signed by clergymen, and a similar one for personsin a civil character, at the head of which he wished Mr. Adamsto put his name, he being then President, and the applicationgoing only for his name and not a donation. Mr. Adams, afterreading the paper and considering, said, He saw no possibilityof continuing the union of the States; that their dissolution mustnecessarily take place; that he therefore saw no propriety inrecommending to New England men to promote a literary insti-tution in the South; that it was in fact giving strength to thosewho were to be their enemies; and therefore he would havenothing to do with it."Thomas Jefferson, The Anas, Dec. 13,1803.


56/188

42 Historic Sketches of the Southmessage to Congress, December 2, 1806, rejoiced"on the approach of the period at which you mayinterpose your authority constitutionally, to with-draw the citizens of the United States from allfurther participation in those violations of humanrights which have so long continued on the un-offending inhabitants of Africa, and which themorality, the reputation, and the best interests ofthe country have long been eager to proscribe."With the first of January, 1808, it became un-lawful for any person of color to be imported intothe United States or her territory; any personaiding or abetting such traffic to be fined fivethousand dollars; also "any citizen of the UnitedStates, building, fitting out, equipping, loadingor otherwise preparing or sending away any shipor vessel, knowing that the same shall be employedin such trade or business" shall pay twenty thou-sand dollars, a part to go to the United States andanother to any person or persons who shall prose-cute the offender. Every vessel found engagedin the traffic was to be "seized, prosecuted, andcondemned in any of the circuit courts or districtcourts where the said ship or vessel may be found


57/188

Early Legislation Against Slavery 43or seized." The President was authorized to usethe naval and revenue forces to enforce the statute.They were to cruise on the coast of the UnitedStates and her territories; to seize and bring toport vessels contravening the provisions of theact, the captain or commander to be prosecutedbefore any court of the United States having juris-diction thereof; and if convicted to be fined notmore than ten thousand dollars, and to be subjectto imprisonment to not more than four years. x

These and further enactments of a like natureended constitutionally the slave traffic in theUnited States. Many New Englanders had noth-ing further to gain ; there was no legitimate finan-cial emolument now standing between them and arealization of the ethical side of the slave question.

Instead of lending a conservative help to those ofthe South who hoped by gradual and conciliatorymethods to loose slavery's growing hold upontheir institutions, through a curious psychologicalmetamorphosis they began to look askance uponthe South and its institution of slavery, and toaffiliate in thought with the abolition movement

United States Statutes at Large.


58/188

44 Historic Sketches of the Southwhich under Clarkson, Wilberforce, and otherswas stirring England ; forgetting in their zeal thatthe wrongs which Clarkson and Wilberforce werechampioning were the wrongs of which Englandand New England as slave traders had been thechief perpetrators. This growing sentiment wasseized upon by politicians and played upon forparty purposes. It was with increased apprehen-sion that they saw the extension of the slaveinterests which the purchase of Louisiana hadnecessitated, and the further representation theseinterests would be given as new States were formedfrom the slave territory. For a decade this jeal-ousy was kept within safe bounds by any pre-ponderance of representation being checkmatedand balanced by the formation of a Free State.Yet this feeling was becoming rapidly contagious,spreading to many who had not previously thoughtof slavery, or who regarded it as a domestic policyto be settled by the Slave States individually andexclusively. With the development of the Mis-souri controversy, the temperamental divergenceborn of several centuries of turmoil and turbulencein England, and too deep-rooted to be really dead,


59/188

Early Legislation Against Slavery 45roused from the anesthesia of united effort againsta common enemy and a subsequent enthusiasmfor Union, and stood forth definitely defined asNorth and South. Forgetful of the give and takenecessary for the harmonious existence of politiesas of individuals, the country was still not largeenough or the political interests sufficiently varied,for such differences to be conducive to well-being.In his Presidential farewell Washington warnedhis countrymen against a geographical divisionof interests: "In contemplating the causes which

may disturb our Union, it occurs as a matter ofserious concern, that any ground should have beenfurnished for characterizing parties by geographicaldiscrimination, . . . northern and southern . . .Atlantic and western ; whence designing men mayendeavor to excite a belief that there is a realdifference of local interests and views. One ofthe expedients of party to acquire influence withinparticular districts is to misrepresent the opinionsand aims of other districts. You cannot shieldyourselves too much against the jealousies andheart-burnings which spring from these misrep-resentations; they tend to render alien to each


60/188

46 Historic Sketches of the Southother those who ought to be bound together by-fraternal affection." To Jefferson, aged and wait-ing, this Missouri controversy and its adjustment,was the alarum in which he heard the death-knellof the Union, and in a letter to John Holmes, datedMonticello, April 22, 1820, he so expresses him-self: "I thank you, dear sir, for the copy you havebeen so kind as to send me of the letter to yourconstituents on the Missouri question. It is aperfect justification to them. I had for a longtime ceased to read newspapers, or pay any atten-tion to public affairs, confident they were in goodhands, and content to be a passenger in our barkto the shore from which I am not far distant. Butthis momentous question, like a fire-bell in thenight, awakened and filled me with terror. Iconsidered it at once as the death-knell of theUnion. It is hushed indeed, for the moment.But this is a reprieve only, not the final sentence.A geographical line, coinciding with a markedprinciple, moral and political, once conceived andheld up to the angry passions of men, will neverbe obliterated; and every new irritation will markit deeper and deeper. I can say, with conscious


61/188

Early Legislation Against Slavery 47truth, that there is not a man on earth who wouldsacrifice more than I would to relieve us fromthis heavy reproach, in any practical way. Thecession of that kind of property (for so it is mis-named) is a bagatelle, which would not cost me asecond thought, if in that way a general emancipa-tion and expatriation could be effected; and gradu-ally, and with due sacrifices, I think it might be.But, as it is, we have the wolf by the ears, and wecan neither hold him nor safely let him go. Justiceis in one scale and self-preservation in the other.Of one thing I am certain, that as the passage ofslaves from one Free State to another would notmake a slave of a single human being who would notbe so without it, so their diffusion over a greatersurface would make them individually happier,and proportionately facilitate the accomplish-ment of their emancipation, by dividing the burdenon a greater number of coadjutors. An abstinence,too, from this act of power, would remove thejealousy excited by the undertaking of Congressto regulate the condition of the different descrip-tions of men comprising a State. This certainlyis the exclusive right of every State, which nothing


62/188

48 Historic Sketches of the Southin the Constitution has taken from them, and givento the General Government. Could Congress,for example, say that the non-freemen of Connec-ticut could be freemen, or that they shall notemigrate to another State?

"I regret that I am now to die in the belief thatthe useless sacrifice of themselves of the generationof 1776, to acquire self-government and happinessto their country, is to be thrown away, by theunwise and unworthy passions of their sons, andthat my only consolation is to be that I shall notlive to weep over it. If they would dispassion-ately weigh the blessings they will throw awayagainst an abstract principle, more likely to beeffected by union than by scission, they wouldpause before they would perpetrate this act ofsuicide on themselves, and of treason against thehopes of the world. To yourself, as the faithfuladvocate of the Union, I tender the offering of myhigh esteem and respect."


63/188

CHAPTER IIIILLEGAL TRAFFIC IN SLAVES

Legislation against habits which by an evolu-tion of sentiment have become moral issues isalways followed by flagrant violations, for men areusually loth to acquiesce in things which theyconsider a curtailment of their livelihood. For acentury and a half, the slave traffic had been animmense source of revenue for a large class ofcitizens. Despite the constitutional prohibition,the imposition of heavy fines and the offer of largerewards, the traffic in negroes continued to flourish

nor was it carried on with any great degree ofsurreptitiousness. Vessels intended for this pur-pose were built with a reference to speed and wereprobably the fleetest craft afloat.

In the early years of the Union the revenue andnaval forces were necessarily small and the coasta vast and sparsely inhabited one. Algerianpirates called for a part of their strength, and their

4 49


64/188

50 Historic Sketches of the Southenergies were again directed against the Britishin 1 812; pirates harassed commerce off the SouthAtlantic States and in the Gulf of MexicoLafitteestablishing a kingdom at Barataria, an islandin the lower Mississippi, from which sailed manypiratical expeditions, and where a brisk trade inslaves was carried on. Though our naval forceseemed inadequate it had been singularly success-ful against these outside adversaries. Thesepreoccupations seem scarcely sufficient excusefor the flourishing condition of the illegal trafficin slaves. Money, politics, and indifference ap-pear to have been a trinity that glossed over rot-tenness then as now. Obscure harbors and lonelyshores were not always the destination of thesehell-craft, but they sailed to and from the prin-cipal seaport towns. With scarcely an exceptionthey were fitted up by New Englanders and NewYorkers and manned by down-east seamen;Rhode Island led with Connecticut, Massachusettsand New York as close seconds. The West Indiesand Brazil offered a market, and some found theirway into Southern ports, where, through the co-operation of an equally criminal class of Southern-


65/188

Illegal Traffic in Slaves 51ers, the unfortunate, contraband humans weresold.While the middle passage before 1808 was a

veritable inferno, it was afterwards characterizedby a barbarity which should have sickened thesoul of all humanity, yet the voice and sentimentof humane, law-abiding Americans were not strongenough to make this traffic impossible. CyrusKing in a speech on the Missouri Question, in1 819, described the shameless situation: "It wellmight be supposed that the slave trade would inpractice be extinguished; that virtuous menwould by their abhorrence stay its polluted marchand the wicked would be overawed by its potentpunishment, but unfortunately the case is farotherwise. We have but melancholy proofs fromunquestionable sources that it is still carried onwith all the implacable ferocityand insatiablerapacityof former times. Avarice has grownmore subtile in its evasions; and watches andseizes its prey with an appetite quickened ratherthan suppressed by its guilty vigils. Americancitizens are steeped up to their very mouths (Iscarcely use too bold a figure) in this stream of


66/188

52 Historic Sketches of the Southiniquity? They throng the coasts of Africa underthe stained flags of Spain and Portugal, sometimesselling abroad their 'cargoes of despair,' andsometimes bringing them into some of our South-ern ports, and there, under the forms of law, de-feating the purpose of the law itself, and legalizingtheir inhuman but profitable adventures."Those so unfortunate as to have been brought

into any of the Southern States were by theConstitution "subject to any regulations, notcontravening the provisions of the act, whichthe legislatures of the several states or terri-tories at any time hereafter may make, for dis-posing of any such negro, mulatto, or personof color." As some extenuation for thoseSouthern States, let it be asked, What was tobe done with these unfortunate Africans? Bar-barians alloften of the lowest typeandsometimes cannibalscould they be given free-dom? The attention of thinking men wasearly directed to the status of the free black;how to place him to his own best advantage thathis position as a citizen would not be equivocaland to avoid arousing by his idle example or de-


67/188

Illegal Traffic in Slaves 53signing machinations, discord, dissatisfaction, andeven mutiny among the slaves. In 1803, a coloni-zation plan was discussed in the Virginia Assemblythis led to a correspondence on the subject betweenMadison, who was then Governor, and PresidentJefferson. Out of this was born in 1816, whatsoon became a very active organization, theAmerican Colonization Society. After negotia-tions, lands were secured on the west coast ofAfrica at Cape Mesurada. There the societyestablished a colony to which such free blacks asdesired might be conveyed, and which was alsoto receive the Africans taken from slavers, orthose found to have been smuggled into the coun-try by traders. During all the years of the soci-ety's activities the unfortunates reached by theirclemency were small in proportion to those sur-reptitiously sold into bondage ; this was due to thepowerful abettorsoften legalized onesof thetraffic. A lack of intelligent forethought wasresponsible for disheartening results in their earlyefforts at colonization. But the society's effortsat home were more successful by fostering a spiritagainst the trade, and it was instrumental in


68/188

54 Historic Sketches of the Southregulating the laws in some of the Southern Stateswhich were so ambiguous as to aid rather thancrush the trade. 1 In 1819, Congress stipulatedthat contraband Africans were to be taken fromState jurisdiction to become wards of the Govern-ment, and the President was authorized to make"such regulations and arrangements as he maydeem expedient for the safe-keeping, support, andremoval beyond the limits of the United States,of all such negroes, mulattoes, or persons of color,as may be so delivered and brought within theirjurisdiction. And to appoint a proper person orpersons, residing upon the coast of Africa, asagent or agents for receiving negroes, etc., deliv-ered from on board vessels, seized in the prosecu-tion of trade by commanders of the United Statesarmed vessels." In 18 19, Congress acting upon amemorial presented by the Colonization Society,declared the slave traffic to be piracy punishablewith death. In this same year the statute of 1809was enlarged and made more stringent andthe President was empowered to send armedvessels along the African coast. One hundred

1 North American Review, February, 1824.


69/188

Illegal Traffic in Slaves 55thousand dollars was appropriated for thispurpose.

Rigid legislation only multiplied the horrors,without curtailing the evil. With death as thepenalty, when there was danger of apprehension,it was not uncommon for the whole cargo to bethrown into the sea. This, compared with thetortures of frequent passages, was almost humane.To escape the terrors, numbers would embracedeath if given the opportunity. Yet the tradewas highly profitable even if three out of fourcargoes were lost.By the Treaty of Ghent (181 5), the United

States and Great Britain agreed separately andindividually to use their influence to suppressthe trade. Yet later the United States threwsheltering arms around those of her citizens whomBritain had reason to suspectmaritime rights, thestatement that Southern slave owners might makevoyages accompanied by their slaves, or the pleaof slave hands on merchant shipsoften protectedmalefactors. After Parliament abolished slaveryfrom the British colonies, the American brigComet was stranded off the Bahamas (1830), as


70/188

56 Historic Sketches of the Southwas the Encomium in 1834 and the Enterprise in1835; slaves were found aboard in each case andliberated by the English. Americans raised aloud cry. After a correspondence covering nearlyten years Great Britain agreed to pay for theAfricans, and admonished her colonies on thesouthern borders of the United States to "main-tain good neighborhood." As the years went byand all so-called efforts proved ineffectual, Eng-land, with a sincere desire to end the traffic, de-veloped an assumption that it was her especialprivilege, and inaugurated a right of search, orvisit, against the very nature of which it wasimperative that the United States should protest.In many cases this necessity became unavoidablyanother protection for malefactors. As the flagsof various countries were constantly used to coverthe traffic, England in 1803 united with Russia,France, Austria, and Prussia for the suppression,and acquired supervision along the African coast,maintaining a right of search. America wasnot approached on this subject, though LordPalmerston boldly declared to the world England'sright to "visit" American merchantmen (Aug. 13,


71/188

Illegal Traffic in Slaves 571 841). This was later sustained by Lord Aber-deen (Oct. 13, 1841). America's attitude towardthe situation was awaited with great interest byEuropean Powers. Such an assumption couldnot be toleratedAmerica had already sufferedtoo much from British assumptionand PresidentTyler in his message to Congress protested that"however desirous the United States may be forthe suppression of the slave trade, they cannotconsent to any interpolations of the maritime codeat the mere will and pleasure of other governments.We deny the right of any such interpolation toany one, or all the nations of earth without ourconsent. . . . American citizens prosecuting alawful commerce on the African seas, under theflag of their country, are not responsible for theabuse or unlawful use of that flag by others; norcan they rightfully, on account of any such allegedabuses, be interrupted, molested, or detained whilein the ocean; and if thus molested and detainedwhile pursuing honest voyages in the usual wayand violating no laws themselves, they are un-questionably entitled to indemnity." 1

Right of Search, Daniel Webster.


72/188

58 Historic Sketches of the SouthLord Aberdeen in his correspondence with Mr.

Stephenson (Oct. 13, 1841) had admitted thatit would be an infringement of public law, to visitand search American vessels during times ofpeace, if that right were not granted by treaty."But no such right is asserted. We sincerelydesire to respect the vessels of the United States,but we may reasonably expect to know what it iswe respect. Doubtless the flag is prima facieevidence of nationality of the vessel; and, if thisevidence were in its nature conclusive and irre-fragible, it ought to preclude all further inquiry.But it is sufficiently notorious that the flags of allnations are liable to be assumed by those who haveno right or title to bear them. Mr. Stephensonhimself fully admits the extent to which theAmerican flag has been employed for the purposeof covering this infamous traffic. The undersignedjoins with Mr. Stephenson in deeply lamentingthe evil; and he agrees with him in thinking theUnited States ought not to be considered respon-sible for the abuse of their flag. But if all inquirybe resisted, even when carried no further than toascertain the nationality of the vessel, and impu-


73/188

Illegal Traffic in Slaves 59nity be claimed for the most lawless and desperateof mankind, in the commission of the fraud theundersigned greatly fears that it may be regardedas something like an assumption of that re-sponsibility which has been deprecated by Mr.Stephenson. . . ."The undersigned, although with pain, must

add, that if such visit lead to the proof of theAmerican origin of the vessel, and that she wasavowedly engaged in the trade, exhibiting man-acles, fetters, and other usual implements oftorture, or had even a number of those unfortu-nates on board, no British officer could interferefurther. He might give information to the cruisersof the United States, but it could not be in hispower to arrest or impede the prosecution of thevoyage and the success of the undertaking."The question called for a diplomatic correspond-

ence. In 1842, Lord Ashburton was sent asspecial minister to the United States, empoweredto settle the Northwest Boundary, and other ques-tions of controversy. The result of his conferencewith Daniel Webster, Secretary of State, was atreaty between Great Britain and the United


74/188

60 Historic Sketches of the SouthStates known as the Ashburton Treaty and as theTreaty of Washington. By the eighth articleeach stipulated to "maintain on the African coastan adequate squadron, to carry in all not less thaneighty guns, to enforce separately and respectivelythe laws, rights, and obligations of the two countriesfor the suppression of the slave trade."

There was also the realization that as long ascertain countries offered open markets for slaves,the temptation to malefactors would be so greatthat their efforts would be more or less ineffectualby the ninth article both countries agreed to"unite in all becoming representations and re-monstrances with any and all powers within whosedominions such markets are allowed to exist,"and that "they will urge upon all such powersthe propriety and duty of closing such marketseffectually, at once and forever."

Americans, among others, continued to brazenlycarry on the trade; as the gap between the Northand the South widened, it was carried on withrenewed vigor. The Abolitionists' thoughts werefocused on conditions in the South, and failed tonote the flourishing trade carried on under their


75/188

Illegal Traffic in Slaves 61very eyes from the ports of New England andNew York. Inhabitants of these places wereconstantly being found implicated, but by lack ofproof, or through some technicality, they wereseldom convicted. Officials, who were either con-niving or indifferent, aided them in their lucrativetrade. As late as 1858, a brisk trade was carriedon; statistics show that in that year eighty-fiveslavers were fitted out and sailed from New Yorkalone, and these successfully captured and soldinto slavery fifteen thousand Africans. Some-times they were sent into the South. The schoonerWanderer in the fall of 1858 surreptitiously landedthree hundred at Brunswick, Georgia; they weretaken up the Savannah River and sold. InOctober, of the same year, an alleged slave bark,Isle de Cuba, was taken in custody at Boston, andher crew held as witnesses under a thousand-dollar bond; later they and Captain Dobson weredischarged. In November, the schooner Madisonwas taken by the United States marshal at NewYork. She was intended for the slave trade, wassold at auction, and bought in for Eddy & Gar-dener of Salem, Mass., for sixteen hundred dollars.


76/188

62 Historic Sketches of the SouthEvidence pointed that she was bound for Salemto be fitted out as a slaver when captured. InSeptember the Echo was captured by a revenuecutter and taken to Charleston as the nearestport; Charleston was very active in her effortsto restrain the trade. The Echo was commandedby Captain Townsend of Rhode Islandthe queenof the slave-trading States. The Africans werecared for at Charleston until the ColonizationSociety could take charge of them. They werethe wildest barbariansmen and women werealike nude, though this was no evidence that theyhad been accustomed to going so in their nativeland, as their clothes were usually taken from themby their captors. Some of the charitable ladiesprovided clothing for them. Among all theseunfortunates there was but one article of clothinga gloveand this was worn with great prideand distinction by a tall, handsome negress.Hoop-skirts were then in vogue, and this womanwas dressed by the ladies in full regalia. En-tranced, she danced and shrieked with delight,pushing the hoop-skirt on one side to see it stickout on the other.


77/188

Illegal Traffic in Slaves 63Many violations might be cited. Sometimes

ships reported deserted vessels on the high seasvessels whose manacles and wooden spoons tolda gruesome tragedy. An article in the New YorkWorld, in 1859, described some of the methods bywhich the slavers escaped punishment: "The slavetrader takes care to cross the ocean without anational flag or purpose of any kind. The reasonfor this is that if captured, no court can condemnthem for piracy. The vessels may be condemnedand the negroes liberated by the captor, but thecrew can be punished only by the nation underwhose flag the offense was committed. No flag,the crew escapes." Slavers no longer left Americawith manacles, gewgaws, and fire-water, butcarried money. Once on the African coast theycould buy from English or other vessels the articlesneeded for trade. The bargain struck, the crewthat made the outward voyage was usually dis-charged, and a new one of adventurous spiritprocured on the African coast.

Thirteen years after the ratification of the Ash-burton Treaty, when England made reclamationson the Brazilian Government for innumerable


78/188

64 Historic Sketches of the Southviolations of her treaties, the reply of the Emperorwas "if Great Britain would find the realculprits, she must go to the ports of Boston andNew York to find them." 1

1 Journal de Commercio, Rio, May 26, 1856.


79/188

CHAPTER IVPREPARATIONS FOR CLOTILDE's VOYAGE

In 1858, Mobile had been for almost a centuryand a half one of the important Gulf coast ports.Picturesquely situated at the head of a lagoon-likebay, the craft of many nations dropped anchorin her waters. Somewhat past the heyday ofyouth, her buildings mellowed by time and herstreets shaded by trees, she wore an air that wascalm and comfortable, and her homes and publicbuildings bespoke a settled prosperity. Survivorsof primitive and pioneer life might be seen aboutthe streets; some Indians lingered on and withbaskets strapped across their shoulders sold fileand sassafras about the streets, while white-covered "Chickasaha" wagons, drawn by fromsix to twenty oxen, came slowly and laboriouslydown Spring Hill and St. Stephen's roads, bring-ing staples from the interior to the Mobile markets.The district near the river and towards the northern

s 65


80/188

66 Historic Sketches of the Southpart of the town was given over to commerce andoccupiedby cottonwarehouseslow-lying, monoto-nous structures of brick. The river boats carriedon a brisk trade and Mobile's export to foreigncountries was large. Life about the wharveswhich was usually busyand often gaybecamevery stirring during the latter part of 1858 and1859. It drew upon itself the attention of theUnited States Government, elicited a specialproclamation from the President, and a vigilantwatch by United States officials.

In the early fifties, during one of Nicaragua'schronic revolutions, General Walker had beeninvited by the democrats of Leon to unite withthem against the aristocrats of Granada. ManyAlabamians joined him in this expedition and shedtheir blood for the cause. Walker gained supremepower, but his glory was short-lived. The oppos-ing forces united and compelled him to leave. In1857, President Buchanan recognized him asPresident of Nicaragua, and addressed him as such.His adventurous exploit met with general accla-mation. But when Walker announced that Nica-ragua would be open to Southern colonization,


81/188

Preparations for Clotilde's Voyage 67admitting slaves, it was like flaunting a red ragbefore a maddened populace; the abolitionism ofthe North, already unrestrained in its fanaticismand jealous hatred, backed by Northern commer-cialism caused a rapid reversion of feeling. Walker,the erstwhile hero, was denounced as a filibuster,and Southerners were accused of attempting toestablish a Southern Republic along the Gulf ofMexico that they might spread slavery and reopenthe slave traffic.

In 1858, Walker prepared to make good hisprevious claims. The collectors of the ports ofNew Orleans and Mobile were ordered not toclear vessels for Nicaraguan ports, before firstcommunicating with the Government of Washing-ton. Vessels carrying passengers and receivingevery protection of the Government still sailedfrom Eastern ports to San Juan del Norte. Mobileand New Orleans felt the trade of the South tobe seriously crippled by this discrimination. In aspecial message, the President denounced the"leaders of former illegal expeditions who hadexpressed their intention of open hostilities againstNicaragua," and particularly against one "who is


82/188

68 Historic Sketches of the Southnow at Mobile, which has been designated as therendezvous and place of departure for San Juandel Norte." He enjoined all the Government offi-cers, "civil and military, to be active, vigilant, andfaithful in suppressing these illegal enterprises."This message was received with indignationthroughout the whole of the lower South. Mobil-ians gathered in groups about the streets and onthe new post-office steps, and excitedly discussedthe President's proclamation. They were insympathy with Walker and many were contri-buting funds towards the expedition. Espousalof his cause became an issue in the mayoralelection. Further excitement was generated bythe attitude of Judge Campbell, his charge to thegrand jury, and his emphasis of the President'sorder for officials to be "vigilant, active, and faith-ful." Citizens regarded this as espionage andas a personal affront to their fellow townsman,Robert H. Smith, collector of the port. The dis-covery of a Government spyone General Wilsonfrom Ohioand a minion of Judge Campbellwho was seen "sneaking about the wharves andwarehouses of the city, to find something contra-


83/188

Preparations for Clotilde's Voyage 69band of Abolition interest and Abolition policy,"provoked the citizens to further anger. "As anext step we shall have our servants paid to reportthe words which drop from us at the table" 1

Rebellion was already rampant in the South.The temperament of Southern men was unfailinglydaringadventure appealed to their imaginationsand risk was a game to be played. In the midstof this excitement, an expedition was preparing,money was being contributed, and the schoonerSusan fitted out. Harry Maury, socially andfinancially prominent, was in command. Whenready to sail she was refused clearing papers, butMaury weighed anchor and sailed down the bay,preparatory to joining the fleet. The revenuecutter McClelland pursued, brought her to, andboarded her and demanded her papers. Maurysaid he did not expect to receive them until hereached the fleet. The captain of the McClellandthen claimed the Susan as a prize for the Govern-ment; Maury refused to consider her as such.Lieutenant White was placed aboard with ordersto take her to Dog River Bar and to hold her there

* Mobile Register, December, 1858.


84/188

70 Historic Sketches of the Southas prize. Maury nonchalantly replied that he didnot object to White remaining aboard as his guest.The next day both vessels sailed about the bay,but the captain, under orders from the custom-house at Mobile, warned Maury that if he at-tempted to sail away the Susan would be sunk.At dark the captain ordered both boats to dropanchor for the night. About eleven o'clock, aheavy mist arose, the Susan weighed anchor andslipped noiselessly away, carrying aboard Lieu-tenant White. The Mobile Register, voicing thesentiments of the citizens, wished for the voyage"that the breezes be prosperous and the fatespropitious." When two hundred miles out in theGulf, Lieutenant White was transferred to thebark Oregon and sent back to New Orleans, wherehe stated that he had received every courtesywhile aboard the Susan. He reported that shecarried besides her crew, two hundred and fortymen, Minie balls, and Mississippi rifles. TheSusan was wrecked on a coral reef off Honduras.The subsequent adventures of her men is a thrillingnarrative. They were received by the governorof Bay Island, who upon hearing of their predica-


85/188

Preparations for Clotilde's Voyage 71merit sent them back to Mobile in Her Majesty'ssteam-sloop Basilisk.With the birth and fruition of such adventures,

Mobile's river-front naturally became an excitingplace. About this time a group of men were oneday standing on the wharf discussing the effortsthe Government was finally making to suppressthe slave trade, the vigilance which was being ex-erted, and the impossibility for a vessel equippedfor such a purpose to evade officials. There wassome bettinga favorite pastime of the dayand Captain Tim Meaher, a steamboat builderand river-man, who was standing near, wageredthat he could send a slaver to the coast of Africaand bring through the port of Mobile a cargo ofslaves. The wager was taken up and the stakeswere large. This is the tradition which is givenin connection with the Clotilde's voyage. It mayhave been true or it may have been invented to givecolor and palliation to what proved to be the lastcargo of slaves brought into the United States,but it is certain that this was only one of thevoyages made under the auspices of the Meahersand Captain Foster. Of these there are still


86/188

72 Historic Sketches of the Southrumors among the older people, and the widowof Captain Foster, innocent and trustful, hopeduntil her recent death to get from the UnitedStates about thirty thousand dollars which wouldhave been Foster's share in the Gipsya slaverwhich with her cargo was captured by Govern-ment officials and which was valued by thoseinterested in her at four hundred thousand dollars.There were three of the Meaner brothersTim,

Jim, and Burns. They were natives of Maine,and possessed the New England love of the waterand taste for the slave trade. Captain Fosterwas born in Nova Scotia of English parentage.His people were all seafaringsailors, captains,and builders of boatsand possibly his proclivitieswere also inherited. These men were interestedin a mill and a ship-yard at the mouth of Chickasa-bogue, three miles above Mobile. The Clotilde,the Susan, the Gipsy, and other boats which wereengaged in the river trade, in filibustering expedi-tions, the slave trade, and as blockade-runnersduring the Civil War were built there. TheClotilde, because of her fleetness, was selected tomake the voyage to the slave coast. She was


87/188


88/188

Drawn by Emma Roche.Poleete.


89/188

Preparations for Clotilde's Voyage 73the personal property of Foster and had beendesigned and built by him.Once arriving on the African coast there was

little trouble in procuring a cargo of slaves, for ithad long been a part of the traders' policy toinstigate the tribes against each other and in thismanner keep the markets stocked. News of thetrade was often published in the papers. TheMeahers and Foster could have sought nothingmore enlightening or to their purpose than anitem published in the Mobile Register, November9, 1858: "From the west coast of Africa we haveadvice dated September 21st. The quarreling ofthe tribes on Sierra Leone River rendered theaspect of things very unsatisfactory. The Kingof Dahomey was driving a brisk trade in slavesat from fifty to sixty dollars apiece at Whydah.Immense numbers of negroes were collected alongthe coast for export." Foster, with a crew ofnorthern men, sailed directly for Whydah.


90/188

CHAPTER VTHE CAPTURE OF THE TARKARS

The slaves who constituted the Clotilde's cargoand who have become historic by being the lastbrought into the United States were captured byDahomey's warriors and Amazons on one of theircruel excursions. For many years the tribe ofDahomey had been a scourge to the weaker andmore peaceable tribes whose domains lay near theGold Coast or in the interior away from the coastof Guinea. Cruel, stealthy war was their occupa-tiona war of surprise which aroused sleepingvillages to the horrors of fire, plunder, and capture.The older victims were usually killed. Sometimesthey were permitted to live and to see their youngand strong overpowered, bound, and led intocaptivity,a captivity from which there could beno hope of return, for the prisoners were conveyedto the coast, sold to the slavers, and carried

Date post:	03-Apr-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	mario-cacasenno
View:	216 times
Download:	0 times

Historic Sketches 02 Roch

Documents