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PREFACE.
This little volume contains, in story form, a brief outline
of the history of the Negro. In collating the facts herein set
forth it was my privilege to consult the Congressional Library
at \\'ashington, the libraries of Harvard and Yale universities
and the Boston Public Library. I am fully aware that such
opportunities should have insured a better book, but I earnestly
hope that the motive which prompts me may cause the short
comings and imperfections of the work to be forgiven.
I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to the following
authors: Plereen (Historical Researches), Edmund D. Morel,
Robert P. Skinner, Edward Howell, T. J. Alldridge, J. V.
Delacroix, J. J. Crooks, Frederick Douglass, Thomas Ashe,
records of the American Colonization Society, W. J. Gardner,
John Atkins, John Bigelow, Hasting Charles Dent, Frank
Wiborg, J. W. Birch, Joseph A. Tillinghast, Rev. Robert
Walsh, Increase N. Tarbox, Lydia Maria Child, Sir Harry
Johnston, Sir Henry M. Stanley, Dr. "W. E. B. Dubois, Prof.
Kelly Miller, Dr. Booker T. 'Washington, Charles W. 'WiUiams,
Joseph T. Wilson, 'William Still, 'W. H. Grimshaw, James M.
Trotter, W. H. Crogman, J. T. Headley, B. J. Lossing, J. 'W.
Gibson, Zachary Maeaulay, Edward "W. Blyden, J. J. Pippin,
Mrs. E. M. O'Connor, Mrs. F. B. 'Williams, Andrew Carnegie,
G. W. Forbes.
For assistance in other directions, I wish, also, to thank Hon.
Robert Spurgeon, Brooklyn; Mr. Reginald Peters, St. Kitts;
and Miss Beatrice Le Strange, of Boston. Because of his
unfailing interest, encouragement and advice in this attempt I
owe most of all to my husband.
In presenting this narrative, as a sort of " family story " to
the colored children of America, it is my fervent hope that they
may hereby acquire such an earnest desire for greater informa
tion as shall compellingly lead them, in maturer years, to the
many comprehensive and erudite volumes which have been
written upon this subject.
Leila Amos Pendluton.
Washington, D. C, March, 1912.

Cop-yrighted
By Mrs. Leii,a Amos Pendlbton
I 9 I 2

Cb3.89

P,v»

LEILA AMOS PENDLETON

A Narrative of the Negro.

CHAPTER I.
A TALK WITH THE CHILDREN.
MOST girls and boys, who are from twelve to fourteen
years old can tell, if one should ask them, many inter
esting things about America, the country in which we
live and most children whose foreparents came from Europe
or Asia have been taught to love those countries just because
their kinfolk once lived there. Many little colored children can
draw a map of Africa, tell some of its products and describe
some of its people ; I wonder how many have been taught to
think of Africa with interest and affection, because our great,
great grandparents came from that continent? Perhaps if we
talk awhile about our Motherland and some of the notable
things which have happened there, we shall all learn to love
that wonderful country and be proud of it.
In these talks, though sometimes the adjective "colored"
will be used just as the word " white " is frequently made use
of, we shall, as a rule speak of ourselves as " Negroes " and
always begin the noun with a capital letter. It is true that the
word Negro is considered by some a term of contempt and for
that reason, many of us wince at it; but history tells us that
when England had been conquered by the Normans, centuries
ago, and the Norman barons were beating, starving and killing
the natives, the name "Englishman" was considered an abusive
term, and the greatest insult one Norman could offer another
was to call him an " Englishman." You know that now all who
claim England as home are justly proud of it, and no English
man is ashamed of that name.
If history repeats itself, as we are often told it does, the time
will come when our whole race will feel it an honor to be called
" Negroes'." Let us each keep that hope before us and hasten

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

the time by living so that those who know us best will respect us
most ; surely then those who follow will be proud of our mem
ory and of our race-name.
There are some of us who feel that, pitifully small though it
be, we have given the very best and done the very most it is
possible for us to give and to do for the race, and we are look
ing to you, dear children, to perform the things which we, in
our youth had hoped and planned. We beg that you will not
fail us. In order to realize our hopes for you, there is one thing
which you must do: While you are still too young to be
earning money, Avhile you are yet at the beginning of your
education, you, each, may be building up a strong and beautiful
character, an honest, truthful, brave and upright character ; it is
THE ESSENTIAL thing and without it either money or
education or both will be worse than wasted.
After leaving Africa we shall take a glance at the past and
the present of the Negro in other lands, especially in our own
country of America.

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A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 9
CHAPTER II.
GEOGRAPPIY OF AFRICA.
LET us look at a map of the Eastern Hemisphere. In the
northern part we see Europe and Asia, and southwest of
these lies Africa, almost entirely in the Torrid Zone, As
vast as is the United States, the continent of Africa contain?
more than three times as many square miles. In the northeast
ern part of Africa we see Egypt, moving westward we come to
what are called the Barbary States — Tripoli, Fezzan, Tunis
and Morocco. Remember these countries, for on their soil
many of the most important events of the ancient world took
place. Some hundreds of years before our Saviour was born
in Bethlehem, hundreds of years before men had even heard
the names " England," " France," " Germany," " America,"
the people of northern Africa were engaged in building cities,
sailing the waters and rearing statues and monuments, some of
which latter are standing until this day.
Let us now start from Alexandria in Egypt on the Mediter
ranean Sea and sail down the east coast of Africa. We may
touch the coasts of Nubia, Eritrea, French Somali coast,
British Somaliland, Italian Somaliland, British East Africa,
German East Africa, Portuguese East Africa, Transvaal,
Natal, and at the southernmost part of the continent we
find Cape Colony, while jutting out from the very tip
of Cape Colony is the famous Cape of Good Hope. And
now we start up the west coast passing German Southwest
Africa, Angola, French Congo, Kamerun, Nigeria, Dahomey,
Ashanti, French West Africa, Liberia, Sierra Leone, French
and Portuguese Guinea, British Gambia, Rio de Ora, and so
back to the Barbary States and Egypt.
In our travels we sailed through the Suez Canal, which
cuts Africa off from Asia and makes of it an island continent ;
down the Red Sea where Pharaoh and his army were drowned ;
through the Gulf of Aden; down the Indian Ocean; through

IO

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

Africa and the
the Mozambique Channel, which ^^P^^^ .^here the
island of Madagascar; -^-""^.^f^ery dangerous for us; up
winds and the waves have made ^^^y ^^^^ ^^ ^^^.^^^^. j„^^
the South Atlantic Ocean ;thr ^^g ^^^^.^ ^^ Gibraltar. Onthe
the Atlantic f ^";; Jjf ^^ands the great rock considered by the
north coast of Gf^^fJ^^^^j^ry of the world and prized by the
ancients the .^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ important posses-
Enghsh^ho_now^o^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^-^^^^ ourselves agam in the Medi-
Jerranean^Tnd back to Egypt. While sailing up the South
Atlantic and passing southern Angola, we should have taken
a looCT look directly out to sea, for in that direction but more
than one thousand miles away lies the little island of St. Helena
where Napoleon Bonapart was held prisoner and where he
died. But with all this travelling we have seen nothing of the great
heart of Africa, which in ancient times was sometimes called
Libya, sometimes Ethiopia, where dwell millions of people,
thousands of wild animals, fruits and vegetables in greatest
lirofusion and where many of the articles highly prized by
civilized man are to be found in abundance — diamonds, gold,
ivory, india rubber, ebony, ostrich feathers and many other
valuable articles. Among the native animals of Africa are
elephants, lions, monkeys, snakes of mariy kinds, leopards,
camels, giraffs, gorillas, wolves, jackals, hyenas, zebras, rhin-
osceros, buffalos, and many species of birds of beautiful plu
mage. How would our " zoos " and our circuses manage if it
were not for Africa.'' Tn some parts of Africa sugar cane,
cotton and the coffee plant grow wild and beside these apples,
peaches, plums, grapes, pomegranates, dates, spices, cereals,
melons, gourds, cocoanuts and many other fruits and vege
tables are to be found.
Looking again at the map we see just below the northern
countries and stretching from east to west almost the entire
width of the continent, the Sahara and Libyan deserts  the
greatest in the world. Below these lies the Soudan, farther

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

south and crossed by the Equator is the Congo Free State,
which is anything but free ; while still farther south we find
Alatabele and the Transvaal. I hope you will remember the
location of the different countries of Africa, for we shall speak
of many of them again.
There are many deserts in Africa but the Sahara is the
greatest of them all. As you know, a desert is a large tract
of land where the ground is sandy, patched and dry and where
rain seldom or never falls. In Sahara, which is 1,000 miles
wide and 3,000 miles long, the sand is almost always moving
and when the fierce windstorms arise, as they frequently do,
the sand is blown about in huge billows like the waves of the
ocean, and the camel, which has been called " the ship of the
desert " is the only beast of burden which can cross the dread
ful wastes. The few underground springs scattered here and
there, sustain grass and bushes as far around them as their
moisture reaches. These green and fertile spots are called
oases and they are the only places in the desert where men and
beasts can obtain rest and refreshment. Anyone who attempts
to cross Sahara may expect many hardships — thousands have
lost their lives in the attempt. So here we have one reason
why not many of the ancient civilized Africans went south
ward for any purpose.
Indeed the whole of Africa was and is little suited for com
fortable traveling. The rivers contain many rapids, waterfalls,
etc., which cause them to be in some places almost entirely
unnavigable. All kinds of vegetation flourish in this tropical
country; swamps and jungles abound, especially in central
Africa, and its mountains are covered with dense forests. The
climate which is very hot and enervating makes travelling quite
unpleasant aside from the other drawbacks, and so, for hun
dreds of years very few serious attempts were made to find out
just what kind of country Africa really was.
In modern times much has been done toward making a
journey in Africa more agreeable. Many miles of railroad
have been laid in different parts of the continent ; there is one

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

road running for some hundreds of miles across the Libyan
desert, and another from the coast of British East Africa to
Victoria Nyanza, while a road from the Cape to Cairo has long
been planned.
The Congo, the Niger, and the Nile are the three great rivers
of Africa; the Nile, wonderful and mysterious, comes up out
of the central part of the continent through Egypt and empties
into the Mediterranean Sea. Though long it is at ordinary
times but a narrow river, yet every year it overflows its banks
flooding the surrounding country; but it is a kindly flood for
it fertilizes the soil and the prosperity of each successive season
depends upon " Father Nile." The Niger flows through the
northwestern part of Africa and the Congo through the south
western part.
In its Nile and its Sahara, in its climate, in its jungles and its
mountains, in its wild animals, its vegetable products and arti
cles of value in commerce Africa stands alone and unrivaled.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

13

CHAPTER III.
ANCIENT CIVILIZATION.
npHOUSANDS of years ago, far up the river Nile and near
¦'¦ the modern Senaar, flourished the Ethiopian kingdom
of Meroe. Many statues and monuments have been
unearthed in this region from time to time, and it -is from the

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ANCIENT civilization
writings, pictures and carvings upon these that most of our
knowledge of this ancient country comes.
These statues were erected to the idols or gods whom the
people worshipped because they did not know the true God ;
the monuments were built with passages and chambers and
were used as temples for the worship of their gods; so while
po trace is now fpund of the dwellings of the people tbeir

14

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

temples covered with pictures show pl^inly thei ^^^^^^
living and of worship as well as many other thmgs ot
The city called Meroe was the seat of S^^^"^^"^' "'/f,^^,
.say in these days the capital, and the rulers were ^^osen trom
among the priests. Some very interesting thmgs are tolQ ot
the manner of choosing a king and the rules by which He was
governed. As in most ancient countries, the men who were
by nature the cleverest made themselves priests and whenever
a new king was selected, they pretended their gods had selected
him. As soon as the choice was made known the people fell
down before the king and gave him all honor. He was beauti
fully clothed and given great power but he could not go beyond
what the laws of the country allowed, so that Meroe was what
is called a limited or constitutional monarchy.
When the priests felt that the king had reigned long enough,
they sent to him a messenger with the emblem of death; as
soon as the poor king saw this emblern he was compelled to
retire at once and kill himself. So you see that even in those
days to be a king was not always to be either safe or happy.
The city of Meroe was a lively, bustling place, for its streets
were crowded with caravans bringing in from the surrounding
regions, gold, silver, copper, salt, iron, frankincense, etc. These
articles were sent down to Egypt and along with them went
ideas which were even more valuable than the articles of com
merce. The Egyptians enlarged upon and continued the civih-
zation which was begun in Ethiopia, especially in the kingdom
of Meroe and even the pyramids of Egypt are merely larger
and elaborated copies of those whose remains are dug up
around the site of Meroe.
Remember that in this old, old kingdom king and court,
priests and worshipers, merchants and householders were
Negroes. On both sides of the ATile have been found the ruins of
ancient cities, at least twenty on either side, and learned men
have taken great pleasure in bringing to light the buried evi
dences of what was once the busiest and most prosperous part

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 15

of the world; these ruins stretch from beyond Meroe down to
Egypt. We shall be able to take, here, but a glance at Egypt
for you may find many books on that country. Many persons
have devoted their lives to the study of ancient Egypt, and it
has been made so important a branch of human knowledge as
to have a name of its own — Egyptology.
Some historians tell us very plainly that the Egyptians were
not Africans at all and so Negroes need not be proud of what
they cHd, but it is not reasonable to suppose that the natives had
obligingly left that most fertile region uninhabited to await the
coming of strangers and as there is so much uncertainty as to
whom the Egyptians were and whence they came and as to
which were Negroes and which were Egyptians proper in those
dim and distant days, it is just as well to believe that we were
and are all related though we cannot tell exactly the degree of
our cousinship.
Alexandria in Egypt contained the largest and most remark
able library of the ancient world, for that city was the seat of
learning and culture. This library, gathered through hundreds
of years before the advent of Christ, by the rulers of Egypt
was burnt when the fleet of Julius Caesar caught fire in the
harbor. If any books escaped, or were subsequently replaced
they must have perished when the whole quarter of the city
was burnt by Aurelian.
While the destruction of the library was a tremendous loss
to the whole human family, the Negro was by far the heaviest
loser ; for there can be no doubt that many now disputed points
of race origin, relationship, and achievement might have been
settled by the facts recorded upon the parchments and scrolls
with which the shelves of the Alexandrian Library were filled.
It is very certain that the Egyptians and other peoples of
northern Africa were, as has been said, far ahead of the rest
of the continent, but nevertheless it is also certain that the
neighboring countries of Europe obtained their first instruction
in the arts and sciences and received their first ideas of a
written language from what has been in modern times called

1 6 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

the Dark Continent, but which was in olden days a Hght which
lighted the world. Civilization moved northward into Europe
rather than southward into the heart of Africa for the reason
that travel in the interior, on account of the jungles, deserts,
mountains, swamps and ravines, was unsafe and uncomfortable.
The most ancient rulers of Egypt were called Pharaohs and
they governed the country for hundreds of years. A Pharaoh
was ruling when Joseph was sold by his brothers into Egypt and
another Pharaoh reigned when the Jews, who had been held in
bondage many years, were led by Moses out of the country over
the Red Sea into the Promised Land in Asia. The Persians con
quered the country about 520 B. C. ; after them it was ruled by
Alexander the Great ; next by a line of kings called Ptolmies ;
then by Rome ; next by the Mohammedans and today it is
largely under the government of England. Egypt played a
wonderful and important part in the world's history for thou
sands of years. It was to this country that the child Jesus was
carried to be saved from wicked King Herod who would have
killed him. There is near the site of ancient Heliopolis, the
City of the Sun, a sycamore tree about which the legend runs
that it once sheltered the Holy Family; here, also, at Heliop
olis, it is said that Moses taught and Jeremiah wrote.
It was when Alexandria was the fountain of the learning of
the ancient world that the Christian religion took root in north
ern Africa. There were men from Africa present in Jerusalem
on the Day of Pentacost, when hundreds testified to the won
derful works of God, each in his own tongue. These men and
others first took the Gospel to Africa, and it flourished there
unhindered for nearly three centuries, but while Diocletian was
Emperor of Rome, Christians suffered great persecution.
In the Church in Africa, as elsewhere, many died — young
girls and women among thetn — rather than betray their faith.
" Among those who thus perished was Leonidas, the father of
Origon, Potimicsena, who was put to death by being slowly
dipped into burning pitch ; Felicitas, a beautiful slave girl, who

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 17

was torn to pieces by wild beasts ; Perpetua, a young woman
of high birth, arid many others."
When 'Constantine became Emperor, these persecutions
ceased, but, as you see, African Christians had their share in
the glory of martyrdom.
You have all heard of the great pyramids of Egypt built in
a time so far distant that no one knows just how old they are.
Other gfi'tvctures of interest are the Sphynx, the catacombs
and the"'labyrinth. The labyrinth is built or hewn out of
marble, i-s'- partly underground and is said to have comprised
twelve pSlacesand o,000 chambers.
Abyssinia is another African couritry of great antiquity.
It is a very mountainous country and its climate is peculiar,
for thoiigh so near the equator the earth never becomes warm,
but is alwiays damp and chilly while the nights fall suddenly
and are 'very'' cold. ¦ This is because the country is so high
above thS' level of the sea.
The Abyssinians claim that their country is the Sheba whose
queen joiVi-neyed to the court of King Solomon to behold its
glory arid to learn of the wisdom of the great king. It is said
that she was 'converted to the Jewish faith and that her peopJe
believed ''in the 'true God long befor Christ came, and it is
known that Christianity was established in Abyssinia before
.¦loO A. D,
Carthage, which flourished near modern Tunis, was one of
the richest 'and most important states of the ancient world. It
was foiirided by Phoenicians and at first these paid a yearly
tax to the native 'Africans who owned the soil, but just as soon
as the Colonists grew strong enough they waged war against
the Africans and finally conquered them. The natives were
driven back into the interior where they were cruelly treated,
heavily burdened by taxation and forced to till the soil for their
conquerers. Meanwhile the settlers were marrying the native women
and there arose a race known as .Vfro-Phoenicians or Liby-
Phoenicians, They became very numerous and were an impor-

1 8 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

tant factor in the country, many of them becoming colonists,
in their turn, and setthng in other countries. Some settled in
Spain and at one time .30,000 of the Afro-Phoenicians emi
grated from Carthage and settled on the west coast of Africa
south of the Straits of Gibraltar.
The Carthagenians Avere a seafaring people and their trad
ing vessels went to northern Europe, westem Africa, and, it is
supposed, as far as the Azores. They planted colonies in many
countries ancl are said to have worked the tin mines of Corn
wall in Wales. The Carthegenian navy was for long the most
powerful in the ancient world and " the waters of pvery sea
were white with her sails."
Finally, a great rivalry arose between Carthage and Rome
and after a time these two countries went to war. For the
space of nearly one hundred and twenty-five years tjtigse coun
tries were enemies. There was first war, then peacg between
them, but in 146 B. C. Rome conquered and many thousands
of the Carthagenians were killed by the sword or buried under
the burning ruins of their homes ; the remainder were sold into
slavery, the Romans razed Avhat was left of the city to the
ground, plowed up the earth and sowed salt in the furrows as
a sign of utter desolation. Hannibal, the great general, was
a Carthagenian who did his part in his country's service. He
won many great victories and finally killed himself rather
than fall into the hands of the enemy.
All the pomp and pride of these ancient countries, their
wealth and power, the things for which they killed themselves
or killed each other have melted into nothingness, have become
" as a tale that is told." Yet we learn from their story how
important a part Africa played in ancient times.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

19

CHAPTER IV.
EXPLORATIONS IN AFRICA.
np HE interior of Africa has always abounded in those things
'• which civilized men prize and the earliest explorers
were seeking for articles of value to commerce. Beside
these, the Egyptians sent out many hunters for the elephants
so useful in their wars and the Romans paid good prices for
lions and other wild beasts for their arenas and circuses. These

RIONGA, A NATIVE CHIEF, RECEIVES BAKER
ancient explorers and more modern ones also brought wonder
ful tales of the creatures they claimed to have seen, creatures
which never existed anywhere, such as dragons, grifiSns, head
less men and so forth. Such tales did not serve to make men
anxious to enter Africa.
The Arabs, however, as missionaries or as traders, have,
for centuries, been familiar with the interior of this great con
tinent. Arabian missionaries converted many tribes to the

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

Mohammedan faith, and even before the rise of Mohamme
danism, " Negroes shared in the learning and ^politics of
Arabia." Travelers in the interior of Africa have often been
astonished at the number of natives who could read and write
the Arabic language; hundreds of them know many passages
of the Koran (the Mohammedan Bible) and can repeat them
from memory as well as extracts from other Arabic writings.
The Arab traders early penetrated far intp the country seek
ing for the articles in themselvs so valueless to Africa but
worth so much money in other countries. They also hunted
the natives whom they kidnapped and sold into slavery. Self-
ishness,'^cruerfy arid treachery were' the lessons they taught and
the early^^hite traders and later ones, too, did vei-y little better.
One writS' says of the latter that "a white manto the natives
of Africa^stood for wrong and cruelty alone. "The very word
meant s'&pii'ration of wives and husbands, parents and childreri
to be cafried to a fate as mysterious as it proved to be horrible.
Hence .-the white man's greed and cruelty was a bar to his
curiosity and energy; his' love of knowledge and science was
defeatedlby his love of sin and wron,g, and the civilized world,
instead of wondering at the ignorance and barbarity that kept
back foi\,l» long a time, all efforts to know and to help should
wonder tliat anyone from the outside world should have been
allowed •¦•¦to live for a day where these wronged, outraged
savages ruled."
But with all that Africa has suffered, and, in some places, is
still suffering at the hands of so-called civilized men, there
have been brave, noble men and women who have devoted the
best years of their lives to Africa and some have finally died a
martyr's death at the hands of those whom they were trying to
help. One of the first of these was Mungo Park, a native of Scot
land. In 1795, when he was only twenty-four years old, he
went to West^ Africa to try to find the source, or beginning of
the River Niger. One of the drawbacks to the west coast is
its deadly climate, and shortly after arriving at Kano young

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 21

Park fell ill of fever and remained an invalid for five months.
While recovering, he learned the language of the Mandingoes,
a native tribe, and this was a great help to him.
He finally started with only si.x natives on his journey. Had
he been older and wiser he would have taken a larger company.
At one lime they were captured by Moors and a wild boar was
turnd loose upon them, but instead of attacking Park the beast
turned upon his owners, and this aroused their superstitious
fears. The king then ordered him to be put in a. hut where
the boar was tied while he and his chief officers discussed
whether Park should lose his right hand, his eyes or his life.
But he escaped from them, and after nearly two years of
wandering in search of the Niger's source, during which time
he suffered many hardships and made many narrow escapes he
returned to Kano, the place where he had been ill.
At one time during his journey Mr. Park arrived in the
neighborhood of Sego and as a white man had ncA^er been seen
in that region before, the natives looked upon him with fear
and astonishment. He a.sked to see the king, but no one would
take him across the river, and the king sent word that he would
by no means receive the strange traveler until he knew what
the latter wanted. Park was tired, hungry and discouraged
and was preparing to spend the night in the branches of a tree
when a native woman pitied him. She invited him. into her
hut, and with the hospitality for which the natives are noted,
shared with him her food. By signs she made him understand
that he might occupy the sleeping mat and as she and her
daughters sat spinning they sang their native songs, among
them the following which was impromptu and composed in
honor of the stranger :
The wind roared and the rain fell.
Tiie poor white man, faint and weary, came and sat under our
tree.
lie has no mother to bring him milk; no wife to grind his corn.
Chorus.
Let us pity the white man;
No mother has he to bring him milk;
No wife to grind his corn.

2 2 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

Speaking of this incident Park says : " Trifling as this recital
may appear to the reader, to a person in my situation the
circumstance was affecting in the highest degree. I was
oppressed by such unexpected kindness and sleep fled from my
eyes. Another writer says : " The name of the woman and
the alabaster box of precious ointment, the nameless widow,
who, giving only two mites, had given more than all the rich,
and this nameless woman of Sego, form a trio of feminine
beauty and grandeur of which the sex in all ages may be
proud." Mungo Park went from Kano back to England and as every
one had thought him dead long ago his return caused great
rejoicing throughout the country. Eight years afterward he
went again to Africa on the same errand and with quite a com
pany, but one by one his companions sickened and died and
finally, though having traveled many miles and endured much
suffering, Park himself was drowned while trying to escape
from the natives and without coming in sight of the Niger's
source. David Livingstone was also of Scotland and was born about
eight years after Park died. His parents were poor, and as
he was compelled to work in the day, he received his early
education at a night school. He was of a serious turn and
while quite young decided to give his life to the cause of mis
sions. In 1840, at the age of twenty-seven he went to South
Africa where for nine years he preached and taught at various
stations in the vicinity of Cape Town ; he also sent to England
during this time much information of value to geographers and
scientists. [^'  ;
At length he started into the interior on a joumey ot dis
covery, realizing, as we all finally do, that by a true, sincere
and unselfish life he might point the way to God no matter
where he was nor what his occupation. And so, for years, he
devoted himself to the double cause of religion and discovery.
Sometimes for months and again for years there would be no
word from him ancJ upon t-yvo or three occasions searching

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

parties were sent out to find him. He traveled thousands of
miles and made many disco\ erics and tliough he sometimes
met hostile tribes who would engage him ami his followers in
battle, because they did not know how good and kind he was,
¦wherever they had the chance to really know him they became
his true friends. His native servants were devoted to him and
among other things he taught them English. Chumah and Susi
Avere the names of two Avho rendered him A-aluable assistance.
During his travels he went one time from Cape Colony up
to the northwestern part of what is now Matebele ; another time
he Avent much farther north and discovered Lake Nyassa :
with Stanley he sailed up to the northem end of Lake Tan
ganyika, and his last trip was made to Lake Bangeola, where
he had been once before. Here he fell sick and died.
His wife had died in Africa about ten }ears before anti he
had hoped after exploring the region around Bangeola to
return to England anti spend his last days with his children.
but. alas, this was not to be. Those who were with him when
he died embalmetl his botly as best they could and at last suc
ceeded in carrying it to Zanzibar. Here it was receiA'ed by a
govemment vessel and carried to England, and Livingstone
was burieti with the honor he deserved in \\"estniinster Abbey.
Samuel WTiite Baker, an English explorer of note, had traA--
elecl much in Asia and .Africa and in ISOi had discovered
Albert Xyanza or Lake X'ictoria Xyanza had previou.'^l}- been
discovered by two explorers — Sjxke and Grant. In ISiy.'.
Baker Avith his wife and a large company which included sol
diers, sailors, a physician, eng-'neers. carpenters and other
trained men. started from EgA-pt, with the consent of the
Khedive or king for the purpose of establishing honest trade
with the natives instead of the cheating s\ stem and also to
break up the slave trade as far .<outh as possible. His plan
was to reach the interior by means of the Nile and its branches
and he took along several Acssels. some of these were in pieces
to be put together when needed.
ypu ni«?t remeniber that these explorers had nothing ig

24 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

guide them and that the\' were making a map not; only for
themselves but for the rest of the world. They never knew one
day through what sort of country they would be traveling next
nor whether the natives would be friends or enemies.
On this trip, after sailing for over a month through waters
sometimes so covered with vegetation that the men were com
pelled to swim ahead and cut a canal for the boats . with their
swords, through waters filled with crocodiles which kept the
men in constant fear, through waters in which were many hip-
potami which sometimes upset the sraall boats and broke holes
in the large ones. Baker and his party were compelled, to return
to the Nile proper because the water became too shallow to
float the boats. But he and his companions would not. give up
and after resting a while, set out once more. ..
On the way to Fatiko, the home of Abou Saood and the hot
bed of slavery, they met hostile tribes of natives, and the Arabs
who made their living by selling slaves, set many traps for
them. After much hardship, suffering hunger, and thirst,
lack of clothing, the burning of their camp and many other
losses, they succeeded in conquering their enemies and Baker
and his party had the happiness of knowing that their trials had
not been in vain. The slave station of Abou Saood was com
pletely broken up and that cruel, wicked man left for Cairo
saying that he had been wrongfully treated and would enter a
complaint against Baker at the court- of the Khedive. How
ever, for the time being, at least, the slave trade throughout
the entire region through which ISaker had passed and down
to the equator no longer existed ; the natives returned to their
homes and began once more to till the soil.
Henry M. Stanley has been called the most successful ex
plorer of modern times. lie made three separate trips into
the heart of Africa, each of which was entirely successful,
though at the cost of many lives.
His first trip, made in 1870, was for the purpose. .of finding
Livingstone, his second was for the purpose of carrying for
ward the work which Livingstone had not been able to finish;

A iNARRATIVEc OF ;THE NEGRO 25

at this time Stanley explored- Lake.. Victoria .and, proved it to
be one,/jf the S4airces,o.|-,the,,Nile.:.. His-last trip, was for the
relief of Emin Pa.sha, who afrter... being apjxiinted governor
of a. proviriice:. in. thennteripr^had been .surrounded, by hostile
natives.,; ,-: ,, ,, ... -^ .. .,.(
He, published t9<..tfee world, jBtany. interesting; .-and .jwonderful
facts about. tbe countiy and inhabitants of .Vfrica. .Money, at
that time was.-.of no us,e in the heaf t of A.frica a.nd .food and
other? neces-sarjes wcjre ejtthanged for beads, bells, wire, cloth
and such, other-things as ther natives could iUOt make. More
than once life hung on a string of beads .or a yard, of cloth.
If yx)U have imagine^ that all ofthe native, Africans resemble
the pictures, of suoh usually placed in school books you are
greatly mistaken, for„.,according . to Stanley there^is as much
<lifference in coIot, features 3nd character between the tribes
of Africa, as between th&jy^jrious nations of Europe. Some
.'\frican tribes are; of lijrhtei.' or darker brown, some. are black,
.some resemble what. are- icalled jnulatoes, .and, there is a tribe
living on Mt, Gambaragara, near, \'ictoria Xyanza.members of
which were se«n by Jaotlj, Lijfirigstone and Stanley and who are
as fair as Europeans-with brown hair. " The W^umba is a
fine- welUforrned -race, the rnouth.,«,xceedingly. well cut, deli
cately small.; the no8& that of the ^Qpeeks, limbs long, shapely
and clean as those of the antelope. Their robes of .calf and
goat skin^ hang, frxjm the sho^lders^ .and fall to the knees."
" The Wadoe is- a- warlike inteUigent -people living in a pictur
esque country; On'^accdarit of their superior ¦ physique and
infelligerice they are'ea^gerl}- sought for as slaves by the cruel
Arabs." "The Wagogo, a sturdy native with his,, rich com
plexion, Ijis lion front, menacing aspect, bullying nature,
haughty, proud, and quarrel^orne, is a mere child with a man
who wiU-^'study fiiis' nature and not soffend- his vanity. He
believes in God or the Sky Spirit and his prayers are generally
directed to Hini'when parents die!" In the course of his jour
neyings Stanley saw riiany beautiful native women and many
dignified.and handsome men. .¦,,¦.

26 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

King Ruoma was, perhaps one of the most positive native
characters with whom this explorer came in contact. Hearing
that Stanley was about to cross his territory the king sent the
following message : "Ruoma sends salaams to the whitfe man.
He does not want the white man's cloth, beads or wire, but
the' white man must not pass through his country. Ruoma
does not want to see him or any other man with long red hair
down to his shoulders, white face and big red eyes. Ruoma is
not afraid of him, but if the white man will come near his
country, Rouma and Mirambo will fight him." Stanley did
not lead his company across Rouma's territory.
Ruling over Uganda, the country next to Rouma, was the
powerful King Mtesa, one of the finest native characters
mentioned by explorers. Mtesa is described as a " tall and
slender man, but with broad powerful shoulders. His eyes
were large, his face intelligent and amiable while his mouth and
nose were like those of a Persian Arab. As soon as hebegan
to speak, Stanley was captivated by his courteous, shniable
manner. He was infinitely superior to the Sultan of Zanzibar,
and impressed one as a colored gentleman who had learned his
manners by contact with cilivized, cultured men, instead of
being, as he was, a native of Central Africa who had nevCT seen
but three white men before in his life. Stanley was astcmished
at his native polish."
Mtesa had been converted to Mohammedanism by an Arab
but soon agreed to observe the Christian as well as the Moslem
Sabbath. He also caused the Ten Commandments, the Lord's
Prayer, and the Golden Rule to be written on a board that he
might read them daily. Under his government, Uganda was
a happy, prosperous country.
In addition to the foregoing several other explorers have
done' good work in Africa ; but these are mentioned that you
may form a general idea as to what has been accomplished
along this line.
It is said that more than seven hundred explorers have trav
eled in Africa and of that number fully five hundred have
found there their last resting place. Of the missionaries, both
nien and women who hav? di?d in Africa, there is a long rolj,

-»,.-

A NATIVE YOUTH OF MODERN AFRICA

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 27
CHAPTER V.
MODERN AFRICA.
TN MODERN times Africa has been little more than a big,
¦¦¦ rich grabbag for the great powers of the world. By might
not by right have they divided her territory among them,
and small indeed is the portion to which the natives may lay
claiin. Thoughtful people agree that there are two reasons for
this state of affairs. First, the lack of unity or oneness among
native Africans, which is the most important reason, and
second, inferior knowledge of modern warfare and lack of
modern arms. Says one English writer, " No single separate
African race or tribe has yet felt anything like unity with the
black race in general; otherwise Europe and Asia could not
continue to govern Africa." As it is, England, France, Ger
many, Italy, Portugal, Belgium and Turkey claim large por
tions of African soil.
Friends of Africa have often been discouraged by some of
the barriers to progress which have been unnecessarily placed
in the way. A white American missionary has recently writ
ten : " I wonder that the Africans do not shoot with poisoned
arrows, every white man that lands on their coast, for he has
brought them rum, and is still bringing it ; and in a few decades
more, if the rum traffic continues, there will be few left in
Africa to be saved. The vile rum, in that tropical climate, is
depopulating the country more rapidly than famine, pestilence
and war. Africa, with the simple gospel of Jesus is saved, but
Africa with rum is eternally lost."
In modern times there have been a few of the native king
doms which have attracted the attention of the world by their
tribal unity and their ability to resist the stealthy advance of
civilized nations. The Ashantis first came under European
notice in the early part of the eighteenth century. King Osai
Tutu, who founded the nation, brought into union several
neighboring tribes, by means of warfare or by tactful manage
ment. He -was slain in 1731, The Ashantis kept up a qonstant

28 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

war with the neighboring Fantis, aiid when the latter sought
British protection, the Ashantis fought against them both, wifh
varying fortunes, for many years.
In the war of 1896, the English won and King Prempeh
surrendered and was exiled. " Though outwardly submissive,
the chiefs of Kumasi, the principal tribe, were far from recon
ciled to British rule, and in 1900 a serious rebellion broke out
in the Kumasi, Adansi, and Kokofu tribes. Rebellion was
crushed and Ashanti formally joined to the British dominions,
and given a separate administration under control of the
governor of the Gold Coast. It was reported, in 1905, that
the Ashantis were becoming" reconciled to the English and that
the maintenance of the tribal system, and the support given to
the lawful chiefs, did much to win the confidence and respect
of a people naturally suspicious, and mindful of their exiled
king." Yorubaland is a large tract in the hinterland of Lagos, West
Africa. The Yorubas are said to vary in color from jet black
to quite light, and in features, from the heavy, thick cast of
countenance to the more delicate and refined. There is among
them a tradition that their forefathers were of Oriental origin,
and a large number of American Negroes are said to be of
Yoruba stock. The nation comprises many tribes and they are
both city-dwelling and farming people. It is said that the
houses of the chiefs often contain as many as fifty rooms,
decorated with carvings representing symbolic devices, fabu
lous animals, and hunting or warlike scenes. They have an
excellent system of government, the power being in the hands
of a Council of Elders, presided over by a chief. The chief
must always be taken from members of one or two families
and owes his position to a combination of the principles of
heredity and election. Yoruba is now divided into semi-
independent states, placed under British protection by the
treaty of 1893. The country extends from Benin on the east
to Dahomey on the west, and contains several large cities, some
with a population of -10,000.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 29

In 1821, Adjai, a boy of about eleven years, was captured in
Yorubaland and sold into slavery. The ne.xt year, he was
rescued by a British ship and landed at Sierra Leone. The
missionaries cared for and educated him and in December,
1825, he was baptised and given the name, Samuel Adjai
Crowther. He became a teacher at Furah Bay and afterwards
an energetic missionary in the Niger country. In 1842, he
went to England and entered the Missionary College, and in
June, lS4:i, was ordained by Bishop Blomfield. Returning to
Africa, he went first to Yorubaland and afterwards to Aboo-
kuta where he labored earnestly. At the latter place, he trans
lated the Bible and the Prayer Book into Yoruba and other
dialects and also prepared school books for the people. lie
showed the natiA'es how to improve their way of farming and
how to trade their cotton for other things. He went on several
expeditions up the Niger and afterwards went to England,
where on St. Peter's Day, 1864, he was consecrated first
Bishop of the Niger. Bishop Crowther, upon reaching Africa
again, established several missions and turned many to Chris
tianity. He died of paralysis on December 31, 1891, having
for many years displayed as a missionary, untiring industry,
great practical wisdom, and deep piety.
Benin was another powerful native kingdom. It was first
visited by the English in 1553 and for many years carried on a
trade in ivory, palm oil, pepper, etc. The Beni are said to be
a pure Negro tribe, speaking a distinct language and having a
well-organized government. In the seventeenth century, it was
known to Europeans as Great Benin. The King of Benin
was a puppet in the hands of the priests, who were the real
rulers. The people are skilled in weaving cloth, ivory carving
and working in brass, and much of the work of the native
artists is to be seen.
In 1897 the English consul general sent to ask for an
audience with the king. The latter requested the English to
remain away until after the annual " customs," but in spite of
this request, the consul, with eight others started for Benin and

30 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

were massacred on the way, only two escaping. A large IEng
lish force was sent against Benin and after a long, hard nght
the city was conquered and partly burned. The king and chiefs
were tried, the king deported to Calabar and the chiefs exe
cuted. The whole country is now govemed by a Council of
Chiefs, under supervision of a British resident.
The kingdom of Dahomey, like those of Benin and Ashanti
was a purely Negro and pagan state. King Gezo, its most
famous ruler, reigned forty years and under him the country
was exceedingly prosperous. He reorganized the women
warriors, or Amazons, for which Dahomey is famous. The
strongest and best looking women were drafted into the
Amazon regiments and they were the pride of Dahomy. Each
pf these regiments had its own peculiar uniform, and badges
and the Amazons took the post of honor and danger in all
battles. " Sir R. F. Burton, who saw the army marching out of Kano
on an expedition in 1862, computed the whole force of female
troops at twenty-five hundred, of whom one-third were
unarmed or only half armed. Weapons were blunderbusses^
flint muskets and bows and arrows and the system of warfare
was to surprise the enemy." " The Amazons were carefully
tra'ned and the king was in the habit of holding " autumn
maneuvers " for the benefit of foreigners. Many Europeans
have witnessed a mimic assault, and agree in ascribing a
marvelous power of endurance to the women. Lines of thorny
acacia were piled up one behind the other to represent
defences, and at a given signal the Amazons, barefooted arid
without any special protection, charged and disappeared from
sight. Presently, they emerged within the lines, torn and bleed
ing, but apparently insensible to pain, and the parade closed
with a march past, each warrior leading a pretended captive."
The independent existence of Dahomey ended with the sur
render of Bohanzi, the last native king and the kingdom is now
a French colony.
The Basutos of South Africa were able for a great while to

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO Ji

maintai^i their independence against the English and the Boers
through the patriotism and intelligence of Mosesh, their gr^at
leader and king. When he was forced to make a choice of
allies, he had the insight and intelligence to choose the Engli,sh
and ihithe protectorate of Basutoland the natives are sturdy
and prosperous. Moshesh died in 1869, but his people still
enjoy the fruits of his tact and skill. "As a result of the great
work of. Moshesh, Basutoland is today almost entirely self-
governing, with nearly 300,000 inhabitants, with annual
exports of grain, cattle and wool amounting to $700,000 a.
year." It is exceedingly encouragir^ to feel that when " tlje
time" comes, as come it will, that the descendants of all these
brave peoples shall again have opportunity for self-govern
ment thgy will be able to add to their natural capacity that
which they have learned from contact with modern civilization.
The Barbary States, on whose soil Carthage once stood,
play, in these days, an unimportant part in the world and the
several states are under the goverriment of different nations.
The native ruler of Egypt is called the Khedive, but at present
the government is practically in the haVids of Great Britain.
Travel in Eastern lands has become so rapid and comfortable
that a trip to Egypt is now taken by many people as a sort of
summer outing, and every year thousands of tourists gaze
in wonder and awe at the Pyramids, the Sphynx, the Cata
combs and the River Nile.
The Kingdom of Abyssinia was, for many years wisely gov
erned by King Menelik, who called himself, among other
things, the King of Kings and the Lion of the Tribe of Judah."
Because the King had been in ill health for some time, Prince
Lidj Jeassu was, in May, 1909, at the age of thirteen, pro
claimed heir to the Abyssinian throne, and Ras Hessama was
appointed to act as guardian of the little heir and to govern in
his stead. In May, 1911, Prince Lidj Jeassu was proclaimed
Emperor. The inhabitants are justly proud of their centuries-old his
tory and prefer to be known by their ancient name of Ethio-

32

A NARRAf4VE?"bF Ttt# l<lf fi(5R'0 * "

plans. As a whole they are ain fe:itreniely'=ilkeltigent people,
grave of countenance; elaborately' 'cdiiTfebu'S' and 'it is skid 'that
with training and e>iperieftce' they will be fUlIy " capable Of
meeting th'e cbriipetitiori' of the' WeSterri 'world." Their dress
is the toga such as Av'as worit'-by'-th'^'^-j'-Gfeeks 'aind'^-Romans.
'Menelik is described as " tall-'and-strarg1itr\viffi a face'full of
intelligence arid' the manners of a geritlertlkn'as welPas a king."
.Vs a part of Weir" literature. Handed down for centuries, the
Abyssiaris prize extracts frorii' the Old TeStanifeht,- in thfe Ghesie
language, the Sabbatical'laws, 'corffmandrfifeits 'given ''to^Moses '
by God'and a translation of Jd'sephys. ¦'-'¦ "'''
It is said that ort the' plains 'kud ioW-6r lands -the'-sdil of Abys
sinia is very -f^rttle and produces soriietime'S'Hhree' crops- pel-
year ; nejtiiy every grain thaf' Avill grow ariy Where, -xain be-
grown in' Abyssinia. The iiih'abitatits also engiage in'f&ising
sheep and goats anda-certain-attidtirit-of comrii'iereg is carried
on. " r>y methods as old a.s.M'dses,' gold'' to' the average amourit
of five hundred thousand dollars is annually p'Wdticed." '^ *'-•'
Recently a comriiissiorf was appointed by the"'P'i*esideri't-of the •
United vStates to visit Aljyssinia and to -endeavor to 'establish
friendh''''relatiT6ris between 'the two "eSuntries.'''''Fhe corii'mis-
sioners ''were received with great ' pchtip and assureth of the
interest' al'ritl ffifeiidship of MerieHk. -Modern Abyssinia=is said
to be one of the few r^riiainirig larids'Of romance"afld adventure.' -
You have already heard of the Congo Free or Independent
State. It "was sb called because in 188.9-''-¥6presentatives'frbm
fourteeri't^orintriesVthe United States iii^ltidetl, met and-agreed
that in th'at' part of Africa: atl&Stj trade'shotlld be free to all,
the navigStion bPthe •GbrigoTiv^t-'-s'hbald'fee free and the natives
should not be oppressed, Ijrit encouraged to' riiake the'iiioSt 6"f
themselv^'es. King Leopold' cif Bdgiuni''Avi-s one of those 'who
consented to this and He sticceded in haviffg hiri-iself appointed
a kind of gOardian to see that the agreement was 'carried out;
hut he was a wicked, cruel king, sly and crafty and by degrees
he obtain'ed al)Solut'e''ii6wer over eveii-y sbul'fri- the' Coiigo. ' ' Pie
claimed that" th'e CoflgolArid ¦'and everything in' its was hfs and

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 33

that the natives were simply his tenants and, strange to say,
the thirteen other countries allowed him to do so.
The Corigo is a vast region and has been described as being
as large as the whole of Europe, omitting Spain and Russia.
Leopold placed over every village in the Congo, men as heart
less and cruel as himself, and if the natives of a village failed
to bring out of the forest as much ivory and rubber as the
overseers thought they should, these wicked men would send
after them cannibal soldiers who would burn the huts and kill
and eat the natives. The terrible things that were reported
from the Congo, horrified the civilized world, and more than
once Leopold pretended to stop them, but recently accounts of
awful conditions hkve been published. It is said that in seven
years, driven by their cruel taskmasters, the natives gathered
fifty-five millions of dollars' worth of rubber for which they
received barely enough to keep them alive.
Dr. W. II. Sheppard, himself a colored man and a citizen of
the United States, took up missionary work in Africa in 1S!).3.
In liin he returned to America from the Congo region ana
tells many interesting things of the tribes with which he came
into contact. Among them there was a tribe which he was the
first civilized man to visit. The king of this tribe had heard of
foreigners and their cruelties to the natives, and as he thought
they were all alike, he issued an edict that no foreigner should
enter his kingdom. But Dr. Sheppard had won the love of
the tribes around Stanley Pool, and accompanied by some of
them, he finally made his way into the forbidden land. lie
found the natives weaving their own cloth, making their own
farming and domestic implements, and living very contentedly.
He also came into contact with a tribe of cannibals, whose lives
were, as a matter of course, on a much lower plane. He
preached to them the Gospel, and after many years has the
happiness to know that he and his helpers have been the means
ot bringing many to Christianity and civilization.
There are still in Central Africa, regions which are unknown
to the civilized world, but in some places of which until recently

34 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

little has been heard, the natives have reached a high state of
development. As you know, the Arabs who believe in the
Mohammedan religion have for centuries been traveling
through Africa, and in many placfes have erected villages for
permanent homes and intermarried with the natives. This is
true of Nigeria where the natives show their contact with the
Arabs in many ways. The two most important tribes of this
region are the Fallani and the Hausas, both of which are highly
intelligent and progressive. Kano, the chief (ity of this local
ity, has been called the Chicago of West Africa and is a busy
city with markets crowdeded with buyers and merchants selling
vegetables, fruits, fowl, sheep, goats and many other things,
while its shops are filled with native and foreign products.
The people engage in tilling the soil, tending herds, weaving,
dyeing, and manufacturing pottery, native cloth, farming tools
and simple arms such as daggers, spears, etc.
Uganda, where good King Mtesa reigned in Stanley's time,
is now a British protectorate ; but there is still a native king.
It is said that one hundred thousand of the natives are Chris
tians and twice as many of them can read and write. Beside
the king there is a court and a parliament, nobles, ministers
and a code of laws. The people are industrious, cultured and
peaceable. " The white man cannot live here long at a time,
for in his flesh every cut or scratch festers, small wounds
become running sores and malaria turns to the fatal " black-
water fever."
South Africa is rich in gold and diamonds and for many
years was governed by people called Boers, who are of Dutch
descent. Recently the Boers and England went to war and
England conquered the country and added it to her other
possessions. It was to this country that Livingstone the ex
plorer, went, taught and preached to the people and converted
many to Christianity. But the Boers were not kind to the
natives and oppressed them in many ways.
Spreading all over South Africa is a great tribe of natives
called Kaffirs and of these the Zulus are said to be the best type.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 35

They are noted for their hospitality and though partly nomadic,
they are lovers of home and children. Those Kaffirs who have
not been tainted by the vices of the Boers are described as the
" most intellectual of all savage races, with lofty, thoughtful
foreheads." In complexion they are dark with a tinge of red,
the skin is thin and fine grained and the hair crisp and curly.
They are very proud of their appearance and if asked what
complexion they prefer will say, " black like mine, with a little
red." The blacker a person is the more beautiful the Kaffirs
consider him and though Albinos are sometimes found among
.them they are pitied rather than admired. In recent years
several Negro missionaries have gone to South Africa as well
as to other sections and the natives are joining the churches,
educating their children and learning many of the arts of
civilization. Of the West Coast of Africa a writer has recently said that
" to partition finally among the powers this strip of death and
disease, of unaccountable wealth, of unnamed horrors and
cruelties, has taken many hundreds of years, has brought to the
black man every misery that can be inflicted upon a human
being and to thousands of white men, death and degradation
or great wealth.'' It was from this part of Africa that the
majority of slaves were brought to America.
Sierra Leone was founded on the West Coast by English
philanthropists as a home for freedmen, and later American
friends of humanity established a colony adjoining Sierra
Leone for the same purpose, and this colony was finally called
the Republic of Liberia.
The native tribes which live in Sierra Leone and Liberia
and in that part of the adjoining country which reaches toward
central Africa and which is called the hinterland, are a very
interesting people. The most progressive of them are the Man-
dingoes (whose language Mungo Park learned) and the Vai. Of
these the men are, as a rule, stalwart and handsome and many
of the women are beautiful. Other tribes are the Gora, the
Susu, and the Kru, to which belong the Grebe, the De, the Basa

36 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

and the Gibi. The Krumen are the workingmen of the West
Coast. They are heavily built and muscular and neither the
women nor the men are especially attractive in appearance ; but
they are vei-y industrious and much of coast traffic depends on
their labor.
The natives of this section manufacture a kind of pottery
which is very artistic and not unlike that mac^e by the Indians
in this country. They also weave a cloth which is called
" country cloth," and rude musical instruments, swords,
wooden plates, drums and similar articles are made.
Throughout Africa there exist secret societies known by,
different names in different places. The societies for men and
women are separate and distinct and they are not allowed to
hold sessions at the same time. In the vicinity of Sierra
Leone the women's society is called the Bandu and the men's,
the Poro, When the older women of the tribe decide to hold
a meeting, a space is cleared in the forest or bush and thus the
session has been named the Bandu Bush, The chief officers
are called " dibbles," " boogies," or " devils," and they dress
in a very fantastic manner. Over the head and face is worn
a hideous mask from which hangs a covering of palm fiber so
adjusted as to completely hide the figure and disguise the indi
vidual. They pretend to be supernatural and only the highest
officials know who they really are.
Into the Bush the girls from about twelve to sixteen are
taken to be initiated. The girls who do not go are looked upon
with contempt and are called " silly " and " idiots." The
initiates remain in the Bush for months and the women teach
them many useful things; among others, to be obedient and
respectful to their elders and to be good wives and mothers.
After they have been sufficiently instructed, they are ''medicine
washed " and a public feast takes place in their honor, some
thing like a debut party in civilized countries. When the boys
go into the Poro bush they are told the laws and legends of
their tribe and commanded to respect them, they are taught to

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 3?

hunt and fish and are also made to understand their duties and
responsibilities as future husbands and fathers.
Of the natives of western Africa a missionary has said:
" Whatever other estimate we may form of the African, we
may not doubt his love for his mother. Her name, whether
she be dead or alive, is always on his lips and in his heart. She
is the first thing he thinks of when awakening from his slum
bers and the last thing he remembers when he closes his eyes
in sleep ; to her he confides secrets which he would reveal to no
other human being on the face of the earth. He cares for no
one else in time of sickness, she alone must prepare his food,
administer his medicine, perform his ablutions and spread his
mat for him. He flies to her in the hour of his distress, for
he well knows if all the rest of the world turn a,gainst him, she
will be steadfast in her love, whether he be right or wrong."
Huw wonderful must be the Avomen who can inspire and keep
such deep and constant love and devotion in the hearts of their
ehildren !
.'Vll lovers of humanity earnestly desire the civilization and
redemption of the entire continent of Africa, and many plans
to that end have been suggested. Speaking of these, Didwho
Twe, a native African, and a man of great culture and discern
ment, has said: " A new form of Christianity for the African
race will develop from the present commercialism. The initia
tive of this great change will come from men of pure African
blood — Africans in appearance, Africans in body, Africans in
spirit, Africans in pride, Africans in thought."

38

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

CHAPTER VI.
SIERRA LEONE.
THE first historical mention of Sierra Leone was by Hanno
of Carthage, who is said to have entered its harbor and
to have hurriedly left, because of "the fires in the for
ests, the beating of drums and the strange cries that issued
other of the approach of possible enemies, are used in some

NATIVE KING AND COUNCIL, HINTERLAND, SIERRA LEONE.
from the bushes." These signs by which the tribes warn each
parts today and have often struck terror to modern travelers.
The Portuguese claim to have traded with the natives
around Sierra Leone as early as the middle of the fifteenth
century and English trade began a century later. Trading
posts or "factories" were estabhshed by these nations on
ground leased from the natives, but at first they were used for
a fair exchange of the valuable products of the country. It
was not until the gotonization of America began that the kid-

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 39

napping of the natives themselves was thought of. For about
two hundred years the great nations of the world engaged in
pne form or another of the slave trade, but toward the end of
the eighteenth century the horror of the traffic began to force
itself upon the attention of friends of humanity everywhere.
In 1765, Jonathan Strong, a slave who had been brought to
England, fell sick and was deserted by his master. He man
aged to recover and when his master found this out he planned
to have him kidnapped and sent back to the West Indies. But
the great Granville Sharpe took an interest in the case, in
terceded for Strong and finally succeeded in sending him out
of his master's reach. Seven years afterward, Sharpe took up
the case of Ja.ues Somerset and plead for him before the High
Court at Westminster.
The case aroused wide-spread interest and the judges finally
decided that Somerset could not be held, and that from that
time forward every slave who set foot on English soil was
free. There were a nunber of slaves in London at the time
and these either left their masters or were driven away. The
condition of these people, without money, food or shelter, be
came very pitiable. And meanwhile American Negroes, who
had found shelter with the British army, and other Negroes
from the West Indies joined their brethren in London, which
added to the distress of the situation. Granville Sharpe,
William Wilberforce, Dr. Smeathman, Henry Thornton, Jo
seph Hardcastle, Thomas Clarkson and other good men joined
together to assist these freedmen. After a long discussion, it
was thought best to send them to Africa where they might not
only become independent, but might help to Christianize the
natives and break up the slave trade.
The English government was persuaded to purchase from
Naimbanna, King of Sierra Leone, about twenty square miles
of land and the first colony reached Africa on the 9th of May,
1787. Several of the colonists had died on the voyage, and of
the 480 persons who embarked only 64 were living in 1791.
Put the English ;friends of the colony were not discpwraged;

40 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

they formed a company which was first called St. George's
Bay, and afterward, the Sierra Leone Company. A large
sum of money was subscribed and the company sent out more
colonists, among them a number of English soldiers who had
been granted land as a- reward for services. Several hundred
Maroons living in Nova Scotia sent a delegate to England to
ask that they might be allowed to join the new colony and
their request was granted. So.me hundreds of Maroons from
the West Indies also joined the colony, but the deadly cnmate
caused n:any to die of fever and destroyed the energy of the
survivors. The people became entirely .discouraged, and "the
whole community smouldered down into chronic mutiny.'' At
this crisis, Zachary Macauley, father of the famous English
historian, was sent as general manager of the colony. He
acted as governor, secretary, paymaster, eiwoy to the natives
and clergyman, and it is said that he was peculiarly adapted
to the work. Things were -moving smoothly, under Mr. Ma-
caiiley's management, when, in 1794, eight Frencli ships filled
with sansculottes came into the harbor. The lawless French
men entered the town and conducted themselves in .such an
outrageous manner that the governor asked to be given an au
dience with the comrander of the vessel. Macaulev savs:.
"As I passed along the wharf the scene was curious enough.
The Frenchmen who had came ashore in filth and rags, were
now many of them dressed out with women's gowns and petti
coats. Others had quantities of cloth wrapped about their
bodies of perhaps si.x or seven suits of clothes upon the.n at a
time. The scene which presented itself on my getting on board
the flag-ship was still more singular. The quarter-deck was
crowded by a set of ragamuffins whose appearance beggared
every previous description, and among whom I .sought in vain
for some one who looked like a gentleman."
About the middle of October the French left Freetown, hav
ing remained about a month. "They never revisited the place ;
indeed, they had left it in such a condition that it was not
worth their while to return. Ten houses had been carefully

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 41

burned to the ground and the livestock killed. Except the
clothes on their backs and a little flour, the Europeans had
lo,st everything they had in the world. * * *" 'in the of
fice, every desk and every shelf and every drawer, together
with the printing and copying presses, had been co npletely
demolished in the search for money. The floors were strewn
Avith t3'pes, and papers and leaves of books, and I had the
mortification to see a great part of my own labor and of the
labor of others for several years, totally destroyed. At the
other end of the house I found telescopes, hydrometers, b.i-
rometers, thermometers and other articles lying about in frag
ments. In the town library the volumes were tossed about and
defaced with the utmost wantonness, and if they liappcned to
bear the least resemblance to Bibles they were torn in pieces
and trampled on. In the collection of natura! curiosities,
plants, seeds, dried birds, insects and drawings were scattered
about in great confusion. The destruction cii livestock was
im nense. In my own yard alone, they killed fourteen dozen
fowls, and there were not less than twelve hundred hogs shot
in the town. It was unsafe to walk in the streets of Free
town during the forty-eight hours that followed its ca!)turc
because the French crews were firing at the pigs of tlie poor
freedmen over whom they had gained such a questionable vic
tory." But as has been said, the French finall}- left Sierra
Leone, and left a very disheartened set of colonists behind
the.n. Flowever, Mr. Macauley rallied them as best he eould
and when he left the colony in 1799, because his health had
been broken by the fever, things were moving on fairly well ;
but the year 1800 found the Company with very little money
left and the colony in a very discouraging condition.
The natives, who had for years been able to obtain as much
rum and gunpowder as they wanted at the nearest baccaroon,
did not appreciate the colony and gave great annoyance. King
Naimbanna, however, recognized the superior progres-; of the
Europeans and believed it to be due to their religion, Init he
was very much puzzled when he found that there was more

42 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

than one European religion. After much thought he decided
that in order to secure the greatest benefit to his tribe it would
be a good plan to send one son to Turkey with orders to be
come a Mohammedan; another to England to be a Protestant
and a third to Portugal to become a Ro.iian Catholic. This
he did, but he shortly afterward died and, except that the son
who went to England died on the homeward voyage, the re
sult of the King's experiment is not recorded.
In 1807, twenty years after the landing of the colonists, the
Company turned Sierra Leone over to the British govern
ment. In the same year the slave trade was declared piracy
and an English squadron was stationed along the coast to put
down the trade and to recapture slaves. Many hundreds were
added to the population in this way.
Sierra Leone has passed through many trials before reach
ing its present state, and there are also a number of very in
teresting things in the history of this colony. The very first
person who actually conducted Negro emigrants from America
to Africa was Capt. Paul Cuffee, a wealthy Negro of New Bed
ford, Mass. Among the colored residents who have risen to
prominence may be mentioned Mr. John Carr, Queens Advo
cate in 1840 and Chief Justice in 1841 ; Samuel Crowther, a
native and the first African admitted to the Church of Eng
land (1841) and first Bishop of Niger (1864) ; Staff Surgeon
W. Ferguson, of the Army Medical Department (1813) and
Acting Governor (1841) ; Mr. Robert Dougan, Queens Ad
vocate (1832), Acting Governor (1858-59); Dr. James W.
Blyden, scholar, author and diplomat. Dr. Blyden, who died
February, 1913, was, on more than one occasion entrusted
with missions to the natives in the interior which required
great tact and skill and which were always successful.
On his mission to the King or Alami of Timbo, in 1873, Dr.
Blyden was invited to accompany His Majesty to a town fifty
miles away where was gathered an army of fifteen or twenty
thousands Foulahs. "The town was crowded and prepara
tions for war w?r? being made, btit prayers were not neg-.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 43

lected. Five times a day immense crowds gathered at the
Mosque and soldiers with a musket in one hand and their
beads in the other might be seen going through their devo
tions."' The chief official in Sierra Leone is a govemor appointed
by the English Crown, a colonial secretan . and an executive
and a legislatiAe council. Freetown, the greatest seajiort on
the West Coast, is the seat of govemment ; it has an excellent
harbor, fortified with several batteries of heaA-v guns.
There is a go\emment school for the son.- of chiefs; there
are public, technical and church mission schcols. besides Fourah
Bay College, establis'ned in 1845, and connected with, the L'ni-
A-ersit}- of Durha-n. There is at present a railway of about
three hundred miles and others planned.
Tn size Sierra Leone is about equal to the State of iMaine;
much of the land has been cleared, and is regu'.ariy tilled : the
natives come into the cities for e-^ploy 1 ent betAAcen the sow
ing and reaping of their crops ; sanitary arrangements and a
better understanding of the fever have improved Iiealih con
ditions: many of the citizens are skilled arti.-ans. several are
merchants, and Sierra Leone is now a flourishirsr colonv.

44

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

CHAPTER VII.

LIBERIA.

O NE of the first persons in America to publicly denounce
the slave trade and to act upon his convictions was the Rev.
Samuel Hopkins, of Newport, R. I. He had owned and sold
a slave, but afterward became convinced of the sinfulness of
his conduct and devoted himself to arousing the consciences

i'J */*i*ii»

LIBERIAN SOLDIERS AND CITIZENS.
of his neighbors. Pie formed a plan to educate freedmen and
send them as missionaries to their native land, and he appro
priated to that purpose the money received from the sale of his
slave ; he borrowed money to free a slave whom he thought
especially intelligent and brought about the emancipation of
three others. In August, 1773, he published ?.n address to the
public in which he outlined his plans and begged for assistance ;
he mentioned two devout African members of the Congrega
tional Church in Newport, by name John Quamine and Bristol
Yamma, who were willing and anxious to carry as best they

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 45

could, civilization and Christianity to their brethren in Africa.
Quamine, who was the son of a wealthy native of Annam-
boe, had been sent by his father to England to be educated, but
the person to whom he had been entrusted, had treacherously
sold him into slavery. Besides the two named, Salmur Nubia,
another young ;\.frican, was desirous of furthering Dr. Hop
kins' plan. But little money was donated and when the Revo
lutionary War broke out, it put an end to the project. Many
years after, two of Dr. Hopkins' proteges joined the Liberian
colony — one of them was Salmur Nubia, the other Deacon
Newport Gardner.
In 1787, Dr. Thornton, of Washington, D. C, published " an
address to the free people of color in Rhode Island and Massa
chusetts," inviting them to accompany him to the west coast
of Africa, there to plant a colony, but the plan fell through for
lack of funds.
''The first public meeting ever held in this country to con
sider the subject of African Colonization was called by Dr.
Robert Finley, and was held in the Presbyterian Church in
Princeton, N. J. After maturing his plans. Dr. Finley went to
Washington in December, 1816, during the session of Congress
and succeeded in having many of the prominent men present in
the city attend a meeting to consider his project. Hon. Henry
Clay was present and was called to the chair. After the society
was organized many other prominent Americans became
actively interested in its work. Among them were Judge
Bushrod W'ashington, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, John
Marshall, John Randolph, J. PI. B. Latrobe, and Francis Scott
Key. About thirty-five years after the first colony of freedmen
went from England to Sierra Leone, the American Coloniza
tion Society sent a company of freedmen from this country to
Africa. About the same time, Congress authorized the Presi
dent to provide a place in Africa for the sla\es who might be
recaptured at sea. The government chartered a vessel to carry
its agents and agreed to take also the agent of the Colonization

46 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

Society and such free Negroes as that organization should
recommend. Eighty-nine persons were finally selected and the
vessel sailed from New York February 6, 1821, arriving in
Sierra Leone March 9.
The government agents in charge were Rev. Samuel Bacon
and John P. Bankson, while Dr. Samuel Crozer was the agent
of the colonization society. The emigrants made a temporary
settlement at Sherbo, but before land could be purchased for a
permanent home the agents and many of the colonists died.
Just before his death Dr. Crozer solemnly entrusted the colony
and all its posessions to the care of the Rev. Daniel Coker, a
colored Methodist preacher. Though new to such responsi
bility, the latter managed affairs with great ability and received
the praise of Dr. Ayres, the next agent.
After looking over the situation Dr. Ayres decided to buy
land on Mesurado Bay, and in December, 1821, made an agree
ment with fhe six native kings or headmen who owned the
ground, receiving a deed to the same and giving in exchange
muskets, beads, gunpowder, rum, knives, forks, spoons, hats,
coats, looking-glasses, handkerchiefs, canes, umbrellas, soap,
etc. The contracting parties pledged themselves to live in
peace forever. The first colony arrived at Mesurado on Jan
uary 7, 1882, and fovind much work awaiting them; land was
to be cleared, shelter made for the provisions, houses built for
themselves and many other things to be done which Hfe in a
new country required.
Though the natives had promised friendship it was not long
before they began to show signs of hostility. Slave traders in
the neighborhood aroused ill feehng by telling the tribes that
if the colony was allowed to flourish, it would break up the
selling of slaves and would mean the loss of the rum and
tobacco which the natives had been taught to prize. Several
raids were made upon the colonists and they who were already
fighting disease and great bodily discomfort were called upon
to take arms and fight for life itself. The situation called forth
the best that was in them and among the freedmen who dis-

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 47

tinguished themselves in the early days, along more than one
linewere Lot Cary and wife, Elijah Johnston, Collin Teague
and wife, Joseph Blake, Richard Sampson and Joseph Lang
ford and wife. Later came Joseph Shepherd, a school teacher,
and J. B. Russwurm, who founded and edited the Liberia
Herald and afterward became Governor of New Maryland.
Colored lieutenant governors were Lot Cary, Rev. C. M.
Waring, Anthony D. Williams, J. J. Roberts. Other notable.
characters of colonial Liberia were George M. Erskine, a Pres
byterian minister; Jacob W. Prout, of Baltimore; Mr. and
Mrs. Tittler, missionaries ; Archie Moore and Closter Simpson,
of Mississippi ; Dr. Robert McDowell, of Edinburgh, Scotland,
colonial physician ; and Charles H. Webb, his assistant.
In 1836 Mr. James Brown was elected President of the
Town Council of Monrovia, an office equal to that of mayor.
Mr. Brown took the greatest interest in agriculture and made
a number of very interesting and successful experiments. He
published several circulars looking to the promotion of good
farming in the colony arid he also instituted an agricultural
conversation club, a fair and a museum. He lent every assist
ance to the White Plains Manual Labor School, established
during his presidency by Missionary Society of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. The school was located at Millsburg, a
beautiful and fertile spot, and was under the care of Rev. B. R.
Wilson. No one can read the early history of Liberia without deeply
appreciating the spirit of Christian love and devotion which
moved the Avhite agents and missionaries most of whom gave
their Hves to the cause; among them were Bacon, Andrus
Sessions, Helton, Ashmun, Randall, Levi Scott and others.
The spirit which animated Bacon seems to have been in all
the rest. Said he, " As regards myself, I counted the cost of
engaging in the service before I left America. I came to these
shores to die and anything better than death is better than I
expect." After the colony had been established, many slave owners

48 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

in the United States freed their slaves and sent them to Liberia.
Hundreds were recaptured from slave vessels, and several
companies of free Negroes joined the colony. The colonization
society had branches in many states and was untiring in its
effort to support the colony. The Colonization Society of
Maryland was independent of the National Colonization
Society because it was found that thereby it would receive
•more support from the state legislature. The colony at Cape
Palnias was founded and controlled by the Maryland Coloniza
tion Society, but finally became part of the Liberian Republic.
The natives showed themselves willing to be taught.
Writing of them in 1827 Lot Cary said : " The heathen in our
vicinity are very anxious for the means of light. They will
buy it, beg it, and sooner than miss it, they will steal it. In
renewing our school establishment up to Cape Mount, I had
upwards of forty natives carry out baggage, and though they
had every opportunity to commit depredations nothing was lost
except fifteen spelling books,"
When it was plainly to be seen that Liberia as a colony
could not defend itself steps were taken to form it into an
independent government, and on July 26, 1847, the colony
became the Free and Independent Republic of Liberia. Article
I, Section 1 of the constitution reads as follows : All men are
born equally free and independent, and have certain natural
inherent and inalienable rights, among which are the rights of
enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possess
ing and protecting property, and of pursuing and obtaining
safety and happiness.
The republic was first recognized by Great Britain, next
by France and then by the other powers. The chief officials
are the President, Vice President, a Senate and House of
Representatives, a Cabinet and a Supreme Court. The Presi
dent must be thirty-five years of age and own real estate ;
electors must be of Negro blood and be owners of land ; na
tives may vote but usually do not e.xcept in larger towns.
Governor Joseph Jenkins Roberts became the first President

A NARRATI"VE OF THE NEGRO 49

of the Liberian Republic and served from 1848 to 1856. Suc
ceeding Presidents were Hon. Stephen A. Benson, 1856-64;
Daniel Warner, 1864-68; James S. Payne, 1868-70; Edward
J. Roye, 1870-72; James Jenkins Roberts, 1872-7 6; James
Spriggs Payne, 1876-78; Anthony W. Gardner, 1878-84;
Hillary R. W, Johnson, 1884-1891 ; Joseph J. Cheeseman,
1892-98; William D. Coleman, 1898-1900; Garretson W. Gib
son, 1900-04; Arthur Barclay, 1904-12.
On January 1, 1912, Plon. Daniel Edward Howard was
inaugurated President of the republic. " It was the first inau
guration CA^er attended by native chiefs."
Liberia is abotit the size of the State of New York, and the
total population is between fifteen and twenty-one hundred
thousand, about twelve thousand of whom are Americo-
Liberians. The principal tribes represented are the Mandingo,
the Kisi, the Gola, the Kru and allies. The coast region is
divided into three counties — Basa, Sino, and Maryland.
There is a government college, Methodist college and a
Protestant Episcopal high schcml; Dr. Blyden was at one time
president of Liberia College. Dr. Aiexandei Crummell once
had charge of the Episcopal mission in that country.
Francis Burns was the first colored missionary bishop of the
Methodist Episcopal Church to West Africa, serving from
1858 to MiC3. In 1834 he went to Liberia and did splendid
work as evangelist and teacher. Upon his election to the
bishopric, he came to this country to be ordained and returned
to Africa. In a few years his health failed and in 1863 he died.
John Wright Roberts was ordained a few years afterward
and succeeded Bishop Burns. " Roberts vigorously carried
forward the Avork so wisely begun by his predecessor, and it
is said that at the time of his death, in 1875, the Methodist
Episcopal Church in Africa numbered more than two hundred
thousand souls." " The Right Reverend S. D. Ferguson, the
present Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Liberia, is a native
of South Carolina. Bishop Ferguson has spent almost his
entire life in Africa. Although now advanced in age, he is

so A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

extremely active and has a firm grip on his work. He has
trained up a fine body of native clergymen."
In Liberia there is an organized militia, a volunteer force
and a police force. Every male citizen from sixteen years old
to fifty, capable of bearing arms, is liable to serve. The
national flag bears a single star and stripes.
The hinterland is undeveloped so that the resources of the
country are not exactly known, but gold, diamonds, copper,
lead, zinc have been found. There are no railways and oxcarts
are the vehicles commonly used; a motor road has recently
been constructed, about twenty miles in length. Seven lines
of steamers regularly visit Monrovia — British, German,
French, Spanish.
The following colored Americans have served as United
States Ministers to Liberia: Hon. J. Milton Turner, John H.
Smyth, Henry Highland Garnet, O. W. L. Smith, Ernest
Lyon, W. D. Crum. Hon, James Robert Spurgeon, a graduate
of Yale, was at one time secretary of legation. He was com
mended for excellent service. In 1902, Hon. George W. Ellis,
of Kansas University, succeeded Mr. Spurgeon. Mr. Ellis
served eight and one half years, and as he is an authority upon
questions of economics and sociology, he was able to render
important service to the Liberian government.
Of Liberia, Mr. Ellis says : "Liberia offers to the United
States an opening to the most extensive, the most desirable and
the best paying commerce of all the world. Agricultural pos-
¦sibilities of the republic are tremendous, on account of the
-fertility of the soil. . Liberia also affords access to a hundred
million Sudanese natives, the highest type of the Negro race,
and cultured in many arts." "The Sudanese of northern Africa
have a civilization dating back for centuries, and similar in its
origin to that which made Morocco the metropoHs of Negro
culture years ago."
, Besides the multitude of valuable articles to be found in
Liberia proper and the Hinterland, " not least are the hides of
many animals — of the leopard, the beautiful spotted bushcat,

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 51

of many varieties of deer, of the monkey, the alligator and the
boa-constrictor. All these beasts inhabit the interior. The
elephant is to be found within two or three days' walk of Cape
Mount. Domestic cattle are also numerous on the Mandingan
plains and among some of the coast tribes. These cattle are
descended from ancient stock, introduced into Africa centuries
ago from Egypt and the Mediterranean."
The government of Liberia has not had a smooth path, for,
envious of the great natural wealth which the country contains,
some of the European powers have artfully tried to undermine
the republic. In 1910 a commission, appointed by President of
U. S., visited Liberia to look into the condition of the country,
as the Liberians had urgently requested America to come to
their aid. The commission consisted of Messrs. Roland P.
Folkner, George Sale and Emmett J. Scott : the latter has been
for many years, secretary to Dr. Booker T. Washington. The
commission reported favorably and the United States has
established a sort of financial protectorate over the country and
has placed American officials in charge of Liberian customs.
Writing of Liberia in 1832 a visitor says : " All my expecta
tions in regard to the health, harmony, order, contentment,
industry and general prosperity of the settlers were more than
realized. I saw no intemperance nor did I hear a profane
word. I know of no place where the Sabbath appears to be
more respected than in Monrovia; no man, not even a native,
could be hired " for love or money " to work on the Sabbath
day. Most of the settlers appear to be rapidly acquiring prop
erty and I have no doubt that they are doing better for them-
serves and their children than they could do in any other part
of the worid."
"Previous to the settlement of Liberia the mouths of the
rivers St. Paul, Mesurado and St. John were the greatest marts
for slaves on the windward coast. Thousands came down
those streams each year and were sold away. Now those
rivers are used by the husbandmen to bring their produce to
Monrovia, Grand Bassa and Etina, and the native paddles

52 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

liis caiioe iu safely luidcr the iiroU-elion of the colonies founded
liy the Colonization Society."
.\ visitor to Liberia in liMO writes: "The people of Mou-
rovi;i look, ;ict and dress very like the better class of Negroes
of .\tlaiita or Louisville. .Ml the .¦\merico-l,ilierians (and
many civilized natives) are neally but iiol lla-^liily clothed, and
most of the aborigines put on au extra cloth when they conic
to town. 1 doubt il" there be ;iiiy where in the Ihiitcd Stales a
Negro community of the si/e of Monrovia where there is '<o
little boisteroiisness or profanit\, Swearin^g is a lost art and 1
saw but one ease uf ilrunkenness during m\ Iirst month in
i\lonrovia." " The Liberian Sablialh suggests the quiel of a New iMiglaud
eit\- — a (|uiet that is hrdken only hy the sound of church
organs and congregational sinj;in>;. The ehurehes are well
attended and the services are coiulucted with due regard to
dignity and re\-ereiice," So you see lhat for at least eighty
years tile Liberians have cdiulucted themsehes with the .same
dignity atul ha\e had no need to be ashamed of their country.
.\ writer describes the inaugural eereiiKiiiies of President
llowanl, held January I, 191'.', as \ery imposing, " it was the
first iiiau!;uiation ever attended by native chiefs, headmen and
retainers, and tlieir presence was siguirieaiit, Thes- talked
nothing but ]ieace and prosperity', and promised to do all iu
their power to make the new ailministratiini a highl\' successful
one. Nearly Iwo thousand natives from the interior listened to
President I Inward adx'ocale that they be given equal rights,
and when mi the second day President lloward aud N'ice
President llanium donned altire similar to that worn !)>¦ the
native chiefs, the incident oecasioned much good feeling."
l'\illowiiig is the (iHicial family of the new administration ;
President, Daniel lvlw;ird llowartl; Nice President, Samuel
George llannon; .SeciH'tary of State, C, D. P. King; Seeret;u-y
of Treasurw Thom.-is W. I la>nes; Secretiiry of War and Navy,
Wilmot lv Dennis; Postmaster Gener;il, Col. Isaac Moort;
Secretary of Interior, j. J. Morris; Attorney General, Sanuiel

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 53

A. Ross; Secretary of Education, B. W. Payne; Executive
Secretary to the President, Walter F. Walker.
Still another writer sums up a recent article on Liberia as
follows : The Republic needs men, not so much missionaries
in the ordinary sense of the word. Like the Negroes of the
United States, she appears to have no lack of preachers. She
needs men who will support themselves by their toil, and who,
as citizens, will strive for the national good. Especially does
she need men of mechanical ability to grapple with her indus
trial tasks. I think if I were a Negro, Liberia would appeal
to me strongly upon this ground. I think I would count it a
privilege to cast in my lot with the Negro Republic, to toil with
her for high national ideals, for the assimilation and civiliza
tion of my brothers of the jungle, and to prove to the world
what the black man can do.

54

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

CHAPTER vm.
HAITI AND SANTO DOMINGO.
HAITI lies in the Atlantic Ocean a short distance, about (>00
miles, to the southeast of Florida, This little island
Avhich Christopher Columbus named Hispanola or little
Spain and which was afterward called Santo Do'iiingo, has

THE PRESIDENT'S PALACE, PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI.
been the scene of many stirring events which we can here but
briefly mention. On this island Europeans built the first city
and erected the first Christian church in the New W'orld ; here
Negro slaves struck their first blow for freedo;n and here was
founded the first Negro Republic,
In formation the country is diversified by mountains and
valleys, by majestic plains and swiftly flowing rivers : the
landscape is attractive and the climate delightful. When Co
lumbus and his fellow-voyagers came upon the island in De
cember, 1492, the beauty of the country and the kindness of

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 55

the natives so impressed him that in reporting his discovery
to the King and Queen of Spain, he said : "These people love
their neighbors as themselves ; their discourse is ever sweet
and gentle and accompanied with a smile. I swear to your
Majesties there is not a better nation or a better land." You
will regret to learn that the example of these natives (who
though ignorant of the Christ, yet practiced his precepts) was
utterly lost upon the Spaniards, so-called followers of Jesus.
The Spaniards had not long been settled upon the island be
fore they had turned the friendly natives into bitter foes and
the bitterest foe of all was Caonbo.
He had his stronghold in one of the mountain fastnesses and
after the Spaniards began to cruelly treat the natives Caonbo
and his followers would descend from the mountains and/
wreak vengeance upon the whites. For a long time he was a
terror to the settlers, but he was finally captured by treachery
and placed on board a vessel bound for Spain, though he did
not live to reach there.
It is said that when the Spaniards discovered the island, the
natives numbered about one million and in fifteen years,
through overwork and cruel treatment, only about one-twen
tieth of them were living and by the year 1600 the last native
had died. The childish, trusting natives were taught from the
beginning that the Spaniards came fron heaven and as the
cruelties increased and life became unbearable, they began to
ask their oppressors when they would return to heaven and to
beg them to hasten their departure.
When it became evident that the natives would finally die
out entirely, the wicked plan was formed to capture natives of
Africa and bring them over the sea to do the work and suffer
the treatment which had killed so many thousands of the na
tive Indians of Hispanola ; this, in the early sixteenth century
was- the beginning of Negro slavery in the W'estem Hemi
sphere. The English and the French had long envied the Spanish
their West Indian possessions, and in 1630 French people estab-

5*5 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

lished a colony at St. Christopher on the island of Santo Domin
go, but the Spanish drove them away. The French then took
refuge on the tiny island of Tortuga near by and lived quietly
there for awhile; but the Spanish went there one day while
the men were at sea and killed all the women and children.
The Frenchmen, their hearts filled with grief and rage, became
pirates; others joined them and for over fifty years war was
waged between them and the Spanish. In 1697, the French
obtained from Spain a regular cession of the western part of
the island of Santo Domingo and began to colonize it, naming
their part Haiti.
After that, the two nations lived peacefully on the island;
the fertile soil was thoroughly cultivated and prosperity
reigned. Meanwhile, there had sprung up three distinct di
visions of the population: the whites, of European descent;
the blacks, of African descent, and the mulattoes, who were an
admixture of the other two races. From time to time the
blacks had risen in insurrection because of cruel treatment,
many had escaped to the mountains and had there made for
themselves homes ; but the large majority were slaves. The
mulattoes, though free in name, were far from free in reality;
they were taken advantage of, imposed upon and the worst
indignities heaped upon them ; they were allowed to hold no
public office, to take no part in public affairs and to practice
no profession, it mattered not how well qualified they might
have been. So they busied themselves with the buying of
land and other property and with the acquirement of educa
tion and culture; they were compelled to serve a length of
time in the army and became skilled in the tactics of war.
Numbers of them grew very wealthy, traveled abroad, edu
cated their children in France and were persons of refined
and cultivated tastes.
At the outbreak of the revolution in France, the population
of Haiti was about 500,000, of which about 40,000 were whites,
30,000 mulattoes and the remainder, a tremendous majority,
as you see, were black slaves ; the mulattoes at this time owned

A NARRATI-VE OF THE NEGRO 57

about one-third of the soil and one-fourth of the slaves. While
residing in France,, the' mulattoes had made friends among the
most advanced thinkers of that countr.y and, putting before
these friends the state of affairs in Haiti, had received great
sympathy. The whites of Haiti largely sided with the revolutionary
party in France (though .some were Royalists) and at once
responded to the call of the National Convention in Paris by
sending delegates- and by adopting the motto: "Liberty, Equal
ity, Fraternity." The mulattoes also demanded representa
tion which was denied them, so they sent a delegation of their
own, headed by J. Vincent Oge, who had been educated in
France. This delegation was well received by Lafayette, Abbe
Gregoire, Robespierre and other influential Frenchmen, who
belonged to a society called the Friends of the Blacks, and
who were really trying to piit into practice their noble motto ;
said Robespierre, "Perish the colonies rather than sacrifice
one atom of our principles."
When Oge and his fellow delegates returned to Haiti they
were arrested "for their presumption" and put to death in a
horrible manner. This news aroused great indignation in
Paris and the Friends of the Blacks brought such influence to
bear upon the National Assembly that a decree was passed
declaring that "all piersons oi color, born of free parents, were
entitled to all the privileges of French citizens."
During these happenings neither whites nor mulattoes had
given a thought to the slaves, but the pulse of Freedom was
throbbing throughout the world and ttie blacks were thinking
for. themselves. They had long been secretly planning a .stroke
of sorne kind and on August 23rd, 1791, they arose and swept
from plantation to plantation, killing and burning as they
went. It is said that fully one thousand plantations were de
stroyed and twelve hundred families reduced to want and
misery. As mulattoes and whites were both slave-holders,
this blow drew them together for the time again.st the blacks ;
the Spanish of Santo Domingo attacked the Haitians, Royal-

58 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

ists fought Revolutionists and the war which resulted was
"neither a civil war nor a foreign war, nor a war of races,
but a composite of all three."
At this moment appeared the mighty leader of the Blacks,
Pierre Dominique Toussaint Breda, who, because he could
always find a way or make one, was once called by a French
General, Toussaint the Opener, Toussaint L'Ouverture and
this is the name by which he is known to history. As a child
Toussaint possessed unusual intelligence and was taught to
read and write by a fellow slave. As he grew he was con
stantly improving his mind; he gained quite a knowledge of
Latin and medicine and was often employed as a horse doctor.
He was finally promoted to be coachman by his master and
allowed the use of the library in his spare time. This advant
age he fully appreciated as you may judge.
When the slave insurrection broke out on an adjoining plan
tation, Toussaint refused to join the blacks because he thought
their plans cruel and useless. He secretly conveyed his
master and family to an American vessel which was about to
sail sending with them as much produce as he could gather.
Then, seeing the aimlessness of the insurrection and the need
of leaders, he joined the blacks and immediately was placed
in a responsible position. He disciplined and trained his men,
who were devoted to him, until they were worthy the name
"soldiers." Meantime France and England had gone to war and in May,
1794, an English squadron appeared before Port-Au-Prince ;
the French gave up the city and the English took quiet pos
session. The blacks and mulattoes had now joined forces and
occupied the mountainous part of the island under the con-
mand of Toussaint and Regaud, a mulatto. In March, 1797,
the French government appointed Toussaint commander-in-
chief of all the armies in Haiti. He began a campaign against
the English "who found him .a powerful opponen'., and
dreaded exceedingly to fall into his hands." He also aided
in conquering the Spanish who occupied the eas^'^rn part of

A NARRATI'VE OF THE NEGRO 59

the island and they, by treaty, gave over the whole island to
France. Toussaint next concluded a treaty with General
Maitland, head of the English forces, who "in behalf of his
government acknowledged Haiti to be an independent, neutral
power and agreed to withdraw his forces from the island."
In connection with the withdrawal of the English a story is
told which shows what manner of man Toussaint was. To
make final arrangements. General Maitland had agreed to visit
General Toussaint at his headquarters, and to do so he was
obhged to cross territory filled with hostile Negro soldiers.
General Roume, a Frenchman, who had a command some dis
tance away, knowing that Maitland was practically defence
less, sent word to General Toussaint to capture the English
man. When the latter arrived at headquarters he was com
pelled to wait quite a' while before Toussaint appeared, and,
realizing his position began to grow uneasy. When Toussaint
finally made his appearance, he gave Maitland two letters to
read ; the first was the treacherous advice of Roume and the
other his reply, which read as follows : "What ! Have I not
passed my word to the English general ? How then, can you
suppose that I will cover myself with dishonor by breaking it ?
His reliance on my good faith leads him to put himself into
my power; and I should be forever infamous, if I were to act
as you advise. I am faithfully devoted to the Republic; but
will not serve it at the expense of my conscience and my
honor." It is needless to say that General Maitland was ever
after a firm friend of Toussaint L'Ouverture.
When peace was restored, Toussaint who had been ap
pointed governor for life, showed himself as able to lead in
the affairs of state as in affairs of war. He caused the adop
tion of a constitution which acknowledged the authority of
France, but allowed no distinction between citizens because
of race or color; the whites were protected and their estates
restored to them and prosperity returned to Haiti. When
Napoleon Bonapart made himself First Consul of France,
Toussaint, admiring his genius, sent him a communication ad-

6o

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

dressed "From the First of the Blacks to the First of the
Whites." Napoleon, incapable of valuing such qualities of
mind and heart as Toussaint possessed, deeply resented what
he considered the presumption of .the ex-slave ; he could not
bear the thought of Haiti, independent and free, and resolved
to establish slavery again.
To this end he fitted out an expedition under command of
his brother-in-law, Le Clere, which suddenly appeared off
Cape Francois. Le Clere seized Sanjos, the harbormaster, and
threatened to hang him if he refused to lead the squadron into
the harbor or to reward him with 2,000 pounds sterling if
he consented. Sanjos heroically refused to betray his country,
but Le Clere succeeded in making a landing near by. General
Henri Christophe, commander of the forces in the vicinity,
upon hearing of the arrival of the French, burned the town to
ashes and marched his men to Toussaint's residence about
forty miles away.
Le Glerc had brought over with him Toussaint's sons who
had been studying in France. He sent them, under guard, to
their father to beg him to yield quietly, claiming (the boys
really believed it) that Napoleon had only the good of Haiti
at heart. Toussaint's wife joined her prayers to those of her
children and the great general began to feel that fhey miglit
be right. But soon his insight taught him that the French
meant nothing but evil and once more he took up arms.
When Le Clere found that he could not subdue the Haitians
he made a treaty of peace with them which he had no inten
tion of keeping. Shortly after this the home of Toussaint was
surrounded at midnight and he and his family were placed on
a vessel and hurried to France. It is said that the noble gen
eral did not lose hope, but felt that Napoleon would give him
justice. Being himself the soul of honor, capable of justice to
his humblest enemy, he judged the First Consul by himself
but he was to find out his sad mistake. Upon arriving at
France he was separated from his family; he never saw Na
poleon, but was taken from one prison to another and finally

A NARRATIVE OF T^E NEGRO 6i

unused to the climate and tortured by cold and hunger, on
April 27th, 1803, in the gloomy dungeon of Jotix, great Tous
saint died.
The Haitians, furious at the treacherous and irihuman treat
ment of their leader, took up arms under General Jean Jac
ques Dessalines. The French army was reduced to a handful,
as much by yellow fever as by war and was compelled to ca-
pitiilate. On January 1st, 1807, Haiti proclaimed her inde
pendence and Dessalines was appointed governor for life,
shortly after taking upon himself the title of Emperor Jean
Jacques I. Unfortunately, he had not experienced and wit
nessed the inhumanities of the French and Spanish in vain,
and after a reign of about two years, marked by the greatest
cruelties to the whites, he was assassinated.
The Spanish now took back the eastern part of the island
and the western was governed in the north by Henri Chris
tophe and in the south by Petion ; Christophe took the title of
King Henri I and had his family proclaimed as royal, but
Petion remained satisfied with the title of president. Upon
the; death of these two, Haiti was united under the rule of
Boyer. He succeeded in bringing the Spanish part under his
government, and the whole island became one republic and
was recognized by France in 1825. In 1842, the citizens re
volted against Boyer and compelled him to flee, and in 1844
those of the Spanish section formed themselves into an inde
pendent republic, taking their old name, Santo Domingo.
The capitol of the Republic of Santo Domingo is the city of
the same name which was founded in 1496 by Bartolemeo
Colombo, brother of Christopher Columbus. It was destroyed
by hurricane in 1547, and rebuilt on right bank of the Ozama.
The government is in the hands of a president, a senate, and a
chamber of deputies ; there is a supreme court and a regular
army. The inhabitants are largely of mixed European and
African blood and there are many Turks and Syrians ; the
language is Spanish and the religion Roman Catholic. The

62 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

people engage in cattle raising, etc., and sugar growing is a
flourishing industry.
The Republic of Haiti is governed by a president, a senate
and a chamber of commerce. The inhabitants number about
900,000, about nine-tenths of whom are rated Negroes, the
remainder mulattoes. There are four hundred national
schools, for which one million dollars are annually appro
priated ; the religion is Roman Catholic, the language French ;
the people chiefly engage in agricultural pursuits and excel
lent coffee, cotton and cocoa are grown. There is a light rail
way and a tramway of about five miles in Port-au-Prince, the
capital. Besides the men already named, the following have ruled
over Plaiti: Jean Pierre Boyer, from 1818 to 1843; Herard-
Riviere, four months; General Pierrot; General Soulouque,
who called himself "Faustin I, Emperor of Haiti," and ruled
from 1847 until 1859, organized a terrible massacre of mulat
toes. He was succeeded by a mulatto, Fabre Geffrard, 1859-
67; then came Sylvain Salnave, 1867-9; Nissage-Saget, 1869-
74 ; Michel Domingue, 1874-6 ; General Boisrond-Canal, 1876-
9; General Salomon, 1879-88; Gen. F. D. Legitime, 1888-9;
General Hyppolite, 1889-96 ; Gen. T. A. S. Sam, 1896-1902 ;
Gen. Nord Alexis, 1902-08 ; Gen. H. E. A. Simon, 1908-1911.
lion. E. D. Bassett, of Pennsylvania, was the first United
States Minister to Haiti, and served from 1869 to 1877. He
was succeeded by John M. Langston. Other ministers were
Frederick Douglass, John S. Durham, W. F. Powell.
I'he Rev. Theodore Holly, minister of the Protestant Epis
copal Church, made a visit to Haiti in 1855 to consult with the
authorities there as to the proposed settling in that country of
American Negroes. In 1861, a number of colored people left
this country to make their homes in Haiti, and some of their
descendants are there at the present time. In 1874, Mr. Holly
was consecrated Bishop in Grace Church, New York and
was given charge of the work in Haiti. Bishop Holly gained

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 63

the affection of the people and did a notable work in the island.
He died March 22, 1911.
The history of Haiti is not a peaceful one, for the Haitians
are, as we have seen, both by inheritance and training, a war
like people and there have been many uprisings and revolu
tions. It has been said, however, that the mass of the people
have long since tired of war; and, indeed, how could it be
otherwise since they are always the ones wdio suffer most ?
There has been and is, however, a set of men who, instead
of devoting their time and talents to the arts of peace, are
always ready to bring about an upheavel hoping thereby to
gain for themselves wealth or position ; there are also men of
other nations who, hoping for financial gain, are constantly,
though secretly, urging the Haitian malcontents to revolution.
How sad that the example of great Toussaint should so
often be forgotten; Toussaint to whom Plaiti was always first
and self last ; Toussaint, true patriot, statesman and .soldier of
whom it has been said: "It is to affirm the scantiest truth that
to the names of Cincinnatus and Washington, history has
added that of Toussaint L'Ouverture."

64

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

CHAPTER IX.
BRAZIL, JAMAICA, AND BERMUDA.
THE early history of the Negro in Brazil and in all the West
Indies Islands was much the same as the early history of
the wicked system of slavery in Haiti. In each place we
see the native Indians oppressed, crushed and killed in great
numbers ; we then see native Africans brought over to take the

A MAROON TOWN IN JAMAICA.
place of the Indians, Brazil was the headquarters of slaverv in
South America, and the first African slaves were brought to
Brazil by the Dutch, in the early seventeenth century. Though
for" many years the Dutch and the Portuguese contended for
power in Brazil, to the Negro it mattered not which side won
for he still remained in slavery. Both nations established col
onies in Africa whence they exported natives to the New
World, and it is said that for years the average exportation
was not less than forty thousand each year.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 65

In the latter part of the seventeenth century, about severity
years after the arrival of the first slaves, a number of Negroes
working in the forests of Pernambuco, beat down their over
seers, took their freedom and for many years harried the Por
tuguese. In 1719 a plot was formed by Negroes in Minas
Geraes, southeast Brazil, to kill all the whites on Holy Thurs
day; but the plan was betrayed before the time and most of
those concerned in it fled to the forests and lived with the
Indians. These and other escaped slaves in Brazil and the
West Indies became known as Maroons.
The origin of the word " Maroon '' is uncertain, but it was
a name greatly dreaded by the whites of the countries above
named, for the Maroons were merciless and fearless. In the
Dutch colony of Surinam, a band of Maroons had been form
ing for some years and by suddenly descending upon the set
tlers, from time to time, had obtained arms and ammunition.
The authorities of the colony repeatedly tried to conquer or
scatter them, but were ahvays unsuccessful.
In 1736, thinking to terrify the Maroons, the officials of
gurinam executed in a horrible manner a few who had been
captured. " One man was hanged alive by an iron hook stuck
through his ribs, two others were burned alive, six women were
broken upon the wheel and two little girls were beheaded."
But instead of terrifying the Maroons these awful deeds made
them ftjrious. They waged such effective warfare that the
Dutch governor of Surina^u finally offered a treaty of peace
which' was accepted and signed by the great Maroon chief,
Captain Adjoe, in 1749. Peace lasted, however, but a short
while, and after that, for many years, there was war between
the colonists ancl the Maroons.
In 1773 troops were brought over from Holland but were
unable to subdue the Negroes, who added to their dauntless
courage a perfect knowledge of the country, and finally the
colonists gave up the contest. The Maroons formed an inde
pendent republic with laws and customs of their own.
7he great majority of the Negroes in Brazil, ho-w^y^x, s\\\]

66

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

remained in slavery, though few of them became reconciled to
that condition. Many committed suicide and the more cour
ageous joined the Maroons or went to live with the natives in
the forests.
Laws were passed in favor of the slaves and from the six
teenth century they were allowed about eighty-five days in
each year in which to earn money with which to purchase their
freedom ; beside, "any slave who was the parent of ten chil
dren could demand his or her freedom."
A number of the freedmen acquired great wealth, educated
their children and not a few became priests and bishpps in the
Roman Catholic Church. In 1828 an English clergyman visit
ing Brazil wrote of the Negro as follows :
" For the first time I saw an African Negro under four
aspects of society ; and it appeared to me that in every one his
character depended upon the state in which he was placed, and
the estimation in which he was held. As a despised slave he
was lower than other animals of burden that surrounded him,
more miserable in his look, more revolting in his nakedness,
more distorted in his person and apparently more deficient in
intellect than the horses and mules that passed him by.
Advanced to the grade of a soldier, he was clean and neat in
his person, amenable to discipline,. expert at his exercises, and
showed the port and bearing of a white man similarly placed
As a citizen he was remarkable for the respectability of his
appearance, and the decorum of his manners in the rank
assigned him; and as a priest, standing in the house of God,
appointed to instruct society on their most important interests,
and in a grade in which moral and intellectual fitness is required,
and a certain degree of superiority is expected he seemed even
more devout in his orations and more correct in his manners
than his white associates. I came, therefore, to the irresistible
I conclusion in my mind that color is an accident affecting the
surface of a man and having no more to do with his qualities
than his clothes — that God had equally created an African in
the image of his person and equally given him an immortal

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 67

soul ; and that an European had no pretext but his own cupid
ity, for impiously thrusting his fellow man from that rank in
the creation which the Almighty had assigned him, and degrad
ing him below the lot of the brute beasts that perish."
It has been nearly one hundred years since these words of
wisdom were written and slavery has long since been abolished
in Brazil and elsewhere. As you grow older, my children, you
will understand that these words are as true of the Negro
today as ever they were and you will wonder that all men
everywhere cannot grasp this simple truth.
At the present day the population of Brazil is largely an
admixture of Negro and Indian, the number of whites being
comparatively small. In the northern provinces the Indian
element is largest, while in Pernambuco, Bahai, Rio de Janeiro
and JVIinas, Negroes are more numerous. The Negroes of
Bahia are said to be physically superb.
Brazil remained a -Portuguese colony until 1822, when it
became independent under the title of the Empire of Brazil,
and Dom Pedro, son of the King of Portugal, was crowned
Emperor. In 1871, a law was passed for the gradual abolition
of slavery and in May, 1888, slavery was entirely abolished in
Brazil. The peasant class, called Moradores, an admixture of Ne
groes, Negroid and Indians, settle on the estates of the larger
land owners and are encouraged to do so by the owners since
they give labor for rent. They purchase goods and borrow
money of the landlords and are usually in their debt. The land
lord and his wife are often godparents for the children and share
with them the two principal meals of the day. Speaking of
this class a writer says : Until the Negro in Brazil acquires
money and invests it in the buying and development of land
so long will the white man hold the political and social
ascendency. But there is no color line, and as the Negro has been given
every opportunity to advance, since the emancipation and many
have made splendid use of their opportunities, they have

68 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

proven themselves good citizens in every sense of the word,
and it is said that more than one president of the republic has
had Negro blood in his veins.
The wealthier Brazillian Negroes travel extensively, educate
their children abroad and buy much of their clothing in the
shops of London and Paris.
JAMAICA.
The island of Jamaica, lying about sixty miles to the south
west of Haiti, furnished another background for scenes of
Negro daring and bravery in their pursuit of freedom. The
Hves of the slaves were exceedingly miserable, and in the
early days many committed suicide, believing that thus they
would return to Africa. The first slaves were brought over
by the Spaniards about 1517, and almost from the beginning,
the Negroes began running away to the mountains and living
with the natives, as in Brazil. When the EngHsh gained pos
session of the island, in 1657, these Maroons were so numerous
and so well organized that the new government was com
pelled to recognize them. To every man who would promise
obedience, twenty acres of land was given and a "Black Regi
ment" was formed of the younger men under command of Juan
de Bolas, in 1664. He was the first Negro to receive the rank
of colonel in the Janacia militia. But the Black Regiment was
in existence but a short time before its leader was killed and it
was disbanded.
From that time on, for over seventy years there was con
stant warfare between the Maroons and the colonists. Jamaica
abounded in fruits of many kinds, there were many wild pigs,
turtles and pigeons so that the Maroons were well provided
with food. They would frequently descend upon the planters
murder them and their families and burn their homes. And
this was kept up, as has been said for more than seventy
years. Toward the end of that period the government em
ployed great packs pf savage dogs and imported a number of

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 69

Indians from South America to harry and hunt down the
Maroons.
In 1738 a treaty of peace was signed by Governor Sir
William Trelawney and the Maroon chiefs, Cudjoe, Qriaco,
Accompong, and Cuffee. By the terms of this treaty the
Maroons were given their freedom and were to be paid thirty
shillings for each runaway slave returned to the colonists. So
much anxiety had the Maroons caused the planters that an
English statesman advised that they be " settled near some
large town in the lowlands where they would have easy access
to alcohol, the use of which would decrease their numbers and
destroy the hardy constitutions gained in the mountains."
What a temperance lesson should this suggestion teach us!
From the signing of the treaty for nearly sixty years the
Maroons lived peaceably with the English, but in 1795 they
revolted and nearly succeeded in inducing the slaves to join
them. The rebellion was put down in a few months, and
" those who gave themselves up before January 1, 1796, were
allowed to remain in Jamaica, and from them are descended
the Maroons of today settled at Moore Town, Trelawney Town
and at various places in their old haunts round the Cockpit
country." Nearly six hundred of those who delayed to sur
render were deported to Nova Scotia and it was of them you
have read in the story of Sierra Leone.
Besides the Maroons there were in Jamaica many thousands
of Negroes who were held in slavery, and from time to time
several uprisings occurred among them. Writing of them in
1735 an Englishman says : " We who buy slaves say we
confer a good, removing them to a better state both temporal
and spiritual, the latter, few among us have the hypocrisy to
own ; to remove Negroes from their homes and friends, where
they are at ease, to a strange country, people and language must
be highly offending against the laws of natural justice and
humanity, especially when this change is to hard labor, cor
poral punishment and for masters they wish dead. We are
accessories by trade to all that cruelty to their countrymen,

70 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

which has subjected them to the condition of slaves little better
in our plantations than that of cattle. The rigour of their
usage having made some hundreds of them at Jamaica run
away into barren mountains where they choose to trust to
Providence rather than to their fellow Christians in the plan
tations." But the wickedness and cruelty of slavery came to an end
in Jamaca in 1834 and the Negroes were allowed to fit them
selves to freedom as best they could. That this was not an easy
thing to do at first, you will readily understand. They suffered
injustice and discrimination and there was much unrest and
dissatisfaction. What has been called the Morant Bay Rebellion was the
outcome of years of oppression and injustice. The " Rebel
lion " began on October 12, 1865 and lasted but two or three
days, the Negroes and the whites killing each other and burn
ing each other's homes. There were eighteen killed in all and
about thirty-one wounded. The whole island was in a state of
panic and martial law was proclaimd. Hundreds of innocent
Negroes were put to death and thousands made homeless. The
chief victira of the " Rebellion " was the Hon. George William
Gordon, a well-educated Negro of property and influence. He
had held several public offices, but was disliked by the governor.
The latter accused him of inciting the Negroes to riot, and
though time has proven him to have been innocent, he was
hung just eleven days after the beginning of the riot.
" As early as 1850 the Negroes of Jamaica had made prog
ress ; at the time of emancipation there were practically no
Negro land owners, but in sixteen years they were worth one
hundred thousand dollars. At that time there was no distinc
tion between white and colored ; people were rated by culture
and wealth, though Negroes were on a much higher footing
than Jews, or ex-shopkeepers. The Negroes furnished two
regiments of soldiers and almost the entire police force of the
island was colored, The public printers, Messrs. Jordan and

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 71

Osborn were colored, and likewise the editors of the Kingston
Journal, the government paper.
" The famous West India Regiments grew, in 1795, out of
a local militia corps called the St. Vincent Rangers. All the
twelve regiments took part with the navy in the capture of the
French, Dutch and Danish possessions in America. After the
Napoleonic wars were over, the West India Regiments (one or
more of which had been qualified as ' Royal,' so that their
direct descendant of today has royal emblems in its insignia),
were reduced and reorganized. After the abolition of slavery
in the 30's, they became more especially a body of Negro
troops, only the officers of which were white, and included
many Barbadians in their midst. Two Regiments (now two
battalions of the West India Regiment) were stationed at
Freetown, Sierra Leone, and from 1850 onwards they fought
many battles for the British government on the Gambia river
in the interior of Sierra Leone and in Ashanti. At the present
day the First Battalion is stationed in Jamaica and the Second
Battalion in Sierra Leone. The total strength of the two
battalions is about eleven hundred."
" Their present uniform, so picturesque, yet business-like,
and so attractive to recruits, was practically the invention of
Queen Victoria. It was introduced in 1858. These remark
able Negro soldiers could, if necessary, play a considerable
part in maintaining the British position in tropical America,
if it were ever menaced."
At this time (1911) the Negroes of Jamaica are very pro
gressive, they have perfect political and social freedom, the
educational advantages are many and the standard high — the
Cambridge (England) examinations having been held annually
for forty years. Negroes, besides tilling the soil, fill nine-
tenths of the positions under the government, while many earn
a living as doctors, dentists, preachers, teachers, lawyers, mu
sicians, clerks, waiters, trades nen, skilled artisans, postal em
ployees, press reporters and many other positions of honor
and trust,

72 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

BERMUDA.
The Bermudas or Somers Islands consists of a number of
islands (said to number over three hundred) covering in all
about twelve thousand acres of land. The group is a British
possession, and in modern times its great value lies in the fact
that it is a naval station and coaling depot for English ships.
Bermuda was first discovered in 1532 by a Spaniard who
merely sighted and named them but did not land. Not long
after, lienry May, an Englishman, was shipwrecked on one
of the largest of the group. The story goes that he built, with
the aid of materials gathered from the wreck of his own ship,
a vessel of the cedar wood with which the island abounds, and
returned to England. He published an account of his adven
tures and of the island, then entirely uninhabited.
In 1609, Sir George Somers and others were also ship
wrecked upon the islands, while on their way to Virginia. It
is said that the}-, too, built a vessel and finally reached their
destination. There are no springs of fresh water in the island.
It is said that Negro slaves were probably landed here in
1620 and that in ten years there were several hundreds of
them in Bermuda. Beginning with the latter part of the seven
teenth century and running through a period of more than
one hundred years, the colored people joined their masters in
seafaring and became a "fine, bold race of seamen." "They
built sailing ships of from two to three hundred tons from the
timber of the Bermuda " cedar " (a red juniper), and in these
vessels brought the fish from the Newfoundland Banks to the
coasts of Portugal and the Mediterranean, or waited at the
islands of Madiera, Ascension or St. Helena for the returning
Indiamen, from whom they obtained cargoes of tea, spices,
porcelain, silks and other wares of the Far East. They carried
back port wine to Newfoundland, and Madeira wine to New
England and the Carolinas ; and distributed all along the east
ern seaboard of North America the products of the East
Indian trade."

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 73

The House of AssemWy, for which Negroes and Mulat
toes may now elect members and in which, if elected, they
themselves may sit, dates almost from 1620. Certainly from
1684, in which year the Bermudas became a colony directly
governed by the Crown. There is a garrison of five or six
thousand soldiers and seamen and besides these, there are
about 1,320 electors out of a population of nineteen thousand ;
and there are no discriminations whatever on account of race
or color.
The climate of the Bermudas is most delightful and it is
becoming quite a winter resort for persons from the United
States. It is said that there is hardly a more beautiful sight in
the floral kingdom than a field of Bermuda lilies in bloom.

74

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

H

CHAPTER X.
SLAVERY.
AVE you ever owned a kitten or any other living crea
ture ? Was it your very,' very own, tc treat just as you
pleased? If you are a sweet-tempered child you have

ANCIENT SLAVERY.
always been kind to Kittie, you have always seen to it that she
ha3 been well fed and comfortable; no doubt you have often
kept her in when she would have liked to be free to
come and go, and you may have given her meat to
eat when she wanted fish or milk. But because Kit-
tic was not a human being she may have (we cannot
tell) considered you a good owner and made herself satisfi.ed-

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 75

If you are a cruel child with a bad temper, Kittie has had a
hard time; you have kicked, pinched, beaten, maybe half
starved her, perhaps even killed her ; you have not cared
whether she was comfortable or not so long as you had her
to play with.
If you have ever owned any living thing, you can form some
idea of what it meant to be a slave owner and if you will
quietly think for a v/hile you can faintly imagine what it meant
to be a slave; to talk, walk, dress, eat, move, live, not as one
wanted or knew to be best, but in obedience to the will of one's
owner. I have compared the state of a slave with that of your
kitten because nearly every child has owned a kitten, but the
comparison is a feeble one and as you come to understand
more about slavery, I want you to think out for yourself a
more just comparison. Of course, a kitten cannot talk, or
think, or plan, or hope, in other words, it is not, as you know,
a human being, but it is weak and defenceless, arid you have
had absolute power over it, even the power of life and death.
In our talks we have often mentioned slavery and it has al
ways been the Negro or the Indian who was the slave. I
want you to know how old and how evil a system slavery was,
how in ancient times it covered the then known world, and
how none of the races of the earth have escaped its effects.
Slavery existed in one forai or another since history began.
Those who had the strength and the power have ever been
willing to compel the weaker to do their bidding and not until
the co-ming of Christ was there any persistent attempt either
to destroy slavery or to soften the hard lot of the slave, but
strange to say, it took hundreds of years before the preaching
of Christ's Golden Rule and Gospel of Love was so under
stood by Christians every where as to cause them to work with
energy and determination for the freeing of all slaves.
The ancient Hebrews, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians,
Chinese, the people of Indian, all held their conquered enemies
as slaves. The Phoenicians were great slave traders and kid
napped people of any and every nation, selling them as slaves,

76 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

"They stole Greeks and sold them, twelve centuries before
Christ, and they also sold stolen people to the Greeks." It is
said that in every country the condition of female slaves was
much worse than that of the males and that they were re
quired to do the hardest work and were treated in the harshest
manner. The Greeks held many slaves and the bondsmen of Athens
are said to have been much better treated than those of Sparta.
Since the Spartans were so stern with their children, they
would hardly have been tender with slaves. The slaves of
Sparta were called helots ; they belonged to the state and were
assigned to land owners, so many to a certain amount of land.
Their condition was very miserable and as they increased in
numbers they grew very restless, finally uniting and marching
against Sparta, which they nearly succeeded in taking. As
a usual thing, however, they were as loyal as they possibly
could be and often fought in the armies of Sparta, but they
received little gratitude from the state. The masters, through
guilty consciences perhaps, were kept in constant fear of up
risings, and at times would secretly give young Spartan men
permission to massacre the helots by night. At one time two
thousand helots who had valiantly fought for Sparta Avere
slain. The Romans owned many more slaves than the Greeks and
their numerous victories over other nations filled . the slave
market to over-flowing. It is said that at the close of the war
with Greece and the East "men were sold ior four drachmae
each or about sixty-two cents of our money," and these were
men of the highest type of ancient civilization. The Romans
seemed to prefer to humble the proudest, and men, who in
their own country had been slave owners, men who were cul
tured and who had lived in luxury, were most desired as
slaves by the Romans. "All races furnished their share pf the
greatest population of slaves that ever existed under one do
minion." The Roman conquests extendied through Germany
and France and as far north as England, and many English-

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 77

men were carried into slavefy, and their chiefs chained to the
chariot wheels of the conquerors.
"Roman citizens who had committed certain crimes became
'slaves of punishment ;' thieves who could not repay four times
the value of what they had stolen, became slaves to those
whom they had robbed; children were sold into slavery by
their parents, and poor debtors were sold as slaves."
Many citizens owned a great number of slaves, some as
many as twenty thousand each. "The price of slaves were not
fixed ; good actors, doctors, cooks, beautiful women, handsome
boys and jesters brought heavy sums. Learned men. gram
marians, architects, rhetoricians, and gladiators also sold at
high prices ; some classes of artisans and laborers sold for up
ward of three hundred dollars of our money each, but one
hundred dollars was a fair average price for a common slave,
and when a slave could be bought for about half that sum,
the price was held to be low." Rome as well as Greece ex
perienced many slave insurrections and these were usually led
by the gladiators or trained fighters ; the insurrection of Avhicli
Spartacus, the renowned gladiator was the leader, co.st many
lives and would probably have been successful had not the
leader been -slain early in the conflict.
You can see that a country in which so many of the inhabi
tants were restless, discontented and miserable and where so
many others were cruel tyrants, could not survive. Slavery
is said to have been one of the chief causes of the fall of
Rome. After the decline of the Roman power, the peoples
who overthrew the empire, established there the feudal system
and serfdom, another form of slavery.
The word serf means a servant or slave, and serfdom ex
isted in nearly every country in Europe. By this system the
whole mass of poor people were just a little better off than
slaves; they were compelled to work the land for the lords or
owners and though they could not be removed from the land
and wer? qtily bought or sold with it, theip fondition was piti-

78 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

able in the extreme; they were housed and fed with less care
than the livestock and clothed themselves as best they could.
When the Christian nations of western Europe united to
take back the Holy City of Jerusalem from the Turks, every
serf who enlisted in these wars (which were called Crusades)
became free to live where and how he pleased upon his re
turn home, and from this time serfdom gradually died out in
most European countries; liungary in 1848 and Russia in
1861, being the last to give it up. As the general emancipation
of Negro slaves in the United States took place in 1865, Russia
was but a few years ahead of this country in freeing its bonds
men. During the long wars between the Turks and the peoples of
southern and eastern Europe, in the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries, after each encounter, the defeated army was sold
into slavery ; each also invaded the others territory and cap
tured women and children for slaves. It was about this time
that Negro slavery came into prominence, but white slavery
still continued in Turkey and the Barbary states, being carried
on by the corsairs or pirates until 1816, when an English fleet
under Lord Exmouth successfully bombarded Algiers.
You have seen how, at some time in their history, members
of every great European race have been held in slavery. In
the early days of this repubHc white Americans had, in their
own persons a bitter taste of slavery in a most humilitating
form ; before this country possessed a navy, many American
merchant vessels were captured while passing through the
Mediterranean, by the Corsairs of North Africa and the of
ficers and seamen of these vessels were sold as slaA'es. In
order to ransom those American citizens the United States
Government was compelled to pay the sum of one million dol
lars. It seemed to give the Dey or ruler of Algiers the greatest
pleasure to insult and humiliate Americans.
Speaking of the enslavement of the Negro in ancient times
a writer says: "The fact that the ancients regarded black
slaves as luxuries proves that their number could not have

A NARRATIVEBOF the negro 79

been large in European countries to which they were taken,
either by the way of Egypt or that of Carthage. Such details
as we have concerning the black slaves of antiquity all serve
to show that they were not numerous, far less ,so, indeed, than
were slaves belonging to some of the highest of the white
races." It is said that with Admiral Don Christopher Columbus,
when he made his first voyage of discovery in 1492, was "Pie-
tro Alonzo, or Alonzo the Negro, who piloted the Nina, one. of
the three vessels under the command of Columbus." "Diego
el Negro was another Spanish Negro who sailed with Coluii-
bus on his second voyage in the capacity of cabin boy. The
Negro pilot, Pietro Alonzo also made minor discoveries and
was the first European Negro navigator to discover the Pearl
Coast,, after having purchased pearls from naked men. Alonzo
the Negro was also a pilot on Columbus' second voyage and
navigated the flagship on which Columbus himself sailed.
After leaving the Cape "Verde Islands, Columbus relied upon
this black man's knowledge of navigation.'
"Alonzo afterward became ma.ster and captain of a fleet that
sailed from Cadiz in January, 1496, and upon his return to
Spain from America, this black navigator was given a public
dinner at Seville by the Duke of Medina, which was attended
by the city authorities and court officials, in recognition of his
achievement in opening up to Spain, a veritable 'gate of pearls ;'
so that Negro brains aided iri' the discovery of America on the
very first voyage which Christopher Columbus made to this
continent.'' It is also said that three hundred Negro porters and soldiers
acco -npanied Cortes on his Mexican expedition ; Negroes car
ried the loads of Balboa on his discovery of the Pacific Ocean
in 1513, and went with Plernandez to Peru in 1530. Negroes
assisted as servants and laborers in the founding of the Span
ish city of St. Augustine, in Florida, in 1565, and were sailors
in the Spanish ships which explored the coasts of Virginia in

8o A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

]5'31. A Spanish Negro explorer, Estevan, discovered New
Mexico, the land pf the Zuni Indians, in 1539.
In 1562, John Hawkins, an English sea captain, together
with a number of other Englishmen, asked permission of
Queen Elizabeth to capture native Africans and sell them in
the New World. The request was granted, but the ships were
so packed that a great many died on the voyage. When the
Queen heard of it she was shocked, and called Hawkins before
her to reprimand him and to take away his charter; but Sir
John grew very eloquent over the benefits of slavery to the
Negro and made the Queen believe that to bring the African
into contact with such highly civilized and Christian people
as their new owners, was to do God's service. So, instead of
scolding, the Queen praised him, took shares in his company
and in 15(i4, lent him one of her ships. John Hawkins was at
heart, you see, a knave instead of a knight.
In the Mohammedan countries there have been black slaves
f ro n the time of the prophet, and they often rise very high, as
well in the state as in the household. But in all these cases, the
Negro has but shared the common lot and might have been
sold on the same day with the Greek and Arab and by the same
trader. The Negro was then sold, not because he was a Negro,
but because he was a man whose services could be turned to
profitable account.
While, as we have seen, Negro slavery was known in an- '
tiquity, it was left to the New World in general, and to the
country which we call our own, the United States of America,
in particular, to bring it to its largest and worst development.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO Si
C11,\PTKR XI.
THE NEGRa^) in TH1-: COH^NIKS.
PICTUKIC to \onrselves, de.ir children, a small group of
foreigners frightened and ,sad, w'ith hearts aching for
homo aud for tho lo\ed ones from whom they had boon
torn, with minds lilled with dread as to what was about to
befall them; picture thom landed, half clad and in chains in a
oinmtry whore the climate, tho ix'oplo. tho manners aud cus
toms wore all loially ililToront to anNihin^i; ihey had oxer known
and \ on w ill havo a faint idea of the feelings and the condition
of tho tirst gTonp of Xogroos who landed on the continent of
North Anierica.
-Vhhough authorities dilTor as to the exact date of tho landing
and also as to tho exact number of persons which nuulc uji
this linle group, we knoAV that about the ,\oar 1619, a .sni.all
nunilvr of native .Xfricaiis were landed in tho Colony of
\ irginia .md th.it iliose wore ihe forcniiiiiers of countless
others who wore to lv brought bore to take a part as slaves
.nid froenioii in tho dox elivpmcnt of this country.
The early iviri oi the soventeenih century belongs to the
dark .iges of the world's hisUM-\. lo tho lime when mon had
not \ot unclorstoi\l thai it is tho right of every human creature
to be freo and lhat il is the solemn dutv of ovor\ man and
o\ cr\ race to help tow.ird true fieodiMii every other man .and
every other race. So that, at ihis poriixl in North .\inorica.
wo find the Negro and tho Indian enshued and white men and
women cvMixiotcd of crime iu Eurcijio sent Xo tho colonies as
bond servanis. The laiter wore on much the same level as tho
sLuos, tho gioai dilTeronce being thai slaves were IxAund for
life, wlrile hcmd servanis were hold for a liniilod nnnihor of
\ ears. The siory of the Nci^ro during iho tirst imio hnudred .and
liftv ye.-irs of hi^ st.iy in .\mcric.i has been but luiolly recorded
and the record .shows little thai is bvighi ,xnd j>loas.ant. \\'hcn

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

the first slaves were landed the colony of A'irginia included
what shortly afterward became Maryland and the history of
the Negro in the two colonies is much the same. The raising
of tobacco had not yet become an important industry, there was
no particular work for the Negro to do and for about fifty
years the increase in the number of slaves was but slight.
Until 1662 they were held because they w^ere powerless to help
themselves, and because the whites found the holding of
slaves an easy and profitable thing, but no laws had been passed
concerning slavery in the Colony of Virginia. The law passed
in 1G()2 concerned the children and provided that the children
of slave mothers should be slaves, but eight years later the
folloAving act was passed: " It is resolved and enacted that all
servants not being Christians, imported into this country by
shipping shall be slaves for their lives ; but those who come
by land shall serve, if boys or girls, until thirty years of age,
if men or women twelve years and no longer." Those coming
by water were Negroes and those by land were Indians. On
this point one writer says : "No doubt the Indian Avas as
thoroughly despised as the Negro ; but the Indian was on his
native soil and therefore was a more dangerous subject."
From this time on several acts were passed concerning slavery,
but most of them were designed to make the lot of the slave
harder and more hopeless.
In the colony of New Netherlands, which as you know, was
governed by the Dutch, Negro slaves were much prized. Here,
as in the other colonies, a large amount of labor was necessary
to make the country habitable, and it was the Negro who did
this heavy work, and without whom this Avhole U. S. would
doubtless have been at lea.st one hundred and fifty years be
hind its present state of development.
The Dutch brought their slaves from the coast of Guinea
and from their possessions in Brazil and employed them as
farmers, as roadmakers and as house servants. " The jolly
Dutch fed and clothed their slaves as well as their white serv
ants. There were no severe rules to strip the Negroes of social

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 83

amusements or public feasts. They were married and given
in marriage, and if there were no schools for them there were
no laws against their acquirement of knowledge." Many
bought or were given their freedom. This is said to be very
different to the treatment of the natives of South Africa by
the Dutch of modern times.
When, in 1664, the"^ English took possession of New Neth
erlands (naming it New York), the condition of the slaves was
not changed for the better. Severe laws were passed putting
the slaves on a plane very much worse than that which they
had j3ccupied under Dutch rule. The English pretended to
be anxious to convert the slaves to Christianity, but they has
tened to assure the owners that no slave could become free by
professing a belief in Christianity.
" In 1709 a slave market was erected at the foot of Wall
street and here Negroes and Indians, men, women and chil
dren, all as sheep in the shambles, were daily declared the
property of the highest cash bidder." "By law free Negroes
were prevented from holding property and there was therefore,
but little hope for the Negro in either state — bondage or
freedom. There was little in this world to allure him, to
encourage him, to help him. The institution under which he
.suffered was one huge sepulchre and he was buried alive."
The most stirring event in the history of slavery in the
colony of New York was the so-called Negro plot, of 1741.
Some time before this the Negroes had risen, burned a house
and killed some of the whites ; but the troops had been called
and the riot quelled. A feeling of insecurity, however, took
possession of the colonists and when in May, 1741, the charge
was made that a number of Negroes and a few whites had
plotted to kill the residents of New York city and burn down
their homes, the people became insane with fear and unable to
rea.son. •Innocent men and women were accused and cast into prison ;
false witnesses arose on every hand; the accused, hoping to
clear themselves, made charges against others and every one

84 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

was at the iTiercy of any enemy he might have. " From the
11th of May to the 29th of August, one hundred and fifty-
four Negroes were cast into prison, fourteen of whom were
hiirnt, eighteen hanged, seventy-eight transported and the
r;ernaiijder pardoned. During the same space of time twenty-
four whites were committed to prison, four of whom were
executed and the remainder discharged." This period has
been likened to the time when so many innocent persons were
burnt as witches, at Salem, Mass.
In the colony of Massachusetts the Pequod Indians were
the first slaves, but as they " would not endure the yoke," they
wgre sent to the Bermudas and exchanged for Negroes in the
hope that the latter would bear slavery more patiently. "The
first exchange of Indians for Negroes was made in 1637, the
first year of the Pequod war and was doubtless kept up for
_mai?y years." As in Virginia, slavery here was at first of slow
growth, but towards the end of the seventeenth century the
institution grew rapidly. Slavery bred in this colony, as else
where a disregard for human feelings in dealing with the
Negro and " Negro children were considered incumbrances,
apd when weaned were often given away like puppies." But
while these and many other hardships were imposed upon the
slaves the general tenor of public feeling was more humane
than in colonies farther south. So that when a ship from
Bostoi; raided a native town on the Guinea coast and brought
hoqip th? captives as slaves, the people protested and the kid
napped Africans were ordered to be returned to their own
country. The question of slavery, pro and con, was always being dis
cussed in this colony and in May, 1766, the representatives of
the people were instructed to vote for the total abolition of
slavery; but the measure was not passed.
In an address on slavery pubhshed in 1769 the author says :
" What ! cries our good people here, Negro slaves in Bos-
tiori? It cannot be. It is nevertheless true. For though the
Bostonians have grounded their rebellion on the 'immutable

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 85

laws of nature' yet, notwithstanding their resolves about free
dom in their town meetings, they actually have in town two
thousand negro slaves."
The slaves, however, understood what was going on around
them, the undying longing for freedom within their own
breasts was increased and strengthened by the conversations
which they overheard and by the speeches which some heard
and repeated to others ; there were also a few slaves who had
managed to obtain some little education, of Avhich they made
the, very most. Being thus moved by the spirit of liberty it was
but natural that they became restless and sullen in their bonds
and their manner caused fear among the whites, some of whom
began to charge every fire or other untoward happening to fhe
Negroes. But white friends came forward to plead the cause of the
Negro "slave and many efforts were made to enact laws in his
behalf. Encouraged, doubtless by the friendly attitude of the
best whites, mariy slaves sued their owners for their liberty,
charging that they were unlawfully held in bondage, and in
several instances their petition was granted by the courts of
Massachusetts. On June 25, 1773, a petition, signed by Felix
Holbrook and other Negroes, was read before the House of
Representatives, " praying that they may be liberated from a
state of bondage and made freemen of this community ; and
that this court would give and grant to them some part of the
unimproved lands belonging to the province, for a settlement;
or relieve them in such other way as shall seem good and wise
upon the whole." This petition, which had been laid aside was
read again before the house in January, 1774. The committee
which was appointed to consider it presented, instead, " a bill
to prevent the importation of Negroes and others as slaves into
this province." This bill with additions was read in the House
of Representatives, read in the Council and sent to Governor
Plutchinson, who refused to sign it. It was then read before
the general court, sent again to the Council but finally failed to
become a law.

86 A NARRATIVE OF -^HE NEGRO

In the colony of Rhode Island there was, almost from the
beginning a strong feeling against slavery and laws were passed
against it, but neither the sentiment nor the law was strong
enough to prevent the holding of slaves in this colony. But
here the Negro had many white friends especially among those
known as Quakers ; these friends did all they could to lighten
the lives of the oppressed, but their kindness angered the slave
owners. Laws were passed to fine those who entertained
slaves and to whip them if they could not pa; the fine. As in
nearly every other slave-holding colony laws were passed for
bidding Indians as well as free Negroes to assemble at night
or to walk the streets after nine, o'clock without a pass or a
lawful e.xcuse.
The many vessels which entered the ports of New England
and of Rhode Island especially, opened up a path to liberty
which the slaves were not slow to take ; they were constantly
running away and shipping on these vessels. The officers
encouraged this, for they made splendid sp.?.men, but the loss
to the owners was so great that a law was passed forbidding
the masters of vessels to ship them. Vermont and New Hamp
shire had always the smallest number of slaves.
The Quakers, or Friends, did much to help the slaves in
Pennsylvania. " The first recorded protest of an American
against slavery was written in 1688 by a Quaker, Francis
Daniel Pastorius, adopted by the Germantown Friends and by
them sent up to the monthly meeting at Philadelphia. Speak
ing of the slaves, Pastoria asks, 'Have not these Negroes as
much right to fight for their freedom as you have to keep them
slaves?' He believed the time would come —
'When from the gallery to the farthest seat.
Slave and slave-owner should no longer meet.
But all sit equal at the master's feet.' "
In the colonies of Maryland, Delaware and Connecticut,
conditions were much the same as those recited above. The
colony of New Jersey was the only one in which the Negro

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 87

was tried by jury, the law also requiring the presence of three
justices of the peace, though in Penn,sylvania s negro charged
with murder must be tried before six freeholders and two
justices of the peace. Other humane laws were passed, but
when New Jersey passed into the hands of the English, these
laws were not regarded.
Slavery was encouraged in the Carolinas from the very
beginning, but in 1690 an act more positive than any passed by
the other colonies legalized salvery. A part of the act reads :
"It shall be always preiuned that every Negro, Indian,
Mulatto and Mustizo is a slave unless the contrary can be made
to appear, the Indians in amity with this government excepted,
* * * Providing also, that nothing in this shall be construed
to hinder or restrain any other court of law or equity in this
province, from determining the property of sla/es or their right
cf freedom." Until 17:;2 Georgia was included in the Carolinas.
Because of the rice industry, the number oi slaves increased
rapidly but their let was an exceedingly hard one. " They
were not allowed to go to other plantations on Sundays, fast
days or holy days, even though they had written passes ; they
were net allowed to hire cr buy a house or plantation; they
could not own a horse, a boat or cattle." These oppressive
laws became unbearable and many slaves ran awa}'; those v\dio
were caught were beaten, branded with hot irons, suffered
other cruel punishments and often were bartarously killed.
In most of the colonies in the early days education was neg
lected, the whites themselves as a rule having but little learning.
In 1670, the government in England requested an account of
education in the colony of Virginia and in his reply the gover
nor. Sir William Berkeley, said : " I thank God there are no
free schools nor printing and I hope we shall not have these
hundred years ; for learning has brought disobedience and
heresy and sects into the world, and printing has divulged
them, and libels against the best government. God keep us
from both." You see, that though an English peer and a
college-bred man the governor was really very ignorant as h^

88 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

had not the first idea of the true value of a sound education.
Hut an earnest desire for knowledge has always been character
istic of the Negro and the slaves in the colonies showed them-
.sclves so eager to learn and it so often happened that white
friends were willing to teach them that in nearly every prov
ince, laws were passed forbidding any one to teach, them even
to read or write.
There is one thing which you must reinember, dear children,
that is that always, always in every country, the Negro has had
staunch, true, courageous white friends, will always have them,
nor can we do without them. There will ever be a larger or a
smaller number who will firmly stand for righteousness, justice
and truth. So let us ever appreciate, honor and be worthy of
all our friends.
Throughout the colonies there were a number of slaves who
had, in one way or another, gained freedom ; in some cases
they were set free by their masters, in others by making every
spare moment count and often by working all night, they had
earned enough money to buy themselves ; sometimes their own
ers, dying, would leave them free. But freed Negroes were
feared and distrusted by the whites and despised by the slaves,
and many laws which worked to their discomfort were passed.
in some colonics it became quite customary to free a slave or
let him buy himself for a small sum when old age or ill health
caused him to be no longer useful to his master. But you can
sec that such a practice was almost as cruel as slavery.
In the ancient cemetery at Concord, Mass., is the grave of a
slave, born in the early part of the eighteenth century, over
which is a headstone bearing the following:
" God wills us free, man wills us slaves.
I will as God wills, God's will be done.
Plere lies the body of
John Jack
A native of Africa, who died
March, ]77.'i, aged about sixty years.
Tho born in a land of slavery, he was boi n free,

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 89

Tho he lived in a land of liberty he lived a slave.
Till by his honest though stolen labors
He acquired the source of slaverv
Which ga\'e him his freedora;
Tho not long before
Death the grand tjTant
Gave him his final emancipation
And set him on a footing -with kings.
Tho a slave to \'ice (the incioiis)
He practiced those virtues
Without which kings are but slaves."

90

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

CHAPTER XII.
THE DAWNING LIGHT.
'HE latter half of the eighteenth century is notable as
showing the first unmistakable signs of the remarkable
fitness of the Negro for modern civilization ; during this

PHILLIS WHEATLEY.
period also, began in England and America the organized per
sistent efforts of the friends of the slave who were usually
called Abolitionists. During this time the colonies fought with
England and became free and independent states, and in this
war of the Revolution the ISfegro played, as we shall later, see,
a noble part,

A NARRATI'VE OF THE NEGRO 9^

You have heard that several slaves in Massachusetts en
tered suit for liberty against their masters. It was a woman
who began it, Jenny Slew of Ipswich, Essex County, who sued
the man who clair.ed to own her in September, 1775, The
case was at first decided against her, but she appealed to the
Superior Court and won her freedom and four pounds, Eng
lish money, besides. Think what a brave, deter. nined woman
Jenny Slew must have been ! Following that, many slaves ob
tained freedom in like manner. After the colonies declared
themselves independent, Massachusetts adopted a constitution
in 1780, and again a wo nan, Elizabeth Freeman, led in suing
for liberty under the new constitution. Mr. Sedgwick, who
afterward became a United States senator, pleaded Elizabeth's
case and won it, and this is said to have been the death blow
of slavery in that colony. When the census of 17;)0 was taken
there were no slaves' in Massachusetts,
Before that time the Negroes of Massachusetts had ad
dressed two strong and able petitions to the legislature, the
first of which is as follows :
To His Excellency, Thomas Hutchinson, Esq., Governor :
"To the Honorable, His Majesty's Council, and to the Hon
orable House of Representatives in general court assembled
at Boston, the Sth day of January, 1773:
The humble petition of many slaves living in the town of
Boston and other towns in this province, is this namely —
That Your Excellency and Honors, and the Honorable the
Representatives, would be pleased to take their unhappy state
and condition under your wise and just consideration.
We desire to bless God, who loves mankind, who sent His
Son to die for their salvation, and who is no respecter of per
sons, that he hath lately put it into the hearts of multitudes,
on both sides of the water, to bear our burthens, some of whom
are men of great note and influence, who . have pleaded our
cause with arguments, which we hope will have their weight
with this Honorable Court.

92 AINARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

We presume not to dictate to your Excellency and Hor
being willing yto rest our cause on your humanity and jus
yet would beg leave to say a word or two on the subject
Although some of the Negroes are vicious (who doubt
may be punished and restrained by the same laws which ar
force against others of the king's subjects) there are ir
others of quite a different character, and who, if made f
would soon be able, as well as willing, to bear a part in
public charges. Many of them of good natural parts are
creet, sober, honest and indu.strious ; and may it not be
of them that they are virtuous and religious, although t
condition is, in itself, ,so unfriendly to religion and every m
virtue, except patience. How many of that number have tl
been and now are in this province, who had every day of t
lives embittered with this most intolerable reflection, that
their behavior be what it will, neither they nor their child
to all generations, shall ever be able to do or to possess
enjoy anything — no, not even life itself, but in a manner as
beasts that perish.
We have no property ! We have no wives ! We have
children ! We have no city ! No country ! But we haA
Father in heaven, and we are determined, as far as His g
shall enable us, and as far as our degraded condition and (
temptuous life will admit, to keep all his commandments ;
pecially will we be obedient to our masters, so long as Goe
His sovereign Providence, shall suffer us to be holder
bondage. It would be impudent, if not presumptuous, in us to sug
to your Excellency and Honors, any law or laws propei
be made in relation to our unhappy state, which although
greatest unhappiness is not our fault; and this gives us g
encouragement to pray and hope for such relief as is con
ent with your wisdom, justice and goodness.
We think ourselves very happy, that we may thus add
tbe great and general court of this province, which great

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 93

good court is to us the best judge under God of what is wise,
just and good.
We humbly beg leave to add but this one thing more : Ave
pray for such relief only, which by no possibility can ever be
productive of the least wrong or injury to our masters, but to
us will be as life from the dead."
A later petition is signed by Lancaster Hill, Brister Slenfen,
Peter Bess, Prince Hall, Jack Pierpont, Nero Funelo and New
port Sumner. As the last three are recorded as making "their
mark," the others were evidently able to write.
Prince Hall became famous as the founder of Freemasonry
among the Negroes of America. Born in Barnadoes, West
Indies, in 1748, he went, a youth of seventeen, to Boston and
entered at once into the life of the community. He quickly
learned to read and write and by the time he was twenty-five
was a taxpayer and a voter.
In 1775 he applied for admission, and was initiated, into
British Army Lodge, No. 58, and having induced fifteen other
colored men to become initiated in the same lodge. Hall set up
with these men the African Lodge, Number 459.
Speaking of Hall, a writer says: "He knew that virtue, tem
perance, charity, education, justice, honor and truth are neces
sary to make good citizens, which are the glory of any commu
nity. Prince Hall's foresight led him to believe that his race
in North America, through the providence of God, would live
as one people, free and untrammelled, as to education and
rights of citizenship. He lived to see the doors of school-
houses opened to colored people in 1796 in Massachusetts."
Until his death, in 1807, Hall was a leader among his peo
ple, and composed several petitions to the House of Represen
tatives. As a preacher he was noted for his eloquence and his
deep religious feeling.
The latter part of the eighteenth century also found the
Negro with an acknowledged leader in the field of literature,
and this leader was a woman — Phi His Wheatley. When but a

94 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

frail little girl, eight years of age, .she was taken from home
and friends in Africa and brought to this country ; wrapped in
a piece of soiled carpet she stood in the slave market of Bos
ton, when Mrs, John Wheatley, who had gone to the market
to buy a house maid saw the child. Liking the appearance of
the little girl, Mrs. 'VVheatley bought her intending to train her
to do housework, but the child seemed so intelligent that Mrs.
Wheatley and her daughter made the experiment of teaching
her to read and write. They were surprised and delighted
with her aptness, for within eighteen months after she had
landed in this country, the little girl wdiom they named Phillis
could read well. Even the most difficult portions of the Bible,
which ¦was in those days, the great text-book of English-speak
ing peoples, was easily read by Phillis.
The Wheatley family was one of refinement and culture
and by contact with them and their friends, the very best that
was in Phillis was brought out. When she was twelve years
of age she was able to write and converse with great ease and
when she was seventeen her first poems were published in
pamphlet form in Boston.
About this time also, in 1770, Phillis accepted the Christian
religion and though there was a law which forbade the bap
tising of slaves, she was baptised in the Old South Meeting
House. About three years later fhe Wheatleys set Phillis free,
but she still made her home with them, for the family treated
her as a beloved daughter and she returned their affection.
After obtaining a sound foundation in English, Phillis took
up the study of Latin and did so well that'her translations
were favorably spoken of in London and her fame gained for
her many English friends. She had never enjoyed robu.st
health and when, shortly after she had been emancipated at the
age of twenty, and her physician prescribed for her a sea voy
age, she went to England, and "she carried London by storm."
"Thoughtful people praised her, titled people dined her and
the press extolled the name of Phillis Wheatley, the African

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 95

poetess," and in 1773 a little book of her poems was printed
by a London publisher.
Mrs. Wheatley fell ill and longed to see Phillis whom she
dearly loved, so Phillis came back to America, but Mrs.
Wheatley lived but a short while aftierward, and as her hus
band and her daughter soon followed her to the grave, Phillis
was left alone in the world.
The fact that a slave straight from Africa was capable of
being so thoroughly trained in mind, in manners and in morals
had a great influence upon the thoughtful people of her time ;
it made many friends for the Negro and encouraged those
who \vere already friendly.
Miss Wheatley was married to John Peters, a young man
"of talents and information," who had read law and who
owned a thriving grocery business in Court Street. But :he
was not kind to Phillis and her life with him was an unhappy
one. In Decenber, 1784, she died, "greatly beloved and sin
cerely mourned by all whose good fortune it had been to know
her." Benjamin Banneker, born near what is now Ellicott City,
Maryland, was another great Negro of this period. His
mother's father was an African prince, and her mother taught
Ben to read the Bible and to learn many of its beautiful verses
by heart. There was also in the neighborhood a private school
and the teacher admitted Benjamin and several other colored
children along with the whites. Benjamin cared more for
knowledge than for play and made the most of his time in
school. Leaving school, he went to live on his father's farm
and was considered an ideal farmer, making the most of the
soil and keeping his place neatly and in order. He read every
book he could buy or borrow (books were scarce in his neigh
borhood in those days), being especially inclined to mechanics,
mathematics and astrono.ny. In 1770, using a borrowed watch
as a model, he made a large clock which struck the hours,
kept perfect time and was the wonder of the neighborhood.

96 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

It is said to have been the first clock of its kind that was made
in America.
In 1773 he made the acquaintance of Mr. George EUicott,
whose business firm had built a flour mill and opened a store
not far from Banneker 's home. As the post office was in this
store, Benjamin went there quite often and in that way be
came acquainted with the farmers and gentlemen who lived
in the surrounding country. His large stock of information
and his modest bearing made him a great favorite and he ex
changed with the learned men of the vicinity problems in
mathematics which was a favorite pastime of the period.
Berijamin was given full access to the library of his friend,
Mr. George Ellicott, and the latter encouraged and urged him
to make the most of his abilities. Benjamin made great progress
in astronomy, and at the suggestion of Mr. Ellicott he com
piled an almanac for Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia and
Maryland. In 1791 he sent a written copy of his Almanac to
Thomas Jefferson, together with a long letter pleading for the
Negro and begging that his own accomplish nents, however
humble, might be taken as a sign of what the Negro could do
if given opportunity and encourage nent. Mr. Jefferson's
reply was most courteous, and he informed Banneker that he
had sent the Almanac to scientific friends in Paris, as it de
served wide publication. This Almanac was in manuscript,
but the next year Banneker had his Almanac printed and after
that they appeared each year until his death,
Benjamin Banneker was invited to assist the men who laid
out the boundaries of the District of Columbia, and his qual
ities of mind and modest, dignified deportment made a great
impression upon the other ,sufveyors. He died ait his hone in
the year 1804, the most renowned and intelligent Negro of
this time, honored by all who knew him in America and
Europe. Connecticut furnished a noted Negro to the closing days of
the eighteenth century, in the person of Lemuel Haynes, who
v/as born in Hartford in 1753. He was educated for the min-

A NARRATIVE OF'THE NEGRO 97

istry and was famous for his Biblical knowledge, his brilliant^
eloquent sermons and his forceful arguments. About 1788, he
made his home in Vermont where, as a preacher he was well
known and very popular. In 1804 Haynes received from
Middlebury College the honorary degree of A. M.
Other famous ministers of the period were Absalom Jones,
who in 1793 founded in Philadelphia, St. Thomas Episcopal
Church. This was the first colored church of that denomina
tion in America, and Absalom remained its rector for about
twenty years.
In New York City the Zion branch of the African Methodist
Episcopal Church was organized by James Varick, William
Miller, Abraham Thompson, and in Philadelphia, Richard Al
len and his friends organized in an old blacksmith shop, the
first church of the African Methodist Episcopal body.
John Cuffee, born in Africa, and sold as a slave in Massa
chusetts, stands out in bright colors for wealth, intelligence
and progressiveness. "After he learned the English language,
he turned his thoughts to freedom and in a few years, by work
ing beyond the hours he devoted to his master, was enabled
to buy himself."
By working and saving Cuffe was, in a few years, able to
buy a farm of one hundred acres, near New Bedford, where
his Christian character, his devotion to learning and his great
business ability caused him to be respected by all. Tie was
married to an Indian woman and one of their ten children
was Captain Paul Cuffe of whom you have read in the talk
on Sierra Leone.
In our day there are many distinguished Negro physicians,
of whom we are justly proud. In the latter part of the eigh
teenth century there was but one in the whole country — Dr,
James Derham. He was born a slave in Philadelphia in 1762
and his master taught him to read and write and to assist him
in the making of medicines, for in those days doctors com
pounded themselves most of the medicines which they pre
scribed. Though the master was as kind as he knew how to

A NARRATIVE OP THEJfNEGRO

be, he did not free Derham, and the latter, upon the death of
his owner, was sold to a surgeon in the 16th British Regiment.
The .surgeon sold Derham at the close of the ReA'olutionary
War to Dr. Robert Dove of New Orleans. Dr. Dove appre
ciated the ability of Jaines and allowed him to buy his freedom
in a short time. Df. James Derham theri opened an office of
his own and gained a large practice. In 1789, when Derham
was only 27 years old, a white physician of Philadelphia
wrote a very complimentary article concerning him to a scien
tific journal of the period. Dr. Derham is said to have spoken
the Spanish and French languages and to have been regarded
as one of the most able physicians of his day in the city of
New Orleans.
In 1770, the year in which Phillis Wheatley's poems were
first published and Benjamin Banneker was making his clock,
the Negro race gave to the cause of American freedom the first
martyr — Crispus Attucks.
Trouble with England had been brcAving for so:ne years and
the British soldiers in Boston and elsewhere treated the Ameri
cans with insult and contempt, while the governors of the col
onies, who were natives of England and appointed by the
crown, sympathized with the soldiers.
Attucks, who twenty years before ran away from his master
who lived in Framingham, had later come to Boston and had
become intensely interested in the quarrel between England
and America. On one occasion he addressed the following
letter to Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson :
"To Thomas Hutchinson.
Sir: You will hear from us with astonishment. You ought
to hear from us with horror. You are chargeable before God
and man, with our blood. The soldiers were but passive in
struments, mere machines ; neither moral nor voluntary agents
in our destruction, more than the leaden pellets with which we
were wounded. You were a free agent. You acted coolly, de
liberately, with all that premeditated malice, not against us in
particular, but against the people in general, which, in the sight

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 99

of the law, is an ingredient in the composition of murder. You
will hear further from us'hereafter. Crispus Attucks."
There were several riots in the streets of Boston on Mon
day, March 5, 1770, between the citizens and the soldiers, the
latter going from place to place trying to arouse the anger of
the citizens. "Fresh, wet snow had fallen and fro.st had cov
ered the streets with a coat of ice. The moon was in its first
quarter and shed a pale light over the town, when at twilight,
both citizens and soldiers began to assemble in the streets. By
seven o'clock fully seven hundred persons, armed with clubs
and other weapons were on King (now State) Street and,
provoked by the insolence and brutality of the lawless soldiery,
shouted : "Let us drive out the rascals 1 They have no business
here ; drive them out !" At the barracks on Brattle Street the
soldiers rushed out, and leveling their muskets, threatened to
make a lane paved with dead men through the crowd.
The excitement all over the city grew more and more in
tense and when a detachment of soldiers under Captain Pres
ton, officer of the day, encountered a crowd of citizens near
the Custom House the soldiers were pelted with snowballs
and ice. Crispus Attucks, leader of the citizens, accused the
soldiers of cowardice and urging the citizens to attack them,
he rushed forward, seized one of the guns and was almost
immediately shot. Samuel Gray and Jonas Caldwell were also
kiHed, while Patrick Carr and Samuel Maverick were mortally
wounded. News of the tragedy spread over the town in a few minutes.
It was now near midnight. There Avas a light in every house,
for few besides children had retired on that fearful night in
Boston. The alarm bells were rung; drums beat to arms. A
cry went through the streets, "The soldiers are murdering the
people. To arms ! To arms ! Turn out with your guns !" Pres
ton also ordered his drums to beat to arms. But the colonel of
the regiment and the lieutenant-governor promised the citizens
that justice should be vindicated and order was restored.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

As Attucks and CaldAvell w ere without relatives in the city,
their bodies Avere carried to Faneutl Hall, so justly called the
"Cradle of Libert)'," and from there they Avere buried. The
hearses met those containing the bodies of Gray and Maverick
in King Street, and from thence tlie procession moved in col
umns six deep with a long line of coaches containing the first
citizens of Boston. The obsequies Avere Avitnessed b\- a A-ery
large and respectful concourse of people. The bodies were
deposited in one grave, OA-er which a stone was placed bearing
this inscription: "Long as in Freedom's cause the wise contend.
Dear to your country shall your fame extend ;
While to the world the lettered stone shall tell
Where Caldwell, Attucks, Gray and iMaverick fell."
The murder of Crispus Attucks and his comrades was called
the Boston Massacre. Although in tlvise days there Avere
neitlier steam cars, electric cars, telegraph nor telephone, the
news of the massacre spread like wild-fire through tiie col
onies. The feeling of indignation and resentment whicii the
affair aroused did much to unite the people. A statesman of
the period said, long afterward: "Not the battle of Lexington
or Bunker Hill, nor the surrender of Burgoyne or CornwalHs,
were more important events in American history than the bat
tle of King Street, on the fifth of March, 1770. The death of
four or five persons, the most obscure and inconsiderable that
could have been found upon the continent, has never yet been
forgiven in any part of America."

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

IOI

CHAPTER XIII.
THE NEGRO IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
¦QESIDES the achievements noted in the foregoing chapter
'^ the Negro played a courageous and distinguished part
in the W^ar for American Independence. By this time
there were many free Negroes in the colonies; besides those

NEGROES IN THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.
who had been able to buy themselves and those avHo had
obtained their liberty by other means, a nvmiber of men had
been freed for brave conduct shown during the Indian and
French wars. From the very beginning these men stood ready
to fight with the Americans.
At the battle of Bunker Hill, when the English leader, Major
Pitcairn, suddenly appeared before the American breastworks,
calling upon the colonists to surrender and exclaiming to his
followers, " The day is ours," for a few moments the Amer
icans Avere dumbfounded and neither answered nor fired. " At

102 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

this critical moment a Negro soldier stepped forward, and aim
ing his musket directly at the major's bosom, blew him
through," thus checking temporarily the advance of the British.
The Negro who so distinguished himself was Peter Salem,
an ex-slave of Framingham, the place where Crispus Attucks
had Hved, Salem served for seven years in the Continental
army and came out of the war unharmed. He received many
honors during his life and died at Framingham in 1816.
Salem Poor was another who was known as a brave and
gallant soldier. He fought in the battle of Bunker HHl and in
other engagements and the officers under whom he served sent ,,;.
a petition concerning him to Congress in which they stite thait ..:
Salem Poor had " behaved in battle like an experienced- offi- ^
cer, as well as an excehent soldier," and that " the reward due i
to so great and distinguished a character, we submit to '<
Congress." ' '¦'' . 1
Not only the freedmen but the slaves wete anxious -tq he^>-i
the colonists, the latter feeling that if they loyally assisted their •
masters to throw off the British yoke there would be a chaiile:-;
of securing also their own freedom. But the Committee of \
Safety early decided that slaves should not be allowed to ert |
list, and any who had attached themselves to the army were ¦
ordered to be returned to their masters. " 'f''.:\
-Many masters in the northern colonies offered -to -free- their
slaves, hoping thereby to strengthen the army. The southerners
objected to that and the whole subject of allowing the Negro
in the army was warmly debated, by the delegates from the
northern and southern colonies. A committee which included
Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Harrison and Thomas Lynch .
with the deputy governors of Connecticut and Rhode Island,
met a committee of the Council of Massachusetts Bay and it
was agreed " That the Negroes be rejected altogether."
Later General Washington advised that the free Negroes
who had served faithfully in the army at Cambridge might
reenlist therein, but no others. "The General was induced to
take this action by a committee of freemen, headed by Prince

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 103

Hall, who went to headquarters and laid their case before the
commander-in-chief." While the Americans were divided as to allowing the Negro
"0 enlist, the English were offering freedom to all who would
join them, and in many colonies, especially in Virginia, South
Carolina and New York, many slaves flocked to the British
standard. General Washington saw that this would prove a
serious blow to the cause of the Americans, especially in the
south. To take the Negroes out of the field, from raising
produce for the army and place them in front of patriots as
opposing soldiers, he saw was a danger that should be averted.
And so the matter was discussed backward and forward and
decided first one way then another.
"In the south the dread in which the colonists held the Negro
was equal to that with which they regarded the Indians. The
incendiary torch, massacre, pillage and revolt were ever pre
senting to their minds a gloomy and disastrous picture. Their
dreams at night, their thoughts by day, in the field and in the
legislative hall, were how to keep the Negro down. If one
should be seen in a village with a gun, a half score of white
r'len would run and take it from him, while the women in the
street would take shelter in the nearest house. The wrongs
which they continued to practice upon him were a terror to
them through their conscience, though then, as in later years,
many, and particularly the leaders, endeavored to impress
others with their feigned belief pf the natural inferiority of the
Negro to themselves. This doctrine served them, as the whistle
did the boy in the woods ; they talked in that way simply to
keep their courage up and their conscience down."
Although the southerners, as a whole, opposed the enlistment
of Negroes, there were among them wise and farseeing indi
viduals who advocated it. Prominent among the latter were
the Hon. Henry Laurens and his son, Col. John Laurens, of
South Carolina. Colonel Laurens had acted as aid-de-camp to
General Washington and his services in Rhode Island and else
where had given him a chance to correctly value the Negro aS

104 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

a soldier. He spent much energy, time and thought in an
endeavor to have the people of his native section agree to the
enlistment of Negroes. Until his death he urged upon his
southern countrymen the advisability of this step, but in vain.
Meantime, both north and south, Negroes were attaching
themselves to the American army in various capacities, always
earning the respect of their comrades. They realized, as you
have read in the petition of the Boston Negroes, that the
arguments which led their masters to fight applied much more
truly to themselves and they hoped by meritorious conduct to
compel their owners to see as they did. "The Negro's ancestors
were not slaves, so upon the altar of their hearts the fire of
liberty was rekindled by the utterances of the white colonists."
The distressing condition of the American army at the close
of the campaign of 1777, when it lay at Valley Forge and
many soldiers for want of shoes walked barefoot on the frozen
ground ; few, if any, had blankets for the night, and great
numbers sickened, caused the authorities to welcome strong
and able-bodied men. Those who favored the enlistment of
the Negro again began to plead for him. Before the close of
the war many Negroes were enlisted in the companies Of the
southern colonies, but Rhode Island was the only colony which
had an entire regiment of Negroes.
In Connecticut a Negro company was organized and David
Humphreys, a gallant Negro, became the captain. Congress
commissioned him as lieutenant colonel in November 1782
with the order that his commission should date from the 23rd
of June 1780, when he received his appointment as aid-de-camp
to the commander-in-chief. Colonel Humphreys served until
the close of the war.
In Massachusetts and in some of the other northern colonies
friends of the Negro insisted that there should be no separate
companies, hoping in that way to overcome race prejudice,
consequently there is but a fragmentary record of the deeds
of Negro soldiers. Following are the names of some who gave
praiseworhy service :

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 105

Ebenezer Hill was a slave at Stonington, Conn., who served
throughout the war and who took part in the battles of Sara
toga and Stillwater, and witnessed the surrender of Burgoyne.
Prince Whipple acted as bodyguard to General Whipple, one
of Washington's aids. Prince is the Negro seen on horseback
in the engraving of Washington crossing the Delaware and
again pulling the stroke oar in the boat in which Washington
crossed. " Deborah Gannett, a Negro woman enlisted in the
Fourth Massachusetts Regiment in disguise, under the name
of Robert Shurtliff in 1782, and .served a year and a half, for
which the General Court paid her thirty-four pounds sterling
in 1792."
" At the storming of Fort Griswold Major Montgomery was
lifted upon the walls of the fort by his soldiers and called upon
the Americans to surrender. John Freeman, a Negro soldier,
with his pike, pinned him dead to the earth. Among the Amer
ican soldiers who were massacred by the British soldiers, after
the surrender of the fort were two Negro soldiers, Lambo
Latham and Jordan Freeman.
" Quack Matrick, a Negro, fought through the Revolution
ary War, as a soldier, for which he was pensioned. Also
Jonathan Overtin. who was in the Battle of Yorktown. Simon
Lee, of Virginia, and Major Jeffrey, of Tennesse, also rendered
excellent service."
Following is an interesting account of an aged Negro patriot
from the Burlington Gazette, written in the early nineteenth
century : " The attention of many of our citizens has doubtless
been arrested by the appearance of an old colored man who
might have been .seen sitting in front of his residence in east
Uijion street respectfully raising his hat to those who might be
passing by. His attenuated frame, his silvered head,. his feeble
movements, combine to prove that he is very aged, and yet
comparatively few are aware that he is among the survivors
of the gallant army who fought for the liberties of our country.
" On Monday last we stopped to speak to him, and ask how
old he was. He asked the day of the month, and upon being

io6 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

told that it was the 24th of May replied with trembling Hps,
' I am very old ; I am a hundred years old today.'
" His name is Oliver Cromwell, and he says that he was
born at the Black Horse (now Columbus) in this county, in
the family of John Hutchins. He enlisted in a company com
manded by Captain Lowry, attached to the Second New Jersey
Regiment, under the command of Col. Israel Shreve. He was
at the battles of Trenton, Brandywine, Princeton, Monmouth
and Yorktown, at which latter place he saw the last man killed.
Although his faculties are failing, y.et he relates many interest
ing reminiscences of the Revolution. He was with the army
at the retreat of the Delaware, on the memorable crossing of
the 25th of December,, 1776, and relates the story of the battle
on the succeeding day with enthusiasm. He gives the details
of the march from Trenton to Princeton, and told us, with
much humor that they ' knocked, the British around lively' at
the latter place."
"Cromwell was brought up with a farmer, having served
his time with Thomas Hutchins. He was for six years and
nine months under the immediate command of Washington,
whom he loved affectionately. , His discharge, at the close of
the war was in Washington's own handwriting, of which he
was very proud, often speaking of it. , He received annually
ninety-six dollars pension. His long life was an honorable
one." The census for 177-5 gave the' slave population as follows :
Connecticut, 5,000; Delaware, 9,000; Georgia, 16,000; Mary
land, 80,000; Massachusetts, 3,500; New Hampshire, 629;
North Carolina, 75,000; New York, 15,000; New Jersey,
7,600 ; Pennsylvania, 10,000 ; Rhode Island, 4,373 ; South Caro
line, 110,000; Virginia, 165,000.' By the end of the eighteenth
century, Massachusetts and Vermont had freed their slaves,
but many of the other colonies had increased their holdings.
So that in spite of the distinguished services which Negro
soldiers and sailors gave to their country, in spite of the
expectations of the slaves and their friends, the close of the

A NARRATI'VE OF THE NEGRO 107

war brought little relief; indeed many who had fought with
great bravery were returned to slavery, and the beginning of
the nineteenth century found hope almost dead in the breast of
slaves. Almost, but not entirely, for there have always been
those among us whose faith and trust in God has never wav
ered and whose belief in the final triumph of justice and right
has remained unshaken.

io8

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

CHAPTER XIV.
THE NEGRO IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE NINE-
/ TEENTH CENTURY.
What is called the "Negro Problem" has occupied the time
and thought of Americans from the very beginning of the ex
istence of the United States. True patriots have never doubted
what was best to do with the Negro — simply to treat him as

NEGRO SAILORS IN THE WAR OF 1812.
any other human being, to give him every opportunity and
encouragement, and to demand of him strict obedience to the
same_ laws which equally apply to other men. But, alas, how
small a proportion of true patriots and statesmen has this
country so far produced! How few who comprehend that
naught but good can come to the individual or the nation that
persistently deals justice and righteousness!
The convention of delegates which met in New York in
May, 1787, and over which George Washington presided,
agreed, after a heated debate, upon a compromise by which

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 109

the merchants of the northern states were to have the shipping
privileges (they owned most of the ships) and the southern
rice-planters were to have the privileges of importing slaves
from Africa or elsewhere during a period of twenty years ;
all the colonies but North Carolina, South Carolina and
Georgia had previously passed laws against the importation of
slaves. At the close of the Revolutionary War, the people began to
move from the older colonies and to spread out to the south
and west. It was not long before the dwellers in the newly
settled territory began to apply to Congress for admission into
the Union. At once began the struggle between the Abolition
ists and those who desired to perpetuate slavery; the former
saw slavery to be a curse upon the land and people, the latter
could think of nothing but the labor which they could wring
from the slave and the wealth it would bring them.
Most of the New England and Middle States had passed
laws for gradual emancipation and in New York, New Jersey
and Pennsylvania the Quakers worked without ceasing for uni
versal emancipation. In 1799, when Kentucky revised her
constitution, Henry Clay, then a young man, made a brilliant
speech in favor of gradual emancipation in that state, but in
spite of his eloquence, the clause was not inserted. Up to 1802
Georgia included all the territory that is now Alabama and
Mississippi ; in April of that year, with the provisions that
slavery should be allowed, Georgia ceded the territory and
"Alabama and Mississippi became the most cruel slave states in
the Union."
The following census for 1810 wiH show that though slavery
had decreased in some parts of the Union it had greatly in
creased in other parts since 1775 : District of Columbia, 5,395 ;
Rhode Island, 108; Connecticut, 310; Pennsylvania, 795; Del
aware, 4,177; New Jersey, 10,851; New York, 15,017; Louisi
ana, 34,660; Tennessee 44,535; Kentucky, 80,561; Georgia,
105,218; Maryland, 111,502; North CaroHna, 168,824; South

IIO A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

Carolina, 196,365; Virginia, 392,518; Mississippi Territory,
17,088 ; Indiana Territory, 237 ; Louisiana Territory, 3,011 ;
Illinois Territory, 168 ; Michigan Territory, 24.
When war was declared with Great Britain in 1812, Negroes
offered themselves as soldiers, but at first few were accepted;
it is said, however, that about one-tenth of the crews of the
war vessels were Negroes, and that they fought bravely in all
the battles on the Great Lakes. New York raised two colored
regiments. After the British had captured Washington,
burned the Capitol, President's house and many other public
buildings and threatened Baltimore, an English fleet suddenly
appeared outside New Orleans.
General Andrew Jackson, commander of the army of the
southwest, issued a call for free Negroes as soldiers, in which
he said : "Through a mistaken policy you have heretofore been
deprived of a participation in . the glorious struggle for na
tional rights in which our country is engaged. This shall no
longer exist. * * * As sons of freedom you are now called
upon to defend our most inestimable blessing. As Americans,
your country looks with confidence to her adopted children
for a valorous support, as a faithful return for the advantages
enjoyed under her mild and equitable government. As fathers,
husbands, and brothers, you are summoned to raHy around the
standard of the eagle, to defend all which is dear in existence."
Of course the brave Negroes responded (five hundred of
them) and were organized into two battalions. On December
18th, 1814, when General Jackson reviewed his forces, his ad
dress to the Negroes was as foHows : "Soldiers, from the
shores of Mobile I collected you to arms. I invited you to
share in the perils and to divide the glory of your white coun
trymen. I expected much from you ; for I was not uninformed
of those qualities which must render you so formidable to an
invading foe. I knew that you could endure hunger and thirst,
and all tlie hardships of war. I knew that you loved the land
of your nativity, and that, like ourselves, you had to defend

A NARRATIVE OP THE NEGRO m

all that is most dear to man. But you surpass my hopes. I
have found in you, united to these qualities, that noble enthu
siasm which impels to great deeds.
"Soldiers, the President of the United States shall be in
formed of your conduct on the present occasion ; and the voice
of the Representatives of the American nation shall applaud
your valor, as your general now praises your ardor. The
enemy is near. His sails coyer the lakes, but the brave are
united, and if he finds us contending among ourselves, it will
be for the prize of valor, and fame its noblest rcAvard."
The Negroes behaved gallantly and the Black heroes of the
battle of New Orleans were loudly applauded at home and
abroad, but the noise of the slave marts soon silenced this
pr.aise and nowhere were the laws more rigidly enforced
against the Negroes, both slave and free, than in Louisiana.
Nor did gratitude affect the lot of the slave in any state where
slavery existed. ¦
It is said that about this time a gang of slaves were being
driven through Washington on the Fourth of July. The city
was gaily decorated, cannon were booming, drums beating and
flags flying under shadow of the dome of the Capitol of this
"mild and equitable" government. One of the men lifted his
hands, loaded with irons, toward the flag and sang in bitter
irony, "Hail Columbia ! Happy Land."
The bravery of the Negro and the injustice and cruelty with
which he was treated flHed the hearts of humane white people
with pity for him and with determination to help him. As you
know, the . Quakers or Friends have always been foremost
among the lovers of justice and mercy. Though uniformly
kind to their slaves when convinced of the wickedness of the
system, they had freed their slaves by the hundreds and wher
ever possible had caused the passage of immediate or gradual
emancipation laws.
Anthony Benezet was a Frenchman by birth, who had set
tled in Philadelphia and joined the Society of Friends. He

112 A NARRATI'VE OF THE NEGRO

was a "reasoning, eloquent, learned and eager denouncer of
slavery and the slave trade and published several works on the
subject." He wrote to Queen Charlotte and interested her in
the matter and also corresponded with Granville Sharpe and
other members of the Abolition Society in England.
In 1750 he established in Philadelphia the fir,st school for
colored people in the state and "taught it himself, without
money and without price." He said, "I can, with truth and
sincerity, declare that I have found among the Negroes as
great variety of talents as among a like number of whites, and
I am bold to assert that the notion entertained by some that the
blacks are inferior in their capacity is a vulgar prejudice,
founded on the pride or ignorance of their lordly masters, who
have kept their slaves at such a distance as to be unable to
form a right judgment of them." In January, 1770,
through his influence was appointed a special committee of
Friends wdio sought to employ an instructor to teach (not more
than thirty at one time) Negro children "in the first rudiments
of school leaming and in sewing and knitting." Benezet died
May 3rd, 1784, greatly mourned, especially by the Negroes to
whom he had proven so kind and true a friend.
Another Quaker, Benjamin Lundy, talked and wrote with
out ceasing against slavery; he traveled from place to place
and as he journeyed, he preached his doctrine and distributed
his paper, "The Genius of Universal Emancipation," which he
had established in 1821. "He raised his voiqe against slave
keeping in Virginia, Ohio, Tennessee, Maryland and the Dis
trict of Columbia, and once he made a tour of the Free States,
like another Apostle Paul, stirring up the love of the brethren
for those who were in bonds, lecturing, obtaining subscribers
for his paper, writing editorials, getting them printed wdiere
he could, stopping by the wayside to read his proof, and di
recting and mailing his papers at the nearest post office ; then,
packing up his column rules, type, heading and direction book,
he would journey on, a lone, solitary Friend."

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 113

Lundy's paper reached the editorial desk of an enthusiastic
young man away up in Bennington, Vermont. The latter was
William Lloyd Garrison, who was publishing a paper called the
Journal of the Times. He had been advocating the principles
of Peace and Temperance, and to those he now added "an in
tense hatred for slavery.'' Garrison secured many names to a
petition to Congress to abolish slavery in the District of Co
lumbia, as that territory was, and is, under Congressional
control. Lundy was so pleased with Garrison's forceful writings and
original methods, that he Avent to Bennington to see him. You
can imagine how both enjoyed that conference, for up to that
tin,ie the number of people who felt as they did were compara
tively few. Garrison consented to go to Baltimore and edit the
Genius of Universal Emancipation and Lundy was to sel! the
paper and attend to other details.
Garrison had not long been in Balitmore when he witnessed
the shipping of a 'oad of slaves for the Now Orletms market.
The heart-rending scenes, as husbands and wives, parents and
children were torn from each other, probably to meet no more,
made a deep impression upon the young editor. He published
in his paper such a scathing article upon the subject that he
was arrested for libel and thrown into prison, while a large
sum Avas demanded as bail.
When finally released he came out of prison more than ever
the unfaltering, implicable enemy to slavery. Before this the
cause of Abolition had lacked leadership ; it now found in Gar
rison a leader in every way fitted for the task. He determined
to go to Boston, the birthplace of Liberty, and there he pub
lished his new paper, the Liberator. Speaking of his purpose
he said: "Let Southern oppressors tremble; let their secret
abettors tremble ; let all the enemies of the persecuted Black
tremble." "I am aware that many object to the .severity of
niy language; but is there not cause for severity?" "I am in
earnest. I will not equivocate ; I will not excuse ; I will not
retreat a single jnch, AND I WILL BE HEARD."

114 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

"Oppression, I have seen thee face to face, •
And met thy cruel eye and cloudy brow ;
But thy soul-withering glance I fear not now —
For dread to prouder feelings doth give place.
To deep abhorence. Scorning the disgrace
Of slavish knees that at they footstool bow,
I also kneel — but with far other vow
Do hail thee and thy herd of hirelings base ;
I .swear while life blood Avarms my throbbing veins.
Still to oppose and thwart, with heart and hand,
Thy brutalizing sway — till Afric's chains
Are burst, and Freedom rules the rescued land.
Trampling Oppression and his iron rod ;
Such is the vow I take — so help me, God!"
Williani Lloyd Garrison kept his vow and lived to see the
cruel system of slavery crushed to death and the oppressed
Negro set free. Among the first subscribers to the Liberator
Avas James Forten, a colored man of Philadelphia, who gave
fifty dollars.
There is a long list of noble women and men who took active
part in the Abolition movement ; a'nong them were : Wendell
Phillips, Charles Sumner, Gerrit Smith, James G. Birney, My
ron Hally, Beriah Greene, Samuel Green, Lewis and Arthur
Tappan, John P. Hale, John G. Saxe, Owen Lovejoy, Benja
min Ward, Joshua R. Giddings, S, J. Chase, Jas. M. Fitch,
Chas. G. Finney, W. A. Seward, Henry Ward Beecher, Lyman
Beecher, Archbishop Hughes, Frederick Douglass, Charles L.
Remond, Samuel Ringold Ward, Plarriet Beecher Stowe, Geo.
W. Curtis, Calvert E. Stowe, Sojourner Truth, Theodore
Parker, EHzur Wright, Horace Bushnell, James Russell Low
ell, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John G. Whittier. Henry W. Long
fellow, Williain Cullen Bryant, Daniel Anthony, Susan B. An
thony, H. B. Stanton, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Gertrude
Brown, Sarah E. Grinike, Angelina Grimke, Phoebe Hatha
way, Horace Greeley, Ethan Allen, Arthur Allen, George F,

A NARRATI'VE OF THE N£GR0 ii5

Seward, Edward and Samuel H. Blake, Frederick Seward,
Jas. H. Wilson, Lucretia Mott and Professor Goldwin Smith.
Of some of the Negroes who were prominent Abolitionists,
you shall hear later.
While the Abolitionists were striving for emancipation, with
tongue and pen, the lot of the slave became so unbearable in
some places that some of them plotted to kill their masters
and gain freedom in that way. It is very possible that they
had heard of what had been accomplished in Haiti ; at any rate,
in 1800, a Negro named General Gabriel planned an uprising
by which he hoped to take possession of the city of Richmond,
He expected to bring together eleven hundred men and they
were to meet at a brook about six miles from the city, where
the force was to be divided into three parts. The attack was
to be made at night, "the right wing was to fall suddenly upon
the penitentiary (which had been turned into an arsenal) and
sieze the arms ; the left wing was to capture the powder house
and the two columns were to supply the third with arms. The
third column was to divide and enter the town (wdiich at the
time had only about eight thousand inhabitants) fron both
ends, while the other two columns were to act as reserves."
The plan failed and the leaders were punished, but the ef
fort caused a great commotion throughout the country and the
insurrection was pointed out as one of the evil results of
slavery. In 1822, Denmark Vesry, Peter Poyas and others plotted.
for an uprising in Charleston, S. C. It is said that hundreds
of -Negroes were ii the plot and that it extended for fifty miles
around the city; the leaders made a point of enlisting no one
who was talkative or intemperate, and house servants were not
welcomed. It was through one of the latter, however, that the
plan was betrayed and the leaders captured and executed.
They died without revealing the details of their pLin.
Nathaniel Turner was born in Southampton County, Vir
ginia, October 2nd, 1800, ju.st about one month after "General"
Gabriel's plot was dlscoyered. His father was a preacher anti

tl6 A NARRATIVE OtF THE i^EGRO

his mother a very pious woman, who bSlieved the Old Testa
ment Scriptures would again be fulfilled in her' day and that
her little son was to be a prophet and a ^'Moses" for his people.
She tatiglit 'lim to beheve this, also, when he was very yourtg
and she urged him to pi^eparc himself for his mission. Conse
quently Nat grew up with serious thoughts; he took no part in
the ,social life of his acquaintances ; it is said he never laughed,
but whenever he could he would go off into the woods-or the
mo.mtains where he could be alone". His grandmother also
encouraged N:it in peculiar thoughts and actions and the name
of Nat Turner was known to the Negroes for miles and miles
around as lh.at of a leader and prophet.
Finally, like Joan of Arc, Nat delclai-ed that he heard spirit
voices which told him thatthe time had come lo strike a blow
for the freedom of his people. He summoned four men Avhom
he could tm.st, and' without weapons *hey started on' the night
of August 21st, 1831, to kill, with their owm weapons, all the
white people in the neighborhood. They .succeeded in reach
ing nine plantations and killing fifty-one persons, when the
alarm was sounded and companies of infantry and cavalry
were soon on the scene.
The na ne of Nat's four friends \vere Hark Travers, Samuel
Edwards, Henry Porter and Nelson Williams ; on their \v"ay
to the fir.st plantation they were joined by a man named
"Will," whose master had treated him with great cruelty and
had sold his wife to the traders. Will armed himself with a
sharp broad-ax and with it killed several people. When the
militia arrived he would riot surrender, but fought to the last
and when dying asked that his ax be buried with him.
Nat, with one or two, escaped to the swamps, Avliere they re
mained for more than two months. When he had surrendered
and was brought to trial, he 'pleaded "Not guilty," and insisted
to the last that God had called him td do wdiat he did.
Mr. Gray, the white gentleman to whom Nat explained his
visions and belief, said of hirii : "It has been said that he was
ignorant and cowardly, and that his object was to murder and

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 1 1 7

rob, for the purpose of obtaining money to make his escape.
It is notorious that he was never known to have a dollar in his
life, to swear an oath, or to drink a drop of spirits. As to his
ignorance, he certainly never had the advantages of education,
but he can read and write, and for natural intelligence and
quickness of apprehension, is surpassed by few men I have
ever seen. As to his being a coward, his reason as given for
not resisting Mr., Phipps shows tlie decision of his character.
When he saw Mr. Phipps present his gun, he said he knew it
was impossible for him to escape, as the woods were full of
men ; he therefore thought it was better for him to surrender
and trust to fortune for his escape."
"He is a complete fanatic, or plays the part most admirably.
On other subjects he possesses an uncommon share of intelli
gence, with a mind capable of attaining anything, but warped
and perverted by the influence of early impressions. He is be
low the ordiriary stature, though strong and active, having (he
true Negro face, every feature of whicii is strongly marked.
I shall riot attempt to describe the effect of his narrative, 'as
told and coinrilented u'pon by himself in the condemned hole
of the prison; the calin, 'deliberate composure with whicii he
spoke of his late deeds and intention's ; the expression of his
fiend-like face, when excited by enthusiasm ; still bearing the
stains of the blood of hblpless innocencij about him, clothed
with rags and covered with chains, yet daring to raise his
manacled hands to Hea-veri with a spirit soaring above the at- ¦
tributes of man. I looked bn liin and the blood curdled in my
veins." Nat Turner was tried aind sentenced tb be hanged, and' the
sentence was carried ottt at Jeritsal'em, Sduthaniptdn County,
1831. ¦ ¦ " ¦" " ' -¦¦¦..
As you have heard, whenever a territory appli'ed'to" Congress
for admissioii into tlie Union as a' state "the question as to ¦
whether the state ¦ should be a-fr'ee 'or'^a' 'slav6 state always''
brought on an earnest discuss'ioir,' When Missouri applied'the

ii8 A NARRATIVE OP THE NEGRO

question was voted up and voted down in the House and Sen
ate for nearly three years. Finally, it was agreed that Mis
souri should be admitted as a slave state, but that all lands
lying north of latitude 36 degrees, 30 minutes .should be for
ever free and this agreement was known as the Missouri Com
promise. Remember this for you will hear more of it later.
Many earnest people thought that to send the Negro back to
Africa was the best Avay to solve the problem, and so the
American Colonization Society was formed with branches in
many .states. A number of slave holders freed their sjaves that
they might retum to their native land. You have already
heard something of the work of the Colonization Society in
Liberia. What was called the Underground Railroad was not rnu
under the ground nor was it a railroad. It was the iiaine given
to the friends, both colored and white, of the N^cb, whose
homes formed a chain of stopping places or "stations" be
tween the slave states and Canada where slavery did not exist.
A large volume has been written of the exciting events and
the hairbreadth escapes which they experienced who sought
freedom through the Underground Railroad. A large number
of the niembers of the U. G. R. R. were Quakers, and all who
took part in it were people of great kindness and compassion,
intelligence and ingenuity. Someti lies men slaves were dis
guised as women, sometimes women disguised as men ; persons
of fair complexion passed themselves off as the owners of the
darker skinned runaways ; some with the help of friends, were
nailed up in boxes and sent as freight, and the whole story of
the U. G. R. R. showed how many and how good were the
white friends of the Negro during this period.
We have had in this chapter a sketch of what was done for
and against the Negro in the first half of the nineteenth cen
tury ; in the next chapter we shall hear of Avhat the Negro did
for hirnself during the same space of time.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

1*9

CHAPTER XV.
THE LIGIiT GROWS BRIGHTER.
T THIS period (1800-50) the Negroes were beginning to
¦^ better understand the benefits of united action, and their
white friends gave them all possible support and encour-

BISHOP RICHARD ALLEN
Founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church
agement. A number of Philadelphia Negroes presented, in
1800, through Mr. Wain, the delegate, a petition to Congress
calling attention to the unlawful dealing in slaves which was
going on between several American ports and Guinea, and
stating that a number of freedmen had been kidnapped and

120 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGr6

sold into slavery. The southern delegates were very indignant
that such a petition should have been presented. Plowever,
the petition was finally referred to a committee which brought
in a bill forbidding American vessels to carry slaves from this
country to foreign markets.
The Negroes of Philadelphia were thoughtful and progres
sive and in 1817, they held a local convention to protest against
the plans of the American Colonization Society. In 1830 Rev.
Richard Allen, Junius C. Morel, James C. Cornish, Cyrus
Black, and Benjamin Pascal requested the free people in the
several states to send delegates to a meeting called for Sep
tember 20, 1830. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss
ways and means for the establishment of a colony in upper
Canada. The delegates met and recommended that a parent
society be formed with branches in different towns and money
be raised to buy a tract of land for the proposed colony. Agents
were sent to Canada to see if the plan would be advisable.
Some of the States had already passed laws forcing the free
Negroes to leave and man)? of these exiles had made their
home in Canada.
Consequently what was called the " First Annual Conven
tion of the People of Color" met in Philadelphia, June 6-11,
1831, in the Wesleyan Church on Lombard street. The dele
gates were as follows : Philadelphia, John Bowers, Dr. Bel
fast Burton, James Cornish, Junius C. Morel, William Whip
per. New York, Rev. William Miller, Henry' Sipkins; Thomas
L. Jennings, William Hamilton, James Pennington; Mary
land, Rev. Abner Coker, Robert Cowley ; Delaware, Abraham
D. Shad, Robert Cowley ; Virginia, William Duncan. The
officers chosen were : President, John Bowers ; vice presidents,
Abraham D. Shad, William Duncan ; secretar)', WilHam Whip
per ; assistant secretary, Thomas L. Jennings. The stated pur
pose of the meeting wras to discuss the general condition of
free Negroes.
A committee made a report in which those who were engaged
in the Canadian settlement were praised and urged to continue

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

the work; and among other things, the virtues of education,
temperance and economy were recommended to the race. "The
convention attracted public attention on account of the intelli
gence, order and excellent judgnient which prevailed. It deeply
touched the young white men v^^ho had, but a few months pre
vious, enlisted under the broad banner William Lloyd Garrison
had given to the breeze."
" The Rev. S'. S. Jocelyn, of New Haven, Conn. ; Arthur
Tappan, of New York; Benjamin Lundy, of Washington,
D. C. ; Williain Lloyd Garrison, of Boston, Mass. ; Thomas
Shipley and Charles Pierce, of Philadelphia, visited the conven
tion, and were cordially received." Messrs. Jocelyn, Tappan
and Garrison made stirring addresses and especially urged the
estabHshinent of a- college for the education of colored youth.
A committee appointed to consider the matter reported as
follows: "The plan proposed is that a college be established
at New Haven, Conn., as soon as $20,00f) are obtained, and to
be on the manual labor system, by which, in connection with
a scientific education, they may also obtain a useful mechanical
or agricultural profession; and (they further report having
received information) that a benevolent individual has offered
to subscribe one thousand dollars toward this object, provided'
that a farther sum of nineteen thousand dollars can be obtained
in one year."
The report of the committee was received and adopted, a
soliciting agent and a treasurer appointed and committees
appointed in several cities. You can see that for a long time
the subject of manual training has engaged the attention of
thoughtful people. But the people of Connecticut showed
themselves very unfriendly to Negro schools as we shall pres
ently see, and the idea of the college in that State was given
up. Nearly every year during this period, conventions of
colored men were held and the delegates represented the intel
ligence, the culture and the learning of the race in the United
States. In the town of Canterbury, Conn., a select schodr for young

I" A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

ladies was established in the summer of 1832 by Miss Prudence
Crandall, a Quaker lady. It was intended tc^ give instruction
in the higher branches of learning. Not long after the school
opened, Sarah Harris, a colored girl seventeen years old, whose
father was a well-to-do farmer applied for admission to the
school. She stated that she had finished th? highest grade in
the village schools and wanted to increase her knowledge so as
to teach among her own people.
Miss Crandall admitted Sarah and for a few days all went
well, for many of the other girls had knov n Sarah in the
village school and liked her. But after a time some of the
parents called c«i Miss Crandall and objected to a Negro girl
attending a private school with their children, no matter how
good she was nor high and unselfish her aim. But Miss Cran
dall was firm an4 when the white parents withdrew their chil
dren she advertised to teach colored girls.
The angry parents called a town meeting to discuss the mat
ter and a set of resolutions Avere drawn up protesting against
the founding of a colored school in their neighborhood. Never
theless Miss Crandall received into her school in April, 1833,
about twenty young colored girls from Boston, Providence,
New York, Philadelphia; but the storekeepers refused to serve
Miss Crandall and her pupils ; the latter met with insult, con
tempt and abuse in the streets, the well and the doorsteps of
the house were filled with refuse and a number of other petty
meannesses were practiced, but Miss Crandall and the girls
remained firm.
The right-thinking people of the neighborhood came to Miss
Crandall's suport, among then being the Rev. Samuel May,
Mr. Arnold Buffom, Mr. George Benson and others. But a
man named Judson, a citizen of Canterbury, and a leading
politician of the State, was bitterly opposed to the school and
he so exerted his influence that a law was passed forbidding the
founding of Negro schools anywhere in the State. This law,
Avhich was called a " black law," reads in part as follows :
"Be it enacted that no person shall set up or establish in this

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 123

State any school, academy or other literary institution for the
instruction or education of colored persons, who are not inhab
itants of this State, or harbor or board, for the purpose of
attending or being taught in any such school, academy or
literary institution, any colored person who is not an inhabi
tant of any town in this State, without the consent in writing,
first obtained, of a majority of the civil authority, and also of
the selectmen of the town in which the school, etc., is situated."
The reason for the law was that the whites did not wish the
colored population to increase and a fine was attached in case
the law was violated. The law was passed May 24, ] 833.
When the news reached Canterbury that the law had passed,
the people were wild Avith joy, bells were rung, cannon fired as
if a great battle had been won, a battle with a whole state on
one side and a little Quaker teacher and twenty children on
the other. Miss Crandall went on with her teaching until the
latter part of June, when she was arrested and after a brief
hearing she was committed until the next session of the Su
preme Court of the State, in August.
Her enemies, knowing that to put her in jail would weaken
their cause with good people, hoped that her friends would not
allow her to go to jail ; but they hoped in vain for she was
taken to jail and placed in a cell where a murdered had been
kept. The news of this outrage spread throughout the north
and made many friends for Miss Crandall and her school.
Next day bond was given for Miss Crandall, but nothing could
undo the treatment she had received ; she was brought to trial
August 23, 1833, and as the jury could not agree, she was again
tried in October, when the verdict was against her. Pier coun
sel appealed to the Court of Errors, but the case was finally
dropped. A short time afterward Miss Crandall's house was set afire,
and though this did not cause her lo close the school, when the
building was again attacked by a mob one night in September
and the doors and windoAvs broken in, it was thought best for
the pupil's safety to give up the effort. Said Mr. May, who

1 24 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

at Miss Crandall's request dismissed , the school, " Twenty
harmless, wcH-behaved girls, whose only offense against the
peace of the cominunity was thaf the.y, had come togetl^er
there to obtain ;Usef ul l^nowledge apd niQral culture, were to be
told that they had better, go away, because, forsooth, the, house
ill which they dwelt, would, not he, protected, by the guardians,
of the towri. The words almost blistered my lips."
Miss Craiidall's school was closed but efforts to educate the
Negro were raade in other States, though the laws of the sev
eral States differed widely. In some States the teaching of
Negroes was strictly prohibited, among these were Alabama,
Georgia, Lo'^'siana, Floricla, Mississippi, Missouri, Indiana,
South Carolina, and Virginia. In other States, while educa
tion was not prohibited by law, it was by custom, Avhile still
other States tolerated efforts to enlighten the Negro. Those
latter, of course, were the States wh-cre the Avhite people were
most enlightened.
You have read of the splendid work of Benezet in Philadel
phia. The first school for Negroes in New York, was also
started by a native of F^rance, Elias Neau, in 1704. In his
home he had embraped the Protestant faith, and being exiled,
took, up his abode in New York. His heart was touched by
the coudition of the Negroes, and, at first, he taught them by
going from hquse to house after his day's work was done.
Later, he. was given permission to have them meet at his home
in the evenings and in 1708, the average attendance was two
hundred which shows how his work was appreciated. Besides
reading, writing and arithmetic, he taught his pupils the truths
of the I3ible and many became communicants of Trinity P. E.
Church, while the Rev. William Yesey was rector. In spite of
many hindrances, Elias Neau continued his work until 1722,
" when, amid the unaffected sorrow of his Negro scholars and
the friends who honored him for their sake, he was removed
by death." The school had several teachers, chiefly assistant
rectors of. Trinity, who kept the good work alive, vear after
year.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO "5

In 1786, a school was opened in Cliff street and in 1791, a
woman was engaged to teach the girls needlework. This school
had many trials and in 181.5, the schoolhouse having been
burned clown, a sribstantial brick building was erected in Will
iam street arid opened for colored pupils. The number of
pupils grew so rapidly that, in 1820, another school was opened
on Mulberry street, which aeeomrhodated five hundred children.
'General Lafayette visited this school in 1824, and Master
James M. Smith, one of the pupils, aged eleven years, came
forward and made the following speech :
"General Lafayette : Iri behalf of myself and fellow-school
mates may I be permitted to express our sincere and respectful
gratitude to you -for the condescension you have manifested
this day in visiting this institution, which is one of the noblest
specimens of New York philanthrophy. Here, sir, you behold
hundreds of the poor children of Africa sharing with those of
a lighter hue in the blessings of education ; and while it will be
our pleasure to remember the great deeds you have done for
America, it will be our. delight, also, to cherish the memory
of General Lafayette as a friend of African emancipation, and
as a member of this institution."
In 1836, Mr. John Peterson, colored, was appointed prin
cipal of Colorado Grammar School No. 1, and Mr. R. F. Wake,
also colored, principal of School No. 2. These gentlemen
served with great success and Avhen in 1853, the Board of Edu
cation established a colored normal school, Mr. Peterson was
appointed principal of it.
Some of the educated and cultured colored men of New
York were : " EJr. Henry Highland Barnett, Dr. Charles B.
Ray and the Rev. Peter Williams in the pulpit; Charles L.
Rea.son and William Peterson as teachers ; James McCune
Smith and Philip A. White as physicians and chemists ; James
Williams and Jacob Day among business men." Rev. Dr. Alex
Crummell was ordained prie.st in the Protestant Episcopal
Church in 1844. In 1852 he graduated from the University of
Cambridge, England. After fifty years as a minister he retired

126 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

from active service. Peter Ogden founded the G. U. O. O. F
during this period.
As you know, the women of our race have from the begin
ning taken part in every movement which has sought to tiplift,
so when the Anti-Slavery Women of America met in New
York in May, 1837, colored women were of the number. Mary
S. Parker was chosen president of the convention, Angelina E.
Grimke, secretary, and Sarah Douglas, a colored woman, was
a member of the central committee. The convention sent out
a circular telling of its object and plans and Sarah Forten, a
colored member, composed the poem with which the circular
ended. It reads as follows:
" We are thy sisters. God has truly said
That of one blood the nations He has made.
O Christian woman in a Christian land, - ]
Canst thou unblushing read this great command ? ^
Suffer the wrongs which wring our inmost heart,
To draw one throb of pity ori thy part?
Our skins may differ, but from thee we claim
A sister's privilege and a sister's name."
In Ohio, the first schools for Negroes were opened in 1820,
through the efforts of colored men of Cincinnati, foremost
among whom was Owen T. B. Nickens. Other schools were
opened later and were supported by a white educational society
assisted by Negroes of means, Dennis Hill, William O'Hara,
John Woodson, Baker Jones, John Liverpool and Joseph
Fowler being among the latter.
In 1833, Oberlin College was opened and from the first
Negro students were well received. Some of the earlier grad
uates were William Howard Day, John Mercer Langston and
George B. Vashon.
The Cincinnati High School for colored pupils was estab
lished in 1844 by a cultured and wealthy white gentleman, the
Rev. Hiram S. Gilmore, and in 1850, public schools for colored
children Avere opened, Oil account of goipe defect in th^ law,

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 127

these schools were closed after three months, and the teachers
went unpaid.
A mass meeting of the colored people was called by John I.
Gaines, a brave and intelligent Negro, and the people were
urged to take their case to the courts ; they did so and, after an
appeal to the Supreme Court, won their case. But there was
dissatisfaction and friction with regard to the management of
the schools until 1856, when the law was altered and the
colored people were given the right to elect their own trustees,
by ballot Two years later, Nicholas Longworth built a school-
house for the use of colored people and leased it to them on
condition that they pay for it in fourteen years.
One of the pupils of the Cincinnati schools was Moses Dick
son. He was bom in that city in 1824, and when he was four
teen years old, his mother died ; as his father had died some
years before, he was forced to help support himself. He
learned to be a barber while still going to school and when he
was sixteen, he went to work on a steamboat. For three years
he followed this occupation, and as he was a very observant
young man, the condition of his people throughout the slave
States made a great impression on him, and at length he
resolved to find a way to help them.
In the early part of 1844, when only twenty years old, he
called together at St. Louis, eleven other earnest young men and
they decided to organize and form a plan to help the slaves.
They knew that a thing of that kind should be arranged thor
oughly and secretly, so they separated to meet again in two
years from that time. Meanwhile each was to travel, hear and
see as much as possible, so as to be able to make wise and
helpful suggestions. Free Negroes traveling in this country,
at that time, especially in the slave States, ran many risks.
They might be captured and sold as slaves, if a Vvhite person
attacked or beat them, they had no redress, and if they were
killed Httle would be said about it.
But these young men were brave, fearless and determined.
pickson made a, trip through Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, ^'^4

128 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

other States and on August 12, 1846, the twelve friends met
again in St. Louis. They called themselves the Knights of
Liberty, and, after talking over what they had learned, each
one went out as "an organizer to form societies wherever he
could. They did not mean to spring their plan for teh years,
but during that time they were to make the separate bodies as
many arid as strong as possible. While doing this, they worked
with the Underground Railroad and helped thousands of slaves
to gain freedom.
When the ten years were over, it could readily be seen that
the state of the public mind was such that all the slaves would
soon be free, and the Knights of Liberty did not attempt to put
their plans into action. A remarkable thing about the organ
ization was that for years no outsider knew of its existence,
nor the names of the twelve founders, and the full extent of
work and final plans of the Knights were never made known.
After the civil war Dickson, who had been a soldier, and
had also become a licensed preacher of the African Methodist
Episcopal Church, founded a beneficial order in memory of
the Twelve Knights, which he called the Order of Twelve of
the Knights and Daughters of Tabor, " which has for its object
the encouragement of Christianity, education, morality and
temperance among the colored people." The Order is said
to have, at present, more than sixty-five thousand members.
In Pennsylvania, the education of Negroes was greatly as
sisted by the bequest of Benezet. In 1787, with the aid of five
hundred pounds sterling from Thomas Shirley, a colored man,
a schoolhouse was erected. In 1819, a coinmittee of women
Friends, to have charge df the admission and general superin
tendence of girls, was added to the board which had charge of
the school.
Other buildings were erected, and in 1849, statistics showed
that " there was one grammar school, with 463 pupils, two
public schools with ."39 pupils, an infant school under charge
of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, with 70 pupils, a ragged
school and a moral-reform school with 81 pupils. There were

A NARRATI'VE OF THE NEGRO 129

about twenty private schools with 300 pupils, making an aggre
gate of more than 1,300 children receiving an education."
Richard Humphreys, who died in 1832, provided, by his
will ten thousand dollars for the establishment of an Institute
for Colored Youth in Philadelphia, and in 1837, the school was
opened. By the terms of the will, the money was placed in
charge of trustees who were to pay it over to any society that
would undertake the work. An association was formed by
thirty Quakers, for the purpose and they stated their ideas as
follows: "We believe that the most successful raethod of
elevating the moral and intellectual character of the descend
ants of Africa, as well as of improving their social condition,
is to extend to them the benefits of a good education, and to
instruct them in the knowledge of some useful trade or busi
ness, whereby they may be enabled to obtain a comfortable
livelihood by their industry ; and though these means to prepare
them for fulfilling the various duties of domestic and social
life with reputation and fidelity, as good citizens and pious
men." In 1839, the trustees purchased a farm in Bristol township
and boys were taught farming, shoemaking, wheelwrighting,
blacksmithing, etc. Several legacies, including one from Jona
than Zane, were added to the school funds and the work flour
ished for about seven ye^rs, when it came to a standstill and
the farm was sold. In 1852, the work was again started in the
city of Philadelphia, under the management of Charles L.
Reason, a young colored man of New York, who was well
educated and had an especial fitness for this work. A girls'
school was started under the same management, and " many
worthy and competent teachers and leaders of the Negro race
came forth from these schools."
In 1835 the African Methodist Episcopal Church issued the
first copy of the Christian Recorder. Among the leading
colored men of Philadelphia were William Whipper, Stephen
Smith, Robert Purvis, William Still, Frederick Hinton and
Joseph Cassev.

13° A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

The three pioneer Negro educators of the District of Colum
bia knew not one letter of the alphabet, but, with the respect
for knowdedge which characterizes the Negro, they planted
that others might reap. George Bell, Nicholas Franklin and
Moses Liverpool were the names of these lovers of their race,
and in 1807, they had built the first schoolhouse for colored
children and hired a teacher. But there were, at that time, only
494 free Negroes in the city and it was not an easy thing for
them to support a school, so it was closed for a while.
In 1818, an announcement that the Resolute Bteneficial
Society would open " a school fdr the children of free people
of color, and others that ladies and gentlemen may think proper
to be instructed in reading, writing, arithmetic, English gram
mar, etc., was published in the National Intelligencer." The
advertisement was signed by Williani Costin, George Hicks,
James Harris, George Bell, Archibald Johnson, Fred Lewis,
Isaac Johnson and Scipio Beens. •
A number of schools for colored children were afterward
opened in Washington, by both white and colored people. John
Adams was the first Negro teacher. Others were Mrs. Anne
Maria Hall, John W. Prout, Lindsay Muse, John Brown, Ben
jamin McCoy, Charlotte Norris, Sibby McCoy, John F. Cook,
Catherine Costin, George F. T. Cook, Louise Park Costin,
Martha Costin, Janies Enoch Ambush, Maria Becraft, Mary
Wormley, Nancy Grant, Fanny Hampton, Dr. John N. Fleet,
Charles H. Middleton, Alexander Cornish, Eliza Anne Cook,
Annie Washington, Elizabeth Smith, Isabella Briscoe, Char
lotte Beans, Rev. James Shorter. A large number of pupils
were trained under these teachers, many of whorri have proven
an honor to themselves and to the race.
Primus Hall, an intelligent colored man of Boston, opened in
his home in 1798, the first separate school for Negro children,
and the teacher, Elisha Sylvester, was paid by the parents of
the children. "In 1800, sixty-six colored citizens of Boston
presented a petition to the school committee, praying that a
school might be established for their benefit," but the town

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 131

meeting refused to grant it. In 1SU6 the colored Baptists
arranged for a school room in the basement of their church
in Belknap street and the school was removed from Mr. 'Hall's
house to the church.
Abiel Smith left a sum of money to build a schoolhouse for
Negro children and in 1835 this building, which was called the
Smith schoolhouse, was erected. Interesting exercises marked
the opening of the school and the address of the occasion was
made by Hon. William Minot. The city made an ainnual
appropriation of two hundred dollars and the parents paid
twelve and a half cents per week for each child who
attended. Among those who taught this school was John B.
Russwurm. From 1820 to 1855 the colored children of Boston attended
separate pubhc schools, but in the latter year a law vvas passed
by the Legislature which forbade any distinction being made
between the children " on account of race, color or religious
opinion;" John Brown Russwurm, the teacher just mentioned, grad
uated from Bowdoin College in Maine in 1826, and was the
first of his race in America to be so honored. It was through
the goodness of his stepmother that he was supported and
encouraged, and his career at college justified her kindness.
For a short while he had charge of Freedom's Journal,' "aii Abo
lition paper published in New York; but in 1829 he went to
Liberia as superintendent of public schools. After holding
other public positions there he was appointed Govemor of the
Maryland colony at Cape Palmas, which place he held until his
death in 1851. Governor Russwurm has been described as
follows :
"He was a man of erect and more than ordinary stature, with
a good head and face and large keen eye. Of sound intellect,
a great reader, with a special fondness for history and politics.
Naturally sagacious in regard to men and things, a man of
strict integrity, a good husband, father and friend, and in
later life a devoted niember of the Protestant' iEpiscopal
Church,"

132 A NARRATIVElOF THE NEGRO

Other prominent Negroes of Boston were " among its clergy
men, Leonard Grimes and John T. Raymond; among its law
yers, Robert Morris and E. G. Walker; among its business
men, J. B. Smith and Coffin Pitts ; among its physicians, John
R. Rock and John V. DeGrasse; among its authors, WiHiam
W. Brown and William C. Nell; among its orators, Remond
and Hilton." During this period Alexander Pouskin, the cele
brated Russian writer of prose and poetry, and Alexander
Dumas, the famous French novelist, both of negro descent,
came into public notice.
In Baltimore, the Oblate Sisters of Providence, colored
women who were refugees from San Domingo, opened St.
Francis Academy for colored girls in 1829. For about twelve
years before that time there had been schools also supported
by the Catholics.
In 1835, a colored man named WiHiam Wells opened a
free school for colored pupils, and upon his death left the
sum of seven thousand dollars for the suppdrt of the work.
The Wells school rendered good service to the race and com
munity. A distinguished Marylander of this period was Ira Aldridge,
who was born in Belaire, in 1810. When quite a young man
he served as valet for Wallack, the actor and theatrical man
ager. In this way he came into contact with the theatrical
world, and felt himself capable of becoming an actor. Edmund
Kean recognized his ability and encouraged him, and Aldridge
went to England where he appeared in several plays. As
Aaron, the Moor, in Titus Adronicus, he created a sensation,
and he was also very successful in his interpretation of Shakes
pearian plays, appearing as Othello in Covent Garden in 1833.
At the time of his death in 1867, he was considered the greatest
Othello. Aldridge was highly esteemed and greatly honored
by the crowned heads of Europe, receiving from them many
medals and other decorations. Sir Ira owned nine villas in
different parts of Europe and was said to have been worth
more than $250,000.
Perhaps the most distinguished son of Maryland was Fred
erick Douglass, of whom we shall hear in the next chapter.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

t33

CHAPTER XVI.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS— OTHER NOTABLES.
¦" I 'HE life of Frederick Douglass reads like a romance, at
¦*¦ times almost tragic in its development. Born on the for
saken Eastern Shore of Maryland, the exact date of his

hK*'-r-.'

TTT

'^<-iffW4»:",ll'i'.'J.",'«'Wl

FREDERICK DOUGLASS.

birth unknown to him, born a slave and suffering all which
that condition entailed in the first quarter of the nineteenth

134 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

century, he lived to gain the respect of the whole enlightened
world and the admiration and friendship of rulers of the earth.
PL's mother, having nothing else to bestow upon him, started
hira off in life with the resounding cognomen of Frederick Au-
gifstus Washington Bailey. This name his companions soon
shortened to "Gus Bailey," and by the latter title he wasj
kno^w'n for some years. While still very young, he was sepa
rated frora his mother, and his earliest recollections of her
were that she would of ten, steal fro.n the plantation where she
worked, miles away, and would come to see him in the middle
of the night.
Long laf ter the Civil War, Mr. Douglass once told the fol
lowing story of his life to the pupils of a colored school in
Talbot County, Maryland, the county in which he was born:
"I onceiiknew a little colored boy whose father and riiother
died wHfeii he was six years old. He was a slave and had no
one to care for him. He slept on a dirt floor in a hovel and
in cold weather would crawl into a meal bag, headforemost,
and leave his feet in the ashes to keep them warra. Often he
would roast an ear of corn and eat it to satisfy his hunger, and
raany times has he crawled under the barn or stable and se
cured eggs, which he would roast in the fire and eat.
"This boy did not wear pants like you do, but a tow linen
shirt. Schools were unknown to him, and he learned to spell
frora an old Webster's spelling book, and to read and write
from posters on cellars and barn doors, while boys and men
would help him. He would then preach and speak, and soon
became well known. He finally held several high positions
and accumulated some wealth. He wore broadcloath and did
not have to divide crumbs with the dogs under the table. That
boy was Frederick Douglass.
"What- was possible for me is possible for you. Do not
think because you are colored you cannot accomplish anything.
Strive earnestly to add to your knowledge. So long as you
.jeraain in ignorance, so long will you fail to command the re-
-s.pect- of your fellow men."

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO i35

At an early age Frederick Douglas.s, was taken to Baltimore
where he lived with members of the Auld family, his owners,
When about sixteen years old, he was sent to work with other
slaves on the farm of Edward Covey, and it was here that he
made, his first resistance against the system of slavery by over
powering an overseer who attempted to whip him. The at
tempt was not made again. After an unsuccessful attempt to
escape in 1836, he was caught and sent to Baltimore. But his
mind was made, up to flee from slavery and after a while he
escaped to New York and later to New Bedford, Mass. By
this time he had learned to read and write, and above all, to
think, in New Bedford he changed his name to Frederick
Douglass and here also he was wed to Miss Anna Murray, a
free woman, who bore him several children.
In- 1839, Edwin Thompson, a noted Abolitionist, traveled
through Massachusetts making speeches in the anti-slavery
cau-se. Mr; Douglass was present at one of these raeetings held
in New Bedford, and some years afterward said that it was
Thompson who w^aked him up on the subject and by quoting
some of Whittier's poems, inspired him and made hira feel,
indeed, a new raan. In 1841, Mr. Douglass was, after much
begging and persuading, induced to relate to the congregation
of -the Rev. Thoraas Jaraes — himself an ex-slave — the story of
his experiences in slavery.
This was his first .public talk, and though his audience was
small and humble, it is said that he was very nervous and ill at
ease. This man who was destined to .stir the v/orld by his
oratory, was at first overcome by timidity at the thought of
addressing an audience of his own people. But once started
and brought to realize his possession of the divine gift, he
went on from triumph to triumph.
Like water seeking its level, he made one acquaintance after
another among the enlightened, broadminded, cultured pedple
¦of Massachusetts; for people of that caliber were the only
ones who were capable of appreciating him. Pie consorted

13^ A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

with the noble company who were working for the overthrow
of slavery — Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, Owen
Lovejoy and many others; and since he realized that the love
of freedom is not bounded by sex, he threw his support also
to the cause of equal suffrage, and was the friend of such
noble women as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, So
journer Truth, the Grimke sisters, Susan B. Anthony and a
host of others.
It is interesting to note that about this time, the "Jim Crow"
car law was in full force in Massachusetts and colored per
sons were forced to travel in a rough car with hard seats,
much as in the case in the Southern States today. 'Phose who
protested again.st this and entered other cars, were thrown off
bodily. It is related that Mr. Douglass was frequently thrown
from the cars and that on one occasion in Lynn, four seats
were broken in trying to get him out, as he would not help
himself out. And this reminds me of an incident told of Mr.
Douglass and the Jim Crow cars of the South.
It is said that on a certain occasion, he had an engagement
to lecture in a southern city and toward the end of his journey
was compelled to use the section reserved for colored people,
which in this case was an end of a freight car. This, it will
easily be understood, was particularly obnoxious and when the
delegation which went to meet him saw him in such surround
ings they began to apologize that coming to them had caused
him to be so humiliated and degraded. Drawing himself up
to his full height, the grand old man replied, "Gentlemen, by
ignoble actions I may degrade myself, but nothing and no man
can degrade Frederick Douglass." Those words should never
be forgotten, for the lesson they teach is worthy of imitation
by all. Be master of your soul, do nothing that is ignoble and
whenever an attempt is made to embarass or humiliate you,
you will be able to treat it with the contempt which it deserves.
In 1845 Mr. Douglass went to Europe to lecture on slavery;
on the trip over he was not allowed a first cabin berth. As the
ship neared her journey's end, the captain gave to the first

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO I37

cabin passengers a complimentary dinner, after whicii so.ne of
the passengers knowing of Douglass' presence on board, de
sired to hear him speak. As soon as he began a great uproar
was staffed by those who at heart were slaveholders, and there
were Iciud cries of "Kill him," "Throw him overboard," and
for a tiriie he was in great danger. The captain, however, took
his part; and invited those who did not wish to hear Douglass
to leave the dining saloon, threatening that if the speaker was
again interrupted, every one of the disturbers should be put in
irons. Douglass then went on and delivered one of his most
telling speeches.
Upon his arrival in England his lectures upon slavery were
delivered to large audiences and won for him.self and for his
causes many friends. A purse of $750 was made up by his
English friends to purchase his Hberty, and he returned to this
country a free man.
In 18.47 he began the publication of a newspaper, "The
North Star," in Rochester, N. Y., and the paper was widely
read by lovers of liberty. While living in Rochester, his little
daughter, Rosetta, applied for admission to the public schools,
but was denied admission on account of color. Mr. Dougla.ss
at once began to fight the silly prejudice and did not rest until
"every door of the public schools of Rochester not only swung
wide open to the admission of his own children, but to every
child of every race."
Mr. Douglass had become an intimate friend of John Brown
and in 1859 a despatch was sent to the sheriff of Philadelphia,
where Mr. Douglass was at the time, to arrest him for con-
plicity in the John Brown raid. The telegraph operator, being
a friend of Douglass, held up the despatch and left his office in
search of Douglass' friends, advising them to hurry the latter
out of the country. This they did, and the despatch was not
delivered until Douglass was well on the way to Rochester. He
reached home in safety, went over into Canada, thence to Eu
rope where he remained until danger was over.

138 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

At the beginning of the Civil War, he retumed to this coun
try and helped persuade President Lincoln to arm the Negroes ;
the colored regiments of Massachusetts were raised with his
active assistance, his sons becoming members of the famous
54th Massachusetts Volunteers.
Besides his splendid work in other directions, Mr. Douglass
held several public positions of honor and trust. In 1871, he
was appointed assistant secretary to the Commission to San
Domingo ; upon finishing that task, he was appointed a member
of the Upper House of the Territorial Legislature of the Dis
trict of Columbia, which he had previously chosen for his per
manent home. In 1872 he was presideritial elector-at-large
for the state of New York ; he was successively' appointed
United States Marshal for the District of Columbia, Recorder
of Deeds for the same place, and U. S. Minister' to Haiti. The
sympathy and insight which he showed for the people of thaf
Republic endeared him to them and his memory is held in
greatest reverence by all patriotic Haitians. Mr. Douglass
was married in 1884 to Miss Helen Pitts.
Mr. Douglass died at his home, Cedar Hill, Anacostia, D.
C, February 20th, 1895, at the age of seventy-eight. An im
mense throng attended the funeral services and many glowing
tributes were paid to his worth, Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stariton
sent a letter which was read by Miss Susan B. Anthony. The
following is an extract: "I saw Mr. Douglass first before a
Boston audience, when he was fresh from the land of bond
age. He stood there like an African prince, conscious of' his
dignity and power, grand in his physical proportions, majestic
in his wrath, as with keen wit, satire and indignation he por
trayed the bitterness of slavery, the humiliation of having been
subject to those who in all human virtues and capabilities were
inferior to himself. His denunciation of our national crime, of
the wild and guilty fantasy that men could hold property itt
man — poured Hke a torrent that fairly made his hearers
tremble."

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 139

"Thus I first saw him and wondered as I listened, that any
mortal man should have ever tried to subjugate a being with
such marvellous powers, such self respect, ,such intense love of
liberty.,' Around him sat the great anti-slavery orators of the
day, watching his effect on that immense audience, completely
magnetized, with his eloquence ; laughjng and crying by turns
with his rapid flights from pathos to humor. All other speak
ers seenied tame after Douglass. Sitting near I heard Wendell
PhilHps say to Lydia Maria Child, 'Verily, this boy, who hal;
only just graduated from slavery, throws us all in the shade.'
'Ah,' she replied, 'the iron has entered his soul and he knows
the wrongs of slavery subjectively; the rest of you speak only
from an objective point of. view.' "
. SOJOURNER TRUTH.
. One of the colored women who came into prominence during
the first half of the nineteenth century was IsabeHa Ardinburg,
born a slave in New York. By the Gradual Emancipation Act,
she was entitled to her freedom in 1828, but as often happened
in these days, she was twice sold in spite of the act. Isabella
settled the matter by running away. She gave herself the sin
gular name of Sojourner Truth, claiining that God had com
missioned her to be a traveler or sojourner and that as she
went from place to place she was, to preach and teach the truth.
She could neither read nor write, but having a splendid mem
ory, all that was read in her. hearing became a part of her, and'
as she was remarkably intelligent she made the most of all she
received. It is said that she could quote passage after passage
of Scripture and could aptly apply it to the affairs of every
day life. She was active in all good works, and was a forceful
and magnetic speaker having the happy faculty of expressing
a: powerful thought in a few wo,rd.s. She was in great demand
at Woman Suffrage and Anti-Slavery meetings.
-. Her unwavering trust in God made her a power among the
people, in spite of her ignorance of books, and during the Civil

140 A NARRATIVE OP THE NEGRO

War she gave great assistance to the soldiers. After the war,
she formed the idea that the freedmen would be much better
off as colonists in the West, and while on her travels obtained
many signatures to a petition to Congress asking that body to
take some steps in the matter. Congress failed to act, but So
journer persuaded a large number of individuals to follow her
suggestion. Some years before the war she was present at a meeting in
Rochester wheri Frederick Douglass, saddened and discour
aged by the operation of the Fugitive Slave law, was making a
very gloomy speech. Suddenly Sojourner arose and said,
"Frederick, is God dead?" The effect of her question was
magical, and Douglass immediately began to speak in a more
hopeful tone, finally making one of the best speeches of his life,
"A short time before her death in 1883, she claimed to be more
than one hundred years old ; but at that time she .seemed to be
renewing her youth, as .some of the failing senses grew strong
again, and her power as a speaker was not abated." Because
of her wisdom and the pointed brevity with which she ex
pressed herself. Sojourner Truth was called the Libyan Sibyl.
HARRIET TUBMAN.

Harriet Tubman, born Arminta Ross, who still lives (Febru
ary, 1912), is another strong character who becane fav.ous
during this period. She was married in 1844 to a free Negro
named John Tubman. She was a slave in Maryland, but de
cided that she would not remain in that condition. Having
made her escape to freedom, she was not satisfied, but deter
mined to rescue her parents and as many of her former com
panions as she could by making personal visits to her old home.
"Her success was wonderful. Time and again she would
visit Maryland and be absent for weeks, running daily risks
while making preparatioris for herself and her passengers on
the Underground Railroad. Great /fears were entertained for
her safety, but she seenied wholly devoid of personal fear. The

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 141

idea of being captured by slave hunters or slaveholders, seemed
never to enter her mind. Half of her time she had the appear
ance of one asleep, and would actually sit down by the roadside
arid go fast asleep when on her errands of mercy through the
South, yet she would not suffer one of her party to whimper
once, however wearied they might be from hard travel day and
night." A reward of $40,000 was offered for her capture but
:.she laughed when it was read to her by one whom she was
helping to escape.
Harriet had a very short and pointed rule of her own, which
implied death to any who talked of giving out and going back.
Of course Harriet was supreme, her followers called her
"Moses" and had full faith in her; so when she said to them
that "a live runaway could do great harm by going back, but
that a dead one could tell no secrets,'' she was sure to have obe
dience. It is obvious, however, that her success iri going into
Maryland as .she did, was attributable to her adventurous spirit
and utter disregard of consequences. Her like, it is probable,
was never known before or since.
It is said that on one occasion, while walking down the road
near her old home, she met her ex-master face to face. Her
presence of mind did not fail her, but drawing her sunbonnet
well over her face, she caused a bunch of chickens whicii she
was carrying, to keep up such a flutter that the man passed her
by without dreaming of who she was.
At one time, up in the state of New York, a colored man was
Ijeing sought by slave catchers, under the fugitive slave law.
iHarriet Tubman came up just as they were taking the man to
be locked up. She at once took command of the crowd of
sympathetic bystanders and by her great courage, nimble wit
and physical strength caused the man to be rescued."
Like Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman did not allow her
interest in her race to end with slavery, but in many ways
busied herself in their behalf. At Auburn, N. Y., she founded
a home for the homeless and while her strength lasted she

142 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

ministered to the necessities of those within her gates: At
first the Harriet Tubman home consisted of a brick house and
seven acres of land ; at present there are two other houses and
a total of twenty-six acres of ground. Aunt Harriet, who is
said to be nearly one hundred yeai-s old, is a tenderly cared for
inmate of the home and receives a small pension from the gov
ernment as well as help from her own people, the Erripire State
Federation of Women's Clubs contributing a generoiis share.
Harriet was personally acquainted with John Brown who in
troduced her to W^endell Phillips as " General Tubman, one of
the bravest and best persons on the continent." During the
Civil War she acted as nurse, spy and scout in the Union Army.
FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER.
In contrast to the two women just mentioned, Frances, Ellen
Watkins was born free and had in her youth some advantages
of education. She was born in Baltimore in 1825, and having
lost her parents when very young, she was reared by an aunt.
Her uncle, William Watkins, taught a private school, and to
this school Frances went until she was thirteen years old.- She
then went to work for a lady who owned quite a library and
who took quite an interest in Frances and allowed her, to read
any book in the library during her spare time, "except a. novel."
Frances preferred reading to anthing else and eagerly took
advantage of her opportunities. She soon began to make
rhymes and before she was twenty-one, she had written a num
ber of pieces, both prose and poems. In 1846, they were pub
lished in a little book called "Forest Leaves." One of the
poems, called Ethopia, was printed at the time in an English
journal. It read as follows:

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO i43

ETHIOPIA.
Yes, Ethiopia yet shall stretch.
Her bleeding hands abroad;
Her cry of agony shall reach
The burning throne of God.
The tyrant's yoke from off her neck.
His fetters from her soul.
The mighty hand of God shall break
And spurn the base control.
Redeemed from dust, and freed from chains.
Her sons" shall lift their eyes ;
From lofty hills and verdant plains
Shdll shouts of triumph rise.
Upon the dark despairing brow.
Shall play a smile of peace;
For God shall bend unto her woe.
And bid Her sorrows cease.
'Neath sheltering vines and stately palms
Shall laughing children play ;
And aged sires, with joyous psalms.
Shall gladden every day.
Secure by night and blest by day.
Shall pass her happy hours ;
No human tigers hunt for prey
Within her peaceful bowers.
Then, Ethiopia, stretch, O, stretch.
Thy bleeding hands abroad ;
Thy cry of agony shall reach
And find the throne of God,

144 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

Leaving Baltimore in 1851, Miss Watkins resided first in
Ohio and then in Pennsylvania, teaching school in both. states.
But the sight of a man who had been captured and brutally
treated under the Fugitive Slave Law caused her to feel that
she could do more good as a lecturer in the Anti-Slavery cause,
and in 1854 she began that work in New Bedford. Her first
lecture was called the Education and the Elevation of the Col
ored Race. Her engagement lasted for about eighteen tnonths
and during that time, she spoke in nearly all of the New Eng
land states, addressing her audiences upon various phases of
the subject so dear to her hearf.
She then visited the flourishing colony of Negroes in Upper
Canada. She became a warm friend of Mrs. John Brown and
spent two weeks at the home of the latter during the sad tine
that the Hero of Harpers Ferry was waiting to be executed.
In 1860 Miss Watkins was married to Mr. Fenton Harper of
Ohio, but household duties did not entirely prevent hei^ keep
ing up her literary work and following the course of; public
events. After a happy married life her husband died iri 1864.
Upon the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation, Mrs.
Harper was invited to address a public meeting in Columbus,
and from that time on was almost constantly engaged iri writ
ing, lecturing or ministering in other ways to the needs of our
people. Throughout the southern states she went, carrying a
loving heart, a cultivated mind and an unconquerable soul. She
plead the cause of temperance, industry, thrift and equal op
portunity. Many times she was advised to abandon a lecture,
as to give it might be dangerous, but she never took such ad
vice. As a temperance lecturer she was said to be unsurpassed.
A southern white man who once heard her, described her as
follows : "Her voice was remarkable — as sweet as any wo nan's
voice we ever heard, and so clear and distinct as to pass every
syllable to the most distant ear in the house. The speaker left
the impression on our mind that she was not only intelligent
and educated, but, the great end of education, she was enlight
ened. She comprehends perfectly the situation of her people,

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO i45

to whose interests she seems ardently devoted." "Get land,"
she said, "every one that can, and as fast as you can. A land
less people must be dependent upon the landed people, A few
acres to till for food and a roof, however humble, over your
head, are the castles of your independence."
Mrs. Harper died in Philadelphia in 1911, full of years and
honors. Her own words, written in 1S71, seem her most fitting
epitaph: "But after all, what matters it when I an in ny
grave, whether I have been rich or poor, loved or hated, de
spised or respected, if Christ will only own nie to Flis Father,
and I be permitted to a place in one of His mansions of rest,"

146

A NARRATIVE OP THE NEGRO

CHAPTER XVII.
AN EVENTFUL DECADE.
''p HE years from 1850 to 1860 were to the Negro full of inter-
-*- esting and important events. In 1850 the Fugitive Slave
.Law was passed, which allowed owners to hunt for and
claim their runaway slaves in any part of the Union. By this time

JOHN BROWN AT HARPER'S FERRY.
there w^ere hundreds of fugitives who had found freedom and
made homes for themselves in the northern and western States
and this law carried terror to their souls. As many as could
do so, fled to Canada, but numbers of those who had for years
enjoyed the blessings of liberty were claimed and dragged back
into slavery. This law became a broad cover, under which the

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO i47

kidnapping of free persons of color was extensively carried on,
and scores of men, women and children, born free were
dragged from their homes and consigned to hopeless bondage.
On some occasions pitched battles were fought between
the fugitives and their owners, " every man was compelled to
become a slave hunter, under certain conditions, and every
kind-hearted woman who might give a cup of cold water or
the shelter of a roof to a suffering sister fleeing from intoler
able bondage, incurred the penalty of a felony."
But though the operation of the P'ugitive Slave Law dark
ened this whole decade, there was here and there a gleam of
light amid the darkness. In 1851, Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe
began to publish, in serial form, in the National Era, of Wash
ington, D. C, her epoch-marking story of Uncle Tom's Cabin.
From the beginning the story aroused the raost intense interest,
and when it was published in book form, it was translated into
nearly every known language. The little author became famous
and thousands of friends were made for the slave through this
book. It hastened emancipation.
Colored authors of the period were Rev. Daniel Payne, Mar
tin R. Delaney, Frederick Douglass, Rev. Samuel Ringgold
Ward, William C. Nell, Rev. Austin Stewart, Dr. WiHiam
Wells Brown.
About this time, the Negro began to take his place in the
musical world and again a. woman led the way. Elizabeth
Taylor was born in Natchez, Miss., in 1809, and was taken to
Philadelphia by Mrs. Greenfield, a Quaker lady. After a time
it was discovered that Elizabeth had a beautiful voice and a
kind young lady, a friend of Mrs. Greenfield's gave her vocal
and instrumental lessons. Elizabeth, who added Mrs. Green
field's name to her own, gained quite a name as a singer, and
in 1851 accepted an invitation to sing before the Musical Asso
ciation of Buffalo. Her voice was described by musical critics
of the time, as being " full, round, of iramense compass and
depth and remarkable sweetness; her pronunciation very cor
rect and her intonation excellent. She plays with ability upon

148 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

the piano, harp and guitar." In compliment, she was called the
Black Swan.
" After singing in nearly all the free States she resolved to
carry out her long-entertained purpose of visiting Europe in
order to perfect herself in the technique of her art." Arrived
in London, May, 1853, she called upon Harriet Beecher Stowe,
who was also in the city at the time. Through Mrs. Stowe
Miss Greenfield was introduced into the most exclusive English
circles, and on one occasion she sang before the Queen. Her
beautiful voice and modest, dignified bearing gained many
friends for her as well as for the race. Upon her return to
America, her voice showed remarkable improvement, due to
the additional training which she had received, and until her
death in ]£7(), she devoted herself to her art.
Thoinas J. Bowers, of Philadelphia, styled " the colored
Mario," and his sister, Sarah Sedgwick Bowers, were famous
music'ans of this period, the foriner appearing with the Black
Swan in 1854. Justin Holland, of Norfolk county, Va.. per
former on the piano, guitar and flute ; Henry Williams, of
Boston, composer and bandmaster ; the Lucca faniily of Con
necticut, all becaine famous during this decade. The Luccas
toured for a while with the famous Hutchinson faniily, a group
of white musicians.
In 1854 Dred Scott, a Negro, sued for his freedom because of
having been taken by his raaster from Missouri to Minnesota,
which latter State had been raade free territory by the Mis
souri Compromise. The case being decided for Scott was
appealed to the Supreme Court in 1856, and Judge Taney, a
Maryland slaveholder, there rendered his infamous decision
to the effect that Negroes ' were beings of an inferior order
/and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in
social or political relations ; and so far inferior that they had
no rights which the white man was bound to respect." The
effect of this decision upon the Negroes and their white friends
raay better be imagined than described. It was a milestone
toward the inevitable end.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 14$

Efforts were still being made to educate the Negro. Abo
litionists were still trying to free him, and he was still trying
to help himself. Negro churches were endeavoring, as they
had from their organization, to serve as levers for moral and
spiritual upHft.
The Rev. Charles Avery, of New York, left at his death, a
large sum for the benefit of the race in Africa and America.
He also left $25,000 as an endowment fund for the college
which he had founded in Allegheny City and which bears his
name. In 1856, what was then called Ashniun Institute, but is
now known as Lincoln University, was formally dedicated.
It is situated in Chester county, Pa., and was founded for the
" scientific, classical and theological education of colored youth
of the male sex."
In the sumraer of 1856 the Cincinnati Conference of the
Methodist Episcopal Church decided to establish a university
for the education of colored youth. Its board of trustees con
sisted of twenty-four menibers, four of whom were colored.
The latter were Bishop D. A. Payne, Rev. Lewis Woodson,
Mr. Alfred Anderson, and Mr. Ishmael Keith. The school was
dedicated in October, 1856, and remained open until 1862.
Colored Methodists bought the land and buildings in 1863 for
$10,000, and the growth of the institution under their manage
ment is a credit to their church and their race.
Charles Sumner, the learned and distinguished senator from
Massachusetts and the unfailing friend and defender of the
slave, was on May 22, 1856, struck down and beaten with a
cane while sitting at his desk in the Senate room. His assail
ant was a member from South Carolina, who had taken offence
at a speech made by Senator Sumner. It is said the latter
never fully recovered from the effects of the assault; he died
in Washington in 1874.
A colored woraan, having been put off a street car in New
York on account of her color, employed Hon. Chester A,
Arthur as lawyer and entered suit against the company. She

15° A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

won her suit, and by the decision then given, no discrimination
in public conveyances was afterward allowed in the State.
The members of the Underground Railroad were especially
active during this decade in defiance of the Fugitive Slave
Law. Besides those already named the following took earnest
interest in this work : Charles Wise, Edwin Coates, Esther
Moore, Abigail Goodwin, Daniel Gibbons, Lucretia Mott,
Thomas Garrett, James Mott, J. Miller McKim, Rev. WiHiam
Furness, WiHiam Wright, Elijah Pennypacker, Dr. Barthole-
mew Fussell, John Hunn, Samuel Rhoades, Grace Anne,
Miriann and Elizabeth Lewis, John Needles, Thomas Shipley
and others. Prominent among the colored members were:
Williani Still, for many years secretary of the Philadelphia
Vigilance Comraittee, and author of a book containing the
records of the Underground Railroad ; N. W. Depee, Jacob
/White, Robert Purvis, William Whipper, Samuel Burris
/Frances, E. ^V. Harper and many others.
' Another true friend was Miss MyrtiHa Miner, who was born
in Brookfield, Madison county, N. Y., March 4, 1815. In
person she was very frail and spent several of her early years
as an invalid, but her strong and beautifuul spirit upheld her
and enabled her to acquire, after many difficulties, a sound
education. It was this spirit which helped her to accomplish
what later became a master passion — - the founding of a school
for the education of colored youth.
As governess to the children of a Mississippi planter, she
came to understand the horrors of slavery and its blighting
effect upon both races. She saw, too, the pitiable condition of
free colored people and realized that to educate them was to
do them the greatest kindness. Accordingly, though friends
advised against it she determined to establish in the District
of Columbia a school for free colored girls.
When in Rochester, visiting friends, she went to see Fred
erick Douglass and told him of her plan. lie did all he could
to prevent the attempt, as she seemed so fragile and he knew
fuH well what she would have to undergo in such a cause. But

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 151

nothing could deter Miss Miner and she came to Washington
and opened her school with six pupils, in the home of Edward
C. Younger, a colored man, who lived on Eleventh street near
New York avenue.
There were in Washington at that time, about ten thousand
colored free people and about three thousand six hundred
slaves. The number of Miss Miner's pupils rapidly increased
and she was compelled to remove several times. Finally, after
many struggles and trials, she bought in 1853 with the help of
friends, a lot containing three acres, bounded by New liamp-
sliire avenue and N street and Nineteenth and Twentieth
streets. There were two sniall frame houses on the lot, the
wdiole costing forty-three hundred dollars. Mrs. Harriet
Beecher Stowe gave toward its purchase one thousand dollars
of the money she received from Uncle Tom's Cabin, and other
friends gave largely. But Miss Miner was not allowed to teach
her school in peace. Rowdies gave her constant annoyance,
often gathering as the girls passed out to go home, and insulting
and terrifying them. Once her house was set on fire, but a
passerby awoke her and helped to put it out. Stones were
frequently thrown at her windows in the night time and she
was otherwise annoyed. At one time in answer to threats of
violence she fearlessly and indignantly exclaimed, " Mob my
school! You dare not! If you tear it down over ray head,
I shall get another house. There is no law to prevent my
teaching these people, and I shall teach them, even unto death."
So brave and so magnificent was the soul within that frail
body. In 1857, the iMayor of Washington began to oppose Miss
Miner's work and for a time it seemed that the school would
be closed, but that danger passed. In 1863, by act of Congress
the Institute for the Education of Colored Youth in the Dis
trict of Columbia was incorporated with the following as trus
tees : lienry Addison, J. C. Underwood, G. J. Abbott, W. H.
Channing, Nancy M. Johnson and MyrtiHa Miner. The first

152 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

lot purchased was sold for nearly ten times its cost, and another
lot bought at Seventeenth and Church streets.
In May, 1864, while in California for the benefit of her
health, Miss Miner met with an accident from which she never
recovered. She retumed to Washington and died December
17, 1864. The Miner BuHding, used for years for pupils of
the colored normal school of Washington and another large
building are maintained by the Miner Board.
When we remember the trials and sacrifices of Miss Miner,
Miss Crandall and a host of others, it does seem that not a
colored child in the whole country should be tardy or absent
fronj school without grave cause and that no colored child
should ever play truant.
You have heard that the Fugitive Slave Law did much to
arouse pity and sympathy for the Negroes and added to the
number of their friends and well-wishers. But all the people
of the northern and western States were not frinds of the
slave. There were many who valued nothing but money and
who resented the agitation which slavery was creating because
it was " hurtful to business." It was this latter class who
assisted in the Boston riot of 1835, when William Lloyd Garri
son was dragged through the streets with a halter around his
neck. A sort of fury seemed to lay hold upon them and they
were glad to help catch slaves.
When the people of the south heard of such actions they felt
encouraged and began to talk of seceding from the Union and
farming an independent government of which slavery was to
be the keystone — though of the latter plan they did not speak
openly. The question of whether or not the Union should be
preserved with slavery or without it was being discussed from
every angle in Congress and out of it and the southerners
clairaed that the Missouri Corapromise had taken all power
from the south and that the anti-slavery agitation would com
pel them to withdraw from the Union — but that was only an
excuse.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 153

In 1854 a bill to repeal the Missouri Compromise was intro
duced, and in the debate which followed. Senator Salmon P.
Chase said : " Now, sir, who is responsible for this renewal of
strife and controversy? It is slavery that renews the strife. It
is slavery that again wants room. It is slavery with its insatiate
demand for more slave territory and more slave States." But
the bill was practically passed when Kansas and Nebraska were
admitted into the Union with the understanding that the
dwellers in those States should decide whether their land
should be slave or free.
Since the whole eastern border of Kansas adjoined the slave-
trade State of Missouri there followed years of struggle, fight
ing, murder, election frauds, etc., for the pro-slavery and the
anti-slavery people were each determind to win. During this
time the State was called Bleeding Kansas. And on the scene,
brave, -fearless and uncompromising, appeared John Brown,
the Man of the Hour.
John Brown was of the fourth generation from Peter Brown,
who landed at Plymouth, Mass., December 22, 1620, from the
Mayflower. The former was born in the first year of the nine
teenth century (May 9, 1800), at Torrington, Conn. He was
of a stern and upright character, little given to talking, but
when he did speak, it was with purpose and power. For many
years he had been thinking deeply upon a plan to free all the
slaves, and had decided that the best way would be to arm
them and lead them into battle against their masters.
Perhaps he felt that the plans of Gabriel, Vesey and Turner
might be enlarged and improved upon. At any rate he kept
his designs to himself and very few of his most intimate friends
had the slightest idea of what he was thinking. It is said,
however, that he took his sons into his confidence, and they
pledged themselves to help him in a cause which they all felt
to be a high and holy one.
Meanwhile, when the struggle began in Kansas (some of his
sons were living there) Brown appeared at a meeting at Osso-
watomie, where he made a speech, which threw the convention

154 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

into consternation. Pie said that slavery had hten the curse
of all ages, that slaves were men >Hd that some active steps
should be taken to help Jhem. " Talk," he said, " is a national
institution, but it does no good to the slave." He continued
his speech at some length and so great was the impression he
made that he was often refe-rred to as "John Brown, of Ossa
watomie." He joined his «)ns at their home and in 1856 helped them
to gain a victory over the pro-slavery forces on the Kansas
prairie. In 1858 he began to unfold his plans to a chosen few,
and in May called a secret convention in Chatham Canada
West, to which were invited the white and colored friends of
freedom. The convention adopted a " Provisional Constitu
tion and Ordinances." In June he returned to Kansas whence
in December he went over into Missouri and rescued some
slaves who were about to be sold, conveying them, after many
perils to Canada.
About a year before this John Brown went to Boston where
he made many personal friends and received large contribu
tions for the defence of Kansas. But as the terrors of slavery
increased, Brown, then in his sixtieth year, resolved to strike
a blow against the system. Gathering a handful of followers
in the summer of 1859 he secretly prepared for action by hiring
a farm a few miles from Harpers Ferry, where he stored as
many weapons of various kinds as he could gather.
"On Sunday, October 16, 1859, under cover of profound
darkness, Brown, at the head of seventeen white men and five
Negroes, entered Harpers Ferry, put out the Hghts, seized the
armory and the railroad bridge and quietly arrested and
imprisoned in the government buildings the citizens found
here and there in the streets, each one of whom was ignorant
of what had happened. By eight o'clock Monday morning
Brown and his few followers among whom were two of his
sons, had full possession of the village and government works.
When asked what was his purpose and by what authority he
acted Brown replied : 'To free the slaves and by the authoritv
of God Almighty.' " " ' ' ^

A NARRATI'VE OF THE NEGRO iSS

He felt assured that when the blow had been struck the
Negroes of the surrounding country would rise and flock to his
standard. He sincerely believed that a general uprising of the
slaves of the whole country would follow. But the slaves
knew nothing of his plans, his character, nor his past deeds and
so they knew not whether he was a real friend or was only
trying to entrap them.
When the Virginia militia, arriving Monday night, attacked _
the little band it was driven to a last stand in the fire-engine.-
house, and here Brown defended hiraself with great bravery r *"
"With ..one son dea H h^7nhTr"side aild another shnt t1-irniigVi
he felt the pulse of his dying child with one hand, held his rifle
with the other, and issued commands to his raen with all the
composure of a general in his margnpp^ tellinpf them tn Up firm
_and_to sell their lives as deaxly-as-pasailalfe."
The militia was reinforced by Col. Robert E. Lee, with two
pieces of artillery and ninety United States marines. The
soldiers broke open the doors of the engine house and captured
the insurgents, and the survivors were hurried off to prison.
Brown was quickly tried and indicted for murder and treason ;
being found guilty, he was hanged December 3, 1859, at
Charlestown, just a short distance frora Harper's Ferry.
In a letter written to a Boston friend in November he said :
" I am quite cheerful and never more happy. Have only time
to write you a word. May God forever reward you and all
yours. My love to all who love their neighbors. I have asked
to be spared from having any mock or hypocritical prayers
made over me when I am publicly murdered ; and that ray only
religious attendants be poor little, dirty, ragged, bareheaded,
barefooted slave boys and girls, led by some old gray-headed
slave mother. Farewell. Farewell."
His wish was granted for a negro mother brought her child,
and he kissed it as he passed on his way to the gallows. The
news of John Brown's raid spread terror to slave- owners, and
they imagined that there were conspirators scattered over all
the country, but a strict investigation showed that only about

156 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

twenty-five knew the details of his plan and most of them were
dead or imprisoned at the time of investigation.
In the litde burial ground at Oberlin, Lorain County, Ohio,
there is a monument dedicated to the memory of three of John
Brown's men as follows :
L. S. Leary, died at Harpers Ferry, October 20, 1859, aged
twenty-four years.
S. Green, died at Charlestown, Va., December 2, 1859, aged
twenty-eight years.
J. A. Copeland, died at Charlestown, Va., Dec. 2, 1859, aged
twenty-five years.
These colored citizens of Oberlin, the heroic associates of
the immortal John Brown, gave their lives for the slave.
Though John Brown's raid seemed to be a failure the spirit
which moved him spread through the land and roused to word-
conflicts, fiercer than ever, the friends and foes of slavery.
" The Union must be dissolved," cried some. " Save the Union
at all costs," cried others. And over all the dark clouds of
civil war — a war in which brother should fight against brother
and father against son — lowered on the horizon.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 157
CPIAPTER XVIII.
THE NEGRO IN THE CIVIL WAR.
'HPHE number of slaves in this country in 1860 was 3,950,531,
•1 and of free Negroes there were 251,000. In December
of that year, 'the people of South Carolina through
representatives assembled at Charleston, adopted articles of
secession and declared South Carolina an independent State,

BATTLE OF FORT WAGNER.
calling upon other southern States to follow their lead and
assist in forming a Confederacy. Six States soon responded
in the following order : Mississippi, January 9 ; Florida, Jan
uary 10 ; Alabama, January 11 ; Georgia, January 19 ; Louis
iana, January 26 ; Texas, February 1. The ferment of seces
sion was active among the politicians of all the Southern States,
though in some cases, Virginia notably, the mass of the people
hesitated, but finally nearly aH of the slaves States joined in
the secession.

158 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

The people of South CaroHna seized the Federal buildings,
drove out loyal officials, and on the morning of April 12, 1861,
after having demanded the surrender of Fort Sumter, which
was occupied by national troops, fired upon the fort. The
long-looked-for, long-planned-for war was begun! You have
already learned that not all the people w.ho lived in the north
were friends of the Negro, or loyal to the Union. It is also
true that many who lived in the south were true to their coun
try and believed that all men should be free. But the latter
were very unpopular in their home section.
In the light of what follows, it is interesting to note that, at
first, neither the .government nor the secessionists acknowl
edged that slavery had anything to do with the war. The first
claimed that it was a war to preserve the Union, the last, that
the war was to dissolve the Union, and both agreed that it was
" a white man's war.'' So when President Lincoln issued his
first call for troops, the northern Negroes who flocked to the
Union standard were scornfully rejected. In New York some
colored men hired a room and began to drill, but when the
white people learned of it, they threatened to mob them, and the
Superintendent of Police ordered their drilling to cease.
One of the leading Virginians said : " It is a gross mistake
to ; suppose that abolition is the cause of dissolution between
the north and the south. The Cavaliers, Jacobites and the
Pluguenots who settled the south naturally hate, contemn and
despise the Puritans who settled the north. ' The former are
master races, the latter a slave race, the descendants of the
Saxon serfs." We are told that God maketh the wrath of men
to praise Plim, and we know that He is constantly using even
Avifkedjjien as instruments to work His will. The Civil War
was a black man's war and it was brought about to redeem
both white and black from the curse of slavery.
For nearly two years Negroes were denied admission to the
Union army as soldiers and the army acted as a band of slave
catchers, returning runaway slaves to their masters." While
some of the commanding officers rebeHed against this, others

A NARRATIVE OP THE NEGRO iS9

gave the slave hunters every assistance. Strange to say, as
early as May, 1861, there was a call for " patriotic men of
color " to assist the rebel army and it is said that several com
panies of them fought on that side during the war. One won
ders what these men could have been thinking of. However,
the " Creole mulatto " who commanded three companies of
Negro Confederate troops, on guard at the Mint in New
Orleans, allowed his men to be cut off from the retreating white
Confederates, refrained from destroying the Mint, and quietly
surrendered to the Union forces which entered the city.
In May, 1862, Robert Smalls was pilot of the Confederate
vessel. The Planter, and three other colored men were em
ployed on the boat — A. Gradine, engineer ; William Morri
son, and John Smalls, sailors. While the officers of the vessel
were ashore in Charleston, Robert Smalls, with the help of the
others, carried the boat over- Charleston Bar, past Fort Sumter
and delivered it to the commander of the United States ships
\'ihich were blockading the harbor. This daring deed was
greatly commended. Smalls was appointed pilot on a Union
boat, promoted to a captaincy in 1863, and placed in cominand
of The Planter, which position he held until the boat was put
out of commission in 1866.
In the spring of 1862, Gen. David Hunter, with headquarters
at Plilton liead, S. C, feeling the need of a larger force and
receiving no help from his superior officers, organized and
equipped a regiment of Negroes. When the news reached
Vv'ashington, a representative from Kentucky, angrily called
for an investigation of the report. The reply of General
Hunter was at once so pointed and so witty that the matter was
laughed out of Congress, but the courageous general was not
supported in this matter as he deserved; though, a few weeks
later, an order was sent to the military governor in his depart
ment to " arm, equip and receive into the service of the United
States such a number of volunteers of African descent " as
would be useful.
In the summer of the same year General J. W. Phelps, of

1 60 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

the Army of the Gulf, found the work of his soldiers ham
pered by the large number of Negroes — men, women and
children — who flocked to his camp. He asked permission to
arra and enlist the men, but was instead told to employ them
in digging ditches, building fortifications, etc. Replying that
he had neither ability nor taste for the position of slave-driver,
General Phelps resigned his commission and returned to his
home in Vermont. Almost before his resignation went into
effect, the point for which he had contended was more than
gained, for in some instances the colored companies were offi
cered by colored raen.
On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued his Emancipa
tion Proclamation through which the slaves in the rebellious
section drew, for the first time, the breath of liberty, and the
laws which through two hundred years had been passed to keep
them down, melted into 110th ngness. If the free men. had given
valiant service, i ^ agine with what eagerness the newly freed
slaves enlisted in the Federal army. But they were not always
received with kindness by their brothers in arms; they were
at fust forced to suffer many humiliations. Most of those
who had witnessed the valor of the Negro in the war of 1812
were dead and in the minds of both enemies and friends was
the query, "Will the Negro fight?"
Will the Negro fight ! In the very first battle where Negro
companies were given a fair chance — the battle of Port Hud
son, May 20, 1863 — they made their mark. With others the
First Louisiana Regiment, General Banks, commander, had
been ordered forward, and before leaving camp, their colonel
had made them a patriotic and inspiring speech, and ended by
addressing these words to the color-sergeant, Anselmas Plan-
cianos : " Color guard, protect, defend, die for, but do not
surrender these flags." The sergeant replied : "Colonel, I will
bring back these colors to you, or report to God the reason
why." And so, am'hiated by the highest sentiments of cour
age and patriotism, the black regiment moved against the
enemy. When ordered to charge the rebel fortifications they

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO i6i

did so at a rush, but what was the amazement of officers and
men alike to find that between thera and the enemy rolled an
impassable stream. It was only about forty feet wide, but the
eneray's guns were turned upon it and as the men reached the
edge of the stream they were mowed down like grass before
the scythe. Seven times this gallant regiment charged toward
the enemy in the hopeless effort to capture the fort, and the
bayou between rolled red with their blood.
Captain Andre Callieux, " a man so black that he prided
himself upon his blackness," was in command of Company E.
Pie rushed out at the head of his men, waving his sword and
crying, " Follow me." He was struck by a shell and fell dead
and the enemy's guns so covered the place where he fell that
it was not possible to obtain his body. Soon afterward Ser
geant Plancianos proudly bearing the colors, w'as also .struck
by a shell and fell dead, tightly clasping the fla.g. He went up
to " report to God " the blunder which had needlessly sacrificed
the liA'es of brave men. A comrade snatched the colors from
his dead hands, and he being almost immediately killed, the
flag was taken by another and borne aloft throughout the
battle. Forty days afterward, the body of Gallioux was re
claimed and buried in New Orleans with the highest military
and civil honors. The news of the bravery of the black regi
ment at Port liudson spread throughout the country and their
praise was unstinted. The First, Second and Third Louisiana
and the First Engineer Regi nent took part in this battle. The
following is an extract from a poem written in honor of the
Black Regiment :
" Freedom," their battle cry,
"Freedom, or leave to die!"
Ah ! and they meant the word,
Not as with us it's heard,
Nor a mere party shout,
They gave their spirits out ;
: Trusted the end to God,

1 62 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

And on the gory sod
Rolled in triumphant blood.
Glad to strike one free blow,
Whether for weal or woe ;
Glad to breathe one free breath.
Though on the lips of death.
Praying, alas ! in vain.
That they raight fall again
So they could once more see
That burst of liberty.
That was what " Freedora " lent
To the Black Regiment.
Plundreds on hundreds fell;
But they are resting well ;
Scourges and shackles strong
Never shall do them wrong.
Oh ! to the living few,
Soldiers be just and true.
Plail them as comrades tried
Fight with them side by side;
Never in field or tent
Scorn the Black Regiment.
On the 13th, 14th, and 15th of July, 1863, -occurred what
were called the New York Draft Riots. A draft to fill up the
ranks of the Union army had been ordered, and the low-class
whites of the city, claiming that the Negroes were to blame,
formed a plot to kill them all. Of the plotters it is said, " arson
and plunder, murder and maiining were their business and
recreation. Men and woraen were clubbed tg death in the
streets, hung on lamp posts or butchered in their homes. The
infuriated rioters laid in ashes an asylum for colored children,
and the terrified inmates, who fled in every direction, were
pursued and some of the poor children were cruelly beaten and
maimed. The colored people throughout the city were hunted

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 163

and treated as if they were noxious beasts, and many fled to
the country. Finally, the police, aided by troops suppressed
the insurrection, but not until several hundred human lives
had been lost, and property worth $2,000,000 destroyed.
The rebels were so angry because Negroes were enlisted to
fight against them that they declared they would kill every
Negro captured, as well as the white men who officered them.
Special vengeance was vowed against General Butler who had
announced that all Negroes who came into his lines were free
as " contraband of war," and against General Hunter who haid
freed and armed those who came to him. In the battle of Milli-
ken's Bend, La,, fought on June 6, 1863, the slaughter was
fearful. It is said " the rebels drove our forces toward the
gunboats, taking colored men prisoners and murdering them.
This so enraged their comrades, that they rallied and charged
the enemy more heroically and desperately than has been
recorded during the war. White and black men were lying side
by side, pierced by bayonets. In one instance, two men, one
white and the other black, were found dead side by side, each
having the other's bayonet through his body. Broken limbs,
broken heads, mangled bodies, all proved that it was a contest
between enraged men on the one side from hatred to a race,
and on the other, desire for self-preservation, revenge for past
grievances and the inhuman murder of their comrades. One
brave man took his former master prisoner and brought him
into camp with great gusto."
Tlje 54th Mass., the first colored regiment frora the North,
took part on July 18th, 1863, in the battle of Fort Wagner, on
Morris Island, S. C. Col. Robert Gould Shaw commanded,
and the post of honor and of danger, in front of the attacking
column, was assigned to the 54tli. "A terrific fire was turned
upon the Union troops, and here the brave Shaw, with scores
of his black warriors, went down fighting desperately." "What
fighting and what fearful carnage! Pland to hand, breast to
breast, here on this little strip of land, scarce larger than the
human hand, dense masses of men struggled with fury in the

164 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

darkness, and so fierce was the contest that the sands were
reddened and soaked with human gore."
' Color Sergeant Wm. H. Carney, of New Bedford, dashed
up to the fortifications of the enemy and planted the Union
colors. But the enemy's fire thinned out the regiment, and
Sergeant Carney, being wounded, drew himself up on the
parapet of the fort, still holding the colors aloft. When his
comrades were finally compelled to retire, he crept away, but
did not lower the flag. "When he entered the field hospital,
where his wounded comrades were being brought in, they
cheered him and the colors. Though nearly exhausted with
the loss of blood, he said, 'Boys, the old flag never touched
the ground.' "
On April 13th, 1864, occurred the horrible massacre of
Union troops at Fort Pillow, Kentucky. There were 557 Na
tional troops in the garrison, 262 of which were Negroes of
the 6th Battery. The rebels, in great numbers attacked the
fort, and after heavy firing on both sides, the attacking party
"demanded, under flag of truce, the Union forces to surrender,
saying that if they were compelled to capture the works, they
Would give "No quarter." Major Bradford, the commander,
refused to surrender, when the whole Confederate force
(having crept close to the fort while under flag of truce)
charged the works and gained entrance. "They butchered
black and white, soldiers and non-co nbatants, men, women
and children. Disabled men were made to stand up and be
shot; others were burned wdthin the tents wherein they had
been nailed to the floor. This carnival of murder continued
until dark and was even renewed the next morning. Major
Bradford was not murdered until he had been carried several
miles on the retreat.'' The atrocities committed there made
such an impression upon the Negro troops ' throughout the
country that in every battle afterward "Reiiember Fort Pil
low'' was their battle cry, spurring them to terrible vengeance.
"Gen. Benjarain F. Butler commanded a number of Negro
troops at the battle of Fort Harrison where they made one of

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 16,5

the most brilliant charges of the war and captured the works
in an incredibly short time, crying "Remember Fort Pillow"
A large number of them were slain and General Butler, who
ten years later, as a member of Ciiigress, was making a speech
on the Civil Rights Bill, referred to Fort Harrison in the fol
lowing words: "It became my pair.ful duty to follow in the
track of that charging column, and there, in a space "ct wioer
than the clerk's desk, and three h mdred yard-> i,iiig, l.-iy the
deiid bodies of ;.> c hundred and forty-three of iny col )>"ed
comrades, fallen in the defence of their country, who had of
fered up their lives to uphold its flag and its honor as a will
ing sacrifice; and as I rode along among them, guiding my
horse this way and that way lest he should profane with his
hoofs what seemed to me the sacred dead, and as I looked
on their bronze faces upturned in the shining sun, as if in mute
appeal against the wrongs of the country for which they had
given their lives, whose flag had only been to them a flag of
stripes on which no star of glory had ever shone for them —
feeling I had wronged them in the past, and believing what
was the future of my country to them — among my dead com
rades there, I swore to myself a soleran oath, 'May ray right
hand forget its cunning, and ray tongue cleave to the roof of
my mouth,' if I ever fail to defend the rights of those men
who gave their blood for me and my country that day, and for
their race forever, and God helping me, I will keep that oath."
Nearly two hundred thousand Negro soldiers, including a
number of officers, fought during the Civil War; they took
part in scores of battles and always distinguished themselves
for bravery. "At Petersburg, Deep Bottom, Chapin's Farm,
Fair Oaks, Hatchers Run, Farmville, the black soldiers won
for themselves lasting glory and golden opinions." When the
war ended in 1865. no one asked the question, "Will the Negro
fight?" The following is a resume of the American Negro as a war
rior: "The first blood shed in the Revolution was that of a
Negro, Crispus Attucks, on the 5th of March, 1770. The first

1 66 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

blood shed in the war for the Union was that of a Negro,
Nicholas Biddle, a inember of the very first coinpany that
pas.sed through Baltimore in April, 1861 ; while the very first
Negro killed in the war was named John Brown. The first
Union regiment of Negro troops raised during the Rebellion
was raised in the state that was first to secede from the Union,
South Carolina. Its colonel was a Massachusetts man, and, a
graduate of Harvard College. The first action in which Negro
troops participated was in South Carolina. The first regi
ment of Northern Negro troops fought its first battle in South
Carolina, where it immortalized itself. The first Negro troops
recruited in the Mississippi Valley were recruited by a Mas
sachusetts officer. Gen. B. F Butler, wdiile their fighting here
was directed by another Massachusetts officer. Gen. N. P.
Banks. The first recognition of Negro Union troops by the
Confederate ar.ny was in December, 1863, when Major John
C. Calhoun, a grandson of the South Carolina statesman of
that name, bore a flag of truce, whicii was received by Major
Trowbridge of the First South Carolina Colored Regiment.
The first regiment to enter Petersburg was composed of
Negroes, while the first troops to enter the Confederate cap
ital at Richmond were Gen. Godfry Weitzel's two divisions
of Negroes. The last guns fired at Lee's array at Appomattox
were in the hands of Negro soldiers. And wdien the last ex
piring effort of trea.son had laid our beloved President low in
death, a Negro regiment guarded his remains, and inarched
in the stately procession which bore the illustrious dead from
the White House. And on the 15th of May, 1865. at Palmetto
Ranch, Texas, the 62nd Regiment of Colored Troops fired the
last volley of the war."
The colored sailors were noted for their valor and the fol
lowing colored soldiers received medals of honor fron the
government of the United States for heroic conduct during
the Civil War: Sergeant-Major C. A. Fleetwood, Color-Ser
geant A. B. Hilton, Private Chas. Veal, all of the 4th Regi-J
ment; 1st Sergeant James Brownson, Sergeant-Major M. M.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 167

Holland, 1st Sergeant Robert Pinn, 1st Sergeant Powhatan
Beaty, 5th Regiment ; 1st Sergeant Alexander Kelly, 6th Regi
ment ; Sergeants Samuel*Gilchrist, Wm. Davis, Corporal Miles
Janies, Private James Gardner, 36th Regiment; 1st Sergeant
Edward RatcHff, Private William Barnes, 38th Regi nent.
The 55th Mass. also played a notable part.
The Emancipation Proclamation issued by the President
in 1863, was on Jan. 1st, 1865, extended to include the entire
' United States and v^as ratified by Congress in the Thirteenth
Amendment to the Constitution. liardly had Lee surrendered
to Grant at Appomattox Court House, on April 9th, 1865, than
the whole world was horrified by the assassination of President
Lincoln. Whatever hopes and plans he may have entertained
for the assembling of the scattered forces of the nation and
the bringing about of peace and prosperity, were suddenly
ended. Vice-President Johnson took up the reins of govern
ment, but he proved more a hindrance than a help to re-ad
justment, and the country and the world bewailed the loss of
Lincoln.

i68

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

CHAPTER XIX.
FIFTEEN YEARS OF FREEDOM— 1865-1880.
"P REE at last I Free to make a home.; free to educate our
¦*¦ children ; free to enter business ; free to keep our earn
ings ; free to build churches and publicly worship God I
Free at last ! Such was the feeling of thoughtful Negroes at
the close of the war, and this class, Nortli and South, began to
make the most of their opportunities.

HOWARD UNIVERSITY
Somehow, the idea that the Federal Government would give
to the head of each colored faraily forty acres of land and a
mule had obtained hold of many minds. Some waited around
to receive the gift, and were laughed at for their pains. But
the very fact that they wanted land and were willing to culti
vate it was a favorable sign ; and to have made this dream come
true, would have been a splendid investment on the part of the
United States Governinent. At the ti ne there were thousands
of acres of unclaimed land, and who can say how much pov
erty, misery, disease and crime might have been prevented by

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 169

tuming the freedmen into landowners ? But they were largely
left to work out their own salvation, and the end is not yet.
At the close of the war there were in the South four classes
of white citizens. Those who would not accept defeat and
exiled themselves in foreign lands; those who remained at
home, but refused to take any part in the reconstruction of
their section ; those who accepted conditions and did what they
could to help, and those who set themselves to hinder anything
the Federal Government might attempt. The last class seemed
to be the most numerous and the provisional conventions and
legislatures which convened in the southern states just after the
war, passed laws which would slyly undo all that the war and
emancipation had accomplished.
It became clear that ''any reconstruction that denied or post
poned the right of the freedman to the ballot and restored it to
his former master would have been foolish, wicked and dis
astrous. This was the judgment of the patriotic statesmen of
that era. They represented a vast majority of the people of
the north, who were in no mood for trifling, but were resolved
that the blood shed and the treasure wasted by the Civil War
should be, as far as possible, compensated for by a re-estab
lishment of the Union that would preclude all possibility of
another rebellion based upon a demand for state rights or for
slavery in any fdrm." So the Fourteenth Amendment to the
Constitution, gave full rights of citizenship to all persons born
or naturalized in this country, and by means of this act the
Negro began to feel himself an American citizen.
But this was more than rebel sentiment could bear and it
finally became necessary to further amend the Constitution and
in 1870 the Fifteenth Amendment, by which the privilege and
duty of voting was extended to aH Americans without regard
to "race, color or previous condition of servitude." During
this period many northern white men took up their residence
in the .south, and began to accept election to various public
offices ; many of these men were moved by the highest feelings
of philanthropy and patriotism, but others were actuated by

17° A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

selfish motives only. Between the northern politicians and the
Negroes on the one side and the southerners on the other, there
arose the bitterest enmity. There followed a long series of
brutal outrages, murders, mainiings, beatings, burnings of the
Negroes and their northern friends by the southerners, who
had organized themselves into secret societies for the purpose.
But notwithstanding this reign of terror, there were several
Negroes elected to high office during this period.
Besides a large number who served in the legislatures of the
several states, there were two U. S. Senators, Hiran R. Rev
els elected from Mississippi, served from February, 1870,
to March, 1871; Blanche K. Bruce, fro.n Mississippi, served
from March, 1875, to March, 1881. United States Congress
men were Richard H. Cain, elected from South Carolina,
served in the Forty-third and the Forty-fifth Congresses ; Rob
ert C. DeLarge from South Carolina, Forty-second Congress ;
Joseph H. Rainey, South Carolina, Forty-first, Forty-second,
Forty-third, Forty-fourth Congresses ; John R. Lynch, Missis
sippi, Forty-third, Forty- fourth Forty-fifth Congresses; Benja
min Sterling Turner, Alabama, Forty-second Congress ; Josiah
T. Walls, Virginia, Forty-fourth Congress; James T. Rapier,
Alabama, Forty-third Congress ; Alonzo J. Ranzier, South Caro
lina, Forty-third Congress ; John Hyman, Forty-fourth Con
gress ; John R. Lynch, Mississippi, Forty-third, Forty-fourth
Congresses Jere Haralson Georgia, Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth
Congresses ; Charles H. Nash, Louisiana, Forty-fourth Con
gress ; Jeffer,son F. Long, Georgia, Forty-first Congress, Feb
ruary, 1871. As Lieutenant-Governors of States, the follow
ing served : Qsaar J. Dunn, P. B. S, Pinchback, C. C. Antoine,
in Louisiana; Alex Davis in Mississippi; Alonzo J. Ransier,
Richard Plowell Cleaves, South Carolina The following en
tered the diplomatic service: Ebenezer D. Bassett, Pennsyl
vania, United States Minister to Haiti ; John M. Langston, Vir
ginia, Minister Resident and Consul-General lo Haiti in 1 377 ;
J. Milton Turner, Missouri, Minister to Liberia; Johri Ii.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 171

Smyth, North Carolina, Minister to Liberia, 1866-82; Henry
Highland Garnett, Minister Resident and Consul-General to
Liberia. Besides these men and a host of others like them,
there appeared during this period a number of capable wo nen
whose influence was for race advancement ; among them were
Mrs. Mary Ann Shadd Carey, Mrs. Fannie Jackson Coppin,
Mrs. Charlotte Forten Grimke, Miss Louise De Mortie, Miss
Mary Jane Patterson, Miss Edmonia Lewis, Miss Martha
Briggs, Mrs. Sarah Jones, Miss Eliza Gardner and others.
Politicians were not the only northerners who went south
during this time. liardly had the war closed when a Grand
Army of Peace, an army of Christian men and women left
their homes and all that inakes home dear to carry to the freed
men the light of education, true religion and culture. Of them
there was a great host, too numerous to mention here, whose
work lives after them and will live. Sorae of those Christian
soldiers went in 1861 to the islands off the Carolina Coast and
took up work among the Negroes there. It is said that upon
these islands, in slavery days, the Negroes had been regarded
as beasts of burden and that they were hardly as well cared
for. "Cleanliness or neatness were as unknown as the alpha
bet and decent homelife was nowhere to be found among the
plantation Negroes, to wiiom the appearance of a white face
was so rare as to frighten the children by its novelty." The St.
Plelena Island, noted for the excellent quality of the cotton
which it produces, is the home of one of the oldest schools for
Negroes in the south. Miss Laura W. Towne, the northern
lady who founded it, has been called the uncrowned queen of
the island. The founding of Penn School was the beginning of
a better time for the islanders and it is said that there is now
hardly in the south a more inteHigent, industrious and prosper
ous cominunity of colored people.
Major-General O, O. Howard was appointed Commission
er of the Freedmen's Bureau, May 20th, 1865. His task was a
huge, one, but he was equal to it. "He founded hospitals for

172 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

the sick, infirm, blind, deaf and dumb, issued food and clothing
to the needy and apportioned land to the worthy. In six
months, this bureau had furnished transportation for 1,946
freedmen. In 1870, General Howard reported that the Bureau
had furnished 654 school buildings, employed 9,307 teachers,
and instructed 247,333 pupils ; the freedmen themselves .sup
ported and owned 592 school buildings. There was 74 high
and normal schools, and 61 industrial schools ; $1,002,896 was
expended and of this sum the freedmen raised $200,000."
"The work of education for the Negro at the south had to
begin at the bottom. There had been no schools at all for this
people, and hence, the work began with the alphabet. And
there could be no classification of the scholars. All the way-
from six to sixty the pupils ranged in age ; and even some who
had given slavery years of their existence — nothers and
fathers in Israel — crowded the schools established for their
race. Some ministers of the Gospel, after a half century of
preaching, entered school to learn how to spell out the names
of the twelve Apostles. Old women who had lived out their
three-score years and ten prayed that they might live to spell
. out the Lord's prayer, while the modest request of many de
parting patriarchs was that they might recognize the Lord's
na;ne in print."
.General Howard appointed over the Virginia branch of the
Freedmen's Bureau a young "veteran" of the Civil War, Gen.
Samuel Chapman Armstrong. Realizing the need, General
Armstrong decided to establish "a school to teach both sexes
manual labor as a moral force," and liampton Institute, near
Old Point Comfort, was the result. At Hanpton every teacher
and every pupil has always been required to live up to the best
ithat was in him and Plampton graduates have had a mighty
part in race developraent. Regarding teachers. General Arm
strong's fixed policy was, "In the school the great thing is not
to quarrel, and to get rid of workers whose temperaments are
unfortunate, no matter how much knowledge or culture they

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO i73

may have. Cantankerousness is worse than heterodoxy." It
is well for us all to remember that it takes more than one sort'
of culture to make the desirable citizen — heart culture and
soul culture have a large part.
By 1879, there was a long list of Negro schools and colleges,
supported principally by northern philanthrophy ; most of them
were denominational schools for Methodists, Congregation
alists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Roman Cath
olics all took part in the mental and moral elevation of our race.
Bearing witness to their efforts, besides many primary and sec
ondary schools, are Atlanta University, Georgia ; Berea Col
lege, Kentucky ; Leland University, New Orleans ; Straight
University and New Orleans University, Louisiana ; Shaw
and Alcorn Universities, Mississippi ; Biddle University, Nortli
Carolina ; Wilberfore University, Ohio ; Lincoln University,
Pennsylvania; Claflin University and College of Agriculture,
South Carolina ; Central College, Tennessee ; Fisk University,
Tennessee; Agricultural and Mechanical College, Henpstead,
Texas ; Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, Virginia ;
Howard University, Washington, D. C.
There was, perhaps, in the whole country no greater power
for good at that tirae than the American Missionary Associa
tion, the A. M. A. as it beneficiaries lovingly call it ; Atlanta,
Fisk, Hampton, and numbers of other schools for Negroes,
owe a lasting debt to the heroic band of women and men who
spent themselves and all they owned for the colored people.
Araong the true and devoted friends of the Negro, Mr. Robert
C. Ogden has stood for many years.
A great many colored newspapers were started during this
period, about eight of which number are still being published.
Among Negro authors were Bishop Daniel A. Payne, Rev.
Benjarain T. Tanner, James Monroe Trotter, Sr., Win. Still and
H. O. Flipper. Throughout this period the Negro, North and
South, began to show to the world his inate love for music,
and his capacity for high attainment along musical lines. Some

174 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

noted musicians were Anna Madah and Emraa Louise Plyers,
of California ; Frederick Elliot Lewis, of Boston ; Miss Nellie
E. Brown, of Dover, New Hampshire ; Samuel W. Jamison, of
Washington, D. C. ; Joseph White, of Matanzas, Ctiba ; Thom
as Greene Bethune, known as Blind Tom. The latter was
born near Columbus, Georgia, in 1849, but though blind from
birth, he was a born musician.
He became quite a pet in his master's family and before he
was two years old was able to sing second to anything he
heard. When he was four, a piano was brought to the house
and at his first opportunity, Tom surprised his master's family
by playing several pieces he had heard. When they realized
that he was a genius, they allowed him to play whenever he
wanted to do so and he soon began to compose "what the wind,
or the birds, or the trees said to him." Tom finally gave con
certs in many American and European cities. He knew by
heart fully seven thousand pieces and everywhere received the
highest praise from musical critics.
The Colored American Opera Conipany was organized in
Washington, D. C, and on February 3rd, 1873, gave its fir.st
performance. Prof. John Esputa was musical director, and
Mr. Henry Donohue, business manager. The principal singers
were Mrs. Agnes Gray SmaHwood, soprano; Miss Lena Mil
ler, contralto ; Miss Mary A. C. Coakley, contralto ; Mr. Henry
F. Grant, tenor ; Mr. Richard Toiiipkins,^ tenor ; Mr. William
T. Benjamin, baritone; Mr. George Jackson, baritone; Mr.
Thos. H. Williams, basso profundo. The company gave sev
eral presentations of the "Doctor of Alcantara" in Washing
ton and in Philadelphia, and received favorable comment from
competent critics.
The Jubilee Singers of Fisk University becaine famous
through singing the folk songs of the Negro people. "Shortly
after the close of the war a number of philanthropic persons
from the North gathered into an old governnient building that
had been used for storage purposes, a number of freed children
and some grown persons living in and near Nashville, and

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO i7S

formed a school. Profes.sor Ogden was at first in charge, but
ere long the school was taken under the care of the A. M. A."
"When the number of pupils made it necessary to have more
room, the question as to wdiere the money would come from
was answered by Mr. George L. White, one of the teachers.
"He had often been struck with the charming melody of the
'slave songs' that he had heard sung by the children of the
school ; beheving that these songs, so peculiarly beautiful and
heart-touching, sung as they were by these scholars with such
naturalness of manner and sweetness of voice, would fall with
delightful novelty upon Northern ears, Mr. White conceived
the idea of taking a company of the students over the country,
in order to obtain sufficient funds to build a college." The
company left Nashville in the fall of 1871, and not only toured
the Northern states but went through Great Britain and sang
before the Queen and others of the nobility. They met with
a,stounding success along all lines, and returned to Nashville
in 1S74 with more than ninety thousand dollars.
During the war, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confed
eracy, pointed out to a visiting Englishman a Negro sleeping
in broad daylight upon a bale of cotton, and said : "He will
never wake up." Davis was using this Negro as a symbol of
the race and most slaveholders agreed with him. "The Negro
is stupid, he is dumb, he has no soul, he is a beast, he is lost to
,the beauties and the duties of civilization, he will never wake
up," So they soothed each other and excused themselves for
their treatment of the Negro. But the Negro in freedom at
once woke up and began to buy the homes which his masters
had owned, began to eagerly receive education, to acceptably
fill high positions and in every way to show his manliness.
His detractors were disappointed and chagrined and they
agreed that "the Negro must be kept down ;" they had several
ways of doing this. When the great financial panic of 1H73
swept over the country, the attention of the North was turned
to money matters. The Southerners then determined to drive
out the Republican party, and form a Democratic solid South,

176 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

so their secret societies became more active than ever. Col
ored property owners were falsely charged with being "de
linquent in taxes ;" eraployers refused to pay for service rend
ered on plantations, by what was caHed the credit system, the
laborers were charged extortionate prices for their food and
clothing, so that it was impossible for them to get out of debt ;
the "shot-gun policy" kept white and colored Republicans from
the polls, and this period which saw the beginning of Republi
can rule in the South, saw also its end.
'With the end of Republican power came the end of anything
like justice to the Negro and in 1879 about sixty thousand col
ored people left the South to find refuge in the North and
West. Some thousands of them scattered through the sev
eral states, but the majority made their home in Kansas. Most
of them were destitute, and here again kind white friends
sprang to the rescue, and organized the Kansas Freedman's
Relief Association. "Money and clothing came on every
train and as fast as the association could secure hones for the
refugees they were distributed throughout the state" where,
by their industrious and sober conduct they won the good
will of all.
The Freedman's Savings and Trust Company was organ
ized in 1865, and a large number of banks were opened in
different cities for the accommodation of the colored people.
At the end of the first year, $305,167 had been deposited and
within eight years about fifty-seven millions of dollars had
been deposited. In 1873, owing to bad management, the
banks failed and carried down v/ith them the hopes of thou
sands of poor people who had pinched and contrived in order
to have a bank account. No human being can measure the
far-reaching consequences of that bank failure.
Negro churches had steadily been growing in number and
influence and their ministers were acknowledged leaders of
the people, and well were they qualified for the task. In the
Protestant Episcopal Church were Bishops Holly and Fergu-

A NARRATI'VE OF THE NEGRO 'i'77

son. Dr. Alexander Crummell; among' Baptists were D. "VV.
Anderson, L. A. Griraes, Samuel W. Madden, Ja nes Poin-
dexter, Wallace Shelton; in the A. M. E. Z. Church were
Bishop Joseph J. Clinton and others; in the A. JNI. E, ,P,l?u-rc-lj
were Bishops Shorter, Payne, Wayman, Campbell,, Browli,
Ward, Turner, Dickerson and Cain ; among Presbyterians
were Rev. H. H. Garnet and Rev. Francis J. Grimke;' in, the
M. E. Church were Rev. Marshall Taylor and Rev, W^aii' M.
Boyd. These men, and others like them, were pathfinders and
made their mark upon their day, blazing the way for future
generations. , , .,^,

tjS A NARRATIVE OP THE NEGRO
CHAPTER XX.
HELPS AND HINDRANCES.
THE years from 1880 onward have witnessed a marvellous
development of the whole Hunan family. During this
period, which has been fitly called the Electric Age, the
Negro has not been idle, and while many things have hap
pened to di.scourage him, many others have made for his bet
terment. The repeal of the Civil Rights Bill struck the key
note for adverse legislation, and beginning with Mississippi, in
1890, nearly all of the Southern states have inserted into their
constitutions clauses by which the right of voting has been art-
fuHy withdrawn from the Negro, thus leaving his interests in
the hands of his avowed enemies.
To frame laws by whicii colored people are not allowed in
the regular coaches of the railroads of the South, and are re
stricted to certain portions of the .street cars, was another step
in the sa r.e direction ; refusal to accommodate Negroes in
.hotels, restaurants and other places of public services ; selling
to them only certain seats in places of amusement or abso
lutely refusing them admittance to the sa ne, are outrages of
a similar character. The recent atte npt to segregate, or con
fine, the Negro to certain sections of a city is another example
' of the extent to which prejudice will lead those in power.
Throughout this period, hundreds of the most barbarous
lynchings of colored per.sons have taken place, not only in the
South but sometimes North and West ; race riots have broken
out in several places, but the Atlanta massacre which occurred
in September, 1906, was perhaps the most atrocious affair of
all. The committee of business men who investigated the mat
ter referred to the whites who had composed the mob as a set
of "toughs who have crucified Atlanta in the eyes of the
world." These toughs made no attempt to locate accused
criminals, "iristead they took those who could be the most
quickly and eonvenien|:ly found, and these, naturally, were

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO iJ9

Negroes of the best sort, quietly working at respectable trades
in the center of the city."
"Among the victims of the mob was not a single vagrant.
The victims were earning wages in useful work up to the
time of the riot. Most of the dead left sniall children and
widows, mothers or sisters with practically no means and
very small earning capacity. At least twelve Negroes were
killed and about seventy wounded. Many of the latter are
di.sfigured or per.nanently disabled." It has been said that
one of the results of the massacre, was to bring about a better
understanding between the wdiite and colored citizens of
.-\tlanta. Speaking of the deep significance and av%fful efi'ect of lynch
ing, a writer says : "No one can look at one of the photographs
of a lynching, without a sense of abysmal horror. It is not
the horror alone of the thing itself, the ugly, iiiani nate center
of the tragedy. It is the faces of the spectators that shock our
very .souls. They are always laughing faces. Good nature,
even jollity, seems to be the keynote of these gatherings Always
we see the faces of little boys grinning cheerfully toward the
camera. There are women sometimes in the crowd, and .some
times little girls. There is no sign in these pictures of horror
of death, even of grim satisfaction over a diflicult and ob
noxious task performed by necessity. The man who called it
a 'lynching bee' appreciated the true feelings of the lynchers.
Leave out the grim wreck in the center and the picture might
be taken for an ordinary cheerful gathering at a country fair.
Leave it in, and oh, my brothers, it is not the dead, but the
living that terrifies."
As has been suggested, the conditions just spoken of and
similar ones have had a discouraging effect upon the colored
people, but, "nothing is settled until it is settled right." We
know that for two hundred and fifty years our forefathers
endured the yoke of a cruel slavery; but they hoped and
prayed and trusted for the day of freedom. Thousands died

.iSo A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

before .that day dawned, but millions were here to greet it
and multiplied miHions are now enjoying it. We have the ad
vantage of. our foreparents ; we may not only hope, pray and
,:trust, but with all the power that is in us we must faithfully
iand earnestly work in ivhaievcr direction our abilities and con-
.(uictions lie, for the full and perfect freedom which will one
.day. be ours. Do not doubt, for doubt is the death-knell of
Jiope; do not despair, for despair is the end of endeavor.
v; Said Frederick Douglass, "the destiny of the colored race
-is- in their own hands, they must bear and suffer, they must
•¦toil and be patient, they must carve their own fortunes, and
they will do it.''
: As you know, Negro churches, schools, benevolent societies
.and, other organizations have for years been working toward
racial uplift. In 1881, Bishop Daniel A. Payne organized in
^Bethel (now Metropolitan) A. M. E. Church at Washington,
D. C, a Literary and Historical Society) before which organ
ization, have appeared from time to time, some of the most
brillia-ntly intellectual men and women of the race ; similar or-
iganizations now exist in many cities.
In 1881 was started at Tuskegee, Alabama, by Booker T.
Washington, a graduate, of Hampton, The Tuskeegee Normal
and Industrial Institute. If you reinember the plans of the
-Negro Convention of 1831, you will see that this school is
similar to the one then mapped out. The story of the rise and
: development of Tuskegee is familiar to all as well as the fact
that through it has begun a world-movement for instruction
.along industrial lines. A visitor to the twenty-fiJth anniver
sary of the founding of Tuskegee, held in April, 1896, wrote:
..-"In the largest degree the hope of the Negro race, the hope
.of solving the greatest of all our national problems which
burdens the white race as well as the black, has been bound
,up in Tuskegee for twenty-five years and is bound up in it
.;and its off-shoots today, when a future, none too auspicious,
,-and fraught with peculiar difficulties, looms ahead."

A Narrative of the negro i^i

In addition to Tuskegee and the schools named in a previous
chapter, there are more than one hundred colleges and indus^
trial schools for Negroes, besides the hundreds of primary and
secondary public schools scattered over the country. Corn-
paring this with the state of affairs in the colonies, the con
dition seeins to be a hopeful one.
Although the "forty acres and a mule" failed hini,' the
Negro has become a landowner on his own account and be
sides developing a passion for education, has developed "larid
hunger." "The race that owned scarcely an acre of land fifty
years ago, is now possessor, as landlords, of an area larger
than Belgium and Holland combined," and is rapidly buying
more. "The desire to own a home is one of the mo .st en
couraging of all traits in the masses of a nation." Home is
the cradle of the virtues. A man is not quite up to the stand
ard until he can say proudly to himself "This is my own, my
precious home," and if he be able to add "and all paid for,"
so much the better. He has given the best possible proof of
his good citizenship. "'
In 1888 a handful of colored people, under the leadership
of Mr. Isaiah T. Montgomery, settled in the Yazoo Delta,
Mississippi, and beginning to clear and cultivate the ground,
started what has become known as the town of Mound Bayou.
A Negro town, in the heart of the South, where the mayor,
the council, and all the citizens are- colored. Mound Bayou
and similar settlements offer proof of the Negro's ability to
govern himself, and the great contrast between the former
condition and the present progressive state of the surrounding
country is an object lesson.
Mr. Montgomery was bom in slavery, but his owners were
kind and although it was against the law^ some of their slaves
were allowed to learn to read, write and keep accounts. His
early advantages, added to his great natural ability, made
Isaiah Montgomery a natural leader of men, and when the
opportunity came to colonize the section around Mound Bayou
he did not lack for followers.

fBf A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

"Gradually in the course of twenty-four years the region
around Mound Bayou has altered to an astonishing extent.
There are vast cotton plantations where there was once thin
forests; there are streets of well-built houses, three or foar of
which are really remarkable for their architecture and hand
some furniture. There is a Negro bank — the 'Delta Bank;'
there are one or more cotton ginneries, and a large oil mill for
the manufacture of cotton-seed oil. Within the principal set
tlement of Mound Bayou there are four churches and as many
schools. The largest of the churches serves, as do most of
these edices, as church, lecture hall, theater, council hall, and
center for debating society. Its interior is entirely lined with
varnished pine planks, exceedingly well fitted, and giving the
interior a handsome appearance, especially when it is lit up
at night by oil lamps and chandeliers. Two of the handsome
houses in the town w^ere constructed by a firm of white build
ers, but all the rest of the houses, bank, churches and schools,
were erected by Negro masons and carpenters. There are
good stores in the town, selling most things except alcohol."
During the period of which we are talking our white friends
have not forgotten us and of the many practical helps, the be
quest of Mr. George Peabody, which was made in 1867, was
the forerunner of a gift to the Negro alone, of one million of
dollars frOm Mr. Joseph F. Slater of Norwich, Conn., in
1882. Mr. Slater request-ed some of the most eminent men
of the country, including the President of the United States,
Rutherford B. Hayes, to act on the Board of Trustees. A
part of his letter to them reads as follows: "The general object
which I desire to have exclusively pursued, is the uplifting of
the lately emancipated population of the Southern States, and
their posterity, by conferring on them the blessings of a Chris
tian education. The disabilities formerly suffered by these
people and their singular patience and fidelity in the great
crisis of the nation, establish a just claim on the sympathy and
goodrwill pf humane and patriotic men, I cannot l^ut feel th?

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 183

compassion that is due in view of their prevailing ignorance
which exists by no fault of their own."'
"But it is not only for their sake, but also for the safety of
our common country, in which they have been invested with
equal political rights, that I am desirous to aid in providing
them with the means of such education as shall tend to make
them good men and good citizens, education in which the in
struction of the mind in the comman branches of secular learn
ing shall be associated with training in just notions of duty
toward God and man, in the light of the holy Scriptures."
In 1909, Miss Anna T. Jeannes, a Quaker lady of Pennsyl
vania, left two millions of dollars ds a fund for the education
of colored people. Plon. Wm. Howard Taft, now President
of the United States, is a member of the Board of Trustees.
and the colored raembers are Dr. Booker T. Washington,
Major R. R. Moten, Rev. H. T. Kealing and Hon. J. C. Napier.
In 1911, the Trustees of the Slater and Jeannes Funds were
assisting schools in twenty-five hundred commuuities. Mr.
W. T. B. Williams of Hampton is traveling agent for the
General Education Board.
The Spanish-American War gave another opportunity to
the Negro soldier to show the spirit within him. For a hun
dred years Cuba had been restless under the heavy yoke of'
Spain and the people had raany ti nes arisen in revolt. During
the revolution which broke out in 1895, the sympathy of the,
civilized world was with the Cubans, and when the United
States battleship Maine was destroyed in the harbor of Ha
vana in 1898, war was declared with Spain.
The Negro was, as usual, eager to take America's part ill
the struggle, and several volunteer companies were raised in
the different states. Four companies of volunteers, known as
the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Imniunes, were formed'
and officered with colored men from the grade of second lieu
tenant down, Brevet-Major Charles E, Young, a graduate
pf West Point; was in comniand of the Ninth Ohio Battalion,

i8i4 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

aaid. Lieutenant. John Ii. Alexander, also of West Point, served
in Cuba. The Eighth Regiment Illinois National Guards Vi'as
entirely .officered by colored men. Col. J. R. Marshall com-
maJiding,. ..While in the province of Santiago the Eighth Illi
nois- did ^garrison duty for some months after the war and for
a. .\ybile. Colonel. Marshall acted as raHitary governor of San
Luis, ¦
"About one hundred Negro second lieutenants were com
missioned in the volunteer force during the Spanish-American
War. There were two Negro paymasters, John R. Lynch, of
Mis.sissippi, fourth auditor of the United States Treasury, and
Richard R. Wright, of Georgia, president of the State Agri
cultural and Mechanical College for colored persons. Two
Negro. chaplains were cominissioned, the Rev. C. T. Walker,
of Georgia, andthe Rev. Richard Carroll, of South Carolina."
.".The fighting of the black troops in Cuba won the confi
dence of, the white soldiers and their officers, and was highly
coinnended.. Colonel Roosevelt said that the conduct of the
Niwtli and Tenth Cavalry reflected honor on the whole Ameri-
can^ieople, especially on their own race. Several colored non
commissioned officers were pro.noted for gallant conduct in
Cuba.", The Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Infantry, to
gether,, with the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry, comprise the col-
oredsaoldier.s in the regular army and these soldiers won for
tjieiiiselyeS;,"an unfading halo of glory." So again, you see,
Anieriean. Negroes proved themselves, as one writer has said
of the natiye Africans, to be the greatest natural warriors of
the earth.
...111. 1906, colored troops of the 25tli Infantry stationed at
B.ro.wn.syille, Texas, were charged with firing upon the citizens .
and President Roosevelt imiinediately discharged them "witli-
out^Jipno.r,", .from the army.
Among the Cuban soldiers al.so, were many intrepid fight
ers, of African descent; Gen. Quentin Bandera, the fam.ous
black chieftain, was noted for his fearlessness and bravery.
Until his death, at the age of sixty years, in 1906, General

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 185

Bandera was greatly beloved by Negro Cubans with whom he
had a powerful influence. Antonio and Jose Maceo were also
famous generals.
Organized Negro womanhood has played no small part in"^
the development of the race and the hundreds of women's
clubs which exist in this country cover nearly every phase of
club work. Colored women have always played a prominent
part in church and benevolent society activities, but beginning
with the later eighties, the women began to recognize the great
need for helping along lines which neither the church nor the
societies touched.
The chief concern of the individual home is the comfort,
peace and happiness of the men, women and children who
CO r.pose it. Woraen began to see that the village, the town
ship, the city, the whole country indeed, are merely enlarged
homes, entirely concerned with the well-being of men. women
and cliildren — needing and claiming the enthusiasm, the ten
der insight and the ministering care of women as well as the
strength and wisdom of men.
Almost simultaneously there sprang up in several cities
clubs for the support of Orphan Homes, Homes for the Aged,
Kindergarten, Day Nurseries, etc. In the beginning, the
women's club did not have an easy time. The word "Club''
had been associated in the minds of people with all that was
gay and hilarious, and it took some time to assure people of
the earnestness and seriousness of the Colored Women's Club
Movement. Then there was the barrier which denominations
had drawn and when a club was able to gather women of all
denominations, it was quite a matter for boasting. But such
conditions have passed so long ago that one only vaguely re
members them.
There began to be a feeling among club women that a na
tional organization should be formed and when there appeared
in a Missouri paper in 1895 an article in which Negro woman
hood was atrociously libelled, the Woman's Era Club of Bo.s-

1 86 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

ton, Mrs. Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, founder and president,
issued a call for a conference between representatives of the
clubs which existed in several states of the Union.
"About one hundred women representing twenty-five clubs,
from ten different states, composed the conference which at
tracted wide attention, because it was the first of its kind and
highly representative of the best intelligence of the wo nen of
the colored race." An organization was formed of which the
following officers were elected: Mrs. Booker T. Washington,
Tuskegee, president; Mrs. U. A. Ridley, Brooklyn, secretary;
Mrs. Libbie C. Anthony, Jefferson City, Mo., treasurer; Mrs.
Victoria Earle Matthews, New York, chairman of executive
committee. In 1896 these women and many others met in Washington,
D. C, and formed the^Nationaf _Associatioii_oi. .CjolorejELM''o-
nien, of which Mrs. Mary Church Terrell was elected presi
dent. Mrs. Terrell served for three terms, and was succeeded
by Mrs. J. Siloiie Yates, of Missouri. Mrs. Lucy Thurman
was next president and she was succeeded by Miss Elizabeth
Carter of New Bedford, Mass.
Among the many clubs whicii are doing notable work in
their several conimunities are the Phillis Wheatley Club of
New Orleans, the Loyal Union of Brooklyn, the Woman's
Club of Jackson, Miss,, the Women's Loyal Union of New
Bedford, the Dorcas Society of Brooklyn, the Phillis Wheat-
ley Club of Chicago, the Fresh Air and Empty Stocking Club
of Balti rore, the Lincoln Home Club of Springfield, 111., the
famous Woman's Era Club of Boston and the Kindergarten
Associations of Atlanta and Charleston.
The National Association of Colored Women is affiliated
with the National and International Councils of Women, and
, when some years ago Mrs. Mary Church TerreH appeared
before the latter body at a meeting held in Berlin, and deliv
ered her address in German, French and English, the incident
created world-wide comment and was looked upon as reflect
ing great credit, not only upon the speaker, but upon the race
which she represented,

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 187

Besides those who have served as presidents of the National
the following named women have given loyal and constant
service: Mrs. Booker T. Washington, Tuskegee; Mrs. Jef
fries, Rochester; Mrs. Josephine B. Bruce, Washington; Ida
Joyce Jackson, Columbus, O. ; Mary Parrish, Louisville; Jo
sephine Holmes, Atlanta; Sylvanie Williams, New Orleans,
The American NegXQ-.Aradeniy, founded at Washington, D,
C, in 1897, by Dr. Alexander Crummell, has drawn to itself
from many states some of the most brilliant intellects which
the race has produced. The first officers were : Dr. Crummell,
president; Walter B. Hayson, Kelly Miller and John W.
Cromwell, secretary. Dr. W. E. B. Dubois succeeded Dr.
Crummell as president and was succeeded by Hon. Archibald
Grimke. The academy holds an annual meeting at which time matters
of vital interest to the race are ably discussed. From tirae to
time, in pamphlet form, are published articles of historical or
sociological value by colored authors.
The National Negro Business— Laagiie, founded by Dr.
Booker T. Washington, was organized in August, 1900, at Bos
ton, Mass. The league holds an annual session, and has been
the means of bringing into personal contact business and pro
fessional men from all parts of the country. It has given a
tremendous impulse to the business activities which were in
existence when the league was formed and it has also inspired
others, for in nearly every community there is some enter
prise which owes its existence to the Business League. Wil
liam Lloyd Garrison, son of the famous Abolitionist was pres
ent at the first meeting of the league, and delivered an address,
a part of whicii follows : "The particular word I wish to leave
with you is this : Aim to be your own employers as soon as
possible. If you are farmers, do not rest until you control the
land on which ydu live. He who is compelled to till another's
. land is in a degree dependent and a bondsman. If you are
mechanics, seek first to own a home without a mortgage, fore-

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

going many things until you are free of debt. Independence
and debt cannot keep conipany. In the South as in the North,-
possession of honestly earned property will surely bring re
spect and increase personal security."
Perhaps nothing of deeper significance to our country and
our race has happened since the Civil War than the organiza
tion, in 1909, of the National Association fpr th" Arhrcin.'P-
meut-oi-Golofed— Pee-ple. The association has been called the
New Abolition Movemicnt and it is composed of white and
colored people who have the best interests of the American re
public at heart. Its work is outlined as follows: "The Na
tional Association for the Advancement of Colored People is
an organization composed of men and women of all races and
classes who believe that the present widespread increase of
prejudice against colored races and particularly the denial of
rights and opportunities to ten million Americans of Negro
descent is not only unjust and a menace to our free institu
tions, but also is a direct hindrance to world peace and the
realization of human brotherhood."
"Methods. — The encouragement of education and efforts
for social uplift; the dissemination of literature; the holding
of mass meetings ; the raaintenance of a lecture bureau ; the
encouragement of vigilance committees; the investigation of
complainants; the maintenance of a bureau of information;
the publication of the Crisis ; the collection of facts and pub
lication of the truth.
"The officers of the organization are: National President,
Mr. Moorfield Story, Boston, Mass. ; Chairman of the Execu
tive Committee, Mr. Oswald Garrison Villard; Treasurer, Mr.
Walter E. Sachs ; Director of Publicity and Research, Dr. W.
E. B. Dubois ; Executive Secretary, Miss Mary W. Ovington."
The Crisis is edited by Dr. Dubois and the increase in its
circulation has been marvellously rapid. This has been said
to be due almost entirely to the able manner in which it is
edited.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 189
CHAPTER XXI.
TWO WAYS OF THINKING.
"TNURING the period to which the last chapter refers there
¦»— ' arose the two great schools of Negro thought, which, for
want of more exact terms, have come to be known as the
Conservative and the Radical. Briefly stated, the Conserva
tive school of thinkers lays most stress upon the opportunities
and privileges which Negroes enjoy in this country, while the
Radicals insist upon the rights of which we are deprived. Each
side is most intensely in earnest and both seek the highest good
of the Negro. The difference seems to lie in opinion as to how
this highest good is to be secured.
THE CONSERVATIVES,
The acknowledged leader of the Conservatives is Dr. Booker
T. Washington, the Sage of Tuskegee, while Dr. Williani E.
Burghardt Dubois, is the accepted leader of the Radicals.
Booker T. Washington was born a slave in 1858 or 1859, in
Franklin County, Va. After the war, the faraily moved to
West Virginia, and young Booker worked for a while in the
salt furnaces and coal mines, spending his leisure time (of
which he had but little) in learning his letters. But he was
possessed of the passion for knowledge, which, as you know,
characterizes the Negro, and having heard of Hampton Insti
tute, he determined to go to that school. Going partly on foot,
partly by coach, and partly by railroad, the lad finally reached
liampton, where, by his industry and determination he com
pleted the course and made inaiiy friends among the teachers.
When, in 1880 the caH came for some one to do the rough
pioneer work of establishing a school at Tuskegee, Ala,, Dr.
S. C. Armstrong, founder of liampton, recommended Mr.
Washington and thus " the man and the hour " met. At
Tuskegee the same ideals prevail which made Hampton a

19° A NARRATIVE OP THE NEGRO

power and no one can measure the good accomplished. Dr.
Washington has had many honors conferred upon him at
home and abroad. Among the most notable of the former is
the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws conferred by Harvard

DR. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON.
University. During his trips to Europe he has had audiences
with crowned heads and has won the personal friendship of
members of the nobility. Dr. Washington is the author of
several books which are being widely read.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO tt,!

DR. WASHINGTON'S ATI.ANTA EXPOSITION SPEECH.
Perhaps the speech delivered by Mr. Washington upon the
occasion of the opening of the Atlanta Exposition in Septem
ber, 1895, will explain his position most clearly. It was as
follows : " One third of the population of the South is of the
Negro race. No enterprise seeking the material, civil, or moral
welfare of this section can disregard this element of our
population and reach the highest success. I but convey to you,
j\1r. President and Directors, the sentiment of the masses of
my race when I say that in no way have the value and manhood
of the American Negro beei^ more fittingly and generously
recognized than by the managers of this magnificent Exposition
at every stage of its progress. It is a recognition that will do
more to cement the friendship of the two races than any occur
rence since the dawn of our freedom.
" Not only this, but the opportunity here afforded will
awaken among us a new era of industrial progress. Ignorant
and inexperienced, it is not strange that in the first years of
our new life we began at the top instead of at the bottom ; that
a seat in Congress or the State Legislature was more sought
than real estate or industrial skill ; that the political convention
or stump speaking had more attractions than starting a dairy
farm or truck garden."
" A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly
vessel. From the mast of the unfortunate vessel was seen a
signal': ' Water, water ; we die of thirst.' The answer from the
friendly vessel at once came back : ' Cast down your bucket
wdiere you are.' A second time the signal, ' Water, water ; send
us water,' ran up from the distressed vessel and was answered,
'Cast down your bucket where you are.' And a third and
fourth signal for water was answered : 'Cast down your bucket

192 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

where you are.' The captain of the distressed vessel, at last
heeding the injunction cast down his bucket and it came up fuH
of fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon River.
To those of my race who depend on bettering their condition
in a foreign land, of who underestimate the importance of
cultivating friendly relations with the southern white man, who
is their next door neighbor, I would say, ' Cast down your
bucket where you are.' Cast it down in making friends in every
manly way of the people of all races by whom we are sur
rounded. " Cast it down in agriculture, mechanics, in commerce, in
domestic service, and in the professions. And in this connec
tion it is well to bear in mind that whatever other sins the
South may be called to bear, when it cones to business, pure
and simple, it is' in the South that the Negro is given a man's
chance in the comraercial world, and in nothing is this Exposi
tion more eloquent than in eniphasizing this chance. Our
greatest danger is, that in the great leap from slavery to
freedom we may overlook the fact that the masses of us are
to live by the productions of our hands, and fail to keep in
mind that we shall prosper in proportion as we learn to dignify
and glorify common labor, and put brains and skill into the
common occupations of life ; shall prosper in proportion as we
learn to draw the line between the superficial and the substan
tial, the ornamental geegaws of life and the useful. No race
can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling
a field as in writing a poem. It is at the b'dttOin of life we must
begin, and not at the top. Nor should we permit our grievances
to overshadow our opportunities.
" To those of the white race who look to the incoming of
those of foreign birth and strange tongue and habits for the
prosperity of the South, were I permitted I would repeat what
I say to my race, ' Cast down your bucket where you are.'
Cast it down among the eight million Negroes whose habits you
know, whose fidelity and love you have tested in days when
to" have proved treacherous rne'ant the ruin of your firesides.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO ^93

Cast down your bucket among these people who have, with
out strikes and l^abor wars, tilled your fields, cleared your forests,
builded your railroads and cities, and brought forth treasures
from the bowels of the earth, and helped make possible this
magnificent representation of the progress of the South. Cast
ing down your bucket among my people, helping and encourag
ing them as you are doing on these grounds, and to an educa
tion of head, hand and heart, you will find that they will buy
your surplus land, make blossom the waste places in your fields,
and run your factories. While doing this you can be sure in
the future as in the past, that you and your famdies will be
surrounded by the most patient, faithful, law-abiding and unre-
sentful people that the world has seen. As we have proved
our loyalty to you in the past, in nursing your children, watch
ing by the sick bed of your mothers and fathers, and often
following them with tear-dimmed eyes to their graves, so in the
future, in our humble way, we shall stand by you witli a devo
tion that no foreigner can approach, ready to lay down our
lives, if need be, in defense of yours, interlacing our industrial,
commercial, civil, and religious life with yours in a way that
shall make the interests of both races one. In all things that
are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one
as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress.
"There is no defense or security for any of us except in the
highest intelligence and development of all. If anywhere thcfe
are efforts tending to curtail the fullest growth of the Negro, let
these efforts be turned into stimulating, encouraging and mak
ing him the most useful and intelligent citizen. Effort or meaiiis
so invested will pay a thousand per cent interest. These effoffs
will 'be twice blessed — blessing him that gives and him that
takes. " There is no escape through law of man or God from the
inevitable. " The laws of changeless justice bind
Oppressor with oppressed ;
And close as sin and suffering joined
We march to fate abreast.

194 A NARRATIVE' OF THE NEGRO

" Nearly sixteen mdlions of hands' wHl aid you in pulling the
load upwards, or they will pull against you the load down
wards. We shall constitute one-third and more of the igno
rance and crime of the South, or one-third its intelligence and
progress; we shall contribute one-third to the business and
industrial prosperity of the South, dt" we shall prove a veritable
body of death, stagnating, depressing, retarding every effort to
advance the body politic.
" Gentlemen of the Exposition, as we present to you our
humble effort at an exhibition of our progress, you must not
expect overmuch. Starting thirty years ago with ownership
here and there in a few quilts and pumpkins and chickens
(gathered from miscellaneous sources), remember the path
that has led from these to the invention and production of
agricultural implements, buggies, steam engines, newspapers,
books, statuary, carving, paintings, the management of drug
stores and banks, has not been trodden without contact with
thorns and thistles. While We take pride in what we exhibit
as a result of our independent efforts, we do not for a mo nent
forget that our part in this exhibition would fall far short of
your expectations but for the constant help that has come to
our educational life, not only from the Southern States, but
especially from Northern philanthropists, who have made their
gifts a constant stream of blessing and encouragement.
" The wisest of my race Understand that the agitation of
questions of social equality is the extremest folly, and that
progress in the enjoyment of aH privileges' that will come .to us
must be the result of severe and coristarit struggle rather than
of artificial forcing. No race that has anything to contribute
to the markets of the world is Idng, in any degree, ostracized.
It is important and right that all privileges of the law be ours,
but it is vastly more importarit that we be prepared for the
exercise of those privileges. The opportunity to earn a doHar
in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than the oppor
tunity to spend a dollar in an opera house. .
" In conclusion, may I repeiat thdt inOthing in thirty years

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 195

has given us raore hope and encouragement and drawn us so
near to you of the white race, as this opportunity offered by the
Exposition; and here, bending, as it were, over the altar that
represents the results of the struggle of your race and mine,
both starting practically empty-handed three decades ago, I
pledge that, in your effort to work out the great and intricate
problem which God has laid at the doors of the South, you
shall have at all times the patient, sympathetic help of my race.
Only let this be constantly in mind that, while from the repre
sentations in these buildings of the product of field, of forest,
of mine, of factory, letters, and art, much good will come, yet
far above and beyond niaterial benefits will be that higher good,
that let us pray God will come in a blotting out of sectional
differences and racial animosities and suspicions in a determi
nation to administer absolute justice, in a wiHing obedience
among all classes to the mandates of the law. This, coupled
with our material prosperity, will bring into our beloved South
a new heaven and a new earth."

196

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

THE RADICALS.
Dr. Williani E. B. Dubois was born in Massachusetts, Feb
ruary 23, 1868. He was educated in the public schools of his
native State, at Fisk University, Harvard University, and the
University of Berlin. Dr. Dubois is widely known as a scholar
in the broadest sense of the term — sociologist, teacher, poet,

DR. ¦W. E. BURGHARDT DUBOIS.
author, and is considered one of the greatest writers on Negro
questions. In the world of letters he has received many honors and
counts aiiiong his personal friends some of the most scholarly
and cultured personages of the world. Harvard University
conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and
in the great Universal Races Congress, which convened in
London, July, 1911, Dr. Dubois so ably presented the case of
the American Negro as to attract the attention of thinkprs
everywhere.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 197

MANIFESTO OF THE NIAGARA MOVEMENT,
The Radical point of view may, perhaps, be best explained
by the address to the country at large adopted at the first con
ference of the Niagara moveraent. It reads as f oHows : " The
menibers of the conferenc known as the Niagara movement
assembled in annual raeeting at Buffalo, July 11, 12 and 13,
1905, congratulate the Negro- Americans on certain undoubted
evidences of progress in the last decade, particularly the
increase of intelligence, the buying of property, the checking
of crime, the uplift in home life, the advance in Hterature and
art, and the demonstration of constructive and exhaustive
ability in the conduct of great religious, economic and educa
tional institutions.
" At the same time we believe that this class of American
citizens should protest emphatically and continually against the
curtailment of their political rights. We believe in manhood
suffrage; we believe that no man is so good, intelligent or
wealthy as to be entrusted wholly with the welfare of his
neighbor. We believe also in protest against the curtailment
of our civil rights. AH American citizens have the right to
equal treatment in places of public entertainment according to
their behavior and deserts. We especially complain against the
denial of equal opportunities to us in economic life ; in the rural
districts of the South this amounts to peonage and virtual
slavery; all over the South it tends to crush labor and small
business enterprises, and everywhere American prejudice,
helped often by iniquitous laws, is making it more difficult for
Negro-Americans to earn a decent living.
"Common school education should be free to all American
children and compulsory. High school training should be
adequately provided for all and college training should be the
monopoly of no class or race in any section of our common
country. We believe that in defence of its own institutions,
the United States should aid common school education, par
ticularly in the South, and we especially recommend concerted

198 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

agitation to this end. We urge an increase in public high
school facilities in the South, where the Negro-Americans are
almost wholly without such provisions. We favdr wiell-
equipped trade and technical schools for the training of ar
tisans, and the need of adequate and liberal endowment of a.
few institutions of higher education must be patent to sincere
well-wishers of the race.
W^e demand upright judges in courts, juries selected without
discrimination on account of color, and the same measure of
punishment and the same efforts at reformation for black as
for white offenders. We need orphanages and farm schools
for dependent children, juvenile reformatories for delinquents
and the abolition of the dehumanizing convict-lease system.
We note with alarm the evident retrogression in this land of
sound public opinion on the subject of manhood rights, repub
lican governnient and human brotherhood, and we pray God
that this nation will not degenerate into a irob of boasters and
oppressors, but rather will return to the faith of the fathers ;
that all men were created equal with certain inalienable rights.
We plead for health, for an opportunity to live in decent
houses and localities, for a chance to rear our children in phy
sical and moral cleanliness.
We hold up for public execration, the conduct of two oppo
site classes of men : The practice among e.nployers of import
ing ignorant Negro- American laborers' in emergencies, and
then affording them neither protection nor permanent employ
ment ; and the practice of labor unions of proscribing and boy
cotting and oppressing thousands of their fellow toilers, simply
because they are black. These methods have accentuated and
will accentuate the war of labor and capital, and they are dis^
graceful to both sides.
"We refuse to allow the impression that the Negro-American
assents to inferiority, is submissive under oppression and apoL
ogetic before insults. Through helplessness we may sub nit,
but the voice of protest of ten million Americans must never
9ease to assail the ears of their fellows, so long as Anierica i§

A . JEA.]^ A;WYE.:jQF.i.T^=15.. l^^(3^Q 1 99 .

unjust. Any discriiiiinatiou based simply on race or color is
barbarous, we care not how;, hallowed it be, by custom, ex
pediency or prejudice. Differences .;nade, on account of ig
norance, immorahty, poverty., or . disea,se may, be legitimate
methods of reform and against tliem we have no word of pro
test; but discriminations ba^ed, simply, and solely on physical
peculiarities, place .of birth, .colpr .of skin, are relics of that
unreasoning, human savagery qi which the world is and ought
to be thoroughly asliamed. ,We protest against the Jim Crow
car, since its effect is and. must be to make us pay first-class
fare for third-class accommodations, render us open to in
sults and discomfort ..and tp' crucify wantonly our manhood,
womanhood and self-respect."
"We regret that, this nation has never seen fit adequately
to reward the black soldiers whp ip.its five wars have defended
their country with thejr .J)lood and., yet have been systematic
ally denied the promotions whicii their abilities deserve. And
we regard as unjust the exclusion of black boys from the mil
itary and naval training schools.^
"We urge upon Congress the enactment of appropriate leg
islation for securing the proper enforcement of those articles
of freedom, the 13th, 14tli and 15th amendments of the Con
stitution of the United States. We repudiate the monstrous
doctrine that the oppressor shall be the sole authority as to the
rights of the oppressed.
"The Negro race in America, stolen, ravished and degraded,
struggling up through difficulties and oppression, needs sym
pathy and receives criticisrti';"rieeds help ^nd is g'iven hind
rance ; needs protection aiid is given mob' violence ; needs jus
tice and is given charity ; needs ieadership and is given cow
ardice and apology; needs bread and is given a stone. This
nation will never starid justified before God until these things
are changed. Especially are we ,surpri,sed and astonished at
the recent attitude of the Church of Christ — on the increase
of a desire to bow to racial prejudice,, to narrow the bounds
pf human brotherhood, and to segregate black men in SOn|e

aoo A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

outer sanctuary. This is wrong, un-Chri.?tian and disgrace-
fulto the twentieth century civilization.
"Of the above grievances we do not hesitate to complain, and
to complain loudly and irisistently. To ignore, overlook or
apologize for these wrongs is to prove ourselves unworthy of
freedom. Persistent, manly agitation is the way to liberty,
arid toward this goal the Niagara movement has started and
ask's the co-operation of all men of all races. At the same
time we want to acknowledge with deep thankfulness the help
df our fellow men from the Abolitionist down to those who
today stand for equal opportunity and who have given and
still give of their wealth and of their poverty for our advance
ment, "And while we are demanding, and ought to demand and
will continue to demand, the rights enumerated above, God
forbid that we should ever forget to urge corresponding duties
upon our people ;
"The duty to vote.
"The duty to respect the rights of others.
"The duty to work.
"The duty to obey the laws.
"The duty to be clean and orderly,
"The duty to send our children to .school.
"The duty to respect ourselves, even as we respect others.
"This statement, co.nplaint and prayer we submit to the
American people, and to Almighty God.
"(Signed by) W. E. B. Dubois, Georgia.
Wm. H. Richards, District of Columbia.
B. S. Smith, Kansas.
Will. Monroe Trotter, Massachu.setts,
Wm. H. H. Hart, District of Columbia.
"Representing delegates from fourteen states ; assented to
by members in twenty-four states."
Listening, as one often does, to a discussion between ardent
supporters of the Conservative and the Radical schools of

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO Joi

thought, one is reminded of the story of the encounter be
tween two knights of olden tinies.
These knights, approaching each other from opposite direc
tions, when within speaking distance, observed suspended over
the road, a beautiul shield. Said Knight Number One, "I
pray thee, friend, what is the meaning of yonder golden
shield?" Knight Number Two replied, "Its meaning I know
not, but I do know that it is a silver and not a golden shield,"
Whereupon, as was the custom in those days, they challenged
each other to combat to decide which of them was right.
After a long struggle, having unwittingly exchanged posi
tions, they glanced upward at the shield and found that each
was right, for while on one side the shield was silver, it was
golden on the other.
So when they realized that "each was partly in the right and
each was partly wrong," they took down the .shield, claiming it
as their common property and clasping hands across it, they
swore eternal fealty. Seeking the main road, the two knights
journeyed together, loyal comrades and the shield was their
defense against all enemies.

202

A NARRATIVE OF T^HE .-N^EGRO

CHAPTER XXII.
THE LIGHT DIFFUSED.
LOOKING backward nearly two hundred years, we come
to the time of the birth of Benjamin Banne'Ker, who be
came a scientific farmer, mathematician, astronomer,
surveyor, writer; coming nearer we find Phillis, Wheatley, stu
dent and literary genius, and as we approach our own time we
are happy to see that the lights of intelligence, industry and
culture which they held aloft have multiplied in number and
increased in brightness and that, today, there is no sign of
waning. There is scarcely a field of human endeavor into
which Negroes have" not entered with (all things considered)
astonishing success. Besides the men and women already
mentioned in this book, there are thousands who have made
the m.ost of their abilities and opportunities, some of whom
are known to their respective communities only, while others
have attained a national reputation. It will be readily under
stood that in so small a volume as this only a passing refer
ence can be made to a few persons.
During the "Electric Age," the following women, among
many others, have corae into prominence: Miss Lucy Laney,
founder of JJaines N. and I. Institute ; Miss Jennie Dean,

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 203

founder of Manassas Industrial School; Mrs. Dinah Watts
Pace, founder of a Ploine for Homeless and Friendless Chil
dren at Covington, Ga. ; Mrs. Amanda Smith, founder and
manager of an Orphan Home at Chicago; Miss Amanda R.
Bowen, founded and for many years supported the Sojourner
Truth Home for Working Girls at Washington, D. C,
The^JIome for Friendless Girls was founded in Washing
ton, D. C, by a nuraber of colored women of whom Mrs.
Caroline Taylor was the leading spirit and president of the
association. Mrs. Taylor literally gave her life for this work,
for while inspecting the premises, she met with an accident
which was almost immediately fatal. Succeeding Mrs. Tay
lor, her daughter, Mrs. John Pierre, was for several years
president of the association and maintained the work through
many vicissitudes. Mrs. Pierre was succeeded in 1909 by
Mrs. Rosetta E. Lawson.
Miss Elizabeth C, Carter, president of the National As.so-
ciation of Colored Women was the moving spirit in the es
tablishment of the Home for the Aged in New Bedford, Mass.
Through Miss Carter's untiring endeavors, this institution has
become one of the most flourishing of its kind in the country.
Miss_Narinie BoKrewghs, of Washington, D. C, is the found
er and president of the National Training School for Women
and Girls located at Lincoln Heights, D. C, This school is
filling a long-felt need.
Mrs. Margaret Miirray W.ashington, of Tuskegee, has for
years been an inspiration and incentive to the women of her
community and of the whole state. These women founded a
Reformatory for Boys and supported it for several years. It
was formally turned over to the state authorities a short while
ago, and the women are planning other activities.
Besides her work in women's clubs, Mrs. MjLrx.Church_Ter-
r.eH is known as an accomplished linguist and is in great de
mand as a lecturer.
Mrs. Eliza E. Peterson, National Superintendent of work

804 A NARRATIVE OP THE NEGRO

among colored people for the National Women's Christian
Temperance Union, is widely known as a consecrated and
tireless worker and a magnetic speaker upon teraperance and
kindred subjects. Mrs. Rosetta E. Law.son is a National Or
ganizer in the W. C, T. U.
Miss Cordelia Ray is said to be the first colored woman to
receive a diploma as graduate in law. She is also the author
of a volurae of poems.
J£rs, C.aLrJe.W^.CliiJordJs a well-known elocutionist and club
woman, and has written a book of poems. Mrs. Fannie Bar
rier Williams, of Chicago, is a noted club worker, writer and
-lecturer. Mrs. Harriet Gibbs MarshaU is the founder and
president of the Washington Conservatory of Music and of
the National Association of Musical and Art Clubs. Mrs.
Anna J. Co-Opec is a well-known author and educator. Mrs.
Carrie Wilder Harris is a member of the Board of Education
of the District of Columbia. Mrs. Addie W. Hunton, Mrs.
Einiiia Ransome, Mrs. Elizabeth Ross Haines and Miss Ce
celia Plolloway are prominently identified with the National
Young Women's Christian Association.
Miss Hallie Q. Brown has lectured extensively in Europe
and America. Mrs. Ida Wells Barnett toured England and
Anierica a few years ago and aroused sentiment against the
lynching evil. Mrs. Sarah Collins Fernandis, first head resi
dent at Washington Social Settlement and also at Neighbor
hood Cottage, East Greenwich, R. I., is the pioneer trained
settlement worker of the race. MrSj^_Maggie—L— Walker is
President of the St, Luke Penny Savings Bank and of the St.
Luke Emporium, Richmond, Va.
As school teachers and trained nurses colored women have
been notably successful.
Col. George W. Williams, the great Negro historian, was
born in Penn.sylvania, October 16, 1849, and was educated in
private and public schools. He entered the Union Army and
served with distinction throughout the Civil War. After the
war he took a course in West Newton Theological Seminary,

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO ,205

Mass., and later became the editor of the Southwestern Re
view. He was at one time judge advocate of the Ohio G. A.
R. His History of the Negro, in two volumes, was published
in 1883, and is the great authority upon the subject. Colonel
Williams was the first colored man ever elected to the Ohio
Legislature. Charles ^V, Chestnut was born in Ohio in 1858. He was
reared in North Carolina, and while yet a youth began to teach
in the public schools of the latter state. Later he became prin
cipal of the State Colored Normal School at Fayetteville. Mr.
Chestnut left the South in 1883 and went to New York and
later to Ohio. lie contributed to newspapers and magazines,
served as stenographer and practiced law. As a novelist he is
well known. Some of his most successful works are the "Con
jure \\'oiiiaii," "The Wife of Plis Youth," "The liouse Ue.-
hind the Cedars," "The Marrow of Tradition."
Paul Lawrence Dunbar, aptly called "the Burns of Ihe
Negro race," has embalmed in poetry and prose much of the
pathos, the wit, the latent music and the hitherto unexpressed
longings of the Negro for the highest things. Dunbar was born
in Ohio in 1872 and though at the ti ne of his death he was
still a young man, he left an indelible mark upon American
literature. William Stanley Braithwaite, the greatest living Negro
poet, was born in Boston in 1878. When twelve years of age,
he left school and began to learn the printer's trade. Com
pelled by ill health to change his occupation, he supported
himself by one employment and another, still studying as best
he could, until at the age of twenty he began to write. In
1904 he published his first book, "Lyrics of Life and Love."
So far, the Survey of English Poetry from 1557 to 1910 is
considered Mr. Braithwaite's greatest work.
Dr. Williani A, Sinclair, Mr. George W. Forbes, J. T. Wil
son, W. H. Thompson, Misses Pauline Hopkins, Angelina
Grimke, Jesse_EauS-et, E- F. Q. Merritt, Messers Barnet J*}^,

2o6 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

Dodson, U M. Hershaw, Oliver Randolph, EJL_M^_Murrav,
iare well known writers. Alaine Leroy Locke, of Pennsyl
vania, was the first colored student to receive a Rhodes schol
arship. He studied at Oxford during 1907-10, and is now at
the University of Berlin.
Among the pioneer newspaper men is T.jThomas_Iix!Xtune, a
native of Florida. Going to New York he established in 1881
the New York Globe which later became the New York Age.
This paper he edited for a number of years. The Age is
now published by Fred R. Moore. The elevated tone of the
paper, its literary style, abundant information and mechanical
excellence has for many years placed it among the leading col
ored publications. Mr. Fortune has published several books.
The Washington Bee, 'W. Calvin Chase, editor and owner,
was first published in 1882, and has been continuously issued.
It is one of the colored publications issued from its own
premises. John. Mitchell of the Richmond Planet (1883) is an aggres
sive editor and has done much to expose the lynching evil.
'William Monroe- Trotter is the editor of the Boston Guard
ian, a paper widely known for its radical stand for manhood
rights for the Negro.
Edward -E- Cooper, founder of the Indianapolis Freeman
and later of the Colored American of Washington, D. C, was
one of the most enterprising of newspaper publishers. The
Afro-American of Baltimore is one of the best known papers
in the country. It is edited by John— EL-Mu-rphy who has for
many years taken an active part in the civil, fraternal and busi
ness life of Baltimore.
Mr. Chris. Perry, editor of the Philadelphia Tribune (1895)
is well known as an able newspaper man. Other veteran
writers are John Wesley Cromwel-l, who founded the People's
Advocate in 1876 ; Charles Alexander of Boston, Jieb»^.
B.ru.ce, -president of the Negro Society for Historical Research.
John C. Dancy was for many years editor of the Star of Zion
and subsequently Recorder of Deeds for District of Columbia.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 207

Prominent among church papers are the Christian Recorder,
the SoUthwesern Christian Advocate, Star of Zion, American
¦Baptist, A. M. E. Church Review, Voice of Missions, Presby
terian Herald.
Dr. Daniel H. WiUiams, now of Chicago, was born in
Pennsylvania in 1858. He stands among the great surgeons
of our country. "He came into prominence when a very young
man by performing one of'the most difficult of surgical opera
tions on the heart and poricardium, thereby saving the life of
a man' who had been stabbed in the heart." In 1894 Dr. Wil
liams was appointed surgeon-in-chief of Freedman's Hospital,
Washington, D. C, and reraained in that position for several
'. years. Dr. Williaras was succeeded at Freedman's by Dr. A. M.
Curtis, who has a wide reputation as a successful physician
and surgeon. Dr. R. F. Boyd, of Nashville, is an authority on
chemistry, gyiiecology and clinical medicine. Boyd's Infirra-
ary, with two large surgical wards, two operating rooms and
twenty rooms has been recently opened. Dr. William A. War-
field, the present surgeon-in-chief at Freedman's Hospital, is
considered one of the most rapid and skillful surgeons in the
country and the many deUcate and difficult operations per
formed by him testify to his ability.
Among other successful physicians are Drs. Marcus Wheat
land, Newport ; Chas. E. Bentley and George Hall of Chicago ;
N. F. Mossell of Philadelphia ; T. E. Bailey and W. J. Thomp
kins, Kansas City; J. A. Wormley,' N. T. Cotton, New Jersey;
Wm. F. Penn, Atlanta; L. A. Cornish, Cincinnati; W. L.
Bulkley, Johnson, Henderson, New York ; Drs. J. A. Kenney,
W. S. Lofton, E.G. Elliot, A. T. Robinson, Amanda V. Gray,
Julia P; H. Coleman, C. H. Marshall, G. E. Cannon, C. H.
Shepard, W. E. Sterrs, W. T. Carr, E. A. Carter, J. J. France,
R. T. Haiiiiltori, J. W. Ames, W. C. Smalls, H. F. Gamble, H.
PI. Phipps, J. A. C. Lattimore, C. S. Wormley, J. H. N. War
ing, J .C. Dowling, H. W. Ross, W. C. McNeill, J. C. Ander
son, John Thompson, S. A. Furniss, J. W. Darden, J. W. Mc-

2o8 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

Dowell, H. G. McKerrow, J. D. Nelson, C. L. Carter, G. N.
Stoney, E. P. Roberts, F. S. Hargrave, J. C. Norwood, A.
Ridgley, J. C. Norwood, M. O. Dumas, C. A. Tigiior, A. S.
Gray, E. M. Boyle, S. F. L. Carson, G. W. Davis, C. A.
Brooks, Moses Amos, W. C. Gordon, John R. Francis, G. W.
Cabiness, James R. Wilder, John W. Mitchell, S. S. Thomp
son, P. W. Price, C. W. Childs, E. D. Williston, C. I. West,
and a large number of dentists and pharmacists. Drs. Court
ney, Garland, Stewart, Comfort, Boston.
Henry Ossawa Tanner is rated among the foremost living
artists of the world. Mr. Tanner is a son of Bishop B. T.
Tanner of the A. M. E. Church, and was born in Pittsburg in
1.^59. He finished the public school course, and having long
felt a desire to study art, he entered the Pennsylvania Acad
emy of Fine Arts. Going to Paris, he studied under Jean
Paul Laurens and Benjamin Constant. Mr. Tanner has re
ceived several prizes and medals for excellent work and some
of his paintings hang in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine
Arts, the Carnegie Institute, the Wilstach Collection and in
the Luxo rbourg, Paris. Two of his paintings, "The Return
of the Ploly Women'' and "The Three Marys" were, in 1911,
part of a special exhibit in the Corcoran Art Galley at Wash
ington. In 1876, "at the Philadelphia Centennial, a fir.st prize was
awarded to a beautiful landscape painting called "The Oaks,"
and labeled Bannister. The judges announced the pri^e, but
were arazed wdieii a modest looking Negro stepped up in an
swer to the name of Bannister and took both prize and picture.
From that time till his death, .some years ago, Edmond I\l.
Bannister of Boston was recognized as an artist of much
talent. He devoted all of his time to his chosen profession,
painting many pictures whicii are owned by Boston and Prov
idence private collections, and when he died, his brother
artists of Providence erected over his grave a beautiful rrjonu-
ment in token of their high esteem."

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO «09
Of Edmonia Lewis, the sculptor, it is said that though "of
lowly birth, left an orphan when quite young, unable to ob
tain a liberal education, she nevertheless determined to be
somebody and do something." When quite a young wonnan
she went to Boston and there, through the kindness of William
Lloyd Garrison, she was enabled to receive lessons in model
ing from Mr. Brackett, the sculptor. An excellent bust of
Robert Gould Shaw, finished in 1865, was her -first piece of
importance. Miss Lewis finally obtained the desire of her
heart — to study in Rome — and her work there attracted much
attention, her studio beconiing one of the show places of the
student's quarter. In 1876, she brought over to the Centennial
Exposition several well executed pieces. "The only .produc
tions of her later years now in America are contained in the
four portrait busts of Longfellow, Sumner, John Brown and
Lincoln in the public library of San Jose, Cal."
The most noted colored musician is the Anglo-African,
Samuel Coleridge Taylor. He was bom in London in 1875
and was educated in that city. His genius showed itself early
and he wrote several compositions. When in his twentieth
year, he wrote the wonderful Hiawatha Triology, a setting to
music of portions of Longfellow's poem. He has also devel
oped a number of the Negro folk-songs and other composi
tions of acknowledged merit. "While the world is admiring
Coloridge Taylor, the composer, it must not be forgotten -that
he is first of all a master of the violin. Like George Augus
tine P. Bridgetower, that other celebrated colored violinist of
London (about 1800), for whom Beethoven wrote the "Krut-
zer Sonata," and whose matchless rendering of it in a Vienna
concert caused the ecstatic German to leap from his seat,
throw his arms around Bridgetower, and shout, "Once more,
my dear fellow, once more." Coleridge Taylor first gained
his English reputation with his violin. It is stiU his favorite
instrument when not composing," ^ __.
Walter H. Loving, of Washington, D. C, organized in the
Philippines the workl renowned Constabulary Band, which

310 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

tied for the first prize at the World's Fair in St, Louis. Cap
tain Loving is acknowledged one of the world's greatest band
masters. Melville Charleton, organist, and R. Augustus Lawson
pianist ; Joseph G. Douglass, grandson of Frederick Douglass
and Clarence Cameron White, Felix Weir, Leonard Jeter
violinists ; Harry T. Burleigh, Sidney Woodward, John T
Layton, Sissisretta Jones, Abbie Mitchell, Harry A. Williams
Dr. C. Sumner 'Wormley, Charlotte Wallace, Ralph W, Amos
Marie James, Ernest R. Amos, Nettie Murray, vocalists ; Wal
ter Craig, Charles Harailton, orchestra leaders; W. M. Cook,
J. RI Johnson, Robert Cole, composers ; H. L. Grant, Hamilton
Hodges, are well known to the musical world. Isaac Hatha
way, of Washington, is a rising sculptor.
The Hon. John M. Langston was born a slave in Virginia
in 1829, but in his early youth managed to acquire the founda
tion for an education. Later he entered Oberlin College and
graduated with honor. He was a successful lawyer and "as
college president, foreign minister, orator and politician, he
exercised a wide influence for the good of his race. He was
one of the bravest of the brave in public matters and his in
fluence upon young colored men was widespread and ad
mirable." iHon. John P Green was born in North Carolina, but when
he was a lad his father having died his mother made a home
in Cleveland. After a short time spent in the public .schools,
followed by a period in which he worked to assist his inother
and studied in spare time, young Green wrote and published
a pamphlet of essays and sold about fifteen hundred of them.
He entered the high school and completed the course in nearly
one-half the required time, graduating at the head of his class.
He siudied law in a private office and at the Cleveland Law
School of which he is a graduate. Mr. Green has received
many public honors, serving as justice of the peace, member
of the Ohio Legislature, and was appointed United States
Stamp Agent by President McKinley.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 211

Hon. W. H. Clifford has also served as a member of the
Ohio Legislature.
Hon. T. McCants Stewart, a well-known colored American
lawyer, practiced in this country several years and was sub
sequently a member of the bar of Honolulu, Hawaii. He is
now a justice of the supreme court of Liberia. His son, T^
McCants Stewart, Jr., is also a lawyer and was the first col
ored person to graduate frora the University of Minnesota.
Hon. James Carol Napier of Nashville, graduated from the
law department of Howard University. Upon his retum to
Nashville, he not only practiced his profession, but actively
entered into the business, civil and political, life of the com
munity, and has held many positions of honor and trust. Mr.
Napier succeeded Mr. Vernon as Register of the Treasury in
1911. "','#' 'S
Judge^Robert. H. Terrell is a graduate of Harvard and an
able lawyer. He holds, by Presidential appointment, the posi
tion of judge in the Municipal Court of the District of Co
lumbia. iJon,-^4€hardT. -Greener graduated frora Harvard College
with high honors in 1870. As teacher, lawyer, orator, editor
and statesman, Mr. Greener has made his mark upon his day
and generation. He was lately U. S. Consul to Vladivostok,
Russia. James. A. .Cobb is a well-known lawyer and by Presidential
appointraent is Assistant U. S. District Attorney for the Dis
trict of Columbia. Judge Miflin W. Gibbs is a veteran lawyer
of Arkansas and was at one tirae U. S. Consul to Tamatave,
Madagascar. In the several states there have been and are many success-
-ful^I^yS^, among whom are J, Madison Vance of New Or
leans; B. F. Booth and J. T. Little of Memphis, Tenn.; D.
Augustus Straker of Detroit ; H. G. Parker, Lloyd G. Wheeler,
Ferdinand L. Barnett, S. Laing Williams, Edward H. Mor-

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

[ris of Chicago; S. A. Jones, Little Rock; S, A. McElwee, Al
fred Menefee, Nashville; W. pL, H. Hart, W. Ii. Richards,
'Royal A. Hughes, Fountain Peyton, E. M. Hewlett, Wm, L.
/Pollard^W. C. Chase,-!., M. King, A. W, Scott, R. L. War-
Ving, Washington, D-. G:; B. S. Smith, Wm. R.' Morris, Min
neapolis; P. J. Randall, Oakland, Cal; Ii. F. Bowles, Natchez;
J. E. Burgee, Chattanooga ; O, F. Garrett, Grenville, Miss. ;
Geo. W. Mitchell, Philadelphia ; Rufus L. Perry, Brooklyn ;
L. H. Codman, Columbus, Ohio ; Cornelius McDougal, E. A,
Johnson, J, L. Curtis, New York; J, L. Mitchell, Providence;
1 Clement Morgan, Butler Wilson„ Boston ; I. H. Nutter, mem
ber city council, Atlantic City ; F. L. McGee, St. Paul ; T. J.
Calloway, was in charge of the Negro exhibits at the Paris
Exposition of 1900 and at the Jamestown Exposition; of the
latter, Mr. A. F. Hilyer was assistant.
Prof. W. S. Scarborough, president of Wilberforce Uni
versity, is the author of Greek and Latin text-books ; Prof.
Kelly Miller, a noted writer on Negro questions, is dean of
the College Department, Howard University; Prof. W. H.
Crogman, of Clark University, is a well-known linguist, writer
and educator ; Prof, Geo. W. Cook, secretary of Howard Uni
versity, was for many years dean of the Commercial Depart
ment ; Prof. J. C. Price, was a renowned orator, and at the
tirae of his death, was president of Livingston College ; Dr. L.
B. Moore is dean of the Teacher's College, Howard Uni
versity. Prof. W. H. Councill founded and for many years was pres
ident of Normal Agricultural and Mechanical College ; he also
founded and was editor of the Huntsville (Ala.) Herald.
Pjof— R-C^-R-Puee, son of the late Senator Bruce, is a graduate
of Harvard College and is a gifted orator. He is Assistant
Superintendent of Public Schools at Washington, D. C.
Prof. Richard Robert Wright helped to organize the Georgia
State Industrial College and became its president; his son, R.
R. Wright, Jr., is an authority upon sociological questions
and is managing editor of the A. M. E. publication. Prof.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 213

E= C. WHlians is principal of the M Street High School, and
Dr. 'V^LB. Evans is principal of the Armstrong Technical High
School, Washington, D. C. Prof. W. H. Hotzclaw is prin
cipal of Utica N. and I. Institute, Mississippi. Dr. Lucy E.
Moten, principal of Normal School, Washington, D. C. Dr.
W. S. Montgomery and John C. NaUe, are well known edu
cators. The colored members of Congress, during the period under
consideration, were Janies C. O'Hara, 48th and 49th Con
gresses; John M. Langston, Va., 51st Congress; Thos. H.
Miller and H. P. Cheatam, 52nd and 53rd Congresses ; George
W. Murray, 53rd and 54th Congresses ; George H. White, 55th
Congress. In the Diplomatic Service at present are WHliam
D. Crura, of South Carolina, Minister Resident and Consul-
General to Liberia; Richard C. Bundy, of Ohio, Secretary of
Legation, Monrovia; Henry W. Furniss, of Indiana, Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Haiti, Con
suls; L. W. Livingston, Florida, Consul at Cape Haitien,
Haiti ; G. W. Jackson, Connecticut, Consul at Cognac, France ;
W. H. Hunt, New York, Consul at St. Etienne, France; H.
R. Wright, Iowa, Consul at Puerto Cabelle, Venezuela ; J. W.
Johnson, New York, Consul at Corinte, Nicarauga; W. J.
Yerby, of Tennessee, Consul at Sierra Leone, West Africa;
J. G. Carter, Georgia, Consul at Tamatave, Madagascar; C.
H. Payne, West Virginia, Consul at St. Thomas, Danish West
Indies. Besides Federal office holders already named are Chas. A.
Cottrell, Collector of the Port of Honolulu ; W. H. Lewis, As
sistant Attorney General of the United States ; Chas. W. An
derson, Collector of Internal Revenue, New York; Ralph W.
Tyler, Auditor of the Navy ; Whitfield McKinley, Collector of
Customs, Georgetown, D. C. ; PI. A. Rucker, Collector of In
ternal Revenue, Atlanta, Ga. ; Jos. E, Lee, Collector of In
ternal Revenue, Jacksonville, Fla. ; Jas. H. Deveaux, Collector

214 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

of Customs, Savannah, Ga. ; J. Lincoln Johnson, Recorder of
Deeds, District of Columbia; S. Laing Williams, Assistant
District Attorney, Chicago ; James M. Alexander, Deputy
Collector at Los Angeles, Cal. ; ex-Gov. P. B. S, Pinchback,
Internal Revenue Agent, New York; W. T. Vernon, Super
visor of Indian and Negro Schools, Oklahoma ; Cyrus Field
Adams, Assistant Register of the Treasury ; Nathan Alex
ander, Register of Land Office, Montgomery, Alabama.
The following have been Registers of the Treasury: Hon.
B. K. Bruce, Judson W. Lyons, W, T. Vernon, and J. C.
Napier, the present Register. When it is remenbered that
the signature of the occupant of this position turns worthless
paper into valuable currency, the dignity and responsibility
of the office is appreciated.
Since the time in the eighteenth century when Prince Hall
presided over the first lodge of Negro Masons, that fraternity
has steadily increased in power and importance. It is esti
mated that there are one hundred thousand colored Free Ma
sons in this country, working in all the departments of the
Order, from the first degree through the thirty-third. The
President of the International Conference of Knights Templar
is William F Mayo, of Frankfort, Ky. The Sovereign Grand
Commander of the Scottish Rife (33) for the Northern Juris
diction is J. Frank Rickard, of Detroit, and the Sovereign
Grand Commander of the Southern Jurisdiction is Robert
L. Pendleton, of Washington, D. C. Prof. Nelson E. Weath-
erless is Grand Master of the District of Columbia,
The Grand United Order of Odd Fellows founded by Peter
Ogden, is a tremendous organization, with lodges in every
state in the Union. Hon, Edward H, Morris, of Chicago, is
Grand Master, and H. Lincoln Johnson is Deputy Grand
Master. The Knights of Pythias and the Order of Elks each have
thousands of members. The Young Men's Christian Associa
tion is doing a great work under the supervision of the foi-

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

lowing international secretaries : J. E. Moorland, W. A. Hun
ton, J. B. Watson, D. D. Jones, C. H. Tobias, R. P. Hamlin.
You remember that Negroes came with Columbus when he
discovered America; following out the tradition, a Negro,
Matthew Henson, accompanied Peary, when in 1909, he dis
covered the North Pole. The assassin of President McKinley
was captured by J. B. Parker, a colored man, immediately
after the shooting.
There are several colored officers in the United States army.
Those on the retired list are Lieutenant-Colonel Allen Aliens-
worth, Major John R. Lynch, Major Wm. T. Anderson, Cap
tain Theophilus G, Steward ; in active service are Captain
Geo. W. Prioleau, First Lieutenant Benjamin Oliver Davis,
who was the first U, S. military attache at Monrovia, Liberia;
First Lieutenant John E, Green, First Lieutenant W. 'VY. E.
Gladden, First Lieutenant Oscar J. W. Scott, First Lieutenant
Louis A. Carter, and Captain Charles Young, who graduated
from West Point Military Academy in 1889, and who will
succeed Lieut. Davis as millitary attache in Liberia. Col. Al-
lensworth has founded a colony in California, after the model
of Mound Bayou, and bearing the founder's name.
The bishops of the several branches - of the Methodist
Church have ever been in the forefront of all movements for
racial uplift and each has had his share in race development.
Pro:ninent in the A. M. E, Church are Bishops Alexander
Walters and Geo. W, Clinton ; in the C. M. E, Church are
Bishops liolsey, Cottrell, Williams and Phillips ; in the A. M,
E. Church, Bishop Daniel Payne was aptly called "The Apos
tle of Education," for- throughout his whole life by precept
and example, he taught the advantages of learning. You will
remember that he was largely instrumental in buying Wilber
force University in 1863, and that he established in this con
nection a number of literary societies. At the time of his
death he was President of Payne Theological Seminary' at
Wilberforce. Dr. B. W. Arnett, afterwards bishop, ser-yed

2i6 A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO

two years in the Ohio State Legislature. Bishop J. Albert
Johnson of the A. M. E- Church is carrying on a notable work
in South Africa; Bishop Heard, A. M. E., and Bishop A. B.
Scott of the M. E. Church, are superintending missions in
West Africa.
Rev. Francis_J. Grimke has been for many years the pastor
of the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church, Washington, and
is w&H-known as an example of Christian culture and scholarly
attainment. Dr. J. W. E. Bowen, a prominent member of the
M. E. Church, has served as a meniber of the faculties of
Central Tennessee College and of Ga nmoii Theological Sem
inary, Atlanta, is a writer upon race and church questions
and an authority upon the Semitic languages.
Among other prominent ministers are Revs. E. L. Hender
son, Jas. C, Russell, George A. McGuire, Hutchins Bishop, W.
V. 'PunndJ, T. J. Brown, John Johnson, O. A. Mitchell, G.
F. Bragg, F. I. A. Bennett, J. C. VanLoo of the P. E, Church,
Revs. R. C. Ransom, Ii. C. Kealing, E. C. Morris, S, N.
Brown, W. Ii. Day, I. N. Ross, Johnjiuxst, B. F. Watson, H.
PI. Proctor, M. W. Clair, A. C.Xkmer, W. H/-Bxooks, G. R.
¦Waller, J. M. 'Waldron, S. J. Comfort,_SHa Rivers, T. W.
Henderson, W. A. Creditt, W. D.'lJornian, VV. J. Howard,
E. B. Gordon, Wm. H. Brooks, R. R. Ball, G. W. Moore, W.
H. Weaver, S. N. Vass, W. M. Alexander, M. C, B. Mason,
S. L. Corrothers, J. T. Jenifer, W. W. McCary. Prof. Jesse
Lawson, Prof. Ira Bryant, Prof. J. R. Hawkins and I. G.
Penn are prominent lay workers. In the Roman Catholic
Church, Father Augustus Tolton, who was ordained abroad,
became farnous in this country for his eloquent sermons. He
died in 1891. Other colored priests are Rev. J. lienry Dor
sey, Rev. C. R. Uncles, Rev. J. J. Plantevigne, Rev. Theobald
and Rev. J. H. Burgess.

A NARRATIVE OF THE NEGRO 217

Every minister who feels the responsibility of his office is
a mighty lever for the race, but unless the ministry is en
couraged and supported by the lay members of the church,
their efforts will be greatly hampered.
It has become quite a common thing among a certain class
of colored people to deride and belittle the church and the
ministry as though Religion were invented yesterday, by Ne
groes, for each other's beguiling. It is true, indeed, that in
fidelity and agnosticism are by no means confined to the Negro.
But let all the kindreds and tongues and peoples of the earth
conspire together against Jehovah; let them sneer at His wis
dom. His justice and His might; let them forsake His cove
nant and throw down His altars, let them slay His prophets
with the sword ; let them make of His house a den of thieves ;
even so, may He, who holds Creation in the hollow of His
hand, and yet marks the sparrow's fall, behold, and see the
Negro, though persecuted and afflicted, though cast down and
almost destroyed, still clinging to the Faith once delivered to
the saints, still looking up, even though through blood and
tears, to the ETERNAL GOD.

THE END.

Contents.

Chapter I-A TALK WITH THE CHILDREN. Page 5
Chapter II-GEOGRAPHY OF AFRICA— Illus
trated by a new map. 9
Chapter III-ANCIENT CIVILIZATION— Contains
a sketch of "hoary Moro^," the populous and
busy Ethiopian kingdom, which flourished
more than three thousand years before Christ
— Egypt — Abyssinia — Carthage. i 3
ChapterlV-EXPLORATIONS IN AFRICA-
Tells of the work of Mungo Park, David
Livingstone, Henry White Baker, iHenry M.
Stanley. - - 19
Chapter V— MODERN AFRICA— Refers to the
European powers which claim portions of Af
rican soil, and tells of the powerful tribes of
native warriors — the Yuroba, the Ashanti,
Basutos, and of the famous women-soldiers,
the Amazons of Dahomey. 27
Chapters VI and VII tell of the early struggles
and present prosperity .of Sierra Leone and
Liberia, West Africa, respectively. 3^
Chapters VIII and IX give a sketch of the Negro
in Haiti and Santo Domingo, Jamaica, Ber
muda and Brazil, recounting tbe deeds of
Toussaint L'Ouverture and of the Maroons. 54
Chapter X— SLAVERY— Shows how old and how
evil the system of slavery was and how most
of the races of the earth have been enslaved
at some time in their history, 74
Chapter XI— THE NEGRO IN THE COLONIES
— Tells of the landing of the first slaves and
of their condition in the several colonies for
about one hundred and fifty years. - 81

Chapter XII— THE DAWNING LIGHT— Marks
the faint beginning of intellectual develop
ment ; gives the stirring petition of the Bos
ton Negroes of 1773; tells of Phillis "Wheatley,
Benjamin Banneker, Prince Hall, Crispus At
tucks and others.
ChatJter XIII-THE NEGRO IN THE REVOLU
TIONARY WAR.

Page 90

IOI

Chapter XIV— THE NEGRO IN THE FIRST
HALF OF THE NINETEENTH GENTURY-
Tells of Negro heroes of the War of 1812 ;
outlines the work of Lundy and Garrison ;
sketches the insurrections of Gabriel, Den
mark Vesey and Nat Turner ; explains the
Underground Railroad,
Chapter XV-THE LIGHT .GROWS BRIGHTER
— Notes the first Negro Convention ; schools
for Negroes in a few states; work of Prudence
Crandall; Mysterious Knights of Liberty;
early doctors, lawyers, " authors and teachers
of prominence.

"9

Chapter XVI-FREDERIGK DOUGLASS-So-
journer Truth, Harriet Tubman, Frances El
len Watkins Harper.

133

Chapter XVII-ANTEVENTFUL DECADE-Op-
erations of the Fugitive Slave Law ; tells of
Dred Scott; the IMissouri Compromise; work
of Miss MyrtiHa Miner ; famous Negro Musi
cians of the period ; John Brown.

146

Chapter XVIII— THE NEGRO IN THE CIVIL
WAR — Brave deeds of Negro soldiers ; Port
Hudson ; Fort Wagner ; Fort Pillow ; Eman
cipation Proclamation.

157

Chapter XIX-FIFTEEN YEARS OF FREE-DOM
— Negro churches, schools and colleges ;
Colored American Opera Company ; Freed
men's Bureau. Page 168
Chapter XX-HELPS AND HINDRANCES. 178
Chapter XXI— TWO WAYS OF THINKING—
The Radical and the Conservative. 189
Chapter XXII-THE LIGHT DIFFUSED— Con
tains biographical sketches of about fifty
prominent Negro men and women of the
present day and the names of about two hun
dred and fifty out of the multitude who have
distinguished themselves along various lines. 202