THE BARKER LIBRARY
OF T H R E E

HUNDRED

VOLUMES,

THE CHEAPEST COLLECTION OP WORKS EVER PUBLISHED.

BY desire is to spread knowledge and righteousness throughout the earth, and
thus romote the present and eternal welfare of my fellow-men. I would
have all men to understand, not only the great truths and duties of religion,
but every thing else calculated to promote their comfort and their welfare. I
am especially desirous that the Young should have a large stock of useful
fcuowledge, that they may be guided right, and be brought into the way of
usefulness and happiness from their earlier years. I wish to see mankind at
large, both male and female, raised to their proper level, and forming one vast
society of wise, and good, and happy souls.
But if men are to have knowledge, they must read: and if they are to read*
they must have books. And they must have books of their own too. It is
not enough for them to have access to ptiblie libraries; they must have
libraries in their own houses. Public libraries have their use, but nothing
will supply the place of private libraries. If the great and glorious end at
which we aim is to be accomplished, there must be a library in every house,
and every man must be his own librarian. People must have access to books
at all seasons; they must have a choice of books at hand ; they must have the
opportunity of looking into this, or of reading a few pages of that, or of going
through with the other, just as their wants or inclinations may lead them.
Public libraries are good things for those who have got the habit of reading,
but not for those who have the habit yet to form. They are good for those
who wish to consult scarce books, and they will come in well as supplements
to private libraries ; but they will never do alone. People must have libraries
of their own, if they are to feel that interest in books and reading, and to
make that proficiency in knowledge, which is so much to be desired. Many
have wondered that public libraries have been so little used by the masses
of the people : to me there seems no mystery about the matter. People,
especially English people, must read and learn at home, if they are to real
and learn at all. Let people be supplied with libraries of their own in their
own dwellings, and let them have the privilege of choosing at all times whafc
books they will read, and of changing their book at what hours they pleases,
without the troubles and difficulties connected with public libraries, and we
shall have a reading and enlightened people without fail.
But if people generally are to have libraries of their own, they must have
books cheap. At present, books are so dear, that none but the rich can procure any tolerable supply. Three hundred volumes, at six shillings a volume,
would cost ninety pounds. But how is a poor man to raise a sum like this ?
It is impossible. But suppose a good-sized volume could be sold for ninepence,
instead of six shillings, and that a library of three hundred such volumes
could be sold for ELEVEN or TWELVE POUNDS, the case would be widely
different. And this can be done. I have made my calculations, and I find,
that with the help of a Steam Press, and of apparatus for binding the books
myself, I can, if I can get persons to subscribe forfivethousand copies, publish
Tolumes nearly equal to my Edition of Channing, Bound in Cloth, embossed
and lettered, for NINEPENCE each.

Yes; volumes of NEARLY THREE HUNDRED

pages, printed on good paper, with good new type, in good style, can be sold
for ninepence each. .
This is what I propose to do. I propose to publish a Library of three
hundred of such volumes. And if I can get subscribers for five thousand
Libraries, I shall be able to publish one volume a week. Already I have obtained many hundred subscribers, but not sufficient to justify a weekly issue;
and I have therefore determined to commence with printing one volume a
month, and to continue doing so as long as I can without running into debt,
until I obtain five thousand subscribers, when the publication will go on as at
first intended, at the rate of one volume per week. Those who intend to sub
;ribe, are requested to send us their names at once, or to give them to any of

PROSPECTUS.
our regular agents. Let^those who wish to see the work accomplished, get as
many subscribers as theycan. The more they get, the sooner will the work be
completed.
We may observe, that the Library will consist of the best books that we can
procure, on a great variety of subjects.—Several of the works will be on religious subjects, while others will be historical, scientific, poetical, and biographical. Our object will be, 1, To suppply a complete Library; as complete a
library as possible, considering the number of volumes it will include ; and
2, to make the Library as good, as instructive, and as profitable as we can.
Among the books that will be published first, will be the following :
An improved version of the Bible
The History and Portraiture of
with notes.
ancient Quakerism._
A Dictionary of the Bible.
Select Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow,
A Common Place Book of the
Archbishop TUlotson, Bishop WilBible; or the passages of Scripture
kins, Bishop Hoadley, Richard Baxarranged under different heads, so as
ter, and Theophilus Lindsey.
to enable people to see at once all
Selections from the Works of
that the Scriptures say on any parMalebranche, Bacon, Locke, Reid,
ticular subject.
and others on the human mind, on
An Englishmen's Greek Concordthe pursuit of truth, &c.
ance of the New Testament, enabling
Paley's natural Theology, or the
every one, with comparatively little
existence and perfections of God as
trouble, to judge for himself, as to
revealed in the works of creation.
the meaning of the Greek Testament,
Two other volumes on the same
and to test the criticisms of preachers
subject.
and theological writers.
True and False Religion, by A.
An English Concordance of the
Norton.
Bible.
Four Volumes of Discourses on
The Life of William Penn, and a
practical subjects, by J. Barker.
selection of his writingsSeveral Vols, on practical science.
The Life of John Wesley, and a
A Volume on Political Economy.
selection of his works.
A Volume on Domestic Economy.
The Works of the Rajah Rammobun Roy, including his ' Precepts of
A Volume on Health and Disease,
Jesus the Guide to peace and happiand the Sanatory Improvement of the
ness, and his three Appeals to the
people.
British Public.'
Some Volumes on Political and
Several volumes of Poetry, selected
Social Reform.
from Spencer, Dryden, Pope, Cowper,
A Commentary on the New TestaMilton, Young, Wordsworth, Bowment, in six volumes.
ring, Nichols, Prince, and other truly
A Commentary on several parts of
excellent Poetical writers.
the Old Testament.
A system of Grammar and Logic.
Two or three volumes of Anecdotes,
Selections from the most practical
illustrating various branches of Chrisworks of the Greek and Latin
tian truth and duty.
Fathers.
A Work on Temperance and TeeA Volume of William Law's, from
totalism.
his works on Christian * Perfection,
A Work on Peace and War.
*'ie Spirit of Love, and the Spirit of
A Work on American Slavery.
Trayer.
The Lives of several noted HerSelect Works of Robert Hall.
etics and Reformers.
A Life of W. E. Charming.
The Lives of several distinguished
The Cause and Cure of Infidelity.
Philanthropists.
History of i(the Corruptions of
The Lives of several distinguished
Christianity, by Priestley.
Philosophers, with selections and
Letters to a Philosophical Unbeextracts from their Writings.
liever oto. the Truth of Religion, and
Two Volumes of Maxims and Prosome other theological works, by
verbs.
Priestley.
Several Volumes of excellent Extracts from several old writers, inLife of Luther, and the History of
cluding John Hales of Eaton, Owen
the Reformation.

PROSPECTUS.
Feltham, John Howe, William Dell,
A Treatise on Moral Philosophy,
and others.
A volume of Facts and Certainties,
Le Clerc on the causes of IncreA volume of Doubts and Questions,
dulity.
Paul and Amicus, or a remarkable
A History of the Church.
Discussion between an American
Three or four Volumes on Natnral
Quaker of the old school, and an
Philosophy.
American Calvinist, on the Seriptures,
Life of Fenelon, and a selection of
the Light within, Water Baptism, the
his Works.
Lord's Supper, Justification by Faith
Life of Massilon,. and a selection
alone, the Trinity, the Hired Minof his Works.
istry, &c.
Live of Saurin, and a selection of
Selections from the Works of Achis Works.
ton, Belsham, Carpenter, &c.
Natural History of Birds, Beasts,
Life of Jeremy Taylor, with his
and Fishes.
Liberty of Prophesying, and some of
Advice on the Pursuit of Knowhis other Works,
ledge, on the Formation of CharacLife of Robert Robinson, and some
ter, on Marriage, on Parential Duties,
of his Works,
and on Trade.
Other works will be named as we proceed. The Works will be selected and
composed so as to give the best information on every subject of importance
that the extent of the Library AVM allow. And as to the order in which they
will be published, that will depend in a great measure on the wants and wishes
of the subscribers whose suggestions are invited.
The Books which I am proposing to publish, will be cheaper than the
cheapest that have ever.yet been published.
The price to those who do not subscribe for the works, but get them through
the booksellers, will be one shilling, bound and lettered. The booksellers
themselves cannot have them under ninepence. The best plan for those who
wish to forward this great work, will be, for a number in every town or neighbourhood to join together, and as the names are obtained, forward them to
me direct, without delay. Expense will thus be saved in carriage and remittances. The books can come all in one parcel, and the money can be all sent
in one Post-office order.
I recommend young persons to abstain from intoxicating drink, tobacco,
and snuff. The cost of two pints of ale a. week, and an ounce of tobacco, will
enable them in the course of four years, to furnish themselves and their
children with means of instruction and profit without end.
I should be glad if rich people would subscribe for four, eight, or ten
Libraries each. Indeed, some have already done so to the extent of some
hundreds of Libraries.
What would four, eight, or ten shillings a week be for some rich people?
And what a vast amount of good they might do by lending or giving books, to
such young persons as are too poor to purchase Libraries for themselves, but who
would yet be likely to make a good use of books, if they had them at command.
It might not be necessary for them to give to each person a whole Library;
but a Library might be divided among several. Or they might sell them the
faooks at reduced prices. Some that could not pay ninepence a volume for:them, might be able to pay threepence or sixpence.
In cases where youths could not afford more than twopence or threepence a
week, two, three, or four might join together to purchase a Library, if they
could agree about using or dividing it.
If I should die, I hope that the Layman, or some other kind person would
be found able to carry forward the work to its completion.
If any of the subscribers should die, or become too poor to continue their
subsbriptions; they will not be subject to any loss or penalty. At the same
time, it is very desirable that those who give in their names, should do the
"best in their power either to continue their subscriptions themselves, or induce-others to continue them in their places.
If they should become so poor as to need the money they spend in the
books, it is very likely, if they take care of their books, that they will at any
^nje be able to sell them for the price they gave for them, or even more.

PR0SFECTU3.
It is a miserable book indeed that cannot be sold, in cloth boards, for ninepence, to any old bookseller.
If I should be able to carry out my plan, I shall not only have supplied a lot
of cheap books to the poor myself, but have stimulated or obliged others
to supply books cheaper as well. Let it once be seen that good and- useful
books can be got for ninepence a volume, and the book trade will be revolutionised inevitably. The booksellers will not be able to sell good books of nine
sheets, bound, for nine-pence, but they will come down one-half, or threequarters perhaps, and let you have their eight shilling books for two-and-sixpence, and their three shilling books for one. And this will be something
gained. And this reduction in the price of books will not reduce the wages of
printers, &c.; it will rather increase them. For it will increase.the demand
for books beyond calculation. And when labour is in demand, it will always
Ibe well paid in countries like ours. I can supply books at ninepence a piece,
and yet give better wages than any printer out of London is giving I should
be ashamed to offer cheap books at the expense of my men. I would not do
such a thing.
I hope those who are friendly to the cause of Reform, will assist me in this
•work to the utmost of their power. I feel persuaded that we can never have
an enlightened, a reformed, and a happy race of men, without a plentiful
supply of useful books and tracts to the masses of the people. Men may
preach, and build schools, and form Mechanics' Institutes, and give courses of
lectures, but nothing will do without a plentiful supply of tracts and books..—
Preaching, and lectures, and schools, and Mechanics' Institutions will all do
good: but still they must be accompanied with a cheap literature, if the people
are to be instructed. It is the Press that must have the chief part in enlightening and governing the world, for the times to come. It is at home, by their
own firesides, that men are to be educated. Nine out of ten of those who gain
much knowledge, gain it, not from the pulpit, not in the lecture room, not at
the school, but at home. It is there that they learn to think. It is there
that they form or modify their opinions. It is there that their souls get gradually fired with the love of truth, the love of righteousness, the love of God,
and the love of man. It is there that reforms and revolutions are bred. It fe
there that the world must be saved.
Let the country be supplied with abundance of good cheap tracts and books,.
and great and glorious changes in society will take place inevitably. Give me
the Press, and the power to keep it going, and I will shake every corrupt
institution in the land. I will shake the whole world. I will undermine every
false creed, and every false system of philosophy in the universe. I will paralyse the advocates of error at once. I will silence both the false priest and
the blaspheming infidel; or if I do not silence them, I will make their talking
like the idle wind, which men regard not. In short, let the followers of Christ,
—let the lovers of truth and righteousness, the friends of knowledge and the
friends of man use the Press as they ought, and they shall rule the world; they
shall rule both the kings and the people; they shall rule both men's bodies
and souls!
It is known that I am myself what most of the Sects call heterodox, and I
do not wish to conceal the fact, that several of the Theological Works which
I purpose to publish, are what would be called heterodox. Still, my object
in proposing to publish this Library, is something far better and higher than
the mere spread of heterodox opinions. What I want is, to make people truly
•wise, and great, and good,—To lead forth to useful action their thinking and
their moral powers, and make them Christ-like and God-like men and women.
Only let them be brought to read, and taught to think, and led to live for God
.and for their kind, and I will trust them to form their opinions for themselves.
Hence most of the books on religion, that I propose to publish, are of a
general and practical character. I have chosen them, simply because they are
calculated to rouse, invigorate, and free the soul, and fit it for the service of
its Maker, and for the seryice of mankind.
JOSEPH BARKER.

INTERESTING

MEMOIRS AND DOCUMENTS
RELATING TO

A M E R I C A N SLAVERY,
AND THE

GLORIOUS STRUGGLE NOW MAKING

FOE

COMPLETE

EMANCIPATION.

LONDON:
CHAPMAN, BROTHERS, 1 2 1 , NEWGATE STREET.
PRINTED

BY

J.

BARKER,

W 0 E T L E Y,

MDCCCXLVI.

NEAR

LEEDS,

PRINTED BY J. BARKER, WORTLEY, NEAR LEEDS.

PREFACE.
THIS volume is the first of a Library which the publisher intends
to send out. For the present, he expects to send out a volume
a month, but so soon as the number of subscribers or purchasers
reaches five thousand, he will send forth one a fortnight, or one
a week. The second volume containing a life of Wm. Penn,
with selections from his writings, may be looked for in about
four weeks. The third, containing the most useful works of the
late Robert Hall, may be looked for in March.
As to the worth of the volumes, the readers must judge for
themselves. All I can do, is, to publish such works as appear
to me to be most needed, and most likely to prove useful. What
I wish is, to improve, people's minds and characters, to make
them wiser, and better, and happier men,—to bring them to
live and labour like sons of God,—like that great instructor and
example of our race set before us in the Gospels. I wish to see
men interesting themselves in every branch of useful knowledge,
and in "fevery work of charity. I wish to see them labouring for
the injured and unhappy everywhere; and toiling for the universal spread of truth and righteousness, of purity, and liberty,
and joy. My first volume points to the American slave, and
<jalls for help in his behalf. In the United States of America,
there are upwards of three millions of persons held in the most
abject and miserable slavery. The people of England can deliver
those millions from their wretchedness, if they will. The object
of this Volume is, to awaken their will, and to direct its movements. It will give you first a view of the system of slavery,
unfolding something of its crimes and horrors. It will show you
next, the connexion of this system with the American and Eng-*
lish churches, making it,manifest, that slavery derives its
strength from the silence or sanction of those churches, and that
M once those churches can be brought to do their duty in this
matter, the system will be overthrown. It will point out what

7

PREFACE.

that duty is, and show how all may contribute towards inducing
the churches to do their duty.
I grant that the subject of slavery is not an enticing one for
a specimen volume, but that cannot be helped. It is a subject
of great importance, and it is time it was studied and understood.
And our object should be, not to find pleasure, but to do good:
not to divert ourselves, but to aid the cause of truth, of right"
eousness, and of human happiness. If there be any who prefe
a moment's personal pleasure, to the freedom and the welfare of
their race, we are sorry for them. Men calling themselves
Christians, ought to be pleased with nothing so much as plans
and labours for the improvement and happiness of their race,
Kay, reason itself might show us, that the proper end of life is
to do good, to honour God by blessing men. And the day will
come when all who have reason left them, will think all things
little, and low, and trifling but this; and when their only comfort will be the consciousness that they have done something for
the improvement and the welfare of their brethren. He alone
acts like a Christian, or a rational being, and he alone can
secure the full and proper blessedness of a human being, who
makes the welfare of his fellow-men the great end and endeavour
of his life.
'" But we are far from thinking that the volume before us is not
interesting; on the contrary, we consider it one of the most
interesting volumes that has issued from the press. The narrative of Lewis and Milton Clarke is as interesting as it well can
be. It would please even a novel reader if it were only a TALE.
And the account of Jonathan Walker and his BRANDED HAND is

much the same. And the other matters, though not fiction,,
are stranger than fiction. Still, if you cannot bring your minds
to read the book, go and do something else that is good, and
we shall be satisfied. Others will read, and profit by their
reading, and even you may come back in time. Farewell,

8

NARRATIVE OF LEWIS CLARKE.
I was born in March, as near as I can ascertain, in the
year 1815, in Madison county, Kentucky, about seven
miles from Richmond, upon the plantation of my grandfather, Samuel Campbell. He was considered a very
respectable man, among his fellow-robbers, the slaveholders. It did not render him less honorable in their
eyes, that he took to his bed Mary, his slave, perhaps
half white, by whom he had one daughter, LETITIA
CAMPBELL. This was before his marriage.
My father was from " beyond the flood "—from Scotland, and by trade a weaver. He had been married in
his own country, and lost his wife, who left to him, as I
have been told, two sons. He came to this country in
time to be in the earliest scenes of the American revolution. He was at the battle of Bunker Hill, and continued in the army to the close of the war. About the
year 1800, or before, he came to Kentucky, and married
Miss Letitia Campbell, then held as a slave by her own
father. My father died, as near as I can recollect, when
I was about ten or twelve years of age. He had received
a wound in the war, which made him lame as long as
he lived. I have often heard him tell of Scotland, sing
the merry songs of his native land, and long to see its
hills once more.
Mr. Campbell promised my father that his daughter
Letitia should be made free in his will. It was with
this promise that he married her. And I have no doubt
that Mr. Campbell was as good as his word, and that, by
his will, my mother and her nine children were made
free. But ten persons in one family, each worth three
hundred dollars, are not easily set free among those accustomed to live by continued robbery. We did not, thereB
9

NARRATIVE OF LEWIS CLARKE.

fore, by an instrument from the hand of the dead, escape
the avaricious grab of the slave-holder. It is the common
belief that the will was destroyed by the heirs of Mr.
Campbell.
The night in which I was born, I have been told, was
dark and terrible—black as the night for which Job
prayed, when he besought the clouds to pitch their tent
round about the place of his birth; and my life of slavery
was but too exactly prefigured by the stormy elements
that hovered over the first hour of my being. It was
with great difficulty that any one could be urged out for
a necessary attendant for my mother. At length, one of
the sons of Mr. Campbell, William, by the promise from
his mother of the child that should be born, was induced to
make an effort to obtain the necessary assistance. By
going five or six miles, he obtained a female professor of
the couch.
William Campbell, by virtue of this title, always claimed
me as his property. And well would it have been for me
if this claim had been regarded. At the age of six or
seven years, I fell into the hands of his sister, Mrs*
Betsey Banton, whose character will be best known when
I have told the horrid wrongs which she heaped upon me
for ten years. If there are any she spirits that come up
from hell, and take possession of one part of mankind, I
am sure she is one of that sort. I was consigned to her
under the following circumstances: When she was
married, there was given her, as part of her dower, as is
common among the Algerines of Kentucky, a girl, by the
name of Ruth, about fourteen or fifteen years old. In a
short time, Ruth was dejected and injured, by beating
and abuse of different kinds, so that she was sold, for a
half-fool, to the more tender mercies of the sugar-planter
in Louisiana. Mrs. Betsey obtained then, on loan frora
her parents, another slave, named Phillis. In six months
Phillis had suffered so severely, under the hand of thfe
monster-woman, that she mad§"Un attempt to kill herself^
and was taken home by the parents of Mrs. Bantoiw
This produced a regular slave-holding family brawl; &:
10

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

regular war, of four years, between Mrs. Banton and her
own parents. These wars are very common among the
Algerines in Kentucky ; indeed, slave-holders have not
arrived at that degree of civilization that enables them td
live in tolerable peace, though united by the nearest
family ties. In them is fulfilled what I have read in the
Bible—" The father is against the son, and the daughterin-law against the mother-in-law, and their foes are of
their own household." Some of the slave-holders may
have a wide house ; but one of the cat-handed, snakeeyed, brawling women, which slavery produces, can fill it
from cellar to garret. I have heard every place I could
get into any way ring with their screech-owl voices. Of
all the animals on the face of this earth, I am most afraid
of a real mad, passionate, raving, slave-holding woman.
Somebody told me, once, that Edmund Burke declared
that the natives of India fled to the jungles, among tigers
and lions, to escape the more barbarous cruelty of Warren
Hastings. I am sure I would sooner lie down to sleep
by the side of tigers than near a raging-mad slave-woman.
But I must go back to Mrs. Banton. I have been describing her in the abstract. I will give a full-grown por*
trait of her right away. For four years after the trouble
about Phillis, she never came near her father's house. At
the end of this period, another of the sisters was to be
married, and sister Betsey could not repress the tide of
curiosity urging her to be present at the nuptial ceremonies. Beside, she had another motive. Either shrewdlysuspecting that she might deserve less than any member of
the family, or that some ungrounded partiality would be
manifested toward her sister, she determined, at all hazards,
to be present, and see that the scales which weighed out the
children of the plantation, should be held with even hand.
The wedding-day was appointed; the sons and daughters of
this joyful occasion were gathered together, and then came
also the fair-faced, but black-hearted, Mrs. Barton. Satan,
among the sons of God, was never less welcome than this
fury among her kindred. They all knew what she came for,
to make mischief, if possible, " Well, now, if there aint
1!

NARRATIVE OF L E W I S C L A R K E .

Bets ! " exclaimed the old lady. The father was moody
and silent, knowing that she inherited largely of the disposition of her mother; but he had experienced too many
of her retorts of courtesy to say as much, for dear experience had taught him the discretion of silence. The
brothers smiled at the prospect of fun and frolic ; the sisters trembled for fear, and word flew round among
the slaves, " The old she-bear has come home ! look out!
look out ! "
The wedding went forward. Polly, a very good sort
of a girl to be raised in that region, was married, and
received, as the first instalment of her dower, agirl and
a boy. Now was the time for Mrs. Banton, and thus
she began
"Poll has a girl and a hoy, and I only
had that fool of a girl. I reckon, if I go home without
a boy too, this house wont be left standing."
This was said, too, while the sugar of the weddingcake was yet melting upon her tongue. How the bitter
words would flow when the guests had retired, all began
to imagine. To arrest this whirlwind of rising passion,
her mother promised any boy upon the plantation, to be
taken home on her return. Now, my evil star was right
in the top of the sky. Every boy was ordered in, to pass
before this female sorceress, that she might select a victim
for her unprovoked malice, and on whom to pour the
vials of her wrath for years. I was that unlucky fellow.
Mr. Campbell, my grandfather, objected, because it
would divide a family, and offered her Moses, whose
father and mother had been sold south. Mrs. Campbell
put in for William's claim, dated ante natum—before I
was born ; but objections and claims of every kind were
swept away by the wild passion and shrill-toned voice of
Mrs. B. Me she wTould have, and none else. Mr. Campbell went out to hunt, and drive away bad thoughts ; the
old lady became quiet, for she was sure none of her blood
run in my veins, and, if there was any of her husband's
there, it was no fault of hers. Slave women are always
revengeful toward the children of slaves that have any,.pi
the blood of their husbands in them. I was too youngi
12

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

only seven years of age, to understand what was going
on. But my poor and affectionate mother understood
and appreciated it all. When she left the kitchen of the
mansion-house, where she was employed as cook, and
came home to her own little cottage, the tear of anguish
was in her eye, and the image of sorrow upon every
feature of her face. She knew the female Nero, whose
rod was now to be over me. That night sleep departed
from her eyes. With the youngest child clasped firmly
to her bosom, she spent the night in walking the floor,
coming ever and anon to lift up the clothes and look at
me and my poor brother, who lay sleeping together.
Sleejring, I said. Brother slept, but not I. I saw my
mother when she first came to me, and I could not sleep.
The vision of that night—its deep, ineffaceable impression
-~is now before my mind with all the distinctness of
yesterday. In the morning, I was put into the carriage
with Mrs. B. and her children, and my weary pilgrimage
of suffering was fairly begun. It was her business on the
road, for about twenty-five or thirty miles, to initiate her
children into the art of tormenting their new victim. I
was seated upon the bottom of the carriage, and these
little imps were employed in pinching me, pulling my
ears and hair ; and they were stirred up by their mother,
like a litter of young wolves, to torment me in every way
possible. In the mean time, I was compelled by the old
she-wolf to call them "Master," "Mistress," and bow
to them, and obey them at the first call.
During that day, I had, indeed, no very agreeable
foreboding of the torments to come ; but, sad as were my
anticipations, the reality was infinitely beyond them.
Infinitely more bitter than death were the cruelties I experienced at the hand of this merciless woman. Save
from one or two slaves on the plantation, during my ten
years of captivity here, I scarcely heard a kind word, or
saw a smile toward me from any living being. And now
that I am where people look kind, and act kindly toward
me, it seems like a dream, I hardly seem to be in the
same world that I was then. When I first got into the
13

NARRATIVE OF LEWIS CLARKE.

free states, and saw every body look as if they loved one another, sure enough, I thought, this must be the " Heaven"
of LOVE I had heard something about. But I must go
back to what I suffered from that wicked woman. It is
hard work to keep the mind upon i t ; I hate to think it
over—but I must tell it—the world must know what is
done in Kentucky. I cannot, however, tell all the ways
by which she tormented me. I can only give a few instances of my suffering, as specimens of the whole. A
book of a thousand pages would not be large enough to
tell of all the tears I shed, and the sufferings endured, in
THAT TEN YEARS OF PURGATORY. *

A very trivial offence was sufficient to call forth a
great burst of indignation from this woman of ungoverned
passions. In my simplicity, I put my lips to the same
vessel, and drank out of it, from which her children were
accustomed to drink. She expressed her utter abhorrence
of such an act, by throwing my head violently back, and
clashing into my face two dippers of water. The shower
of water was followed by a heavier shower of kicks / yes,
delicate reader, this lady did not hesitate to kick, as well
as cuff in a very plentiful manner ; but the words, bitter
and cutting, that followed, were like a storm of hail upon
my young heart. u She would teach me better manners
than t h a t ; she would let me know I was to be brought
up to her hand ; she would have one slave that knew his
place ; if I wanted water, go to the spring, and not drink
there in the house." This was new times for me ; for
some days I was completely benumbed with my sorrow. I could neither eat nor sleep. If there is any
human being on earth, who has been so blessed as never
to have tasted the cup of sorrow, and therefore is unable
to conceive of suffering; if there be one so lost to all
feeling as even to say, that the slaves do not suffer when
families are separated, let such a one go to the ragged
quilt which was my couch and pillow, and stand there
night after night, for long, weary hours, and see the bitter
tears streaming down the face of that more than orphan
14

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

boy, while, with half-suppressed sighs and sobs, he calls
again and again upon his absent mother.
"Say, mother, wast thou conscious of the tears I shed
Hovered thy spirit o'er thy sorrowing son *
?
Wretch even then ! life's journey just begun."
Let him stand by that couch of bitter sorrow through the
terrible lonely night, and then wring out the wet end of
those rags, and see how many tears yet remain, after the
burning femples had absorbed all they could. He will
not douTSt, he cannot doubt, but the slave has feeling.
There were several children in the family, and my first
main business was to wait upon them. Another young
slave and myself have often been compelled to sit up by
turns all night, to rock the cradle of a little peevish scion
of slavery. If the cradle was stopped, the moment they
awoke a dolorous cry was sent forth to mother and father
that Lewis had gone to sleep. The reply to this call
would be a direction from the mother for these petty tyrants to get up and take the whip, and give the good-fornothing scoundrel a smart whipping. This was the midnight pastime of a child ten or twelve years old. What
might you expect of the future man 1
There were four house-slaves in this family, including
myself; and though we had not, in all respects, so hard
work as the field hands, yet in many things our condition
was much worse. We were constantly exposed to the
whims and passions of every member of the family ; from
the least to the greatest, their anger was wreaked upon us.
Nor was our life an easy one, in the hours of our toil or
in the amount of labor performed. We were always required to sit up until all the family had retired ; then we
must be up at an early dawn in summer, and before day
in winter. If we failed, through weariness or any other
reason, to appear at the first morning summons, we were
sure to have our hearing quickened by a severe chastisement. Such horror has seized me, lest I might not hear
the first shrill call, that I have often in dreams fancied I
15

N A R R A T I V E OF L E W I S C L A R K E .

heard that unwelcome voice, and have leaped from my
couch, and walked through the house and out of it before
I awoke. I have gone and called the other slaves, in my
sleep, and asked them if they did not hear master call.
Never, while I live, will the remembrance of those long,
bitter nights of fear pass from my mind.
But T want to give you a few specimens of the abuse
which I received. During the ten years that I lived with
Mrs. Banton, I do not think there were as many days,
when she was at home, that I, or some other slave, did
not receive some kind of beating or abuse at her hands*
It seemed as though she could not live nor sleep unless
some poor back was smarting, some head beating with
pain, or some eye filled with tears, around her. Her
tender mercies were indeed cruel. She brought up her
children to imitate their example. Two of them manifested some dislike to the cruelties taught them by their
mother, but they never stood high in favor with her ; indeed any thing like humanity or kindness to a slave, was
looked upon by her as a great offence.
Her instruments of torture were ordinarily the raw
hide, or a bunch of hickory-sprouts seasoned in the fire
and tied together. But if these were not at hand, nothing came amiss. She could relish a beating with a
chair, the broom, tongs, shovel, shears, knife-handle, the
heavy heel of her slipper, or a bunch of keys ; her zeal
was so active in these barbarous inflictions, that her invention was wonderfully quick, and some way of inflicting the requisite torture was soon found out.
One instrument of torture is worthy of particular description. This was an oak club, a foot and a half in
length, and an inch and a half square. With this delicate weapon she would beat us upon the hands and upon
the feet until they were blistered. This instrument was
carefully preserved for a period of four years. Every day,
for that time, I was compelled to see that hated tool of
cruelty lying in the chair by my side. The least degree
of delinquency either in not doing all the appointed work,
or in look or behavior, was visited with a beating from
16

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

this oak club. That club will always be a prominent
object in the picture of horrors of my life of more than
twenty years of bitter bondage.
When about nine years old, T was sent in the evening
to catch and kill a turkey. They w^ere securely sleeping
in a tree—their accustomed resting-place for the night.
I approached as cautiously as possible, and selected the
victim I was directed to catch ; but, just as I grasped
him in my hand, my foot slipped, and he made his
escape from the tree, and fled beyond my reach. I returned with a heavy heart to my mistress with the story
of my misfortune. She was enraged beyond measure.
She determined, at once, that I should have a whipping
of the worst kind, and she wTas bent upon adding all the
aggravations possible. Master had gone to bed drunk,
and was now as fast asleep as drunkards ever are. At
any rate, he was filling the house with the noise of his
snoring and with the perfume of his breath. I was ordered to go and call him—wake him up—and ask him
to be kind enough to give me fifty good smart lashes.
To be whipped is bad enough—to ash for it is worse—
to ask a drunken man to whip you is too bad. I would
sooner have gone to a nest of rattlesnakes, than to the
bed of this drunkard. But go I must. Softly I crept
along, and gently shaking his arm, said, with a trembling
voice, " Master, master, mistress wants you to wake up."
This did not go to the extent of her command, and in a
great fury she called out, " What, you wont ask him to
whip you, will you ? " I then added, " Mistress wants
you to give me fifty lashes." A bear at the smell of a
lamb was never roused quicker. " Yes, yes, that I will;
I'll give you such a whipping as you will never want
again." And, sure enough, so he did. He sprang from
the bed, seized me by the hair, lashed me with a handful
of switches, threw me my whole length upon the floor ;
beat, kicked, and cuffed me worse than he would a dog,
and then threw me, with all his strength, out of the
door, more dead than alive. There I lay for a long
time, scarcely able and not daring to move, till I could

NARRATIVE OF LEWIS CLARKE.

hear no sound of the furies within, and then crept to my
couch, longing for death to put an end to my misery. I
had no friend in the world to whom I could utter one
word of complaint, or to whom I could look for protection.
Mr. Banton owned a blacksmith's shop, in which he
spent some of his time, though he was not a very efficient
hand at the forge. One day, mistress told me to go over
to the shop and let master give me a flogging. I knew
the mode of punishing there too well. I would rather
die than go. The poor fellow who worked in the shop,
a very skilful workman, one day came to the determination that he would work no more, unless he could be
paid for his labor. The enraged master put a handful of
nail-rods into the fire, and when they were red-hot> took
them out, and cooled one after another of them in the
blood and flesh of the poor slave's back. I knew this
was the shop mode of punishment* I would not go j
and Mr. Banton came home, and his wife told him the
story of my refusal. He broke forth in a great rage, and
gave me a most unmerciful beating ; adding that, if I
had come, he would have burned the hot nail-rods into
my back.
Mrs. Banton, as is common among slave-holding women, seemed to hate and abuse me all the more, because
I had some of the blood of her father in my veins.
There are no slaves that are so badly abused, as those
that are related to some of the women, or the children of
their own husband ; it seems as though they never could
hate these quite bad enough. My sisters were as white
and good-looking as any of the young ladies in Kentucky.
It happened once of a time, that a young man called at
the house of Mr. Campbell, to see a sister of Mrs. Banton. Seeing one of my sisters in the house, pretty well
dressed,-and with a strong family look, he thought it
was Miss Campbell; and, with that supposition, addressed some conversation to her which he had intended
for the private ear of Miss C. The mistake was noised
abroad, and occasioned some amusement to young peo^
18

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

pie. Mrs. Ban ton heard of it, and it made her caldron
of wrath sizzling hot ; every thing that diverted and
amused other people seemed to enrage her. There are
hot-springs in Kentucky ; she was just like one of them,
only brimful of boiling poison.
She must wreak her vengeance, for this innocent mistake of the young man, upon me. "She would fix me,
so that nobody should ever think I was white." Accordingly, in a burning hot day, she made me tahe off
every rag of clothes, go out into the garden, and pick
herbs for hours, in order to burn me black. When I
went out, she threw cold water on me, so that the sun
might take effect upon me ; when I came in, she gave
me a severe beating on my blistered back.
After I had lived with Mrs. B. three or four years, I
was put to spinning hemp, flax, and tow, on an oldfashioned foot-wheel. There were four or five slaves at
this business, a good part of the time. We were kept
at our work from daylight to dark in summer, from long
before day to nine or ten o'clock in the evening in winter.
Mrs. Banton, for the most part, was near, or kept continually passing in and out, to see that each of us performed as much work as she thought we ought to do,
Being young, and sick at heart all the time, it was very
hard work to go through the day and evening and not
suffer exceedingly for want of more sleep. Very often,
too, I was compelled to work beyond the ordinary hour,
to finish the appointed task of the day. Sometimes I
found it impossible not to drop asleep at the wheel.
On these occasions, Mrs. B. had her peculiar contrivances for keeping us awake. She would sometimes sit,
by the hour, with a dipper of vinegar and salt, and throw
it in my eyes to keep them open. My hair was pulled
till there was no longer any pain from that source. And
lean now suffer myself to be lifted by the hair of the
head, without experiencing the least pain.
She very often kept me from getting water to satisfy
my thirst, and in one instance kept me for two entire
days without a particle of food. This she did, in order
19

NARRATIVE OF L E W I S C L A R K E .

that I might make up for lost time. But, of course, I
lost rather than gained upon my task. Every meal taken
from me made me less able to work. It finally ended in
a terrible beating.
But all my severe labor, and bitter and cruel punishments, for these ten years of captivity with this worse
than Arab family, all these were as nothing to the sufferings I experienced by being separated from my mother,
brothers, and sisters ; the same things, with them near to
sympathize with me, to hear my story of sorrow, would
have been comparatively tolerable.
They were distant only about thirty miles ; and yet, in
ten long, lonely years of childhood, I was only permitted
to see them three times.
My mother occasionally found an opportunity to send
me some token of remembrance and affection, a sugarplum or an apple; but I scarcely ever ate them; they were
laid up, and handled and wept over till they wasted away
in my hand.
My thoughts continually by day, and my dreams by
night, were of mother and home ; and the horror experienced in the morning, when I awoke and behold
it was a dream, is beyond the power of language to
describe.
But I am about to leave this den of robbers, where I
had been so long imprisoned. I cannot, however, call
the reader from his new and unpleasant acquaintance with
this unlovely pair, without giving a few more incidents of
their history. When this is done, and I have taken
great pains, as I shall do, to put a copy of this portrait
in the hands of this Mrs. B., I shall bid her farewell.
If she sees something awfully hideous in her picture, as
here represented, she will be constrained to acknowledge
it is true to nature. I have given it from no malice, no
feeling of resentment towards her, but that the world
may know what is done by slavery, and that slaveholders may know that their crimes will come to light.
I hope and pray that Mrs. B. will repent of her many
and aggravated sins before it is too late.
20

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

The scenes between her and her husband, while I was
with them, strongly illustrate the remark of Jefferson,
that slavery fosters the worst passions of the master.
Scarcely a day passed, in which bitter words were not
bandied from one to the other. I have seen Mrs. B.,
with a large knife drawn in her right hand, the other upon
the collar of her husband, swearing and threatening to
cut him square in two. They both drank freely, and
swore like highwaymen. He was a gambler and a counterfeiter. I have seen and handled his moulds and his
false coin. They finally quarrelled openly, and separated ;
and the last I knew of them, he was living a sort of
poor vagabond life in his native state, and she was engaged in a protracted lawsuit with some of her former
friends, about her father's property.
Of course, such habits did not produce great thrift in
their worldly condition, and myself and other slaves were
mortgaged, from time to time, to make up the deficiency
between their income and expenses. I was transferred,
at the age of sixteen or seventeen, to a Mr. K., whose
name I shall forbear to mention, lest, if he or any other
man should ever claim property where they never had
any, this, my own testimony, might be brought in to aid
their wicked purposes.
In the exchange of masters, my condition was, in many
respects, greatly improved.
I was free, at any rate,
from that kind of suffering experienced at the hand of
Mrs. B., as though she delighted in cruelty for its own
sake. My situation, however, with Mr. K. was far from
enviable. Taken from the work in and around the house,
and put at once, at that early age, to the constant work
of a full-grown man, I found it not an easy task always
to escape the lash of the overseer. In the four or five
years that I was with this man, the overseers were often
changed. Sometimes we had a man that seemed to have
some consideration, some mercy ; but generally their eye
seemed to be fixed upon one object, and that was, to
get the greatest possible amount of work out of every
21

NARRATIVE OF LEWIS CLARKE.

slave upon the plantation. When stopping to clear the
tobacco-plants from the worms which infest them,—a
work which draws most cruelly upon the back,—some of
these men would not allow us a moment to rest at the
end of the row ; but, at the crack of the whip, we were
compelled to jump to our places, from row to row, for
hours, while the poor back was crying out with torture.
Any complaint or remonstrance under such circumstances
is sure to be answered in no other way than by the lash.
As a sheep before her shearers is dum, so a slave is not
permitted to open his mouth.
There were about one hundred and fifteen slaves upon
this plantation. Generally, we had enough, in quantity,
of food. We had, however^ but two meals a day, of
corn-meal bread and soup, or meat of the poorest land.
Very often, so little care had been taken to cure and preserve the bacon, that, when it came to us, though it had
been fairly killed once, it was more alive than dead.
Occasionally, we had some refreshment over and above
the two meals, but this was extra, beyond the rules of the
plantation. And, to balance this gratuity, we were also
frequently deprived of our food, as a punishment. We suffered greatly, too, for want of water. The slave-drivers
have the notion that slaves are more healthy, if allowed
to drink but little, than they are if freely allowed nature's
beverage. The slaves quite as confidently cherish the
opinion that, if the master would drink less peach brandy
and whisky, and give the slave more water, it would be
better all around. As it is, the more the master and
overseer drink, the less they seem to think the slave
needs.
In the winter, we took our meals before day in the
morning, and after work at night; in the summer, at
about nine o'clock in the morning, and at two in the
afternoon. When we were cheated out of our two meals
a day, either by the cruelty or caprice of the overseer, we
always felt it a kind of special duty and privilege, to make
up, in some way, the deficiency. To accomplish this ;
22

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

we had many devices ; and we sometimes resorted to our
peculiar methods., when incited only by a desire to taste
greater variety than our ordinary bill of fare afforded.
This sometimes led to very disastrous results. The
poor slave who was caught with a chicken or a pig. killed
from the plantation, had his back scored most unmercifully. Nevertheless, the pigs would die without beingsick or squealing once ; and the hens, chickens, and turkeys sometimes disappeared, and never stuck up a feather
to tell where they were buried. The old goose would
sometimes exchange her whole nest of eggs for round
pebbles ; and patient as that animal is, this quality was
exhausted, and she was obliged to leave her nest with no
train of offspring behind her.
One old slave woman upon this plantation was altogether too keen and shrewd for the best of them. She
would go out to the corn-crib with her basket, watch her
opportunity, with one effective blow pop over a little pig,
slip him into her basket, and put the cobs on top, trudge
off to her cabin, and look just as innocent as though she
had a right to eat of the work of her own hands. It was
a kind of first principle, too, in her code of morals, that
they that worked had a right to eat. The moral of all
questions in relation to taking food was easily settled by
aunt Peggy. The only question with her was, how and
when to do it.
It could not be done openly, that was plain. It must
be done secretly: if not in the daytime, by all means in
the night. With the dead pig in the cabin, and the
water all hot for scalding, she was at one time warned by
her son that the Philistines were upon her. Her resources
were fully equal to the sudden emergency. Quick as
thought, the pig was thrown into the boiling kettle, a
door was put over it, her daughter seated upon it, and,
with a good, thick quilt around her, the overseer found
little Clara taking a steam-bath for a terrible cold. The
daughter, acting well her part, groaned sadly; the mother was very busy in tucking in the quilt, and the over23

NARRATIVE OF L E W I S C L A R K E .

seer was blinded, and went away without seeing a bristle
of the pig.
Aunt Peggy cooked for herself, for another slave named
George, and for me.: George was very successful in
bringing home his share of the plunder. He could capture a pig or a turkey without exciting the least suspicion.
The old lady often rallied me for want of courage for
such enterprises. At length, I summoned resolution one
rainy night, and determined there should be one from the
herd of swine brought home by my hands. I went to the
crib of corn, got my ear to shell, and my cart-stake to
despatch a little roaster. I raised my arm to strike,
summoned courage again and again, but to no purpose.
The scattered kernels were all picked up, and no blow
struck. Again I visited the crib, selected my victim, and
struck ! The blow glanced upon the side of the head,
and, instead of falling, he ran off, squealing louder than
ever I heard a pig squeal before. I ran as fast, in an opposite direction, made a large circuit, and reached the
cabin, emptied the hot water, and made for my couch as
soon as possible. I escaped detection, and only suffered
from the ridicule of old Peggy and young George.
Poor Jess, upon the same plantation, did not so easily
escape. More successful in his effort, he killed his pig,
but he was found out. He was hung up by the hands,
with a rail between his feet, and full three hundred lashes
scored in upon his naked back. For a Jong time his life
hung in doubt; and his poor wife, for becoming a partaker after the fact, was most severely beaten.
Another slave, employed as a driver upon the plantation, was compelled to whip his own wife, for a similar
offence, so severely that she never recovered from the
cruelty. She was literally ivhipped to death by her oion
husband.
A slave, called Hall, the hostler on the plantation,
made a successful sally, one night, upon the animals forbidden to the Jews. The next day, he went into the
barn-loft, and fell asleep. While sleeping over his abun24

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

dant supper, and dreaming, perhaps, of his feast, he heard
the shrill voice of his master, crying out, " The hogs are
at the horse-trough ; where is Hall ? The "hogs " and
" Hall/' coupled together, were enough for the poor fellow. He sprung from the hay, and made the best of his
way off the plantation. He was gone six months ; and
at the end of this period, he procured the intercession of
the son-in-law of his master, and returned, escaping the
ordinary punishment. But the transgression was laid up.
Slave-holders seldom forgive, they only postpone the time
of revenge. When about to be severely flogged, for some
pretended offence, he took two of his grandsons, and escaped as far towards Canada as Indiana. He was followed, captured, brought back, and whipped most horribly. All the old score had been treasured up against him,
and his poor back atoned for the whole at once.
On this plantation was a slave, named Sam, whose
wife lived a few miles distant ; and Sam was very seldom
permitted to go and see his family. He worked in the
blacksmith's shop. For a small offence, he was hung by
the hands, a rail between his feet, and whipped in turn
by the master, overseer, and one of the waiters, till his
back was torn all to pieces ; and, in less than two months,
Sam was in his grave. His last words were, " Mother,
tell master he has killed me at last, for nothing ; but tell
him if God will forgive him, T will."
A very poor white woman lived within about a mile of
the plantation house. A female slave, named Flora,
knowing she was in a very suffering condition, shelled out
a peck of corn, and carried it to her in the night. Next
day, the old man found it out, and this deed of charity
was atoned for by one hundred and fifty lashes upon the
bare back of poor Flora.
The master with whom I now lived wras a very passionate man. At one time he thought the work on the
plantation did not go on as it ought. One morning, when
he and the overseer waked up from a drunken frolic, they
swore the hands should not eat a morsel of anything, till
c

25

NARRATIVE OF LEWIS CLARKE.

a field of wheat of some sixty acres was all cradled;
There were from thirty to forty hands to do the work.
We were driven on to the extent of our strength, and,
although a brook ran through the field, not one of us was
permitted to stop and taste a drop of water. Some of
the men were so exhausted that they reeled for very weak~
ness ; two of the women fainted, and one of them was
severely whipped, to revive her. They were at last carried helpless from the field and thrown down under the
shade of a tree. At about five o'clock in the afternoon the
wheat wras all cut, and we were permitted to eat. Our
suffering for want of water was excruciating. 1 trembled
all over from the inward gnawing of hunger, and from
burning thirst.
In view of the sufferings of this day, we felt fully Justin
fled in making a foraging expedition upon the milk-room
that night. And when master, and overseer, and all
hands were locked up in sleep, ten or twelve of us went
down to the spring house ; a house built over a spring,
to keep the milk and other things cool. We pressed'
altogether against the door, and open it came. We found
half a good baked pig, plenty of cream, milk, and other
delicacies ; and, as we felt in some measure delegated to
represent all that had been cheated of their meals the day
before, we ate plentifully. But after a successful plundering expedition within the gates of the enemy's camp,
it is not easy always to cover the retreat. We had a
reserve in the pasture for this purpose. We went up to
the herd of swine, and, with a milk-pail in hand, it was
easy to persuade them there was more w7here that came
from, and the whole tribe followed readily into the springhouse, and we left them there to wash the dishes and
wipe up the floor, while we retired to rest. This was
not malice in us ; we did not love the waste which the
hogs made ; but we must have something to eat, to pay
for the cruel and reluctant fast; and when we had obtained this, we must of course cover up our track. They
watch us narrowly; and to take an egg, a pound of meat^
26

AMERICAN SLAVERY*

or any thing else, however hungry we may be, is considered a great crime ; we are compelled therefore, to waste
a good deal sometimes, to get a little,
I lived with this Mr. K. about four or five years; I
then fell into the hands of his son. He was a drinking,
ignorant man, but not so cruel as his father. Of him I
hired my time at twelve dollars a month ; boarded and
clothed myself. To meet my payments, I split rails,
burned coal, peddled grass seed, and took hold of whatever I could find to do. This last master, or owner, as
he would call himself, died about one year before I left
Kentucky. By the administrators I was hired out for a
time, and at last put up upon the auction block, for
Sale. No bid could be obtained for me. There were
two reasons in the way. One was, there were, two or
three old mortgages which were not settled, and the
second reason given by the bidders was, I had had too
many privileges ; had been permitted to trade for myself
and go over the state ; in short, to use their phrase, I
was a " spoilt nigger." And sure enough I was, for all
their purposes. I had long thought and dreamed of
LIBERTY ; I was now determined to make an effort to
gain it. No tongue can tell the doubt, the perplexities,
the anxiety which a slave feels, when making up his mind
upon this subject. If he makes an effort and is not successful, he must be laughed at by his fellows ; he will be
beaten unmercifully by the master, and then watched and
used the harder for it all his life.
And then, if he gets away, who, what will he find 1
He is ignorant of the world. All the white part of mankind, that he has ever seen, are enemies to him and all
his kindred. How can he venture where none but white
faces shall greet him % The master tells him, that abolitionists decoy slaves off into the free states, to catch them
and sell them to Louisiana or Missisippi; and if he goes
to Canada, the British will put him in a mine under
ground, with both eyes put out, for life. How does he
know what, or whom to believe % A horror of great
darkness comes upon him, as he thinks over what may
27

NARRATIVE OF LEWIS C L A R K E .

befal him. Long, very long time did I think of escaping
before I made the effort.
At length, the report was started that I was to be sold
for Louisiana. Then I thought it was time to act. My
mind was made up. This was about two weeks before T
started. The first plan was formed between a slave
named Isaac and myself, Isaac proposed to take one of
the horses of his mistress, and I was to take my pony,
and we were to ride off together ; I as master, and he as
slave. We started together, and went on five miles.
My want of confidence in the plan induced me to turn
back. Poor Isaac pleaded like a good fellow to go forward. I am satisfied from experience and observation,
that both of us must have been captured and carried back,
I did not know enough at that time to travel and manage
a waiter. Every thing would have been done in such an
awkward manner, that a keen eye would have seen
through our plot at once. I did not know the roads, and
could not have read the guide-boards ; and ignorant as
many people are in Kentucky, they would have thought
it strange to see a man with a waiter, who could not read
a guide-board. I was sorry to leave Isaac, but I am satisfied I could have done him no good in the way proposed.
After this failure, I staid about two weeks; and after
having arranged every thing to the best of my knowledge,
I saddled my pony, went into the cellar where I kept my
grass-seed apparatus, put my clothes into a pair of saddlebags, and them into my seed-bag, and, thus equipped,
set sail for the north star. O what a day was that to
me ! This was on Saturday, in August, 1841. I wore
my common clothes, and was very careful to avoid special suspicion, as I already imagined the administrator
was very watchful of me. The place from which I started
was about fifty miles from Lexington. The reason why
I do not give the name of the place, and a more accurate
location, must be obvious to any one who remembers
that, in the eye of the law, I am yet accounted a slave,
and no spot in the United States affords an asylum for
28

AMERICAN

SLAVERY.

the wanderer. True, I feel protected in the hearts of
the many warm friends of the slave by whom I am surrounded ; but this protection does not come from the
LAWS of any one of the United States.
But to return. After riding about fifteen miles, a
Baptist minister overtook me on the road, saying, " How
do you do, boy 1 are you free 1 I always thought you
were free, till I saw them try to sell you the other day."
I then wished him a thousand miles off, preaching, if he
would, to the whole plantation, " Servants, obey your
masters ; " but I wanted neither sermons, questions, nor
advice from him. At length I mustered resolution to
make^ some kind of a reply. " What made you think 1
was free 1 " He replied, that he had noticed I had great
privileges, that I did much as I liked, and that I wag
almost white. <J 0 yes," I said, "but there are a great
many slaves as white as I am." " Yes," he said, and
then went on to name several; among others, one who
had lately, as he said, run away. This was touchingaltogether too near upon what I was thinking of. Now,
said I, he must know, or at least reckons, what I am at
—running away.
However, I blushed as little as possible, and made
strange of the fellow who had lately run away, as though
I knew nothing of it. The old fellow looked at me, as
it seemed to me, as though he would read my thoughts,
I wondered what in the world slaves could run away for,
especially if they had such a chance as I had had for the
last few years. He said, " I suppose you would not run
away on any account, you are so well treated." " O,"
said T, " I do very well; very well, sir. If you should
ever hear that I had run away, be certain it must be
because there is some great change in my treatment."
He then began to talk with me about the seed in my
bag, and said that he should want to buy some. Then,
I thought, he means to get at the truth by looking in my
seed bag, where, sure enough, he would not find grass
seed, but the seeds of Liberty. However, he dodged off
soon, and left me alone. And although I have heard
29

NARRATIVE OF LEWIS CLARKE.

say, poor company is better than none, I felt much
better without him than with him,
When I had gone on about twenty-five miles, I went
down into a deep valley by the side of the road, and
changed my clothes. I reached Lexington about seven
o'clock that evening, and put up with brother Cyrus.
As I had often been to Lexington before, and stopped
with him, it excited no attention from the slave-holding
gentry. Moreover, I had a pass from the administrator,
of whom I had hired my time. I remained over the
Sabbath with Cyrus, and we talked over a great many
plans for future operations, if my efforts to escape should
Be successful. Indeed, we talked over all sorts of ways
for me to proceed. But both of us were very ignorant of
the roads, and of the best way to escape suspicion. And
I sometimes wonder that a slave, so ignorant, so timid as
he is, ever makes the attempt to get his freedom.
a
Without axe foes, within axe fears"
Monday morning, bright and early, I set my face in
good earnest toward the Ohio River, determined to see
and tread the north bank of it, or die in the attempt. I
said to myself, One of two things,—FREEDOM OR DEATH !
The first night I reached Mayslick, fifty odd miles from
Lexington. Just before reaching this village, I stopped
to think over my situation, and determine how I would
pass the night. On that night hung all my hopes. I
was within twenty miles of Ohio. My horse was unable
to reach the river that night. And besides, to travel and
attempt to cross the river in the night, would excite suspicion. I must spend the night there. But how ? At
one time, I thought, I will take my pony out into the
ifield and give him some corn, and sleep myself on the
grass. But then the dogs will be out in the evening, and
if caught under such circumstances, they will take me for
a thief if not for a runaway. That will not do. So,
after weighing the matter all over, I made a plunge right
into the heart of the village, and put up at the tavern.
After seeing my pony disposed of, I looked into the
bar-room, and saw some persons that I thought were
30

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

from my part of the country, and would know me. I
shrunk back with horror. What to do I did not know.
I looked across the street, and saw the shop of a silversmith. A thought of a pair of spectacles, to hide my
face, struck me. I went across the way, and began to
barter for a pair of double-eyed green spectacles. When
I got them on, they blind-folded me, if they did not
others. Every thing seemed right up in my eyes. Some
people buy spectacles to see out of; I bought mine to
keep from being seen. I hobbled back to the tavern,
and called for supper. This I did to avoid notice, for I
felt like any thing but eating. At tea, I had not learned
to measure distances with my new eyes, and the first
pass I made with my knife and fork at my plate went
right into my lap. This confused me still more, and,
after drinking one cup of tea, I left the table, and got off
to bed as soon as possible. But not a wink of sleep
that night. All was confusion, dreams, anxiety, and
trembling.
As soon as day dawned, I called for ray horse, paid
my reckoning, and was on my way, rejoicing that that
night was gone, any how. I made all diligence on my
way, and was across the Ohio, and in Aberdeen by noon,
that day !
What my feelings were, when I reached the free
shore, can be better imagined than described. I trembled all over with deep emotion, and I could feel my
hair rise upon my head. I was on what was called a
free soil, among a people who had no slaves. I saw
white men at work, and no slave smarting beneath the
lash. Every thing was indeed new and wonderful. Not
knowing where to find a friend, and being ignorant of the
country—unwilling to inquire, lest I should betray my
ignorance, it was a whole week before I reached Cincinnati. At one place, where I put up, I had a great many
more questions put to me than I wished to answer. At
another place, I was very much annoyed by the officiousness of the landlord, who made it a point to supply every
guest with newspapers. I took the copy handed me,

NARRATIVE OF LEWIS CLARKE.

and turned it over, in a somewhat awkward manner, I
..suppose. He came to me to point out a veto, or some
other very important news. I thought it best to decline
his assistance, and gave up the paper, saying my eyes
were not in a fit condition to read much.
At another place, the neighbors, on learning that a
Kentuckian was at the tavern, came, in great earnestness, to find out what my business was. Kentuckians
sometimes came there to kidnap their citizens. They
were in the habit of watching them close. I at length
satisfied them, by assuring them that I was not, nor my
father before me, any slave-holder at all ; but, lest their
suspicions should be excited in another direction, I added, my grandfather was a slave-holder.
At Cincinnati, I found some old acquaintances, and
spent several days. In passing through some of the
streets, I several times saw a great slave-dealer from
Kentucky, who knew me, and, when I approached him,
I was very careful to give him a wide berth. The only
advice that I here received was from a man who had
once been a slave. He urged me to sell my pony, go
up the river, to Portsmouth, then take the canal for
Cleveland, and cross over to Canada. I acted upon this
suggestion, sold my horse for a small sum, as he was
pretty well used up, took passage for Portsmouth, and
soon found myself on the canal-boat, headed for Cleveland. On the boat, I became acquainted with a Mr.
Colony, from New York. He was very sick with fever
and ague, and, as he was a stranger, and alone, I took
the best possible care of him, for a time. One day, in
conversation with him, he spoke of the slaves, in the
most harsh and bitter language, and was especially severe
on those who attempted to run away. Thinks I, you are
not the man for me to have much to do with. I found
the spirit of slave-holding was not all south of the Ohio
River,
No sooner had I reached Cleveland, than a trouble
came upon me from a very unexpected quarter. A
rough,.swearing, reckless creature, in the shape of a man^
32

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

came up to me, and declared I had passed a bad five
dollar bill upon his wife, in the boat, and he demanded
the silver for it. I had never seen him, nor his wife, before. He pursued me into the tavern, swearing and
threatening all the way. The travellers, that had just
arrived at the tavern,, were asked to give their names to
the clerk, that he might enter them upon the book. He
called on me for my name, just as this ruffian was in the
midst of his assault upon me. On leaving Kentucky, I
thought it best for my own security, to take a new name,
aud I had been entered on the boat as Archibald Campbell. I knew, with such a charge as this man was
making against me, it would not do to change my name
from the boat to the hotel. At the moment, I could not
recollect what I had called myself, and, for a few
minutes, I was in a complete puzzle. The clerk kept
calling, and I made believe deaf, till, at length the name
popped back again, and I was duly enrolled a guest at
the tavern, in Cleveland. T had heard, before, of persons being frightened out of their Christian names, but I
was fairly scared out of both mine for a while. The
landlord soon protected me from the violence of the badmeaning man, and drove him away from the house.
I was detained at Cleveland several days, not knowing
how to get across the lake, into Canada. I went out to
the shore of the lake again and again, to try and see the
other side, but I could see no hill, mountain, nor city of
the asylum I sought. I was afraid to inquire ivhere it
was, lest it would betray such a degree of ignorance as to
excite suspicion at once. One day, T heard a man ask
another, employed on board a vessel, " and where does
this vessel trade 1 " Well, I thought, if that is a proper
question for you, it is for me. So I passed along, and
asked of every vessel, " Where does this vessel trade 2"
At last, the answer came, " over here in Kettle Creek,
near Port Stanley." " A n d where is t h a t ? " said T.
V 0 , right over here in Canada," That was the sound
for me ; " over here in Canada." The captain asked
me if I wanted a passage to Canada. I thought it
33

NARRATIVE OF LEWIS C L A R K E .

would not do to be too earnest .about it, lest it would
betray me. I told him I had some thought of going, if
I could get a passage cheap. We soon came to terms
on this point, and that evening we set sail. After proceeding only nine miles, the wind changed, and the captain returned to port again. This, I thought, was a very
bad omen. However, I stuck by, and the next evening, at nine o'clock, we set sail once more, and at daylight we were in Canada.
When I stepped ashore here, I said, sure enough, I AM
EREE.
Good heaven ! what a sensation, when it first
visits the bosom of the full-grown man ; one born to
bondage—one who had been taught, from early infancy, that
this was his inevitable lot for life. Not till then did I
dare to cherish, for a moment, the feeling that one of the
limbs of my body was my own. The slaves often say,
when cut in the hand or foot, " Plague on the old foot,"
or e< the old hand ; it is master's—let him take care of
it. Nigger don't care, if he never get well." My hands,
my feet, were now my own. But what to do with them,
was the next question. A strange sky was over me, a
new earth under me, strange voices all around ; even the
animals were such as I had never seen. A flock of
prairie-hens and some black geese were altogether new to
me. I was entirely alone ; no human being, that I had
ever seen before, where I could speak to him or he to
me.
And could I make that country ever seem like home ?
Some people are very much afraid all the slaves will run
up north, if they are ever free. But I can assure them
that they will run back again, if they do. If I could have
been assured of my freedom in Kentucky, then, I would
have given any thing in the world for the prospect of
spending my life among my old acquaintances, where I
first saw the sky, and the sun rise and go down. It was
a long time before I could make the sun work right at
all. It would rise in the wrong place, and go down
wrong ; and, finally, it behaved so bad, I thought it could
not be the same sun.
34

AMERICAN SLAVERY,

There was a little something added to this feeling of
strangeness. I could not forget all the horrid stories
slave-holders tell about Canada. They assure the slave
that, when they get hold of slaves in Canada, they make
various uses of them. Sometimes they skin the head,
and wear the wool on their coat collars—put them into
the lead-mines, with both eyes out—the young slaves they
eat; and as for the red coats, they are sure death to the
slave. However ridiculous to a well-informed person
such stories may appear, they work powerfully upon the
excited imagination of an ignorant slave. With these
stories all fresh in mind, when I arrived at St. Thomas,
I kept a bright look-out for the red coats. As I was
turning the corner of one of the streets, sure enough, there
stood before me a red coat, in full uniform, with his tall
bear-skin cap, a foot and a half high, his gun shouldered,
and he standing as erect as a guide-post. Sure enough,
that is the fellow that they tell about catching the slave.
I turned on my heel, and sought another street. On
turning another corner, the same soldier, as I thought,
faced me, with his black cap and stern look. Sure
enough, my time has come now. I was as near scared to
death, then, as a man can be and breathe. I could not
have felt any worse if he had shot me right through the
heart. I made off again, as soon as I dared to move. I
inquired for a tavern. When I came up to it, there was a
great brazen lion sleeping over the door, and, although I
knew it was not alive, I had been so well frightened that
I was almost afraid to go in. Hunger drove me to it at
last, and I asked for something to eat.
On my way to St. Thomas I was also badly frightened.
A man asked me who I was. I was afraid to tell him a
runaway slave, lest he should have me to the mines.
was afraid to say, " I am an American," lest he should
shoot me, for I knew there had been trouble between the
British and Americans. I inquired, at length, for the
place where the greatest number of colored soldiers were.
I was told there were a great many at New London ; so
for New London I started. I got a ride, with some
8$

NARRATIVE OF LEWIS C L A R K E .

countiy people, to the latter place. They asked me who
I was, and I told them from Kentucky; and they, in a
familiar way, called me " Old Kentuck." I saw some
soldiers, on the way, and asked the men what they had
soldiers for. They said they were kept " to get drunk and
be whipped ; " that was the chief use they made of them.
At last, I reached New London, and here I found
soldiers in great numbers. I attended at their parade,
and saw the guard driving the people back ; but it required
no guard to keep me off. I thought, " If you will let
me alone, I will not trouble you." I was as much afraid
of a red coat as I would have been of a bear. Here I
asked again for the colored soldiers. The answer was,
" Out at Chatham, about seventy miles distant."
I
started for Chatham. The first night, I stopped at a
place called the Indian Settlement. The door was barred,
at the house where I was, which I did not like so well,
as I was yet somewhat afraid of the Canadian tricks.
Just before I got to Chatham, I met two colored soldiers,
with a white man, bound, and driving him along befoie
them. This was something quite new. I thought, then,
sure enough, this is the land for me. I had seen a great
many colored people bound, and in the hands of the
whites, but this wTas changing things right about. This
removed all my suspicions, and ever after, I felt quite easy
in Canada. I made diligent inquiry for several slaves,
that I had known in Kentucky, and at length found one,
named Henry. He told me of several others, with whom
I had been acquainted, and from him, also, I received the
first correct information about brother Milton. I knew
that he had left Kentucky about a year before I did, and
I supposed, until now, that he was in Canada. Henry
told me he was at Oberlin, Ohio.
At Chatham, I hired myself for a while, to recruit my
purse a little, as it had become pretty well drained by
this time. I had only about sixty-four dollars, when I
left Kentucky, and I had been living upon it now for about
six weeks. Mr. Everett, with whom I worked, treated
me kindly, and urged me to stay in Canada, offering me
36

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

business on his farm. He declared ((there was no ( free
state ' in America ; all were slave states, bound to slavery,
and the slave could have no asylum in any of them."
There is certainly a great deal of tttjth in this remark. I
have felt, wherever I may be in the United States, the
kidnappers may be upon me at any moment. If I should
creep up to the top of the monument on Bunker's Hill,
beneath which my father fought, I should not be safe,
even there. The slave-mongers have a right, by the laws
of the United States, to seek me, even upon the top of
the monument, whose base rests upon the bones of those
who fought for freedom.
I soon after made my way to Sandwich, and crossed
over to Detroit, on my way to Ohio, to see Milton.
While in Canada, I swapped away my pistol, as I thought
I should not need it, for an old watch. When I arrived
at Detroit, I found that my watch was gone. I put my
baggage, with nearly every cent of money T had, on board
the boat for Cleveland, and went back to Sandwich to
search for the old watch. The ferry here was about threefourths of a mile, and, in my zeal for the old watch, I
wandered so far that I did not get back in season for the
boat, and had the satisfaction of hearing her last bell just
as I was about to leave the Canada shore. When I got
back to Detroit I was in a fine fix ; my money and my
clothes gone, and I left to wander about in the streets of
.Detroit. A man may be a man for all clothes or money,
but he don't feel quite so well, any how. What to do
now I could hardly tell. Tt was about the first of November. I wandered about and picked up something very
cheap for supper, and paid nine-pence for lodging. All
the next day no boat for Cleveland. Long days and
nights to me. At length another boat was up for Cleveland. I went to the Captain, to tell him my story ; he
'was very cross and savage ; said a man had no business
from home without money; that so many told stories
about losing money that he did not know what to believe.
He finally asked me how much money I had. I told him
sixty-two and a half cents. Well, he said, give me that,

NARRATIVE OF LEWIS CLARKE.

and pay the balance when you get there. I gave him
every cent I had. We were a day and a night on the
passage, and I had nothing to eat except some cold potatoes, which I picked from a barrel of fragments, and cold
victuals. I went to the steward, or cook, and asked for
something to eat, but he told me his orders were strict to
give away nothing, and, if he should do it, he would
lose his place at once.
When the boat came to Cleveland it was in the night,
and I thought I would spend the balance of the night in
the boat. The steward soon came along, and asked if I
did not know that the boat had landed, and the passengers had gone ashore. I told him I knew it, but I had
paid the captain all the money I had, and could get no
shelter for the night unless I remained in the boat. He
was very harsh and unfeeling, and drove me ashore,
although it wras very cold, and snow on the ground. I
walked around awhile, till I saw a light in a small house
of entertainment. I called for lodging. In the morning,
the Frenchman, who kept it, wanted to know if I would
have breakfast. I told him, no. He said then I might
pay for my lodging. I told him I would do so before I
left, and that my outside coat might hang there till I paid
him.
I was obliged at once to start on an expedition for
raising some cask. My resources were not very numerous.
I took a hair brush, that I had paid three York shillings
for a short time before, and sallied out to make a sale.
But the wants of every person I met seemed to be in the
same direction with my own ; they wanted money more
than hair brushes. At last, I found a customer who
paid me ninepence cash, and a small balance in the shape
of something to eat for breakfast. I was started square
for that day, and delivered out of my present distress.
But hunger will return, and all the quicker when a man
don't know how to satisfy it when it does come. I went
to a plain boarding-house, and told the man just my situation ; that I was waiting for the boat to return from
Buffalo, hoping to get my baggage and money. He sai
38

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

he would board me two or three days and risk it. T tried to
get work, but no one seemed inclined to employ me. At
last, I gave up in despair, about my luggage, and concluded to start as soon as possible for Oberlin, I sold
my great-coat for two dollars, paid one for my board, and
with the other I was going to pay my fare to Oberlin.
That night, after I had made all my arrangements to leave
in the morning, the boat came. On hearing the bell of
a steam-boat, in the night, I jumped up and went to the
wharf, and found my baggage ; paid a quarter of a dollar.
for the long journey it had been carried, and glad enough
to get it again at that,
The next morning, I took the stage for Oberlin; found
several abolitionists from that place in the coach. They
mentioned a slave named Milton Clarke, who was living
there, that he had a brother in Canada, and that he
expected him there soon. They spoke in a very friendly
manner of Milton, and of the slaves; so, after we had
had a long conversation, and I perceived they were all
friendly, I made myself known to them. To be thus
surrounded at once with friends, in a land of strangers,
was something quite new to me. The impression made
by the kindness of these strangers upon my heart, will
never be effaced. I thought, there must be some new
principle at work here, such as I had not seen much of
in Kentucky. That evening I arrived at Oberlin, and
found Milton boarding at a Mrs. Cole's. Finding here
so many friends, my first impression was that all the
abolitionists in the country must live right there together.
When Milton spoke of going to Massachusetts, " No," said
I, ( i we had better stay here where the abolitionists live."
And when they assured me that the friends of the slave
were more numerous in Massachusetts than in Ohio, I
was greatly surprised.
Milton and I had not seen each other for a year;
during that time we had passed through the greatest change
in outward condition, that can befall a man in this world.
How glad we were to greet each other in what we then
thought a free State may be easily imagined. We little

NARRATIVE OF LEWIS CLARKE.

dreamed of the dangers sleeping around us. Brother
Milton had not encountered so much danger in getting
away as I had. But his time for suffering was soon to
come. For several years before his escape, Milton had
hired his time of his master, and had been employed as a
steward in different steamboats upon the river. He had
paid as high as two hundred dollars a year for his time.
"From his master he had a written pass, permitting him
to go up and down the Mississippi and Ohio livers when
he pleased. He found it easy, therefore, to land on the
north side of the Ohio river, and concluded to take his
own time for returning. He had caused a letter to be
written to Mr. L., his pretended owner, telling him to
give himself no anxiety on his account; that he had found
by experience he had wit enough to take care of himself,
and he thought the care of his master was not worth the
two hundred dollars a year which he had been paying for
it, for four years ; that, on the whole, if his master would
be quiet and contented, he thought he should do very
well. This letter, the escape of two persons belonging to
the same family, and from the same region, in one year,
waked up the fears and the spite of the slave-holders.
However, they let us have a little respite, and, through
the following winter and spring, we were employed in
various kinds of work at Oberlin and in the neighbourhood.
All this time I was deliberating upon a plan by which
to go down and rescue Cyrus, our youngest brother from
bondage. In July, 1842, I gathered what little money
I had saved, which was not a large sum, and started for
Kentucky again. As near as I remember, I had about
twenty dollars. I did not tell my plan to but one or two
at Oberlin, because there were many slaves there, and I
did not know but that it might get to Kentucky in some
way through them sooner than I should. On my way
down through Ohio, I advised with several well known
friends of the slave. Most of them pointed out the dangers I should encounter, and urged me not to go. One
young man told me to go, and the God of heaven would
40

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

prosper me. I knew it was dangerous, but I did not
then dream of all that I must suffer in body and mind
before I was through with it. It is not a very comfortable feeling, to be creeping round day and night, for
nearly two weeks together, in a den of lions, where, if
one of them happens to put his paw on you, it is certain
death, or something much worse.
At Ripley, I met a man who had lived in Kentucky;
he encouraged me to go forward, and directed me about
the roads. He told me to keep on a back route not much
travelled, and I should not be likely to be molested. I
crossed the river at Ripley, and when I reached the other
side and was again upon the soil on which I had suffered
so much, I trembled^ shuddered, at the thoughts of what
might happen to me. My fears, my feelings, overcame
for the moment all my resolution, and T was for a time
completely overcome with emotion. Tears flowed like a
brook of water. I had just left kind friends ; I was now
where every man I met would be my enemy. It was &
long tinie before I could summon courage sufficient to
proceed. I had with me a rude map, made by the Kentuckian whom I saw at Ripley. After examining this as
well as I could, I proceeded. In the afternoon of the
first day, as I was sitting in a stream to bathe and cool
my feet, a man rode up on horseback, and entered into
a long conversation with me. He asked me some questions about my travelling, but none but what I could
easily answer. He pointed out to me a house where a
white woman lived, who, he said, had recently suffered
terribly from a fright. Eight slaves, that were running
away, called for something to eat, and the poor woman
was sorely scared by them. For his part, the man said,
he hoped they never would find the slaves again. Slaverywas the curse of Kentucky. He had been brought up to
work, and he liked to work, but slavery made it disgraceful for any white man to work. From this conversation
I had almost a good mind to trust this man, and tell him
my story; but, on second thought, I concluded it might
be just as safe not to do it. A hundred or two dollars
D
41

NARRATIVE OF L E W I S C L A R K E .

for returning a slave, for a poor man, is a heavy temptation. At night, I stopped at the house of a widow
woman, not a tavern, exactly ; but they often entertained
people there. The next day, when I got as far as Cynthiana, within about twenty miles of Lexington, I was
gore all over, and lame, from having walked so far. I
tried to hire a horse and carriage, to help me a few miles.
At last, I agreed with a man to send me forward to a
certain place, which he said was twelve miles, and for
which I paid him, in advance, three dollars. It proved
to be only seven miles. This was now Sabbath day, as
I had selected that as the most suitable day for making
my entrance into Lexington. There is much more passing
in and out on that day, and I thought I should be much
less observed than on any other day.
When I approached the city, and met troops of idlers,
On foot and on horseback, sauntering out of the city, I
was very careful to keep my umbrella before my face, as
people passed, and kept my eyes right before me. There
were many persons in the place who had known me, and
I did not care to be be recognized by any of them. Just
before entering the city, I turned off to the field, and lay
down under a tree and waited for night. When its curtains were fairly over me, I started up, took two pockethandkerchiefs, tied one over my forehead, the other under
my chin, and marched forward for the city. It was not
then so dark as I wished it was. I met a young slave,
driving cows. He was quite disposed to condole with
me, and said, in a very sympathetic maniier, " Massa
&ick." "Yes, boy," I said, "Massa sick; drive along
your cows." The next colored man I met, I knew him
in a moment, but he did not recognise me. I made for
the wash-house of the man with whom Cyrus lived. I
reached it without attracting any notice, and found there
an old slave, as true as steel. I inquired for Cyrus ; he
said he was at home. He very soon recollected me ; and,
while the boy had gone to call Cyrus, he uttered a great
many exclamations of wonder, to think I should return.
t(
©ood Heaven, boy ! what you back here for ? What
42

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

on arth you here for, my son ? 0 , I scared for you !
They kill you just as sure as I alive, if they catch you !
Why, in the name of liberty, didn't you stay away, when
you gone so slick ? Sartin, I never did 'spect to see you
again !" I said, " Don't be scared," But he kept repeating, " I scared for you ! I scared for you !" When
I told him my errand, his wonder was somewhat abated ;
but still his exclamations were repeated all the evening,
" W h a t brought you back here!" In a few minutes,
Cyrus made his appearance, filled with little less of wonder than the old man had manifested. I had intended,
when I left him about a year before, that I would return
for him, if I was successful in my effort for freedom. He
was very glad to see me, and entered, with great animation, upon the plan for his own escape. He had a wife,
who was a free woman, and consequently he had a home.
He soon went out, and left me in the wash-room with
the old man. He went home to apprize his wife, and to
prepare a room for my concealment. His wife is a very
active, industrious woman, and they were enabled to rent
a very comfortable house, and, at this time, had a spare
3:00m in the attic, where I could be thoroughly concealed.
He soon returned, and said every thing was ready. I
went home with him, and, before ten o'clock at night, I
was stowed away in a little room, that was to be my prison-house for about a week. It was a comfortable room ;
still the confinement was close, and T was unable to take
exercise, lest the people in the other part of the house
should hear. I got out, and walked around a little, in
the evening, but suffered a good deal, for want of more
room to live and move in. During the day, Cyrus was
busy making arrangements for his departure. He had
several little sums of money, in the hands of the foreman
of the tan-yard, and in other hands. Now, it would not
do to go right boldly up and demand his pay of every one
that owed him. This would lead to suspicion at once.
So he contrived various ways to get in his little debts.
He had seen the foreman one day, counting out some singular coin of some foreign nation. He pretended to take
43

NARRATIVE OF L E W I S C L A R K E .

a great liking to that foreign money, and told the man if
he would pay him what was due to him in that money,
he would give him two or three dollars. From another
person he took an order on a stoie ; and so, in various
ways, he got in his little debts as well as he could. At
night, we contrived to plan the ways and means of
escaping. Cyrus had never been much accustomed to
walking, and he dreaded, very much, to undertake such a
journey. He proposed to take a couple of horses, as he
thought he had richly earned them, over and above all he
had received. I objected to this, because, if we were
caught, either in Kentucky or out of it, they would bring
against us the charge of stealing, and this would be far
worse than the charge of running away.
I firmly insisted, therefore, that we should go on foot.
In the course of a week, Cyrus had gathered something
like twenty dollars, and we wTere ready for our journey.
A family lived in the same house with Cyrus, in a room
below. How to get out, in the early part of the evening,
and not be discovered, was not an easy question. Finally,
we agreed that Cyrus should go down and get into conversation with them, while I slipped out with his bundle
of clothes, and repaired to a certain street, where he was
to meet me.
As I passed silently out at the door, Cyrus was cracking his best jokes, and raising a general laugh, which
completely covered my retreat. Cyrus soon took quiet
and unexpected leave of his friends in that family, and
leave, also, of his wife above, for a short time only. At
a little past eight of the clock we were beyond the bounds
of the city. His wife did all she could to assist him in
his effort to gain his inalienable rights. She did not dare,
however, to let the slave-holders know that she knew any
thing of his attempt to run away. He had told the slaves
that he was going to see his sister, about twelve miles
off. It was Saturday night when we left Lexington.
On entering the town, when I went in, I was so intent
upon covering my face, that I took but little notice of
the roads. We were very soon exceedingly perplexed to

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

know what road to take. The moon favored us, for it
was a clear, beautiful night. On we came, but what
to do at the cross of the roads we did not know. At
length, I climbed one of the guide-posts, and spelled out
the names as well as I could. We were on the road to
freedom's boundary, and, with a strong step, we measured
off the path: but again the cross roads perplexed us.
This time we took hold of the sign-post and lifted it out
of the ground, and turned it upon one of its horns, and
spelled out the way again. As we started from this goal,
I told Cyrus we had not put up the sign-post. He pulled
forward, and said he guessed we would do that when we
came back. Whether the sign-board is up or down, we
have never been there to see.
Soon after leaving the city, we met a great many of the
patrols ; but they did not arrest us, and we had no disposition to trouble them,
While we were pressing on, by moonlight, and sometimes in great doubt about the road, Cyrus was a good
deal discouraged. He thought, if we got upon the wrong
roacl, it would be almost certain death for us, or something worse. In the morning, we found that, on account
of our embarrassment in regard to the roads, we had only
made a progress of some twenty or twenty-five miles.
But we were greatly cheered to find they were so many
miles in the right direction. Then we put the best foot
forward, and urged our way as fast as possible. In the
afternoon it rained very hard; the roads were muddy
and slippery. We had slept none the night before, and
had been, of course, very much excited. In this state of
mind and of body, just before dark, we stopped in a
little patch of bushes, to discuss the expediency of going
to a house, which we saw at a distance, to spend the
night.
As we sat there, Cyrus became much excited, and,
pointing across the road, exclaimed, " Don't you see that
animal there V
I looked, but saw nothing ; still he affirmed that he saw a dreadful ugly animal looking at us,
and ready to make a spring. He began to feel for his
45

NARRATIVE OF LEWIS CLARKE.

pistols, but I told him not to fire there ; but he persisted
in pointing to the animal, although I am persuaded he
saw nothing, only by the force of his imagination. I had
some doubts about telling this story, lest people would
not believe me ; but a friend has suggested to me that
such things are not uncommon, when the imagination is
strongly excited.
In travelling through the rain and mud, this afternoon,
we suffered beyond all power of description. Sometimes
we found ourselves just ready to stand, fast asleep, in the
middle of the road. Our feet were blistered all over.
When Cyrus would get almost discouraged, I urged him
on, saying, we were walking for freedom noi&. u Yes,"
he would say, " freedom is good, Lewis, but this is a hard,
h-a-r-d way to get it." This he would say, half asleep.
We were so weak, before night, that we several times fell
upon our knees in the road. We had crackers with us,
but we had no appetite to eat. Fears were behind us ;
hope before ; and we were driven and drawn as hard as
ever men were. Our limbs and joints were so stiff that,
if we took a step to the right hand or left, it seemed as
though it would shake us to pieces. It was a dark,
weary day to us both.
At length, I succeeded in getting the consent of Cyrus
to go to a house for the night. We found a plain farmer's family. The good man was all taken up in talking
about the camp-meeting held that day, about three miles
from his house. He only asked us where we were from,
and we told him our home was in Ohio. He said the
young men had behaved unaccountably bad at the campmeeting, and they had but little comfort of it. They
mocked the preachers, and disturbed the meeting badly.
We escaped suspicion more readily, as I have no doubt,
from the supposition on the part of many, that we were
going to the camp-meeting. Next morning, we called at
the meeting, as it was on our way, bought up a little extra
gingerbread against the time of need, and marched forward for the Ohio. When any one inquired why we left
the meeting so soon, we had an answer ready : ,{ The

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

young men behave so ba$, we can get no good of the
meeting."
By this time we limped badly, and we were sore all
over. A young lady whom we met, noticing that we
walked lame, cried out, mocking us, " 0 my feet, my
feet, how sore !" At about eleven o'clock, we reached
the river, two miles below Ripley. The boatman was on
the other side. We called for him. He asked us a few
questions. This was a last point with us. We tried our
best to appear unconcerned. I asked questions about
the boats, as though I had been there before; went to
Cyrus, and said, " Sir, I have no change ; will you lend
me enough to pay my toll % I will pay you before we
part." When we were fairly landed upon the northern
bank, and had gone a few steps, Cyrus stopped suddenly,
on seeing the water gush out at the side of the hill.
Said he, " Lewis, give me that tin cup." " What in the
world do you want of a tin cup now 1 We have not
time to stop." The cup he would have. Then he went
up to the spring, dipped and drank, and dipped and
drank; then he'would look round, and drink again.
"What in the world," said I, " are you foolling there for ?"
" O," said he, "this is the first time I ever had a chance
to drink water that ran out of the free dirt." Then we
went a little further, and he sat down on a log. I urged
him forward. " O," said he, " I must sit on this free
timber a little while."
A short distance further on, we saw a man, who
seemed to watch us very closely. I asked him which
was the best way to go, over the hill before us, or around
it. I did this, to appear to know something about the
location. He went off, without offering any obstacles to
our journey. In going up the hill, Cyrus would stop, and
lay down and roll over. " What in the world are you
about, Cyrus ? Don't you see Kentucky is over there ?"
He still continued to roll and kiss the ground ; said it
was a game horse that could roll clear over. Then he
would put his face to the ground, and roll over and over.
" First time," he said, " h e ever rolled on free grass."
47

NARRATIVE OF LEWIS CLARKE.

After he had recovered a little from his sportive mood,
we went up to the house of a good friend of the slave at
Ripley. We were weary and worn enough ; though ever
since we left the river, it seemed as though Cyrus was
young and spry as a colt; but when we got where we
could rest, we found ourselves tired. The good lady
showTed us into a good bed-room. Cyrus was skittish.
He would not go in and lie down. " I am afraid," said
he, " of old mistress. She is too good—too good—can't
be so—they want to catch us both." So, to pacify him,
I had to go out into the orchard and rest there. When
the young men came home, he soon got acquainted, and
felt sure they were his friends. From this place we were
sent on by the friends, from place to place, till we reached
Oberlin, Ohio, in about five weeks after I left there to go
for Cyrus. I had encountered a good deal of peril ; had
suffered much from anxiety of feeling ; but felt richly repaid in seeing another brother free.
We stopped at Oberlin a few days, and then Cyrus
started for Canada. He did not feel exactly safe. When
he reached the lake, he met a man from Lexington who
knew him perfectly ; indeed, the very man of whom his
wife hired her house. This man asked him if he was free.
He told him yes, he was free, and he was hunting for
brother Milton, to get him to go back and settle with the
old man for his freedom. Putnam told him that was all
right.
He asked Cyrus if he should still want that
house his wife lived in. " 0 , yes," said Cyrus, " we will
notify you when we don't want it any more. You tell
them, I shall be down there in a few days. I have heard
of Milton, and expect to have him soon to carry back
with me." Putnam went home, and, when he found
what a fool Cyrus had made of him, he was vexed
enough. <{ A rascal," he said, " I could have caught
him as well as not."
Cyrus hastened over to Canada. He did not like that
country so well as the states, and in a few weeks returned. He had already sent a letter to his wife, giving
her an account of his successful escape, and urging her to
48

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

join him as soon as possible. H e had the pleasure of
meeting his wife, and her three children by a former husband, and they have found a quiet resting-place, where,
if the rumor of oppression reaches them, they do not feel
its scourge, nor its chains. A n d there is no doubt entertained by any of his friends but he can take care of
himself.
H e begins already to appreciate his rights, and to
maintain them as a freeman.
The following paragraph
concerning him was published in the Liberty Press about
one year since :—
"PROGRESS

OF

" Scene at Hamilton

FREEDOM.
Village, N.

Y.

" Mr. Cyrus Clarke, a brother of the well-known Milton and
Lewis Clarke, (all of whom, till within a short time since, for
some twenty-five years, were slaves in Kentucky,) mildly, but
firmly, presented his ballot at the town meeting board. Be it
known that said Cyrus, as well as his brothers, are white,
with only a sprinkling of the African; just enough to make
them bright, quick, and intelligent, and scarcely observable in the
color except by the keen and scenting slave-holder. Mr. Clarke
had all the necessary qualifications of white men to vote.
"Slave. Gentlemen, here is my ballot; I wish to vote.
(Board and by-standers well knowing him, all were aghast—
the waters were troubled,—the slave legions were i up in their
might.')
" Judge E. You can't vote ! Are you not, and have you
not been a slave ]
" Slave. I shall not lie to vote. I am and have been a slave,
so called ; but I wish to vote, and I believe it my right and
duty.
" Judge E. Slaves can't vote.
"Slave. "Will you just show me in your books, constitution, or whatever you call them, where it says a slave can't
vote'?
"Judge E. (Pretending to look over the law, &c, well knowing he was 'used up,') "Well, well, you are a colored man,
and can't vote without you are worth two-hundred and fifty
dollars.
" Slave. I am as white as you ; and don't you vote ?
49

NARRATIVE OF L E W I S C L A R K E ,

" (Mr. E. is well known to be very dark; indeed, as dark or
darker than Clarke. The current began to set against Mr.
E. by murmurs, sneers, laughs, and many other demonstrations
of dislike.)
" Judge E. Are you not a colored man ? and is not your
hair curly 1
" Slave. We are both colored men; and all we differ in is*
that you have not the handsome wavy curl; you raise Goat's
wool, and I come, as you see, a little nearer Saxony.
" A t this time the fire and fun was at its height, and was fast
consuming the judge with public opprobrium.
" Judge E. I challenge this man's vote, he being a colored
man, and not worth two hundred and fifty dollars.
"Friends and foes warmly contested what constituted a colored man by the New York statute. The board finally came to
the honorable conclusion that, to be a colored man, he must be
at least one half blood African. Mr. Clarke, the SLAVE, then
voted, he being nearly full white. I have the history of this
transaction from Mr. Clarke, in person. In substance it is as
told me, but varying more or less from his language used,
J. THOMPSON.

" Paris, March 12,1844.
Martha, the wife of Cyrus, had a long story of the
wrath of the slave-holders, because he ran away, Monday morning she went down, in great distress, to the
overseer to inquire for her husband. She, of course, was
in great anxiety about him. Mr. Logan threatened her
severely, but she, having a little mixture of the Indian,
Saxon, and African blood, was quite too keen for them.
She succeeded in so far lulling their suspicions as to
make her escape, and was very fortunate in her journey
to her husband.
W e remained but a short time after this in Ohio. I
spent a few days in N e w Y o r k ; found there a great many
warm friends ; and, in the autumn of 1 8 4 3 , I came to
old Massachusetts. Since that time, I have been engaged a large part of the time in telling the story of what I
have felt and seen of slavery.
I have generally found large audiences, and a great
desire to hear about slavery. I have been in all the
N e w England States except Connecticut ; have held, I
suppose^ more than five hundred meetings in differen
50

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

places, sometimes two or three in a place. These meetings have been kindly noticed by many of the papers, of
all parties and sects. Others have been very bitter and
unjust in their remarks, and tried to throw every possible
obstacle in my way. A large majority of ministers have
been willing to give notice of my meetings, and many of
them have attended them. I find that most ministers say
they are abolitionists, but truth compels me to add, that,
in talking with them, I find many are more zealous to
apologize for the slave-holders, than they are to take any
active measures to do away slavery,
Since coming to the free states, I have been struck
with great surprise at the quiet and peaceable manner in
which families live. I had no conception that tvomen
could live without quarrelling, till I came into the free
states.
After I had been in Ohio a short time, and had not
seen nor heard any scolding or quarrelling in the families
where I was, I did not know how to account for it. I
told Milton, one day, " What a faculty these women
have of keeping all their bad feelings to themselves ! I
have not seen them quarrel with their husbands, nor with
the girls, or children, since I have been here." " O,"
said Milton, " these women are not like our women inKentucky; they don't fight at all." I told him I doubted
that; " I guess they do it somewhere ; in the kitchen, or
down cellar. It can't be," said I, " that a woman can
live, and not scold or quarrel." Milton laughed, and told
me to watch them, and see if I could catch them at it.
I have kept my eyes and ears open from that day to this,
and I have not found the place where the women get
mad and rave like they do in Kentucky yet. If they da
it here, they are uncommon sly ; but I have about concluded that they are altogether different here from what
they are in the slave states. I reckon slavery must work
upon their minds and dispositions, and make them ugly.
It has been a matter of great wonder to me, also, to
see all the children, rich and poor, going to school*
Every few miles I see a school-house, here; I did not
51

NARRATIVE OF LEWIS CLARKE.

know what it meant when I saw these houses, when I
first came to Ohio. In Kentucky, if you should feed
your horse only when you come to a school-house, he
would starve to death.
I never had heard a church bell only at Lexington, in
my life. When I saw steeples and meeting-houses so
thick, it seemed as if I had got into another world.
Nothing seems more wonderful to me now, than the different way they keep the Sabbath there, and here. In
the country, in summer, there the people gather in groups
around the meeting-house, built of logs, or around in the
groves where they often meet; one company, and perhaps the minister with them, are talking about the price
of niggers, pork, and corn ; another group are playing
cards ; others are swapping horses, or horse-racing ; all
in sight of the meeting-house or place of worship. After
a while the minister tells them it is time to begin. They
stop playing and talking for a while. If they call him
right smart, they hear him out; if he he is ei no account,"
they turn to their cards and horses, and finish their devotion in this manner.
The slave-holders are continually telling how poor the
white people are in the free states, and how much they
suffer from poverty ; no masters to look out for them.
When, therefore, I came into Ohio, and found nearly
every family living in more real comfort than almost any
slave-holder, you may easily see I did not know what to
make of it. I see how it is now ; every man in the free
states works; and as they work for themselves, they do
twice as much as they would do for another.
In fact, my wonder at the contrast between the slave
and the free states has not ceased yet. The more I see
here, the more I know slavery curses the master as well
as the slave. It curses the soil, the houses, the churches,
the schools, the burying-grounds, the flocks, and the
herds; it curses man and beast, male and female, old and
young. It curses the child in the cradle, and heaps
curses upon the old man as he lies in his grave. Let all
the people, then, of the civilized world get up upon
52

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

Mount Ebal, and curse it with a long and bitter curse,,
and with a loud voice, till it withers and dies; till:
the year of jubilee dawns upon the south, till the sun
of a FREE DAY sends a beam of light and joy into every
cabin.
I wish here sincerely to recognize the hand of a kind
Providence in leading me from that terrible house of bondage, for raising me up friends in a land of strangers, and
for leading me, as I hope, to a saving knowledge of the
truth as it is in Christ. A slave cannot be sure that he
will always enjoy his religion in peace. Some of them
are beaten for acts of devotion. I can never express to
God all the gratitude which I owe him for the many
favors I now enjoy. I try to live in love with all men.
Nothing would delight me more than to take the worst
slave-holder by the hand, even Mrs. Banton, and freely
forgive her, if I thought she had repented of her sins.
While she, or any other man or woman, is trampling
down the image of God, and abusing the life out of the
poor slave, I cannot believe they are Christians, or that
they ought to be allowed the Christian name for one
moment. I testify against them now, as having none of
the spirit of Christ. There will be a cloud of swift witnesses against them at the day of judgment. The testimony of the slave will be heard then. He has no voice
at the tribunals of earthly justice, but he will one day be
heard ; and then such revelations will be made, as will
fully j ustify the opinion which I have been compelled to
form of slave-holders. They are a SEED of evil-doers—
corrupt are they—they have done abominable works.

53

NARRATIVE OF MILTON CLARKE.
The Narrative of LEWIS CLARKE was published a year since ;
&nd a large edition—three thousand copies—was exhausted in
less than a year. There is a call for more; and MILTON CLARKE
has concluded to add a few of the incidents of his life, and a
more particular account of the attempt to kidnap him in Ohio.
It is not among the least interesting of the marks of progress in
the cause of Freedom, that now, from Ohio, the assistant kidnappers of Jerry Phinney are calling loudly upon their principles in Kentucky to help them out of prison, where they suffer
justly. This shows that neither Ohio, nor any other Free State,
can much longer be made the hunting-ground of the slaveholders.
J. C. L.
May, 1846.

W H E N I was about six years of age, the estate of Samuel
Campbell, my grandfather, was sold at auction. His
sons and daughters were all present at the sale except
Mrs, Banton. Among the articles and animals put upon
the catalogue, and placed in the hands of the auctioneer,
were a large number of slaves. W h e n every thing else
had been disposed of, the question arose among the heirs,
" W h a t shall be done with Letty (my mother) and her
children V1
J o h n and William Campbell came to
mother, and told her they would divide her family among
t h e heirs, but none of them should go out of the family.
One of the daughters-—to her everlasting honor be it
spoken—remonstrated against any such proceeding.
J u d i t h , the wife of Joseph Logan, told her brothers and
sisters, " Letty is our own half sister, and you know i t ;
father never intended they should be sold." H e r protest was disregarded, and the auctioneer was ordered to
proceed. My mother, and her infant son Cyrus, about
54

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

one year old, were put up together and sold for five
hundred dollars ! ! Sisters and brothers selling their own
sister and her children ! I My venerable old father, who
was now in extreme old age, and debilitated from the
wounds received in the war of the Revolution, was nevertheless, roused by this outrage upon his rights and upon
those of his children.
" He had never expected," he said, " when fighting for
the liberties of his country, to see his own wife and
children sold in it to the highest bidder." But what
were the entreaties of a quivering old man, in the sight of
eight or ten hungry heirs 1 The bidding went on ; and
the whole family, consisting of mother and eight children,
were sold at prices varying from three hundred to eight
hundred dollars. Lewis, the reader will recollect, had
been previously given to that bad and violent woman, Mrs.
Banton. Tt was my fortune, with my mother, brother
Cyrus, and sister Delia, to fall into the hands of aunt
Judith ; and had she lived many years, or had her husband shared with her the virtues of humanity, I should
probably have had far less to complain of, for myself and
some of the family. She was the only one of all the
family that I was ever willing to own, or call my aunt.
The third day after the sale, father, mother, Delia,
Cyrus, and myself, started for our home at Lexington,
with Mr. Joseph Logan, a tanner. He was a tall, lank,
gray-eyed, hard-hearted, cruel wretch ; coarse, vulgar, debauched, corrupt and corrupting ; but in good and regular
standing in the Episcopalian church. We were always
protected, however, from any very great hardships during
the life of his first wife.
At her death, which happened in about two years, we
were sincere mourners ; although her husband was probably indulging for other emotions than those of sorrow.
He had already entered, to a considerable extent, into
arrangements for marrying a younger sister of his wife,
Miss Minerva Campbell. She was a half fool, besides
being underwitted. If any body falls into such hands,
they will know what Solomon meant, when he said,

NARRATIVE OF MILTON C L A R K E .

" Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather
than a fool in his foliy." There are a great many bears
in Kentucky, but none of them quite equal to a slaveholding woman.
I had a regular battle with this young mistress, when
I was about eleven years old. She had lived in the
family while her sister was alive, aud from the clemency
of Judith, in protecting the slaves, the authority of Miss
Minerva was in a very doubtful state when she came to
be installed mistress of the house. Of course, every occasion was sought to show her authority. She attempted
to give me a regular breaking-in, at the age above stated,
I used the weapons of defence " God and nature gave
me ;" I bit and scratched, and well nigh won the battle ;"
but she sent for Logan, whose shadow was more than
six feet, and I had to join the non-resistance society right
off.
It was all over with me then. He dashed me
down upon my head, took the raw hide and ploughed up
my young back, and that grinning fool, his wife, was
looking on ; this was a great aggravation of the flogging,
that she should see it and rejoice over it.
When I was about twelve years old, I was put to
grinding bark in the tannery. Not understanding the
business, I did not make such progress, as Logan thought
I ought to make. Many a severe beating was the consequence. At one time, the shoulder of the horse was very
sore, and Logan complained that I did not take good
care of him. I tried to defend myself as well as I
could, but his final argument was thumping my head
against the post. Kings have their last argument, and so
have slave-holders. I took the old horse into the stable,
and, as I had no one else to talk with, I held quite a
dialogue with old Dobbin. Unluckily for me, Logan was
hid in another stall, to hear his servant curse him. I
told the horse, " Master complains that I don't grind bark
enough ; complains that I work you too hard ; don't feed
you enough ; now, you old rascal, you know it is a lie,
the whole of i t ; I have given you fifteen ears of com
three times a day, and that is enough for any horse ;
56

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

Caesar says that is enough; and Moses says that is enough ;
now eat your corn • and grow fat." At the end of this
apostrophe, I gave the old horse three good cuts on the
face, and told him to walk up and eat the corn. I then
stepped out into the floor and threw in fifteen ears more,
and said, " See if the old man will think that is enough."
Scarcely had the words passed my lips, when I heard
a rustling in the next stall, and Joe Logan was before me5
taller than ever I saw him before, and savage as a cannibal. I made for the door, but he shut it upon me, and
caught me by one leg. He began kicking and cuffing, till,
in my despair, I seized him, like a young bear, by the
leg, with my teeth, and, with all his tearing and wrenching, he could not get me off, He called one of the white
hands from the tanyard, and just as he came in, Logan
had his knife out, and was about to cut my throat. The
man spoke, and told him not to do that. They tied me
and gave me three hundred lashes; my back was peeled
from my shoulders to my heels.
Mother was in the house, and heard my screams, but,
did not dare to come near me. Logan left me weltering
in my blood ; mother then came and took me up, and
carried me into her own room. About eight o'clock that
evening, Logan came out and asked mother if I was alive
or dead. She told him I was alive. I laid there four
weeks, before I went out of the door. Let fathers and
mothers think what it would be to see a child whipped
to the very gate of death, and not be permitted to say a
word in their behalf. Words can never tell what I suffered, nor what mother suffered. I shuddered at the
countenance of Joseph Logan for many months after.
The recollection now makes me shudder, as I go back to
that bitter day.
Such a cruel wretch could not, of course, manage with
much discretion a silly, but high-tempered wife. Their
social intercourse was like the meeting of the sirocco and
the earthquake. She would scorch terribly with her
provoking tongue ; he would shake her terribly in his
anger. Finally, he held her out at arm's length and gave
E
57

NARRATIVE OF MILTON C L A R K E .

her the horsewhip to the tune of about thirty stripes.
She hopped and danced at this, to the infinite amusement of the slaves when we were alone; of course, in
their presence we are very serious. We had good reason
for rejoicing in this flogging, for she was never known to
prescribe raw hide for a slave after that. She soon, however, left her husband and went to live with Mrs. Anderson, where, by her cruelty, she showed her reform was
only temporary.
Then began that series of bitter cruelties by which
Logan attempted to subdue sister Delia to his diabolical
wishes. She was, at this time, some sixteen or eighteen
years of age. At first, persuasion was employed. This
was soon exchanged for stripes
One morning, I was a witness of the torture which he
inflicted. Sister asked me to speak to mother ; I ran and
called her ; she hesitated a good deal, but the shrieks of
her child at length overcame every fear, and she rushed
into the presence of, and began to remonstrate with, this
brute. He was only the, more enraged. He turned
around with all the vengeance of a fury, and knocked
poor mother down, and injured her severely ; when I
saw the blood streaming from the shoulders of my sister,
and my mother knocked down, I became completely
frantic, and ran and caught an axe, and intended to cut
him down at a blow. My mother had recovered her
feet just in time to meet me at the door. She persuaded
me not to go into the spinning-room, where this whipping took place. Sister soon came out, covered with blood.
Mother washed her wounds as well as she could. In six
days after this, sister was chained to a gang of a hundred
and sixty slaves, and sent down to New Orleans. Mother
begged for her daughter ; said she would get some one to
buy her; a gentleman offered to do this, after she was
sold to the slave-driver; but the inhuman monster was
inexorable; this was the punishment threatened, if he
was refused the sacrifice of her innocence.
Sister was therefore carried down the river to New
Orleans, kept three or four weeks, and Ithen put up for
58

AMERICAN SLAVERY,

sale. The day before the sale, she was taken to the
barber's, her hair dressed, and she was furnished with a
new silk gown, and gold watch, and every thing to set off
her personal attractions, previous to the time of the bidding. The first bid was five hundred dollars ; then eight
hundred dollars. The auctioneer began to extol her
virtues. Then one thousand dollars was bid.
The
auctioneer says, " If you only knew the reason why she
is sold, you would give any sum for her. She is a pious,
good girl, member of the Baptist church, tear ranted to be
a virtuous girl." The bidding grew brisk. " Twelve / "
"thirteen," " fourteen," " fifteen," " sixteen hundred,"
was at length bid, and she was knocked off to a Frenchman, named Coval. He wanted her to live with him as
his house-keeper and mistress. This she utterly refused,
unless she were emancipated and made his wife. In
about one month, he took her to Mexico, emancipated,
and married her. She visited France with her husband,
spent a year or more there and in the West Indies. In
four or five years after her marriage, her husband died,
leaving her a fortune of twenty or thirty thousand dollars.
A more just and remarkable reward of sterling virtue in
an unprotected girl, cannot be found in alL the books of
romance.
But I must return to my own story. Soon after the
sale of my sister, the father of Joseph Logan, Deacon
Archibald Logan, purchased his estate in Lexington, and
all his slaves ; mother, Cyrus, and myself, among the
number. I was then valued at one thousand dollars.
Mother, I should rather say, was given away in her old
age to old Mrs. Logan, the wife of the deacon. In three
or four years after this, Joseph Logan came to the house
of his father, sick with the consumption, and died. He
professed to be penitent upon his death-bed, and asked
forgiveness of mother and myself for all the wrong done
to our family.
I was then taken by the deacon for his body servant;
travelled with him, and was often supposed to be his
son.
59

NARRATIVE OF MILTON CLARKE.

I have little complaint to make of the old man, except
that he kept me a slave. Cyrus was put into the tanyard,
and fared very differently. For some reason, the old
deacon treated him with great cruelty.
In 1833, my poor mother ended her sorrows, cut off
very suddenly by the cholera. Our condition was then
desolate indeed. Father had died several years before.
The prospect before us was interminable, lonely bondage. The thought of it sometimes drove us almost to
despair. I soon began to hire my time, by the day, or
week, as I could make a bargain. I was a very good
bass drummer, and had learned to play on the bugle.
The deacon would hire me out to play for volunteers,
that were then and soon after training for a campaign in
Texas. He received three dollars for half a day for my
services. When I found this out, I sold my bugle and
drum. He was very sorry I had sold them ; would have
bought them himself, if he had known I wanted to sell.
I told him, I was tired of playing. We soon compromised the matter, however: I bought my instruments, and was to have half I earned with them. I then
began to lay up money, and had a shrewd notion that I
could take care of myself. I frequently heard the Declaration of Independence read ; and listened with great
wonder to the Texas orators, as they talked about
liberty. I thought it might be as good for me as for
others. I could never reason myself into the belief, that
the old deacon had any right to the annual rent which I
paid for my own body. I then was paying to this old
miser two hundred dollars a year for my time, boarding
and clothing myself. I joined a company of musicians,
and we made money fast and easy by attending balls and
parties.
But before leaving the deacon, I wish to give a few
recollections of his family matters, to illustrate the workings of good society among slave-holders, The deacon
lost his wife about the time of the death of my mother.
He was an elder of the Presbyterian church, and afterwards became a deacon of a Congregational church ; and
60

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

there was a widow named Robb, of the same communion ;
a good name for the whole clan of slave-holding tyrants,
male and female ; they are all robbers of the worst kind.
The good women of the deacon's acquaintance visited
him, and pitied his lonely condition, and hinted, that
Mrs. Robb would be a great comfort to him in his affliction.
The negotiation was commenced, and soon terminated,
to the present satisfaction of both parties. But two old
people, with habits firmly fixed, do not often, like kindred drops, mingle into one. Each one wanted to keep
their household fixings for their own children.
She was younger than the deacon, more artful, and
could easily outwit him. The daughters of Mr. Logan
had come to the house, before the marriage, and carefully marked the bedding. The deacon gave me the
keys of his rooms, and attempted to limit the freedom of
his new spouse in the house of which she was installed
mistress. This produced confusion and abundance of
sparring. She treated her slaves better than she did his,
and this set all the old servants against her. She got to
the old man's closet, drank his wine, and then charged it
to the slaves. We were not long in pointing out to the
deacon the true channel in which his wine flowed. Her
servants were frequently despatched, with buckets of
sugar and coffee, to the daughters of Mrs, Logan. It
was nuts for us to find this out and tell the deacon.
Here wTas new fuel for the fires of dispute that crackled
every day in this habitation of the Patriarchs. They
quarrelled openly ; it was a public scandal; till, one day,
his old withered hand seized the horsewhip and crowned
their bliss with a dozen or two good smart lashes. The
flame was ail abroad, then. Many waters could not
quench the fires of this loving pair. She left him, and
her son-in-law threatened the old man's back with the
cow-skin.
The church interposed and called him to account. He
owned up, as to the whipping ; but justified, under the
plea, that he afflicted the body for the good of the souL
61

NARRATIVE OF MILTON CLARKE.

It would not do. He bought off from his wife, and she
left him. The church excommunicated the deacon. He
made application, very soon, for admission to a congregational church. They would not receive him, till he made
some sort of a confession. He acknowledged the fact,
but plead a good motive—the benefit of her soul. He
was at length received, and presently began to garner the
sanctuary of oppression—a southern church. The house
was soon carpeted ; the pulpit was renovated, dressed in
velvet; a new bell hung, and new life infused into the
waning church, which had just received such an ornament to its virtues and holiness. The unlucky minister
had a little bit of decency, if not of conscience left. He
had opposed the whole proceeding. Educated at the
north, he one day dropped some word of condemnation of
the sin of oppression. This was too much for the deacon. The minister was forthwith dismissed, and a more
supple tool employed. The old man could hardly be
trained to the exemplary habits becoming an office-bearer
of the standard of Zion. Frequent attempts were made
to discipline him ; but the deacon, with his great wealth,,
had such ascendency over the minds of his brethren, that
a vote of censure or suspension could never be obtained.
He lived and died in " good and regular standing," so far
as came to my knowledge or belief.
The only beating that I had, after I came into the
hands of Deacon Logan, was at the instigation of his son
Joseph. Only about thirty lashes were put on by the
public whipper, in the watch-house. I was tied, hands
and feet, and whipped by the servile wretch, who doea
this business at a dollar a head for men—the same for
women.
I did not witness as many scenes of cruelty among the
slaves as many have ; I was usually employed about the
house, and was not in a situation to see what others have
seen. One or two instances I can mention of what I personally knew of the cruelty of slave-holders. Joseph Logan
had a slave, named PrisciUa. She did the work in the
kitchen. One morning, the biscuit came upon the table
02

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

badly scorched. Mrs, Minerva threw them in her face,
struck her with the shovel, then heated the tongs, and
took her by the nose. She raised her hand, to resist the
act of wanton cruelty. Logan was called for, came out,
and knocked her down with a large club ; called in his
men, and had her tied and beaten most unmercifully.
He then put a log chain on her, and compelled her to
drag it for days. She never recovered ; her mind was
destroyed, and she was soon after sold, for little or nothing, as an idiot.
Joseph Logan had another slave, named Peter. The
wife of Peter was the slave of Thomas Kennedy, who
lived forty-five miles from Lexington. Kennedy consented to sell Milly only on condition that, if she was
ever resold, he should have the refusal of her. She lived
with her husband till she had two children, and then her
mistress, Minerva, resolved she should be sold. The
tears and entreaties of her husband, the despair upon the
countenance of the victim herself, were all in vain. She,
with her two children, were sold to Warren Orford, one
of the soul drivers, for twelve or thirteen hundred dollars.
The husband became melancholy, sank down under his
burden, turned to the intoxicating cup, and became a
drunkard.
In the year 1838, I hired my time of Deacon Logan,
for the purpose of going in a steamboat up and down the
Ohio and Mississippi rivers. I was at New Orleans three
or four times before I could find any thing of sister Delia.
At last, however, through the assistance of an old acquaintance, I found where she lived. I went to the house,
but I was so changed by the growth of seven or eight
years, that she did not know me. When I told her
who I was, she was very incredulous ; and, to test
my identity, brought forward a small article of clothing
and asked me if ever I had seen it. I told her it once
belonged to mother. " Ah ! then," she said, " you must
be my brother." She was very glad to see me, and hear
from her brothers and sisters.
63

NARRATIVE OF MILTON CLARKE.

The next summer she visited Kentucky with me, and
spent two or three months. Deacon Logan treated her
with great politeness ; said his son did very wrong to sell
her as he did ; that, if he had then owned the family, it
should not have been done. While in Kentucky, she
advanced the money, in part, to pay for the freedom of
Dennis, and, as soon as she returned to New Orleans, she
sent up the balance.
She also made arrangements with Deacon Logan, to
purchase brother Cyrus and myself for sixteen hundred
dollars.
In the autumn of 1840,1 started to go to New Orleans,
io get the money to pay for Cyrus and myself. When I
arrived at Louisville, I met the sorrowful tidings that sister was dead ! This wras a sudden, withering blast of all
my well-founded hopes of deliverance from slavery. The
same letter that brought the tidings of her death also informed me that she had left her property, by will, to me,
for the purpose of buying myself, and all the family, from
bondage. I was now told that, if I went down and took
the property, my master could claim and take the whole
of it. I went directly back to Lexington, and asked Mr.
Logan to make me free, and 1 would pay him a thousand
dollars, the first money I received from the estate of my
sister. This he said he would not do ; but he gave me
a free paper, to pass up and down the river as I pleased,
and to tiansact any business as though I was free. With
this paper, I started for New Orleans, but could get no
more than sixty dollars and a suit of clothes. The person
with whom it was left, said it was in real estate, and that
he had no authority to sell it. T then began to think that
the day of my freedom was a great way off. I concluded
with a great many other persons in desperate circumstances, to go to Texas. I took boat for Galveston. Here
it looked worse than slavery, if any thing can be worse.
I soon returned, and came up to Louisville. Here I met
three slaves of Doctor Graham, of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, Their names were Henry, Reuben, and George ;
64

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

all smart, fine fellows, good musicians, and yielding the
doctor a handsome income. In the same company were
three others, all of the same craft.
" Now," said I, "boys, is the time to strike for liberty.
f go for Ohio to-morrrow. What say you ] " They
pondered the question, and we all determined to start, as
a company of musicians, to attend a great ball in Cincinnatti—and, sure enough, it was the grandest ball we ever
played for. -We came to Cincinnati, and the friends
there advised us to go farther north. Doctor Graham's
boys struck for Canada, while I stopped at Oberlin,
Ohio. It was well they did, for the doctor was close
upon them, offering a large reward. He reached Detroit
within a few hours after they had crossed the ice to Maiden. He attempted to hire some one to go over, and
capture them ; no one would attempt this. He hired
a man, at last, to go over and hire them to get on a
boat, and go to Toledo, to play for a ball. Doctor
Graham was to be in the boat, when it touched at
Maiden. For some reason, the boys were quite cautious, and very reluctant to go. When the wolf in
sheep's clothing offered them five hundred dollars to
go and play for one ball, they were more suspicious
than ever. When the boat touched at the wharf, the
boys were on the wharf, playing a gipsy waltz, a great
favorite of Dr. Graham's. When the doctor found his
plan did not work, sure enough, he came out to hear his
favorite singers. He landed, and spent several days in
fruitless endeavors to persuade them to return to Kentucky. They still persist in preferring a monarchy to the
patriarchal form of government.
While at Oberlin, there was an attempt to capture a
Mr. Johnson and his wife, residents in that place. They
had once, to be sure, had a more southern home ; but
they believed the world was free for them to choose a
home in as well as for others. Johnson worked in a
blacksmith's shop, with another man. To this individual
he confided the name and place of the robber who had
claimed him in Ohio. This wretch went to another, a
65

NARRATIVE OF MILTON C L A R K E .

blacker-hearted one, named Benedict, of Illyria. Let no
mother ever use that name again for her new-born son.
It was disgraced enough by Benedict Arnold—it should,
with him, be covered in oblivion. But this lawyer, Benedict of Illyria, has made the infamy around that name
thicker and blacker than it was before. He wrote to the
pretended owner of Johnson where he could be found.
In hot haste he came ; but thanks to an honest justice,
his evidence was not sufficient. He returned for better
testimony ; as he came back, he was suddenly grasped
by the hand of death, and died within ten miles of
Oberlin, with an oath upon his lips. Johnson and his
wife broke jail, and were carried forward to Canada.
There were a great many forwarding houses in Ohio, at
that time ; they have greatly increased since, and nearly
all of them are doing a first-rate business.
During the summer of 1841, the emigration to Canada.
through Oberlin, was very large. I had the pleasure of
giving the "right hand of fellowship " to a goodly number of my former acquaintances and fellow-sufferers. The
masters accused me of stealing several of them. This is a
great lie. I never stole one in my life. I have assisted
several to get into possession of the true owner, but I never
assisted any man to steal another away from himself. God
has given every man the true title-deed to himself, written
upon his face. It cannot be blotted entirely out. The
slave-holders try hard to do it, but it can yet be read ; all
other titles are shams and forgeries. Among others, I
assisted a Mrs. Swift, and her two children, to get over
to Canada, where they can read titles more clearly than
they do in some of the states. This was brought up as
a heavy charge against me by Mr. Postlewaite, the illustrious catchpole of the slave-holders.
In the autumn of this year, I was delighted to meet
brother Lewis at Oberlin. The happiness which we both
experienced at meeting each other, as we supposed, securely free, in a free state, may be well imagined.
In 1842, there were nine slaves reached Oberlin by
one arrival, all from one plantation. A Mr. Benningale.

AMERICAN S L A V E R Y

of Kentucky, was close upon them, impiously claiming
that he had property in these images of God ; aye, that
they were property, arid entirely his, to all intents and
purposes, This is not the doctrine taught by a great
many good men in Ohio. These men came to Oberlin.
The next day, Benningale arrived. He lined the lake
with watchmen. B ^ N ^ D ^ C ^ (d°> printers, put that
name in ugly type, if you can) of Illyria was on the
alert ; thirty pieces of silver were always the full price of
innocent blood with him. Benningale, finding they were
hid in the village, threatened to burn the town. The
colored people were on guard all night. They met two
persons, whom they suspected as spies of the kidnappers.
They told them, if they caught them out again, they
should be hung right up, as spies against liberty. The
fugitives were at length put into a wagon, carried to the
lake, and shipped for Canada. The pursuers offered a
thousand dollars for their arrest. No one was found
sufficiently enterprising to claim the reward." They
landed safe upon the other side. Soon after this, there
were seven more slaves arrived at Oberlin. The miserable
Benedict, assisted by the Chapmans, set their traps around
the village. Seven hundred dollars reward was offered for
their arrest. Power of attorney had been sent on to the
traitor Benedict. The slaves were kept concealed, till, as
in the case of Moses, it was no longer safe for them.,
There were six men and one woman in the company. A
plan was contrived to put the kidnappers upon a false
scent. Six colored men were selected to personate the
men, and I was dressed in female attire, to be passed off
for the woman. A telltale was informed that the slaves
would start for the lake at such a time, and go in a certain direction. He was solemnly enjoined not to tell a
word of it, Those who knew him understood what he
would do. The secret was too precious for him to keep.
He ran right to Benedict with it. We left Oberlin in
one direction, and the real objects of pursuit started, soon
after, upon another road. The ruse took ; Benedict and
Company were in full pursuit, with sheriff, writ, and all
67

NARRATIVE OF MILTON C L A R K E .

the implements of kidnapping. We selected one of our
number, George Perry, to act as spokesman for the gang.
Just as we arrived at the village of Illyria, eight miles
fiom Oberlin, Benedict and Company surrounded our
carriage, and ordered the driver to stop. Piatt, the
driver, challenged his authority. Benedict pulled out his
advertisement, six men and one woman, with the description of their persons. Piatt told him he thought they
were not the persons he was after. The traitor affirmed
lie knew they were. The driver turned to his passengers,
and said he could do no more for them. George then
began to play his part: " Well, 'den, 'dis nigger must
get out." We accordingly left the carriage, and were
conducted into the tavern. In the tavern were two
travellers, who were very inquisitive. " Where are you
from ] " George answered, " Don't care where I from."
Benedict, when he began to suspect that all was not
exactly right, came up to me for a more minute examination of my person. I had kept my head and face under
my hood and cloak. He ordered me to hold up my head.
George says, " Let 'dat gal alone, Mr. white man : de
nigger gal plague enough in slave state—you just let her
alone, here, if you please.5' One of the travellers called
for cider ; George stepped up and drank it for him. The
table was furnished for some of the guests, and George,
without any ceremony, declared " 'Dis nigger hungry,"
and swept the table for himself and comrades. The
landlord threatened to flog him. The colored men all
spoke up together. " You strike 'dat nigger if you dare."
At last, they got a justice of the peace ; but he had been
let into the whole secret. Benedict began his plea ; produced his evidence ; said that ungrateful girl (pointing to
me) had left a kind mistress, right in the midst of a large
honing ! ! I The justice finally said, he did not see but
he must give us up to Mr. Benedict as slaves, fugitives
from service. Our friends then gave the signal, and I
threw off my bonnet and cloak, and stood up a man.
Such a shout as the spectators raised would do the heart
of freedom good. " Why, your woman has turned into
68

AMERICAN

SLAVERY.

a man, Mr. Benedict." " It maybe these others, that appear to be men, are all women." Benedict saw through
the plot, and took his saddle without any rejoinder to his
plea. The tavern-keeper ordered us out of the house, and
we took carriage for Oberlin. Meanwhile the real objects
of pursuit were sailing on the waters of the blue lake.
Benedict was terribly angry at me. He swore he would
have me captured; He wrote immediately to Deacon
Logan, that no slaves could be captured there while Milton Clarke was at large.
The slave-holders of Lexington had a meeting, and
determined to send a Mr. Postlewaite, a crack slavebreaker, and a Mr. M'Go wan, after me. They came and
lingered about Oberlin, watching their opportunity. They
engaged two wretches named Chapman, of Illyria, to
assist in the capture. Brother LewTis and I went up to
Madison, Lake county, to spend a few days. We had a
meeting on Sabbath evening, at which we addressed the
people. There was a traitor there named Warner, from
Lexington, who told Postlewaite where we were. Monday morning, my brother and myself rode up to Dr.
Merriam's, accompanied by two or three of Mr. Winchester's family, with whom we had spent the Sabbath.
I sat a few minutes in the carriage ; and a little girl out
of health, the niece of Dr. Merriam, and his own daughter,
came out and wanted to ride. I took them in, and had
not driven a mile when a close carriage overtook and
passed me, wheeled right across the road, and four men
leaped out of it and seized my horse. I had no conjecture who they were. I asked them what they wanted—
"if money, I have only fifty cents in the world ; you arewelcome to that." " W e wants not money, but you / "
The truth then flashed upon my mind in a moment—
" They are kidnappers."
I jumped from the carriage for the purpose of running
for my life. My foot slipped, and I fell. In a moment,
four men were upon me. They thrust my head down
upon the ground, bound me hand and foot, put me into
the carriage, and started for Judge Page's ; a judge pre69

NARRATIVE OF MILTON C L A R K E .

pared beforehand for their purposes. Soon after we
started, we met a man in the road. I spoke to him, and
asked him to take care of the girls in the buggy, and to
tell Lewis the kidnappers from Kentucky had got me.
Postlewaite and M'Gowan took off my hat, and gave me
a beating upon the head. One of the Chapmans spoke
and said, " Now we have got you, my good fellow ; you
are the chap that has enticed away so many slaves ; we
will take care of you ; we will have Lewis soon." They
then took me to Mr. Judge Page. The sheriff of the county
was there. He asked me what I had done that they have
tied me up so close. " Have you murdered anybody 1"
I said, " No." " Have you been stealing ?" " No sir."
"What have you done %" "Nothing sir." " What have
they tied you for, then 1" Postlewaite told him it was
none of his business. The sheriff said it was his business, and, " if he has committed no crime, you must
untie him." He then came up to take off the cords from
me. Postlewaite drew his pistols, and threatened to
shoot him. Judge Page told the sheriff he had better not
touch the gentleman's property. The sheriff said he
would see whose property he was. By this time the
alarm was spread, and a large company had gathered
around the tavern. The sheriff told the people to see
that that man was not removed till he came back. He
went out, and summoned the posse of farmers in every
direction. They left their ploughs, and jumped upon
their horses, with the collars yet on their necks, and rode
with all speed for the scene of action. " The kidnappers
had got the white nigger," was the watchword.
Postlewaite began to be alarmed. He asked Mr. Page
which was the best way for him to go. Could he go
safely to the lake, and take a steamboat for Cleveland ?
"Why, no, the abolitionists watch all the landing-places."
Could he go to Painesville ? " Why, no, General Paine,
a red-hot abolitionist, is there." Postlewaite asked for a
place to take me, where I should be secure. They carried
me to the counting-room of the judge. They then began
to coax. The judge said, " You better go back, Clarke,
70

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

willingly ; it will be better for you, when you get there."
" Did not your master treat you well V asked the very
gracious Mr. Postlewaite. " Yes," I said, " h e treated
me well; no fault to find with him on that score."
" What did you run away for, then ? " " I came, sir, to
get my freedom. I offered him eight hundred dollars for
my liberty, and he would not take it. I had paid him
about that much for my time, and I thought I might as
well have what I earned, as to pay it to him." " Well,
sir, if you had come off alone, the deacon would not have
cared so much about i t ; but you led others off; and now
we are going to carry you back, and whip you, on the
public square in Lexington.''
The judge had appointed three o'clock in the afternoon for my trial, as my friends said they wished to procure evidence that I came away with the consent of
Deacon Logan. In the mean time, Postlewaite & Co.
were full of joy at their success, and despatched a letter
to Lexington, announcing the capture of Milton Clarke,
and assuring their friends there, that they should have
Lewis before sundown. " We shall be in Lexington with
them about Thursday or Friday." This was great news
to the deacon and his friends; but, alas for them, the
result was not exactly to answer to the expectation.
They assembled in great numbers on both days, as I
have been told, and watched, with eager interest, the
arrival of the stage ; but no Clarke, and no Postlewaite,
were in it. Many a triumph has been enjoyed only in
anticipation.
Dinner came on, at length, and I was moved back into
'the tavern. Postlewaite had a rope around me, which he
kept in his hand all the time. They called for dinner for
six—the driver and myself among the number. When
they sat down, I was placed at a short distance from the
table. The landlady asked if 1 was not to sit down.
Postlewaite said, no nigger should sit at table with him.
She belabored him in good womanly style ; told him he
was a thief, and a scoundrel, and that if she was a man,
he should never carry me away. The people; were ga-

NARRATIVE OF MILTON C L A R K E .

thered, all this time, around the windows, and in theroad, discussing the matter, and getting up the steam, to
meet the Kentucky bowie knives and pistols. Postlewaite
sent out, and got a man to come in and watch me, while
he eat his dinner. The people at the windows were preparing to take me out. He watched the movement, and
had me brought up nearer to the table.
At three o'clock, my trial came on. My friends claimed
that I should have a trial as a white man. Kobert Harper pleaded for the oppressors, assisted by another, whose
name is unknown to me. For me, lawyer Chase, and
another, appeared. To these gentlemen, and all others,
who were friendly to me on this occasion, I feel an obligation which I can never express. It was to me, indeed,
a dark hour, and they were friends in time of need.
General Paine arrived about the commencement of the
trial, and presented a firm front to the tyrants. My lawyer asked by what law they claimed me. They said, under the black law of Ohio. The reply was, that I was
not a black man. Postlewaite said he arrested me, as the
property of Archibald Logan, under the article of the
constitution, that persons "owing service" and fleeing
from one state to another, shall be given up to the person
to whom such service is due. He then read the power
of attorney, from Deacon Logan to him, authorizing him
to seize one Milton Clarke—describing me as a person
five feet two and a half inches tall, probably trying to
pass myself off as a white. " His hair is straight, and
curls a little at the lower end." After reading this, he
read his other papers, showing that I was the slave of Logan. He produced a bill of sale, from Joseph to Deacon
Logan. He then asked me if I had not lived, for several
years, with Deacon Logan. General Paine said, if I spoke
at all, I might tell the whole story—that I had a free pass to
go where I chose, (and this was the fact.) The suggestion
of General Paine frightened Postlewaite ; he told me to
shut up my jaws, or he would smash my face in for me.
The people cried out, " touch him if you dare ; we will
string you up, short metre." He then said to me, " D—n
72

AMERICAN SLAVERY,

you ; we will pay you for all this, when we get home."
The anxiety on my part, by this time, was beyond any
thing I ever felt in my life. I sometimes hoped the people would rescue me, and then feared they would not.
Many of them showed sympathy in their countenances,
and I could see that the savageism of Postlewaite greatly
increased it. My lawyer then asked me for what I oived
service to Deacon Logan ; told Harper and Co., if Mr.
Clarke owes the deacon, present his bill, and, if it is a
reasonable one, his friends will pay it. He then asked
me if I owed Deacon Logan, of Kentucky. I told him
no—the deacon owed me about eight hundred dollars ;
I owed him nothing. Postlewaite said, then, he arrested
me as the goods and chattels of Logan. Mr. Chase said,
" Mr. Clarke had permission to come into the free states."
ie
Yes/* said Postlewaite, " but not to stay so long."
Finally, Mr. Chase asked, " Where did Joseph Logan get
his right to Clarke !" On this point, he had no specific
evidence. He then resorted to the general testimony of
several letters, which he took from his pocket. One was
from General Coombs, another from McCauly, one from
John Crittenden, one from John Morehead, Governor
Leecher, John Speed Smith, and, last of all, from HENRY
CLAY. These gentlemen all represented Mr. Postlewaite
as a most pious and excellent man, whose word was to be
taken in every thing ; stating, also, that they knew Milton Clarke, and that he was the property of Deacon A.
ogan. This array of names closed the testimony. Bcb
Harper then made his infamous plea; said, finally, the
judge could possibly do no otherwise than give me up, on
the testimony of so many great names. Judge Page had
received his fee, as I verily believe, before he gave judgment ; and he very soon came to the conclusion, that
Deacon Logan had proved his claim. I was delivered
over to the tender mercies of Postlewaite and Co. Just
as we were going out at the door, the sheriff met us, and
arrested Postlewaite, McGowan, and the Chapmans, for
assault and battery on the person of Milton Clarke. They
were told their trial would come on the next day, at ten
p
73

NARRATIVE OF MILTON C L A R K E .

o'clock, before Justice Cunningham. Postlewaite swore
terribly at this ; said it was an abolition concern. Some
one asked the sheriff what should be done with me. He
said he did not want me—it was. the others that he had
arrested. I was then tied to Postlewaite. Some one
said, " Cut him loose." Postlewaite replied, " The first
that attempts to touch him, I wTill blow him through."
I asked the people if I should be carried back, as I had
committed no crime. They said, " No, no; never."
General Paine said he would call out the militia, before I
should be carried back.
Postlewaite ordered out his carriage, to accompany the
sheriff. He drove me into it, came in with his partners,
McGowan and the Chapmans, and Judge Page. We
then started for Unionville, distant about two miles from
Centre ville, A very great crowd followed us, on every
side. My friends had not been idle ; they had been over
to Jeffersonville, in Ashtabula county, and obtained a
writ of Habeas Corpus for me. Unionville was upon the
border of two counties. The road through it divided
them. The people had fixed their carriages so that ours
must pass upon the Ashtabula side. Soon as the wheels
passed the border of this county, the carriage was stopped,
and the sheriff of Ashtabula demanded the body of Milton
Clarke. The people shouted, came up and unhitched
the horses, and turned them face to the carriage. Postlewaite cried out, "Drive on." Driver replied, " The horses
are faced about." Postlewaite began to be very angry.
The people asked the driver what he was there for, assisting
in such business as this. The poor fellow begged they
would not harm his horses; he did not know what they
wanted him for, or he never would have come. He
begged for his horses, and himself. Postlewate said, if
they meddled with the horses, he would shoot a hundred
of them. The people told him, if he put his head out
of that carriage, he would never shoot again. At this
Stage of the business, Robert Harper, Esq., came up, to
tead the riot act. The people were acting under a charter
l e a d e r and older than any statutes passed on earth,

n

AMERICAN SLAVERY,

Harper was glad to escape himself, or justice would have
speedily been meted out to him. The friends came up to
the carriage, and told me not to be alarmed ; they would
have me, at any rate. Among others in the crowd, was
a huge Buckeye blacksmith, six feet tall. At first, he
took sides with the thieves ; said he wanted no niggers
there. My friends told him to come up to the carriage,
and pick out the nigger, if there was any there. He
came, and looked into the carriage some time, and at last,
pointing to Postlewaite, said, " That is the nigger." The
chivalric Mr. Postlewaite told him no man called him nigger
with impunity, The Buckeye insisted upon it he was the
nigger. Postlewaite told him he lied, three times. The
northern lion was waked up, and he slapped the armed
knight in the face. Postlewaite drew his bowie knife, and
threatened to cut him. The Ohioan asked him what it was.
He said, a bowie knife. " What are you going to do
with it 1 " "Put it into you, if you put your head in
here again." "Ay, ay, you are going to booy me, are
you ? Then I'll booy you." He ran to the fence, and
seized a sharp rail, and said he was going to booy, too.
The sheriff, that had the writ to take me, let down the
steps; and the people called out, "Let us kill them."
The man armed with the rail, began to beat the door,
and told them to let me out. General Paine spoke, and
urged the multitude not to proceed to violence. Judge
Page began to feel quite uneasy, in his new position.
He exhorted me to keep still, or they would kill us all.
The sheriff then gave Postlewaite and Company five minutes' time to release me, or take the consequences ; said
the carriage would be demolished in two minutes, when
he spoke the word to the people. The pistols and bowie
knives were quietly put away, and the tone of the stationary passengers, inside the carriage, very suddenly changed.
Judge Page said, " Better let Clarke get out; they will
kill us, if you don't." The cowardly Chapmans began to
plead for mercy: " You can't say that we touched you,
Clarke." u Yes you did," I told them ; " you all jumped
on me at once*" The people became more and more
75

NARRATIVE OF MILTON CLARKE.

clamorous outside the carriage—those inside more and
more uneasy. They at length were more eager to get rid
of me than they ever had been to catch me. " Get out;
get out, Clarke," rung round on every side of me.
Soon as my feet touched the ground, the rope was cut,
and once more 1 felt free. I was hurried into* a waggon,
and, under the care of the sheriff, driven off toward Austinburg, while the other sheriff took the kidnappers in
another direction into Lake county. They soon stopped
to give me something to eat; but I had no appetite foi*
food, either then or for a week afterwards.
Postlewaite hired a man to follow and watch me. But
my friends soon contrived to put him on a false scent.
It was now dark, and I exchanged seats with a Mr. Winchester, and the watch-dog soon found he was on the
wrong trail. The sheriff that had me in keeping was not
very careful of his charge, and he soon lost all knowledge
of my whereabouts. I was concealed for two or three
days at Austinburg, as lonely as mortal man could well
be. One night I went out and slept upon the haystack
in the field, fearing they might search the house. The
man who owned it came next day to Mr. Austin's, where
I stopped, to know if it wTas so ; said, if he had known
that a nigger slept there, he would have burned the hay
and him all up together. " Let him go back, where he
belongs/'
He then turned to me, and asked me if I had seen that
nigger. I told him I had ; I knew him very well. Mr.
Austin asked him what he would say, if they should come
and attempt to take me into slavery ; why, said he, ci I
would shoot them." His philanthropy was graduated,
like many others, upon nothing more substantial than
«color.
In a few days I had the pleasure to learn that Postlewaile and Company, after a trial before Mr. Cunningham,
had returned to Kentucky. I have since been told they
crept into the city of Lexington as silently as possible/;
that they left the stage before it entered the city, ^n4
went in under the shade of night. When thev were.
70

AMERICAN SLAVE&Y.

visible, the inquiries were thick and fast, " Where are
the Clarkes ? What have you done with the Clarkes ?
Both the little girls in the carriage when I left it, were
thrown out, and one so injured that she never recovered.
She died in a few days.
The citizens called a meeting at Austinburg, and Lewis
and I began to kcture on the subject of slavery. From
that time to the present, we have had more calls for
meetings than we could attend. We have been in eight
different states, and hundreds of thousands have listened
with interest to the story of our wrongs, and the wrongs
of our countrymen in bonds. If God spares our lives, we
hope to see the day when the trump of jubilee shall sound,
and liberty shall be proclaimed throughout the land, to
all the inhabitants thereof.

APPENDIX.
A SKETCH OF THE CLARKE FAMILYBY LEWIS CLARKE.

MY mother was called a very handsome woman. She
was very much esteemed by all who knew her; the slaves
looked up to her for advice. She died, much lamented,
of the cholera, in the year 1833. I was not at home,
and had not even the melancholy pleasure of following
her to the grave.
1. The name of the oldest member of the family was
Archy. He never enjoyed very .good health, but was a
man of great ingenuity, and very much beloved by all
his associates, coloured and white. Through his own
exertions, and the kindness of C. M. Clay, and one or
two other friends, he procured his freedom. He lived
to repay Mr. Clay and others the money advanced for
him, but not long enough to enjoy fox many years the

A SKETCH OF T H E C L A R K E

FAMILY.

freedom for which he had struggled so hard. He paid
six hundred dollars for himself. He died about seven
years since, leaving a wife and four or five children in
bondage ; the inheritance of the widow and poor orphans
1S, LABOR W I T H O U T W A G E S ; WRONGS W I T H NO REDRESS ;
S E P A R A T I O N FROM EACH OTHER F O R L I F E ,

and no being to

hear their complaint, but that God who is the widow^s
God and Judge. " Shall I not be avenged on such a
nation as this 1"
2. Sister Christiana was next to Archy in age. She
was first married to a free colored man. By him she
had several children. Her master did not like this connection, and her husband was driven away, and told
never to be seen there again. The name of her master is
Oliver Anderson ; he is a leading man in the Presbyterian church, and is considered one of the best among
slave-holders. Mr. Anderson married Polly Campbell at
the time I was given to Mrs. Betsey Ban ton. I believe
she and Mrs. Banton have not spoken together since they
divided the slaves at the death of their father. They are
the only two sisters now living in the Campbell family.
3. Dennis is the third member of our family, lie is
a free man in Kentucky, and is doing a very good business there. He was assisted by a Mr. William L. Stevenson, and also by his sister, in getting his freedom. He
never had any knowledge of our intention of running
away, nor did he assist us in any manner whatever.
4. Alexander is the fourth child of my mother. He
is the slave of a Br. Richardson ; has with him a very
easy time ; lives as well as a man can and be a slave ;
has no intention of running away. He lives very much
like a second-hand gentleman, and I do not know as he
would leave Kentucky on any condition.
5. My mother lost her fifth child soon after it was born.
6. Deliah came next. Hers was a most bitter and
tragical history. She was so unfortunate as to be un*
commonly handsome, and, when arrived at woman's estate,
was considered a great prize for the guilty passions of
the slave-holders.
78

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

7. To No. 7 I, Lewis Clarke, respond, and of me you
have heard enough already.
8. Milton comes next, and he is speaking for himself.
He is almost constantly engaged in giving lectures upon
the subject of slavery; has more calls usually than he can
attend to.
9. Man da, the ninth child, died when she wTas about
fifteen or sixteen years of age. She suffered a good deal
from Joseph Logan's second wife.
10. Cyrus is the youngest of the family, and lives at
Hamilton, New York,

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
BY

LEWIS

CLARKE.

The following questions are often asked me, when I
meet the people in public, and I have thought it would
be well to put down the answers here.
How many holidays in a year do the slaves in Kentucky have ?—They usually have six days at Christmas,
and two or three others in the course of the year. Public opinion generally seems to require this much of slaveholders ; a few give more, some less ; some none, not a
day nor an hour.
How do slaves spend the Sabbath ?—Every way the
master pleases. There are certain kinds of work which
are respectable for Sabbath day. Slaves are often out to
salt the cattle, collect and count the pigs and sheep, mend
fences, drive the stock from one pasture to another.
Breaking young horses and mules, to send them to market, yoking young oxen, and training them, is proper
Sabbath work ; piling and burning brush, on the back
part of the lot, grubbing brier patches that are out of the
way, and where they will not be seen. Sometimes corn
must be shelled in the corn-crib ; hemp is baled in the
hemp-house* The still-house must be attended on the
79

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

Sabbath. In these, and various other such like employments, the more avaricious slave-holders keep their slaves
busy a good part of every Sabbath. It is a great day for
visiting and eating, and the house servants often have
more to do on that than on any other day.
What if strangers come along, and see you at ivork ?—
We must quit shelling corn, and go to play with the
cobs ; or else we must be clearing land, on our own account. We must cover up master's sins as much as possible, and take it all to ourselves. It is hardly fair ; for
he ought rather to account for our sins, than we for his.
Why did you not learn to read ?—I did not dare to
learn. I attempted to spell some words when a child.
One of the children of Mrs. Banton went in, and told
her that she heard Lewis spelling. Mrs. B. jumped up
as though she had been shot. " Let me ever know you
to spell another word, I'll take your heart right out of you."
I had a strong desire to learn. But it would not do to
have slaves learn to read and write. They could read
the guideboards. They could write passes for each other.
They cannot leave the plantation on the Sabbath without
a written pass.
What proportion of slaves attend church on the Sabhath ?—In the country, not more than one in ten on an
average.
How many slaves have you ever hnown that could
read ?—I never saw more than three or four that could
properly read at all. I never saw but one that could
write.
What do slaves know about the Bible ?—They generally
believe there is somewhere a real Bible, that came from
God ; but they frequently say the Bible now used is
master's Bible ; most that they hear from it being, " Servants, obey your masters."
Are families often separated ? How many such cases
hare you personally hnown ?—/ never hnew a whole
family to live together till all were grown up, in my life*
There is almost always, in every family, some one or
more keen and fright, or else sullen and stubborn
80

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

slave, whose influence^ they are afraid of on the rest of
the family, and such a one must take a walking ticket to
the south.
There are other causes of separation. The* death of a
iarge owner is the occasion usually of many families being
broken up. Bankruptcy is another cause of separation,
and the hard-heartedness of a majority of slave-holders
another and a more fruitful cause than either or all the
rest. Generally there is but little more scruple about
separating families than there is with a man who keeps
sheep in selling off the lambs in the fall, On one plantation where I lived, there was an old slave named Paris.
He was from fifty to sixty years old, and a very honest
and apparently pious slave. A slave-trader came along
one day, gathering hands for the south. The old master
ordered the waiter or coachman to take Paris into the
back room, pluck out all his gray hairs, rub his face with
a greasy towel, and then had him brought forward and
sold for a young man. His wife consented to go with
him, upon a promise from the trader that they should
be sold together, with their youngest child, which she
carried in her arms. They left two behind them, who
were only from four to six or eight years of age. The
speculator collected his drove, started for the market, and,
before he left the state, he sold that infant child to pay
one of his tavern bills, and took the balance in cash.
This was the news which came back to us, and was never
-disputed.
I saw one slave mother, named Lucy, with seven
children, put up by an administrator for sale. At first
the mother and three small children were put up together.
The purchasers objected : one says, " I want the woman
and the babe, but not the other children ; " another says,
" I want that little girl;" and another, " I want the
boy." " Well," says the administrator, " I must let you
have them to the best advantage." So the children were
taken away : the mother and infant were first sold, then
child after child—the mother looking on in perfect agony ;
and as one child after another came down from the
81

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

auction block, they would run and cling, weeping, to her
clothes. The poor mother stood, fill nature gave way ;
she fainted and fell, with her child in her arms. The
only sympathy she received from most of the hard-hearted
monsters, who had riven her heart-strings asunder, was,
" She is a d—d deceitful bitch ; I wish she was mine ; I
would teach her better than to cut up such shines as
that here." When she came to, she moaned wofully,
and prayed that she might die, to be relieved from her
sufferings.
I knew another slave, named Nathan, who had a slave
woman for a wife. She was killed by hard usage.
Nathan then declared he would never have another slave
wife. He selected a free woman for a companion. His
master opposed it violently. But Nathan persevered in
his choice, and in consequence was sold to go down
south. He returned once to see his wife, and she soon
after died of grief and disappointment. On his return
south, he leaped from the boat, and attempted to swim
ashore ; his master, on board the boat, took a gun and
deliberately shot him, and he drifted down the current of
the river.
On this subject of separation of families, I must plant
one more rose in the garland that I have already tied
upon the brow of Mrs. Ban ton, The reader cannot
have forgotten her ; and in the delectable business of
tearing families asunder, she,, of course would have a
hand. A slave by the name of Susan was taken by Mrs.
Banton on mortgage. She had been well treated where
she was brought up, had a husband, and they were very
happy together. Susan mourned in bitterness over her
separation, and pined away under the cruel hand of Mrs.
Banton. At length she ran away, and hid herself in the
neighbourhood of her husband. When this came to the
knowledge of Mrs. B., she charged her husband to go for
"Suke," and never let her see his face unless she was
with him. " No," said she, " if you are offered a double
price, don't you take it. I want my satisfaction out of
her, and then you may sell hey as soon as you please.'*'
82

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

Susan was brought back in fetters, and Mr. and Mrs. B.
both took their satisfaction ; they beat and tortured poor
Susan till her premature offspring perished, and she almost
sank beneath their merciless hands, and then they sold
her to be carried a hundred miles farther away from her
husband. Ah ! slavery is like running the dissecting
knife around the heart, among all the tender fibres of
our being.
A man by the name of Bill Myers, in Kentucky, went
to a large number of auctions, and purchased women
about forty years old, with their youngest children in their
arms. As they are about to cease bearing at that age,
they are sold qheap. The children he took and shut up
in a log pen, and set some old worn-out slave women to
make broth and feed them. The mothers he gathered in
a large drove, and carried them south and sold them.
He was detained there for months longer than he expected ; and, winter coming on, and no proper provision,
having been made for the children, many of them perished
with cold and hunger, some were frost-bitten, and all
were emaciated to skeletons. This was the only attempt
that I ever knew for gathering young children together,
like a litter of pigs, to be raised for the market. The
success was not such as to warrant a repetition on the
part of Myers.
Jockey Billy Barnett had a slave prison, where he
gathered his droves of husbands, fathers, and wives, separated from their friends ; and he tried to keep up their
spirits by employing one or two fiddlers to play for them,
while they danced over and upon the torn-off fibres of
their hearts. Several women were known to have died
in that worse than Calcutta Black Hole of grief. They
mourned for their children, and would not be comforted,
because they were not.
How are the slave-cabins usually built ?—They are
made of small logs, and are about from ten to twenty
feet square. The roof is covered with splits, and dirt is
thrown in to raise the bottom, and then it is beat down
hard for a floor. The chimneys are made of cut sticks
83

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

and clay. In the corners, or at the sides, there are pens
made, filled with straw, for sleeping. Very commonly,
two or three families are huddled together in one cabin,
and in cold weather they sleep together promiscuously,
old and young. Some few families are indulged in the
privilege of having a few hens or ducks around them ;
but this is not very common.
What amount of food do slaves have in Kentucky ?—
They are not put on allowance ; they generally have
enough of corn-bread ; and meat and soup are dealt to
them occasionally.
What is the clothing of a slave for a year ?—For summer, he has usually a pair of tow and linen pants, and
two shirts of the same material. He has a pair of shoes,
a pair of woolsey pants, and a round jacket for winter.
The account current of a slave with his master stands
about thus:—
ICHABOD LIVE-WITHOUT-WORK, in account with
JOHN WORK-WITHOUT-PAY.

Dr.
To one man's work, one year
Contra, Or.
13 bushels of corn-meal, at fivepence, ...
100 lbs. mean bacon and pork, at three
farthings
Chickens, pigs, &c, taken without leave,
say,
Nine yards of tow and linen, for shirts
and pants, at sixpence farthing ...
One pair of shoes
Cloth for jacket and winter pants, five
and a half yards, at two shillings ...
Making clothes
One Blanket
Two Hats or caps...

£.

s.

d.

20 0 0
s. d.
5

3

6

1

6

1

4
6

6
1

7
4
4
3

6
0
0
1
2 6

Ballance due the slave every year
84

17 14 0

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

The account stands unbalanced thus till the great day
of reckoning comes.
Now, allow that one half of the slaves are capable of
labor; that they can earn, on an average, one half the
sum above named ; that would give us ten pounds a year
for 1,500,000 slaves, which would be seventy-five millions as the sum robbed from the slaves every year ! !
" Woe unto him that useth his neighbor's service without wTages !" Woe unto him that buildeth his house by
iniquity, " for the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the
beam out of the timber shall answer i t ! " " Behold, the
hire of the laborers, who have reaped down your fields,
which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth ; and the cries
of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of
the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the'
earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts
as in a day of slaughter."
Have you ever known a slave mother to hill her own
children ? There was a slave mother near where I
lived, who took her child into the cellar and killed it.
She did it to prevent being separated from her child.
Another slave mother took her three children and threw
them into a well, and then jumped in with them, aud
they were all drowned.
Other instances I have frequently heard of. At the death of many and many a
slave child, T have seen the two feelings struggling in the
bosom of a mother—joy, that it was beyond the reach of
the slave monsters, and the natural grief of a mother over
her child. In the presence of the master, grief seems to
predominate ; when away from them, they rejoice that
there is one whom the slave-driver will never torment.
How is it that masters KILL their slaves, ivhen they are
tvorth so much money ?—They do it to gratify passion ;
this must be done, cost what it may. Some say a man
will not kill a horse worth one hundred dollars, much
less a slave worth several hundred dollars. A horse has
no such will of his own, as the slave has ; he does not
provoke the man, as a slave does. The master knows
^ there is contrivance with the slave to outwit him ; the
85

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

horse has no such contrivance. This conflict of the two
WILLS is what makes the master so much more passionate
with his slave than with a horse. A slave-holder must be
master on the plantation or he knows the example would
destroy all authority.
What do they do with old slaves, who are past labor '1
—Contrive all ways to keep them at work till the last
hour of life. Make them shell corn and pack tobacco.
They hunt and drive them as long as there is any life in
them. Sometimes they turn them out to do the best they
can, or die. One man, on moving to Missouri, sold an old
slave for one dollar, to a man not worth a cent. The
old slave was turned out to do the best he could ; he
fought with age and starvation awhile, but was soon
found, one morning, starved to death, out of doors, and
half eaten up by animals. I have known several cases
where slaves were left to starve to death in old age.
Generally, they sell them south, and let them die there :
send them, I mean, before they get very old.
What makes them wash slaves in salt and water after
they ivhip them ? For two reasons ; one is to make them
smart, and another to prevent mortification in the lacerated flesh. I have seen men and women both washed
after they had been cruelly beaten. / have done it with
my own hands, Tt was the hardest work I ever did. The
flesh would crawl and creep, and quiver, under my hands.
This slave's name was Tom. He had not started his
team Sunday morning early enough.
The neighbors
sai® that Mr. Banton had work done on the Sabbath.
Dalton, the overseer, attempted to whip him. Tom
knocked him down and trod on him, and then ran away.
The patrols caught him, and he was whipped—three hundred lashes. Such a back I never saw ; such work I pray
that I may never do again.
Do not slaves often say that they love their masters very
much 1—Say so ? yes, certainly. And this loving master and mistress is the hardest work that slaves have to
do. When any stranger is present, we have to love them
very much. When master is sick; we are in great trou80

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

Me. Every night the slaves gather around the house,
and send up one or two to see how master does. They
creep up to the bed, and with a very soft voice, inquire,
How is dear massa ? O massa, how we want to hear
your voice out in the field again !" Well, this is what
they say up in the sick room. They come down to their
anxious companions. " How is the old man V9 iC Will
he die V' " Yes, yes ; he sure to go, this time ; he
never whip the slave no more." " Are you sure ? Will
he die V9 " O yes ! surely gone for it now." Then
they all look glad, and go to the cabin with a merry
heart.
Two slaves were sent out to dig a grave for old master.
They dug it very deep. As I passed by, I asked Jess
and Bob what in the world they dug it so deep for. It
was down six or seven feet. I told them there would be
a fuss about it, and they had better fill it up some.
Jess said it suited him exactly. Bob said he would not
fill it up ; he wanted to get the old man as near home as
possible. When we got a stone to put on his grave, we
hauled the largest we could find, so as to fasten him down
as strong as possible.
Another story illustrates the feeling of the slaves on
taking leave of their masters. I will not vouch for the
truth of it; but it is a story slaves delight to tell each
other. The master called the slave to his sick bed.
" Good-by, Jack ; I have a long journey to go ; farewell."
" Farewell, massa ! pleasant journey : you soon be dere,
massa—all de way doivn hill99
Who are the 'patrols ?—-They are men appointed by the
county courts to look after all slaves without a pass.
They have almost unlimited power over the slaves. They
are the sons of run-down families. The greatest scoundrel is always captain of the band of patrols. They are
the off-scouring of all things ; the refuse, the. fag end,
the ears and tails of slavery ; the scales and fins of fish ;
the tooth and tongues of serpents. They are the very
fool's cap of baboons, the echo of parrots, Hie wallet and
satchel of polecats, the scum of stagnant pools, the

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

exuvial, the worn-out skins of slave-holders ; they dress
in their old clothes. They are, emphatically, the servant
of servants, and slaves of the devil ; they are the meanest, and lowest, and worst of all creation. Like starved
wharf rats, they are out nights, creeping into slave cabins,
to see if they have an old bone there ; drive out husbands
from their own beds, and then take their places. They
get up all sorts of pretences, false as their lying tongues
can make them, and then whip the slaves and carry a
gory lash to the master, for a piece of bread.
The rascals run me with their dogs six miles, one
night, and T was never nearer dead than when I reached
home that night. I only escaped being half torn to pieces
by the dogs, by turning their attention to some calves
that were in the road. The dogs are so trained that they
will seize a man as quick as any thing else. The dogs
come very near being as mean as their masters.
Cyrus often suffered very much from these wretches.
He was hired with a man named Baird. This man was
reputed to be very good to his slaves. The patrols,
therefore, had a special spite toward his slaves. They
would seek for an opportunity to abuse them. Mr Baird
would generally give his slaves a pass to go to the neighbors, once or twice a week, if requested. He had been
very good to Cyrus in this respect, and therefore Cyrus
was unwilling to ask too often. Once he went out without his pass. The patrols found him and some other
slaves on another plantation without any passes. The
other slaves belonged to a plantation where they were
often whipped ; so they gave them a moderate punishment and sent them home. Cyrus, they said, they
would take to the woods, and have a regular whipping
spree. It was a cold winter night, the moon shining
brightly. When they had got into the woods, they ordered him to take off his outside coat, then his jacket ;
then he said he had a new vest on ; he did not want
that whipped all to pieces. There were seven men.
standing in a ring around him. He looked for an opening, and started at full speed. They took after him, but
88

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

he was too spry for them. He came to the Cabin where
I slept, and I lent him a hat and a pair of shoes. He
was very much excited ; said they were all around him,
but couldn't whip him. He went over to Mr. Baird,
and the patrols had got there before him, and had
brought his clothes and told their story. It was now
eight or nine o'clock in the evening. Mr. Baird, when
a young man, had lived on the plantation of Mr. Logan,
and had been treated very kindly by mother. He remembered this kindness to her children. When Cyrus came
in, Mr. Baird took his clothes and handed them to him,
and told him, "Well, boy, they came pretty near catching
yoju." Cyrus put on his clothes, went into the room
where the patrols were, and said, " Good evening, gentlemen. Why, I did not think the patrols would be out
to-night. I was thinking of going over to Mr. Reed's ;
if I had, I should have gone without a pass. They would
have caught me, sure enough. Mr. Baird, I wish you
would be good enough to give me a pass, and then I
won't be afraid of these fellows." Mr. Baird enjoyed the
fun right well, and sat down and wrote him a pass ; and
the patrols started, and hud to find the money for their
peach brandy somewhere else.
There were several other times when he had but a
hair-breadth escape for his skin. He was generally a
little too shrewd for them. After he had outwitted them
several times, they offered a premium to any one who
would whip him.
Hoiv do slaves get information of what is doing in the
free states ?—In different ways. They get something
from the waiters, that come out into the free states and
then return with their masters. Persons from the free
states tell them many things ; the free blacks get something ; and slaves learn most of all from hearing their
masters talk.
Dont slaves that run away return sometimes ?—Yes;
there was one returned from Canada, very sorry he had
run away. His master was delighted with him ; thought
he had him sure for life, and made much of him. He
G
80

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

was sent round to tell how bad Canada was. He had a
sermon for the public,—the ear of the masters,—and
another for the slaves. How many he enlightened about
the best way to get there, I don't know. His master, at
last was so sure of him, that he let him take his wife and
children and go over to Ohio, to a camp-meeting, all
htted out in good style, with horse and waggon. They
never stopped to hear any preaching, till they heard the
waves of the lakes lift up their cheerful voices between
them and the oppressor. George then wrote an affectionate note to his master, inviting him to take tea with him
in Canada, beyond the waters, the barrier of freedom.
Whether the old people ever went up to Canada, to see
their affectionate children, I have not learned, I have
heard of several instances very much like the above.
If the slaves were set free, would they cut the throats of
their masters ?—They are far more likely to kill them, if
they don't set them free. Nothing but the hope of emancipation, and the fear they might not succeed, keeps them
from rising to assert their rights. They are restrained,
also, from affection for the children of those who so cruelly
oppress them. If none would suffer but the masters
themselves, the slaves would make many more efforts for
freedom. And, sooner or later, unless the slaves are given
freedom, they will take freedom, at all hazards. There
are multitudes that chafe under the yoke, sorely enough.
They could run away themselves, but they would hate to
leave their families.
Did the slaves in Kentucky hear of the emancipation
in the West Indies ?—They did, in a very short time after
it took place. It was the occasion of great joy. They
expected they would be free next. This event has done
much to keep up the hopes of the slave to the present
hour.
What do slaves think of the PIETY of their masters ?—
They have very little confidence in them about any thing.
As a specimen of their feelings on this subject, I will tell
an anecdote of a slave.
A slave, named George, was the property of a man of
90

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

high standing in the church. The old gentleman was
taken sick, and the doctor told him he would die. He
called George, and told him if he would wait upon him
attentively, and do every thing for him possible, he would
remember him in his will: he would do something handsome for him.
George was very much excited to know what it might
be; hoped it might be in the heart of his master to give
him his freedom. At last, the will was made. George
was still more excited. The master noticed it, and asked
what the matter was. "Massa, you promise do something for me in your will. Poor nigger ! what massa
done for George ?" " 0 George, don't be concerned; I
have done a very handsome thing for you—such as any
slave would be proud to have done for him." This did
not satisfy George. He was still very eager to know what
it was. At length the master saw it necessary to tell
Creorge, to keep him quiet, and make him attend to his
duty. " Well, George, I have made provision that when
you die, you shall have a good coffin, and be put into
the same vault with me. Will not that satisfy you,
George ^ " " Well, massa, one way I am satisfied, and
one way I am not." "What, what," said the old master, " what is the matter with that ? " " Why," says
George, " I like to have good coffin when I die."
" Well, don't you like to be in the same vault with me
and other rich masters ? " "Why, yes, massa, one way
I like it, and one way I don't." "Well, what don't
you like ? " " Why, I fraid, massa, when the debbil
come take you body, he make mistake, and get mine."
The slaves uniformly prefer to be buried at the greatest
possible distance away from their master. They are
superstitious, and fear that the slave-driver, having
whipped so much when alive, will, somehow, be beating
them when dead. I was actually as much afraid of my
old master when dead, as I was when he was alive. I
often dreamed of him, too, after he was dead, and thought
;he had actually come back again, to torment me more.

n

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

Do slaves have conscientious scruples about talcing
things from their masters?—They think it wrong to take
from a neighbor, but not from their masters. The only
question with them is, " Can we keep it from master 1 "
Tf they can keep their backs safe, conscience is quiet
enough on this point. But a slave that will steal from a
slave, is called mean as master. This is the lowest comparison slaves know how to use : "just as mean as white
folks." " No right for to complain of white folks, who
steal us all de days of our life ; nigger dat what steal
from nigger, he meaner nor all."
There is no standard of morality in the slave states.
The master stands before the slave a robber and oppressor.
His words count nothing with the slaves. The slaves are
disrobed of the attributes of men, so that they cannot
hold up the right standard, and there is none. The slaves
frequently have discussions upon moral questions. Sol
and Tom went, one night, to steal the chickens of a
neighbor. Tom went up, to^ hand them down to Sol.
While engaged in this operation, he paused a minute.
"Sol, you tink dis right, to steal dese chicken from
h e r e ? " "What dat you- say, T o m ? " " I say, you
tink him right to steal dese chicken, Sol ? " " What
you come talk dat way, now, for ? Bat quession you
ought settle 'fore you come here." " Me did tink about
it, but want to hear what you say, Sol. Don't you tink
it kind of wrong to take dese here chicken 1 " " I tell
you, Sol, no time for 'scuss dat now. Dat is de great
moral question. Make haste ; hand me down anudder
one ; let us git away from here 'fore de daylight come."
Bo you think it was right for you to run away, and
not pay anything for yourself?—I would be willing to
pay, if I knew who to pay it to. But when I think it
over, T can't find any body that has any better right to
me than myself. I can't pay father and mother, for they
are dead. I don't owe Mrs Banton anything for bringing
me up the way she did. I worked five or six years, and
earned more than one hundred dollars a year, for Mr. K,
02

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

and family, and received about a dozen dollars a year in
clothing. Who do I owe, then, in Kentucky ? If I
catch one of the administrators on here, I intend to sue
him for wages, and interest, for six years' hard work.
There will be a small bill of damages for abuse; old
Kentucky is not rich enough to pay me for that.
Soon after you came into Ohio, did you let yourself to
vjork ?—I did.— Was there any difference in your feelings
tvhile laboring there, and as a slave in Kentucky ?—I
made a bargain to work for a man in Ohio. I took a job
of digging a cellar. Before I began, the people told me
he was bad pay ; they would not do it for him. I told
them I had agreed to do it. So at it I went, worked
hard, and got it off as soon as possible, although I did
not expect to get a cent for i t ; and yet I worked more
readily, and with a better mind, than I ever did in Kentucky. If I worked for nothing then, I knew I had made
my own bargain ; and working with that thought made
it easier than any day's work I ever did for a master in
Kentucky, That thought was worth more than any pay
I ever got in slavery. However, I was more fortunate
than many thought I should b e ; through the exertions
of a good friend, I got my pay soon after the work was
done.
Why do slaves dread so bad to go to the south—to
Mississippi or Louisiana ?—Because they know that
slaves are driven very hard there, and worked to death in
a few years.
Are those who ham GOOD masters afraid of being sold
south ?—They all suffer very much for fear master's circumstances will change, and that he may be compelled to
sell them to the " SOUL-DRIVERS," a name given to the
dealers by the slaves.
What is the highest price you ever knew a slave to sell
for ?—I have known a man sold for one thousand four
hundred and sixty-five dollars. He was a waiter-man,
very intelligent, very humble, and a good house servant.
A good blacksmith, as I was told, was once sold in Kentucky for three thousand dollars. I have heard of hand93

QUESTIONS ANB ANSWERS.

some girls being sold in New Orleans for from two thousand dollars to three thousand dollars. The common?
price of females is about from five hundred dollars to seven
hundred dollars when sold for plantation hands, for house
hands, or for breeders.
Why is a black slave-driver worse than a white one ?—
He must be very strict and severe, or else he will be
turned out. The master selects the hardest-hearted and
most unprincipled slave upon the plantation. The overseers are usually a part of the patrols. Which is the
worst of the two characters, or officers, is hard to tell.
Are the masters afraid of insurrection ?—They live in
constant and great fear upon this subject. The least
unusual noise at night alarms them greatly. They cry out?
" What is that 1 " "Are the boys all in 1"
What is the worst thing you ever saw in Kentucky ?—
The worst thing I ever saw was a woman, stripped all
naked, hung up by her hands, and then whipped till the
blood ran down her back. Sometimes this is done by a.
young master,; or mistress, to an aged mother, or even a
grandmother. Nothing the slaves abhor as they do this*
Which is the worst, a master or a mistress 1—A mistress
is far worse. She is forever and ever tormenting. When
the master whips it is done with; but a mistress will
blackguard, scold, and tease, and whip the life out of a
slave.
How soon do the children begin to exercise their
authority ?—From the very breast of the mother. I have
seen a child before he could talk a word, have a stick
put into his hand, and he was permitted to whip a slave,
in order to quiet him. And from the time they are born
till they die, they live by whipping and abusing the slave.
Do you suffer from cold in Kentucky ?—Many people
think it so warm there that we are safe on this score*
They are much mistaken. The weather is far too cold
for our thin clothing; and in winter, from rain, sleet, and
snow, to which we are exposed, we suffer very severely.
Such a thing as a great coat the slave very seldom has.
What do they raise in Kentucky t—Corn and hemp,,
94

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

tobacco, oats, some wheat and rye ; SLAVES, mules, hogs,
and horses, for the southern market.
Do the masters drink a great deal ?—They are nearly
all hard drinkers—many of them drunkards ; and you
must not exclude mistress from the honor of drinking, as
she is often drunk, too.
Are you not afraid they will send up and catch you,
mid carry you back to Kentucky ?—They may make the
attempt; but I made up my mind, when I left slavery,
never to go back there and continue alive. I fancy I
should be a load for one or two of them to carry back,
any how. Besides, they well know that they could not
take me out of any state this side of Pennsylvania. There
are very few in New England that would sell themselves
to help a slave-holder ; and if they should, they would
have to run their country. They would be hooted at as
they walked the streets.
Now, in conclusion, I just want to say, that all the
abuses which I have here related are necessary, if slavery
must continue to exist. It is impossible to cut off these
abuses and keep slavery alive. Now, if you do not approve of these horrid sufferings, I entreat you to lift up
your voice and your hand against the whole system, and,
with one united effort, overturn the abominations of centuries, and restore scattered families to each other; pour
light upon millions of dark minds, and make a thousand,
yea, ten times ten thousand, abodes of wretchedness and
woe to hail and bless you as angels of mercy sent for their
deliverance.

FACTS
FROM THE PERSONAL .KNOWLEDGE OF MILTON CLARKE.

GENERAL LESLIE COOMBS, of Lexington, owned a man

named Ennis, a house carpenter. He had bargained with
a slave-trader to take him and carry him down the river.
Ennis was determined not to go. He took a breadaxe
95

H I R E D SLAVES.

and cut one hand off; then contrived to lift the axe, with
his arm pressing it to his body, and let it fall upon the
other, cutting off the ends of his fingers. His master
sold him for a nominal price, and down he went to
Louisiana.
A slave named Jess, belonging to Deacon Logan, went
out one Sabbath evening for the same purpose that many
young men have for making calls on that evening. Jack
White, a captain of the patrols, followed Jess, and took
him out and whipped him, in the presence of the family
where Jess was making his call. The indignation of poor
Jess was roused. He sought his way by stealthy steps
at night, to the barn of Jack White, and touched it with
the match. Jess was suspected, and his master told him,
if guilty, he had better own it, and he would send him
down the river to save him from being hung. Jess was
put in jail on suspicion. Deacon Logan sent his slaves
by night ; they got Jess out of jail; he was concealed by
his master for a few days, and then sold for seven hundred
dollars, and sent down the river.

HIRED SLAVES-BAGGING FACTORIES.
IN and around Lexington are numerous factories for
spinning and weaving hemp bagging. Young slaves, from
ten to fifteen years old, are employed in spinning. .They
are hired for twenty dollars to thirty dollars a year, and
their condition is a very hard and cruel one. They have
a weekly task. So much hemp is weighed out ; so much
filling must be returned, all of the right size, and at the
proper time. Want of skill, mistakes of various kinds,
subject them to frequent and unmerited stripes.
An overseer of one of these factories, Tom Monks,
would tie up his poor boys, and give them from forty to
•fifty lashes. He kept them sometimes yoked with iron
collars, with prongs sticking out, and the name of the
owner* written on them. Working in these factories takes
00

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

all the life and spirit out of a young slave, and he soon
becomes little better than an idiot, This is the worst
kind of slavery in Kentucky. When the life is thus
taken out of these poor lads, at the age of eighteen or
twenty, they are sold for Louisiana. Here a short but
bitter doom awaits them.
They are first carried to New Orleans, and put in pens.
When a purchaser comes and inquires of the slave what
he can do, he must make pretensions, of course, to great
skill and ability, or the seller will abuse him. But what
will be his condition with the purchaser, who finds that
he cannot do half the things he promised ? The sugarplanter blames the slave. He came from the bag factory,
but said he was a good field-hand ; could hold plough,
hoe corn, or any other kind of farming work in Kentucky.
He has lied to his present master, for the benefit of his
forme?' one. He atones for it by many a cruel flogging.
When they find one that is very awkward and ignorant,
the master tells the overseer to " put him through for
what he is worth ;" " use him up as soon as you can ;"
" get what you can out of him in a short time, and let
him die." In a few years, the poor fellow ends his labors
and his sorrows.
The bell rings at four o'clock in the morning, and they
have half an hour to get ready. Men and women start
together, and the women must work as steadily as the
men, and perform the same tasks as the men. If the
plantation is far from the house, the sucking children are
taken out and kept in the field all day. If the cabins
are near, the women are permitted to go in two or three
times a day to their infant children. The mother is
driven out when the child is three to four weeks old.
The dews of the morning are very heavy, and wret the
slaves all through. Many, from the upper slave states,
die from change of climate and diet. At the time of
making sugar and molasses, the slaves are kept up half
the night; and the worst-looking creatures I ever saw
were the slaves that make the sugar for those sensitive
ladies and gentlemen, who cannot bear the sight of a
97

H I R E D SLAVES.

colored person, but who are compelled to use the sugar
made by the filthiest class of slaves.
0, how would LIBERTY wash away the filth and the
misery of millions ! Then the slaves would be washed,
and clothed, and fed, and instructed, and made happy.
There is another and very different class of slaves sent
south, When a body-servant refuses to be whipped, or
his master breaks with him for any other reason, he is
sold south. The purchaser questions him, and he tells
the truth. " Can you farm V9 " No sir." " What can
you do V' " Work in garden, drive horses, and work
around the house." "Aye ; gentleman nigger, are you ?
Well, you are gentleman nigger no longer." He is ordered
upon the plantation, and soon acquires skill to perform
his task. Always sure to perform all that is required, he
does not intend to be beaten by any human being. The
overseer soon discovers this spirit, and seeks occasion for a
a quarrel. The slave will not be whipped. A half a
dozen overseers are called together, and the poor fellow
is chained, and whipped to the border of his grave. In a
week or two, the overseer tries his spirit again ; comes
into the field and strikes him, by way of insult, and the
slave knocks him down, and perhaps kills him with his
hoe, and flies for the woods. Then horses, dogs, overseers, planters, lawyers, doctors, ministers, are all summoned out on a grand nigger hunt, and poor Bill Turner
is shot dead at the foot of a tree, and the trumpet sounds
at once a triumph and a retreat.
I expect nothing but there may be an attempt made to
carry me back to slavery ; but I give fair warning to all
concerned, that now, knowing the value of liberty, I prize
it far above life ; and no year of suns will ever shine upon
my chains as a slave. I can die, but I cannot be made
a slave again. Lewis says, " Amen ! Brother Milton,
give me your hand, you speak my mind exactly."

98

PRESIDENT EDWARDS-A TESTIMONY.
ON the 15th of September, 1791, the younger Edwards, then pastor of a church in New Haven, preached
a sermon before the Connecticut Society for the Promotion of Freedom, &c, in which he has the following remarks :-—
" The arguments which have been urged against the
slave-trade, are, with little variation, applicable to the
holding of slaves. He who holds a slave, continues to
deprive him of that liberty which was taken from him on
the coast of Africa. And if it were wrong to deprive him
of it in the first instance, why not in the second ? If this
be true, no man has a better right to retain his negro in
slavery than he had to take him from his native African
shores. And every man who cannot show that his negro
hath, by his voluntary conduct, forfeited his liberty, is
obliged immediately to manumit him.
" I presume it will not be denied that to commit theft
or robbery every day of a man's life, is as great a sin as
to commit fornication in one instance. But to steal a
MAN, or to rob him of his liberty, is a greater sin than to
steal his property, or to take it by violence. And to hold
a man in a state of slavery, who has a right to his liberty,
is to be every day guilty of robbing him of his liberty, or
of man-stealing. The consequence is inevitable, that,
other things being the same, to hold a negro slave, unless
he has forfeited his liberty, is a greater sin than concubinage and fornication,
" To convince yourselves that, your information being
the same, to hold a negro slave is a greater sin than fornication, theft, or robbery, you need only bring the matter
home to yourselves. I am willing to appeal to your own
consciousness, whether you would not judge it to be a
greater sin for a man to hold you or your children, during
99

P R E S I D E N T E D W A R D S . — A TESTIMONY.

life, in such slavery as that of the negroes, than for him to
indulge in one instance of licentious conduct, or in one
instance to steal or rob. Let conscience speak, and I will
submit to its decision."
If the above remarks were correct in 1791, can they be
wrong in 1846 1 If our good divines were coirect in
calling slave-holders man-stealers, and slave-holding a
greater sin in the sight of God than concubinage and fornication, what must we think of the moral state or the
heart of those modern D. D's, who are willing to receive
slave-holders into the church of God, and are ready to
weave out of their own hearts a theological fiction, to
palliate the enormous evil ? Alas ! C. M. Clay is right,
when he says, " The disease is of the heart, and not of the
head" We tell you, brothers, that the American people
know well enough that the bloody stain is upon them—
but they love its taint ! If we can't arouse the conscience,
and ennoble the heart, our labour is lost. A seared conscience and a heart hardened by sin—these are the grand
supporters of slavery in and out of the church. How can.
these giants be subdued ?—From the Charter Oak.

100

AMERICAN SLAVERY AS IT IS :
TESTIMONY OF

A THOUSAND WITNESSES.
The following extracts are from a work entitled AMERICAN
SLAVERY AS IT IS I TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES, published by the American anti-slavery society.
It must be borne in mind that the number at present in
slavery in America is THREE MILLIONS or upwards. Of these
three millions of our fellow-men, the work before me speaks as
follows:

* We are about to show that the slaves in the United
States are treated with barbarous inhumanity ; that they
are overworked, underfed, wretchedly clad and lodged,
and have insufficient sleep ; that they are often made to
wear round their necks iron collars armed with prongs,
to drag heavy chains and weights at their feet while
working in the field, and to wear yokes and bells, and
iron horns ; that they are often kept confined in the
stocks day and night for weeks together, made to wear
gags in their mouths for hours or days, have some of
their front teeth torn out or broken off, that they may
be easily detected when they run away ; that they are
frequently flogged with terrible severity, have red pepper
rubbed into their lacerated flesh, and hot brine, spirits
of turpentine, &c, poured over the gashes to increase the
torture ; that they are often stripped naked, their backs
and limbs cut with knives, bruised and mangled by scores
and hundreds of blows with the paddle, and terribly torn
by the claws of cats, drawn over them by their tormentors ; that they are often hunted with blood-hounds and
shot down like beasts, or torn in pieces by dogs ; that
they are often suspended by the arms and whipped and
beaten till they faint, and when revived by restoratives,
beaten again till they faint, and sometimes till they die ;
that their ears are often cut off, their eyes knocked out,
101

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

their bones broken, their flesh branded with red hot
irons ; that they are maimed, mutilated and burned to
death over slow fires. All these things, and more, and
worse, we shall prove. Reader, we know whereof we
affirm, we have weighed it well ; more and worse W E
WILL PROVE. Mark these words, and read on ; we
will establish all these facts by the testimony of scores
and hundreds of eye witnesses, by the testimony of slaveholders in all parts of the slave states, by slave-holding
members of Congress and of state legislatures, by ambassadors to foreign courts, by judges, by doctors of divinity, and clergymen of all denominations, by merchants, mechanics, lawyers and physicians, by presidents
and professors in colleges and professional seminaries, by
planters, overseers and drivers. We shall show, not
merely that such deeds are committed, but that they are
frequent; not done in corners, but before the sun ; not
in one of the slave states, but in all of them; not perpetrated by brutal overseers and drivers merely, but by
magistrates, by legislators, by professors of religion, by
preachers of the gospel, by governors of states, by " gentlemen of property and standing," and by delicate females moving in the " highest circles of society."
Of the witnesses whose testimony is embodied in the
following pages, a majority are slave-holders, many of
the remainder have been slave-holders, but now reside in
free States.
Another class whose testimony will be given, consists
of those who have furnished the results of their own observation during periods of residence and travel in the
slave States.
We will first present the reader with a few PERSONAL
NARRATIVES furnished by individuals, natives of slave
states and others, embodying, in the main, the results of
their own observation in the midst of slavery—facts and
scenes of which they were eye witnesses.
In the next place, to give the reader as clear and
definite a view of the actual condition of slaves as possible, we propose to make specific points ; to pass in re102

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

view the various particulars in the slave's condition,
simply presenting sufficient testimony under each head to
settle the question in every candid mind. The examination will be conducted by stating distinct propositions,
and in the following order of topics :
1. THE FOOD OF THE SLAVES, THE KINDS, QUALITY AND
QUANTITY, ALSO, THE NUMBER AND TIME OF MEALS EACH
DAY, & C .

2.
3.
4.
5.

THEIR
THEIR
THEIR
THEIR

HOURS OF LABOR AND REST.
CLOTHING.
DWELLINGS.
PRIVATIONS AND INFLICTIONS.

6. In conclusion, a variety of OBJECTIONS and ARGU-

MENTS will be considered which are used by the advocates of slaveryy to set aside the force of testimony, and
to show that the slaves are kindly treated.
Between the larger divisions of the work, brief personal narratives will be inserted, containing a mass of
facts and testimony, both general and specific.
PERSONAL NARRATIVES.
MR. NEHEMITH CAULKINS, of Waterford, New Lon-

don Co., Connecticut, has furnished the Executive Committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society, with the
following statements relative to the condition and treatment of slaves, in the south eastern part of North Carolina. Most of the facts related by Mr. Caulkins fell under his personal observation. The air of candor and
honesty that pervades the narrative, the manner in which
Mr. C.,has drawn it up, the good sense, just views, conscience and heart which it exhibits, are sufficient of themselves to commend it to all who have ears to hear.
Mr. Dwight P. Janes, a member of the Second Congregational Church in the city of New London, in a recent letter, says ;
" Mr. Caulkins is a member of the Baptist Church in
Waterford, and in every respect a very worthy citizen.
I have labored with him in the Sabbath School, and
Jknow him to be a man of active piety. The most entire
103

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

confidence may be placed in the truth of his statements.
Where he is known, no one will call them in question."
NARRATIVE OF MR. CAULKINS.
I feel it my duty to tell some things that I know
about slavery, in order, if possible, to awaken more feeling at the North in behalf of the slave. The treatment
of the slaves on the plantations where I had the greatest
opportunity of getting knowledge, was not so bad as that
on some neighboring estates, where the owners were
noted for their cruelty. There were, however, other
estates in the vicinity, where the treatment was better ;
the slaves were better clothed and fed, were not worked
so hard, and more attention was paid to their quarters.
The scenes that I have witnessed are enough to harrow up the soul ; but could the slave be permitted to
tell the story of his sufferings, which no white man, not
linked with slavery, is allowed to know, the land would
vomit out the horrible system, slave-holders and all, if
they would not unclinch their grasp upon their defenceless victims.
I spent eleven winters, between the years 1824 and
1835, in the state of North Carolina, mostly in the
vicinity of Wilmington ; and four out of the eleven on
the estate of Mr. John Swan, five or six miles from that
place. There were on his plantation about seventyslaves, male and female : some were married, and others
lived together as man and wife, without even a mock
ceremony. With their owners generally, it is a matter
of indifference ; the marriage of slaves not being recognized by the slave code. The slaves, however, think
much of being married by a clergyman.
The cabins or huts of the slaves were small, and were
built principally by the slaves themselves, as they could
find time on Sundays and moonlight nights. They went
into the swamps, cut the logs, backed or hauled them to
the quarters, and put up their cabins.
When I first knew Mr. Swan's plantation, his overseer was a man who had been a Methodist minister.
104

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

He treated the slaves with great cruelty. This man continued on the plantation about three years ; at the close
of which, on settlement of accounts, Mr. Swan owed
him about four hundred dollars, for which he gave him a
snegro woman, and about twenty acres of land. He
built a log hut, and took the woman to live with him ;
since which, I have been at his hut, and seen four or
five mulatto children. He has been appointed a justice of the peace, and his place as overseer was afterwards
occupied by a Mr. Galloway.
Tt is customary in that part of the country, to let the
hogs run in the woods. On one occasion a slave caught
a pig about two months old, which he carried to his
quarters. The overseer, getting information of the fact,
went to the field where he was at work, and ordered
him to come to him. The slave at once suspected it was
something about the pig, and fearing punishment, dropped
his hoe and ran for the woods. He had got but a few
rods, when the overseer raised his gun, loaded with
duck shot, and brought him down. He was taken up
by the slaves and carried to the plantation hospital, and
the physician sent for. A physician was employed by
the year to take care of the sick or wounded slaves. In
about six weeks this slave got better, and was able to
come out of the hospital. He came to the mill where I
was at work, and asked me to examine his body, which
I did, and counted twenty-six duck shot still remaining
in his flesh, though the doctor had removed a number
while he was laid up.
There was a slave on Mr. Swan's plantation, by the
name of Harry, who, during the absence of his master,
ran away and secreted himself in the woods. This the
slaves sometimes do, when the master is absent for
several weeks, to escape the cruel treatment of the overseer. It is common for them to make preparations, by
secreting a mortar, a hatchet, some cooking utensils,
and whatever things they can get that will enable them
* It is a common practice for overseers to go into the field
armed with a gun or pistol, and sometimes both,
H
106

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

to live while they are in the woods or swamps. Harry
staid about three months, and lived by robbing the rice
grounds, and by such other means as came in his way.
The slaves generally know where the runaway is secreted,
and visit him at night and on Sundays. On the return
of his master, some of the slaves were sent for Harry.
When he came home he was seized and confined in the
stocks. The stocks were built in the barn, and consisted
of two heavy pieces of timber, ten or more feet in length,
and about seven inches wide ; the lower one, on the
floor, has a number of holes or places cut in it, for the
ancles ; the upper piece, being of the same dimensions^
is fastened at one end by a hinge, and is brought down
after the ancles are placed in the holes, and secured by
a clasp and padlock at the other end. In this manner
the person is left to sit on the floor. Harry was kept in
the stocks day and night for a weeh, and flogged every
morning. After this, he was taken out one morning, a
log chain fastened around his neck, the two ends dragging on the ground, and sent to the field, to do his
task with the other slaves. At night he was again put
in the stocks, in the morning he was sent to the field in
the same manner, and thus dragged out another week.
The overseer was a very miserly fellow, and restricted
his wife in what are considered the comforts of life—
such as tea, sugar, &c. To make up for this, she set
her wits to work, and, by the help of a slave, named
Joe, used to take from the plantation whatever she
could conveniently, and watch her opportunity during
her husband's absence, and send Joe to sell them and
buy for her such things as she directed. Once when her
husband was away, she told Joe to kill and dress one of
the pigs, sell it, and get her some tea, sugar, &c. Joe
did as he was bid, and she gave him the offal for his
services. When Galloway returned, not suspecting his
wife, he asked her if she knew what had become of his
pig. She told him she suspected one of the slaves,
naming him, had stolen it, for she had heard a pig
squeal the evening before. The overseer called the slave

m

AMERICAN SLAVERY,

up, and charged him with the theft. He denied it, and
said he knew nothing about it. The overseer still
charged him with it, and told him he would give him
one week to think of it, and if he did not confess the
theft, or find out who did steal the pig, he would flog
every negro on the plantation ; before the week was up
it was ascertained that Joe had killed the pig. He was
called up and questioned, and admitted that he had done
so, and told the overseer that he did it by the order of
Mrs. Galloway, and that she directed him to buy some
sugar, &c. with the money, Mrs. Galloway gave Joe
the lie ; and he was terribly flogged. Joe told me he
had been several times to the smoke-house with Mrs. G.
and taken hams and sold them, which her husband told
me he supposed were stolen by the negroes on a neighboring plantation. Mr. Swan, hearing of the circumstance, told me he believed Joe's story, but that his
statement would not be taken as proof; and if every
slave on the plantation told the same story it could not
be received as evidence against a white person.
To show the manner in which old and worn-out slaves
are sometimes treated, I will state a fact. Galloway
owned a man about seventy years of age. The old man
was sick and went to his hut; laid himself down on
some straw with his feet to the fire, covered by a piece
of an old blanket, and there lay four or Rye days, groaning in great distress, without any attention being paid
him by his master, until death ended his miseries ; he
was then taken out and buried with as little ceremony
and respect as would be paid to a brute.
There is a practice prevalent among the planters, of
letting a negro off from severe and long continued punishment on account of the intercession of some white
person, who pleads in his behalf, that he believes the
negro will behave better, that he promises well, and
he believes he will keep his promise, &c. The planters
sometimes get tired of punishing a negro, and wanting
his services in the field, they get some white person
to come, and, in the presence of the slave, intercede
107

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

for him. At one time a negro, named Charles, was
confined in the stocks in the building where I was at
work, and had been severely whipped several times.
He begged me to intercede for him and try to get him
released. T told him I would ; and when his master
came in to whip him again, 1 went up to him and told
him I had been talking with Charles, and he had promised to behave better, &c, and requested him not to
punish him any more, but to let him go. He then said
to Charles, "As Mr. Caulkins has been pleading for
you, I will let you go on his account; and accordingly
released him.
Women are generally shown some little indulgence for
three or four weeks previous to childbirth; they are
at such times not often punished if they do not finish the
task assigned them; it is, in some cases, passed over with
a severe reprimand, and sometimes without any notice
being taken of it. They are generally allowed four wTeeks
after the birth of a child, before they are compelled to go
into the field ; they then take the child with them, attended sometimes by a little girl or boy, from the age of
four to six, to take care of it while the mother is at work.
When there is no child that can be spared, or not young
enough for this service, the mother, after nursing, lays it
under a tree, or by the side of a fence, and goes to her
task, returning at stated intervals to nurse it. While I
was on this plantation, a little negro girl, six years of age,
destroyed the life of a child about two months old, which
was left in her care. It seems this little nurse, so called,
got tired of her charge and the labor of carrying it to the
quarters at night, the mother being obliged to work as
long as she could see. One evening she nursed the infant
at sunset as usual, and sent it to the quarters. The little
girl, on her way home, had to cross a run, or brook, which
led down into the swamp ; when she came to the brook
she followed it into the swamp, then took the infant and
plunged it head foremost into the water and mud, where
it stuck fast ; she there left it and went to the negro
quarters. When the mother came in from the field, she
108

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

asked the girl where the child was ; she told her she had
brought it home, but did not know where it was ; the
overseer was immediately informed, search was made, and
it was found as above stated, and dead. The little girl
was shut up in the barn, and confined there two or three
weeks, when a speculator came along and bought her for
two hundred dollars.
The slaves are obliged to work from daylight till dark,
as -long as they can see. When they have tasks assigned,
which is often the case, a few of the strongest and most
expert, sometimes finish them before sunset; others will
be obliged to work till eight or nine o'clock in the evening. All must finish their tasks or take a flogging. The
whip and gun, or pistol, are companions of the overseer ;
the former he uses very frequently upon the negroes,
during the hours of labor, without regard to age or sex.
Scarcely a day passed while I was on the plantation, in
which some of the slaves were not whipped ; I do not
mean that they were struck a few bloi&s merely, but had
a set flogging, The same labor is commonly assigned to
men and women,—such as digging ditches in the rice
marshes, clearing up land, chopping cord-wood, threshing,
&c. T have known the women go into the barn as soon
as they could see in the morning, and work as late as they
could see at night, threshing rice with the flail, (they now
have a thrashing machine,) and when they could see to
thresh no longer, they had to gather up the rice, carry it
up stairs, and deposit it in the granary.
The allowance of clothing on this plantation to each
slave, was given out at Christmas for the year, and consisted of one pair of coarse shoes, and enough coarse cloth
to make a jacket and trowsers. If the man has a wife
she makes it up ; if not, it is made up in the house.
The slaves on this plantation, being near Wilmington,
procured themselves extra clothing by working Sundays
and moonlight nights, cutting coi d-wood in the swamps,
which they had to back about a quarter of a mile to the
river ; they would then get a permit from their master,
and taking the wood in their canoes, carry it to Wil109

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

mington, and sell it to the vessels, or dispose of it as they
best could, and with the money buy an old jacket of the
sailors, some coarse cloth for a shirt, &c. They sometimes gather the moss from the trees, which they cleanse
and take to market. The women receive their allowance
of the same kind of cloth which the men have. This
they make into a frock ; if they have any under garments
they must procure them for themselves. When the slaves
get a permit to leave the plantation, they sometimes make
all ring again by singing the following significant ditty,
which shows that after all there is a flow of spirits in the
human breast which for a while, at least, enables them to
forget their wretchedness.*
Hurra, for good ole Massa,
He giv me de pass to go to de city,
Hurra, for good ole Missis,
She bile de pot, and giv me de licker.
Hurra, I'm going to de city.
Every Saturday night the slaves receive their allowance
of provisions, which must last them till the next Saturday
slight. " Potatoe time," as it is called, begins about the
middle of July. The slave may measure for himself, the
overseer being present, half a bushel of sweet potatoes,f
and heap the measure as long as they will lie on; I have,
however, seen the overseer, if he think the negro is getting
too many, kick the measure ; and if any fall off, tell him
he has got his measure. No salt is furnished them to
eat with their potatoes. When rice or corn is given,
they give them a little salt; sometimes half a pint of
molasses is given, but not often. The quantity of rice,
which is of the small, broken, unsaleable kind, is one
* Slaves sometimes sing, and so do convicts in jails under
sentence, and both for the same reason. Their singing proves
that they want to be happy, not that they are so. It is the
means that they use to make themselves happy, not the evidence
that they are so already. Sometimes, doubtless, the excitement
of song whelms their misery in momentary oblivion. He who
argues from this that they have no conscious misery to forget,
knows as little of human nature as of slavery.—EDITOR.
f As many as an Irishman eats in two days.
110

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

peck. When corn is given them, their allowance is the
same, and if they get it ground, (Mr. Swan had a mill on
his plantation,) they must give one quart for grinding,
thus reducing their weekly allowance to seven quarts.
When fish (mullet) were plenty, they were allowed, in
addition, one fish. As to meat, they seldom had any, I
do not think they had an allowance of meat oftener than
once in two or three months, and then the quantity was
very small. When they went into the field to work, they
took some of the meal or rice and a pot with them; the
pots were given to an old woman, who placed two poles
parallel, set the pots on them, and kindled a fire underneath for cooking ; she took salt with her and seasoned
the messes as she thought proper. When their breakfast
was ready, which was generally about ten or eleven
o'clock, they were called from labour, ate, and returned
to work; in the afternoon, dinner was prepared in the
same way. They had but two meals a day while in the
field ; if they wanted more, they cooked for themselves
after they returned to their quarters at night. At the
time of killing hogs on the plantation, the pluck,
ENTRAILS, and blood were given to the slaves.
When I first went upon Mr. Swan's plantation, I saw
a slave in shakles or fetters, which were fastened around
each ancle and firmly riveted, connected together by a
chain. To the middle of this chain he had fastened a
string, so as in a manner to suspend the shackles and
keep them from galling his ankles. The slave, whose
name was Frank; was an intelligent, good looking man,
and a very good mechanic. There was nothing vicious in
his character, but he was one of those high-spirited and
daring men, that whips, chains, fetters, and all the means
of cruelty in the power of slavery, could not subdue. Mr.
S. had employed a Mr. Beckwith to repair a boat, and
told him Frank was a good mechanic, and he might have
his services. Frank was sent for, his shackles still on*
Mr. Beckwith set him to work making trunnels, &c. I
was employed in putting up a building, and after Mr.
Beckwith had done with Frank, he was sent for to assist
111

TESTIMONY OM A THOUSAND WJXNKSSEo,

me, Mr. Swan sent liim to a blacksmith's shop, and
had his shackles cut of? with a cold chisel. Frank was
afterwards sold to a cotton planter.
I will relate one circumstance, which shows the littleregard that is paid to the feelings of the slave. During
the time that Mr. Isaiah Bogers was superintending the
building of a rice machine, one of the slaves complained
of a severe toothache. Swan asked Mr. Eogers to take
his hammer and knock out the tooth.
There was a slave on the plantation named Ben. a,
waiting man. I occupied a room in the same hut, and
had frequent conversations with him. Ben was a kindhearted man, and, I believe, a Christian ; he would
always ask a blessing before he sat down to eat, and was>
in the constant practice of praying morning and night.—
One day when I was at the hut, Ben was sent for to go
to the house. Ben sighed deeply and went. He soon,
returned with a girl about seventeen years of age, whom
one of Mr. Swan's daughters had oidered him to flog*
He brought her into the room where I was, and told her
to stand there while he went into the next room: I heard
him groan again as he went. While there I heard hisvoice, and he was engaged in prayer. After a few minutes
he returned with a large cow-hide, and stood before the
girl, without saying a word. T concluded he wished me
to leave the hut, which I did; and immediately after I
heaid the girl scream. At. every blow she wTould shriek,
" Do, Ben ! oh do, Ben!" This is a common expression
of the slaves to the person whipping them: " Do Massa!"
or, " Do Missus !"
After she had gone, I asked Ben what she was whipped
for : he told me she had done something to displease her
young Missus; and in boxing her ears, and otherwise
beating her, she had scratched her finger by a pin in the
girl's dress, for which she sent her to be flogged. I asked
him if he stripped her before flogging; he said, yes; he did
not like to do this, but was obliged to: he said he was once
ordered to whip a woman, which he did without stripping,
her: on her return to the house, her. mistress examined her
112

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

back; and not seeing any marks, he was sent for, and asked
why he had not whipped her: he replied that he had; she
said she saw no marks, and asked him if he had made her
pull her clothes off; he said, No. She then told him, that
when he whipped any more of the women, he must make
them strip off their clothes, as well as the men, and flog
them on their bare backs, or he should be flogged himself.
Ben often appeared very gloomy and sad : I have frequently heard him, when in his room, mourning over his
condition, and exclaim, " Poor African slave! Poor
African slave !" Whipping was so common an occurrence on this plantation, that it would be too great a
repetition to state the many and severe floggings I have
seen inflicted on the slaves. They were flogged for not
performing their tasks, for being careless, slow, or not in
time, for going to the fire to warm, &c, &c.; and it
•ften seemed as if occasions were sought as an excuse for
punishing them.
On one occasion, I heard the overseer charge the hands,
to be at a certain place the next morning at sun rise. I
was present in the morning, in company with my brother,,
when the hands arrived. Joe, the slave already spoken
of, came running, all out of breath, about five minutes
behind the time, when, without asking any questions, the
overseer told him to take off his jacket. Joe took off his
jacket. He had on a piece of a shirt; he told him to
take it off; Joe took it off: he then whipped him with a
heavy cow-hide full six feet long. At every stroke Joe
would spring from the ground, and scream, " O my God !
Do, Massa Galloway !" My brother was so exasperated,,
that he turned to me and said, " If I were Joe, I
would kill the overseer if I knew I should be shot the
next minute."
In the winter the horn blew at about four in the morning, and all the threshers were required to be at the
threshing floor in fifteen minutes after. They had to go
about a quarter of a mile from their quarters. Galloway
would stand near the entrance, and all who did not come
in time would get a blow over the back or head as heavy
113

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND W I T N E S S ^ * -

as he could strike. I have seen him, at such times, follow
after them, striking furiously a number of blows, and every
one followed by their screams. I have seen the women
go to their work after such a flogging, crying and taking
on most piteously.
It is almost impossible to believe that human nature
can endure such hardships and sufferings as the slaves
have to go through : T have seen them driven into a ditch
In a rice swamp to bail out the water, in order to put
down a flood-gate, when they had to break the ice,
and there stand in the water among the ice until it was
bailed out. I have often known the hands to be taken
from the field, sent down the river in flats or boats to
Wilmington, absent from twenty-four to thirty hours,
without any thing to eat, no provision being made for these
occasions.
Galloway kept medicine on hand, that in case any of
the slaves were sick, he could give it to them without
sending for the physician ; but he always kept a good
look out that they did not sham sickness. When any of
them excited his suspicions, he would make them take the
medicine in his presence, and would give them a rap on
the top of the head, to make them swallow it. A man
once came to him, of whom he said he was suspicious :
he gave him two potions of salts, and fastened him in the
stocks for the night. His medicine soon began to operate;
and there he lay in all his filth till he was taken out the
next day
One day, Mr. Swan beat a slave severely, for alleged
carelessness in letting a boat get adrift. The slave was
told to secure the boat: whether he took sufficient means
for this purpose I do not know ; he was not allowed to
make any defence. Mr. Swan called him up, and asked
him why he did not secure the boat : he pulled off his
hat and began to tell his story. Swan told him he was
a damned liar, and commenced beating him over the head
with a hickory cane, and the slave retreated backwards ;
Swan followed him about two rods, threshing him over
the head with the hickory as he went.
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AMERICAN SLAVERY,

As I was one day standing near some slaves who were
threshing, the driver, thinking one of the women did not
use her flail quick enough, struck her over the head : the
end of the whip hit her in the eye., I thought at the time
he had put it out; but, after poulticing and doctoring for
some days, she recovered. Speaking to him about it, he
said that he once struck a slave so as to put one of her
eyes entirely out.
A patrol is kept upon each estate, and every slave
found off the plantation without a pass is whipped on
the spot. I knew a slave who started without a pass,
one night, for a neighboring plantation, to see his wife :
he was caught, tied to a tree, and flogged. He stated
his business to the patrol, who was well acquainted with
him, but all to no purpose. J spoke to the patrol about
it afterwards : he said he knew the negro, that he was a
very clever fellow, but he had to whip him ; for, if he let
him pass, he must another, &c. He stated that he had
sometimes caught and flogged four in a night.
In conversation with Mr. Swan about runaway slaves,
he stated to me the following fact:—A slave, by the name
of Luke, was owned in Wilmington ; he was sold to a
speculator and carried to Georgia. After an absence of
about two months the slave returned; he watched an
opportunity to enter his old master's house when the
family were absent, no one being at home but a young
waiting man. Luke went to the room where his master
kept his arms ; took his gun, with some ammunition, and
Went into the woods. On the return of his master, the
waiting man told him what had been done ; this threw
him into a violent passion ; he swore he would kill Luke,
or lose his own life. He loaded another gun, took two
men, and made search, but could not find him: he then
advertised him, offering a large reward if delivered to him
or lodged in jail. His neighbors, however, advised him
to offer a reward of two hundred dollars for him dead or
alive, which he did. Nothing however was heard of him
for some months. Mr. Swan said, one of his slaves ran
away, and was gone eight or ten weeks; on his return he

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

said he had found Luke, and that he had a rifle, two pistols, and a sword.
I left the plantation in the spring, and returned to the
north. When I went out again, the" next fall, I asked
Mr. Swan if any thing had been heard of Luke ; he said
he was shot, and related to me the manner of his death,,
as follows :—Luke went to one of the plantations, and
entered a hut for something to eat. Being fatigued, he
sat down and fell asleep. There was only a woman in
the hut at the time : as soon as she found he was asleep^
she ran and told her master, who took his rifle, and called
two white men on another plantation : and the three, with
their rifles, then went to the hut, and posted themselves
in different positions, so that they could watch the door.
When Luke waked up he went to the door to look out,
and saw them with their rifles ; he stepped back and
raised his gun to his face. They called to him to surrender ; and stated that they had him in their power, and,
said he had better give up. He said he would not; and
if they tried to take him, he would kill one of them ; for,
if he gave up, he knew they would kill him, and he was
determined to sell his life as dear as he could. They
told him, if he should shoot one of them, the other two
would certainly kill him : he replied, he was determined
not to give up, and kept his gun moving from one to the
other; and while his rifle was turned toward one, another,,
standing in a different direction, shot him through the
head, and he fell lifeless to the ground.
There was another slave shot while I was there ; this
man had run away, and had been living in the woods a
long time, and it was not known where he was, till one
day he was discovered by two men, who went on the
large island near Belvidere to hunt turkeys; they shot him
and carried his head home.
It is common to keep dogs on the plantations, to pursue and catch runaway slaves. I was once bitten by one
of them. I went to the overseer's house, the dog lay in
the piazza, as soon as I put my foot upon the floor : he
sprang and bit me just above the knee, but not severely;
11(5

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

he tore my pantaloons badly. The overseer apologized
for his dog, saying he never knew him to bite a white man
before. He said he once had a dog, when he lived on
another plantation, {hat was very useful to him in hunting
runaway negroes. He said that a slave on the plantation
xmce ran away ; as soon as he found the course he took,
he put the dog on the track, and he soon came so close
upon him that the man had to climb a tree : he followed
with his gun, and brought the slave home.
The slaves have a great dread of being sold and carried
south. It is generally said, and I have no doubt of its
truth, that they are much worse treated farther south.
The following are a few among the many facts related
to me while I lived among the slave-holders. The names
of the planters and plantations, I shall not give, as they
did net come wider my oion observation, I however place
the fullest confidence in their truth.
A planter not far from Mr. Swan's employed an overseer to whom he paid four hundred dollars a year ; he
became dissatisfied with him, because he did not drive
the slaves hard enough, and get more work out of them.
He therefore ;sent to South Carolina, or Georgia, and got
a man to whom he paid 1 believe eight hundred dollars a
year. He proved to be a cruel fellow, and drove the
slaves almost to death. There was a slave on this plantation, who had repeatedly run away, and had been
severely flogged evety time. The last time he was
caught, a hole was dug in the ground, and he buried up
to the chin, his arms being secured down by his sides.
He was kept in this situation four or five days.
The following was told me by an intimate friend ; it
took place on a plantation containing about one hundred
slaves. One day the owner ordered the women into the
barn, he then went in among them, whip in hand, and
told them he meant to flog them all to death; they began
immediately to cry out " W h a t have I done Massa?"
He replied ; " D—n you, I will let you know what you
have done, you don't breed, I haven't had a young one from
one of you for several months." They told him they could
117*

TESTIMONY 01? A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

not breed while they had to work in the rice ditches.
(The rice grounds are low and marshy, and have to be
drained, and while digging or clearing the ditches, the
women had to work in mud and water from one to two
feet in depth; they were obliged to draw up and secure
their frocks about their waist, to keep them out of the
water, in this manner they frequently had to work from
daylight in the morning till it was so dark they could see
no longer.) After swearing and threatening for some
time, he told them to tell the overseer's wife, when
they got in that way, and he would put them upon the
land to work.
This same planter had a female slave who was a member of the Methodist Church ; for a slave she was intelligent and conscientious. He proposed a criminal intercourse with her. She would not comply. He left her
and sent for the overseer, and told him to have her flogged. It was done. Not long after, he renewed hig
proposal. She again refused. She was again whipped.
He then told her why she had been twice flogged, and
told her he intended to whip her till she should yield.
The girl, seeing that her case was hopeless, her back
smarting with the scourging she had received, and dreading
a repetition, gave herself up to be the victim of his brutal
lusts.
One of the slaves on another plantation, gave birth to
a child which lived but two or three weeks. After its
death the planter called the woman to him, and asked
her how she came to let the child die ; said it was all
owing to her carelessness, and that he meant to flog her
for it. She told him, with all the feeling of a mother,
the circumstances of its death, But her story availed
her nothing against the savage brutality of her master.
She was severely whipped. A healthy child four months
old was then considered worth one hundred dollars in
North Carolina.
The foregoing facts were related to me by white persons
of character and respectability. The following fact was
related to me on a plantation where I have spent con~
118

AMERICAN SLAVERY,

siderable time, and where the punishment was inflicted*
I have no doubt of its truth. A slave ran away from his
master, and got as far as Newbern. He took provisions
that lasted him a week ; but having eaten all, he went
to a house to get something to satisfy his hunger. A
white man suspecting him to be a runaway, demanded
his pass : as he had none, he was seized and put in Newbern jail. He was there advertised, his description, &e«
His master saw the advertisement and sent for him. When
he was brought back, his wrists were tied together and
drawn over his knees. A stick was then passed over his
arms and under his knees, and he secured in this manner,
his trowsers were then stripped down, and he turned over
on his side, and severely beaten with the paddle, then
turned over and severely beaten on the other side, and
then turned back again, and tortured by another bruising
and beating. He was afterwards kept in the stocks a
week, and whipped every morning.
To show the disgusting pollutions of slavery, and how
it covers with moral filth every thing it touches, I will
state two or three facts, which I have on such evidence I
cannot doubt their truth. A planter offered a white man
of my acquaintance twenty dollars for every one of his
female slaves, who should be in the family way to him.
This offer was no doubt made for the purpose of improving the stock, on the same principle that farmers
endeavour to improve their cattle by crossing the breed.
Slaves belonging to merchants and others in the city*,
often hire their own time, for which they pay various
prices per week or month, according to the capacity of
the slave. The females who thus hire their time, pursue
various modes to procure the money ; their masters
making no inquiry how they get it, provided the money
comes. If it is not regularly paid, they are flogged.
Some take in washing,, some cook on board vessels, pick
oakum, sell peanuts, &c,, while others, younger and more
comely, often resort to the vilest pursuits. I knew a man
from the north who, though married to a respectable
southern woman, kept two of these mulatto girls in an
119

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

upper room at his store; his wife told some of her friends
that he had not lodged at home for two weeks together.
I have seen these two kept misses, as they are there called, at his store; he was afterwards stabbed in an
attempt to arrest a runaway slave, and died in about ten
<Iays.
The clergy at the north cringe beneath the corrupting
influence of slavery, and their moral courage is borne
down by it. Not the hypocritical and unprincipled
alone, but even such as can hardly be supposed to be destitute of sincerity.
Going one morning to the Baptist Sunday school, in
Wilmington, m which I was engaged, I fell in with the
Rev. Thomas P. Hunt, who was going to the Presbyterian
school. I asked him how he could bear to see the little
negro children beating their hoops, hallooing, and running
about the streets, as we then saw them, their moral condition entirely neglected, while the whites were so carefully gathered into the schools. His reply was substantially this :—" I can't bear it, Mr. Caulkins. T feel as
deeply as any one can on this subject, but what can I do ?
M Y HANDS ARE TIED."

Now, if Mr. Hunt was guilty of neglecting his duty, as
a servant of HIM who never failed to rebuke sin in high
places, what shall be said of those clergymen at the north,
where the power that closed his mouth is comparatively
unfelt, who refuse to tell their people how God abhors
oppression, and who seldom open their mouths on this
subject, but to denounce the friends of emancipation, thus
giving the strongest support to the accursed system of
slavery. I believe Mr. Hunt has since become an agent
of the Temperance Society.
In stating the foregoing facts, my object has been to
show the practical workings of the system of slavery, and
if possible to correct the misapprehension on this subject,
so common at the north. In doing this I am not at war
with slave-holders. No, my soul is moved for them as
well as for the poor slaves. May God send them repentance to the acknowledgement of the truth ! Principle^
120

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

on a subject of this nature, is dearer to me than the applause of men, and should not be sacrificed on any subject, even though the ties of friendship may be broken.
We have too long been silent on this subject, the slave
has been too much considered, by our northern states, as
being kept by necessity in his present condition.—Were
we to ask, in the language of Pilate, " what evil have they
done "—we may search their history, we cannot find that
they have taken up arms against our government, nor insulted us as a nation—that they are thus compelled to
drag out a life in chains, subjected to the most terrible
inflictions if in any way they manifest a wish to be released.—Let us reverse the question. What evil has
been done to them by those who call themselves masters I
First let us look at their persons, " neither clothed nor
naked "—I have seen instances where this phrase would
not apply to boys and girls, and that too in winter. I
knew one young man seventeen years of ago, by the name
of Dave, on Mr. J. Swan's plantation, worked day after
<3ay in the rice machine as naked as when he was born.
The reason of his being so, his master said in my hearing,
was, that he could not keep clothes on him—he would
get into the fire and burn them of£
Follow them next to their huts ; some with and some
xvithout floors :—Go at night, view their means of lodging, see them lying on benches, some on the floor or
ground, some sitting on stools, dozing away the night;—
others, of younger age, with a bare blanket wrapped
about them ; and one or two lying in the ashes. These
things I have often seen with my own eyes.
Examine their means of subsistence, which consists
generally of seven quarts of meal or eight quarts of small
rice for one week ; then follow them to their work, with
driver and overseer pushing them to the utmost of their
strength, by threatening and whipping.
If they are sick from fatigue and exposure, go to their
huts, as f have often been, and see them groaning under
& burning fever or pleurisy, lying on some straw, their
i

121

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

feet to the fire, with barely a- blanket to cover them; or
on some boards nailed together in form of a bedstead.
And after seeing all this, and hearing them tell of their
sufferings, need I ask, is there any evil connected with
their condition 1 and if so; upon whom is it to be
charged? I answer for myself, and the reader can do
the same. Our government stands first chargeable for
allowing slavery to exist, under its own jurisdiction.
Second, the states for enacting laws to secure their victims. Third, the slave-holder for carrying out such enactments, in horrid form enough to chill the blood. Fourth,
every person who knows what slavery is, and does not
raise his voice against this crying sin, but by silence gives
consent to its continuance, is chargeable with guilt in the
sight of Gocl. k< The blood of Zacharias who was slain
between the temple and altar," says Christ, " W I L L I
R E Q U I R E OF T H I S G E N E R A T I O N . "

Look at the slave : his condition is but little, if at all,
better than that of the brute ; chained down by the law,
and the will of his master ; and every avenue closed
against relief; and the names of those who plead for him,
cast out as evil;—must not humanity let its voice be
heard, and tell Israel their transgressions and Judah their
sins 1
May God look upon their afflictions, and deliver them
from their cruel task-masters ! I verily believe he will,
if there be any efficacy in prayer. I have been to their
prayer-meetings, and with them offered prayer in their
behalf. I have heard some of them in their huts before
day-light praying in their simple broken language, telling
their heavenly Father of their trials, in the following and
similar language.
" Fader in heaven, look upon de poor slave, dat have
to work all de day long, dat cant have de time to pray
only in de night, and den massa mus not know it.* Fader have mercy on massa and missus. Fader, when shall
poor slave get through de world! when will death come*
* At this time there was some fear of insurrection, and^the
slaves were forbidden to hold meetings.
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AMERICAN SLAVERY.

and de poor slave go to heaven ; " and in their meetings
they frequently add, " Fader, bless de white man dat
come to hear de slave pray, bless his family," and so on.
They uniformly begin their meetings by singing the following—
"And are we yet alive
To see each other's face," &c.
Is the ear of the Most High deaf to the prayer of the
slave 1 I do firmly believe that their deliverance will
come, and that the prayer of this poor afflicted people
will be answered.
Emancipation would be safe. I have had eleven win' ters to learn the disposition of the slaves, and am satisfied
that they would peaceably and cheerfully work for pay.
Give them education, equal and just laws, and they will
become a most interesting people. Oh, let a cry be
raised which shall awaken the conscience of this guilty
nation, to demand for the slaves immediate and unconditional emancipation.
NEHEMIAH CAULKINS.

NARRATIVE AND TESTIMONY OF REY. HORACE
MOULTON.
Mr. MOULTON is an esteemed minister of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, in Marlborough, Massachusetts. He
spent five years in Georgia, between 1817 and 1824.
The following communication has been recently received
from him.
MARLBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS, Feb. 18,

1839

DEAR BROTHER—

Yours of Feb. 2nd. requesting me to write out a
few facts on the subject of slavery, as it exists at the
south, has come to hand. I hasten to comply with your
request. Were it not, however, for the claims of those
"who are drawn unto death," and the responsibility
resting upon me, in consequence of this request, I should
123

TESTIMONY OP A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

for ever hold my peace. For I well know that I shall bring
upon myself a flood of persecution, for attempting to speak
out for the dumb. But I am willing to be set at nought
by men, if I can be the means of promoting the welfare
of the oppressed of our land. I shall not relate many
particular cases of cruelty, though I might a great number;
but shall give some general information as to their mode
of treatment, their food, clothing, dwellings, deprivations, &c.
Let me say, in the first place, that I spent nearly five
years in Savannah, Georgia, and in its vicinity, between
the years 1817 and 1824. My object in going to
the south, was to engage in making and burning brick ;
but not immediately succeeding, I engaged in no business
of much profit until late in the winter, when I took charge
of a set of hands and went to work. During my leisure,
however, I was an observer, at the auctions, upon the
plantations, and in almost every department of business.
The next year, during the cold months, I had several
two-horse teams under my care, with which we used to
haul brick, boards, and other articles from the wharf
into the city, and cotton, rice, corn, and wood from the
country. This gave me an extensive acquaintance with
merchants, mechanics, and planters. I had slaves under
my control some portions of every year when at the south.
All the brick yards, except one, on which T was engaged,
were connected either with a corn field, potatoe patch,
rice field, cotton field, tan works, or with a wood lot.
My business, usually, was to take charge of the brickmaking department. At those jobs I have sometimes
taken in charge both the field and brick-yard hands. I
have been on the plantations in South Carolina, but have
never been an overseer of slaves in that state, as has been
said in the public papers.
I think the above facts and explanations are necessary
to be connected with the account I may give of slavery,
that the reader may have some knowledge of my acquaintance with practical slavery : for many mechanics and
merchants, who go to the South, and stay there for
124

AMERICAN SLAVERY

years, know but little of the dark side of slavery. My
account of slavery will apply to field hands, who compose
much the largest portion of the black population, (probably nine-tenths,) and not to those who are kept for
kitchen maids, nurses, waiters, &c, about the houses of
the planters and public hotels, where persons from the
north obtain most of their knowledge of the evils of
slavery. I will now proceed to take up specific points,
THE LABOR OF THE SLAVES

Males and females work together promiscuously on all
the plantations. On many plantations tasks are given;
them. The best working hands can have some leisure
time ; but the feeble and unskilful ones, together with
slender females, have indeed a hard time of it, and very
often answer for non-performance of tasks at the ivhippingposts. None who worked with me had tasks at any
time. The rule was to work them from sun to sun„
But when I was burning brick, they were obliged to take
turns, and sit up all night about every other night, and
work all day. On one plantation, where I spent a few
weeks, the slaves were called up to work long before
daylight, when business pressed, and worked until late
at night; and sometimes some of them all night, A
large portion of the slaves are owned by masters who keep
them on purpose to hire out—and they usually let them
to those who will give the highest wages for them, irrespective of their mode of treatment; and those who hire
them, will of course try to get the greatest possible amount
of work performed, with the least possible expense.
Women are seen bringing their infants* into the field to
their work, and leading others who are not old enough to
stay at the cabins wTith safety. When they get there,
they must set them down in the dirt, and go to work.
Sometimes they are left to cry until they fall asleep.
Others are left at home, shut up in their huts. Now, is
it not barbarous, that the mother, with her child or
children around her, half starved, must be whipped at
night if she does not perform her task ? But so it is
125

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

Some who have very young ones, fix a little sack on
their backs, and place the infants in it, and work. One
reason, I presume is, that they will not cry so much
when they can hear their mothers voice. Another is,
the mother's fear that the poisonous vipers and snakes
will bite them. Truly, I never knew any place where
the land is so infested with all kinds of the most venomous snakes, as in the low lands round about Savannah.
The mocassin snakes, so called, and water rattle-snakes
—the bites of both of which are as poisonous as our upland rattle-snakes at the North,—are found in myriads
about the stagnant waters and swamps of the South.
The females, in order to secure their infants from these
poisonous snakes, do, as I have said, often work with,
their infants on their backs. Females are sometimes
called to take the hardest part of the work. On some
brick yards where I have been, the women have been
selected as the moulders of brick, instead of the men.
II. THE FOOD OF THE SLAVES

It was a general custom, wheiever I have been, for
the masters to give each of his slaves, male and female,
one peck of com per week for their food. This at fifty
cents per bushel, which was all that it was worth when
I was there, would amouat to twelve and a half cents
per week for board per head, or sixpence half-penny.
It cost me upon an average, when at the South, one
dollar per day for board. The price of fourteen bushels
of corn per week. This would make my board equal in
amount to the board offorty six slaves ? This is all that
good or bad masters allow their slaves round about Savannah on the plantations. One peck of gourd-seed corn is
to be measured out to each slave once every week. One
man with whom I labored, however, being desirous to
get all the work out of his hands he could, before I left,
(about fifty in number,) bought for them every week, or
twice a week, a beef's head from market. With this,
they made a soup in a large iron kettle, around which the
hands came at meal-time, and dipping out the soup ;
126

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

would mix it with their hommony, and eat it as though
it were a feast. This man permitted his slaves to eat
twice a day while I was doing a job for him. He promised me a beaver hat, and as good a suit of clothes as
could be bought in the city, if I would accomplish so
much for him before I returned to the north ; giving me
the entire control over his slaves. Thus you may see the
temptations overseers sometimes have, to get all the work
they can out of the poor slaves. The above is an exception to the general rule of feeding. For in all other places
where I worked and visited ; the slaves had nothing from
their masters bat the com, or its equivalent in potatoes
or rice, and to this, they were not permitted to come but
once a day The custom was to blow the horn early in
the morning, as a signal for the hands to rise and go to
work; when commenced, they continued work until
about eleven o'clock, A. M., when, at the signal, all
hands left off and went into their huts, made their fires,
made their corn-meal into hommony or cake, ate it, and
went to work again at the signal of the horn, and worked
until night, or until their tasks were done. Some cooked
their breakfast in the field while at work. Each slave
must grind his own corn in a hand-mill after he has done
his work at night. There is generally one hand-mill on
every plantation for the use of the slaves.
Some of the planters have no corn, others often get
out. The substitute for it is, the equivalent of one peck
of corn, either in rice or sweet potatoes ; neither of which
is as good for the slaves as corn. They complain more
of being faint, when fed on rice or potatoes, than when
fed on corn. I was with one man a few weeks who gave
me his hands to do a job of work, and to save time one
cooked for all the rest. The following course was taken,
—Twocrotched sticks were driven down at one end of
the yard, and a small pole being laid on the crotches,
•they swung a large iron kettle on the middle of the pole ;
then made up a fire under the kettle and boiled the hommony ; when ready, the hands were called around this
kettle with their wooden plates and spoons. They dipped
127

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

out and ate standing around the kettle, or sitting upor)
the ground, as best suited their convenience. When
they had potatoes they took them out with their hands,,
and ate them. As soon as it was thought they had had
sufficient time to swallow their food, they were called to
their work again. This was the only meal they ate through
the day. Now think of the little, almost naked, and halfstarved children, nibbling upon a piece of cold Indian
cake, or a potatoe ! Think of the poor female, just
ready to be confined, without any thing that can be called
convenient or comfortable ! Think of the old toil-worn
father and mother, without anything to eat but the coarsest of food, and not half enough of that! then think of
home. When sick, their physicians are their masters
and overseers, in most cases, whose skill consists in
bleeding, and in administering large potions of Epsom
salts, when the whip and cursing will not stait them
from their cabins.
I I I . HOUSES.

The huts of the slaves are mostly of the poorest kind.
They are not as good as those temporary shanties which
are thrown up beside railroads. They are erected with
posts and crotches, with but little or no frame-work about
them. They have no stoves or chimneys ; some of them
have something like a fire-place at one end, and a boaid
or two off at that side, or on the roof, to let off the smoke,
Others have nothing like a fire-place in them : in these
the fire is sometimes made in the middle of the hut.
These buildings have but one apartment in them ; the
places where they pass in and out, serve both for doors
and windows ; the sides and roofs are covered with coarse,
and in many instances with refuse boards. In warm
weather, especially in the spring, the slaves keep up a
smoke, or fire and smoke, all night, to drive away the
gnats and musketoes, which are very troublesome in all
the low country of the south ; so much so that the whites
sleep under frames with nets over them, knit so fine, that
the musketoes cannot fly through them.
128

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

Some of the slaves have rugs to cover them in the
coldest weather, but I should think more have not,
During driving storms they frequently have to run from
one hut to another for shelter. In the coldest weather,
where they can get wood or stumps, they keep up fires
all night in their huts, and lay around them, with their
feet towards the blaze. Men, women, and children all
lie down together, in most instances. There may be
exceptions to the above statements in regard to their
houses, but so far as my observations have extended, I
have given a fair description, and I have been on a large
number of plantations in Georgia and S. Carolina, up and
down the Savannah liver. Their huts are generally built
compactly on the plantations, forming villages of huts,
their size proportioned to the number of slaves on them.
In these miserable huts the poor blacks are herded at
night like swine, without any conveniences of bedsteads,
tables, or chairs. O misery to the full ! to see the aged
sire beating off the swarms of gnats and musketoes in the
warm weather, and shivering in the straw, or bending
over a few coals in the winter, clothed in rags. I should
think males and females, both lie down at night with
their working clothes on them. God alone knows how
much the poor slaves suffer for the want of convenient
houses to secure them from the piercing winds and howling storms of winter, especially the aged, sick, and dying.
Although it is much warmer there than here, yet I suffered for a number of weeks in the winter, almost as much
in Georgia as I do in Massachusetts.
I V . CLOTHING.

The masters [in Georgia] make a practice of getting
two suits of clothes for each slave per year, a thick suit
for winter, and a thin one for summer. They provide
also one pair of northern made sale shoes for each slave
in winter. These shoes usually begin to lip in a few
weeks. The negroes' mode of mending them is, to wire
them together, in many instances. Do our northern
shoemakers know that they are augmenting the sufferings
129

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

of the poor slaves with their almost good for nothing sale
shoes ? Inasmuch as it is done unto one of those poor
sufferers it is done unto our Saviour. The above practice
of clothing the slave is customary to some extent. How
many, however, fail of this, God only knows. The
children and old slaves are, I should think, exceptions to
the above rule. The males and females have their suits
from the same cloth for their winter dresses. These
winter garments appear to be made of a mixture of cotton
and wool, very coarse and sleazy. The whole suit for
the men consists of a pair of pantaloons and a short sailor
jacket, ivithout shirt, vest, hat, stochings, or any hind of
loose garments ? These, if worn steadily when at work,
would not probably last more than one or two months ;
therefore, for the sake of saving them, many of them
work, especially in the summer, with no clothing on them
except a cloth tied round their waist, and almost all with
nothing more on them than pantaloons, and these frequently so torn that they do not serve the purposes of
common decency. The women have for clothing a short
petticoat, and a short loose gown, something like the
male's sailor-jacket, ivithout any under garment, stockings,
bonnets, hoods, caps, or any hind of over-clothes. When
at work in warm weather, they usually strip off the loose
gown, and have nothing on but a short petticoat" with
some kind of covering over their breasts. Many children
may be seen in the summer months as naked as they
came into the world. I think, as a whole, they suffer
more for the want of comfortable bed-clothes, than they
do for wearing apparel. It is true, that some by begging
or buying, have more clothes than above described, but
the masters provide them with no more. They are miserable objects of pity. It may be said of many of them,
" I was naked and ye clothed me not." It,is enough to
melt the hardest heart, to see the ragged mothers nursing
their almost naked children, with but a morsel of the
coarsest food to eat. The Southern horses and dogs have
enough to eat, and good care taken of them, but Southern negroes, who can describe their misery ?
130

AMERICAN SLAVERY.
V PUNISHMENTS.

The ordinary mode of punishing the slaves is both cruel
and barbarous. The masters seldom, if ever, try to
govern their slaves by moral influence, but by whipping,
kicking, beating, starving, branding, cat-hauling, loading
with irons, imprisoning, or by some other cruel mode of
torturing. They .often boast of having invented some new
mode of torture, by which they have " tamed the rascals.''
What is called a moderate flogging at the south is horribly
cruel. Should we whip our horses for any offence as
they whip their slaves for small offences, we should
expose ourselves to the penalty of the law. The masters
>vhip for the smallest offences, such as not performing
their tasks, being caught by the guard or patrol by night,
or for taking anything from the master's yard without
leave. For these, and the like crimes, the slaves are
whipped thirty-nine lashes, and sometimes seventy or a
hundred, on the bare back. One slave, who was under
my care,, was whipped, T think one hundred lashes, for
getting a small handfull of wood from his master's yard
without leave. I heard an overseer boasting to this same,
master that he gave one of the boys seventy lashes, for
not doing a job of work just as he thought it ought to be
done. The owner of the slave appeared to be pleased
that the overseer had been so faithful. The apology they
make for whipping so cruelly is, that it is to frighten the
rest of the gang. The masters say, that what we call an.
ordinary flogging will not subdue the slaves ; hence the
most cruel and barbarous scourgings ever witnessed by
man are daily and hourly inflicted upon the naked bodies
of those miserable bondmen ; not by masters and negrodrivers only, but by the constables in the common markets and jailors in their yards.
When the slaves are whipped, either in public or
private, they have their hands fastened by the wrists,
with a rope or cord prepared for the purpose : this being
thrown over a beam, a limb of a tree, or something else,
the culprit is drawn up and stretched by the arms as high.
-as possible, without raising his feet from the ground or

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES,

floor: and sometimes they are made to stand on tip-toe ;
then the feet are made fast to something prepared for
them. In this distorted posture the monster flies at
them, sometimes in great rage, with his implements of
torture, and cuts on with all his might, over the shoulders,
under the arms, and sometimes over the head and ears,,
or on parts of the body where he can inflict the greatest
torment.
Occasionally the whipper, especially if his
victim does not beg enough to suit him, while under the
lash, will fly into a passion, uttering the most horrid
oaths ; while the victim of his rage is crying, at every
stroke, " Lord have mercy ! Lord have mercy !" The
scenes exhibited at the whipping post are awfully terrific
and frightful to one whose heart has not turned to stone ;
I never could look on for a moment. While under the
lash, the bleeding victim writhes in agony, convulsed with
torture. Thirty-nine lashes on the bare back, which tear
the skin at almost every stroke, is what the South calls a
very moderate punishment ! Many masters whip until
they are tired—until the back is a gore of blood—then
rest upon it : after a short cessation, get up and go at it
again ; and after having satiated their revenge in the
blood of their victims, they sometimes leave them tied,
for hours together, bleeding at every wound.—Sometimes,
after being whipped, they are bathed with a brine of salt
and water. Now and then a master, but more frequently
a mistress who has no husband, will send them to jail a
few days, giving orders to have them wThipped, so manylashes, once or twice a day. Sometimes, after being
whipped, some have been shut up in a dark place and
deprived of food, in order to increase their torments :
and I have heard of some who have, in such circumstances, died of their wounds and starvation.
Such scenes of horror as above described are so common in Georgia that they attract no attention.
To
threaten them with death, or with breaking in their teeth
or jaws, or cracking their heads, is common talk, when
scolding at the slaves.—Those who run away from their
masters and are caught again generally fare the worst.
132

AMERICAN

SLAVEBY.

They are generally lodged in jail, with instructions from
the owner to have them cruelly whipped. Some, order
the constables to whip them publicly in the market.
Constables at the south are generally savage, brutal men;
They have become so accustomed to catching and whipping negroes, that they are as fierce as tigers. Slaves
who are absent from their yards or plantations after eight
o'clock, P. M., and are taken by the guard in the cities,
or by the patrols in the country, are, if not called for before nine o'clock, A. M., the next day, secured in prisons ;
and hardly ever escape, until their backs are torn up by
the cow-hide. On plantations, the evenings usually present scenes of horror.
Those slaves against whom
charges are preferred for not having performed their tasks,
and for various faults, must, after work-hours at night,
undergo their torments. I have often heard the sound of
the lash, the curses of the whipper, and the cries of the
poor negro rending the air, late in the evening, and long
before day-light in the morning.
It is very common for masters to say to the overseers
or drivers, " put it on to them," " don't spare that
fellow," "give that scoundrel one hundred lashes," &c.
Whipping the women when in delicate circumstances, as
they sometimes do, without any regard to their entreaties
or the entreaties of their nearest friends, is truly barbarous. If negroes could testify, they would tell you of
instances of women being whipped until they have miscarried at the whipping-post. I heard of such things at
the south—they are undoubtedly facts. Children are
whipped unmercifully for the smallest offences, and that
before their mothers. A large proportion of the blacks
have their shoulders, backs, and arms all scarred up, and
not a few of them have had their heads laid open with
clubs, stones, and brick-bats, and with the butt-end of
whips and canes—some have had their jaws broken,
others their teeth knocked in or out ; while others have
had their ears cropped and the sides of their cheeks gashed
out. Some of the poor creatures have lost the sight of
133

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

one of their eyes by the careless blows of the whipped or
by some other violence.
But punishing of slaves as above described, is not the
only mode of torture. Some tie them up in a very uneasy posture, where they must stand all night, and they
will then work them hard all clay—that is, work them
hard all day and torment them all night. Others punish
by fastening them down on a log, or something else, and
strike them on the bare skin with a board paddle full of
holes. This breaks the skin, in many cases, at every
hole where it comes in contact with it. Others, when
other modes of punishment will not subdue them, cathaul them—that is, take a cat by the nape of the neck
and tail, or by the hind legs, and drag the claws across
the back until satisfied. This kind of punishment poisons
the flesh much worse than the whip, and is more dreaded
by the slave. Some are branded by a hot iron, others
have their flesh cut out in large gashes, to mark them.
Some who are prone to run away, have iron fetters riveted
around their ancles, sometimes they are put only on one
foot, and are dragged on" the ground. Others have large
iron collars or yokes upon their necks, or clogs riveted
upon their wrists or ancles. Some have bells put upon
them, hung upon a sort of frame to an iron collar. Some
masters fly into a rage at trifles and knock down their
negroes with their fists, or with the first thing that they
can get hold of. The whip-lash-knots, or raw hide, have
sometimes, by a reckless stroke, reached round to the
front of the body and cut through to the bowels. One
slave-holder with whom I lived, whipped one of his slaves
one day, as many, I should think, as one hundred lashes,
and then turned the butt-end and went to beating him
over the head and ears, and truly I was amazed that the
slave was not killed on the spot. Not a few slaveholders whip their slaves to death, and then say that they
died under a "moderate correction." I wonder that ten
are not killed where one is ! Were they not much hardier
than the whites, many more of them must die than do.
One young mulatto man, with whom T was well ac~
134

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

quainted, was killed by his master in his yard with impunity.
I boarded at the same time near the place
where this glaring murder was committed, and knew the
master well. He had a plantation, on which he enacted,
almost daily, cruel barbarities, some of them, I was informed, more terrific, if possible, than death itself. Little
notice was taken of this murder, and it all passed off
without any action being taken against the murderer.
The masters used to try to make me whip their negroes.
They said I could not get along with them without flog«
ging them—but I found I could get along better with
them by coaxing and encouraging them than by beating
and flogging them. I had not a heart to beat and kick
about those beings. I never was guilty of having but
one whipped, and he was whipped but eight or nine
blows. The circumstances were as follows: Several
negroes were put under my care, one spring, who were
fresh from Congo and Guinea. I could not understand
them, neither could they me, in one word T spoke. I
therefore pointed to them to go to work ; all obeyed me
willingly but one—he refused. I told the driver that he
must tie him up and whip him. After he had tied him,
by the help of some others, we struck him eight or nine
blows, and he yielded. I told the driver not to strike
him another blow. We untied him, and he went to
work, and continued faithful all the time he was with
me. This one was not a sample, however—many of
them have such exalted views of freedom that it is hard
work for the masters to whip them into brutes, that is, to
subdue their noble spirits. The negroes being put under
my care, did not prevent the masters from whipping them
when they pleased, But they never whipped much in
r y presence.
This work was usually left until I had
lismissed the hands. On the plantations, the masters
chose to have the slaves whipped in the presence of all
the hands, to strike them with terror,
vi.

RUNAWAYS.

Numbers of poor slaves run away from their masters ;
some of whom doubtless perish in the swamps and other
135

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

secret places, rather than return back again to their
masters ; others stay away until they almost famish with
hunger, and then return home rather than die, while others
who abscond are caught by the negro-hunters, in various
ways. Sometimes the master will hire some of his most
trusty negroes to secure any stray negroes, who come on
to their plantations, for many come at night to beg food
of their friends on the plantations. The slaves assist
one another usually when they can, and not be found out
in it. The master can now and then, however, get some
of his hands to betray the runaways. Some obtain their
living by hunting after lost slaves. The most common
way is to train up young dogs to follow them. This can
easily be done by obliging a slave to go out into the
woods, and climb a tree, and then put the young dog on
his track, and with a little assistance he can be taught to
follow him to the tree, and when found, of course the dog
would bark at such game as a poor negro on a tree.
There was a man living in Savannah when I was there,
who kept a large number of dogs for no other purpose
than to hunt runaway negroes. And he always had
enough of this work to do, for hundreds of runaways are
never found, but could he get news soon after one had
iled, he was almost sure to catch him. And this fear of
the dogs restrains multitudes from running off.
When he went out on a hunting excursion, to be gone
•several days, he took several persons with him, armed
generally with rifles and followed by the dogs. The dogs
were as true to the track of a negro, if one had passed
recently, as a hound is to the track of a fox when he has
found it. When the dogs draw near to their game, the
slave must turn and fight them or climb a tree. If the
latter, the dogs will stay and bark until the pursuers
come. The blacks frequently deceive the dogs by crossing and recrossing the creeks. Should the hunters who
have no dogs, start a slave from his hiding-place, and
the slave not to stop at the hunter's call, he will shoot
at him, as soon as he would at a deer. Some masters
advertise so much for a runaway slave, dead or alive.
136

AMERICAN

SLAVERY.

It undoubtedly gives such more satisfaction to know that
their property is dead, than to know that it is alive without being able to get it. Some slaves run away who
never mean to be taken alive. I will mention one. He
ran off and was pursued by the dogs, but having a weapon
with him he succeeded in killing two or three of the dogs ;
but was afterwards shot. He had declared, that he never
would be taken alive. The people rejoiced at the death
of the slave, but lamented the death of the dogs, they
were such ravenous hunters. Poor fellow, he fought for
life and liberty like a hero ; but the bullets brought him
down. A negro can harldly walk unmolested at the
south.—Every colored stranger that walks the streets is
suspected of being a runaway slave, hence he must be
interrogated by every negro-hater whom he meets, and
should he not have a pass, he must be arrested and hurried off to jail. Some masters boast that their slaves
would not be free if they could. How little they know
of their slaves ! They are all sighing and groaning for
freedom. May God hasten the time !
VII.

CONFINEMENT AT NIGHT.

When the slaves have done their day's work, they
must be herded together like sheep in their yards, or on
their plantations. They have not as much liberty as
northern men have, who are sent to jail for debt, for they
have Kberty to walk a larger yard than the slaves have.
The slaves must all be at their homes precisely at eight
o'clock, P. M. At this hour the drums beat in the cities,
as a signal for every slave to be in his den. In the
country, the signal is given by firing guns, or some other
way by which they may know the hour when to be at
home. After this hour, the guard in the cities, and patrols in the country, being well armed, are on duty until
daylight in the morning. If they catch any negroes during the night without a pass, they are immediately seized
and hurried away to the guard-house, or if in the country
to some place of confinement, where they are kept until
aine o'clock, A. M., the next day ; if not called for by
K
137

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

that time, they are hurried off to jail, and there remain
until called for by their master, and his j ail and guardhouse fees are paid. The guards and patrols receive one
dollar extra for every one they can catch, who has not a
pass from his master, or overseer, but few masters will
give their slaves passes to be out at night unless on some
special business: notwithstanding, many venture out.,
watching every step they take for the guard or patrol : the
consequence is, some are caught almost every night, and
some nights many are taken ; some, fleeing after being
hailed by the watch, are shot down in attempting thek
©scape, others are crippled for life.
HORACE MOULTON,

l&AERATIVE AXD TESTIMONY OF SARAH M.
GRIMKE.
Miss Grimke is a daughter of the late Judge Grimke',
of the Supreme Court of South Carolina, and sister of the
late Hon. Thomas S. Grimke. The following is her testimony.
As I left my native state on account of slavery, and
deserted the home of my fathers to escape the sound of
the lash and the shrieks of tortured victims, I would
gladly bury in oblivion the recollection of those scenes
with which I have been familiar ; but this may not, cannot be ; they come over my memory like gory spectres,
and implore me with resistless power, in the name of a
God of mercy, in the name of a crucified Saviour, in the
name of humanity ; for the sake of the slave-holder, as
well as the slave, to bear witness to the horrors of the
Southern prison house. I feel impelled by a sacred sense
of duty, by my obligations to my country, by sympathy
for the bleeding victims of tyranny and lust, to give my
testimony respecting the system of American slavery,—•
to detail a few facts, most of which came under my personal observation. And here I may premise, that the
actors in these tragedies were all men and women of the
highest respectability, and of the first families in South
138

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

Carolina, and, with one exception, citizens of Charleston $
and that their cruelties did not in the slightest degree
affect their standing in society.
A handsome mulatto woman, about eighteen or twenty
years of age, whose independent spirit could not brook
the degradation of slavery, was in the habit of running
away : for this offence she had been repeatedly sent by
her master and mistress to be whipped by the keeper of
the Charleston work-house. This had been done with
such inhuman severity, as to lacerate her back in a most
shocking manner ; a finger could not be laid between the
cuts. But the love of liberty was too strong to be annihilated by torture : and, as a last resort, she was whipped
at several different times, and kept a close prisoner. A
heavy iron collar, with three long prongs projecting from
it, was placed round her neck, and a strong and sound
front tooth was extracted, to serve as a mark to describe
her in case of escape. Her sufferings at this time were
agonizing ; she could lie in no position but on her back^
which was sore from scourgings, as I can testify, from
personal inspection, and her only place of rest was the
loor, on a blanket, These outrages were committed in a
family where the mistress daily read the Scriptures, and
assembled her children for family worship. She was accounted, and was really, so far as alms-giving was concerned, a charitable woman, and tender-hearted to the
poor ; and yet this suffering slave, who was the seamstress
of the family, was continually in her presence, sitting in
her chamber to sew, or engaged in her other household
work, with her lacerated and bleeding back, her mutilated
mouth, and heavy iron collar, without, so far as appeared,
exciting any feelings of compassion.
A highly intelligent slave, who panted after freedom
with ceaseless longings, made many attempts to get possession of himself. For every offence he was punished
with extreme severity. At one time he was tied up by
•his hands to a tree, and whipped until his back was
one gore of blood. To this terrible infliction he was
subjected at intervals for several weeks, and kept heavily
139

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

ironed while at his work. His master one day accused
him of a fault, in the usual terms dictated by passion and
arbitrary power; the man protested his innocence, but
was not credited. He again repelled the charge with
honest indignation. His master's temper rose almost to
frenzy ; and seizing a fork, he made a deadly plunge at
the breast of the slave. The man being far his superior
in strength, caught his arm, and dashed the weapon on
the floor. His master grasped at his throat, but the slave
disengaged himself, and rushed from the apartment.
Having made his escape, he fled to the woods; and after
wandering about for many months, living on roots and
berries, and enduring every hardship, he was arrested and
committed to jail. Here he lay for a considerable time,
allowed scarcely food enough to sustain life, whipped in the
most shocking manner, and confined in a cell so loathsome,
that when his master visited him, he said the stench was
enough to knock a man down. The filth had never been
removed from the apartment since the poor creature had
been immured in it. Although a black man, such had
been the effect of starvation and suffering, that his master
declared he hardly recognized him—his complexion was
so yellow, and his hair, naturally thick and black, had become red and scanty ; an infallible sign of long continued
living on bad and insufficient food. Stripes, imprisonment, and the gnawings of hunger, had broken his lofty
spirit for a season ; and, to use his master's own exulting
expression, " he was as humble as a dog." After a time
he made another attempt to escape, and was absent so
long, that a reward was offered for him, dead or cdive.
He eluded every attempt to take him, and his master,
despairing of ever getting him again, offered to pardon
him if he would return home. It is always understood
that such intelligence will reach the runaway ; and accordingly, at the entreaties of his wife and mother, the
fugitive once more consented to return to his bitter bondage. I believe this was the last effort to obtain his
Mberty. His heart became touched with the power of the
gospel; and the spirit, which no inflictions could subdue,
140

AMERICAN

SLAVERY.

bowed at the cross of Jesus, and with the language on his
lips—" the cup that my father hath given me, shall I not
drink it V submitted to the yoke of the oppressor, and
wore his chains in unmurmuring patience till death released him. The master who perpetrated these wrongs
upon his slave, was one of the most influential and honoured citizens of South Carolina, and to his equals was
bland, and courteous, and benevolent even to a proverb.
A slave who had been separated from his wife, because
it best suited the convenience of his owner, ran away.
He was taken up on the plantation where his wife, to
whom he was tenderly attached, then lived. His only
object in running away was to return to her—no other
fault was attributed to him. For this offence he was
confined in the stocks six weeks, in a miserable hovel,
not weather-tight. He received fifty lashes weekly during that time, was allowed food barely sufficient to sustain
him, and when released from confinement, was not permitted to return to his wife. His master, although himself a husband and a father, was unmoved by the touching
appeals of the slave, who entreated that he might only
remain with his wife, promising to discharge his duties
faithfully ; his master continued inexorable, and he was
torn from his wife and family. The owner of this slave
was a professing Christian, in full membership with the
church, and this circumstance occurred when he was confined to his chamber during his last illness.
A punishment dreaded more by the slaves than whipping, unless it is unusually severe, is one which was invented by a female acquaintance of mine in Charleston—»
I heard her say so with much satisfaction. It is standing
on one foot and holding the other in the hand. Afterwards it was improved upon, a strap was contrived to
fasten around the ankle, and pass around the neck ; so
that the least weight of the foot resting on the strap would
choke the person. The pain occasioned by this unnatural
position was great ; and when continued, as it sometimes
was, for an hour or more, produced intense agony. I
heard this same woman say, that she had the ears of her
141

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

waiting maid slit for some petty theft. This she told me
in the presence of the girl, who was standing in the room.
She often had the helpless victims of her cruelty severely
whipped, not scrupling herself to wield the instrument of
torture, and with her own hands inflict severe chastisement. Her husband was less inhuman than his wife,
but he was often goaded on by her to acts of great severity. In his last illness I was sent for, and watched
beside his death couch. The girl on whom he had so
often inflicted punishment, haunted his dying hours ; and
when at length the king of terrors approached, he shrieked
in utter agony of spirit, " Oh, the blackness of darkness,
the black imps, I can see them all around me—take them
away !" and amid such exclamations he expired. These
persons- were of one of the first families in Charleston.
A friend of mine, in whose veracity T have entire confidence, told me that about two years ago, a woman in
Charleston, with whom I was well acquainted, had starved
a female slave to death. She was confined in a solitary
apartment, kept constantly tied, and condemned to the
slow and horrible death of starvation. This woman was
notoriously cruel. To those who have read the narrative
of James Williams I need only say, that the character of
young Larimore's wife is an exact description of this female tyrant, whose countenance was ever dressed in
smiles when in the presence of strangers, but whose heart
was as the nether millstone toward her slaves.
As I was travelling in the lower country in South Carolina, a number of years since, my attention was suddenly
arrested by an exclamation of horror from the coachman,
who called out, " Look there, Miss Sarah, don't you
see ?"—I looked in the direction he pointed, and saw a
human head stuck up on a high pole. On inquiry, I
found that a runaway slave, who was outlawed, had been
shot there, his head severed from his body, and put upon
the public highway, as a terror to deter slaves from running away.
On a plantation in North Carolina, where I was visiting, I happened one day, in my rambles, to step into a
142

AMERICAN

SLAVERY.

negro cabin ; my compassion was instantly called forth
by the object which presented itself. A slave, whose
head was white with age, was lying in one corner of the
hovel; he had under his head a few filthy rags, but the
boards were his only bed : it was the depth of winter, and
the wind whistled through every part of the dilapidated
building—he opened his languid eyes when I spoke, and
in reply to my question, " What is the matter V9 he said,
<{
I am dying of a cancer in my side."— As he removed
the rags which covered the sore, I found that it extended
half round the body, and was shockingly neglected. I
inquired if he had any nurse. " No, Missey," was his
answer, " but de people (the slaves) very kind to me, dey
often steal time to run and see me and fetch me someting
to eat; if dey did not, I might starve." The master and
mistress of this man, who had been worn out in their
service, were remarkable for their intelligence, and their
hospitality knew no bounds towards those who were of
their own grade in society : the master had for some
time held the highest military office in North Carolina,
and not long previous to the time of which I speak, was
the Governor of the State.
On a plantation in South Carolina, I witnessed a similar case of suffering—an aged woman suffering under an
incurable disease in the same miserably neglected situation. The "owner" of this slave was proverbially kind
to her negroes ; so much so, that the planters in the
neighbourhood said she spoiled them, and set a bad example, which might produce discontent among the surrounding slaves; yet I have seen this woman tremble
with rage, when her slaves displeased her, and heard her
use language to them which could only be expected from
an inmate of Bridewell; and have known her in a gust
of passion send a favorite slave to the work-house to be
severely whipped.
Another fact occurs to me. A young woman about
eighteen, stated some circumstances relative to her young
master, which were thought derogatory to his character ;
whether true or false, I am unable to say ; she was
143

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

threatened with punishment, but persisted in affirming
that she had only spoken the truth. Finding her incorrigible, it was concluded to send her to the Charleston
work-house and have her whipt ; she pleaded in vain for
a commutation of her sentence, not so much because she
dreaded the actual suffering, as because her delicate mind
shrunk from the shocking exposure of her person to the
eyes of brutal and licentious men : she declared to me
that death would be preferable ; but her entreaties were
vain, and as there were no means of escaping but by running away, she resorted to it as a desperate remedy, for
her timid nature never could have braved the perils
necessarily encountered by fugitive slaves, had not her
mind been thrown into a state of despair.—She was
apprehended after a few weeks, by two slave-catchers, in
a deserted house, and as it was late in the evening they
concluded to spend the night there. What inhuman
treatment she received from them has never been revealed.
They tied her with cords to their bodies, and supposing
they had secured their victim, soon fell into a deep sleep,
probably rendered more profound by intoxication and
fatigue ; but the miserable captive slumbered not: by
some means she disengaged herself from her bonds, and
again fled through the lone wilderness. After a few days
she was discovered in a wretched hut, which seemed to
have been long uninhabited ; she was speechless ; a raging fever had consumed her vitals, and when a physician
saw her, he said, she was dying of a disease brought on
by over fatigue ; her mother was permitted to visit her,
but ere she reached her, the damps of death stood upon
her brow, and she had only the sad consolation of looking
on the death-struck form and convulsive agonies of her
child.
A beloved friend in South Carolina, the wife of a slaveholder, with whom I often mingled my tears, when helpless arid hopeless we deplored together the horrors of
slavery, related to me some years since the following circumstance.
On the plantation adjoining her husband's, there was a
144

AMERICAN

SLAVERY.

slave of pre-eminent piety. His master was not a professor of religion, but the superior excellence of this disciple of Christ was not unmarked by him, and I believe he
was so sensible of the good influence of his piety, that he
did not deprive him of: the few religious privileges within
his reach. A planter was one day dining with the owner
of this slave, and in the course of conversation observed,
that all profession of religion among slaves was mere hypocrisy. The other asserted a contrary opinion, adding,
I have a slave, who I believe would rather die than deny
his Saviour. This was ridiculed, and the master urged to
prove the assertion. He accordingly sent for this man of
God, and peremptorily ordered him to deny his belief in
the Lord Jesus Christ. The slave pleaded to be excused^
constantly affirming that he would rather die than deny
the Redeemer, whose blood was shed for him. His master, after vainly trying to induce obedience by threats, had
him terribly whipped. The fortitude of the sufferer was
not to be shaken ; he nobly rejected the offer of exemption from further chastisement at the expense of destroying
his soul, and this blessed martyr died in consequence oj
this severe infliction.
Oh, how bright a gem will this
victim of irresponsible power be, in that crown which
sparkles on the Redeemer's brow ; and that many such
will cluster there, I have not the shadow of a doubt,
SARAH M. GRIMKE.

Fort Lee, Bergen County,
New Jersey, 3rd Month, 26th, 1830.
TESTIMONY OF THE LATE KEY. JOHN GRAHAM,
of Townsend, Mass,, who resided in South Carolina, from
1831, to the latter part of 1833. Mr. Graham graduated
at Amherst College in 1829, spent some time at the
Theological Seminary, in New Haven, Ct., and went to
South Carolina for his health in 1830. He resided principally on the island of St. Helena, S. C , and most of
the time in the family of James Tripp> Esq., a wealthy
slave-holding planter. During his residence at St. Helena,
145

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

he was engaged as an instructer, and was most of the
time the stated preacher on the island. Mr. Gr. was extensively known in Massachusetts ; and his fellow students
and instructers, at Amherst College, and at Yale Theological Seminary, can bear testimony to his integrity and
moral worth. The following are extracts of letters, which
he wrote while in South Carolina, to an intimate friend
in Concord, Massachusetts, who has kindly furnished
them for publication.
EXTRACTS.

Springfield, St. Helena Isl, S. C, Oct. 22, 1832.
" Last night, about one o'clock, I was awakened by the
report of a musket. I was out of bed almost instantly.
On opening my window, I found the report proceeded
from my host's chamber. He had let off his pistol, which
he usually keeps by him night and clay, at a slave, who
had come into the yard, and as it appears, had been with
with one of his house servants. He did not hit him.
The ball, taken from a pine tree the next morning, I will
show you, should I be spared by Providence ever to return to you. The house-servant was called to the master's chamber, where he received seventy-five lashes, very
severe too ; and I could not only hear every lash, but
each groan which succeeded very distinctly as I lay in.
my bed. What was then done with the servant I know
not. Nothing was said of this to me in the morning, and
I presume it will ever be kept from me with care, if I
may judge of kindred acts. 1 shall make no comment."
In the same letter, Mr. Graham says :-*~ " You ask me of my hostess "—then after giving an
idea of her character, he says ;—" To-day, she has I verily
believe laid, in a very severe manner too, more than three
hundred stripes, upon the house servants," (seventeen in
number.)
Darlington, Court House, S. C. March 28th, 1838.
" I walked up to the Court House to-day, where I
"heard one of the most interesting cases I ever heard. I
say interesting, on account of its novelty to me, though
it had no novelty for the people, as such cases are of fre146

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

-quent occurrence. The case was this ; To know whether
two ladies, present in court, were white or black. The
ladies were dressed well, seemed modest, and were retiring and neat in their look, having blue eyes, black hair,
and appeared to understand much of the etiquette of
southern behaviour.
" A man, more avaricious than humane, as is the case
with most of the rich planters, laid a remote claim to
those two modest, unassuming, innocent and free young
ladies as his property, with the design of putting them
into the field, and thus increasing his STOCK ! As well
as the people of Concord are known for their peaceful
disposition, and for their love of good order, I verily believe if a similar trial should be brought forward there,
and conducted as this was, the good people would drive
the lawyers out of the house. Such would be their indignation at their language, and at the mean under-handed
manner of trying to ruin those young ladies, as to their
standing in society in this district, if they could not succeed in dooming them for life to the degraded condition
of slavery, and all its intolerable cruelties. Oh slavery \
if statues of marble could curse you, they would speak.
If bricks could speak, they would all surely thunder out
their anathemas against you, accursed thing ! How many
white sons and daughters, have bled and groaned under
the lash in this sultry climate," &c.
Under the date of March, 1832, Mr. G. writes, " I
have been doing what I hope never to be called to do
again, and what I fear I have badly done, though performed to the best of my ability, namely, sewing up a
very bad wound made by a wild hog. The slave was
hunting wild hogs, when one, being closely pursued,
turned upon his pursuer, who, turning to run, was caught
by the animal, thrown down, and badly wounded in the
thigh. The wound is about five inches long and very
deep. It was made by the tusk of the animal. The
slaves brought him to one of the huts, on Mr. Tripp's
plantation, and made every exertion to stop the blood by
filling the wound with ashes, (their remedy for stopping
147

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

blood,) but finding this to fail, they came to me (there
being no other white person on the plantation, as it is
now holidays) to know if I could stop the blood. I
went and found that the poor creature must bleed to
death unless it could be stopped soon. I called for a
needle and succeeded in sewing it up as well as I could,
and in stopping the blood. In a short time his master,
who had been sent for, came ; and oh, you would have
shuddered if you had heard the awful oaths that fell from
his lips, threatening in the same breath, " to pay him for
that"
I left him as soon as decency would permit, with
his hearty thanks that I had saved him five hundred dollars ! Oh, may heaven \ jtect the poor, suffering, fainting slave, and show his master his wanton cruelty—oh
slavery ! slavery !"
Under date of July, 1832, Mr. G. writes, " I wish
you could have been at the breakfast table with me this
morning to have seen and heard what I saw and heard,
not that I wish your ear and heart and soul pained as
mine is, i with every day's' observation c of wrong and
outrage' with which this place is filled, but that you
might have auricular and ocular evidence of the cruelty
of slavery, of cruelties that mortal language can never
describe—that you might see the tender mercies of a
hardened slave-holder, one who bears the name of being
one of the mildest and most merciful masters of which this
island can boast. Oh, my friend, another is screaming
under the lash, in the shed-room, but for what I know
not. The scene this morniug was truly distressing to me.
It was this :—After the blessing ivas asked at the breakfast table, one of the servants, a woman gro wn, in giving
one of the children some molasses, happened to pour out
a little more than usual, though not more than the child
usually eats. Her master was angry at the petty and indifferent mistake, or slip of the hand. He rose from the
table, took both of her hands in one of his, and with the
other began" i^o beat her, first on one side of her head and
then on the other, and repeating this, till, as he said on
sitting down at table, it hurt his hand too much to coil148

AMERICAN SLAVERY*

tinue it longer. He then took off his shoe, and with the
heel began in the same manner as with his hand, till the
poor creature could no longer endure it without screeches
and raising her elbow as it is natural to ward off the
blows. He then called a great overgrown negro to hold
her hands behind her while he should wreak his vengeance
upon the poor servant. In this position he began again
to beat the poor suffering wretch. It now became intolerable to bear ; she fell, screaming to me for help. After
she fell, he beat her until I thought she would have died
in his hands. She got up, however, went out and washed
off the blood, and came in before we rose from the table,
one of the most pitiable objects I ever saw till I came to
the South. Her ears were almost as thick as my hand,
and her eyes awfully blood-shotten, her lips, nose, cheeks,
chin, and whole head swollen so that no one would have
known it was Etta—and for all this, she had to turn
round as she was going out and thank her master ! Now,
all this was done while I was sitting at breakfast with the
rest of the family. Think you not I wished myself sitting
with the peaceful and happy circle around your table \
Think of my feelings, but pity the poor negro slave, who
not only fans his cruel master when he eats and sleeps,
but bears the stripes his caprice may inflict. Think of
this, and let heaven hear your prayers."
In a letter dated St. Helena Island, S. C„ Dec. 3, 1832,
Mr. G. writes, " If a slave here complains to his master,
that his task is too great, his master at once calls him a
scoundrel and tells him it is only because he has not
enough to do, and orders the driver to increase his task,
however unable he may be for the performance of it.
I saw TWENTY-SEVEN whipped at one time just because
they did not do more, when the poor creatures were so
tired that they could scarcely drag one foot after the
other."
TESTIMONY OP MR. WILLIAM POE.
Mr, Poe is a native of Kichmond, Virginia, and was

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

formerly a slave-holder. He was for several years a
merchant in Richmond, and subsequently in Lynchburg?
Virginia. A few years since, he emancipated his slaves^
and removed to Hamilton County, Ohio, near Cincinnati ^
where he is a highly respected ruling elder in the Presbyterian church. He says,—
" I am pained exceedingly, and nothing but my duty to
God, to the oppressors, and to the poor down-trodden
slaves, who go mourning all their days, could move me to
say a word. I will state to you &fei® cases of the abuse
of the slaves, but time would fail, if I had language to tell
how many and great are the inflictions of slavery, even in
its mildest form.
Benjaimin James Harris, a wealthy tobacconist of
Eichmond, Virginia, whipped a slave girl fifteen years old
to death. While he was whipping her, his wife heated
a smoothing iron, put it on her body in various places,
and burned her severely. The verdict of the coroner's inquest was, " Died of excessive whipping." He was
tried in Richmond, and acquitted.
T attended the
trial.
Some years after, this same Harris whipped
another slave to death. The man had not done so much
work as was required of him. After a number of protracted and violent scourgings, with short intervals between, the slave died under the lash. Harris was tried,
and again acquitted, because none but blacks saw it done.
The same man afterwards whipped another slave severely,
for not doing work to please him. After repeated and severe
floggings in quick succession, for the same cause, the
slave, in despair of pleasing him, cut off his own hand.
Harris soon after became a bankrupt, went to New
Orleans to recruit his finances, failed, returned to Kentucky, became a maniac, and died.
A captain in the United States' navy, who married a
daughter of the collector of the port of Richmond, and
resided there, became offended with his negro boy, took
him into the meat-house, put him upon a stool, crossed
his hands before him, tied a rope to them, threw it over a
joist in the building, drew the boy up so that he could
150

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

just stand on the stool with his toes, and kept him in
that position, iloggeing him severely at intervals, until the
boy became so exhausted that he reeled off the stool, and
swung by his hands until he died. The master was tried
and acquitted.
In Goochland County, Virginia, an overseer tied a
slave to a tree, flogged him again and again with great
severity, then piled brush round him, set it on fire, and
burned him to death. The overseer was tried and imprisoned. The whole transaction may be found on tho
records of the court.
In travelling, one day, from Petersburg to Richmond,
Virginia, I heard cries of distress at a distance, on the
road. I rode up, and found two white men beating a
slave. One of them had hold of a rope, which wTas passed
under the bottom of a fence ; the other end was fastened
around the neck of the slave, who was thrown flat on
the ground, on his face, with his back bared. The other
was beating him furiously with a large hickory.
A slave-holder in Henrico County, Virginia, had a
slave who used frequently to work for my father. One
morning he came into the field with his back completely
cut up, and mangled from his head to his heels. The
man was so stiff and sore he could scarcely walk. This
same person got offended with another of his slaves,
knocked him dow7n, and struck out one of his eyes with a
maul. The eyes of several of his slaves were injured by
similar violence.
In Richmond, Virginia, a company occupied as a dwelling a large warehouse. They got angry with f negro lad,
»
one of their slaves, took him into the cellar, tied his hands
with a rope, bored a hole through the floor, and passed
the rope up through it. Some of the family drew up the
boy, while others whipped. This they continued until
the boy died. The warehouse was owned by a Mr,
Whitlock, on the,site of one formerly owned by a Mr.
•Philpot.
Joseph Chilton, a resident of Campbell County, Virginia, purchased a quart of tanners' oil, for the purpose,
151

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND W I T N E S S E S .

as he said, of putting it on one of his negro's head, that
he had sometime previous pitched or tarred over for running away.
In the town of Lynchburg, Virginia, there was a negro
man put in prison, charged with having pillaged some
packages of goods, which he, as head man of a boat, received at Richmond, to be delivered at Lynchburg. The
goods belonged to A. B. Nichols, of Liberty, Bedford
County, Virginia. He came to Lynchburg, and desired the jailer to permit him to whip the negro, to make
him confess, as there was no proof against him. Mr,
Williams, (I think that is his name,) a pious Methodist
man, a great stickler for law and good order, professedly
a great friend to the black man, delivered the negro into
the hands of Nichols. Nichols told me that he took the
slave, tied his wrists together, then drew his arms down
so far below his knees as to permit a staff to pass above
the arms under the knees, thereby placing the slave in a
situation that he could not move hand or foot. He then
commenced his bloody work, and continued at intervals,
until five hundred blows were inflicted. I received this
Statement from Nichols himself.
FURTHER PROOFS OF THE PARTICULAR PRIVATIONS
OF THE SLAVES.
I.

FOOD.

We begin with the food of the slaves, because if they
are ill treated in this respect, we may be sure that they
will be ill treated in other respects, and generally in a
greater degree. For a man habitually to stint his dependents in their food, is the extreme of meanness and
cruelty, and the greatest evidence he can give of utter
indifference to their comfort. The father who stints his
children or domestics, or the master his apprentices, or the
employer his laborers, or the officer his soldiers, or the
captain his crew, when able to furnish them with sufficient
food, is every where looked upon as unfeeling and cruel.
All mankind agree to call such a character inhuman,
U2

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

If any thing can move a hard heart, it is the appeal of
hunger. The Arab robber whose whole life is a prowl
for plunder, will freely divide his camel's milk with the
hungry stranger who halts at his tent door, though he may
have just waylaid him and stripped him of his money.
Even savages take pity on hunger. Who ever went
famishing from an Indian's wigwam 1 As much as
hunger craves, is the Indian's free gift even to an enemy.
The necessity for food is such a universal want, so constant, manifest, and imperative, that the heart is more
touched with pity by the plea of hunger, and more ready
to supply that want than any other. He who can habitually inflict on others the pain of hunger by giving them
Insufficient food, can habitually inflict on them any other
pain.
He can kick and cuff and flog and brand theim,
put them in irons or the stocks, can overwork them, deprive them of sleep, lacerate their backs, make them
work without clothing, and sleep without covering.
Other cruelties may be perpetrated in hot blood and
the acts regretted as soon as done—the feeling that
prompts them is not a permanent state of mind, but a
violent impulse stung up by sudden provocation.
But
he who habitually withholds from his dependents sufficient sustenance, can plead no such palliation. The fact
itself shows, that his permanent state of mind toward them
Is a brutal indifference to their wants and sufferings—a
state of mind which will naturally, necessarily, show itself
In innumerable privations and inflictions upon them,
when it can be done with impunity.
If, therefore, we find upon examination, that the slaveholders do not furnish their slaves with sufficient food,
and do thus habitually inflict upon them the pain of hunger,
we have a clue furnished to their treatment in other respects, and may fairly infer habitual and severe privations
and inflictions; not merely from the fact that men are
quick to feel for those who suffer from hunger, and perhaps more ready tox relieve that want than any other ; but
also, because it is more for the interest of the slaveholder to supply that want than any other; consequently,
h
US

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

if the slave suffer in this respect, he must, as the general'
rule, suffer more in other respects. We now proceed to
show that the slaves have insufficient food. This will be*
shown first from the express declarations of slave-holders,
and other competent witnesses who are, or have been
residents of slave states, that the slaves generally underfed
And then, by the laws of slave states, and by thetestimony of slave-holders and others, the kind, quantity,
and cjiialtily, of their allowance will be given, and the
reader left to judge for himself whether the slave must'
riot be a sufferer.
THE SLAVES SUFFER FROM HUNGER—DECLARATIONS OF SLAVE-HOLDERS
AND OTHERS.
WITNESSES AND THEIR TESTIMONY.

Hon. Alexander Smyth, a slave-holder, and for ten-'
years, Member of Congress from Virginia.—" By confining the slaves to the Southern states, where crops are
raised for exportation, and bread and meat are purchased,
you doom them to scarcity and hunger. It is proposed tot
hem in the blacks where they are ILL FED."
Rev. George Whitefield.—" My blood has frequently
run cold within me, to think how many of your slaveshave not sufficient food to eat; they are scarcely permitted to pick up the crumbs that fall from their master'stable."
Rev. John Rankin, of Ripley, Ohio.—" Thousands of
the slaves are pressed with the gnawings of cruel hunger
during their whole lives."
Report of the Gradual Emancipation Society, of Nortti
Carolina, 1826. Signed Moses Swain, President, and
William Swain, Secretary.—Speaking of the condition of
slaves, in the eastern part of that state, the report says,—
" The master puts the unfortunate wretches upon short
allowances, scarcely sufficient for their sustenance, so that
& great part of them go half starved much of the time."
Mr. Asa. A. Stone, a Theological Student.—IC On almost every plantation, the hands suffer more or less fronv
154

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

hunger at some seasons of almost every year. There is
always a good deal of suffering from hunger. On many
plantations, and particularly in Louisiana, the slaves are in
a condition of almost utter famishment, during a great
portion of the year."
Mr. Tobias Boudinot, St Albans, Ohio, a member of
the Methodist Church.—" The slaves down the Mississippi, are half starved : the boats, when they stop at night,
are constantly boarded by slaves, begging for something to
eat."
II.

KINDS OF FOOD.

Hon. Robert Turnbull.—"The subsistence of the slaves
consist, from March until August, of corn ground into
grits, or meal, made into what is called hominy, or baked
into corn bread. The other six months, they are fed
upon the sweet potatoe. Meat, when given, is only by
way of indulgence or favor.
Mr. Eleazar Powell, Chippewa, Beaver Co., Penn.—
" The food of the slaves was generally corn bread, and
sometimes meat or molasses."
Reuben G. Macy, a member of the Society of Friends,
Hudson, N. Y.—" The slaves had no food allowed them
besides corn, excepting at Christmas, when they had
beef."
William Ladd, Esq., of Minot, Me., president of the
American Peace Society, and formerly a slave-holder of
lorida, gives the following testimony as to the allowance
of food to slaves.
" The usual food of the slaves was corn, with a modi*
cum of salt. In some cases the master allowed no saltj,
but the slaves boiled the sea water for salt, in their little
pots. For about eight days near Christmas, i. e., from
the Saturday evening before, to the Sunday evening after
Christmas day, they were allowed some meat. They
always, with one single exception, ground their corn in a
hand-mill, and cooked their food themselves.
Extract of a letter from Rev. D. C. EASTMAN, a
preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church, in Fayette
county, Ohio.
155

TEESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

" In March, 1838, Mr. Thomas Larrimer, a deacon
of the Presbyterian church, in Bloomingbury, Fayette
county, Ohio, Mr. Gr. S. Fullerton, merchant, and member of the same church, and Mr. William A. Ustick, an
elder of the same church, spent a night with a Mr. Shepherd, about 80 miles North of Charleston, S. C , on the
Monk's corner road. He owned five families of negroes,
who, he said, were fed from the same meal and meat
tubs as himself, but that 99 out of 3 00 of all the slaves
in that county saw meat but once a year, which was on
Christmas holidays."
As an illustration of the inhuman experiments sometimes tried upon slaves, in respect to the hind as well as
the quality and quantity of their food, we solicit the
attention of the reader to the testimony of the late Gene*
ral Wade Hampton, of South Carolina. General Hampton was for some time commander in chief of the army
on the Canada frontier during the last war, and at the
time of his death, about three years since, was the largest
slave-holder in the United States. The General's testimony is contained in the following extract of a letter, just
received from a distinguished clergyman in the west, extensively known both as a preacher and a writer. His
name is with the executive committee of the American
Anti-Slavery Society.
" You refer in your letter to a statement made to you
while in this place, respecting the late General Wade
Hampton, of South Carolina, and task me to write out
for you the circumstances of the case—considering them
well calculated to illustrate two points in the history of
slavery: 1st, That the habit of slave-holding dreadfully
blunts the feelings toward the slave, producing such
insensibility that his sufferings and death are regarded
with indifference. 2nd. That the slave often has insufficient food, both in quantity and quality.
" I received my information from a lady in the west,
of high respectability and great moral worth,—but think
it best to withhold her name, although the statement was
not made in confidence.
156

AMERICAN SLAVERY,

"My informant stated that she sat at dinner once in
company with General Wade Hampton, and several
others ; that the conversation turned upon the treatment
of their servants, &c.; when the General undertook to
entertain the company with the relation of an experiment
he had made in the feeding of his slaves on cotton seed.
He said that he first mingled one-fourth cotton seed with
three-fourths corn, on which they seemed to thrive tolerably well; that he then had measured out to them equal
quantities of each, which did not seem to produce any
important change; afterwards he increased the quantity
of cotton seed to three-fourths, mingled with one-fourth
corn, and then he declared, with an oath, that (they
died like rotten sheep ! !' It is but justice to the lady to
state that she spoke of his conduct with the utmost indignation ; and she mentioned also that he received no countenance from the company present, but that all seemed
to look at each other with astonishment. I give it to you
just as I received it from one who was present, and whose
character for veracity is unquestionable.
" It is proper to add that I had previously formed an
acquantance with Dr. Witherspoon, now of Alabama, if
alive ; whose former residence was in South Carolina;
from whom I received a particular account of the manner
of feeding and treating slaves on the plantations of General Wade Hampton, and others in the same part of the
State ; and certainly no one could listen to the recital
without concluding that such masters and overseers as he
described must have hearts like the nether millstone.
The cotton seed experiment I had heard of before, also,
as having been made in other parts of the south ; conse-quently, I was prepared to receive as true the above
statement, even if I had not been so well acquainted with
the high character of my informant."
I I . QUANTITY OF POOD.

The legal allowance of food for slaves in North Carolina, is in the words of the law, " a quart of corn per day."
See Haywood's manual, 525. The legal allowance in
157

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND W I T N E S S E S .

Louisiana is more, a barrel [flour barrel] of corn, [in the
ear,] or its equivalent in other grain, and a pint of salt a
month. In the other slave states the amount of food for
the slaves is left to the option of the master.
WITNESSES AND THEIR TESTIMONY.

Mr. F. G. Macy, Nantucket, Mass.,—" The food of
the slaves was three pecks of potatoes a week during the
potatoe season, and one peck of corn, during the remainder of the year."
Mr. Nehemiah Gaulkins, a member of the Baptist
Church in Waterford, Conn.—"The subsistence of the
slaves consists of seven quarts of meal, or eight quarts of
small rice jor one tveek !
Richard Macy, Hudson, N. Y., a member of the
Society of Friends.—" Their usual allowance of food was
one peck of corn per week, which was dealt out to them
every first day of the week. They had nothing allowed
them besides the corn, except one quarter of beef at
Christmas."
Rev. G. 8. Renshaw, of Quincy, 111., (the testimony of
a Virginian.)—" The slaves are generally allowanced : a
pint of corn meal and a salt herring is the allowance, or in
lieu of the herring a " dab" of fat meat of about the same
value. I have known the sour milk, and clauber to be
served out to the hands, when there was an abundance of
milk on the plantation. This is a luxury not often
afforded."
Testimony of Mr. George W. Westgate, member of the
Congregational Church, of Quincy, Illinois. Mr. W.
has been engaged in the low country trade for twelve
years, more than half of each year, principally on the
Mississippi, and its tributary streams in the south-western
slave states.
" Feeding is not sufficient.—-let facts speak. On the
coast, i, e,, Natchez and the Gulf of Mexico, the allowance was one barrel of ears of corn, and a pint of salt per
month. They may cook this in what manner they please,
but it must be done after dark ; they have no daylight to
168

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

prepare it by. Some few planters, but only a few, let
them prepare their corn on Saturday afternoon. Planters,
overseers, and negroes, have told me, that in pinching
times, i. e., when corn is high, they did not get near that
quantity. In Miss., I know some planters who allowed
their hands three and a half pounds of meat per week,
when it was cheap. Many prepare their corn on the
Sabbath, when they are not worked on that day, which
'however, is frequently the case on sugar plantations*
There are very many masters on " the coast" who will
not suffer their slaves to come to the boats, because they
•steal molasses to barter for meat; indeed they generally
trade more or less with stolen property. But it is impossible to find out what and when, as their articles of barter
are of such trifling importance. They would often come
on board our boats to beg a bone, and would tell how
bad y they were fed, that they were almost starved ;
anany a time I have set up all night, to prevent them
from stealing something to eat."
I I I . QUALITY OE FOOD.

Having ascertained the kind and quantity of food
allowed to the slaves, it is important to know something
t)f its quality, that we may judge of the amount of sustenance which it contains. For, if their provisions are
of an inferior quality, or in a damaged state, their power
to sustain labor must be greatly diminished.
WITNESSES AND THEIR TESTIMONY.

Thomas Clay, Esq., of Georgia, in an address to the
Georgia Presbytery, 1834, speaking of the quality of corn
given to the slaves, says,—" There is often a defect here"
Rev. Horace Moulton, a Methodist clergyman at Marlboro5, Mass.—" The food, or i feed' of slaves is generally of
the poorest kind."
The " Western Medical Reformer"—" They live on
a coarse, crude, unwholesome diet."
Professor A. G. Smith, of the New York Medical
College.—" I have myself known numerous instances of
large families of badly fed negroes swept off by a prevail159

TESTIMONY" OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES,

ing epidemic ; and it is well known to many intelligent
planters in the south, that the best method of preventing
that horrible malady, Chachexia Africana, is to feed the
negroes with nutritious food,
IV. NUMBER AND TIME OF MEALS EACH DAY.

In determining whether or not the slaves suffer for
want of food, the number of hours intervening, and the
labor performed between their meals, and the number of
meals each day, should be taken into consideration.
WITNESSES AND THEIR TESTIMONY.

Philemon Bliss, Esq., a lawyer in Elyria, Ohio.— u The
slaves go to the field in the morning ; they carry with
them corn meal wet with water, and at noon build a fire
on the ground and bake it in the ashes. After the labors
of the day are over, they take their second meal of ashcake."
Mr. Meazar Powell, Chippewa, Beaver county,
Penn.— ic The slaves received two meals during the day.
Those who have their food cooked for them get their
breakfast about eleven o'clock, and their other meal after
night"
The preceding testimony establishes the following
ointSo
1st. That the slaves are allowed, in general, no meat
This appears from the fact, that in the only slave states
which regulate the slaves' rations by law, (North Carolina and Louisiana,) the legal ration contains no meat
Besides, the late Hon. R. J. Turnbull, one of the largest
planters in South Carolina, says expressly, " meat, when
given, is only by the way of indulgence or favor." It is
shown also by the direct testimony recorded above, of
slave-holders and others, in all parts of the slave-holding
south and west, that the general allowance on plantations is corn or meal and salt merely. To this there are
doubtless many exceptions, but they are only exceptions ;
the number of slave-holders who furnish meat for their
field-hands, is small, in comparison with the number of
those who do not. The house slaves, that is, the cooks,
160

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

chambermaids, waiters, &c, generally get some meat
every day; the remainder bits and bones of their masters5
tables. But that the great body of the slaves, those that
compose the field gangs, whose labor and exposure, and
consequent exhaustion, are vastly greater than those of
house slaves, toiling as they do from day light till dark,
in the fogs of the early morning, under the scorchings of
mid-day, and amid the damps of evening, are in general
provided with no meat, is abundantly established by the
preceding testimony.
Now we do not say that meat is necessary to sustain
men under hard and long continued labor, nor that it is
not. This is not a treatise on dietetics ; but it is a notorious fact, that the medical faculty in this country, with
very few exceptions, do most strenuously insist that it is
necessary ; and that working men in all parts of the
country do believe that meat is indispensable to sustain
them, even those who work within doors, and only ten
hours a day, every one knows. Further, it is notorious,
that the slave-holders themselves believe the daily use of
meat to be absolutely necessary to the comfort, not merely
of those who labor, but of those who are idle, as is proved
by the fact of meat being a part of the daily ration of
food provided for convicts in the prisons, in every one of
the slave states, except in those rare cases where meat is:
expressly prohibited, and the convict is, by way of extra
punishment confined to bread and water ; he is occasionally, and for a little time only, confined to bread and
water ; that is, to the ordinary diet of slaves, with this
difference in favor of the convict, his bread is made for
him, whereas the slave is forced to pound or grind his
own corn and make his own bread, when exhausted with
toil.
The preceding testimony shows also, that vegetables
form generally no part of the slaves' allowance. The sole
food of the majority is com : at every meal—from day to
day—from week to week—from month to month, corn.
In South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, the sweet pofca161

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

toe is, to a considerable extent, substituted for corn during
a part of the year.
2nd. The preceding testimony proves conclusively,
that the quantity of food generally allowed to a full-grown
field-hand, is a peck of corn a week, or a fraction over a
quart and a gill of corn a day. The legal ration of North
Carolina is less—in Louisiana it is more. Of the slaveholders and other witnesses, who give the foregoing testimony, the reader will perceive that no one testifies to a
larger allowance of corn than a peck for a week ; though
a number testify, that within the circle of their knowledge,
seven quarts was the usual allowance. Frequently a small
quantity of meat is added ; but this, as has already been
shown, is not the general rule for field-hands. We may
add, also, that in the season of " pumpkins," "cimblins," iecabbages," "greens," &c, the slaves, on small
plantations, are, to some extent, furnished with those
articles.
Now, without entering upon the vexed question of how
much food is necessary to sustain the human system,
under severe toil and exposure, and without giving the
opinions of physiologists as to the insufficiency or sufficiency of the slaves' allowance, we affirm that all civilized nations have, in ail ages, and in the most emphatic
manner, declared, that eight quarts of com a week, (the
usual allowance of our slaves,) is utterly insufficient to
sustain the human body, under such toil and exposure as
that to which the slaves are subjected.
To show this fully, it will be necessary to make some
estimates, and present some statistics. And first, the
northern reader must bear in mind, that the corn furnished
to the slaves at the south, is almost invariably the white
gourd seed corn, and that a quart of this kind of corn
weighs five or six ounces less than a quart of "flint corn,"
the kind generally raised in the northern and eastern
states ; consequently a peck of the corn generally given
to the slaves, would be only equivalent to a fraction more
than six quarts and a pint of the corn commonly raised
in the New England States, New York, New Jersey, &c*
162

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

Now, what would be said of the northern capitalist, who
should allow his laborers but six quarts and five gills of
corn for a week's provisions 1
Further, it appears in evidence, that the corn given to
the slaves is often defective. This, the reader will recollect, is the voluntary testimony of Thomas Clay, Esq.,
the Georgia planter, whose testimony is given above.
When this is the case, the amount of actual nutriment
contained in a peck of the "gourd seed," may not be
more than in five, or four, or even three quarts of " Hint
corn."
As a quart of southern corn weighs at least five ounces
less than a quart of northern corn, it requires little arithmetic to perceive, that the daily allowance of the slave
fed upon that kind of corn, would contain about one-third
oi a pound less nutriment than though his daily ration
were the same quantity of northern corn, which would
amount, in a year, to more than a hundred and twenty
pounds of human sustenance ! which would furnish the
slave with his full allowance of a peck of corn a week for
two months ! It is unnecessary to add, that this difference in the weight of the two kinds of corn, is an item
too important to be overlooked. As one quart of the
southern corn weighs one pound and eleven-sixteenths of
a pound, it follows that it would be about one pound and
six-eights of a pound. We now solicit the attention of
the reader to the following unanimous testimony, of the
civilized world, to the utter insufficiency of this amount
of food to sustain human beings under labor. This testimony is to be found in the laws of all civilized nations,
which regulate the rations of soldiers and sailors, disbursement made by governients for the support of citizens
in times of public calamity, the allowance to convicts in
prisons &c. We will begin with the United States.
The daily ration for each United States' soldier, established by act of Congress, May 30, 1796, was the following : one pound of beef, one pound of bread, half a
gill of spirits ; and at the rate of one quart of salt, two
quarts of vinegar, two pounds of soap, and one pound of
163

TESTIMONY OV A THOUSAND W I T N E S S E S .

candles to every hundred rations. To those soldiers
"who were on the frontiers," (where the labor and exposure were greater,) the ration was one pound two ounces
of beef and one pound two ounces of bread. Laws U. S,
vol. 3rd, sec. 10, p. 431.
After an experiment of two years, the preceding ration
being found insufficient, it was increased, by act of Congress, July 16, 1798, and was as follows: beef one pound
and a quarter, bread one pound two ounces ; salt two
quarts, vinegar four quarts, soap four pounds, and candles
one and a half pounds to the hundred rations. The preceding allowance was afterwards still further increased.
The present daily ration for the United States' soldiers,,
is, as we learn from an advertisement of Captain Fulton,
of the United States' army, in a late number of the Richmond (Va.) Enquirer, as follows : one and a quarter
pounds of beef, one and three-sixths pounds of bread;
and at the rate of eight quarts of beans, eight pounds of
sugar, four pounds of coffee, two quarts of salt, four
pounds of candles, and four pounds of soap, to every hundred rations.
We have before us the daily rations provided for the
emigrating Ottawa Indians, two years since, and for the
emigrating Cherokees last fall. They were the s a m e one pound of fresh beef, one pound of flour, &c.
The daily ration for the United States' navy, is fourteen ounces of bread, half a pound of beef, six ounces of
pork, three ounces of rice, three ounces of peas, one ounce
of cheese, one ounce of sugar, half an ounce of tea, onethird of a gill molasses.
The daily ration in the British army is one and a quarter pounds of beef, one pound of bread, &c.
The daily ration in the French army is one pound
of beef, and one and a half pounds of bread, one pint of
wine, &c.
The common daily ration for foot soldiers on the continent, is one pound of meat, and one and a half pounds
of bread.
The sea ration among the Portuguese, has become the
ie?4

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

usual ration in the navies of European powers generally.
It is as follows : " one and a half pounds of biscuit, one
pound of salt meat, one pint of wine, with some dried
fish and onions.
PRISON EATIONS.—Before giving the usual daily rations
of food allowed to convicts, in the principal prisons in the
United States, we will quote the testimony of the
"American Prison Discipline Society," which is as fol*
lows :
" The common allowance of food in the penitentiaries,
is equivalent to ONE POUND OF MEAT, ONE POUND OF
BREAD, AND ONE POUND OF VEGETABLES PER DAY.
It

varies a little from this in some of them, but it is generally equivalent to it." First Report of American Prison
Discipline Society, page 13.
The daily ration of food to each convict, in the principal prisons in this country, is as follows :
In the New Hampshire State Prison, one and a quarter
pounds of meal, and fourteen ounces of beef, for break*
fast and dinner ; and for supper, a soup or porridge of
potatoes and beans, or peas, the quantity not limited.
In the Vermont prison, the convicts are allowed to eat
as much as they wish.
In the Massachusetts' penitentiary, one and a half
pounds of bread, fourteen ounces of meat, half a pint of
potatoes, and one gill of molasses, or one pint of milk.
In the Connecticutt State Prison, one pound of beef,
one pound of bread, two and a half pounds of potatoes,
half a gill of molasses, with salt, pepper, and vinegar.
In the New York State Prison at Auburn, one pound
of beef, twenty-two ounces of flour and meal, half a gill
of molasses ; with two quarts of rye, four quarts of salt;
with two quarts of vinegar, one and a half ounces of
pepper, and two and a half bushels of potatoes to every
hundred rations.
In the New York State Prison at Sing Sing, one pound
of beef, eighteen ounces of flour and meal, besides potatoes, rye, coffee, and molasses.
In the New York City Prison^ one pound of beef,
165

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

one pound of flour, and three pecks of potatoes to every
hundred rations, with other small articles.
In the New Jersey State Prison, one pound of bread,
half a pound of beef, with potatoes and cabbage, (quantity
not specified,) one gill of molasses, and a bowl of mush,
for supper.
In the late Walnut Street Prison, Philadelphia, one
and a half pounds of bread and meat, half a pound of
beef, one pint of potatoes, one gill of molasses, and half
a gill of rye, for coffee.
In the Baltimore prison, we believe the ration is the
same with the preceding.
In the Pennsylvania Eastern Penitentiary, one pound
of bread and one pint of coffee for breakfast, one pint of
meat soup, with potatoes without limit, for dinner, and
mush and molasses for supper.
In the Penitentiary for the district of Columbia.,
Washington city, one pound of beef, twelve ounces of
Indian meal, ten ounces of wheat flour, half a gill of molasses ; with two quarts of rye, four quarts of salt, four
quarts of vinegar, and two and a half bushels of potatoes
to every hundred rations.
RATIONS IN ENGLISH PRISONS.—The daily ration of

food in the Bedfordshire Penitentiary, .is two pounds of
oread ; and if at hard labor, a quart of soap for dinner.
In the Cambridge County House of Correction, three
pounds of bread, and one pint of beer.
In the Millbank General Penitentiary, one and a half
pounds of bread, one pound of potatoes, six ounces of
beef, with half a pint of broth therefrom.
In the Gloucestershire Penitentiaiy, one and a half
pounds of bread, three-fourths of a pint of peas, made
into soup, with beef, quantity not stated. Also gruel,
made of vegetables, quantity not stated, and one and a
half ounces of oatmeal mixed with it.
In the Leicestershire House of Correction, two pounds
of bread, and three pints of gruel; and when at hard
labor, one pint of milk in addition, and twice a week a
pint of meat soup at dinner, instead of gruel.
166

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

In the Buxton House of Correction, one and a half
pounds of bread, one and a half pints of gruel, one and a
half pints of soup, four-fifths of a pound of potatoes, and
two-sevenths of an ounce of beef.
Notwithstanding the preceding daily ration in the Buxton prison is about double the usual daily allowance of
our slaves, yet the visiting physicians decided, that for those
prisoners who were required to work the tread-mill it
was entirely insufficient. This question was considered at
length, and publicly discussed at the sessions of the Surry
magistrates, with the benefit of medical advice ; which
resulted in large additions to the rations of those whoworked on the tread-mill. See London Morning Chronicle, Jan. 13, 1830.
To the preceding we add " the ration of the Roman:
slaves." The monthly allowance of food to slaves in
Rome was called " Dimensum." The " Dimensum" was
an allowance of wheat or of other grain, which consisted
of five " modii " a month to each slave. Ainsworth, in
his Latin Dictionary estimates the "modius," when used
for the measurement of grain, at a peck and a half our
measure, which would make the Roman slave's allowance
two quarts of grain a day, just double the allowance provided for the slave by law in North Carolina, and sixquarts more per week, than the ordinary allowance of
slaves in the slave states generally, as already established
by the testimony of slave-holders themselves. But it
must by no means be overlooked that this " Dimensum,"
or monthly allowance, was far from being the sole allowance of food to Roman slaves. In addition to this, they
had a stated daily allowance (" diarium ") besides a
monthly allowance of money, amounting to about a cent
a day.
Now without further trenching on the reader's time, we
add, compare the preceding daily allowances of food to
soldiers and sailors in this and other conntries; to convicts in this and other countries ; to bodies of emigants
rationed at public expense ; and finally, with the fixed
allowance given to the Roman slaves, and we find ths
167

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

states of this Union, the slave states as well as the free,
the United States' government, the different European governments, the old Roman empire, in fine, we may add, the
worlds ancient and modern, uniting in the testimony that
to furnish men at hard labor from day-light till dark with
but one seven-eighths of a pound of corn per day, their sole
sustenance, is to MURDER THEM BY PIECE-MEAL.

The

reader will perceive by examining the preceding statistics
that the average daily ration throughout this country and
Europe exceeds the usual slave's allowance at least a pound
a day ; also that one-third of this ration for soldiers and
convicts in the United States, and for soldiers and sailors
in Europe, is meat, generally beef; whereas the allowance
of the mass of our slaves is corn, only. Further, the convicts in our prisons are sheltered from the heat of the
sun, and from the damps of the early morning and evening, from cold rain, &c. ; whereas, the great body of the
slaves are exposed to all of these, in their season from daylight till dark ; besides this, they labor more hours in the
day than convicts, as will be shown under another head,
and are obliged to prepare and cook their own food after
they have finished the labor of the day, while the con*
victs have theirs prepared for them. These, with other
circumstances, necessarily make larger and longer draughts
upon the strength of the slave, produce consequently
greater exhaustion, and demand a larger amount of food
to restore and sustain the laborer than is required by the
convict in his briefer, less exposed, and less exhausting
toils.
That the slave-holders themselves regard the usual
allowance of food to slaves as insufficient, both in kind
and quantity, for hard-working men is shown by the
fact, that all the slave states, we believe without exception, white convicts at hard labor, have a much larger
allowance of food than the usual one of slaves ; and
generally more than one-third of this daily allowance is
meat. This conviction of slave-holders shows itself in
various forms. When persons wish to hire slaves to
labor on public works, in addition to the inducement of
168

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

high wages held out to masters to hire out their slaves,
the contractors pledge themselves that a certain amount
of food shall be given the slaves, taking care to specify a
larger amount than the usual allowance, and a part of it
meat.
The following advertisement is an illustration. We
copy it from the " Daily Georgian," Savannah, December
14th, 1838.
NEGROES WANTED.
The Contractors upon the Brunswick and Alatamaha
Canal, are desirous to hire a number of prime Negro
Men, from the 1st October next, for fifteen months, until
the 1st January, 1840. They will pay at the rate of
eighteen dollars per month for each prime hand.
These negroes will be employed in the excavation of
the Canal. They will be provided with " three and a
half pounds of pork or bacon, and ten quarts of gourd seed
corn per week," lodged in comfortable shantees, and attended constantly by a skilful physician,
J. H. COWPER,
P. M. NIGHTINGALE.

But we have direct testimony to this point. The late
Hon. John Taylor, of Caroline Co. Virginia, for a long
time Senator in Congress, and for many years president
of the Agricultural Society of the State, says in his
"Agricultural Essays," No. 30, page 97, " BREAD ALONE
OUGHT NEVER

TO B E CONSIDERED A S U F F I C I E N T D I E T F O R

SLAVES EXCEPT AS A PUNISHMENT."

He urges upon the

planters of Virginia to give their slaves, in addition to
bread, " salt meat and vegetables," and adds, " we shall
be ASTONISHED to discover upon trial, that this great camfort to them is a profit to the master."
The managers of the American Prison Discipline
.Society, in their third Eeport, page 58, say, " In the
Penitentiaries generally, in the United States, the animal
food is equal to one pound of meat per day for each
convict."
Most of the actual suffering from hunger on the part of
M
169

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

the slaves, is in the sugar and cotton-growing region, where
the crops are exported and the corn generally purchased
from the upper country. Where this is the case there
cannot but be suffering. The contingencies of bad crops,
difficult transportation, high prices, &c., &c, naturally
occasion short and often precarious allowances. The
following extract from a New Orleans paper of April 26,
1837, affords an illustration. The writer in describing
the effects of the money pressure in Mississippi, says :
" They, (the planters) are now left without provisions,
and the means of living and using their industry, for the
present year. In this dilemma, planters whose crops
have been from one hundred to seven hundred bales, find
themselves forced to sacrifice many of their slaves in order
to get the common necessaries of life for the support of
themselves and the rest of their negroes. In many places,
heavy planters compel their slaves to fish for the means
of subsistence rather than sell them at such ruinous rates.
There are at this moment THOUSANDS OF SLAVES,
in Mississippi, that KNOW NOT WHERE THE
NEXT MORSEL IS TO COME FROM. The master must be ruined to save the wretches from being
STARVED."
II. LABOR.
THE SLAVES ARE OVERWORKED.

This is abundantly proved by the number of hours
that the slaves are obliged to be in the field. But before
furnishing testimony as to their hours of labor and rest,
we will present the express declarations of slave-holders
and others, that the slaves are severely driven in the
field.
WITNESSES AND THEIR TESTIMONY.

The Senate and House of Representatives of the State
of South Carolina—" Many owners of slaves, and others
who have the management of slaves, do confine them so
closely at hard labor that they have not sufficient time for
natural rest.—See 2 Brevard's Digest of the Laws of
South Carolina, 243."
170

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

History of Carolina.— Vol, 1, page 120.—"So laborious is the task of raising, beating, and cleaning rice,
that had it been possible to obtain European servants in
sufficient numbers, thousands and tens of thousands MUST
HAVE PERISHED."

"Travels in Louisiana"—"At
the rolling of sugars,
an interval of from two to three months, they work both
Bight and day. Abridged of their sleep, they scarce retire to rest during the whole period."
The Western Review.—" The work is admitted to be
severe for the hands, (slaves,) requiring when the process
is commenced to be pushed night and day."
Mr. Asa A. Stone.—"Every body here knows overdriving to be one of the most common occurrences, the
planters do not deny it, except, perhaps, to northerners"
Philemon Bliss, Esq.—"During the cotton-picking
season they usually labor in the field during the whole of
the day-light, and then spend a good part of the night in
ginning and baling. The labor required is very frequently
excessive, and speedily impairs the constitution."
Hon. R. J. Turnbull of South Carolina, a slave-holder,
speaking of the harvesting of cotton, says:—" All the
pregnant women even, on the plantation, and weak and
sickly negroes incapable of other labor are then in requisition.
HOURS OP LABOR AND REST.

Mr. Cornelius Johnson, of Farming ton, Ohio.—" It is
the common rule for the slaves to be kept at work fifteen
hours in the day, and in the time of picking cotton a certain number of pounds is required of each. If this
amount is not brought in at night, the slave is whipped,
and the number of pounds lacking is added to the next
day's j o b ; this course is often repeated from day to
day."
W. C. Cildersleeve, Esq., Wilkesbarre Pain.—" I t
was customary for the overseers to call out the gangs long
"before day, say three o'clock, in the winter, while dressing out the crops ; such work as could be done by firelight (pitch pine was abundant,) was provided."
171

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

Mr. Henry E. Knapp.-—" The slaves were made to
work, from as soon as they could see in the morning, till
as late as they could see at night. Sometimes they were
made to work till nine o'clock at night, in such work as
they could do, as burning cotton stalks, &c."
Mr. George W. Westgate, a member of the Congregational Church at Quincy, Illinois, who lived in the south
western slave states a number of years, says, " The slaves
are driven to the field in the morning about four o'clock,
the general calculation is to get them at work by daylight ; the time for breakfast is between nine and ten
o'clock : this meal is sometimes eaten ' bite and work,9
others allow fifteen minutes, and this is the only rest the
slave has while in the field. I have never known a case
of stopping an hour, in Louisiana ; in Mississippi the
rule is milder, though entirely subject to the will of the
master. On cotton plantations, in cotton picking time.,
that is from October to Christmas, each hand has a certain quantity to pick, and is flogged if his task is not accomplished ; their tasks are such as to keep them all the
while busy."
The preceding testimony under this head has sole
reference to the actual labor of the slaves in the field*
In order to determine how many hours are left for sleep^
we must take into the account, the time spent in going
to and from the field, which is often at a distance of one3
two and sometimes three miles ; also the time necessary
for pounding, or grinding their corn, and preparing, over
night, their food for the next day ; also the preparation
of tools, getting fuel and preparing it, making fires and
cooking their suppers, if they have any, the occasional
mending and washing of their clothes, <fec. Besides this^
as every one knows who has lived on a southern plantation, many little errands and chores are to be done for
their masters and mistresses, old and young, which have
accumulated during the day and been kept in reserve till
the slaves return from the field at night. To this we
may add that the slaves are social beings, and that during
the day, silence is generally enforced by the whip of the
172

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

overseer or driver.* When they return at night, their
pent up social feelings will seek vent : it is a law of nature, and though the body may be greatly worn with
toil, this law cannot be wholly stifled. Sharers of the
same woes, they are drawn together by strong affinities,
and seek the society and sympathy of their fellows ;
even " tired nature " will joyfully forego for a time needful rest, to minister to a want equally permanent and
imperative as the want of sleep, and as much more profound, as the yearnings of the higher nature surpass
the instincts of its animal appendage.
All these things make drafts upon time. To show
how much of the slave's time, which is absolutely indispensable for rest and sleep, is necessarily spent in various
labors after his return from the field at night, we subjoin
a few testimonies.
Mr Cornelius Johnson, Farmington, Ohio, who lived
in Mississippi in the years 1837 and 1838, says :
£t
On all the plantations where I was acquainted, the
slaves were kept in the field till dark ; after which, those
who had to grind their own corn, had that to attend to,
get their supper, attend to other family affairs of their
own and of their master, such as bringing water, washing clothes, &c. &c., and be in the field as soon as it
was sufficiently light to commence work in the morning."
Mr. George W. Westgate, of Quincy, Illinois, who
has spent several years in the south western slave states,
says :
" Their time, after full dark until four o'clock in the
morning is their own ; this fact alone would seem to say
they have sufficient rest, but there are other things to be
considered ; much of their making, mending and washing of clothes, preparing and cooking food, hauling and
chopping wood, fixing and preparing tools, and a variety
of little nameless jobs must be done between those
hours/'
* We do not mean that they are not suffered to speak, but
that, as conversation would be a hindrance to labour, they are
generally permitted to indulge in it but little.

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

Philemon Bliss, Esq., of Elyria, Ohio, who resided im
Florida, in 1834 and 5, gives the following testimony :
" After having finished their field labors, they are
occupied till nine or ten o'clock in doing chores, such as
grinding corn, (as all the com in the vicinity is ground
by hand,) chopping wood, taking care of horses, mules,
&c, and a thousand things necessary to be done on a large
plantation. Tf any extra job is to be done, it must not
hinder the { niggers ' from their work, but must be dons
in the night."
W. C. Gildersleeve, Esq., a native of Georgia, am
elder of the Presbyterian Church, at Wilkesbarre, Pa.
says :
" The corn is ground in a handmill by the slave after
his task is done—generally there is but one mill on a plantation, and as but one can grind at a time, the mill is going
sometimes very late at night"
The following testimony of Rev. Dr. Channing, of Bos>
ton, who resided some time in Virginia, shows that the
over-working of slaves, to such an extent as to abridge
life, and cause a decrease of population, is not confined to
the far south and south-west.
" I heard of an estate managed by an individual wh®
was considered as singularly successful, and who wTas able
to govern the slaves without the use of the whip. I was
anxious to see him, and trusted that some discovery had
been made favourable to humanity. I asked him how he
was able to dispense with corporal punishment. He
replied to me, with a very determined look, ' The slaves
know that the work must be done, and that it is better to
do it without punishment than with it.' In other words,
the certainty and dread of chastisement were so impressed
on them, that they never incurred it.
' I then found that the slaves on this well-managed
estate, decreased in number. I asked the cause. He
replied, with perfect frankness and ease, 'The gang is not
large enough for the estate.' In other words, they were
not equal to the work of the plantation, and yet were
made to do it, though with the certainty of abridging life-

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

< On this plantation the huts were uncommonly conve«
nient. There was an unusal air of neatness. A superficial observer would have called the slaves happy. Yet
they were living under a severe, subduing discipline, and
were over-worked to a degree that shortened life"—
Charming on Slavery, page 162, first edition.
Philemon Bliss, Esq., a lawyer of Elyria, Ohio, who
spent some time in Florida, gives the following testimony
to the over-working of the slaves :
" It is not uncommon for hands, in hurrying times, beside working all day, to labor half the night. This is
usually the case on sugar plantations, during the sugarboiling season ; and on cotton, during its gathering.
Beside the regular taslf of picking cotton, averaging of the
short staple, when the crop is good, 1 00 pounds a day
to the hand, the ginning (extracting the seed,) and baling
was done in the night. Said Mr.
to me,
while conversing upon the customary labor of slaves,
1
1 work my niggers in a hurrying time till 11 or 12
o'clock at night, and have them up by four in the
morning.'
Beside the common inducement, the desire of gain, to
make a large crop, the desire is increased by that spirit
of gambling, so common at the south. It is very common
to bet on the issue of a crop, A. lays a wager that, from
a given number of hands, he will make more cotton than
B. The wager is accepted, and then begins the contest;
and who bears the burden of it 1 How many tears, yea,
how many broken constitutions, and premature deaths,
have been the effect of this spirit 1 From the desperate
energy of purpose with which the gambler pursues his
object, from the passions which the practice calls into
exercise, we might conjecture many. Such is the fact.
In Middle Florida, a broken-winded negro is more common than a broken-ioinded horse ; though usually, when
they are declared unsound, or when their constitution is
so broken that their recovery is despaired of, they are
exported to New Orleans, to drag out the remainder of
their days in the cane-field and sugar-house. I would
175

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

not insinuate that all planters gamble upon their crops ;
but I mention the practice as one of the common inducements to 'push niggers.' Neither would I assert that all
planters drive the hands to the injury of their health. I
give it as a general rule in the district of Middle Florida, and I have no reason to think that negroes are
driven worse there than in other fertile sections. People
there told me that the situation of the slaves was far
better than in Mississippi and Louisiana. And from comparing the crops with those made in the latter states, and
for other reasons, I am convinced of the truth of their
statements.5
III. CLOTHING.
We propose to show under this head, that the clothing
of the slaves by day, and their covering by night are inadequate, either for comfort or decency.
WITNESSES AND THEIR TESTIMONY.

Hon. T. T. JBouldin.—Mr. Bouldin said, " he knew
that many negroes had died from exposure to weather,"
and added, " they are clad in a flimsey fabric, that will
turn neither wind nor water."
George Buchanan, M. D., of Baltimore.—" The slaves,
naked and starved, often fall victims to the inclemencies
of the weather."
Rev. Phineas Smith, Centreville, Allegany, Co., N.
Y.—" The apparel of the slaves is of the coarsest sort,
and exceedingly deficient in quantity. I have been on
many plantations, where children of eight and ten years
old, were in a state of perfect nudity. Slaves are in general
wretchedly clad."
Richard Macy, a member of the Society of Friends,
Hudson, N. Y.—" For bedding each slave was allowed
one blanket, in which they rolled themselves up. I examined their houses, but could not find any thing like
a bed."
W. 0. Gildersleeve, $sq., Wilkesbarre, Pa.—" It is an
every day sight to see women as well as men, with no
176

AMERICAN SLAVERY,

other covering than a few filthy rags fastened above the
hips, reaching midway to the ancles. I never knew any
kind of covering for the head given. Children of both
sexes, from infancy to ten years, are seen in companies on
the plantations, in a state of perfect nudity. This was
so common that the most refined and delicate beheld them
unmoved."
Mr. George A. Avery, an elder in the fourth Congregational Church, Rochester, N. Y., who spent four years
in Virginia, says, " The slave children, very commonly of
both sexes, up to the ages of eight and ten years, and^ I
think in some instances beyond this age, go in a state of
disgusting nudity. I have often seen them with their
tow shirt (their only article of summer clothing) which, to
all human appearance, had not been taken off from the
time it was first put on, worn off from the bottom upwards, shred by shred, until nothing remained but the
straps which passed over their shoulders, and the less
exposed portions extending a very little way below the
arms, leaving the principal pa.rt of the chest, as well as
the limbs, entirely uncovered."
Samuel Ellison, a member of the Society of Friends,
formerly of Southampton Co., Virginia, now of Marlborough, Stark Co., Ohio, says, " I knew a Methodist who
was the owner of a number of slaves. The children of
both sexes, belonging to him, under twelve years of age,
were entirely destitute of clothing. I have seen an old
man compelled to labor in the fields, not having rags
enough to cover his nakedness."
Rev. H. Lyman, late pastor of the Free Presbyterian
Church, in Buffalo, N. Y., in describing a tour down and
up the Mississippi river in the winter of 1832-3, says,
" A t the wood yards where the boats stop, it is not uncommon to see female slaves employed in carrying wood.
Their dress which was quite uniform was provided without any reference to comfort. They had no covering for
their heads ; the stuff which constituted the outer garment was sackcloth, similar to that in which brown
domestic goods are done up. It was then December, and
177

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES,

I thought that in such a dress, and being as they were,
without stockings, they must suffer from the cold."
Mr. Benjamin Clendenon, Colerain, Lancaster Co.,
Pa., a member of the Society of Friends, in a recent letter
describing a short tour through the northern part of Maryland in the winter of 1836, thus speaks of a place a few
miles from Chestertown. "About this place there were a
number of slaves ; very few, if any, had either stockings
or shoes; the weather was intensely cold, and the ground
covered with snow."
IV. DWELLINGS.
THE SLAVES ARE WRETCHEDLY SHELTERED AND LODGED.

Mr. Steven E. Maltby.—" The huts where the slaves
slept, generally contained but one apartment, and that
without floor.''
Mr. George A. Avery, elder of the 4th Presbyterian
Church, Eochester, N . Y.—"Amongst all the negro
cabins which I saw in Va., I cannot call to mind one in
which there was any other floor than the earth ; any
thing that a northern laborer, or mechanic, white or
colored, would call a bed, nor a solitary partition, to separate the sexes."
Mr. William Leftivich, a native of Virginia.—" The
dwellings of the slaves are log huts, from ten to twelve
feet square, often without windows, doors, or floors : they
have neither chairs, table, nor bedstead."
Reuben L Macy, of Hudson, N . Y.—" The houses
for the field slaves were about 14 feet square, built in the
coarsest manner, with one room, without any chimney
or flooring, with a hole in the roof to let the smoke out."
V. TREATMENT OF THE SICK.
THE SLAVES SUITER FROM INHUMAN NEGLECT WHEN SICK.

In proof of this we subjoin the following testimony :
Rev. Dr. Channing of Boston, who once resided
in Virginia in his work on slavery, page 163, 1st edition.
178

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

" I cannot forget my feelings on visiting a hospital belonging to the plantation of a gentleman highly esteemed
for his virtues, and whose manners and conversation expressed much benevolence and conscientiousness. When I
entered with him the hospital, the first object on which
my eye fell was a young woman, very ill, probably
approaching death. She was stretched on the floor. Her
head rested on something like a pillow ; but her body
and limbs were extended on the hard boards. The
owner, I doubt not, had at least as much kindness as
myself; but he was so used to see the slaves living without common comforts, that the idea of unkindness in the
present instance did not enter his mind."
This dying young woman "was stretched on the
floor "—" her body and limbs extended upon the hard
boards,"—and yet her master " was highly esteemed for
his virtues," and his general demeanor produced upon
Dr. Channing the impression of " benevolence and
conscientiousness." If the sick and dying female slaves
of such a master, suffer such barbarous neglect, whose
heart does not fail him, at the thought of that inhumanity,
exercised by the majority of slave-holders, towards their
aged, sick, and dying victims.
The following testimony is furnished by Sarah M.
Grimke, a sister of the late Hon. Thomas S. Grimke, of
Charleston, South Carolina.
" When the Ladies' Benevolent Society in Charleston,
S. C , of which I was a visiting commissioner, first went
into operation, we were applied to for the relief of several
sick and aged colored persons; one case I particularly
remember, of an aged woman who was dreadfully burnt
from having fallen into the fire ; she was living with some
free blacks who had taken her out of compassion. On
inquiry, we found that nearly all the colored persons who
had solicited aid, were slaves, who being no longer able
to work for their " owners," were thus inhumanly cast
out in their sickness and old age, and must have perished,
but for the kindness of their friends.
I was once visiting a sick slave in whose spiritual wel179

TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WITNESSES.

fare peculiar circumstances had led me to be deeply
interested. I knew that she had been early seduced from
the path of virtue, as nearly all the female slaves are. I
knew also that her mistress, though a professor of religion,
had never taught her a single precept of Christianity, yet
that she had had her severely punished for this departure from them, and that the poor girl was then ill of an
incurable disease, occasioned partly by her own misconduct, and partly by the cruel treatment she had received,
in a situation that called for tenderness and care. Her
lieart seemed truly touched with repentance for her sins, and
she was inquiring, " What shall I do to be saved 1 " I
was sitting by her as she lay on the floor upon a blanket,
and was trying to establish her trembling spirit in the
fulness of Jesus, when I heard the voice of her mistress
in loud and angry tones, as she approached the door. I
read in the countenance of the prostrate sufferer, the terror which she felt at the prospect of seeing her mistress.
I knew my presence would be very unwelcome, but staid,
hoping that it might restrain, in some measure, the passions of the mistress. In this, however, I was mistaken ;
she passed me without apparently observing that I was
there, and seated herself on the other side of the sick
slave. She made no inquiry how she was, but in a tone
of anger commenced a tirade of abuse, violently reproaching her with her past misconduct, and telling her in the
most unfeeling manner, that eternal destruction awaited
her. No word of kindness escaped her. What had
then roused her temper I do not know. She continued in this strain several minutes, when I attempted
to soften her by remarking, that the girl was very ill, and
she ought not thus to torment her, and that I believed
Jesus had granted her forgiveness. But I might as well
have tried to stop the tempest in its career, as to calm
the infuriated passions nurtured by the exercise of arbitrary power. She looked at me with ineffable scorn, and
continued to pour forth a torrent of abuse and reproach.
Her helpless victim listened in terrified silence, until
mature could endure no more, when she uttered a wild
180

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

shriek, and casting on her tormentor a look of unutterable agony, exclaimed, ' Oh, mistress, I am dying ! *
This appeal arrested her attention, and she soon left the
room, but in the same spirit with which she entered it.
The girl survived but a few days, and, I believe, saw her
mistress no more."
Rev. William T. Allan, son of Rev. Dr. Allan,, a slaveholder, of Huntsville, Alabama, says in a letter now before us :
" Colonel Robert H. Watkins, of Laurence county^
Alabama, who owned about three-hundred slaves, after
employing a physician among them for some time, ceased
to do so, alleging as the reason, that it was cheaper to lose
a few negroes every year than to pay a physician. This
Colonel Watkins was a Presidential elector in 1836."
A. A. Guthrie, Esq., elder in the Presbyterian church
at Putnam, Muskingum county, Ohio, furnishes the testimony which follows.
" A near female friend of mine in company with another
young lady, in attempting to visit a sick woman on Washington's Bottom, Wood county, Virginia, missed the wayy
and stopping to ask directions of a group of colored children on the outskirts of the plantation of Francis Keen,
Sen., they were told to ask ' aunty, in the house.' On
entering the hut, says my informant, I beheld such a
sight as I hope never to see again ; its sole occupant was
a female slave of the said Keen—her whole wearing apparel consisted of a frock, made of the coarsest tow clothr
and so scanty, that it could not have been made more
tight around her person. In the hut there was neither
table, chair, nor chest—a stool and a rude fixture in one
corner, were all its furniture. On this last were a little
straw and a few old remnants of what had been bedding—
all exceedingly filthy.
The woman thus situated had been for more than a
day in travail, without any assistance, any nurse, or any
kind of proper provision—duiing the night she said some
fellow slave women would stay with her, and the aforesaid children through the day. From a woman, who was.

TRIAL OF J . WALKER.

a slave of Keen's at the same time, my informant learned,
that this poor woman suffered for three days, and then
died—when too late to save her life her master sent assistance. It was understood to be a rule of his, to neglect
his women entirely in such times of trial, unless they
previously came and informed him, and asked for aid."

THE WAY IN WHICH AMERICANS USE

THE FRIENDS OF T H E SLAYE,
AS SHOWN

IN THE TBIAL AND IMPRISONMENT
OF

JONATHAN WALKER.
AT PENSACOLA, FLORIDA, FOR AIDING SLAVES TO ESCAPE FROM
BONDAGE.

PREFACE.
On Ms return from Florida, after his release, Captain Walker
called on me with the manuscript narrative of his trial and imprisonment. In common with very many of the members of the
American Anti-Slavery Society, I had long known his character
as a man of the strictest veracity and the highest conscientiousness : and his narrative seemed to me to cast so strong a light
upon the religious, the moral, and the political condition of the
United States, from the practical workings of their great organic
law—the constitution—down to the minutest of the territorial
usages and enactments which result from that law; and to exhibit in so clear a view the contrast between the principles and
ideas which at present govern the public mind, and those which
are beginning to struggle for the mastery, that I could not but
warmly urge this publication.
There are those who doubt whether the North is as guilty as
the South with respect to slavery : whether the system is degrading to the slave and disgraceful to the master; whether the
slave is cruelly treated ; whether the system is injurious to the
reputation of this country ; a reproach to its Christianity, and
ruinous to the character of its people.
There are also those who, while they condemn slavery, at the
same time assert that its extinction may be best promoted by studied silence, and by a quiet waiting for the gradual operations
of a moral and religious system which declares that it is not in
182

AMERICAN SLAVERY,

its nature sinful, and justifies it from the Scriptures; and of a
political and governmental system which is a solemn guaranty
in its favor.
There are those, too, who believe the abolitionists to be
instigated by a bitter, unkind, fanatical, and insurrectionary
spirit; hostile to law and order, sectional in their views, and
possessed by one idea.
And there are others, who, honoring the holy cause, and respecting the disinterestedness of abolitionists, yet justify themselves in standing aloof from the movement under the idea of
being better able to befriend the cause by refusing to be numbered among its adherents, and suffering themselves to be numbered among the ranks of the opponents.
It was for the sake of all these classes that I most earnestly
urged Captain Walker to give to the public, whose great majority
they compose, the manuscript which he had prepared for the
satisfaction of his friends.
When they see in its unstudied pages, the good, forgiving,
self-denying spirit of the Christian, the indomitable determination of the Freeman, and the severe devotedness of the Puritan,
all uniting in an unconscious exhibition of the uncompromising
Abolitionist, I cannot but hope that their hearts will be touched
by the excellence of the example.
It is to be lamented that many interesting and illustrative
incidents must be suppressed, out of regard to the safety of individuals, whose liberties and lives their publication would endanger; yet what could, better than such a fact, illustrate the condition of slaves and free-men in the United States of North
America; or better plead the cause of those few of the inhabitants who are pronounced by the rest to be over zealous, because
they have been the first to perceive what all will soon be obliged
to acknowledge—that the liberties of our land are gone ! It was
a deep observation of facts that led Montesquieu to say, " A
republic may lose its liberties in a day, and not find it out for
a century." The day that sunk ours, was that of the adoption
of the Federal Constitution—the day when we perpetrated, as a
nation, an eternal wrong for the sake of guilty prosperity and
peace. But it now begins to be very plainly discerned, that between slavery and freedom there can be no covenant. The futile
hope of our fathers, in attempting such a one, was peace; after
the lapse of sixty years, their descendants hear from that guilty
past,
" Ancestral voices, prophesying WAR !"

The narrative of Frederick Douglass gives a picture of the condition of a slave in the land that their folly and their fear betrayed. That of Jonathan Walker shows the condition of the
freeman whose lot is cast in the same land little more than half a
•century only after the perpetration of that treason to humanity.
183

TRIAL OF J . WALKER.

The most ignominious tortures are now the lot of him who,
in the United States of America, determines to be truly a freeman, nor lose his own liberties with the sinking ones of the
republic; of him whose liberty it is to choose his part with the
enslaved, and not with the slave-holder.
It may but prove, in the language of those old puritans whose
blood yet floods a Massachusett's heart so strongly, "a greater
liberty to suffer, a more freedom to die." Yet whatever be the
result, God grant, throughout the land, a continual outpouring
of that free, devoted spirit to us and to our children; a spirit
which, by the might of its good will, by the strength of its sense
of duty, shall overcome tyranny, prejudice, and cruelty; bigotry^
avarice, and knavery; and the whole array of sins of which slavery is at once the cause and the effect.
This is a painful tale for an American to read, and think,
meanwhile, that it is circulating through the civilized world;
but, if worthy of the name, he will find comfort in the thought
that it is confirming the abolitionist and confuting the slaveholder, showing an example to both of the dutiful obedience to
right, which is mighty to save a nation from utter reproach and
destruction.
It will be a painful tale for all, to whom the carefully concealed features and inevitable consequences of the slave-system.
have never before been exhibited. Such are to be found at the
South as well as at the North; and both will do well, in the>
intensity of their pain and disgust, to remember the words of
GARRISON.

" Let us not sentimentally shrink from such knowledge; we
will know what we have to do, that we may more surely do it.
We go forth to take off chains; and there is need that our virtue
should be robust."
Yery consoling is the reflection that this uprising of the heart
against wrong is not a sectional one, but felt at the south as
well as at the north, by men of all parties and of all sects.
Yery exalting is the idea that the virtual slave-holder of the
north, not merely reproaching the planter, the overseer and the
driver, has begun the work of self-sacrificing reform with his
own heart, by refusing all political and ecclesiastical participation in their deed. The abolition of slavery is sure, since these
most guilty and efficient slave-holders begin to make abolitionism
not only an ethical statement, but a Christian life.
MARIA WESTON CHAPMAN.

Boston, August, 1845.

CHAPTER I.
HAVING been arraigned before the publk by prcmden184

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

tial circumstances of a somewhat unusual nature, and
having been the subject of much remark and ridicule ;
passing "through evil report and good report,'' throughout
the United States, and having received tokens of sympathy from abroad in consequence of the treatment I
received from the tribunals of my own country for an
attempted act of kindness towards some of the downtrodden of my own countrymen ; and confident that but
a scanty and imperfect knowledge of the case has found
its way to the people, who have a right to know the real
facts ; it appears to be a matter of duty to them and the
cause for which I have suffered, that I should relate the
substance of the whole transaction as it actually occurred.
This I have endeavoured to do with much carefulness,
avoiding all false coloring, or deviation from the simple
truth.
Having never been favored with an education, and
laboring under the disadvantage of writing hastily, on my
passage home, as I found opportunity, the narrative will
not be so attractive as it otherwise might be. But such
readers as desire a simple, ungarnished statement of the
case, will, I hope, find their minds led by it to a subject
of the first consideration to every American citizen.
I look upon the Southern States as naturally the most
favored part of my country, which Providence seems to
have done, and to be doing much more for, than for the
northern states. Their soft and genial climate, their rich
and luxuriant soil, their long and uniform summers, their
short and mild winters, their beautiful timber-forests and
great water-privileges, all far exceed those of New England, in my opinion; and I am fully under the impression that I could support my family at the south for less
than half the labor and exertions than I can at the north.
Neither are the customs of the people there more repugnant to my feelings than the customs of the northern people generally, with the exception of what belongs to the
system of slavery. I have long since cast into oblivion
all sectional and hostile feelings toward my fellow-men.
I have no ill-will to the slave-holders, or the advocates of
•x
135

TRIAL OF J . WALKER.

slavery ; but I pity them for their awful depravity in regarding as property those who are, by the rules of right
and the laws of God, entitled to the same privileges and
benefits as themselves. It is the system of slavery that
sheds mildew upon the fair prospects of our country—
blasting its social, political, moral, and religious prosperity
-—which I do unhesitatingly contend against ; since the
master's true interests and rights do not suffer in consequence of his slaves becoming free laborers ; for they cannot, I say it emphatically, be his property, nor can his
rights consist in other people's wrongs.
I have spent a good deal of time in the southern States,
and have closely and carefully observed the mode and
operation of the slave system in several of them ; and have
lived five or six years with my family in Pensacola, Florida ; being known by the people generally to be hostile
to the system of slavery. Twice, while living there, I
was called upon by different persons, the chief executive
officers or mayors for the time being,—in consequence of
the reports in circulation that I was on good terms with
the colored people ; and it was intimated that there was
danger in regard to my peace and safety, for should the
people be excited in consequence of my discontinuance of
some of their rules and customs respecting the association
of white with colored men, it would be out of their power
to shield me from violence.
CHAPTER II.
LATE in the fall of 1843, I left my home in Harwich,
Massachusetts, and took passage on board of a vessel
bound for Mobile, where I spent the winter and spring
-—mostly in working at the ship-wright business, which
Is my trade.
I left Mobile on the 2nd June, 1844, for Pensacola,
in a boat belonging to myself ; chiefly for the purpose of
raising a part of the wreck of a vessel sunk near the latter place, for the sake of getting the copper that was
attached to it. I arrived on the 4 th, made some ex ami186

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

sitaion and some inquiry about the wreck, and was informed that it was claimed by a citizen of the place.
Although it had been sunk there more than thirty years,
no effort had been made to raise it. I called on the person who claimed it, but we could not agree on terms. I
passed up the bay thirty or forty miles, to see an old
friend or two, stayed a few days, and returned to Pensacola
again. Soon after, I had an interview with three or four
persons that were disposed to leave the place. I gave
them to understand that if they chose to go to the Bahama
Islands in my boat, I would share the risk with them.
Preparations were made, and on the evening of the 22nd.,
seven men came on board the boat, and we left the place,
went out of the harbour, and followed in the direction of
the coast to the eastward. We had for several days strong
head winds, with frequent squalls and rain. I had for two
days been somewhat unwell, having been much exposed to
the violence of the sun, and had been what is called, sun«
struck, and was now exposed to the sudden changing elements night and day in an open boat. On the 26th, we
arrived at St. Andre's harbor, where we stopped part of the
day, dried our clothing, cooked some provisions, recruited
the water-barrel, and I took an emetic. In the evening we
left, and the next day run up St. Joseph's Bay, with the
intention of taking the boat across into St. George's Sound,
to avoid going round Cape St. Blass ; but we found the distance too great, abandoned the idea, and passed out of the
Ibay again, and went round the cape. On the 28-9th, went
through St. George's Sound, stopping a few hours at St,
'George's Island to cook a little, and recruit our water.
"We passed Apalacha Bay, following somewhat the direction of the coast, and on the 1st of July were in the
vicinity of Cedar Keys.* Up to this time my sickness
had still increased, and I was so unwell as to be obliged
to leave the management of the boat pretty much entirely
* From the shore of the west and south part of the peninsula
of Florida, shoal ground extends to a considerable distance, on
•which are numerous small islands, denominated Keys, each having its own separate name.
187

TRIAL OF J , WALKER.

to those that were with me, for at times I was somewhat
delirious, I remember looking at the red horizon in the
west, soon after sun-down, as I thought for the last time
in this world, not expecting to behold that glorious luminary shedding its scorching rays on me more.
While using the remaining faculties which I possessed,
in aid of the slave's escape from his master, the reader
may be anxious to know the state of my mind at that
time, when in prospect of speedy dissolution, on the
subject of slavery ; or, more properly, of my anti-slavery
feeling. Among other things, my mind was occupied on
that subject also, and I calmly and deliberately thought
it over; and5 as on other occasions, came to the conclusion that slavery was evil and only evil, and that continually ; and that any mode or process of emancipation^
short of blood-shed, or the sacrifice of principle, would
not be in violation of right or duty, but the contrary ; and
therefore calculated to secure the approbation of that great
"Judge of all the earth, who doeth right," and before
whose presence I soon expected to appear.
After passing this night, T scarcely know how, the
next morning I found myself more comfortable, and felt
some relief. In a day or two after, (for I was now unable
to keep the run of time,) we landed on one of St. Martin's
Keys, and cooked provisions, but could get no water.
For several days nature and my disease seemed to be
about on a balance, and it was doubtful which would
rule the day ; I took another emetic, made free use of
cayenne pepper and bitters, which appeared to have a
good effect, and in a few days my face was nearly covered
with sores, and my whole system, which had been so
much oppressed that I could with difficulty respire, felt
much relieved. But my strength and flesh were nearly
gone, and the system so much reduced, that it is a wonder to me how, after undergoing so much privation,
exposure, and the treatment that followed, I was enabled
to recover at all.
We continued down the coast, landing several times
in search of water, without being able to get any, but
188

AMEEICAN SLAVERY.

feeing confident that we should find some at Cape Florida,
where we intended to stop before crossing the gulf. But
fortunately, or unfortunately, which, I cannot tell, at
day-break on the morning of July the 8th, we saw two
sloops * within a short distance, standing towards us. In
a few moments they came within hail, and inquired,
i(
Where are you from, and where are you bound 1 " I
answered, " From St. Joseph's, bound to Cape Florida.f"
The captain of one of the sloops said, " I am going that
way, and will give you a tow ; " at the same time he ran
alongside of the boat and made a rope fast to it, and
invited us on board the sloop. The men were going on
board when I advised them to stay in the boat. Four of
them had stepped on board, but one immediately returned.
The others were not allowed to return. The sloop
directly reversed her course, and ran back where she had
come from, and anchored. I requested the captain to
allow the men to return in the boat; he made no reply,
but took his boat and went on board of the other sloop,
which had followed him back to the anchorage. Soon
after he returned, and requested me to come on board the
Vessel. I, being then exposed to the violent ^heat of the
sun, thought it prudent to comply, confident that we
should be detained at all events. While on board I was
treated with civility, and permitted to pass the time in
the cabin or on deck, as I chose for my convenience or
comfort. We were then forty or fifty miles from Cape
Floiida, and if we had not been detained, would have
got there before night, and been ready to cross the gulph
* The sloops were wrecking vessels of eighty or ninety tons,
manned withfifteenor twenty men each, and sailed very fast.
They are employed for the sake of saving or getting what they
<jan from vessels wrecked on the coast. They hailed from Key
West.
f The reader has seen that St. Joseph's was the last port we
left, and we intended to call at Cape Florida. This has been
iised to make it appear that I resorted to falsehood, because we
had started from Pensacola, and were bound, ultimately, to
Jfassaa, Hew Providence.
189

T R I A L OF J .

WALKER.

the next morning. But our voyage was up, and we* had
other prospects now before us.
We had now been fourteen days on our passage, and
had sailed and rowed more than seven hundred miles y
but for the last eight or ten days the weather had proved
more uniform and mild, and the winds favourable but
light. Had T been well, it is probable we should not
have been more than ten or twelve days to this place>
and saved much distance by running more direct courses.
If we had been one hour sooner or later in passing this
place, we should not have come in contact with those
vessels. Since leaving St. Martin's Keys, whenever we
landed, we were harassed with swarms of musquitoes,
each anxious to have his bill entered without examination
or delay. The sloop lay at anchor until night, then got
under way and run for Key West, with the boat in tow^
where she arrived the next day afternoon.
CHAPTER III.
I WAS now taken before a magistrate, borne by two
men, not being able to walk along. There I was required
to give bail in the sum of one thousand dollars, for my
appearance at the next November court; but being unable
to do so, I was committed to jail, or rather to the house
in which the constable lived. I was placed in a small
room., on the second floor, with three other prisoners, but
slept in the room with the constable and family ; the
prisoners eat at the same table the family did, after thej
had eaten. I was handcuffed one night, but was permitted to use my hands the rest of the time while there,
in fighting musquitoes, which were very annoying at all
times.
Most of my things which I had in the boat, were
brought from the vessel by the sheriff, and placed m
charge of the constable, with the exception of a trunk
and bundle of clothing which I was allowed to retain for
my own use. I begged to be allowed to retain a small
trunk of botanic medicine which I had,, but was refused*
190

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

After remaining at this place three days, it was said there
was much excitement in the village, and I was escorted
by the constable, sheriff, esquire, and district attorney.,
to the soldiers' barracks, and confined in a room with
another prisoner, where I stayed but one night, and the
next day was put on board the steamboat General Taylor,
in the United States' employ, to be taken to Pensacola,
I requested that my effects, which were in charge of the
constable, might be taken with me, but it was not complied with ; and I have not been able to learn anything of
them since, except that they were sold. I subsequently
wrote twice to the sheriff, but received no answer. They
were of no great value, but to one in my circumstances,
it was a good deal. I had an excellent spy-glass, for
which I paid twenty dollars, and a chest of carpenter's
tools, and several other articles, besides some things that
the sheriff said he could not find on board of the sloop.
My boat and the seven men were put on board of another
sloop, (named the Reform,) and sent to Pensacola, previous to my leaving Key West.
I was placed down in the hold of the steamboat, on the
ceiling, where it was very filthy, and put in double irons,
(both hands and feet,) where I was kept for six days^
with the exception of being permitted to come on deck a
few hours in a day, and sit or lie upon the hatches. The
food given me was salt beef, pork, and navy-bread, with
a slight exception. We left Key West on the 13th, went
to Tampa Bay, took in some wood, and on the night of the
18th arrived at Pensacola navy-yard. The next day I
was conducted to Pensacola by the deputy-marshal, in a
small boat, and in a rain storm, (distance eight miles.)
On landing at the wharf, there was a large collection of
people, who appeared to be very talkative, and some
were noisy; but no violence was attempted. By summoning all the strength I could muster, I succeeded in
walking to the court-house. The court was already
convened, whether solely on my account or not, I do not
know. My trunk and bundle were searched, but nothing

taken therefrom,

I was required to giye bail in the sum
191

TRIAL OP J . WALKER.

of ten thousand dollars, or be committed to prison to
await my trial whenever it should take place : with me
there wTas no alternative but to comply with the latter.
I attempted to walk to the jail in company with the
marshal and constable, but gave up by the way, and was
carried there in a cart, placed in a room by myself, and
secured to a ring-bolt by a large size log chain, and a
shackle of round iron, weighing about five pounds, round
the ancle. The marshal searched my person, found on
me about fifteen dollars in money, which he took, but
afterwards gave me again. The floor was my bed, seat,
and table; and it was nearly a month before I could
procure anything to lie upon, other than a few clothes
which T had with me. But I finally succeeded in getting
a chair, small table, and some straw, of which I made
a pallet on the floor, and it served for my bed during my
imprisonment.
Although the rage of my disease had much abated, I
was still kept low, and suffered from alternate chills and
fever, attended with much pain in the head and distress
at the stomach ; but I gradually gained strength, and by
eating a large quantity of red-peppers got rid of the chills,
and in about three months was nearly restored to health
again.
In three or four days after I had arrived in Pensacola,
the sloop Reform arrived with the other men and my
boat. Soon after, Robert C. Caldwell called to see me,
and appeared very friendly, saying that he did not intend
to punish his servants for going away with me ; and
intimated that the custom-house and the wreckers both
had claims on the boat, and it was very doubtful whether
I should be able to realize anything for her; and as he had
lost a good deal by his servants' going away with me, if I
would consent for him to have the boat, he would try to
compromise with the claimants and might get something
for it. Placing some confidence in what he said, and
thinking that a refusal might excite a spirit of revenge,
and that if disposed, he could make my situation more
desperate than it was already, and being of the opinion

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

that I should not be able to realize anything from it if I
refused him, I consented for him to get what he could
from it; and so put an end to what I had there in the
shape of property. I should be no further harassed on
that point.
The jail is a brick building of two stories, about eightteen by thirty-six feet, having upon each floor two rooms,
the lower part for the occupation of the prisoners, and
the upper part for the jailor's family. The rooms for the
prisoners are fifteen to sixteen feet square, with double
doors, and two small grated windows, from six to eight
feet from the lower floor. Overhead is a single board
floor, which but little obstructs the noise of the upper
part from being distinctly heard below, and vice versa.
About twenty feet from the jail, and fronting the windows, was a wooden building denominated the kitchen.
Its door having previously taken refuge in the fire, and
the wooden windows shutting only as the wind blew them
to, I had a pretty fair view of what was transacted there
from the only window which I could look out of, and
from which I was often compelled to turn away, for the
scene was too disgusting to look upon. There was scolding and cowhiding dealt out without measure, and the
filthiness far exceded anything I ever saw before connected
with cooking. The place was a common resort for all the
lank and starving domestics about the premises, seeking
to pacify their hungry rage where the cook performed:
and one might truly say that
The cook and the hens for the kitchen went snacks,
With two horses, three dogs, and five cats;
for there the cook, the poultry, and the horse might be
seen helping themselves from the same meal barrel, and
the dogs cleaning the cooking utensils, and sometimes
taking a favourite bit trom the market basket, before its
contents had been otherwise disposed of. The board on
which the food was prepared for cooking, was common
to the tread of the cats and the poultry. The cook was
a slave woman, and had a small straight-haired child,
whose lungs were the strongest of any human being I
193

TRIAL OF J . WALKER.

ever saw of its size, and it made the freest use of them.
For hours and hours of each day, for months, my ears
rang with its tormenting screams, for it could not be called
crying. And to make the matter still worse, there were
three more small children of the family, all, alas ! having
the same habits; and no reasonable means or effort
appeared to be put forth to reduce their noise. The
young band were allowed to continue or to cease their
music at their pleasure.
For many years I have been in the habit of being much
among children, and am passionately fond of them, and
delight to mingle in their company and sports ; and I
well know that children will cry, and that to stop them entirely, could only be done by stopping their breath. But
there is a vast difference between crying naturally
and occasionally, and screaming at the top of one's voice
with rage and passion, trying at each breath to exceed the
previous note5 for hours together. I do not wish to exaggerate, but to speak within bounds, I honestly think
that for the first three months I was there, crying would
occupy six hours per day ; and frequently two or three
would be under way at a time.
The reader may imagine me worn down by exposure
and disease almost to a skelton ; and that delicate organ^
the brain, which is the seat of the nerves, having been
powerfully affected by violent action upon it, was now
rendered much more susceptible to the least impression*
My stomach, from weakness and loss of digestive powers,
rejected and loathed most of the common food of life ;
and, while the system was harassed with violent chills and
fever, I was chained to the sleepers of a solitary cell,
rolling from side to side, and shifting from one position to
another on the floor to relieve my aching bones, which
were covered with little more than the skin wrapped
over them. Let the reader imagine him or herself in this
situation, and it will be clearly seen that these, with
other things of a kindred nature, must have had a very
sensible effect to aggravate the misery and sufferings of
imprisonment*
194

AMERICAN

SLAVERY.

One of my first objects after I was incarcerated, was to*
procure such nourishment as would not quarrel with
nature, and this I found rather difficult at first; a part of
the jail-feed I could not relish, and if I attempted to eat
it, it would sicken and distress me. The bread, a dish of
soup once a day, and sometimes a little fish, was all that
I could eat of my rations, and it was difficult to get any
one to bring me any thing for two or three weeks. But
I finally succeeded in getting a Dane, who kept a grocery,
to let his boy bring me such things as I needed, and by
this means I obtained much relief and accommodation
throughout my confinement ; and both the father and his
little son, who was very attentive to my wants, are entitled
to my grateful and warmest thanks.
For several months my feet and legs were much
swelled, and the first irons I had on were partly buried m
the flesh, but after some weeks' entreaty they were taken
off and replaced by others larger. On the 4th September
I was moved to the adjoining room ; and here were two
objects which attracted my attention. On one side of
the room, much of the floor was stained with the blood
of a slave, who had three days before committed suicide
by cutting open his belly and throat with a razor ; he had
been committed that morning, charged with stealing, but
it was subsequently ascertained that the article which he
was accused of stealing had only been removed by some
other person to another place, and nothing had the appearance of dishonesty in the case. But life had gone,
and neither innocence nor skill could restore it. I have
no doubt but his miserable condition as a slave to a severe
master, and the expectation of undergoing severe punishment for the alleged offence, was the cause of his putting
an end to his degraded existence. This was one of the
seven slaves whom I had vainly endeavored to save from
bondage, and on whose account I was now imprisoned.
The other object was the chain to which I was attached,
it being the same which I had noticed fastened to the leg
of Isaac, a slave man under sentence of death, nearly
three years preyious, The day before he was executed, I
195

TRIAL OF J . WALKER.

called to see him. He had undergone three trials,
charged with committing a rape upon a woman of doubtful character. The two first juries did not agree, but the
third rendered a verdict of guilty, and consequently he
was sentenced to be hung the day following my visit. He
still persisted in his innocence, forgiving his accusers, and
appeared much resigned to his expected fate. His mind
appeared calm, and he manifested confidence in the mercy
of God as revealed through his Son. A petition, numerously signed, had been forwarded to the governor of the
territory, but as yet no intelligence had arrived. I had conversed with the prisoner a few moments, and we had knelt
together in supplication, to Him who is able to take
away the sting of death, and smooth its rough passage, rendering it safe to all who truly and faithfully
trust in Him for divine aid. We had scarcely risen,
when the marshal entered, and read a letter from the
governor containing the full pardon of the condemned man,
and ordered his irons to be taken off, and delivered him
up to his master ; and I saw him no more. But while
I am writing this, I can see and feel the same chain
attached to my leg. But few, if any, believed Isaac to be
guilty of the charge against him, but that the prosecution
was raised, on pecuniary considerations, out of revenge
towards his master. And what is my crime ? What
have I done ? I have attempted to assist a few of my
fellow-beings to escape from bondage, to which they were
subjected for no cause over which they or their ancestors
had any control; but because they wTere of the weaker
party, and had not the power to assert their rights among
men.
From about the year 1822, I began to go amongst
slavery, and from that time, on all occasions which presented, I tried to inform myself of its mode of operation,
and have, in several of the slave states, scrutinized it in
the parlor and in the kitchen, in the cottage and in the
field, in the city and in the country ; and have long since
made up my mind that it ranked with the highest wrongs

and crimes that ever were invented by the enemy of man,
196

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

and ingeniously contrived to destroy the social and kind
feelings existing between man and man, and the virtue
and morals of both the master and the slave ; subjecting
one to the deepest degradation and misery, and the other
to dissipation, and contempt of the laws and government
of God. It is a family, community, political, and national
poison ;—obstructing the circulation of friendly and
Christian sympathy, and giving vent to the worst passions
and most debasing and corroding feelings that human
nature can experience.
CHAPTER IV.
In addition to what has been already said respecting
the jail, and what was transacted there, I will make a
short abstract from a journal I kept while there, and in
so doing, shall have to be somewhat personal—which I
should be glad to avoid if I could do justice to the subject ; but shall be careful to avoid every thing which is
not strictly true, and void of false coloring ; and if some
individuals find their names here brought in juxtaposition
with some improper transactions, they will have no occasion to charge me with falsehood or malignity. I had
scarcely been secured in my cage like some rabid, dangerous animal, before 1 found I had to encounter a species of
torment which I had not counted on, in the terrible
amount of noise from the domestics about the premises ;
for I was continually afflicted with a severe headache, and
now it was brought in contact with circumstances directly
calculated to increase it.
The family consisted of F. T. the jailer—L. T. his
wife, and six children ; a mulatto woman and her child^
five or six months old. Of course the work about the
yard and kitchen devolved on the slave woman, who, by
the bye, was not without her faults. She had been
brought up in the family under the lash, as the only stimulant, which, as a natural consequence, had instilled the
most bitter hatred and carelessness, with other kindred
qualifications.
197

TRIAL OF J . WALKER.

July 19. When I was committed, there was one slave
man in the adjoining room, for what I know not.
22. L. T. whipped the cook.*
24. L. T. whipped the cook.
25. I wrote to Benj. D. Wright, counsellor at law,
arequesting an interview. L. T. whipped the cook
twice
28 Four of the slaves who had left with me were brough t
here and put in the adjoining room. L. T. whipped the
cook.
29. My health a little improved ; could sit up half the
day, wrote to my wife.
Aug. 1. L. T. whipped the cook.
4. L. T. whipped the cook.
5. The four fugitive slaves in the adjoining room whipped fifty blows each, with a paddle.
8. Were taken out; with much difficulty could walk,
being very sore. Cook whipped twice, once by L. T.
and once by F. T.
12. A fugitive slave man caught and committed. L.
T. whipped the cook.
14. L. T. whipped the cook.
17. L. T. whipped the cook four times. Mistress
dreadfully cross.
19. L. T. whipped the cook.
21. L. T. whipped the cook twice.
22. The slave man committed on the 12th, taken out
and sent to Alabama.
28. L. T. whipped the cook; children got some too ;
lots of scolding dealt out, in both English and French.
Slave woman committed ; had been brought from New
Orleans by mistake on board steam boat.
SO. L. T. whipped the cook. L. T. confined ; brought
forth a fine boy.
31. The slave woman, put in on the 28 th, was taken out
and sent back.
* Whenever the cook was whipped, it was done, with a few
exceptions, with a raw-hide switch, about three feet in length,
generally from twenty tofiftystrokes at a time.
198

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

Sept. 1. A slave man was committed on suspicion of
larceny ; he committed suicide same day by cutting his
throat and belly open, and lived but two or three hours
after.
2. I received a letter from my wife, parent, and
children, and another from J. P. Nickerson, of Harwich ;
also one from S. Underwood and E. Nickerson, Junr.
3. Received twenty-five dollars cash, from an old shipmate, by remittance from New York.
4. I was shifted to the adjoining room ; received a
letter from B. D. Wright, counsellor at law, in answer to
a note I sent him the 25th July.
6. Wrote to my wife, S. Uunderwood, and E. Nickerson, Junr. A white man committed ; had difficulty with
his wife.
9. Let out again. We have had quite still times since
the 30th of August, but scolding revives again.
11. A slave man brought to jail—whipped twenty
blows with a paddle, and sent back.
If the reader is not acquainted with paddle-whipping,
he may form some idea of it from the following description.
The paddles which I have seen, are about twenty
inches in length, made of pitch-pine board, from an inch
to an inch and a quarter thick, and seven or eight inches
of one end is three and a half, or four inches wide, having
from ten to fifteen holes through it the size of a large nail
gimblet, and the other part is made round for the handle.
The unfortunate subjects who are to feel the effects of
this inhuman drubbing, are first tied, his or her wrists
together, then made to sit down on the floor or ground,
and put the knees through between the arms, then a stick
or broom-handle is inserted through the angle of the legs,
directly under the knees and over the arms, which confines them in a doubled and helpless condition. Previous
to this arrangement, the victims are made naked from the
waist down. The operator now takes hold with one
hand of one end of the stick which has been inserted to
confine the legs and arms together, and cants them on
199

T R I A L OF J . W A L K E R .

one side, and in the other hand holds the before mentioned
paddle, which he applies to the backside of his helpless
fellow-creature ; stopping at short intervals to allow the
sufferer to answer such questions as are asked, or make
such promises as it is thought best to extort; and to give
the numbness which has been excited by repeated blows,
time to subside, which renders the next blows more
acute and painful. After a requisite number of blows
with the paddle are given, which is generally from ten to
fifty, as the master or mistress may dictate, the raw-hide
switch is next applied to the bruised and blistered parts,,
with as many or more blows laid on ; after which the
sufferer is loosed and suffered to get over it the best way
he cart. Not only men but women are subject to the
same mode of punishment. There is no precise rule to
be observed in regard to punishment, but the masters or
mistresses are the sole judges as to method and quantity ;
and whenever the paddle is brought in requisition, it
means that the raw-hide (more commonly called cowhide) is not equal to the offence.
The reader will pardon me for this digression, while I
return to the memorandum again.
Sept. 12. A U. S. seaman committed for not being
down to the boat in time to go on board.
18. He was taken out and sent on board steamer
Union. Cook whipped severely by L. T.'s brother, at
her request.
15. A white man from the navy-yard committed ; he
had come to the city without permission.
10. He was taken out and sent back. Eeceived a
letter from J. P. Nickerson, Esq., of Harwich.
17. I wrote to the same.
18. A white man committed for being noisy in the
streets.
20. He was let out again, and another committed for
feeing too drunk to take care of himself.
23. I wrote to the sheriff at Key West.
24. L. T. whipped the cook.
25. A large fire in the city. A number of houses.
200

AMERICAN SLAVEEY.

burnt. A white man committed on suspicion of setting
the fire, He was examined and discharged. Another
white man committed, charged with larceny.
26. He was examined and discharged. A slave man
committed, charged with attempting to steal fruit. He
was whipped four blows with a paddle, and twenty-four
with the cow-hide, and let out. A white man committed, charged with larceny,
27. The white man committed on the 20th, discharged.
Tremendous scolding about this time.
29. Slave man committed ; did not stay at home
enough on the Sabbath to do chores; next morning let
out. The noisy white man, mentioned the 18th, committed
again for the like offence.
Oct. 1. L. T. whipped the cook; children cry by
wholesale.
2. L. T. whipped the cook. A slave man committed
for debt.
3. Two sailors from brig Wetomka committed; they
were intoxicated, and quarrelled. Three sailors committed, who had taken French leave from U. S. steamer
Union. The whole number now confined in the adjoining room is seven.
4. The slave man, put in on the 29th, discharged. A
sailor belonging to U. S. vessel Vandalia, committed, and
taken out the same day.
7. Three men, attached to the U. S. steamer, taken
out and sent on board.
8. L. T. whipped the cook severely, with both ends
of the cow-hide.
9. A white man committed on suspicion of participating in murder. Three seamen from the U. S. steamer
General Taylor, committed for having some difficulty
with the clerk on shore.
13. Two of them taken out and sent on board. The
two seamen from brig Wetomka, committed on the 3rd,
were let out.
11. The white man committed the 9th, on suspicion,
discharged.
o
201

TRIAL OF J . WALKER.

14. The other man, (the boatswain,) belonging to the
IT. S. steamer General Taylor, let out. He went on
board, and made me a present of a pair of blankets. One
white man in the adjoining room and myself are the only
remaining prisoners.
15. L. T.'s mother whipped the cook.
17. A sailor, a deserter from the U. S. service, caught
and committed.
19. L. T. whipped the cook.
20. The other prisoner discharged.
25. Rather squally overhead and about the kitchen,
L. T. whipped the cook twice, and another servant once>;
the children got some, scolding dealt out unsparingly.
27. A white man committed for fighting.
2 8. Discharged. At night the prisoner in the adjoining room broke out and went off.
Nov. 3. L. T. whipped the cook severely with a
broomstick ; scolds tremendously ; gives unlimited scope
to passion, and tapers off by crying herself.
5. White man committed for quarrelling with his wife.
<?. Received a letter from A. B. Merrill, of Boston,
counsellor at law. L. T. whipped the cook.
0. A slave man committed for leaving wood at the
wrong place.
3 0. The white man, committed on the 5th, discharged. Received a visit from the district attorney,
Walker Anderson.
11. The slave man, committed on the 7th, discharged, and a free colored woman put in for allowing
the slave man to put wood in her yard. I was taken to court
for trial ; had it put off till the 14th ; remanded again.
12. The colored woman, committed yesterday, discharged, and another committed for attempting to defend
herself when about to be flogged by a naval officer, but
discharged same day.
14. I was again conducted to court ; tried ; jury
rendered a verdict of guilty on four indictments, viz,,
aiding and inducing two slaves to run away, and stealing two others,
202

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

15. F. T. whipped the cook.
16. I was again taken to court, sentenced, placed in
the pillory one hour, pelted with rotten eggs, branded
in the right hand, and remanded to prison again ; the
sheriff called soon after and served three writs upon me
for trespass and damage, to the amount of one-hundred
and six thousand dollars ; I was not put in irons as
before. Received a visit and some money from a naval
officer, who had witnessed the acts of attempted degradation which I had undergone, and expressed his sympathy in my behalf.
19. Slave man committed for being out too late.
20. Was flogged twenty-four blows with paddle and
discharged. Received a letter from A. Chase ; also one
from J. P. Nicholson, Esq., of South Harwich.

CHAPTER V.
The following are the particulars of my trial. On the
11th Nov., between 10 and 11, A. M., I was taken from
prison, conducted to the court-house, and placed in the
prisoner's box, and was asked by the judge if I had counsel. 1 replied that I had not, and that my means weie
too limited to provide counsel ; but that I was daily expecting advice from friends in regard to that point; and I
requested that my trial might be put off a fewr days. The
judge informed me that if I was not able to provide
counsel for myself, he would furnish me with counsel, and
that T could have any one from the bar that I chose, to
defend me, (there being three, besides the prosecuting
attorney.) I said, that I would be glad to have my trial
deferred a few days ; and that if I was not then provided
with counsel, I would avail myself of his honor's proffer,
So the trial was postponed until the 14th, and I was
again placed in jail. Soon after 10, A. M., on the 14th,
I was again conducted to court, and, not having any more
information from my friends, chose Benjamin D. Wright,
a member of the bar, to defend me.
203

T R I A L OP J . W A L K E R .

The district attorney, who was the prosecuting officer,
presented four indictments against me, which were as
follows—omitting the forms of the three last, being the
same, and beginning at 1844 :
[1st.]
In the Superior Court of Escambia County, in the
District of West Florida, November Term, 1844.
Territory of Florida.
Escambia County, to wit :
The Grand Jurors of and for the Territory of Florida
summoned and swTorn to inquire in and for the body of
the County of Escambia, upon their oaths present that
Jonathan Walker, late of the County of Escambia,
laborer, on the first day of July, in the year of our Lord
eighteen hundred and forty-four, with force and arms, in
the county aforesaid, one negro man slave, named Silas
Scott, of the value of six hundred dollars, of the goods
and chattels of one Robert C. Caldwell, then and there
being found, feloniously and unlawfully did aid and assist
to run away, thereby wilfully causing a loss of labor of
the said slave to the said Robert C. Caldwell, against the
dignity of the Territory of Florida, and against the form
of the statute in such case made and provided.
WALKER ANDERSON,

U. S. Attorney for West Florida, and Prosecuting Officer for the Territory of Florida.
[ 2nd. ]
In the county aforesaid, one negro man slave,
known by the name of Anthony Catlett, of the value of
six hundred dollars, of the goods and chattels of one
Byrd C. Willis, then and there being found, feloniously, unlawfully, and with force and arms, did steal,
take, and carry away, against the peace and dignity cf
the Territory of Florida, and against the form of the
statute in such case made and provided.
WALKER ANDERSON,

U. S. Attorney, fyc.
204

AMERICAN

SLAVERY,

[3rd.]
With force and arms, in the county aforesaid,
forcibly, wilfully, and unlawfully did steal and carry
away a certain negro slave, named Moses Johnson, of the
goods and chattels of one Robert C. Caldwell, then
and there being found, of the value of six hundred
dollars, against the peace and dignity of the Territory
of Florida, and the form of the statute in such case made
and provided.
WALKER ANDERSON,

U. S. Attorney, fyc.
[4th.]
—— With force and arms, in the county aforesaid, one
negro man slave, named Charles Johnson, of the value
of six hundred dollars, of the goods and chattels of one
George Willis, then and there being found, feloniously
and unlawfully did entice to run away, thereby wilfully causing the loss of the labor of the said slave to
the said George Willis ; to the great damage of the said
Willis, against the peace and the dignity of the Territory
of Florida, and against the form of the statute in such Gase
made and provided.
WALKER ANDERSON,

U. 8. Attorney, Spc.
My counsel objected to four indictments being arrayed
against me for one act of offence, if it was an act at all.
On this point, a discussion of some length took place
between him and the prosecuting attorney ; but the judge
decided, that in order to come at the subject properly,
one case should be tried. Accordingly, the jury were
selected and sworn, and took their seats.
Robert C. Caldwell, being qualified as witness, testified
that he accompanied the district marshal to the steamboat Gen. Taylor, at the navy-yard^ to conduct the prisoner to Pensacola, and in conversation with him, prisoner said that Silas came to his boat a little below the city,
and got in with some others, but that he did not know
him, and did not recollect ever seeing him before. This
205

TRIAL OF J . WALKER.

he (witness, believed to be correct, for it agreed with what
the boy (Silas) had told him ; and that prisoner also
said that he had for a long time been of the opinion
that he would aid slaves to secure their liberty, if opportunity offered.
Richard Roberts, called and sworn, testified, that at
day-break, on the morning of the 8th of July, about five
leagues to the westward of the light ship on Carryfut's
reef, he fell in with the prisoner and seven black men in
a boat. He was suspicious that the black men were runaway slaves ; he went alongside of the boat with his vessel, and told his mate to make fast to the boat, and requested prisoner and the black men to come on board his
sloop, and said that he was bound the same way, and
would give them a tow ; but he found out, by some of the
black men, that they were runaway slaves ; consequently,
he took them all to Key West, and delivered them up to
the authorities at that place. The prisoner was very sick
at the time, but requested that he might be allowed to
have his boat and proceed on, saying that he had a
family that were dependent on him for support, and, if deprived of his services, would suffer in consequence.
. The jury were charged, in a few formal words, and
the first indictment handed to them. They retired to
their room, and in about half an hour returned with the
verdict, that they had found the prisoner guilty, and
awarded him to be branded on the right hand with the
letters S S.
The same jury was sworn again, and by the judge
charged on the other three indictments. They withdrew,
and were out between two and three hours, and returned
with the following verdict: that they had found the prisoner guilty of all the charges preferred against him
in the other three indictments, and awarded him to
stand in the pillory one hour, to be imprisoned fifteen
days, and to pay a fine of one hundred and fifty dollars.
I was again remanded to prison, until the 16 th, at 10,
A. M . ; when I was conducted to court, and on arriving
at the court-house, (in front of which was the pillory,) the
206

AMERICAN SLAVERY*

marshal proceeded to place me in the pillory. I told him
that I had not yet received sentence. The marshal replied that this was sentence enough—referring to the pillory. But before I was properly secured, the deputy
marshal ordered me to be brought into court. This order
was obeyed ; and I was again arraigned before the court,
to receive the following sentence :—To be placed in the
pillory for one hour; then brought into courts and branded
in the right hand with the letters SS.; and then remanded
to prison for fifteen days, and remain there until the fine
{one hundred and fifty dollars) and the costs of prosecution should be paid.* I was then placed in the pillory, and when I had been there about half an hour,
George Willis, mentioned in the fourth indictment, stepped from the crowd of spectators, who were standing by,
(quietly beholding the inhuman administration of the laws
of Florida,) and snatched from my head a handkerchief,
which had been placed there by the deputy marshal, to
screen me from the sun ; saying, that he had offered a
dollar to any person that would do i t ; but, as no one else
would, he would do it himself. He then took from his
coat pocket two rotten eggs, and hurled them very spitefully at my head, which took effect, and excited a burst
of indignation from the bystanders. The said Willis was
heard to offer the boys a great price for rotten eggs ; but
he could find none vile enough to accommodate him.
He was indicted, and appealed to the December court in
Saint Tlosa (adjoining) county, and was there tried, and
fined six and a quarter cents. (Threepence.)
After the expiration of the hour, I was taken back to
the court-house, and water given me to wash with, and
then conducted into court again, to receive the remainder
of my sentence. When about to be branded, I was
placed in the prisoner's box. The marshal, Ebenezer
Dorr, formerly of Maine, proceeded to tie my hand to a
part of the railing in front. I remarked that there was
* After repeated solicitations, I was able to get at the
amount of the costs, the 6th of December, twenty-one days
after my trial.
207

TRIAL OF J . WALKER.

no need of tying it, for I would hold it still. He observed that it was best to make sure, and tied it firmly to the
post, in fair view ; he then took from the iire the branding-iron, of a slight red heat, and applied it to the ball
of my hand,- and pressed it on firmly, for fifteen or
twenty seconds. It made a spattering noise, like a
handful of salt in the fire, as the skin seared and gave
way to the hot iron. The pain was severe while the
iron was on, and for some time afterwards. There appeared to be but few that wished to witness the scene ;
but my friend, George Willis, placed himself where he
could have a fair view, and feasted his eyes upon it, apparently with great delight.
I was then remanded to prison, but not put in irons
as before, A few hours after my re-commitment, the
marshal called and served three writs upon me, for
trespass and damage, to the amount of one hundred and
six thousand dollars, on the property of Robert C.
Caldwell, Byrd C. Willis, and George Willis.
The territory of .Florida was established by a law of
the United States, passed March SO, 1822.
The fifth section of this act provides, " that the legislative power shall be vested in the governor, and in thirteen of the most fit and discreet persons of the territory,
to be called the Legislative Council, "* &c.; that "their
legislative power shall also extend to all the rightful subjects of legislation; hut no law shall he valid which isinconsistent with the constitution and laws of the United
States, or which shall lay any person under restraint,
burthen, or disability, on account of his religious opinions, professions or worship, in all which he shall be free
to maintain his own and not burthened with those of
another."
The tenth section of the same act provides, " That tothe end that the inhabitants may be protected in their
liberty, property, and the exercise of their religion, no
law shall ever be valid which shall impair, or in any way
restrain, the freedom of religious opinions, professions,
or worship ; they shall be entitled to the benefit of the.
203

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

writ of habeas corpus ; they shall be bailable in all cases,
except for capital offences, where the proof is evident, or
the presumption great ; all fines shall be moderate and
proportioned to the offence, and excessive bail shall not
be required, nor cruel nor unusual punishments inflicted"
The Act of March 3rd, 1823, contains the same provisions.
The law under which I was indicted, was enacted by
the territorial government,, and provides as the punishment for the crime therein recited, imprisonment not exceeding six months ; standing in the pillory ; branding,
or a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, at the discretion of the jury.
It seems plain, that the law of the United States having prohibited cruel and unusual punishments, and having declared that no law of the territorial government,
inconsistent wtth the United States' laws, shall ever be
valid; this territorial law, under which I was punished,
is therefore void.

CHAPTER VI.
Nov. 26. I will conclude my memorandum. L. T.
and mother whipped the cook, alternately, spell and
spell. F. T. whipped the cook severely.
Dec. 2. Received a visit from T. M. Blunt, of New
York. He had been in the city thirteen days.
5. A slave woman committed for not staying at home
enough, and taken out next day.
8. Received a letter from John Scoble, London, and
a resolution adopted by a committee of the British and
Foreign Anti-slavery Society in regard to Charles T.
Torrey and myself.
0. A slave man committed for being in liquor and
quarrelsome, and let out next day.
209

TRIAL OF J . WALKER.

16. A slave man committed for disobedience ; whipped ten blows with a paddle, and let out next day.
25. Two seamen committed from brig Hazard, of
Portland, for attempting to obtain their discharge. They
had refused to do duty on board.
27. A slave man committed, He was intoxicated.
28. He was let out again ; and one of the seamen put
in on the 25th, was discharged.
29. L. T. whipped the cook.
• Jan. 3. 1845. L. T. whipped the cook twice.
9. Two white men committed for debt, and discharged. Received a letter from J. P. Nickerson, Esq.
10. L. T. whipped the cook. A slave man committed for going out of town at Christmas, and staying too
long. A slave boy put in with me. He had played
truant. He was let out next morning.
IS. A white man committed, on suspicion of plotting
to rob the mail.
14. L. T. whipped the cook.
15. A white man put in with me, to get sober, to use
in evidence. He was taken out next day.
16. L. T. whipped the cook twice.
20. The white man committed the 13th, on suspicion,
was discharged.
21. A slave boy committed for running away.
24. The other seaman, put in from brig Hazard, on
the 25th ult., was discharged. A deserting soldier
caught, committed, taken out, and sent to the navyyard.
26. The slave man put in on the 10th, taken out,
cind sent to New Orleans, to be sold.
27. A slave woman committed for attempting to defend herself when about to be whipped by her mistress.
The next day she was flogged twenty-four blows with
the paddle, and twelve with the cow-hide, and sent
home.
Feb. 6. I will detail the following circumstance, for
which I have been almost censured by warm friends.
My readers can make their own comments. While eat210

AMERICAN

SLAVERY.

ing my dinner, I was informed, by what I thought good
authority, that the marshal would take me, at 4, P. M.,
before a magistrate, to be examined on other charges—
what, my informant would not, or could not tell; but
said that he heard the marshal say he was coming for me
at four o'clock. I was somewhat apprehensive that it
was a device of some persons ill-disposed towards me,
and not satisfied with the course which the law had
taken, and who were disposed to make use of other than
legal means. I hinted this to my informant. His reply
was, " They are going to play the devil with you." My suspicion was strengthened by the district attorney and judge
being abroad at the time, and by the lateness of the hour selected for taking me from prison; so T did not think it prudent for me to leave the prison, except I could be convinced
that I should be subject to no illegal dealings. At the
above mentioned time, the marshal called, and requested
me to go with him before a magistrate. I declined going,
and gave him some reasons why ; and told him, that
whatever examination I was to undergo, I preferred it
should take place where I was. The marshal left, and
some time after returned, saying that the magistrate refused to come to the jail ; and again requested me to go
with him. I still declined. He then started to leave,
wThen the jailer spoke to him a few minutes. He then
returned, and read to me a letter from the district judge,
who was then at Talahassee, (Middle Florida,) with instructions to take me before a magisrrate for examination,
on a charge of inducing three slaves to leave the service
of their masters. The marshal then left me ; and the
reader may picture to his mind my feelings, as well as
he can ; for I have no faculty to express them on paper.
I had for several weeks been expecting to be liberated
from my disagreeable situation, through the liberality of
friends who had been imposed upon in regard to my true
situation, and prevented from doing for me what they had
attempted, by supplying the pecuniary means to satisfy
the demands of the court; and had been twice disappointed ; but now it seemed that the most favourable
211

T R I A L OF J .

WALKER.

issue which I could expect, was to be chained up for
three or four months longer in that woman whippingshop, and go through another trial for the same offence ;
with the continual accumulation of obstacles to my release ; and for my family to remain objects of chanty ;
my aged parents and other near friends, suffering affliction;
and all to gratify a few God-haters and man-haters, who
were.feasting their rage upon one helpless object, whom
Providence had in some measure placed where they could
wreak their vengeance on him. These were some of the
most favourable considerations which occured to my
mind ; and which have since been realized.
Knowing that my enemies would spare no pains in
doing me all the injury in their power, I thought it no
harm to use some pacific means to place myself beyond
their power ; feeling confident that right did not demand
the punishment my persecutors intended for me. Neither
had I much time to reflect on the subject; for I was confident that the next day I should be put in irons again,
and then about all chance to rescue myself would be cut
off. Seeing that it required but little effort or ingenuity
to open the doors myself, I gave way to the impulse of
present feeling, and without any difficulty succeeded in
opening the doors, without doing them one dollar's worth
of injury ; although I was charged ten dollars for repairing the door, including a new lock. For what purpose
the lock was used I know not. I am sure it was not
used on any of the jail doors, for the same locks that were
on the doors when I went there, were on the doors when
I left. But, as a very slight noise could be heard in the
rooms above, the family took the alarm, and prevented
my departure. I was made secure till next day, when
the marshal called, and without any ceremony, took me
before three magistrates. Satisfactory evidence against
me was produced to insure my committal until the next
term of court in May, unless T gave bail in the sum of
three thousand dollars. So 1 was remanded to prison
again and put in irons, to await the result of what might
follow.
212

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

I shall mention but a few more items from my
memorandum, and then, briefly notice some other points.
Feb. 9. A slave man and woman were committed for
being out too late, but discharged the next day.
10. The slave boy committed the 21st of last month,
taken out, and sent to New Orleans, to sell. None but
myself now in jail.
17. Two slave women and one man brought to jail
and whipped ten blows each, on the bare back, and discharged. They were accused of using some of their
master's money without his permission.
19. L. T. whipped the cook. The jailer's family
moved to another house.
25. A slave boy committed, who received twenty
blows with the paddle, and was then sent home. He
had played the truant.
27. A slave man brought to jail and whipped twentyfive blows with cow-hide. His master was intoxicated ;
lost some change ; the slave picked it up, and attempted
to use some of it. A white man committed for being intoxicated and quarrelsome.
March 1. A slave man committed, to gratify a drunken
master, and released again the same day.
4. The white man committed on the 27th ult. was
released.
16. A slave man brought to jail and flogged twentyfive blows with a paddle, and twenty with a cow-hide.
He was charged with not doing work enough.
19. A slave boy committed; flogged for playing truant,
and let out the same day.
20. A sick slave man committed, I do not know for
what, and let out the next day.
31- A slave man committed for getting intoxicated, and
let out the next day.
April 1. A slave man committed ; he had been sent
to New Orleans for sale, but was returned*
2. A white man committed at his own request; he had
been on a drinking spree, and was afraid he should do
something to get him into trouble.
213

TRIAL OV J . WALKER.

7. He was discharged.
12. A slave woman brought to jail and flogged:
severely. The slave man committed on the 1st, flogged
twenty-four blows with the paddle, and thirty with the
cow-hide, to gratify his drunken mistress, as they could
not sell him to their mind, in New Orleans. The Hogging made him quite sick for several days, A white man
committed, charged with assault and battery.
15. A slave man committed for allowing a horse to
run with him in the street.
16. He was flogged fifteen blows with a cow-hide, and
discharged.
19. The slave man flogged on the 12th, was taken
from jail and sent to Mobile to be sold.
This is the slave that was committed on the 10th of
January, for staying too long with his wife and children
at Christmas. His master had a plantation thirty or
forty miles from Pensacola, where he had lived for a number of years, but had lately moved to Pensacola and offered
his plantation for sale ; and, not having employment for
his slaves, was desirious to conveit some of them into
other property. And although the slave was permitted
at Christmas to go and see his family, who still lived in
the neighbourhood he had formerly lived in, and were
claimed as property by another man, yet his staying over
his time, gave sufficient cause (as per slave code) for removing him for ever from them, notwithstanding he
offered to produce the proof of his inability to return at
the time appointed, on account of sickness. Nevertheless, he was kept in jail sixteen days, and then sent to
New Orleans. But being too old to meet with a ready
sale in that market, he was returned again the 1st of
April, and lodged in jail until the 12th, when his mistress
came there in a rage, under the influence of liquor, and
caused him to be flogged as mentioned above ; and during the performance, she stood by and gave directions to
the operator, yelping all the while at the mangled victim
of her anger. A few days after, he was sent to Mobile
for sale. He did not meet with a market, and was sent
214

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

back ; but soon after his return escaped from his tormen
tors, and I have since heard no more of him.
27. I received a letter from B. D. Wright, counsellor
at law, enclosing a letter to him from H. I. Bowditch of
Boston, relating to my circumstances.
May 1. A fugitive slave apprehended and committed ;
he had straight hair, and looked more like an Indian than
a negro, and tried to pass himself for one.
CHAPTER VII.
May 8th, soon after 10 A. M., I was conducted to the
court-house by the marshal and constable. The judge
inquired if I had counsel. I replied that I had not. He
then appointed Alfred L. Woodward to defend me, and
also W. W. J. Kelly, Esq., assistant counsel. As Mr.
Woodward was not duly informed in the case, we thought
it best to have the trial put off untill the next day. 1 had
no desire to have counsel to manage my defence, not
thinking it would be to my advantage, but to submit the
case to the magnanimity of the jury ; but as the judge had
appointed counsel, I did not deem it advisable to reject
it,—confident that it would excite his displeasure, which
would be likely to have an unfavorable effect on my case.
I remarked to my counsel that I consented to a present
trial, only on condition, that all relating to the charges
preferred against me, should be placed before the court
for final action ; and that no part or section be kept back
or reserved for a future consideration. I was remanded
to jail again, and that afternoon had an interview with
Mr. Woodward.
May 9th, between 10 and I I A. M., I was arraigned
before the court, and soon after a juiy was called and
qualified. The district attorney produced three indictments against me, charging me with assisting as many
slaves to escape from their masters, &c. A short discussion
followed between the district attorney and counsel for the
defendant, respecting the validity of the law in the multiplication of punishments for the same offence and at
215

TRIAL OF J . W A L K E R .

-different periods ; but the court decided that I was liable
to be tried separately for each charge alleged against
me, although there was but one act in the commission.
Eobert C. Caldwell, the only witness in the case, was
sworn, and testified that he accompanied the deputy
marshal to and from the steam-boat General Taylor,
where he went to conduct the defendant from said steamboat to the city, about the 20th July last, and on the
passage to the city in the boat, he heard defendant say
that he took from the shore near the city, the slaves mentioned in the indictments, on board his boat on the evening of the 22nd June last, and went to sea with them,
and was taken by a sloop not far from Cape Florida, and
carried to Key West, and that defendant told him that he
had been for a long time of the opinion that whenever an
opportunity offered, he would assist slaves to obtain
their freedom.
The district attorney addressed the jury for a few
minutes, pourtraying the magnitude of the offence, the
abuse of rights, &c, stating the result of the trials of
Charles T. Torrey and Calvin Fairbanks, in Maryland,
and Kentucky—not forgetting to direct a few shots at the
northern " fanatical abolitionists."
W. W. J. Kelly next made some very appropriate
and feeling remarks upon the administration and severity
of the law already inflicted on the prisoner for the same
offence, and his long confinement in prison and in chains,
and the deprivation entailed upon his deeply afflicted
tfamily, &c. He was followed by A. L. Woodward, commenting on the multiplicity of punishments for the same
offence when no act of an incendiary, or violent character
had appeared, to aggravate the case, but the prisoner had
quietly submitted, without a murmur, to the heaviest
punishment the law could inflict upon him. He appealed
to the magnanimity and humanity of the jury to put a
stop to this persecution ; neither the law nor the interest
and welfare of the country demanded more ; even common sense forbade it. He requested them to render a
verdict which their conscience would approve, and not
216

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

to heap vengeance on the head of their helpless fellowbeing, &c.j &c.
The judge charged the jury to find the prisoner guilty,
•and not to allow any sympathy for the accused to sway
them from inflicting strict justice on him, for it was not
the accused who had a right to complain of the seventy
of the law, or demand their sympathy ; but those that
were dead and their friends.* The rights, safety, and
honor of the country demanded justice from its courts.
The cases were submitted to the jury at about 12 M.,
and J was soon after remanded to jail again, and placed
'In irons as usual. The next day I received a note from
W. W. J. Kelly, stating that the jury had that morning
returned in couit, and rendered a verdict of guilty in each
case, and assessed me a fine of five dollars in each case;
and that I was to remain in custody until the fines and
.costs were paid.
The judge, distiict attorney, and my counsel were
^slave-holders, and some of the jury also. Surrounded by
slave-holders, and in a section of the country where slavery k hel.d one of their most sacred rights, what had T
to expect at1'their hands; well in own and thoroughly
proved to be hostile in the highest degree to the system
of American slavery, and placed in their power, subject
io their will, for the commission of an act which is now
r
held to be a capital offence, and punishable with death.
In consideration of these, and some other,..things which
might be brought into the account, it shows that vengeance
has not yet buried humanity, nor destroyed all the sympathy existing between men and those whose opinion
differs from their own upon subjects of great importance.
The jury was an intelligent one, and among them was
'the city mayor, and I submitted my case cheerfully to
?their decision, confident that the verdict would be as
miild as their responsible situation would admit of; and
my expectations were mors than realized : for which
* I know not what he meant by this expression, except he had
his eye on that old St. Domingo hobby horse so often backed
hj the advocates of slavery.
P
217

T R I A L OF J . W A L K E R .

mild and humane verdict they are entitled to my grateful
thanks and high consideration, for they have shown themselves to be untrammelled by prejudice, or actuated by
revenge towaid their helpless fellow-being.
I thought the judge manifested a considerable degree
of prejudice against me, especially in this last trial ," S u r e l y oppression maketh a wise man m a d . " But I
saw no display of any unkind feelings from an}' other
persons, in or out of court, except by those who considered
themselves so grievously injured and imposed upon by
my allowing some of their two legged chattels to walk off
in company with me ; or rather, to allow the wind to
blow them away from that mill which is constantly
grinding the faces of the poor, and whose owner, like t h e
greedy horseleech, thirsts for more, " and saith, it is not
enough."

APPENDIX.
HAVING gone through with the principal events in relation to
my capture, return, imprisonment, and legal dealings, 1 shall
notice a few points which may not be altogether improper or
unimportant.
I have before said, that Captain Richard Roberts, of the sloop
Eliza Catherine, treated me with civility while on board of his
vessel. But who delegated to him the right to take charge of me
and my boat by force on the high seas, without consent or ceremony, and convey me more than a hundred miles from my
course, to a distant island, where I could have no means of selfdefence, without any knowledge of my being in any way liable?
Is not this food for scepticism 1 Here are two individuals
brought in contact, both professing the same religious faith,
both having privately and publicly declared, before God and
man, that they have resolved to be followers of him who taught
his disciples to have compassion on, and extend their aid to
their suffering fellow-men, and who illlustrated the same by
numerous precepts and examples of his own life;—one endeavoring to rescue some of those who had fallen among thieves
and been cruelly dealt with, and trying to assist them to obtain
their lost but natural rights, to which they are entitled by the
declaration of American Independence, and by the laws of God
given to men ; the other, being in possession of superior
218

AMERICAN

SLAVERY.

power, not only opposing the efforts of the former, and preventing him from complying with the command of their divine
Master, of doing unto others as he would that others would do
unto him, were he in similar circumstances,'—but placing his
helpless brother in a situation where his life would be in
jeopardy, and his dependant family and friends made miserableo
I do not wish to cast any undue reflections upon Captain
.Roberts; but I do lament the lack of moral courage, and the
deep depravity of such professors of Christianity : for surely he
that hath no pity on those of his fellow-creatures "whom he
hath seen, can have no love for God whom he hath not seen. "
For saith Jesus, "As ye have not done it unto one of these,, ye
have not done it unto me."
Captain Koberts manifested great seriousness and devotion to
the cause of religion. Yet profanity passed freely in the cabin
and about his vessel's decks unrebuked. And I could not but
think that he did not pay any too strict regard for honesty, as
several articles that were taken from my boat on board of his
vessel, could not be found by the sheiiff* who went on board for
them. I tried to have some conversation with him while on
board, but that he carefully avoided by keeping at a distance.
But Captain Koberts may be assured that I have no unkind
feelings toward him; if he acted under the conviction of duty
and justice, he has nothing to fear; but if otherwise, his conscience and his Judge will adjust it.
The treatment of Sheriff Page, at Key West, was kind and
obliging, and of him I should have no occasion to complain, if
he had, as I requested, informed me what disposition was made
of my effects which were in his charge.
Esquire Balany (I think that was the name of the magistrate
to whom my case was submitted) manifested no unkind feelings
towards me, and allowed ine as much indulgence as circumstances would admit of. But the district attorney, whom I saw
on two occasions, appeared to have " taken pepper in his nose,"
and soon gave me to understand that I had no favors to expect
from that quarter. 1 also received kind treatment from the
jailer at that place—but did not stay long enough at the soldiers'
barracks to form any acquaintance there.
As to Commander Eerrand, of the steamboat General Taylor,
on board of which I was shipped to Pensacola, he did not make
any great display of good feeling in my behalf, he subjected me
to a steam bath a considerable part of the passage, by having
me placed in the hold of the boat, where the engine and fire
were, to my no small discomfort. Also good care was taken
that I should neither dance nor play on the ficjdle, by closely
confining both hands and feet in irons. The lieutenant was a
South Carolina chicken, well stuffed with McDuffieism, from
whom no answer to any question could be obtained, or any
219

APPENDIX.

reply directly to me. His name, I think, was Anderson. He
had got his lesson from the nullification roost, and was prepared
to look daggers at every thing in the shape of abolitionism.
Soon after my committal to jail in Pensacola, a printed handbill was presented to me, offering a reward of one thousand seven
hundred dollars for the apprehension and delivery at Pensacola
of seven slaves, at one hundred dollars each, if taken out of the
territory; and if within its limits, fifty dollars each; and after
giving some description of each, it goes on at a considerable
length in detailing some truths and some falsehoods, and concludes in the following words : " From these and other circumstances, the belief exists that said J onathan Walker has carried
these slaves off in his boat. And therefore, for his apprehension
and conviction of said offence, the subscribers will pay a further
reward of one thousand dollars. This explains the zeal of the
religious professor, Captain E. Roberts, to secure me.
"R. C. CALDWELL,
GEO. WILLIS, by

JAS. QUIGLES, Agent."

It may not be improper to introduce to the reader John
M'Kinlay, editor of the Pensacola Gazette. Although he had
no control over me, yet, as he had control over the only paper
published in Pensacola, it was in his power to give an unfair
statement of the circumstances, which he did not fail to do. In
the number for July 27th, he crowded into a part of a column of
that small paper, twenty odd lies at my expense. Whether that
libellous statement was voluntary on the part of its crouching
editor, or whether he was dictated to, I know not. His guilt is
the same.
I have before stated that I was escorted from the steamboat
General Taylor to the court-house by the deputy marshal.
Although this officer had but little to do with me, yet so far as
he had any thing to do with me, he manifested a kind and
friendly feeling. Those who have never been in critical circumstances cannot tell how sensibly every look, action, and word is
felt by one in my situation. The name of this officer is James
Gonzalez, who is entitled to my thanks for his humane deportment towards me.
The marshal of the district, Ebenezer Dorr, was formerly from
the State of Maine, with whom I had been well acquainted for
eight or nine years, and we had always been on terms of friendship ; but now our mutual feelings were about to be tested ; for
circumstances having rendered our situations very different,
there was no more equality, He was a practical slave-holder and
a strong advocate of the system; I an uncompromising opponent
of American slavery in all its forms; he holding a high office
tinder the territorial government; I, a prisoner for a violation
of the territorial law, placed in his custody, and subject almost
220

AMERICAN

SLAVERY.

entirely to his control. I do not pretend that our former acquaintance or friendly intercourse entitled me to any unusual
indulgence, or that he should violate any duty, or deviate from
the path of justice to accommodate me, or ameliorate my condition ; but I did suppose that there should be some consideration
made on the score of humanity, towards any one in so feeble a
state as I was at the time of my committal, which might aid in
the restoration of health, or that would not tend to reduce me
vstill more ; for the reader has already been informed that I was
placed in heavy irons, without even a handful of straw to lie on,
or anything clone to provide me with food suitable for a sick
person—for it was impossible for me to recover solely on my jail
fare. Not but the quantity was sufficient, but the quality was
not suitable for one out of health; and I deprived, as was supposed, of what money I had for several days; so that all means
were thwarted of providing for myself. But, as I wish not to
forget any favour shown me, I pass to his credit a bottle of milk
which he gave me, and an occasional call and inquiry after my
health, and the loan of some newspapers, &c.
My correspondence had to pass under his inspection, and for
one or two words in a private letter to my wife, respecting my
situation, I received from him a severe reprimand. But suffice
it to say, that he might have made my situation more irksome,
or he might have ameliorated it, without infringing upon his
official duties. He permitted George Willis to take from my
head a handkerchief which his deputy had placed there to keep
off the violence of the sun, and heave rotten eggs at me, whilst
standing in the pillory, without interfering other than saying,
" Don't, Mr. Willis, for we have got to take him into court,"—
as much as to say, "he would appear indecent," or "some one's
senses will be oftended."
Walker Anderson, the district attorney, who, by the bye, was
the prosecuting officer, is entitled to my thanks for his kindness
and humanity towards me, both in his private and official capacity. He is a mild, considerate, and intelligent man; and were
he not surrounded by a powerful slavery influence, any society
might be proud of such a member. I have for a number of
years known him, and can say that he is of the most amiable
disposition of any person I ever knew in Pensacola—notwithstanding a few misstatements in his letter to the governor of
Mori da, in reply to a letter from the secretary of Massachusetts
to that functionary. For a considerable part of my confinement,
he furnished me with reading matter and the news of the day;
and in his absence, his kind and amiable wife would supply
me with literary food.
It may not be out of place here to make mention of George
Willis and Eobert C. Caldwell, the claimants of the slaves that
went away with me. George Willis claims a high standing in
221

APPENDIX.

society, is considered a man of considerable property; said to be
the owner of a considerable number of slaves, with whom he is
very severe ; he is a haughty, overbearing, and cruel man, and
associates with but few. He was marshal of the west district
of Florida, two or three years, whilst I lived in Pcnsacola; during
which time he had the honor of hanging three or four colored
men. From my previous knowledge of him, I was prepared to
expect no favor from that quarter, and had he been at home
"when I was brought back to Pensacola, I have no doubt he would
have sought illegal revenge upon me ;—the manner in which he
displayed his feelings at the court-house, Avhen undergoing the
penalties of my first trial, may be considered a specimen of the
man.
E. C. Caldwell was at this time, a second lieutenant in the
navy, but has since been promoted to a first lieutenancy. He is
from the State of Ohio : and, as I have been credibly informed,
had studied for the ministry, but finally entered the navy; and
two or three years ago, married a wealthy young woman in Pensacola, who had a number of slaves, and in this way became in
possession of property and slaves. Thus he is year after year
receiving pay from the United States government, for overseeing his own or his wife's slaves. My first personal acquaintance
with this man took place in the boat in which I was brought
from the steamboat General Taylor to Pensacola, while in charge
of the deputy marshal. He visited me several times soon after
my committal, appeared very friendly, and seemed disposed to
urge upon my mind some religious considerations, and had the
politeness to bring me some pound-cake, as he called it; but no
sooner had he succeeded in getting possession of what little I
had in the shape of property, than every friendly and social consideration was abandoned, and he spared no pains to persecute
me to the extent of his ability; and was still anxious to gratify
his malignant appetite on the victim of his rage, to the very
last.
With some reluctance, I introduce to the reader Francis Torward, the jailer, or constable, but more commonly designated by
the title of city marshal. The jail is the property of the city,
and the jailer (city marshal) is chosen yearly by a vote of the
city, and is paid a salary per month. His duty is to look after
the peace and quiet of the city; to commit and release all
prisoners; to ring the city bell on all proper occasions, especially
at the hours of 8, P. M., in winter, and 9, p. M., in summer ;
and to take up all slaves found in the streets without a pass after
the bell has been rung, &c. He provides the prisoners with
their food and drink, for which he is allowed thirty-seven and a
half cents each, per day. He also inflicts punishment upon
slaves sent there by their masters or mistresses to be punished.
I know not whether he is under any official obligation to per222

AMERICAN SLAVERY

form this task, or whether custom has made it a rule. For this
•service, I believe he is entitled to extra pay from the persons
who employ him for that purpose. It is by no means a general
rule for masters or mistresses to have their slaves flogged by the
city marshal, for it frequently costs them some loss of their
service or time, besides what they have to pay the marshal; so
that but few are disposed to incur the expense, when they cart
save it by a few minutes' exertion of their own muscular powers,
•and at the same time feed their rapacious revenge upon their
helpless slaves. I am not prepared to say what the compensation is for flogging, or whether it is in all cases the same, or proportioned to the degree of infliction; but I am inclined to think
there is a stipulated price, and I had grounds for the conclusion
that it is seventy-five cents, each time. There appears to be no
amount of punishment fixed by any law or rule, but the kind
and quantity is prescribed by;; the master or mistress, as their
feelings or inclination may influence them.
Suppose the slave whom I have so often mentioned as being
flogged by her mistress, had cost her master seventy-five cents
for each whipping, the amount would have been about thirty
dollars from the 19th July, when I was committed, to the 19th
Februaiy, when the family moved from the jail. The reader will
have perceived that those whippings were much more frequent
in the warm weather than in the cold, and also before her
mistress' confinement, than afterwards. The reader is at liberty
to make his comments or conjectures as to the cause of this.
It may be thought that those whippings were of no great
severity, and merely administered as a parent would correct a
child; but to test the quality let a person be covered only with a
thin cotton frock, and let a woman, excited to uncontrolled passion, apply a raw-hide switch to the back of the other with her
greatest strength from twenty to fifty blows, and they would not
need a repetition of it to ascertain its mildness. But some of
those floggings were applied by a more powerful arm than that
of the mistress; and the marks and scars were visible upon the
slave's neck and face from the time I was first committed to the
day of my release. My senses have conveyed to my heart inexpressible feelings of disgust and abhorrence for such a mode of
discipline or punishment upon rational human beings. Often
when these exhibitions have taken place, have I thought of the
following lines:
" Hate's quivering lip, the fix'd, the starting eye,
The grin of vengeance, and the forehead pale,
The deep drawn "breath, the short hyena cry,
All in connection tell the dreadful tale
Where covr-hide, paddle, chains, and slavery do prevail. "

If any parents, guardians or masters, wish their child, minor,
or servant, to hate them with a perfect hatred, let them flog
223

APPENDIX.

them ! If parents, guardians, or their masters, wish to destroy
all good will and ready obedience to* superiors, and all self-re
spect in their children, minors, or servants, let them flog them,
and they may be assured that.they are in a fair way to obtain
that object.
I was somewhat acquainted with thejailer before my incarceration, but not at all with any of his family ; but 1 soon found that
what St. Paul called the weaker vessel was the stronger vessel,
for none could carry so great a press of sail as my hostess. Ilei
colors were nailed at mast-head, and all about the premises were
to be controlled by her undisputed s^ ay.
It may be asked what treatment 1 received at their hands] 1
answer, that for the most part of the time, it was better than
that which fell to the lot of other prisoners ; after being there foi
sometime, by*some cause or other, I seemed to get paitly into
their good .grace, and was treated by her with perfect civility
and some degree of kindness ; and frequently found in my dish
some little luxuries, unusual, I presume, for prisoners to receive
except at their own expense, or by the kindness of friends. But,
if I had had no,means to provide anything for myself, 1 should
much of the time have gone hungn, as the portion Riven me
which I could eat, was insufficient. My food consisted mostly
of bread and fish for breakfast, and bread and a dish of soup or
some calavanee beans for dinner. The bread was generally good,.
made of flour, and most of the time raised; and the rest was
mixed up and baked in thin cakes without raising. I had the
curiosity to weigh it for two weeks, and the result was ten pounds
seven ounces for fourteen successive days, two pounds thirteen
and one half ounces of which was Johnny-cake, or flour and
water kneaded up and baked by the fire as above. Some days
I had but little other than bread given me.
The district attorney says in his letter to Governor Branch,
Kov. 9th, 1844, that I "informed him .that 1 was in perfect
health," and that " I assured him that I had nothing to complain
of in the treatment of the jailor and his family." He should
have said that I informed him, that my health was as good as
my situation would admit of; and that I did not complain of
the treatment of tfce jailor or his family.
14 was for my benefit to make as little complaint as possible,
and therefore, having a little money, I supplied at my own
expense, what was lacking on their part, which amounted to
little more than a dollar per week during my imprisonment,
for food, washing, and a little clothing.
The reader may not readily understand how I ascertained the
weight of the bread I hare spoken off*By the use of a small
stick and a little paper and twine, I made a balance, and for
weightsI used&L&rer<x>ia; and in this way I also weighed the
*hainattached $o my leg^ hy weighing one link of medium siz%
224

AMERICAN SLAVERY

and multiplying the others by that, which product was twenty
two and one-half pounds, beside the shackle which encircled my
ancle.
As to the persons, whose names I have here heen using, I
have no inclination to misrepresent or abuse them, for 1 delight
not in vilifying my fellow-creatures, hut would far rather speak
well of them ; and what I have here said, has been under a sense
of deep nioral feeling, and 1 have suppressed much that might
have been said with propriety, and in strict accordance with
truth
But if any, whose names I ha\o here dealt with, or may
deal with, can show in any instance where I have misused them,
I will hasten to make public confession, and beg their pardon.'
I now intioducc some correspondence, and the expressions of
others in relation to my case
Ifaririch, Any J7th, J814.
My very dear suffering friend Jonathan ;—after much concern,
we have had a letter from thine own hand; the truth of which
we can confide in. Thy family are all in health. Home days
after the news of thy capture came, I went over to see thy wife
and thy parents, and they expressed much concern ahont thee.
I mentioned to them the well-known passage of Scripture: "if
ye suffer for righteousness, happy are ye," kc. "Be not afraid
of their terror, neither be troubled, but sanctify the Lord God
in your hearts."
At a meeting' on the fir*t day of August, we made a small
collection for thy family We also chose a committee to we thy
family. It was a consolation to many, to have a letter from
thee; many sympathize with thee. I think I can see the good
hand of God with you, in chastening and afflicting you. 1
rejoice to see thy integrity and thy confidence in Christ; thy
believing that he has stood by thee, and that thon canst nof part
with him ! Yea, let everything else go first! Yea, let life go
before Him. Jesus says, *' he came not to do hi3 own will, but
the will of his Father that sent him !" and he has left us aa
example that we should walk in his steps; " for he that bath
suffered- in the flesh, hath ceased from sin." When liberty,
truth, and right, have been trampled upon for a long time; the
authority, law, and government of God been disregarded; htuaaa
inventions set up; the laws, usages, and customs of men beep
considered paramount to the will, law, or government of t r o ^
it will, surely, cost more or less suffering to make*change.
E . HxCKKBSOJf.

In a subsequent letteT the same person «aya, UJ&$ <$e*r
brother, you have a glorious trial; make a right use of IV*
Harwich, Aug, 20, 18#t.
CAPT. J. WALKS* :

BEAR SIB,—Wiea your coadiiioa became kaow& hem, a
225

APPENDIX.

good deal of interest was excited in your behalf. A meeting of
the citizens was held at the congregational meeting-house yesterday, (19th,) agreeably to previous notice, to take into consideration your case; and the undersigned were made a committee,
to ascertain through you, your friends, or the authorities of
Pensacola, in what way, if at all, your condition may be ameliorated.
We learn that you were committed to prison for want of bail;
and we wish to know whether you would be now released from
confinement, if the necessary bail should be obtained ? Do you
wish for bail] or had you rather remain confined until your trial?
Have you any counsel ] And if not, do you wish for any \ And
if so, have you the means of employing counsel! Or does the
government furnish counsel for you 1 You state in your letter
that you are chained so that you cannot walk your room. This
we cannot but regret; as we know that a little exercise would
afford you much relief, and we trust that the humanity of those who
have you in keeping, will prompt them to afford you some relief
in this particular. Is the room in which you are confined, so
ventilated, that you can have a supply of fresh air 1 Are you
confined alone, or are there others in the room with you ] if so,
how many ? Will there be a special court for your trial, or shall
you wait till the regular term, in November] An early answer
to the above inquiries, or so many of them as may be of importance to you, is desired.
Prom our long acquaintance with you, we are assured, that
the act for which you have been arrested, and are now suffering,
-was done under a high sense of moral obligation. How far that
sense has been mistaken, is not for us to determine. We can
only regret the occmrence; leaving the adjustment of its morality between you and your own conscience.
Have you a comfortable supply of good and wholesome food 1
Is there any way in which we can be of any service to you % If
so, inform us, and our efforts to render your condition more
comfortable shall not be wanting.
SIDNEY UNDERWOOD.
ELKANAH NICKEKSON,

JR.

Through the kindness of a friend in New York, I received the
following resolution and the annexed epistle, just two months
from its adoption. But the original paper, with some others,
was wrested by force from me, and laid before a committee of
the legislative council of the Territory of Florida, for their action,
which report I place below. By some exertion I succeeded in
obtaining all the papers except the one of which I place a copy
here.
British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, for the Abolition of
Slavery, and the Slave trade throughout the world.
226

AMERICAN SLAVERY

27, New Broad Street, London.
At a meeting of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society,
held at 27, STew Broad Street, ©n Friday, October 4, 1844,
George Stacy, Esq., in the chair, it was resolved unanimously,
That, considering the enormous wickedness of American
Slavery, whether viewed in relation to the iniquity of its principle, which deprives nearly three millions of human beings of
their personal rights, or to the atrocity of its practice, which subjects them to the deepest degradation and misery; this committee
feel it to be their duty, publicly and warmly, to express their
sympathy with those devoted friends of humanity, the Rev.
Charles T. Torrey, and Captain Jonathan Walker—who are now
incarcerated in the prisons of Maryland and West Florida, for
having aided, or attempted to aid, some of their countrymen in
their escape from bondage; and to assure those Christian philanthrophists that they consider the cause for which they may
hereafter be called to suffer, honorable to them as men, and as
Christians; and the laws under which they are to be arrainged,
as utterly disgraceful to a civilized community, and in the highest degree repugnant to the spirit and precepts of the gospel.
On behalf of the Committee, THOMAS CLARKSON, President.
JOHN SCOBLE, Secretary.

To Capt. Jonathan Walker, October 8 ; 1844.
27, New Broad Street, London.
DEAR Sin—The painful circumstances in which you have been
placed by your humane and Christian attempt to deliver some
of your fellow-men from the sufferings and degradation of slavery, are not, as you will perceive by the accompanying resolution, unknown to the Abolitionists in Great Britain.
They truly sympathize with you in your affliction, and they
trust that the efforts which are to be made for your deliverance
from the power of evil men and evil laws, will )je succeeded by
the divine blessing.
Your faith and patience may be greatly tried, but I trust you
will be divinely sustained through the conflict, and that you will
have a large share in the prayers, as well as in the sympathies
and assistance of your friends.
Trusting that you will meet with becoming fortitude your
approaching trial, and that whatever may be its issue, you may
ffnd the joy of the Lord to be your strength,"
I am, dear sir, with great respect and esteem,
Yours very truly, JOHN SCOBLE, Secretary.
To Capt. Jonathan Walker.
TO THE COMMITTEE OP THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN ANTI-SLAVERY
SOCIETY, LONDON.

New York City, July 12, 1845.
VERY KIND AND HIGHLY ESTEEMED FRIENDS :

I arrived this day in this city, and embrace the earliest con227

APPENDIX.

venient opportunity to acknowledge the reception of the kind
letter of your worthy secretary, John Scoble, and the aecompanying resolution adopted at your meeting in London, on the
4th of October, 1844, expressive of your opinion of, and feelings
towards, Charles T. Torrey and myself. The letter was forwarded
through the kindness of a friend in Kew York, and reached me
just two months after its date. But it is impossible for me to
express upon paper the feelings which the reception of the
letter and resolution excited,
I am an American-born citizen, and have lived forty-five years
under this republican form of government, but I am ashamed to
acknowledge that, while enjoying the greatest social and religious privileges of any nation upon the earth, boasting of our
liberal and free institutions, of the inherent right of all men to
"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," of our arts and
sciences, civilization, and the dispensation of the gospel; yet we
cherish in our midst the most heinous, unjust, oppressive, and
God-provoking system that ever cursed the dwellers of earth,
nourishing jealousy and discord through the land, poisoning
the life-streams of our Union, corroding the vitals of this young
and growing nation, and destroying the mental and moral
faculties of one portion of its inhabitants, to corrupt and debase
the other; and if any one is found among her sons whose humane feelings prompt him to extend an act of sympathy towards
his deeply injured fellow-subjects—who have nowhere to look
with any earthly hope for the mitigation of their wretchedness
but in the hearts of the few, and are denied the privilege of
seeking redress from the laws and counsels of their country—
such an one is sought out and hunted like a beast of prey, and
dealt with as a traitor to his country, and as a slayer of his fellow-men ; and this, notwithstanding every precaution has been
used to prevent any act of violence on the part of the truly
wronged, and none but pacific means are countenanced to obtain
relief.
While my mind has been filled with such considerations, and
while undergoing the most degrading punishments that human
invention has produced, from the hands of my own countrymen, I receive from a high and honorable source in a foreign
and monarchical country, the warm and cordial sympathies, and
favorable consideration and approbation of the cause for which
I suffer, and detestation of the course pursued against me, from
entire strangers, whom I never saw, and probably never shall
see this side of another world.
I heartily respond, gentlemen, to the declaration in the last
clause of the resolution which you adopted, that " the laws under
which we were to be arraigned are utterly disgraceful to a civilized community, and in the highest degree repugnant to the
spirit and precepts of the gospel.
228

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

You are probably aware ere this, of the result of my first trial
in November last, under four indictments. Since that time I
have been detained in prison until the 16th of June, when, after
having undergone a second trial, on the 9th of May, under three
indictments, I was released by the liberality of friends, in paying
the fines and costs of prosecution, which were charged against
me. With the exception of two' and a half months, I was kept
in chains during the whole of my imprisonment.
Let me assure you again, my dear friends, of my gratitude for
j o u r kind and humane consideration. It is a source of deep
regret to me that the original letter and resolution were taken
from me while in prison by the authorities, but not however till
I had secured a copy of each, which I hold invaluable. They
were laid before the legislative council of Florida, and a report
made thereon, a copy of which I enclose.
Trusting that all needful blessings from our divine Lord may
attend you individually and collectively in all coming time, and
enable you to accomplish much in the righteous cause you have
espoused for the amelioration of the condition of the deeply
injured and oppressed children of men,
I remain, respectfully, your grateful friend,
JONATHAN WALKER.

The reader has already seen that I have repeatedly been stigmatised with the epithet of " slave-stealer;" to which charge I
did, and do still plead not guilty—although punished for that
offence; neither was it ever my intention to commit it, and God
forbid it ever should be.
Have not the fathers of our nation proclaimed to the world,
by the declaration of independence, that " all men are "bom. free
and equal.?" and that they " are endowed by their creator'''
41
with an inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness V And is peaceably assisting those who have been
robbed of these rights, without in any way infringing upon the
rights of others, slave-stealing 1 Was the benevolent and humane
conduct of the Samaritan, in assisting the man who had fallen
among thieves, and was 'robbed, to get to the inn where he
could be provided for, stealing 1 Is practising on that invaluable
rule, of doing to others as we would they should do unto us
under similar circumstances—enjoined upon all Christians, by
Jesus Christ himself—slave-stealing %
As to my infringing upon any man's rights, or trespassing
upon any man's property, I deny it, in toto. Neither Byrd C.
Willis, George Willis, nor Robert C. Caldwell had any more right
to Anthony Catlet, Charles Johnson, or Silas Scott, than I or
any other person had ; nor did they ever have a right to those
men. Under God, they had a right to themselves, which they
Iiad never forfeited : and those who claim them as property or
229

APPENDIX.

chattels, assume authority oyer the ALMIGHTY CEEATOR of all
things.
Much has been said about invading the rights of the slaveholder, by opposing the system of slavery. As to any of the
honestly gained property of the slave-holder, or any one else, 1
have nothing to say; but I deny that he has any right or just
claim to his fellow-beings, without their forfeiture or consent, in
the shape of property or chattels ;—one American-born citizen
being the property of another American-born citizen is ridiculous in the highest degree, and repugnant to every true republican and Christian feeling, and should never be countenanced
for a moment by any one having the least idea of liberty or equal
rights. All that can be said in iavor of American slavery can be
said in support of robber// or piracy.
I know that many are ready to say, they are guaranteed to
their holders by the laws of this government, and so are held by
right. But neither this government nor these States have the
right to guarantee one part of the home-born citizens to become
the property of another part, nor to delegate the inherent rights
and liberties of one portion to the absolute control and disposal
of another portion. From whence do their rights proceed 1 I
repeat again that they never had such rights.
What the slave-holder calls his right of property in human
beings, consists of the slave's wrongs ; handed over from the inhuman kidnapper, who stole his human prey, and transferred if
to the human flesh-buyer ; and how many such flagrant wrongs
does it take to make one reasonable right %
If there be a just God, to whom man is accountable, what is
our hope for the perpetrators of these repeated wrongs, when
they shall have passed on through life down to the oppressor's
grave?
" But -what beyond that goal may be—
W h a t portion in eternity,
For those who oppress to gain their wealth,
And die without a hope in death
I know not—and I dare not think;
Awhile I shudder o'er the brink
Of that unfathomable deep,
In Ythich heaven's secret judgments sleep."

" Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten ; your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust of them
shall be a witness against you and shall eat your flesh as it were
fire."—"Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter ;
ye have condemned and killed the just,—and he did not resist
you."
" Remember that in thy life-time thou hast received thy good
things," &c. Luke xvi. 25.
230

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

No community, society, sect, creed, or any persons or individuals, are accountable for, or chargeable with my opinions or
conduct, with respect to the system of slavery,—I alone am re^
sponsible; and, as I trust, under the influence of the spirit of
God. If I have erred through the weakness of human judgment,
then be the offence mine, and the mercy-seat my resort for pardon. To those who charge me with having by over-zeal gone
too far in aid of suffering humanity, I would say, let none other
be charged with participating in what has taken place in ray
case—I will bear the blame alone.
Be it known to all people, that I made no bargain, contract,
or agreement with any of those persons for any pecuniary remuneration for the aid and expense which I devoted to their escape
from bondage, other than this : that I remarked to one or two
of the men, that if they succeeded in getting where they could
be free, and accumulate something for themselves, they might
give me what they felt able or disposed to give, in payment of the
expense of their passage, as it might suit their convenience or
circumstances; and when we arrived at New Providence, they
would be at liberty to go where they pleased, or remain there.
It seems to have been a matter of wonder to many here at the
north, to know what I expected to gain by aiding those slaves
to escape from their masters. In reply, I will also ask what did
the good Samaritan expect to gain by helping the man who had
fallen among thieves,, and was robbed and wounded, to a place
of refuge and health 1
In Pensacola, and in the south generally, I believe there is but
one opinion in regard to my motive—that it was to aid the slaves
in obtaining their freedom, because I considered it their right.
The following is the bill of costs brought against me by the
territory of Florida :—
TEJRRITOKY OF FLORIDA )
Abducting Seven Slaves:
vs.
>
Yerdict,
JONATHAN WALKER.

)

Guilty.

Cost of Court, and fines in seven suits,
Paid Witness from Key West,
do.
K. C. Caldwell,
do.
11, C. Caldwell,
do. Deputy for travelling to navy-yard, to arrest,
Paid Lock for gaol,
do. Blacksmith, repairing gaol,
do. D. Quind, for guarding gaol, &c,
.
...
do. City of Pensacola for use of gaol,
do. City gaoler, for board up to May 23rd, 1845,
(Signed)

£ s. d.
58 4 2
1111 1
0 15 1
0 10 I
0 12 0
0 3 7
116 6
17 10 ' 1 5 0.0
23 2 1

119 i
E. Doiui, U. S. Marshal
231

8

APPENDIX.
EEMARKS.

" City of Pensacola, to use of Jail, twenty five dollars.'
This to me, I confess, is rather a singular charge to bring against
a prisoner.
" City marshal's bill for board," was at the rate of thirty seven
and a half cents per day; but a small part of which was expended
for me, as I was under the necessity of using about forty dollars, to provide myself with food, which consisted mostly of
bread and molasses.
il
Cost of court and fines, in seven suits, two hundred and
'.ninety-five dollars and five cents."
The fines were one hundred and sixty-five dollars, and the cost
of court consisted of the district attorney's, marshal's, and clerk's
fees, and the evidence before the grand jury.
There were other charges in the case, and I suppose they were
brought against the United (States; and the whole cost and
expense would have been charged to the United States, if my
friends had not paid it, in order to my release.
It may not be improper to remark here that I had no witness, nor asked for any ; and those whose fees are charged, in the
bill are—.Richard Roberts, of Key West, master of the vessel
that took me, near Cape Florida, and the other, Robert C. Caldwell, who claimed to be an owner of three of the slaves that left
Pensacola in my boat. These were summoned by the prosecution
to testify against me.
The charge for guarding the jail, eighty seven dollars and
fifty cents, is a mooted point with me ; at one time I was told
that it was guarded to prevent people without from molesting
me, and at another time, that it was guarded to prevent my
escape from prison; but I think, probably, more to make a show
than anything else.
"Blacksmith—repairing jail, &c, nine dollars and thirteen
•cents."
A slave man came to jail one day, and worked on the doors
about two hours, and fastened a piece of iron athwart an aperture in the door, through which 1 had been in the habit of
receiving my food; and I do not know what the " &c." is for,
except for riveting the irons on my leg, and making the branding
iron. The lock was not used on or about the jail.
Since my return home, I have often heard the expressions
used, " We never expected to see you here again;" and " How
is it that they let you come so soon 1" My answer is this :-—
Although what they term the laws of Florida could have been
executed with greater severity, and I subjected to more cost and
longer imprisonment, yet there was a strong abhorrence on the
part of the citizens of Pensacola, generally, to any further inflic232

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

tion of punishment; and many were opposed to its execution
thus far. During my residence in Pensacola, I had formed an
acquaintance with most of the people of that place, and was on
social and friendly terms with all; never having any difficulty or
misunderstanding with any.
Another reason is,—that there was, as I believe I have before
stated, but one opinion as to the motives which induced me to
commit the act for which I was called to suffer;—all seeing that
I was acting upon the principle which I believed to be true, just
and right—that " God has made of one blood all nations of men to
dwell on the face of the whole earth," and " that all men are
born free and equal," and are entitled to the same rights, by the
laws of God and nature. All the people saw that I was not influenced by pecuniary considerations, and that I had no intention of trespass or fraud upon the rights or property of any one.
There was less indignant feeling towards me on another account. A large part of the inhabitants were Creoles, (descendants of French and Spanish parents,) and not generally so irresistibly devoted to the system of slavery as the American-born
and bred citizens were; and this Creole population manifested
more sympathy for me than the rest of the community did.
There has also been much inquiry of me in regard to the doings
of Thomas M. Blunt, who was employed in New York to manage
my defence at the November Court, in Pensacola,—or to take
an appeal to the United States' Supreme Court, and have the
case presented there. I have not attempted to give any account
of him, other than noting his visits to me at the prison in
December last; feeling that his being sent was nearly the greatest
insult that friends at the North could impose on me.
I was sufficiently well acquainted with the man, and his course
of behaviour and conduct, for seven or eight years, and knew him
to be void of any good principle, and pro-slavery to the backbone ; bred and practised in the hot-bed of that soul-destroying
system, which is one of the greatest scourges arrayed against the
well-being and happiness of man, and one of the highest insults
against the authority and government of God, who has provided
ample means for the happiness and welfare of the great human
family. Thomas M. Blunt was also looked upon by the inhabitants there as a very corrupt-minded man, and a base and
common swindler.
The first knowledge I had of his having anything to do with
my case, was the 2nd of December last, eighteen days after I had
my trial. He then called at the prison, and talked with me a
few minutes through the window, without offering to come in.
He stated to me that he had seen Amos B. Merrill before he
left New York, and he got him to attend to my case ; but in
consequence of the high (!) or low (!) stage of the water in some
of the rivers near there, he was prevented from being in the
q
233

TRIAL OF J .

WALKER.

place in time to attend to my trial. He had then been in the
place twelve or thirteen days, and said he had told people there,
that he was paid two hundred dollars to manage my case, and
that my friends wished to take an appeal to the Supreme Court
of the United States, and wanted to know if I would consent to
an appeal. I told him that I would, in case I could be bailed
out, and not be subjected to illegal treatment. He said he would
try to get an appeal on the case. He wanted to know what the
expense amounted t o ; I told him that I had not yet been able to
ascertain what it was. He left me, and, after a few days, called
again; when I gave him a schedule of the charges then against
me, which had been handed me a day or two before by the
marshal, the amount of which was four hundred and twenty-one
dollars, forty-five cents. I informed him that the " fine, one
hundred and fifty dollars," could be paid in Territorial scrip,
which could be bought at a large discount, and that a sum of
less then four hundred dollars would be sufficient to effect my
release. I asked him if he could not make some arrangement
to satisfy the demand, so that I might leave the place. He said
that he was going to the next county, where he had some money
owing him, and if he could get that, he would release me; but
that he could not get an appeal on the case, for the bail would,
be so high that it could not be given. He handed me a paper
in which was enclosed a letter, and resolution from the British
and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, and left, until the 25th,
when he called again, and said he was then going to Kew York,
and would stir up my friends about the matter, and urge them
to have the means necessary to my release forthcoming.
This is the substance of my positive knowledge of the doings
of Thomas M. Blunt, in regard to my case; but since my return,
I have been informed that he received from a committee, who
had been acting in the case, seven hundred and fifty dollars,
which had been subscribed to provide me with counsel, and my
family with such aid as they might need. [What villainy ! ED.]

234

E X T R A C T S FROM A W O R K
ENTITLED

"FACTS AND ARGUMENTS ON AMERICAN
SLAVERY,"
BY THE REV. LA ROY SUNDERLAND.

LAWS BELATING TO AMEBICAN SLAYEBY.
By American Slavery is meant the condition of those
Americans who are claimed, held and treated, in these
United States, as property.
A slave is one who is in the power of a master to whom he belongs. The master may sell him, dispose of his person, his industry, and his labour; he can do nothing, possess nothing, nor
acquire any thing, but what must belong to his master.—
Louisiana Code.
The same code, speaking of the legal nature of slave
property, says :—
Slaves, though movable by their nature, are considered immovable by the operation of the law.
" Goods they are," says the civil code, " and goods
they shall be esteemed."—Taylor's Elements, p. 429.
Slaves shall be deemed, sold, taken, and reputed to be chattels
personal in the hands of their owners and possessors, their
executors, administrators, and assigns, to all intents, constructions, and purposes whatsoever.—Laws of South Carolina,
Stroud, p. 22—3.
This dominion of the master is as unlimited as that which is
tolerated by the laws of any civilized community in relation to
brute animals—to ' quadrupeds,' to use the words of the civil
law.—Stroud, p. 24.
In case the personal property of a ward shall consist of specific
articles, such as slaves, working beasts, animals of any kind,
«tock, furniture, plate, books, and so forth, the Court, if it
shall deem it advantageous for the ward/may, at any time,
pass an order for the sale thereof.—Laws of Maryland, 1798.
Slaves shall always be reputed and considered real estate;
;shall be, as such, subject to be mortgaged, according to the rules
235

LAWS RELATING TO

prescribed by law, and they shall be seized and sold as rea£
estate.—Laws of Louisiana, 1806.
Hence it appears, that the distinguishing principle of
American Slavery is this : slaves are not to be ranked
among rational beings, but they are to be claimed, held,
and treated as things, as articles of property, " to all intents, constructions, and purposes whatsoever."
Consequently it does not allow to- the slave the rights
of his own reason and conscience.
It annihilates the family state : prevents the parents
from obeying the command of God with regard to their
children ; it prohibits, or nullifies, the marriage rites, and
prevents husbands and wives from obeying the commands
of God with regard to each other.
It enjoins, or sanctions, promiscuous intercourse between the sexes, without the rites of marriage.
It holds all the religious privileges of the slave at the
mere mercy of his master, whether that master be infidel,
papist, or protestant.
It prevents the slave from obeying that command of
God, which makes it the duty of all men to " search the
Scriptures."
Its direct tendency is to crush the minds of God's intelligent creatures, by forbidding and preventing all
schools for "mental instruction."
It withholds the hire of the laborer.
It sanctions and covers the breach of the 8th commandment. It justifies the very same thing which our laws
and the laws of nations punish as piracy, if committed
on the coast of Africa, or on the high seas. It originates
and justifies what the Bible calls " man-stealing."
It denies to the slave that protection for his character, his health and life, which is enjoyed by the white
man.
Here it must be observed, that what we have stated
above, forms no part of what is generally called the "evils
of slavery," or, in other words, the " abuses of the systern;"
but the above facts make up the very system itself, the
very thing which we say is a sin against God.
23$

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

WHO MAY BE HELD AS SLAVES.
A law of South Carolina reads as follows :—
All negroes, Indians, (free Indians in amity with this government, and negroes, mulattoes, and mestizoes, who are now free,
excepted,) mulattoes, or mestizoes, who are now or shall hereafter be in this province, and all their issue and offspring born,
or to be born, shall be, and they are hereby declared to be and
and remain forever hereafter, absolute slaves, and shall follow
the condition of the mother.—Act of 1740, 2 Brevard's
Digest, 229.
Similar laws are now in force in Georgia, Mississippi,
Virginia, and Louisiana. I n Virginia the enslavement of
Indians was authorized by statute from 1679 to 1 6 9 1 .
Those whose maternal ancestors have been reduced toslavery since the latter period, have been decided by the
highest courts in that state to be free. So late as 1 7 9 7 ,
it was decided by the Supreme Court of N e w Jersey,
Chief Justice Kinsey, that Indians might be held as
slaves.
They (Indians) have been so long recognized as slaves, in our
law, that it would be as great a violation of the rights of property
to establish a contrary doctrine at the present day, as it would in
the case of the Africans; and as useless to investigate the manner in which they originally lost their freedom.—The State vs.
Waggoner, 1 Halstead's Reports, 374 to 376.
Persons emancipated, but not in the prescribed form
of law, are liable to be re-enslaved. Thus in South
Carolina,
In case any slave shall be emancipated or set free, otherwise
than according to the act (of 1800) regulating emancipation, it
shall be lawful for any person whosoever to seize and convert
to his or her own use, and to keep as his or her property the
gaid slave so illegally emancipated or set free.—2 Brevard's
Digest, 256.
And in Virginia," If any emancipated slave (infants excepted)
shall remain within the state more than twelve months after his
or her right to freedom shall have accrued, he or she shall forfeit
all such right, and may be apprehended and sold by the overseers of the poor, &c, for the benefit of the Literary Fund ! !"—
1 Bev. Code, 436.
Hence it will be perceived, that slavery has no limits.
I t lays its bloody hands not only on native Americans of

m

LAWS B E L A T I N G TO

African descent, and their children, forever,
b u t ore
Indians. " Nor is it confined to color," says Mr. Paxton
of Virginia. " The best blood in Virginia flows in the
Veins of the slaves." Many who are now held in slavery,
in this nation, are as white as the masters by whom they
are oppressed.
CIVIL CONDITION OF THE ENSLAVED.
COLOR A LEGAL EVIDENCE OF SLAVEBY.

A W H I T E man may enslave any colored one, and, as
between himself and the slave, the law does not require
him to establish his claim ; the slave is compelled to
remain so. if he cannot prove his freedom.
The South
Carolina Act of 1740, permits persons held as slaves and
claiming to be free, to petition the judges of the Court of
Common Pleas, who, if they see cause, may allow a
guardian to bring an action for freedom against the master. The sequel of this law shows how poor is the encouragement for both the suitor and his guardian.
And if judgment shall be given for the plaintiff, a special
entry shall be made, declaring that the ward of the plaintiff m
free, and the jury shall assess damages which the plaintiff's
ward hath sustained, and the court shall give judgment, and
award execution against the defendant for such damages, with full
cost of suit; but in case judgment shall be given for the defendant, the said court is hereby fully empowered to inflct such
coporalpunisfoment, not extending to life or limb, on the ward
of the plaintiff, as they, in their discretion, shall think fit. Provided, that in any action or suit to be brought in pursuance of
the direction of this act, the burden of the proof shall lay upon
the plaintiff, and it shall be always persumed, that every negro,
Indian, mulatto, and mestizo, is a slave, unless the contrary
be made to appear, (the Indians in amity with this goverment
excepted, in which case, the burden of the proof shall be on the
defendant.)—2 Brevard's Digest, 229, 30.
Virginia shows her hostility to the claim for freedom
by the following provision of her Eevised Code :
For aiding and abetting a slave in a trial for freedom, if the
claimant shall fail in his suit, a fine of one hundred dollars is.
imposed.—1 Rev. Code, 482.
The only known exception to this principle of throwing
238

AMERICAN

SLAVERY.

the burden of proof upon the person claimed as a slave.,
is in N o r t h Carolina, where persons of mixed blood, by
a decision of the court, are presumed to be free.
By this cruel presumption, free persons are consequently taken up on suspicion of being runaways, and
after being in prison for some months, are sold to pay
their jail fees.
MENTAL INSTRUCTION PROHIBITED.

South Carolina may lay claim to the earliest movement
in legislation on this subject. I n 1740, while yet a province, she enacted this l a w :
"Whereas the having of slaves taught to write, or suffering
them to be employed in writing, may be attended with great
inconveniences, Be it enacted, That all and every person and
persons whatsoever, who shall hereafter teach, or cause anyslave or slaves to be taught to write, or shall use or employ any
slave as a scribe in any manner of writing whatsoever hereafter
taught to write, every such person or persons shall, for every
such offence, forfeit the sum of one hundred pounds current
money.—2 Brevard's Digest, 243.
Similar in Georgia, by act of'1770,
except as to the
penalty, which is twenty pounds sterling.—Prince's Digest, 4 5 5 .
I n the same state the following additional restraints
were enacted in 1 8 0 0 :
That assemblies of slaves, free negroes, mulattoes, mestizoes*
whether composed of all or any of such description of persons*
or of all or any of the same and of a proportion of white persons*
met together for the purpose of mental instruction in a confined
or secret place, &c. &c, is (are) declared to be an unlawful
meeting, and magistrates, &e. &c, are hereby required, &c, to
enter into such confined places, &c. &c, to break doors, &c. if
resisted, and to disperse such slaves, free negroes, &c, and the
officers dispersing such unlawful assemblies, may inflict such
corporal punishment, not exceeding twenty lashes, upon such
slaves, free negroes, &c. as they may judge necessary, for deter*
ring them from the like unlawful assemblage in future,—Brevard's Digest, 254.
A n d another section of the same act declares
That it shall not be lawful for any number of free negroes?
mulattoes, or mestizoes, even of slaves in company with white
persons, to meet together for the purpose of mental instruction?
239

LAWS RELATING TO

either before the rising of the sun or after the going down of the
same.—2 Brevard's Digest, 254-5.
Virginia passed the following in 1819 :
That all meetings or assemblages of slaves or free negroes, or
mulattoes, mixing and associating with such slaves at any
meeting house, or houses, or any other place, &c. in the night,
or at any school or schools for teaching them reading or writing
either in the day or night, under whatsoever pretext, shall be
deemed and considered an unlawful assembly; and any justice
of a county, &c. wherein such assemblage shall be, either from
his own knowledge, or the information of others, of such unlawful assemblage, &c. may issue his warrant directed to any sworn
officer or officers, authorizing him or them to enter the house or
houses wheie such unlawful assemblages, &c. may be, for the
purpose of apprehending or dispersing such slaves, and to inflict
corporal punishment on the offender or offenders, at the discretion of any justice of the peace, not exceeding tiventy lashes.—
1 Rev. Code, 424-5.
Similar laws exist in most of the slave states, and in
all mental instruction is practically discouraged.
PROHIBITION OP RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.

Many extracts from the laws of the Southern States
might be given under this head. The following is but a
specimen ; it is from the South Carolina Act of 1 8 0 0 :
It shall not be lawful for any number of slaves, free negroes,
mulattoes, or mestizoes, even in company with white persons, to
meet together and assemble for the purpose of mental instruction
or religious worship, either before the rising of the sun or after
the going down of the same. And all magistrates, sheriffs, militia officers, &c. are hereby vested with power, &c. for dispersing
such assemblies, &c.—2 Brevard's Digest, 254-5.
PROHIBITION OF SELF-DEFENCE.

If any slave shall presume to strike any white person, such
slave, upon trial and conviction before the justice or justices,
according to the directions of this act, shall, for the first offence,
suffer such punishment as the said justice or justices shall, in
his or their discretion, think fit, not extending to life or limb ;
and, for the second offence, suffer DEATH.
The law is similar in South Carolina ; in both states
the slave is not punished, however, when he strikes, " by
the command, and in the defence of the person or property of the owner, & c . "
240

AMERICAN SLAVERY.
UNQUALIFIED SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF THE WHITES BEQUIBED OF
THE SLAVES.

The Code of Louisiana gravely lays down the following
principle :
Free people of color ought never to insult or strike white
people, nor presume to conceive themselves equal to the whites;
but on the contrary, they ought to yield to them on every occasion, and never speak or answer them, but with respect, under
the penalty of imprisonment, according to the nature of the
offence.—1 Martin's Digest, 640-42.
The following are specimens of the laws by which the
whole white community have made themselves tyrants
over the slaves :
If any slave shall happen to be slain for refusing to surrender
him or herself, contrary to law, or in unlawful resisting any
officer or other person, who shall apprehend or endeavor to
apprehend, such slave or slaves, &c, such officer or other person
so killing1 such slave as aforesaid, making resistance, shall be,
and he is by this act, indemnified from any prosecution ior such
killing aforesaid, &c.—Maryland Laws, act of 1751, chap. xiv.
§*.
A n d by the negro act of 1 7 4 0 , of South Carolina, it is
declared :
If any slave, who shall be out of the house or plantation where
such slave shall live, or shall be usually employed, or without
some white person in company with such slave, shall refuse to
submit to undergo the examination of any ivhite person, it shall
be lawful for such white person to pursue, apprehend, and moderately correct such slave; and if such slave shall assault and
strike such white person, such slave may be LAWFULLY KILLED !!
—2 Brevard's Digest, 231.
POWEB OF THE SLAVE-HOLDEB.

Whereas, by another act of the assembly, passed in the year
1774, the killing of a slave, however wanton, cruel and deliberate, is only punishable in the first instance by imprisonment
and paying the value thereof to the owner, which distinction of
criminality between the murder of a white person and one who
is equally a human creature, but merely of a different complexion, is disgraceful to humanity, and degrading in the highest degree to the laws and principles of a free, Christian, and
enlightened country, Be it enacted, &c, that if any person shall
hereafter be guilty of wilfully and maliciously killing a slave,
such offender shall, upon the first conviction thereof, be adjudged
guilty of murder, and shall suffer the same punishment as if he

LAWS RELATING TO

had killed a free man ; provided always this act shall not extend
to the person hilling a slave outlawed by virtue of any act of
assembly of this state, or to any slave in the act of resistance to
his lawful owner or master, or to any slave dying under moderate correction.—Haywood's Manual 530; and see Laws of Tennesse, act of Oct. 23rd, 1799, with a like [neutralising] proviso.
Any person who shall maliciously dismember or deprive a
slave of life, shall suffer such punishment as would be inflicted
in case the like offence had been committed on a free white
person, and on the like proof, except in case of insurrection of
such slave, and unless such death should happen by accident in
giving such slave moderate correction.— Constitution of Georgia, Art. 4, § 12. Prince's Digest, 559.
Judge Stroud remarks,
That a proclamation of outlawry against a slave is authorized,
whenever he runs away from his master, conceals himself in some
obscure retreat, and to sustain life, kills a hog, or some animal
of the cattle kind ! See Haywood's Manual, 521; act of 1741,
ch. 24, § 45.
I n South Carolina by the Act of 1740 the a wilful
murder " of a slave was punished by a fine of " seven
hundred pounds current money," and inability to hold
office, but another description of murder, more likely to
occur, was punished as follows :—
If any person shall, on a sudden heat or passion, or by undue
correction, kill his own slave, or the slave of any other person,
he shall forfeit the sum of three hundred and fifty pounds, current money.—Brevard's Digest, 241.
B y an act of 1 8 2 1 , the former provision was abolished,
but the latter was continued, diminishing the price to five
hundred dollars, and authorizing an imprisonment of six
months.—James' Digest, 3 9 2 .
It is the imperative duty of the judges to recognize the full
dominion of the owner over the slave, except where the exercise
of it is forbidden by statute.—Judge Kuffin, N". Carolina.
In case any person shall wilfully cut out the tongue, put out
the eye, castrate, or cruelly scald, burn, or deprive any slave of
any limb, or member, or shall inflict any other cruel punishment, other than by whipping or beating with a horse-whip,
cow-skin, switch, or small stick, or bj putting irons on, or Confining or imprisoning such slave, every such person shall, for
every such offence, forfeit the sum of one hundred pounds, current money.—2 Brevard's Digest, 241.
Louisiana imposes a heavier penaltv for taking off irona
242

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

t h a n she does for the " cruel punishments," specified
above, as appears from this :—•
If any person or persons, &c., shall cut or break any iron
chain or collar, which any master of slaves should have used in
order to prevent the running away or escape of any such slave
or slaves, such person or persons so offending shall, on conviction, &c. be fined not less than two hundred dollars, nor exceeding one thousand dollars; and suffer imprisonment for a term
not exceeding two years, nor less than six months.—Act of Assembly of March 6th, 1819, pamphlet, page 64.
N o w , in the same state, the law before quoted from
South Carolina is in force, and the penalty is a fine of
not more than five hundred dollars, nor less than two
hundred I
I n Missouri, the master is assisted in punishing as
follows :—
If any slave resist his or her master, mistress, overseer or employer, or refuse to obey his or her lawful commands, it shall be
lawful for such master, &c, to commit such slave to the common
gaol of the county, there to remain at the pleasure of the master, &c; and the sheriff shall receive such slave, and keep him,
&c, in confinement, at the expense of the person committing
him or her.—1 Missouri Laws, 309.
DELEGATED POWER OP THE MASTER.

According to the universal practice of the slave states,
the master may delegate his tremendous power to any
other person whom he pleases. Louisiana has the following express law :—
The condition of a slave being merely a passive one, his subordination to his master, and to all who represent him, is not susceptible of any modification or restriction (except in what can
incite the slave to the commission of crime,) in such manner
that he owes to his master and to all his family a respect without bounds and an absolute obedience, and he is consequently
to execute all the orders which he receives from him, his said
master, or from them.—1 Martin's Digest, 616.
RIGHT OF MARRIAGE.

The following is, unquestionably, law and fact through*
out the slave states :—
A slave has never maintained an action against the violator of
his bed. A slave is not admonished for incontinence, or
punished for fornication or adultery; never prosecuted for
240

LAWS R E L A T I N G TO

bigamy, or petty treason for killing a husband being a slave,
any more than admitted to an appeal for murder.—Opinion of
Daniel Dulany,Esq., Attorney General of Maryland, 1, Maryland Reports, 561, 563.
RIGHT OP PROPERTY

It shall not be lawful for any slave to buy, sell, trade, &c, for
any goods, &c, without a license from the owner, kc, nor shall
any slave be permitted to keep any boat, periauger, or canoe, or
raise and breed, for the benefit of such slave, any horses, mares,
cattle, sheep, or hogs, under pain of forfeiting all the goods, &c,
and all the boats, periaugers, or canoes, horses, mares, cattle,
sheep, or hogs. And it shall be lawful for any person whatsoever, to seize and take away from any slave, all such goods, &c,
boats, &c, and to deliver the same into the hands of any justice
of the peace, nearest the place where the seizure shall be made,
and such justice shall take the oath of the person making such
seizure, concerning the manner thereof: and if the said justice
shall be satisfied that such seizure has been made according to
law, he shall pronounce and declare the goods so seized, to
be forfeited, and order the same to be sold at public outcry, one
half of the monies arising from such sale to go to the state, and
the other half to him or them that sue for the same.—James1
Digest, 385-6. Act of1740, S. Car.
I n Georgia, to prevent the master from permitting the
slave to hire himself for his own benefit, there is a penalty
of thirty dollars " for every weekly offence, on the part of
t h e master, unless the labor be done on his own premises."—Prince's Digest, 4t57.
In Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, and Missouri, there are similar laws.
As early as the year 1779, N o r t h Carolina interposed
as follows : —
All horses, cattle, hogs or sheep, that one month after the
passing of this act, shall belong to any slave, or be of any slave's
mark, in this state, shall be seized and sold by the County Wardens, and by them applied, the one half to the support of the
poor of the country, and the other half to the informer.—Haywood's Manual, 526.
I n Mississippi, the master incurs a fine of fifty dollars
Toy permitting the slave to cultivate cotton for his own
use ; Rev. Code, 379 ; also fifty dollars for permitting
t h e slave to go at large and trade as a freeman.
Rev.
Code, 3 7 4 .
244

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

The civil code of Louisiana lays down the following
principles :—
All that a slave possesses belongs to his master—he possesses
nothing of his own, except his peculium, that is to say, the sum
of money or movable estate, which his master chooses he should
possess. Art. 175, and see 1 Martin's Digest, 616.
Slaves are incapable of inheriting or transmitting property,
Qjvil Code, Art. 945.
COLORED PERSONS CANNOT BE WITNESSES AGAINST A WHITE CRIMINAL.

In Virginia, and some others of the slave states, and
in one of the free, there is the following law :
Any negro or mulatto, bond or free, shall be a good witness
in pleas of the commonwealth for or against negroes or mulattoes, bond or free, or in civil pleas where negroes or mulattoes
shall alone be parties, and in no other cases whatever. 1 R. Y.
C. 422. Similar in Missouri, 2 Missouri Laws, 600. In Mississippi. Mississippi Rev. Code, 372. In Kentucky, 2 Litt. and
Swi. 1150. In Alabama, Toxdmirts Digest, 627. In Maryland, Maryland Laws, act of 1717, ch. 13, § 2, & 3, and an
act of 1751, ch. 14, § 4. In North Carolina and Tennessee,
act of 1777, ch. 2, § 42. And in Ohio, act of assembly, of
January 25, 1807.
RESTRAINTS UPON EMANCIPATION.

In South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, emancipation can take place only by special act of the legislature.
In North Carolina no negro or mulatto slave can be set
free "except for meritorious services to be adjudged of
and allowed by the County Court." In Tennessee the
court is authorized to emancipate upon petition, if the
measures set forth in the petition, are in the Opinion of
the court, i( consistent with the interest and policy of the
state." In Mississippi the legislature only can emancipate, by special act, and that only upon proof of meritorious services, &c. In Kentucky, Missouri, Virginia, and
Maryland, emancipation may be effected by deeds registered in court, saving the " rights of creditors," and giving bonds for maintenance if required by the court. In
Virginia, however, if the emancipated be over twentyone, he must leave the state before the expiration of
twelve months, or be reduced into slavery. In Louisiana
emancipation is regulated as follows :
245

LAWS RELATING TO

The master who wishes to emancipate his slave, is bound to
make a declaration of his intention to the judge of the parish
where he resides; the judge must order notice of it to be published during forty days by advertisement posted at the door of
the court house, and if at the expiration of this delay, no opposition be made, he shall authorize the master to pass the act of
emancipation. Art. 187. The general powers thus conferred,
are subject nevertheless, to these limitations; " N o one can
emancipate his slave unless the slave has attained the age of
thirty years, and has behaved well at least for four years previous to his emancipation; Art. 185, except " a slave who has
saved the life of his master, his master's wife, or one of his children," for such a one "may be emancipated at any age." Art.
186.
Slaves emancipated otherwise than by these formalities
are liable to be reduced to slavery, and in probably all
the states except N o r t h Carolina, they are liable to be
sold for the debts of their emancipators contracted before
their emancipation. The State of Georgia has the following barbarous enactment-:
If any person or persons shall, after the passing of this act
(1801,) set free any slave or slaves, in any other manner and
form than the one prescribed herein, (i. e, by special legislative
act,) he shall forfeit for every such offence two hundred dollars,
to be recovered by action of debt, or indictment, the one half to
be applied to the use of the county in which the offence may
have been committed, the other half to the use of the informer,
and the said slave or slaves so manumitted and set free, shall be
still to all intents and purposes as much in a state of slavery as
before they were manumitted and set free by the party or parties
so offending. Prince's Digest 457,
I n 1818 this unrighteous edict was fortified by the
following:
All and every will and testament, deed, whether by way of
trust or otherwise, contract, agreement or stipulation, or other
instrument in writing, or by parole, made and executed for the
purpose of effecting or endeavouring to effect the manumission
of any slave or slaves, either directly by conferring or attempting to confer freedom on such slave or slaves, or indirectly or
virtually, by allowing and securing or attempting to allow and
secure to such slave or slaves the right or privilege of working
for his, her or themselves, free from the control of the master or
•owner of such slave or slaves, or of enjoying the profits of his,
her or their labor or skill, shall be and the same are hereby declared to be utterly null and void; and the person or persons so
246

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

making, &c. any such deed, &c &c, and all and every person or
persons concerned in giving or attempting to give effect thereto,
•whether by accepting the trust created or attempted to be created, or in any way or manner whatsoever, shall be severally
liable to a penalty not exceeding one thousand dollars, to be recovered, &c, and each and every slave or slaves in whose behalf
such will or testament, &c, shall have been made, shall be liable
to be arrested by warrant under the hand and seal of any magistrate of this state, and being thereof convicted, &c. shall be
liable to be sold as a slave or slaves, by public outcry, and the
proceeds of such sales shall be appropriated, &c. &c. Princes
Digest, 4,66.
From the foregoing and similar laws it appears :
1. The master may determine the kind, and degree,
and time of labor, to which the slave shall be subjected.
2. The master may supply the slave with such food
and clothing only, both as to quantity and quality, as he
may think proper, or find convenient.
8. The master may, at his discretion, inflict any punishment upon the person of his slave.
4. Slaves have no legal right to any property in things
real or personal; but whatever they may acquire, belongs
in point of law to their masters.
5. The slave, being a personal chattel, is at all times
liable to be sold absolutely, or mortgaged, or leased, at
the will of his master.
6. He may also be sold by process of law, for the
satisfaction of the debts of a living, or the debts and bequests of a deceased master, at the suit of creditors or
legatees.
7. A slave cannot be a party before a judicial tribunal,
in any species of action, against his master, no matter
how atrocious may have been the injury received from
him.
8. Slaves cannot redeem themselves, nor obtain a
change of masters, though cruel treatment may have rendered such change necessary for their personal safety.
9. Slaves can make no contracts.
10. Slavery is hereditary and perpetual.
11. A slave cannot be a witness against a white person, either in a civil or criminal cause.
247

FACTS AND ARGUMENTS

12. He cannot be a party in a civil suit.
13. The benefits of education are withheld from the
slaves.
14. The means of moral and religious instruction are
not granted to the slave ; on the contrary, the efforts of
the humane and charitable to supply these wants, are
discountenanced by law.
15. Submission is required of the slave, not to the
•will of his master only, but to that of all other white
persons.
16. The penal codes of the slave-holding states bear
much more severely upon slaves than upon white persons.
17. Slaves are prosecuted and tried upon criminal accusations, in a manner inconsistent with the rights of humanity.—Stroud's Slave Laim.

BEARING OF SLAVERY UPON THE MORAL CHARACTER OF SLATE-HOLDERS.
TESTIMONY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON.

The whole commerce between master and slave, is a perpetual
exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitttng
despotism on one part, and degrading submissions on the other.
The parent storms, the child looks on, catches the lineaments of
wrath, puts on the same airs in the circle of smaller slaves, gives
a loose to his worst of passions; and thus nursed, educated, and
daily exercised in tyranny, cannot but be stamped by it with
odious peculiarities. The man must be a prodigy who can
retain his manners and morals undeprayed by such circumstances.
TESTIMONY OF JUDGE TUCKER.

Judge Tucker, of Virginia, in a published letter to a
member of the General Assembly of that commonwealth,
in 1801, bears the following testimony to the demoralizing tendency of slavery.
I say nothing of the baneful effect of domestic slavery
on our moral character, and of its inconsistency with the truest
principles of republicanism: I forbear to enlarge on all these
248

ON AMERICAN SLAVERY.

topics, equally copious and important, because tliey have been
repeatedly discussed by abler pens than mine, and because I
know you have been long sensible of their force. Page 21.
If a female negro is childless, it is the fault of nature alone.
Ibid, Page 12.
TESTIMONY OP MB. JOHNSON.

Mr. Johnson, in the Convention for revising the Constitution of Virginia, in 1829, said :—
Slavery has been the foundation of that impiety and dissipation, which has been so much disseminated among our countrymen. If it were totally abolished it would do much good.—
Debates in Virginia Convention, page 463,
TESTIMONY OF MR. MOORE.

Mr. Moore, in the Legislature of Virginia in 1 8 3 2 ,
said :—
Permit me now, sir, to direct your attention to some of the
evil consequences of slavery, by way of argument, in favor of
your maturely deliberating on the whole subject, and adopting
some efficient measures to remove the cause from which those
evils spring. In the first place, I shall confine my remarks ta
such of those evils as affect the white population exclusively.
And even in that point of view, I think that slavery as it exists
among us, may be regarded as the heaviest calamity which has
ever befallen any portion of the human race. If we look back
through the long course of time which has elapsed since the
creation to the present moment, we shall scarcely be able to
point out a people whose situation was not in many respectspreferable to our own, and that of the other states in which
negro-slavery exists.—Richmond Whig.
TESTIMONY OP MB. SUMMERS.

Said Mr. Summers, in the same great debate •—
A slave population, exercises the most pernicious influence
upon the manners, habits, and character, of those among whom
it exists. Lisping infancy learns the vocabulary of abusive
epithets, and struts the embryo tyrant of its little domain. The
consciousness of superior destiny takes possession of his mind at*
its earliest dawning, and love of power and rule " grows with
his growth, and strengthens with his strength.'5 When in the
sublime lessons of Christianity he is taught "to do unto others
as he would have others to do unto him;" he never dreams that
the degraded negro is within the pale of that holy canon. Unless enabled to rise above the operation of powerful causes, he
enters the world with miserable notions of self-importance, and
under the government of an unbridled temper.—Ibid.
R
249

FACTS AND ARGUMENTS

SENTIMENTS FAYORABLE TO THE PERPETUITY OF
AMERICAN SLAVERY.
GOVERNOR MCDUFFIE,

Domestic slavery, therefore, instead of being a political
evil, is the corner stone of our republican edifice. No
patriot who justly estimates our privileges, will tolerate
the idea of emancipation, at any period, however remote,
or on any conditions of pecuniary advantage, however
favorable. I would as soon think of opening a negotiation for selling the liberty of the state at once, as for making any stipulation for the ultimate emancipation of our
slaves. So deep is my conviction on this subject that if
I were doomed to die immediately after recording these
sentiments, I could say in all sincerity, and under all the
sanction of Christianity and patriotism, GOD FORBID THAT
MY DESCENDANTS, I N T H E REMOTEST G E N E R A T I O N S , S H O U L D
LIVE IN ANY

OTHER

THAN

A COMMUNITY

HAVING

THE

I N S T I T U T I O N OF DOMESTIC S L A V E R Y .
TESTIMONY FROM CHARLESTON, S. C.

One of the most imposing assemblages of citizens in
respect of numbers, intelligence, and respectability, that
we have ever witnessed, met yesterday morning at the City
Hall, to receive the report of twenty-one, appointed by
the meeting on the 4th instant, on the incendiary machinations now in progress against the peace and welfare?
of the southern states. The clergy of all denominations
attended in a body, lending their sanction to the p)'oceedings, and adding by their presence, to the impressive
character of the scei\e /
[After the most violent threats against the discussion of
the subject of slavery, the meeting closed with the following resolution :]
On the motion of Captain Lynch,
Resolved,—That the thanks of this meeting are due to the
reverend gentlemen of the Clergy in this city, who have so
promptly, and so effectually responded to public sentiment, by
suspending their schools in which the free colored population
were taught; and that this meeting deem it a patriotic action,
worthy of all praise, and proper to be imitated by other teachers
of similar schools throughout the state ! ! !— Charleston Cour.
250

ON AMERICAN SLAVERY.
TESTIMONY FROM CAMDEN, S. C.

The following resolution was passed at a meeting of the
citizens of Camden, S. C , in 1834.
Resolved,—That slavery, as it exists with us, ive deny to be an
evil, and that we regard those who are now making war upon it,
In any shape, or under any pretext, as furious fanatics, or
knaves and hypocrites; and we hereby promise them, upon all
occasions which may put them in our power, the fate of the
pirate, the incendiary, and the midnight asssassin !
TESTIMONY FROM LANCASTERVILLE, S. 0.

The following documents are taken from the Southern
Christian Herald :
At a public meeting, held in Lancasterville, for the
purpose of taking into consideration the proceedings of
the Abolitionists of the North, several resolutions were
passed, and by request the meeting was addressed by the
Be v. J. H. Thorn well, and the Eev. William Carlisle.
The Rev. Mr Postell's sentiments, contained in a letter,
were read at the meeting. The purport of the resolution
was as follows :
That Slavery, as it exists in the South, is no evil, and is consistent with the principles of revealed religion; that all opposition to it arises from a misguided andfiendishfanaticism, which
we are bound to resist in the very threshold.
REV. J. H. THORNWELl/s TESTIMONY, METHODIST.

I cannot regard slavery as a moral evil for the following
reasons :
1. It was distinctly recognized by Moses.
2. It is not inconsistent with the precepts of Christianity. 1 Cor. vii. 20, 21. The word translated servant
means a slave. 1 Tim. vi. 1.
[This is is a great mistake.]
As I cannot believe that slavery is wrong in itself,
I am decidedly opposed to the measures of the abolitionists.
TESTIMONY OF THE CHARLESTON COURIER.

We protest against the assumption—the unwarrantable
assumption-—that slavery is ultimately to be extirpated
from the southern states. Ultimate abolitionists are
251

FACTS AND ARGUMENTS

enemies of the South, the same in kind, and only less in*
degree, than immediate abolitionists.
TESTIMONY OF THE COLUMBIA, S. C , TELESCOPE.

Let us declare, through the public journals of our
country, that the question of Slavery is not, and shall not
be open to discussion—that the system is deep rooted
among us, and must remain forever : that the very moment
any private individual attempts to lecture us upon its evils
and immorality, and the necessity of putting means in
operation to secure us from them, [in the same moment
his tongue shall be cut out and cast upon a dung-hill.
TESTIMONY OF THE WASHINGTON TELEGRAPH.

As a man, a Christian, and a citizen, we be believe that
slavery is right; that the condition of the slave, as it now
exists in slave-holding states, is the best existing organization of civil society.
TESTIMONY OF THE CHARLESTON COURIER.

We beg him, however, [Mr. Fletcher, one of the
speakers at Faneuil Hall] and all who like him, acknowledge their affectionate interests in their political obligations to the South, to disabuse themselves of the notion
that the South regards slavery as an evil, or even dreams
of its removal. Our institutions are likely to endure for
ages, if not to be perpetual; and while they do endure,
and are endured by us, we cannot recognize the moral or_
social, to say nothing of the political propriety, of denouncing them as evil. Our right in the subject-matter
is perfect and exclusive, and not a tongue should wag, or
breath be stirred, against its exercise.
TESTIMONY OF THE AUGUSTA, GEO. CHRONICLE.

He [Amos Dresser] should have been hung up as high
as Haman to rot upon the gibbet, until the wind whistled
through his bones, The cry of the whole South should
be, death, instant death to the abolitionist, wherever he
is caught. Northern abolitionists are a class of desperate
fanatics, who, to accomplish their unhallowed ends, are
ready to sacrifice our lives, and those of our wives and*
252

ON AMERICAN SLAVERY.

children. Keep their publications from among us, and
hang every emissary that dare step a lawless foot upon
our soil—cut off all trade with every northern house connected with them, &c.
TESTIMONY OF THE REV. J. C. P0STELL, METHODIST.

T h e following is from an address of the Rev. J . G.
Postell, delivered at a public meeting, held at Orangeburgh Court-house, S. 0., on the 21st of July, 1836.
I have not time, at present, nor do I wish to trespass upon
your patience, in a lengthy address on this subject; but to comply with your request, involves my duty as your minister, and
the servant of the Church, and from what has been premised,
the following conclusions result:
1st. That slavery is a merciful visitation.
2nd. That it is not a moral evil.
3rd. That it is supported by the Bible.
4th. It existed in all ages.
T h e reverend orator then takes up the above points,
and argues them at some length, but we have not room
to follow him. On the second proposition, he says :
It is not a moral evil. The fact that slavery is of Divine appointment, would be proof enough with the Christian, that it
could not be a moral evil. But when we view the hordes of
savages, marauders, and human cannibals enslaved to lust and
passion, and abandoned to idolatry and ignorance, to revolutionize them from such. a state, and enslave them where they
may have the Gospel, and the privileges of Christians, so far
from being a moral evil, it is> merciful visitation. If slavery
was either the invention of man or a moral evil, it is logical to
conclude, the power to create has the power to destroy. Why
then, has it existed 1 And why does it now exist ? amidst all
the power of legislation in state and church, and the clamor of
abolitionists. ' It is the Lord's doings, and marvellous in our
eyes' And had it not been done for the best, God alone who is
able, long since would have overruled it. It is by divine appointment.
TESTIMONY OF THE REV. JAMES SMYLIE, PREBYTERIAN.

The Reverend James Smylie, A. M., a Presbyterian
minister in Mississippi, says in a pamphlet he has recently published in favor of American slavery :
If slavery be a sin, and if advertising and apprehending slaves
with a view to restore them to their mast e rs, is a direct violation of the divine law, and if the buying, selling, or holding a,
253

FACTS AND ARGUMENTS

slave for the sake of gain, is a henious sin and scandal, then
verily, three-fourths of all the Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians, in eleven states of the Union, are of
the devil.—They 'hold/ if they do not buy and sell slaves, and,
with few exceptions, they hesitate not to ' apprehend and restore7
runaway slaves, when in their power.
CHARLESTON UNION PRESBYTERY.

Extract from the minutes of the Charleston Union
Presbytery, at their meeting on the ? t h April, 1 8 3 6 .
It is a principle which meets the views of this body, that slavery, as it exists among us, is a political institution, with which
ecclesiastical judicatories have not the smallest right to interfere;
and in relation to which, any such interference,-especially at the
present momentous crisis, would be morally wrong, and fraught
with the most dangerous and pernicious consequences. The
sentiments which we maintain, in common with Christians at
the South, of every denomination, are sentiments which so fully
approve themselves to our consciences, are so identified with
our solemn convictions of duty, that we should maintain them
under my circumstances.
E. T. BUST, Moderator.

B. G-ILDERSLEEVE, Temporary Clerk,
" f

SYNOD OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA.

Besolution of the Presbyterian Synod of South Carolina
and Georgia, Dec. 1 8 3 4 .
Resolved, unanimously, That in the opinion of this Synod,
Abolition Societies, and the principles on which they are founded, in the United States, are inconsistent with the interests of
the slaves, the rights of the holders, and the great principles of
our political institution.
TESTIMONY OF THE MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA
METHODIST CONFERENCE.

T h e following declaration of sentiments has been published in Charleston, South Carolina, by the board of
Managers of the Missionary Society of the South Carolina
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal C h u r c h :
Wo denounce the principles and opinions of the abolitionists
in toto; and solemnly do declare our convictions and belief that,
whether they were originated, as some business men have
thought, as a money speculation, or, as some politicians think,
for party electioneering purposes, or, as we are inclined to believe, In a false philosophy, over-reaching or setting aside the
scriptures throus;h a vain conceit of higher 'moral refinement,
254

ON AMERICAN

SLAVERY.

they are utterly erroneous, and altogether hurtful. We consider
and believe that the Holy Scriptures, so far from giving any
'countenance to this delusion, do equivocally authorise the relation of Master and Slave.
HOPEWELL PRESBYTERY, SOUTH CAROLINA.

On the subject of domestic slavery, this Presbytery
believe the following facts have been most incontrovertibly
established, viz :
1. Slavery has existed in the church of God from the time of
Abraham to this day. Members of the Church of God, have
held slaves bought with their money, and born in their houses ;
and this relation is not only recognized, but its duties are defined
clearly, both in the Old and 'New Testaments.
2 Emancipation is not mentioned among the duties of the
master to his slave. While obedience ' even to the forward'
master is enjoined upon the slave,
3. No instance can be produced of an otherwise orderly
Christian, being reproved, much less excommunicated from the
church, for the single act of holding domestic slaves, from the
days of Abraham down to the date of the modern abolitionist.
SYNOD OF VIRGINIA, PRESBYTERIAN.

T h e committee to whom we referred the resolutions,
&c., have, according to order, had the same under consideration—and respectfully report that in their judgment,
the following resolutions are necessary and proper to be
adopted by the Synod at the present time.
Whereas, the publications and proceedings of certain
organised associations, commonly called anti-slavery, or
abolition societies, which have arisen in some parts of our
land, have greatly distmbed, and are still greatly disturbing the peace of the churchy and of the country ; and the
Synod of Virginia deem it a solemn duty which they owe
to themselves and to the community, to declare their,
sentiments upon the subject; therefore :
Besolved, unanimously, That we consider the dogma fiercely
promulgated by said associations—that slavery as it exists in
our slave-holding States is necessarily sinful, and ought to be
immediately abolished, and the conclusions which naturally fol'^
low from that dogma, as directly and palpably contrary to the?
plainest principles of common sense and common humanity,
m<L to the clearest authority of the word of God.

FACTS AND ARGUMENTS
TESTIMONY OF THE KEV. R. N. ANDERSON, PRESBYTERIAN.

To the Sessions of the Presbyterian Congregations
within the bounds of the West Hanover Presbytery :
At the approaching stated meeting of our Presbytery,
I design to offer a preamble and string of resolutions on
the subject of the use of wine in the Lord's Supper ; and
also a preamble and a string of resolutions on the subject
of the treasonable and abominably wicked interference of
the northern and eastern fanatics with our political and
civil rights, our property and our domestic concerns. You
are aware that our clergy, whether with or without reason,
are more suspected by the public than are the clergy of
other denominations. Now, dear Christian brethren, I
humbly express it as my earnest wish, that you quit
yourselves like men. If there be any stray goat of a minister among us, tainted with the blood-hound principles
of abolitionism, let him be ferreted out, silenced, excommunicated, and left to the public to dispose of him in
other respects.
Your affectionate brother in the Lord,
1835.

EOBERT N. ANDERSON ! ! !
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OP THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

The following statements were made in the General
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, convened in Pittsburgh in May, 1836, and they have never been contradicted :—
He (Mr. Dickey) believed there were many, and great
evils in the Presbyterian church, but the doctrine of slaveholding, he was fully persuaded, was the worst heresy
now found in the church.
Mr. Stewart—T hope this Assembly are prepared to
come out fully, and declare their sentiments that slaveholding is a most flagrant and heinous sin. Let us not
pass it by in this indirect way, while so many thousands
and thousands of our fellow-creatures are writhing under
the lash, often inflicted too by ministers and elders of the
Presbyterian church.
In this church, a man may take a free-born child, force
256

ON AMERICAN SLAVERY.

it away from its parents, to whom God gave it in charge,
saying, " Bring it up for me," and sell it as a beast, or
hold it in perpetual bondage, and not only escape corporeal punishment, but really be esteemed an excellent
Christian. Nay, even ministers of the Gospel, and doctors of divinity, may engage in this unholy traffic, and yet
•sustain their high and holy calling.
Elders, ministers, and doctors of divinity, are with both
hands engaged in the practice.
This same assembly, in 1816, struck out of the Confession of the Church the following note, adopted in 1794,
and which contained the doctrine of the church at that
period, on the subject of slave-holding. The note was
appended to the one hundred and forty-second question
of the large catechism :—
1 Tim. i. 10. The law is made for man-stealers. This
crime among the Jews exposed the perpetrators of it to
capital punishment; Exodus xxi. 16 ; and the apostle
here classes them with sinners of the first rank. The
word he uses in its original import, comprehends all who
are concerned in bringing any of the human race into
slavery, or in retaining them in it. Hominum furis,
qui servos vel liberos abducent, retinent, vendunt, velemunt.
—Stealers of men are all those who bring off slaves or
free-men, and keep, sell, or buy them. To steal a freeman, says Grotius, is the highest kind of theft. In other
instances, we only steal human property, but when we
steal or retain men in slavery, we seize those who, in
common with ourselves, are constituted by the original
grant, lords of the earth. Gen. i. 28. Vide poll synopsin
in \oe.
METHODIST CHURCH, IN 1 7 8 0 .

In the year 1780, the sentiments of the Methodist
societies in this country were thus expressed upon this
subject, in the minutes of the Conference for that year :—
The conference acknowledges that slavery is contrary to the
laws of God, man and nature, and hurtful to society; contrary
to the dictates of conscience and pure religion : and doing what
we would not that others should do unto us; and they pass their
257"

FACTS AND ARGUMENTS

disapprobation upon all our friends who keep slaves, and they
advise their freedom.
And from Lee's History of the Methodists, page 101, we learn
that the M. E. Church was organized, with a number of express
rules upon this subject, which stipulated that slavery should not
he continued in this church. One of them was as follows :—
Every member in our society shall legally execute and record
an instrument [for the purpose of setting every slave in his
possession free,] within the space of two years.
Another was as follows :—
Every person concerned, who will not comply with these rules,
shall have liberty quietly to withdraw frum our society within
the twelve months following, the notice being given him as
aforesaid :—otherwise the assistant shall exclude him from the
society.
And again, another rule declared that:—
Those who hought or sold slaves, or gave them away unless
on purpose to free them, should be expelled immediately.
And forty years ago the discipline of this church contained the following directions upon the subject:—
The preachers and other members of our society, are
requested to consider the subject of negro slavery with
deep attention ; and that they impart to the General
Conference, through the medium of the Yearly Conferences, or otherwise, any important thoughts upon the
subject, that the Conference may have full light, in order
to take further steps towards eradicating this enormous
evil from that part of the church of God with which they
are connected. The Annual Conferences are directed to
draw up addresses for the gradual emancipation of the
slaves, to the legislature of those states in which no
general laws have been passed for that purpose. These
addresses shall urge, in the most respectful but pointed
manner, the necessity of a law for the gradual emancipation of slaves. Proper committees shall be appointed
by the Annual Conferences, out of the most respectable
of our friends, for the conducting of the business ; and
the presiding elders, elders, deacons, and travelling
preachers, shall procure as many proper signatures as
possible to the addresses, and give all the assistance in
their power, in every respect, to aid the committees, and
258

ON AMERICAN SLAVERY.

to further this blessed undertaking. Let this be continued
from year to year, till the desired end be accomplished.
GENERAL CONFERENCE OF THE METHODIST E. CHURCH, IN 1 8 3 6 .

But the above was long ago left out of the discipline of
this church, and at the last session of its highest ecclesiastical body in Cincinnati, in May, 3 836, the followingresolution was adpted, yeas 120, noes, 14.
Resolved, by the delegates of the Annual Conferences, in the
General Conference assembled, that they are decidedly opposed
to modern abolitionism, and wholly disclaim any right, wish, or
intention to interfere in the civil and political relation between
master and slave, as it exists in the slave-holding states of this
Union.
A motion was made, to amend the above resolution by
putting in the words " Although we are as much as ever
convinced of the great evil of slavery," the language of
the Discipline, but this motion was lost.
TESTIMONY OF REV. W. WINANS, METHODIST.

At this same Conference of the Methodist E. Churchy
the Eev. Mr. Winans, a prominent, popular preacher, and
a southern delegate, confessed himself there a slave-holder,
solemnly asserted that " it was important to the interests
of the slaves, and in view of the question of slavery, that
there be Christians who were slave-holders, Christian
ministers should be slave-holders, and diffused throughout the South. Yes, he repeated, there should be memhers, and deacons, and elders, and BISHOPS, too, who were
slave-holders.
Mr. Winans, in relating an anecdote in Conference, to
show the inexpediency of abolition efforts, as regards their
influence on the prosperity of the southern church, intimated that the article in the Methodist Discipline on the
subject of slavery, was, in fact, a dead letter.
TESTIMONY OF DR. CAPERS, METHODIST.

Dr. Capers in his speech, in mentioning various reasons
why Methodists, after a certain date, became less odious
to the people of the southern states, said—"at length
259

FACTS AND ARGUMENTS

people began to consider that many of them were slaveholders—why should they be insurrectionists 1"
Again—the southern section of the Methodist church
is now murmuring because slave-holding ministers are
•excluded from the highest offices in the churches—nay
more—disunion is seriously, openly hinted at by prominent preachers in the South, if hereafter, the fact of a
minister being a slave-holder, is considered valid reason
for withholding from him the office of BISHOP.
TESTIMONY OF PROF. HODGE, PRESBYTERIAN.

It is acknowledged, that, at the time of the Advent of
Jesus Christ, slavery in its worst forms, prevailed over
the world. The Saviour found it around him in Judea ;
the Apostles met with it in Asia, Greece, and Ttaly.
How did they treat it ] Not by the denunciation of
slave-holding as necessarily sinful. The assumption that
slave-holding is, in itself, a crime, is not only an error,
but it is an error fraught with evil consequences.—Bib.
Rep. April, 1836.
TESTIMONY OF W. B. SEABROOK, OF S. 0.

In the judgment of my fellow citizens, slavery is not inconsistent with the laws of nature, and of God. The
Bible informs us, that it was established and sanctioned
by Divine authority even among the elect of Heaven.—
Essay, read before ike Agricultural Society of St. Johns'
Collection, 1836.
TESTIMONY OF EDWARD BROWN, OF S. CAROLINA.

Slavery has ever been the step-ladder by which civilized countries have passed from barbarism to civilization.
It appears, indeed, to be the only state, capable of bringing the love of independence and of ease, inherent in man,
to the discipline necessary to the supply of food, raiment,
and shelter, necessary to his physical wants.—Notes on the
origin and necessity of Slavery, 1826.
TESTIMONY OF DR. DALCHO, EPISCOPALIAN.

Slavery is not forbidden by the Divine Law, so it is left
260

ON AMERICAN SLAVERY,

to our own judgment whether we hold slaves or not.
Practical Considerations, &c. 1823.
CHARLESTON COURIER.

We confidently pronounce, that he must wilfully shut
his eyes against the broad and palpable light of truth,,
who will not acknowledge that the Old Testament conclusively shows, that slavery was not only not condemned,
but received the express sanction of the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.—1835.
TESTIMONY OF W. A. DUER, LL.D., EPISCOPALIAN.

We deny that it is a crime to retain [in slavery] those
ignorant and helpless beings, who have been cast upon
[our] protection, as well as thrown into [our] power
by no act of their own,—3d. An. Rep. N. Y. City Col.
Society.
TESTIMONY OF THE QUARTERLY CHRISTIAN SPECTATOR, PRESBYTERIAN.

The Bible contains no explicit prohibition of slavery,
it recognizes both in the Old Testament and in the New,
such a constitution of society, and it lends its authority
to enforce the mutual obligations resulting from that constitution.—1833.
TESTIMONY OF DR. R. FURMAN, BAPTIST.

The right of holding slaves is clearly established in the
Holy Scriptures, both by precept and example.—Exposition of the views of the Baptists, addressed to the Governor
of S. Carolina.—1833.
TESTIMONY OF T. R. DEW, PROF. OF HISTORY.

Slavery was established and sanctioned, by Divine authority, among even the elect of Heaven—the favored children of Israel.*—Bevieio of the Debate in the Virginia
Legislature of 18 31 and 1832.
TESTIMONY OF REY. E. D. SIMMS, METHODIST.

These extracts from holy writ unequivocally assert the
right of property in slaves, together with the usual incidents of that right; such as the power of acquisition and
261

FACTS AND ARGUMENTS.

disposition in various ways according to municipal regulations. The right to buy and sell, and to transmit to
children by way of inheritance, is clearly stated. The
only restriction on the subject, is in reference to the
market, in which slaves or bondmen were to be purchased.
Upon the whole then, whether we consult the Jewish
polity instituted by God himself; or the uniform opinion
and practice of mankind in all ages of the world ; or the
Injunctions of the New Testament and the Moral Law ;
we are brought to the conclusion, that Slavery is not immoral.
Having established the point, that the first African
slaves were legally brought into bondage, the right to
detain their children in bondage follows as an indispensable consequence.
Thus we see, that the Slavery which exists in America,
was founded in right,
TESTIMONY OF REV. B. HEDDING, D. D., METHODIST.

The right to hold a slave is founded on this rule,
" Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would, that men
should do v to you, do ye even so to them ; for this is
the law and the prophets."—Gh. Ad. and Journal, Oct,
20tk, 1837.
TESTIMONY OF REV. Qt. W. FREEMAN, EPISCOPALIAN.

No man nor set of men in our day are entitled to pronounce it wrong—and we may add that slavery, as it
exists at the present day, is agreeable to the order of
iDivine Providence.—Sermon, Nov. 1836.
THE " COUNTER APPEAL," METHODIST.

The general rule of Christianity not only permits, but in
supposable circumstances, enjoins a continuance of the
master's anthority.
We say then, that this text in Col. iii. 22—25, proves
to a demonstration, that in the primitive Christian church
at Colosse, under the Apostolic eye, and with the Apostolic sanction, the relation of master and slave was permitted to subsist.
262

ON AMERICAN SLAVERY.

1 Cor. vii. 20—23.
This text seems mainly to enjoin and sanction the fitting continuance of their present social relations ; the
freeman was to remain free, and the slave, unless emanci*
pation should offer, was to remain a slave.
The New Testament, enjoins obedience upon the slave
as an obligation due to a present rightful authority.
W. Fisk, John Lindsey, Bartholomew Otheman, Hezekiah S. Ramsdell, Edward T. Taylor, Jacob Sanborn, H .
H. White.—March 27, 1835.
TESTIMONY OF PROP, WHEDON, METHODIST.

There were Christian or believing slave-holders in the
.[primitive] Christian church. Now whatever doidos
means, here (1 Tim. vi. 2) despoiai are unequivocally
slave-holders, who are brethren, faithful and beloved partakers of the [gospel] benefit.—Zions Herald of March
30, 1836.
TESTIMONY OF THE BET. W. FISK, D. D. ; METHODIST.

The relation of master and slave, may and does, in
many cases, exist, under such circumstances, as free the
master from the just charge and guilt of immorality.—
Letter to Rev. T. Merritt.
TESTIMONY OF BEY. N. BANGS, D. D., METHODIST.

It appears evident, that however much the apostle
might have deprecated slavery as it then existed throughout the Roman empire, he did not feel it his duty,,
as an ambassador of Christ, to disturb those relations
which subsisted between masters and servants by denouncing slavery as such a mortal sin that they could not
be servants of Christ in such a relation.—Christ. Ad. and
Journal, Wo. 431.
The foregoing extracts prove beyond a doubt, that
the sentiment prevails very extensively throughout this
nation, among professors of religion, ministers of the
Gospel, presidents of colleges, &c. &c, that, the act of
slave-holding is not, in itself, sinful and consequently it
263

FACTS AND ARGUMENTS

follows, that a great change must take place in the views
of the professors and preachers of this nation before slavery will ever be abolished.
PRACTICAL SLAVERY.
What is slavery in practice 1 Many suppose that it
often exists under some peculiar " circumstances," which,
somehow or other, " free the slave-holder from the just
charge and guilt of immorality." What those " peculiar
circumstances " are, however, we are not told. - ?
•
We have had many fine spun theories on " slavery in
the abstract;" but it matters but little to the poor slave
what slavery is in the abstract, its practice is every
thing to him.
Hence, we think it proper to give a
few facts like the following, as a work of this kind might
be justly considered incomplete without them. In reading the following items, let it be remembered, that they
describe such cases, precisely, as are occuring in the midst
of slavery, every day ; slavery never did, and never will
exist in any country, without perpetrating crimes like the
following. We do not mean by this, that there are no
enslavers who do not inflict corporeal cruelties upon the
persons of their slaves, but we mean to say, that slavery
cannot and never did exist without its evils, such as are
here described.
The following items are selected from a most interesting work entitled " Narrative of Charles Ball, who was
forty years a slave in Maryland, South Carolina and
Georgia." In reading these extracts, it should be remembered, that the story this slave tells of himself, is true to
the life, and similar narratives might be given by thousands
of others in this land who are now in chains, and not
suffered to speak for themselves.
SEPARATION OP PARENTS AND CHILDREN.

At the time I was sold I was quite naked, having never
had any clothing in my life; but my new master had
brought with him a child's frock, or wrapper, belonging
to one of his own children—and after he had purchased
264

ON AMERICAN SLAVERY.

me, he dressed me in this garment, took me before him on
his horse, and started home ; but my poor mother, when
she saw me leaving her for the last time, ran after me,
took me down from the horse, clasped me in her arms,
and wept loudly and bitterly over me. My master seemed to pity her, and endeavoured to soothe her distress by
telling her that he would be a good master to me, and
that I should not want any thing. She then, still holding
me in her arms, walked along the road beside the horse,
as he moved slowly, and earnestly and imploringly besought my master to buy her and the rest of her children,
and not permit them to be carried away by the negro
buyers ; but whilst thus entreating him to save her and
her family, the slave-driver who had first bought her,
came running in pursuit of her with a raw hide in his
hand. When he overtook us, he told her he was her
master now, and ordered her to give that little negro to
its owner, and come back with him.
My mother then turned to him and cried—" Oh, master,
do not take me from my child." Without making any
reply, he gave her two or three heavy blows on the
shoulders writh his raw hide, snatched me from her arms,
handed me to my master, and seizing her by one arm,
dragged her back towards the place of sale. My master
then quickened the pace of his horse ; and as we advanced^
the cries of my poor parent became more and more indistinct. At length, they died away in the distance, and I
never again heard the voice of my poor mother. Young
as I was, the horrors of that day sank deeply into my
heart—and even at this time, though half a century has
elapsed, the terrors of the scene return with painful vividness upon my memory. Frightened at the sight of the
cruelties inflicted upon my poor mother, I forgot my own
sorrows at parting from her, and clung to my new master
as an angel and saviour, when compared with .the hardened fiend into whose power she had fallen.—She had
been a kind and good mother to me—had warmed me in
her bosom in the cold nights of winter, and had often
divided the scanty pittance of food allowed her by her

s

2m"

FACTS AND ARGUMENTS

mistress between my brothers, and sisters, and me, and
gone supperless to bed herself. Whatever victuals she
could obtain beyond the coarse food, salt fish, and com
bread allowed to slaves on the Patuxent and Potomac
rivers, she carefully distributed among her children, and
treated us with all the tenderness which her own miserable
condition would permit. I have no doubt that she was
chained and driven to Carolina, and toiled out the residue
of a forlorn and famished existence in the rice swamps or
indigo fields of the South.
My father never recovered from the effects of the shock
which this sudden and overwhelming ruin of his family
gave him. He had formerly been of a gay, social temper ;
and when he came to see us on a Saturday night, he
always brought us a little present, such as the means of a
poor slave would allow—apples, melons, sweet potatoes,
or, if he could procure nothing else, a little parched corn,
which tasted better in our cabin, because he had brought it.
SEPARATION OP FAMILIES.

My master kept a store at a small village on the bank
of the Patuxent river, called B
, although he resided
at some distance on a farm. One morning he rose early,
and ordered rne to take a yoke of oxen and go to the
village, to bring home a cart which was there, saying he
would follow me. He arrived at the village soon after I
did, and took his breakfast with his store-keeper. He
then told me to come into the house and get my breakast. Whilst I was eating in the kitchen, I observed him
talking earnestly, but lowly, to a stranger near the kitchen
door. I soon after went out, and hitched my oxen to the
cart, and was about to drive off, when several men came
round about me, and amongst them the stranger whom I
had seen speaking with my master.—This man came up to
me, and, seizing me by the collar, shook me violently, saying I was his property and must go with him to Georgia.
At the sound of these words the thoughts of my wife and
children rushed across my mind—and my heart died away
within me. I saw and knew that my case was hopeless,
and that resistance was vain, as there were near twenty
266

ON AMERICAN SLAVERY.

persons present, all of whom were ready to assist the man
by whom I was kidnapped. I felt incapable of weeping
or speaking, and in my despair I laughed loudly. My
purchaser ordered me to cross my hands behind, which
were quickly bound with a strong cord ; and he then told
me that we must set out that very day for the South. I
asked if T could not be allowed to go to see my wife and
children, or if this could not be permitted, if they might
£tot have leave to come and see me—but was told that I
would be able to get another wife in Georgia.
My new master, whose name I did not hear, took me
that same day across the Patuxent, where I joined fifty*
one other slaves, whom he had bought in Maryland.
Thirty-two of these were men, and nineteen were women.
The women were merely tied together with a rope about
the size of a bed-cord, which was tied like a halter round
the neck of each ; but the men, of whom I was the
stoutest and strongest, were very differently caparisoned.
A strong iron collar was strongly fitted by means of a
padlock, round each of our necks. A chain of iron, about
a hundred feet in length, was passed through the hasp of
each padlock, except at the two ends, where the hasps of
the padlock passed through a link of the chain. In addition to this, we were handcuffed in pairs, with iron
staples and bolts, with a short chain, about a foot long,
uniting the handcuffs and their wearers in pairs. In this
manner we were chained alternately by the right and left
hand ; and the poor man to whom I was thus ironed,
wept like an infant when the blacksmith, with his heavy
-hammer, fastened the ends of the bolts that kept the
staples from slipping from our arms. For my own part,
I felt indifferent to my fate. It appeared to me, that the
worst had come that could come, and that no change of
fortune could harm me.
'FEELINGS OF A FATHER.

Long after the subject of this narrative had been parted
from his wife and children in Maryland, and had passed
from one master to another, he was taken to a plantation.
26f

FACTS AND ARGUMENTS

in south Carolina, and directed to lodge in a cabin r
which is thus described :—
I followed my new friend to his cabin, which I found
to be the habitation of himself, his wife, and five children.
The only furniture in this cabin consisted of a few blocks
of wood for seats ; a short bench, made of pine boards,
which served as a table ; and a small bed in one corner,
composed of a mat, made of common rushes, spread upon
some corn husks, pulled and split into fine pieces, and
kept together by a narrow slip of wood, confined to the
floor by wooden pins. There was a common iron pot
standing beside the chimney, and several wooden spoons,
and dishes hung against the wall. Several blankets also
hung against the wall upon wooden pins. An old box,
made of pine boards, without either lock or hinges, occu^
pied one corner.
At the time I entered this humble abode, the mistress
was not at home. She had not yet returned from the
field—having been sent, as the husband informed me,
with some other people, late in the evening, to do some
work in a field about two miles distant. I found a child
about a year old, lying on the mat bed, and a little girt
about four years old sitting beside it.
These children were entirely naked, and when we came
to the door, the elder rose from its place and ran to its:
father, and clasping him around one of his knees, said?.
c
Now we shall get good supper.' The father laid his
hand upon the head of his naked child, and stood silently
looking in its face—wdiich wras turned upwards towards
his own for a moment—and then turning to me, said,
c
Did you leave any children at home V The scene before
me—the question propounded—and the manner of this
poor man and his child, caused my heart to swell until
my breast seemed too small to contain it. My soul fled
back upon the wings of fancy to my wife's lowly dwelling
in Maryland—where I had been so often met on a Saturday evening, when I had paid them my weekly visit, by
my own little ones, who clung to my knees for protection
and support, even as the poor little wretch now before
268

ON AMERICAN

SLAVERY.

me seized upon the weary limb of its hapless and destitute father, hoping that, naked as he was, (for he, too
was naked, save only the tattered remains of a pair of old
trousers,) he would bring with his return at evening its
customary scanty supper. I was unable to reply, but
stood motionless, leaning against the walls of the cabin.
My children seemed to flit by the door in the dusky twilight ; and the twittering of a swallow, which at that
moment fluttered over my head, sounded in my ear as the
infantile tittering of my own little boy ; but on a moment's
reflection, I knew that we were separated without the
hope of ever again meeting-—that they no more heard the
welcome tread of my feet, and could never again receive
the little gifts with which, poor as I was, I was accustomed to present them. I was far from the place of my
nativity, in a land of strangers, with no one to care for
me beyond the care that a master bestows upon his ox—
with all my future life, one long, waste, barren desert, of
cheerless, hopeless slavery, to be varied only by the pangs
of hunger, and the stings of the lash.
FLOGGING.

Two slaves had been convicted and hanged for murder :
the following punishment was dealt out to one who happened to be in the house at the time the murder was
committed :—
I had often seen black men whipped, and had always,
when the lash was applied with great severity, heard the
sufferer cry out and beg for mercy—but in this case, the
pain inflicted by the double blows of the hickory was so
intense, that Billy never uttered so much as a groan ; and
I do not believe he breathed for the space of two minutes
after he received the first strokes. He shrank his body
close to the trunk of the tree, around which his arms and
legs were lashed, drew his shoulders up to his head, like
a dying man, and trembled, or rather shivered in all his
members. The blood flowed from the commencement,
and in a few minutes lay in small puddles at the root of
the tree. I saw flakes of flesh as long as my finger, fall
out of the gashes in his back ; and I believe he was in269

FACTS AND ARGUMENTS

sensible during all the time that he was receiving the last*
two hundred lashes. When the whole five hundred
lashes had been counted by the person appointed to perform this duty, the half dead body was unbound, and
laid in the shade of the tree upon which I sat. The
gentlemen who had done the whipping, eight or ten in
number, being joined by their friends, then came under
the tree, and drank punch until their dinner was made'
ready, under a booth of green boughs, at a short distance.
CAI-HAWLING.

A whole gang of slaves had been flogged to make one
of them confess that he had stolen a hog. Finally, one was
fixed upon as the culprit, and the following method
taken for his punishment:—
A boy was then ordered to get up, run to the house,
and bring a cat, which' was soon produced. The cat,
which was a large grey tom-cat, was then taken by the*
well-dressed gentleman, and placed upon the bare back
of the prostrate black man, near the shoulders, and forcibly dragged by the tail down the back, and along the
bare thighs of the sufferer. The cat sunk his nails into
the flesh, and tore off pieces of the skin with his teeth.
The man roared with the pain of this punishment, and
would have rolled along, the ground, had he not have
been held in his place by the force of four other slaves^.
each one of whom confined a hand or a foot. As soon
as the cat was drawn from him, the man said he would
tell who stole the hog, and confessed that he and several
others, three of whom were then holding, had stolen the
hog—killed, dressed, and eaten it. In return for this
confession, the overseer said he should have another
touch of the cat, which was again drawn along his back?
not as before, from the head downwards, but from below
the hips to the head. The man was then permitted ta
rise, and each of those who had been named by him as
a participator in stealing the hog, was compelled to lie
down, and have the cat twice drawn along his back—•
first downwards, and then upwards. After the termination of this punishment, each of the sufferers was washed
270

ON AMERICAN SLAVERY.

with salt water, by a black woman, and they were then
all dismissed.
This was the most excruciating punishment that I
ever saw inflicted on black people—and, in my opinion,
it is very dangerous, for the claws of the cat are poisonous, and wounds made by them are very subject to inflammation.
SHOCKING BABBABITIES.

Yesterday, at about ten o'clock, the dwelling house of
a Mr. Lalaurie, corner Koyal and Hospital streets, was
discoved to be on fire, and whilst the engines were occupied in extinguished it, it was rumored, that several
slaves were kept chained in some of the apartments. The
crowd rushed in to their deliverance, and amongst others,
Mr. Canonge, Judge of the criminal court, who demanded
of Mr. and Mrs. Lalaurie, where these poor creatures
were kept, which they obstinately refused to disclose,
when Mr. Canonge with a manly and praiseworthy zeal,
lushed into the kitchen, which was on fire, followed by
two or three young men, and brought forth a negro woman, found there chained. She was covered with bruises
and wounds from severe flogging. All the apartments
were then forced open. In a room on the ground floor,
two more were found chained, and in a deplorable condition. Upstairs, and in the garret, four more were found
chained, some so weak as to be unable to walk, and all
covered with wounds and sores. One, a mulatto boy,
declares himself to have been chained for five months,
being fed daily with only a handful of meal, and receiving
every morning, the most cruel treatment. One of the
poor slaves was rotten with sores, and in them were found
numbers of living creatures.—-Neiu Orleans MercantiU
Advertiser.
BURNING ALIVE.

TUSCALOOSA,

Ala.

Some time during the last week, one of those outrageous transactions, and we really think disgraceful to the
character of civilized man, took place near the northeast
271

FACTS AND ARGUMENTS

boundary line of Perry, adjoining Bibb and Antauga counties. The circumstances, we are informed by a gentleman
from that county, are, that a Mr. McNeilly having lost
some clothing or other property of no great value, the
slave of a neighbouring planter was charged with the
theft. McNeilly in company with his brother, found the
negro driving his master's waggon; they seized him, and
either did, or were about to chastise him, when the negro
stabbed McNeilly, so that he died in an hour afterwards.
The negro was taken before a justice of the peace, who
after serious deliberation, waived his authority, perhaps
through fear, as the crowd of persons from the above
counties had collected to the number of seventy or eighty
men near Mr. People's, the Justice's house. He acted as
president of the mob, and put the vote, when it was
decided he should be immediately executed by being burnt
to death. The sable culprit was led to a tree and tied to
it, and a large quantity of pine knots collected and
placed around him; and the fatal torch applied to the
pile, even against the remonstrances of several gentlemen
who were present, and the miserable being was in a short
time burnt to ashes.
This is the second negro, who has been thus burnt to
death, without judge or jury in that county.
On the 28th of April, 1836, a negro was burnt alive
at St. Louis, by a numerous mob. The Alton Telegraph
gives the following particulars :—
All was silent as death. While the executioners were
piling wood around the victim he said not a word. Probably feeling that the flames had seized upon him, he
uttered an awful howl, attempting to sing and pray : he
then hung his head and suffered in silence^ excepting in
the following instance. After the flames had surrounded
their prey, and when his clothes were in a blaze all over
him, his eyes burnt out of his head, and his mouth seemingly parched to a cinder, some one in the crowd, more
compassionate than the rest, proposed to put an end to
his misery by shooting him, when it was replied, that
would be of no use, since he was already out of pain,
272

ON AMEKICAN SLAVERY.
f
No ! no ! ' said the wretch, i I am not-—I am suffering
as much as ever. Shoot me, shoot me ! ' No, no, said
one of his friends, who was standing about the sacrifice
they were roasting, he shall not be shot. I would sooner
slacken the fire, if that would increase his misery. And
the man who said this was, we understand, an officer of
justice.
We understand, says the New Orleans Post of June
the 7th, 1836, that a negro man was lately condemned
by the mob, to be burned over a slow fire, which was
put into execution at Grand Gulf, Mi., for murdering a
black woman and her master, Mr. Green, a respectable
citizen of that place, who attempted to save her from the
clutches of this monster.
We have been informed, says the Arkansas Gazette
of the 29th Oct. 1836, that the slave William, who murdered his master (Huslcey) some weeks since, and several
negroes, was taken by a party a few days since, from the
sheriff of Hotspring, and burned alive ! Yes, tied up to
the limb of a tree, a fire built under him, and consumed
in a slow and lingering torture.

SEPARATION OF A WIPE PROM HER HUSBAND AND CHILDREN.

Sabbath, 29th July, I went to three places of worship,
and heard most excellent preaching and fervent praying ;
but, among all these ministers and members, no prayer
was offered for the poor slaves. But all seemed to be as
happy as though the millenial day had ushered in.
Nothing had occurred up to this time to mar my happiness, or to make my visit unpleasant—and if I had left
Philadelphia then, I should have entertained my family
.and friends, on my return home, by relating to them the
beauty, the regularity, and the splendor of this great city.
But, it was otherwise ; and I have now to relate one of
the most painful, as well as most disgraceful transactions
that my eyes ever witnessed, the thoughts of which make
my blood chill, and my heart sick.
On the first of August, as I was walking in Chesnutstreet, near the Court House, I saw many people, both
white atid colored, going in. I inquired the cause, and
273

FACTS AND ARGUMENTS

was told that a person claimed as a fugitive was to be
tried. I went in ; but the person claimed as propertyhad been tried, and the judge was about to deliver his
opinion. The house was filled—and all seemed to be
waiting with the deepest anxiety. Soon the door opened,
and the Sheriff entered, followed by a female, whose
appearance was that of a white lady ; she was in delicate
circumstances—was leaning upon the arm of her husband ;
they advanced slowly, and with great anxiety upon their
countenances, and took their seats, with their eyes fixed
on the judge. All was silent as the grave.
The judge now commenced with the testimony, which
was, that this woman came to this city about five years
ago—-that during this time she was married—that she
was the mother of one male child, which was said to be
entirely white, and was now about two years old. After
going through all the testimony, he seemed to come to a
pause. This was a moment of awful suspense to this
innocent female, as she sat trembling and pale, supported
by her husband. Soon the judge broke silence, by pronouncing her a slave. No sooner had the words fallen
frnm his lips, ( I must give a warrant to take you back/
than she screamed, and fell on the floor—her cries might
have been heard far off, (0, my child, my child ;—O,
my dear, dear husband, I cannot, cannot leave you/
While her husband appeared to be trying to comfort her,
and was attempting to raise her up, with eyes streaming
with grief, T heard a voice, saying, c Take her to jail.'
She was immediately surrounded by a number of officers.,
taken up—put into a close carriage, and hurried off, uttering the most heart-rending cries that ever fell upon my
ears. I turned aside to give vent to my feelings in a flood
of tears.—Zien's Watchman of September 2, 183T.
MOBAL CONDITION OF THE ENSLAVED.
TESTIMONY OF THE SYNOD OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

From long continued and close observation, say the
Synod by their committees, we believe that their (colored
274

ON AMERICAN SLAVERY.

population's) moral and religious condition is such, as thafr
they may justly be considered the heathen of this Christian country', and will bear comparison with heathen iw
any country in the world.
TESTIMONY OF THE BEY. C. C. JONES.

The Rev. C. C. Jones, in a sermon preached before two
associations of Planters in Georgia, in 1831, says :
Generally speaking, they (the slaves) appear to us to
be without God, and without hope in the world, a nation
of heathens in our very midst. We cannot cry out
against the Papist for withholding the Scriptures from
the common people, and keeping them in ignorance of
the way of life, for we withhold the Bible from our servants, and keep them in ignorance of it, while we will
not use the means to have it read and explained to them.
The cry of our perishing servants comes up to us from
the sultry plains as they bend at their toil—it comes up
from their humble cottages when they return at evening
to rest their weary limbs—it comes up to us from the
midst of their ignorance, and superstition, and adultery
and lewdness.
TESTIMONY OS THE WESTERN LUMINARY.

A writer in the Western Luminary, a respectable religious paper in Lexington, Kentucky, says :
I proclaim it abroad to the Christian world, that heathenism is as real in the slave States as it is in the SouthSea Islands, and that our negroes are as justly objects of
attention to the American and other boards of foreignmissions, as the Indians of the western wilds. What isit constitutes heathenism 1 Is it to be destitute of aknowledge of God—of his holy word—never to haveheard scarcely a sentence of it read through life—to know
little or nothing of the history, character, instruction and
mission of Jesus Christ—to be almost totally devoid of
moral knowledge and feeling, of sentiments, of probity,
truth, and chastity 1 If this constitutes heathenism, then
are there thousands, millions of heathens, in our beloved
land. There is one topic to which I will allude, which,
275

FACTS AND ARGUMENTS

will serve to establish the heathenism of this population.
I allude to the universal licentiousness which prevails.
It may be said emphatically that chastity is no virtue
among them—that its violation neither injures female
character in their own estimation, or that of their master
or mistress, No instruction is ever given—no censure
pronounced. I speak not of the world; I speak of Christian families generally.
TESTIMONY OP J. A. THOME; OF KENTUCKY.

Licentiousness. I shall not speak of the far South,
whose sons are fast melting away under the unblushing
profligacy which prevails. I allude to the slave-holding
West. It is well known that the slave lodgings (I refer
now to village slaves) are exposed to the entrance of
strangers every hour of the night, and that the sleeping
apartments of both sexes are common.
It is also a fact, that there is no allowed intercourse
between the families and servants after the work of the
day is over. The family, assembled for the evening, enjoy a conversation elevating and instructive. But the
poor slaves are thrust out; no ties of sacred home thrown
around them ; no moral instruction to compensate for
the toils of the day ; no intercourse as of man with man;
and should one of the younger members of the family,
led by curiosity, steal out into the filthy kitchen, the
child is speedily called back, thinking itself happy if it
escape an angry rebuke. Why is this ? The dread of
moral contamination. Most excellent reason; but it
reveals a horrid picture. The slaves, cut off from all
community of feeling with their masters, roam over the
village streets, shocking the ear with their vulgar jestings,
and voluptuous songs, or opening their kitchens to the
reception of the neighboring blacks, they pass the evening
in gambling, dancing, drinking, and the most obscene
conversation, kept up until the night is far spent—then
crown the scene with indiscriminate debauchery. Where
do these things occur ? IN THE KITCHENS OF
0HURCH MEMBERS AND ELDERS.
276

ON AMERICAN SLAVERY.
TESTIMONY OF THE REV. J. D. PAXTOF.

Some slaves have, indeed, a marriage ceremony performed. It is, however, usually done by one of their
own color, and, of course, is not a legal transaction.
And if done by a person legally authorized to perform
marriages, still it would have no authority, because the
law does not recognise marriage among the slaves, so as
to clothe it with the rights and immunities which it wears
among citizens. The owner of either party might, the
next day or hour, break up the connexion in any way he
pleased. In fact, these connexions have no protection,
and are so often broken up by sales and transfers and removals, that they are by the slaves often called " taking
up together." The sense of marriage fidelity must be
greatly weakened, if not wholly destroyed, by such a state
of things. The effect is most disastrous.
But there is another circumstance which deserves our
notice. What effect is likely to be produced on the
morals of the whites, from having about them, and under
their absolute authority, female slaves who are deprived
of the strongest motives to purity, and exposed to peculiar temptations to opposite conduct ! The condition of
female slaves is such, that promises and threatenings and
management can hardly fail to conquer them. They are
entirely dependent on their master. They have no way
to make a shilling, to procure any article they need. Like
all poor people they are fond of finery, and wish to imitate those who are above them. What, now, are presents
and kind treatment, or the reverse if they are nofc complying, likely to effect on such persons ! And the fact
that their children, should they have any through such
Intercourse, may expect better treatment from so near
relations, may have its influence. That the vice prevails
to a most shameful extent, is proved from the rapid increase of mulattoes. Oh, how many have fallen before
this temptation ; so many, that it has almost ceased to be
a shame to fall ! Oh, how many parents may trace the
impiety and licentiousness and shame of their prodigal
sons, to the temptations found in the female slaves of
277

FACTS AND ARGUMENTS

their own or neighbor's household. Irregular habits are
thus formed, which often last through life. A n d many
a lovely and excellent woman, confiding in vows of affection and fidelity, trusting to her power over her devoted
lover, has, after uniting her fate with his, and giving him
all that woman has to give, found, when too late, how
incorrigible are those habits of roving desire, formed in
youth, and kept alive by the temptations and facilities of
t h e slave system.
TESTIMONY OJP S. A. F0RBAL, ESQ.

Negresses, when young and likely, are often employed
as wet nurses by the white people ; as also, by either
t h e planter or his friends, to administer to their sensual
desires. This frequently is a matter of speculation ;
for if the offspring be a handsome mulatto female, 8 0 0
or 1000 dollars may be obtained for her in the N e w
Orleans market. I t is an occurrence of no uncommon
nature, to see a Christian father sell his own daughter,
and the brother his own sister by the same father.
The following are extracts from a W o r k by Judge Birney,

entitled T H E C H U R C H THE BULWARK

OF A M E R I C A N

SLAVERY.

The extent to which most of the Churches in America are involved in the guilt of supporting the slave system is known to
hut few in this country. So far from being even suspected by
the great mass of the religious community here, it would not he
believed but on the most indisputable evidence. Evidence of
this character it is proposed now to present—applying to the
j&lethodist Episcopal, the Baptist, the Presbyterian, and the Protestant Episcopal Churches. It is done with a single view to
make the British Christian public acquainted with the real state
of the case—in order that it may, in the most intelligent and
-effective manner exert the influence it possesses with the American Churches to persuade them to purify themselves from a sin.
that has greatly debased them, and that threatens in the end
wholly to destroy them.
I. Between the slave-selling and slave-buying States, the slavetrade is carried on extensively and systematically. The slavetrader, on completing his purchases for a single adventure,
brings the gang together at a convenient point: confines the
278

ON AMERICAN SLAVERY.

men in double rows to a large chain running between the rows,
by means of smaller lateral chains tightly rivetted around the
wrists of the slaves, and connected with the principal chain.
They are in this way driven along the highways, (the small boys,
the women, and girls following,) without any release from their
chains till they arrive at the ultimate place of sale. Here they
occupy barracoons, till they are disposed of, one by one, or in
lots, to those who will give most for them.
II. Ministers and office-bearers, and members of churches are
slave-holders—buying and selling slaves, as their convenience or
interest may from time to time require. As a general rule, the
itinerant preachers in the Methodist church are not permitted to
hold slaves; but there are frequent exceptions to the rule, especially of late.
III. There are, in the United States, about 3,000,000 slaves,
and 386,069 free people of color. Of the slaves, 80,000 are
members of the Methodist church ; 80,000 of the Baptist; and
about 40,000 of the other churches. These church members
have no exemption from being sold by their owners as other
slaves are. Instances are not rare of slave-holding members of
churches selling slaves who are members of the same church
^with themselves. And members of churehes have followed the
business of slave-auctioneers.
IY. In the slave States a slave cannot be a witness in any
case, civil or criminal, in which a white is a party. Neither can
a free colored person, except in Louisiana. Ohio, Indiana, and
Illinois, (free States,) make colored persons incompetent as witnesses in any case in which a white is a party. In Ohio, a white
person can prove his own {' book') account, not exceeding a
eertain sum, by his own oath or affirmation. A colored person
cannot, as against a white. In Ohio the laws regard all who
are mulattoes, or above the grade of mulattoes, as white.
V. There is no law in the slave States, forbidding the several
church authorities making slave-holding an offence, for which
those guilty of it might be excluded from membership.
The Society of Friends exists in the slave States—it excludes
slave-holders.
The United Brethren exist as a church in Maryland and Virginia slave States. Their Annual Conference for these two
States, (in which are thirty preachers,) met in February, 1840.
The following is an extract from its minutes :
" No charge is preferred against any (preachers,) except Franklin Echard and Moses Michael. It appeared in evidence that
Moses Michael was the owner of a female slave, which is contrary to the discipline of our church. Conference therefore resolved, that unless brother Michael manumit or set free such
^lave in six months, he no longer be considered a member of our
•church/

279

FACTS AND ARGUMENTS

VI. When ecclesiastical councils excuse themselves from
acting' for the removal of slavery from their respective communions" by saying, they cannot legislate for the abolition of
slavery; that slavery is a civil or political institution—that it
* belongs to Caesar,' and not to the Church to put an end to it,
they shun the point at issue. To the church-member who is a
debauchee, a drunkard, a seducer, a murderer, they find no difficulty in saying, " We cannot indeed proceed against your person, or your property—this belongs to Caesar—to the tribunals
of the country—to the legislature;—but we can suspend or
wholly cut you off from the communion of the church, with a
view to your repentance and its purification." If a white member should by force or intimidation, day after day, deprive
another white member of his property, the authorities of the
churches would expel him from their body, should he refuse to
make restitution or reparation, although it could not be enforced except through the tribunals over which they have no
control. There is, then, nothing to prevent these authorities
from saying to the slave-holder, " Cease being a slave-holder
and remain in the church, or continue a slave-holder and go out
of i t : you have your choice."
VII. The slave States make it penal to teach the slaves to
read. So also some of them make it penal to teach the free
colored people toread. Tims a free colored parent may suffer
the penalty for teaching his own children to read even the Scriptures. None of the slave-holding churches, or religious bodies,
so far as is known, have, at any time, remonstrated with the
legislatures against this iniquitous legislation, or petitioned for
its repeal or modification. Kor have they reproved or questioned such of their members, as, being also members of the
legislatures, sanctioned such legislation by their votes.
VIII. There is no systematic instruction even of the slavemembers of churches, either orally or in any other way.
IX. It is only one slave here and there who seems to have
any intelligent views of the nature of Christianity, or of a
future life.
X. In the Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian and Episcopal
churches, the colored people, during service, sit in a particular
part of the house, now generally known as the negro pew. They
are not permitted to sit in any other, nor to hire or purchase
pews as other people, nor would they be permitted to sit, even
if invited, in the pews of white persons. This applies to all
colored persons, whether members or not, and even to licensed
ministers of their respective connections. The " negro pew " is
almost as rigidly kept up in the free States as in the slave
States.
XI. I n some of the older slave States, as Virginia and South
Carolina, churches, in their corporate character, hold slaves,
280

ON AMERICAN SLAVEBY.

who are generally hired out for the support of the minister.
The following is taken from the Charleston Courier, of February
12th, 1835,
FIELD NEGROES, BY THOMAS GADSDEN.

On Tuesday, the 17th instant, will be sold, at the North of
the Exchange, at 10 o'clock, a prime gang of ten NEGEOES,
accustomed to the culture of cotton and provisions, belonging
to the Independent Church, in Christ's Church Parish. * * *
Feb. 6.
XII. Nor are instances wanting, in which negroes are bequeathed for the benefit of the Indians, as the following chancery
notice, taken from the Savannah (Geo.) paper, will show.
" Bryan Superior Court.
Between John J. Maxwell and others, Executors of \
Ann Pray, complainants, and
f
m
Mary Sleigh and others, Devisees and Legatees, f EQUITY.
under the will of Ann Pray, defendants.
)
" A Bill having been filed for the distribution of the estate of
the Testatrix, Ann Pray, and it appearing that among other
legacies in her will, is the following, viz. a legacy of one-fourth
of certain negro slaves to the American Board of Commissioners for Domestic [Foreign it probably should have been]
Missions for the purpose of sending the gospel to the heathen,
and particularly to the Indians of this continent, it is on
motion of the solicitors of the complainants ordered, that all
persons claiming the said legacy do appear and answer the bill
of the complainants, within four months from this day. And it
is ordered, that this order be published in a public Gazette of
the city of Savannah, and in one of the Gazettes of Philadelphia,
once a month, for four months.
"Extract from the minutes, Dec. 2nd, 1832.
JOHN SMITH, C. S. Q. B. C."—(The bequest was not accepted.)

In the latter part of the summer of 1835, the slave-holders
generally became alarmed at the progress of the abolitionists.
Meetings were held throughout the South, to excite all classes
of people to the requisite degree of exasperation against them.
At one of these meetings, held at Clinton, Mississippi, it was
" Resolved, That slavery through the South and West is not
felt as an evil, moral or political, but it is recognized, and
that in reference to the actual, and not to any Utopian condition of our slaves, as a blessing both to master and slave.
" Resolved, That it is our decided opinion, that any individual who dares to circulate, with a view to effectuate the designs
of the abolitionists, any of the incendiary tracts or newspapers
now in a course of transmission to this country, is justly worthy
in the sight of God and man of immediate death; and we doubt
T
281

PACTS AND ARGUMENTS

not that such would be the punishment of any such offender in any part of the State of Mississippi where he may be
found.
" Resolved, That the Clergy of the State of Mississippi be
hereby recommended at once to take a stand upon this subject, and that their farther silence in relation thereto, at this
crisis, will, in our opinion, be subject to serious censure."
[The clergy alas did make a stand, and took the side of the
tyrants.]
At Charleston, S. C, the Post Office was forced, the anti-slavery
publications, which were there for distribution or further transmission to masters, taken out and made a bonfire of in the street,
by a mob of several thousand people.
A public meeting was appointed to be held a few days afterward, to complete, in the same spirit in which they were commenced, preparations for excluding anti-slavery publications
from circulation, and for ferreting out persons suspected of
favoring the doctrines of the abolitionists, that they might be
subject to Lynch law.
The alarm of the Yirginia slave-holders was not less—nor
were the CLERGY in the city of Richmond, the capital, less prompt
than the clergy in Charleston to respond to " public sentiment/
Accordingly, on the 29th July, they [the Methodist, Baptist,
and other preachers,] assembled together, and Resolved, unanimously,
" That we earnestly deprecate the unwarrantable and highly
improper interference of the people of any other State with the
domestic relations of master and slave.
"That the example of our Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles,
in not interfering with the question of slavery, but uniformly
recognizing the relations of master and servant, and giving full
and affectionate instruction to both, is worthy of the imitation
of all ministers of the gospel.
" That we will not patronize nor receive any pamphlet or newspaper of the Anti-Slavery Societies, and that we will discountenance the circulation of all such papers in the community.
" That the suspicions which have prevailed to a considerable
extent against MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL and professors
of religion in the State of Yirginia, as identified with abolitionists, are WHOLLY UNMERITED—believing as we do, from
extensive acquaintance with our churches and brethren, that they
are UNANIMOUS IN OPPOSING THE PERNICIOUS
SCHEMES OF ABOLITIONISTS."
AMERICAN SLA YE TRADE.

The following items may serve as specimens to show the
reader how Americans in this republic are bought and sold
282

ON AMERICAN SLAVERY.
"-SPECIMEN OF A NRW ORLEANS ADVERTISEMENT.

When we ask emancipation for slaves like those described below, we are told, that they could not take care
of themselves and if emancipated, they would starve ta
death !
Valuable SERVANTS for sale at auction, by Isaac L.
M'Goy.
This day Thursday, 27th inst., at J 2 o'clock, at the
Exchange Coffee House, will be sold 34 VALUABLE SERVANTS,

viz:

1. Harry, aged about 26 years ; a first rate cartman,
axeman and sawyer ; has been accustomed to work in
a saw-mill and wood-yard ; has been about 8 years in
the country, and understands the care and management
of horses, and possesses an excellent character.
2. George, aged about 23 years ; has been about 8
years in the country; is a good carrier and axeman, and
has been accustomed to work in a wood-yard and bakery.
3. Altimore, aged about 21 years ; a first rate sawyer
and axeman ; accustomed to work in a wood-yard, has
been 3 or 4 years in the country.
4. Barney, aged about 18 years:; a first rate negro,
and handy at almost all kinds of work ; has been accustomed to work in a wood-yard, and has been about 4
years in the country.
5. Henry Buckner, aged about 20 years ; a good axeman, sawyer and field hand, accustomed to work in a
wood-yard, and has been about six years in the country.
6. Lewis, aged about 20 years ; a first rate hand in a
wood-yard, an excellent butcher, a good field hand ;
speaks French and English, and has been about 10
years in the country.
7. Sam Crumo, aged about 22 >years.; a first rate hand
in a wood-yard ; a carter; speaks French and English,
and has been about twelve years in the country.
8. Little Ned, aged about 18 years : a good hand fcr
a wood-yard ; has been one year in the country.
9. Big Ned, aged about 22 years ;
do.
do,
do.
283

FACTS-AND ARGUMENTS

10. Ben, aged about 20 years ;
do.
do.
do.
11. Aaron, aged about 33 years ; a first rate hand for
a wood-yard, in which he has- been employed for many
years ; is an excellent cartman ; has beer: about 15 years
in the country, and speaks both languages.
12. Dick Jackson, aged about 25 years ; a good axeman and sawyer, and an excellent hand for a wood-yard,
to which he is accustomed, and has been one year in the
country.
13. Dick Morganj aged about 3D years ; a very
honest, trusty servant; has acted as porter in a grocery
store for several years, and has worked for several years
in a rope walk and wood-yard ; is an excellent axeman
and sawyer ; has been in the country since a child, and
speaks French and English.
14. Dillard, aged about 31 years; a good cook, a
good axeman and sawyer ; has worked about 4 years in a
wood-yard, and has been about 4 years in the country.
15. Charles Palmer, Aged about 24 years ; accustomed to work in a wood-yard : is a good axeman, carter
and field hand, and has been about 4 years in the country.
16. Daniel, aged about 18 years, a first rate houseservant ; is very trusty ; a tolerable good cook ; has been
raised in the country ; speaks French and English, and
possesses a first rate character.
1?. Anthony, aged about 15 years; a first rate houseservant ; very trusty and active ; a good sawyer ; has
been raised in the country, and possesses a first rate
character.
18. Joseph, aged about 14 years ; a first rate servant;
handy at all kinds of work ; has been accustomed to
work in a wood-yard, and has been about 2 years in the
country.
19. William, aged about 20 years ; a good rough carpenter ; a good coachman • has been 5 years in the
country; speaks French and English, the title only
guaranteed.
20. Ned, aged about 39 years ;.a good carpenter and
284

ON AMERICA* SLAVERY*

ostler ; has been about -4 years in the country, and is
subject to Rheumatism.
21. Robert, aged about 23 yeaars, a rough blacksmith
and carpenter ; handy at all kinds of work ; understands
filing and setting saws, has been 8 years in the country,
speaks French and English ; is a first rate servant, and
possesses a first rate character in every respect.
22. Peter, aged about 35 years ; is a first rate overseer, and has always been employed in that capacity ;.
has been for 5 years in Opelousas, and about 4 years in
New Orleans, is very honest and trusty, and a first rate
servant in every respect.
23. Diana, aged about 24 years ; (wife of Peter) a
first rate house servant, washer, ironer and platter ; a
good cook ; has been 5 years in the country ; speaks
French and English, and possesses a first rate character.
24. Malinda, aged about 24 years ; a good house servant ; a tolerable good washer and ironer ; has been
raised in the country ; and speaks hoth languages.
25. Chloe, aged about 18 years : an excellent house
servant ; was born in Mobile ; has been about one year
in New Orleans, and possesses an excellent character.
26. Daphney, aged about 25 years ; a first rate cook,
both in French and English style, and a good pastry
cook ; was raised in Mississippi, has been 7 years in
New Orleans, and possesses an excellent character.
27. Catharine, aged about 27 years, a good field
hand ; was raised in the country ; speaks French, Spanish and English ; title only guaranteed.
ALSO
The following ORPHAN (I!) children, viz :
28. John, aged about 12 years.
29. James, aged about 11 years.
30. Bavid, aged about 9 years.
31. Cyrus, aged about 9 years.
32. Yellow Alex, aged about 8 years.
33. Black Alex, age<J about 8 years.
34. Abraham, aged about 5 years.

FACTS AND ARGUMENTS, ETC.

The slaves are all thoroughly acclimated, and, with
the exceptions above stated, are all guaranteed against
the diseases and vices prescribed by law.
TERMS.—One half of the purchase money payable on
the first of May, 1835, and one half on the first of May,
-3 836, for notes drawn and endorsed to the satisfaction of
the seller, and secured by mortgage until the final payment. The slaves will only be delivered after the acts
are signed, and the notes delivered and approved. Bills
of sale to be passed before YV. Y. Lewis, Esq., Notary
Public, at the expense of the purchaser.—New Orleans

paper.
• PRICES FOR WHICH AMERICANS ARE SOLD.

The following conversation between two planters, one
from North Carolina, and the other from Mississippi,
recently occurred on board one of our splendid North
River Steam-boats. It was given to us in writing, by a
respectable citizen of Poughkeepsie, who heard it.
Mississippian. What is a young negro boy worth in
North Carolina ?
Carolinian. They fetch a great price there.
if. Are slaves scarce there at present ?
C. They are scarce and high. Those that have slaves
are out of debt, and of course able to hold them, or get
their price.
M. What is a negro man worth ?
C. I purchased one a short time since for seven hundred and fifty dollars.
M. And what are women with children worth ?
G. They are much higher in proportion to other
slaves.
M. Well, what would a good likely negro boy bring 1
O. Under fifty [pounds weight] they fetch NINE DOLLARS PER POUND, that is the common price ! — A n . §>.

Record. [Further revelations will be given in a second
volume.]
THE E N D ,

286

CONTENTS.

[Narrative of Lewis Clarke
Narrative of Milton Clarke Sketch of the Clarke Family
Questions and Answers by Lewis Clafke
Facts from the personal knowledge of Milton Clarke Hired Slaves.—Bagging Factories
.
.
.
American Slavery as it is: the Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses.
.
Narrative of Mr. Caulkins
»
Rev. H. Moulton
•
Sarah M. Grimke "Rev. John Graham
.
Mr. William Poe
Particular privations of slaves
Trial and imprisonment of Jonathan Walker for assisting slaves to escape Appendix to Jonathan Walker's trial, &c
•
Laws relating to American slavery
Bearings of slavery upon the moral character of slaveholders
Horrible Sentiments favourable to the perpetuity of
American slavery, or Extracts from Speeches of
Methodist, Baptist, Independent, Presbyterian
and Episcopalian Ministers, and from Resolutions of Methodist Conferences, Baptist Associations, Presbyterian Synods, &c,
Practical slavery, or slavery as it now exists,
-

9
54.
77
79
95;
§§
101
104
123
138
145
149
152
182
218
235
248

250
26-4