The Education Of The Negro Prior To 1861
by
Carter Godwin Woodson
Part 6 out of 7
disappointed.--Permit me, Sir, to be an Advocate with you, and, by
your Means, with your generous Friends in their Behalf. The Books I
principally want for them are, Watts' Psalms and Hymns, and Bibles.
The two first they cannot be supplied with any other Way than by a
Collection, as they are not among the Books which your Society give
away. I am the rather importunate for a good Number of these, and I
cannot but observe, that the Negroes, above all the Human Species that
I ever knew, have an Ear for Musick, and a kind of extatic Delight in
Psalmody; and there are no Books they learn so soon, or take so much
Pleasure in as those used in that heavenly Part of divine Worship.
Some Gentlemen in London were pleased to make me a private Present of
these Books for their Use, and from the Reception they met with, and
their Eagerness for more, I can easily foresee, how acceptable and
useful a larger Number would be among them. Indeed, Nothing would be a
greater Inducement to their Industry to learn to read, than the Hope
of such a Present; which they would consider, both as a Help, and a
Reward for their Diligence"....--_Fawcett's Address to the Christian
Negroes in Virginia_, etc., pp. 33. 34. 35. 36, 37. 38.
EXTRACT FROM JONATHAN BOUCHER'S "A VIEW OF THE CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES
OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION"(1763)
"If ever these colonies, now filled with slaves, be improved to their
utmost capacity, an essential part of the improvement must be the
abolition of slavery. Such a change would be hardly more to the
advantage of the slaves than it would be to their owners....
"I do you no more than justice in bearing witness, that in no part of
the world were slaves better treated than, in general, they are in the
colonies.... In one essential point, I fear, we are all deficient;
they are nowhere sufficiently instructed. I am far from recommending
it to you, at once to set them free; because to do so would be an
heavy loss to you, and probably no gain to them; but I do entreat
you to make them some amends for the drudgery of their bodies by
cultivating their minds. By such means only can we hope to fulfil the
ends, which we may be permitted to believe, Providence had in view in
suffering them to be brought among us. You may unfetter them from the
chains of ignorance; you may emancipate them from the bondage of sin,
the worst slavery to which they can be subjected; and by thus setting
at liberty those that are bruised, though they still continue to be
your slaves, they shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption
into the glorious liberty of the Children of God."--Jonathan Boucher's
_A View of the Causes and Consequences_, etc., pp. 41, 42, 43.
BOUCHER ON AMERICAN EDUCATION IN 1773
"You pay far too little regard to parental education....
"What is still less credible is that at least two-thirds of the little
education we receive is derived from instructors who are either
indented servants or transported felons. Not a ship arrives either
with redemptioners or convicts, in which schoolmasters are not as
regularly advertised for sale as weavers, tailors, or any other trade;
with little other difference, that I can hear of, excepting perhaps
that the former do not usually fetch so good a price as the latter....
"I own, however, that I dislike slavery and among other reasons
because as it is here conducted it has pernicious effects on the
social state, by being unfavorable to education. It certainly is no
necessary circumstance, essential to the condition of a slave, that he
be uneducated; yet this is the general and almost universal lot of the
slaves. Such extreme, deliberate, and systematic inattention to all
mental improvement, in so large portion of our species, gives far too
much countenance and encouragement to those abject persons who are
contented to be rude and ignorant."--Jonathan Boucher's _A View of the
Causes and Consequences of the American Revolution_, pp. 183, 188,
189.
A PORTION OF AN ESSAY OF BISHOP PORTEUS TOWARD A PLAN FOR THE MORE
EFFECTUAL CIVILIZATION AND CONVERSION OF THE NEGRO SLAVES ON THE TRENT
ESTATE IN BARBADOES BELONGING TO THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF
THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS. (WRITTEN IN 1784)
"We are expressly commanded to preach the gospel to every creature;
and therefore every human creature must necessarily be capable of
receiving it. It may be true, perhaps, that the generality of
the Negro slaves are extremely dull of apprehension, and slow of
understanding; but it may be doubted whether they are more so than
some of the lowest classes of our own people; at least they are
certainly not inferior in capacity to the Greenlanders, many of whom
have made very sincere Christians. Several travellers of good credit
speak in very favorable terms, both of the understandings and
dispositions of the native Africans on the coast of Guinea; and it is
a well-known fact, that many even of the Negro slaves in our islands,
although laboring under disadvantages and discouragements, that might
well depress and stupefy even the best understandings, yet give
sufficient proofs of the great quickness of parts and facility in
learning. They have, in particular, a natural turn to the mechanical
arts, in which several of them show much ingenuity, and arrive at no
small degree of perfection. Some have discovered marks of genius for
music, poetry, and other liberal accomplishments; and there are not
wanting instances among them of a strength of understanding, and a
generosity, dignity, and heroism of mind, which would have done honour
to the most cultivated European. It is not, therefore, to any natural
or unconquerable disability in the subject we had to work upon, that
the little success of our efforts is to be ascribed. This would indeed
be an insuperable obstacle, and must put an effectual stop to all
future attempts of the same nature; but as this is far from being the
case, we must look for other causes of our disappointment; which may
perhaps appear to be, though of a serious, yet less formidable nature,
and such as it is in the power of human industry and perseverance,
with the blessing of Providence, to remove. The principal of them, it
is conceived, are these which here follow:
1. "Although several of our ministers and catechists in the college of
Barbadoes have been men of great worth and piety, and good intentions,
yet in general they do not appear (if we may judge from their letters
to the Board) to have possessed that peculiar sort of talents and
qualifications, that facility and address in conveying religious
truths, that unconquerable activity, patience, and perseverance, which
the instruction of dull and uncultivated minds requires, and which
we sometimes see so eminently and successfully displayed in the
missionaries of other churches.
"And indeed the task of instructing and converting near three hundred
Negro slaves, and of educating their children in the principles of
morality and religion, is too laborious for any one person to execute
well; especially when the stipend is too small to animate his
industry, and excite his zeal.
2. "There seems also to have been a want of other modes of
instruction, and of other books and tracts for that purpose, besides
those made use of hitherto by our catechists. And there is reason
moreover to believe, that the time allotted to the instruction of the
Negroes has not been sufficient.
3. "Another impediment to the progress of our slaves in Christian
knowledge has been their too frequent intercourse with the Negroes of
the neighboring plantations, and the accession of fresh slaves to our
own, either hired from other estates, or imported from Africa. These
are so many constant temptations in their way to revert to their
former heathenish principles and savage manners, to which they have
always a strong natural propensity; and when this propensity is
continually inflamed by the solicitations of their unconverted
brethren, or the arrival of new companions from the coast of Guinea,
it frequently becomes very difficult to be resisted, and counteracts,
in a great degree, all the influence and exhortations of their
religious teachers.
4. "Although this society has been always most honourably
distinguished by the gentleness with which the negroes belonging to
its trust estates have been generally treated, yet even these (by the
confession of our missionaries) are in too abject, and depressed, and
uncivilized a state to be proper subjects for the reception of the
divine truths of revelation. They stand in need of some further marks
of the society's regard and tenderness for them, to conciliate their
affections, to invigorate their minds, to encourage their hopes,
and to rouse them out of that state of languor and indolence and
insensibility, which renders them indifferent and careless both about
this world and the next.
5. "A still further obstacle to the effectual conversion of the
Negroes has been the almost unrestrained licentiousness of their
manner, the habits of vice and dissoluteness in which they are
permitted to live, and the sad examples they too frequently see in
their managers and overseers. It can never be expected that people
given up to such practices as these, can be much disposed to receive a
pure and undefiled religion: or that, if after their conversion they
are allowed, as they generally are, to retain their former habits,
their christianity can be anything more than a mere name.
"These probably the society will, on inquiry, find to have been the
principal causes of the little success they have hitherto had in their
pious endeavors to render their own slaves real christians. And it is
with a view principally to the removal of these obstacles that the
following regulations are, with all due deference to better judgments,
submitted to their consideration.
"The first and most essential step towards a real and effectual
conversion of our Negroes would be the appointment of a missionary
(in addition to the present catechist) properly qualified for that
important and difficult undertaking. He should be a clergyman sought
out for in this country, of approved ability, piety, humanity,
industry, and a fervent, yet prudent zeal for the interests of
religion, and the salvation of those committed to his care; and should
have a stipend not less than 200 f. sterling a year if he has an
apartment and is maintained in the College, or 300 f. a year if he is
not.
"This clergyman might be called (for a reason to be hereafter
assigned) 'The Guardian of the Negroes'; and his province should be
to superintend the moral and spiritual concern of the slaves, to take
upon himself the religious instruction of the adult Negroes, and to
take particular care that all the Negro children are taught to read
by the catechist and the two assistant women (now employed by the
society) and also that they are diligently instructed by the catechist
in the principles of the Christian religion, till they are fifteen
years of age, when they shall be instructed by himself with the adult
Negroes.
"This instruction of the Negro children from their earliest years is
one of the most important and essential parts of the whole plan; for
it is to the education of the young Negroes that we are principally
to look for the success of our spiritual labours. These may be easily
taught to understand and to speak the English language with fluency;
these may be brought up from their earliest youth in habits of virtue,
and restrained from all licentious indulgences: these may have the
principles and the precepts of religion impressed so early upon their
tender minds as to sink deep, and to take firm root, and bring forth
the fruits of a truly Christian life. To this great object, therefore,
must our chief attention be directed; and as almost everything must
depend on the ability, the integrity, the assiduity, the perseverance
of the person to whom we commit so important a charge, it is
impossible for us to be too careful and too circumspect in our choice
of a CATECHIST. He must consider it his province, not merely to teach
the Negroes the use of letters, but the elements of Christianity; not
only to improve their understandings, but to form their hearts. For
this purpose they must be put into his hands the moment they are
capable of articulating their words, and their instruction must be
pursued with unrelenting diligence. So long as they continue too young
to work, they may be kept constantly in the school; as they grow fit
to labour, their attendance on the CATECHIST must gradually lessen,
till at length they take their full share of work with the grown
Negroes.
"A school of this nature was formerly established by the society
of Charlestown in South Carolina, about the year 1745, under the
direction of Mr. Garden, the Bishop of London's commissary in that
province. This school flourished greatly, and seemed to answer their
utmost wishes. There were at one time sixty scholars in it, and twenty
young Negroes were annually sent out from it well instructed in the
English language, and the Christian faith. Mr. Garden, in his letters
to the society, speaks in the highest terms of the progress made
by his scholars, and says, that the Negroes themselves were highly
pleased with their own acquirements. But it is supposed that on a
parochial establishment being made in Charlestown by government, this
excellent institution was dropt; for after the year 1751, no further
mention is made of it in the minutes of the society. From what little
we know of it, however, we may justly conceive the most pleasing
hopes from a similar foundation at Barbadoes."--_The Works of Bishop
Porteus_, vi., pp., 171-179.
EXTRACT FROM "THE ACTS OF DR. BRAY'S VISITATION HELD AT ANNAPOLIS IN
MARYLAND, MAY 23, 24, 25, ANNO 1700"
_Words of Dr. Bray_
"I think, my REVEREND BRETHREN, that we are now gone through such
measures as may be necessary to be considered for the more universal
as well as successful Catechising, and Instruction of Youth. And I
heartily thank you for your so ready Concurrence in every thing that
I have offered to you: And which, I hope, will appear no less in the
Execution, than it has been to the Proposals.
"And that proper Books may not be wanting for the several Classes of
Catechumens, there is care taken for the several sorts, which may be
all had in this Town. And it may be necessary to acquaint you,
that for the poor Children and Servants, they shall be given
Gratis."--Hawks's _Ecclesiastical History of the United States_, vol.
ii., pp. 503-504.
EXTRACTS FROM THE MINUTES OF THE MEETINGS OF THE SOCIETY OF
FRIENDS....
FROM THE MINUTES OF THE YEARLY MEETING OF THE FRIENDS OF PENNSYLVANIA
AND NEW JERSEY, 1774
"And having grounds to conclude that there are some brethren who have
these poor captives under their care, and are desirous to be wisely
directed in the restoring them to liberty: Friends who may be
appointed by quarterly and monthly meetings on the service now
proposed, are earnestly desired to give their weighty and solid
attention for the assistance of such who are thus honestly and
religiously concerned for their own relief, and the essential benefit
of the negro. And in such families where there are young ones, or
others of suitable age, that they excite the masters, or those who
have them, to give them sufficient instruction and learning, in order
to qualify them for the enjoyment of liberty intended, and that they
may be instructed by themselves, or placed out to such masters and
mistresses who will be careful of their religious education, to serve
for such time, and no longer, as is prescribed by law and custom, for
white people."--_A Brief Statement of the Rise and Progress of the
Testimony of the Religious Society of Friends against Slavery and the
Slave Trade_. Published by direction of the Yearly Meeting, held in
Philadelphia, in the Fourth Month, 1843, p. 38.
FROM THE MINUTES OF THE YEARLY MEETING OF THE FRIENDS OF PHILADELPHIA
AND NEW JERSEY, 1779
"A tender Christian sympathy appears to be awakened in the minds of
many who are not in religious profession with us, who have seriously
considered the oppressions and disadvantages under which those people
have long laboured; and whether a pious care extended to their
offspring is not justly due from us to them, is a consideration worthy
of our serious and deep attention; or if this obligation did not
weightily lay upon us, can benevolent minds be directed to any object
more worthy of their liberality and encouragement, than that of laving
a foundation in the rising generation for their becoming good and
useful men? remembering what was formerly enjoined, 'If thy brethren
be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee, then thou shalt relieve
him; yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live
with thee.'"--_Ibid_., p. 38.
FROM THE MINUTES OF THE QUARTERLY MEETING OF THE FRIENDS OF CHESTER
"The consideration of the temporal and spiritual welfare of the
Africans, and the necessary instruction of their offspring now being
resumed, and after some time spent thereon, it is closely recommended
to our several monthly meetings to pay due attention to the advice of
the Yearly Meeting on this subject, and proceed as strength may be
afforded, in looking after them in their several habitations by a
religious visit; giving them such counsel as their situation may
require."--_Ibid_., p. 39.
FROM THE MINUTES OF THE HADDONFIELD QUARTERLY MEETING
"In Haddonfield Quarterly Meeting, a committee was kept steadily under
appointment for several years to assist in manumissions, and in the
education of the negro children. Religious meetings were frequently
held for the people of color; and Haddonfield Monthly Meeting raised
on one occasion 131 pounds, for the education of negro children.
"In Salem Monthly Meeting, frequent meetings of worship for the people
of color were held by direction of the monthly meeting; funds were
raised for the education of their children, and committees appointed
in the different meetings to provide books, place the children
at school, to visit the schools, and inspect their conduct and
improvement.
"Meetings for Divine worship were regularly held for people of color,
at least once in three months, under the direction of the monthly
meetings of Friends in Philadelphia; and schools were also established
at which their children were gratuitously instructed in useful
learning. One of these, originally instituted by Anthony Benezet, is
now in operation in the city of Philadelphia, and has been continued
under the care of one of the monthly meetings of Friends of that city,
and supported by funds derived from voluntary contributions of the
members, and from legacies and bequests, yielding an income of about
$1000 per annum. The average number of pupils is about sixty-eight of
both sexes."--_Ibid_., pp. 40-41.
FROM THE MINUTES OF THE RHODE ISLAND QUARTERLY MEETING OF THE FRIENDS,
1769
A committee reported "that having met, and entered into a solemn
consideration of the subject, they were of the mind that a useful
alteration might be made in the query referred to; yet apprehending
some further Christian endeavors in labouring with such who continue
in possession of slaves should be first promoted, by which means the
eyes of Friends may be more clearly opened to behold the iniquity
of the practice of detaining our fellow creatures in bondage, and a
disposition to set such free who are arrived to mature age; and when
the labour is performed and report made to the meeting, the meeting
may be better capable of determining what further step to take in this
affair, which hath given so much concern to faithful Friends, and that
in the meantime it should be enforced upon Friends that have them in
possession, to treat them with tenderness; impress God's fear on their
minds; promote their attending places of religious worship; and give
such as are young, so much learning, that they may be capable of
reading.
"Are Friends clear of importing, buying, or any ways disposing of
negroes or slaves; and do they use those well who are under their
care, and not in circumstances, through nonage or incapacity, to
be set at liberty? And do they give those that are young such an
education as becomes Christians; and are the others encouraged in a
religious and virtuous life? Are all set at liberty that are of age,
capacity, and ability suitable for freedom?"--_Ibid_., pp. 45,46.
FROM THE MINUTES OF THE YEARLY MEETING OF THE FRIENDS OF VIRGINIA IN
1757 AND 1773
"Are Friends clear of importing or buying negroes to trade on; and
do they use those well which they are possessed of by inheritance
or otherwise, endeavoring to train them in the principles of the
Christian religion?"
The meeting of 1773 recommended to Friends, "seriously to consider the
circumstances of these poor people, and the obligation we are under to
discharge our religious duties to them, which being disinterestedly
pursued, will lead the professor to Truth, to advise and assist them
on all occasions, particularly in promoting their instruction in the
principles of the Christian religion, and the pious education of their
children; also to advise them in their worldly concerns, as occasions
offer; and it advised that Friends of judgment and experience may be
nominated for this necessary service, it being the solid sense of
this meeting, that we, of the present generation, are under strong
obligations to express our love and concern for the offspring of those
people, who, by their labours, have greatly contributed toward the
cultivation of these colonies, under the afflictive disadvantage of
enduring a hard bondage; and many amongst us are enjoying the benefit
of their toil."--_Ibid._, pp. 51, 52, and 54.
EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES OF THE METHODIST CONFERENCE, 1785
"Q. What directions shall we give for the promotion of the spiritual
welfare of the colored people?
"A. We conjure all our ministers and preachers, by the love of God and
the salvation of souls, and do require them, by all the authority that
is invested in us, to leave nothing undone for the spiritual benefit
and salvation of them, within their respective circuits or districts;
and for this purpose to embrace every opportunity of inquiring into
the state of their souls, and to unite in society those who appear to
have a real desire of fleeing from the wrath to come, to meet such a
class, and to exercise the whole Methodist Discipline among them."
"Q. What can be done in order to instruct poor children, white and
black to read?
"A. Let us labor, as the heart of one man, to establish Sunday
schools, in or near the place of public worship. Let persons be
appointed by the bishop, elders, deacons, or preachers, to teach
gratis all that will attend or have the capacity to learn, from six
o'clock in the morning till ten, and from two o'clock in the afternoon
till six, where it does not interfere with public worship. The
council shall compile a proper school book to teach them learning and
piety."--Rev. Charles Elliott's _History of the Great Secession front
the Methodist Episcopal Church_, etc., p. 35.
A PORTION OF AN ACT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
IN 1800.
The Assembly recommended:
"2. The instruction of Negroes, the poor and those who are destitute
of the means of grace in various parts of this extensive country;
whoever contemplates the situation of this numerous class of persons
in the United States, their gross ignorance of the plainest principles
of religion, their immorality and profaneness, their vices and
dissoluteness of manners, must be filled with anxiety for their
present welfare, and above all for their future and eternal happiness.
"3. The purchasing and disposing of Bibles and also of books and short
essays on the great principles of religion and morality, calculated
to impress the minds of those to whom they are given with a sense of
their duty both to God and man, and consequently of such a nature as
to arrest the attention, interest the curiosity and touch the feelings
of those to whom they are given."--_Act and Proceedings of the General
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. in the Year 1800_,
Philadelphia.
AN ACT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN 1801
"The Assembly resumed the consideration of the communication from the
Trustees of the General Assembly and having gone through the same,
thereupon resolved,
"5. That there be made a purchase of so many cheap and pious books as
a due regard to the other objects of the Assembly's funds will admit,
with a view of distributing them not only among the frontiers of these
States, but also among the poorer classes of people, and the blacks,
or wherever it is thought useful; which books shall be given away, or
lent, at the discretion of the distributor; and that there be received
from Mr. Robert Aitken, toward the discharge of his debt, books to
such amount as shall appear proper to the Trustees of the Assembly,
who are hereby requested to take proper measures for the distribution
of same."--_Act and Proceedings of the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A._
PLAN FOR IMPROVING THE CONDITION OF THE FREE BLACKS
The business relative to free blacks shall be transacted by a
committee of twenty-four persons, annually elected by ballot at a
meeting of this Society, in the month called April, and in order to
perform the different services with expedition, regularity and energy
this committee shall resolve itself into the following sub-committees,
viz.:
I. A Committee of Inspection, who shall superintend the morals,
general conduct, and ordinary situation of the free negroes, and
afford them advice and instruction, protection from wrongs, and other
friendly offices.
II. A Committee of Guardians, who shall place out children and young
people with suitable persons, that they may (during a moderate time
of apprenticeship or servitude) learn some trade or other business
of subsistence. The committee may effect this partly by a persuasive
influence on parents and the persons concerned, and partly by
cooeperating with the laws, which are or may be enacted for this
and similar purposes. In forming contracts of these occasions, the
committee shall secure to the Society as far as may be practicable the
right of guardianship over the person so bound.
III. A Committee of Education, who shall superintend the school
instruction of the children and youth of the free blacks. They
may either influence them to attend regularly the schools already
established in this city, or form others with this view; they shall,
in either case, provide, that the pupils may receive such learning as
is necessary for their future situation in life, and especially a deep
impression of the most important and generally acknowledged moral and
religious principles. They shall also procure and preserve a regular
record of the marriages, births, and manumissions of all free blacks.
IV. The Committee of Employ, who shall endeavor to procure constant
employment for those free negroes who are able to work; as the want of
this would occasion poverty, idleness, and many vicious habits. This
committee will by sedulous inquiry be enabled to find common labor for
a great number; they will also provide that such as indicate proper
talents may learn various trades, which may be done by prevailing upon
them to bind themselves for such a term of years as shall compensate
their masters for the expense and trouble of instruction and
maintenance. The committee may attempt the institution of some simple
and useful manufactures which will require but little skill, and also
may assist, in commencing business, such as appear to be qualified for
it.
Whenever the Committee of Inspection shall find persons of any
particular description requiring attention, they shall immediately
direct them to the committee of whose care they are the proper
objects.
In matters of a mixed nature, the committee shall confer, and, if
necessary, act in concert. Affairs of great importance shall be
referred to the whole committee.
The expense incurred by the prosecution of this plan, shall be
defrayed by a fund, to be formed by donations or subscriptions for
these particular purposes, and to be kept separate from the other
funds of the Society.
The Committee shall make a report on their proceedings, and of the
state of their stock, to the Society, at their quarterly meetings, in
the months called April and October.--Smyth's _Writings of Benjamin
Franklin_, vol. x, p. 127.
EXTRACT FROM THE "ADDRESS OF THE AMERICAN CONVENTION OF DELEGATES FROM
THE ABOLITION SOCIETIES, 1795"
"We cannot forbear expressing to you our earnest desire, that you will
continue, without ceasing, to endeavor, by every method in your power
which can promise any success, to procure, either an absolute repeal
of all the laws in your state, which countenance slavery, or such an
amelioration of them as will gradually produce an entire abolition.
Yet, even should that great end be happily attained, it cannot put
a period to the necessity of further labor. The education of the
emancipated, the noblest and most arduous task which we have to
perform, will require all our wisdom and virtue, and the constant
exercise of the greatest skill and discretion. When we have broken his
chains, and restored the African to the enjoyment of his rights, the
great work of justice and benevolence is not accomplished--The new
born citizen must receive that instruction, and those powerful
impressions of moral and religious truths, which will render him
capable and desirous of fulfilling the various duties he owes to
himself and to his country. By educating some in the higher branches
of science, and all the useful parts of learning, and in the precepts
of religion and morality, we shall not only do away with the reproach
and calumny so unjustly lavished upon us, but confound the enemies of
truth, by evincing that the unhappy sons of Africa, in spite of the
degrading influence of slavery, are in no wise inferior to the more
fortunate inhabitants of Europe and America.
"As a means of effectuating, in some degree, a design so virtuous and
laudable, we recommend to you to appoint a committee, annually, or
for any other more convenient period, to execute such plans, for the
improvement of the condition and moral character of the free blacks
in your state, as you may think best adapted to your particular
situation."--_Minutes of the Proceedings of the Second Convention of
Delegates, 1795._
A PORTION OF THE "ADDRESS OF THE AMERICAN CONVENTION OF DELEGATES TO
THE FREE AFRICANS AND OTHER FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR, 1796"
"In the first place, We earnestly recommend to you, a regular
attention to the duty of public worship; by which means you will
evince gratitude to your CREATOR, and, at the same time, promote
knowledge, union, friendship, and proper conduct among yourselves.
"Secondly, we advise such of you, as have not been taught reading,
writing, and the first principles of arithmetic, to acquire them
as early as possible. Carefully attend to the instruction of your
children in the same simple and useful branches of education. Cause
them, likewise, early and frequently to read the holy Scriptures. They
contain, among other great discoveries, the precious record of the
original equality of mankind, and of the obligations of universal
justice and benevolence, which are derived from the relation of the
human race to each other in a COMMON FATHER.
"Thirdly, Teach your children useful trades, or to labor with their
hands in cultivating the earth. These employments are favorable to
health and virtue. In the choice of masters, who are to instruct them
in the above branches of business, prefer those who will work with
them; by this means they will acquire habits of industry, and be
better preserved from vice, than if they worked alone, or under the
eye of persons less interested in their welfare. In forming contracts
for yourselves or children, with masters, it may be useful to consult
such persons as are capable of giving you the best advice, who are
known to be your friends, in order to prevent advantages being taken
of your ignorance of the laws and customs of your country."_--Minutes
of the Proceedings of the Third Convention of Delegates, 1796.
American Convention of Abolition Societies, Minutes, 1795-1804_
A PORTION OF THE ADDRESS TO THE FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR BY THE AMERICAN
CONVENTION FOR PROMOTING THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY, 1819
"The great work of emancipation is not to be accomplished in a
day;--it must be the result of time, of long and continued exertions:
it is for you to show by an orderly and worthy deportment that you are
deserving of the rank which you have attained. Endeavor as much as
possible to use economy in your expenses, so that you may be enabled
to save from your earnings, something for the education of your
children, and for your support in time of sickness and in old age: and
let all those who by attending to this admonition, have acquired the
means, send their children to school as soon as they are old enough,
where their morals will be the object of attention, as well as their
improvement in school learning; and when they arrive at a suitable
age, let it be your especial care to have them instructed in some
mechanical art suited to their capacities, or in agricultural
pursuits; by which they may afterwards be enabled to support
themselves and a family. Encourage also, those among you who are
qualified as teachers of schools, and when you are of ability to pay,
never send your children to free schools; this may be considered as
robbing the poor, of the opportunities which were intended for them
alone."
THE WILL OF KOSCIUSZKO
I, Thaddeus Kosciuszko, being just on my departure from America, do
hereby declare and direct, that, should I make no other testamentary
disposition of my property in the United States, I hereby authorize my
friend, Thomas Jefferson, to employ the whole thereof in purchasing
Negroes from his own or any others, and giving them liberty in my
name, in giving them an education in trade or otherwise, and in having
them instructed for their new condition in the duties of morality,
which may make them good neighbors, good fathers or mothers, husbands
or wives in their duties as citizens, teaching them to be defenders of
their liberty and country, and of the good order of society, and in
whatsoever may make them happy and useful. And I make the said Thomas
Jefferson my executor of this.
(Signed) T. KOSCIUSZKO. May 5, 1798. [See _African Repository_, vol.
xi., p. 294.]
FROM WASHINGTON'S WILL
"Upon the decease of my wife, it is my will and desire that all the
slaves whom I now hold in my own right shall receive their freedom....
And whereas among those who will receive freedom according to this
devise, there may be some who, from old age or bodily infirmities,
and others who on account of their infancy will be unable to support
themselves, it is my will and desire that all who come under the first
and second description, shall be comfortably clothed and fed by my
heirs while they live; and that such of the latter description as have
no parents living, or if living are unable or unwilling to provide for
them, shall be bound by the court until they shall arrive at the age
of twenty-five years; and in cases where no record can be produced,
whereby their ages can be ascertained, the judgement of court upon its
own view of the subject shall be adequate and final. The negroes thus
bound are (by their masters or mistresses) to be taught to read and
write, and to be brought up to some useful occupation, agreeable to
the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, providing for the support of
orphan and other poor children."--Benson J. Lossing's _Life of George
Washington_, vol. iii., p. 537.
THIS INTERESTING DIALOGUE WAS WRITTEN BY AN AMERICAN ABOUT 1800
The following dialogue took place between Mr. Jackson the master of a
family, and the slave of one of his neighbors who lived adjoining the
town, on this occasion. Mr. Jackson was walking through the common and
came to a field of this person's farm. He there saw the slave leaning
against the fence with a book in his hand, which he seemed to be very
intent upon; after a little time he closed the book, and clasping it
in both his hands, looked upwards as if engaged in mental prayer;
after this, he put the book in his bosom, and walked along the fence
near where Mr. Jackson was standing. Surprised at seeing a person of
his color engaged with a book, and still more by the animation and
delight that he observed in his countenance; he determines to enquire
about it, and calls to him as he passes.
_Mr. J_. So I see you have been reading, my lad?
_Slave_. Yes, sir.
_Mr. J_. Well, I have a great curiosity to see what you were reading
so earnestly; will you show me the book?
_Slave_. To be sure, sir. (And he presented it to him very
respectfully.)
_Mr. J_. The Bible!--Pray when did you get this book? And who taught
you to read it?
_Slave_. I thank God, sir, for the book. I do not know the good
gentleman who gave it to me, but I am sure God sent it to me. I was
learning to read in town at nights, and one morning a gentleman met me
in the road as I had my spelling book open in my hand: he asked me if
I could read, I told him a little, and he gave me this book and told
me to make haste and learn to read it, and to ask God to help me, and
that it would make me as happy as any body in the world.
_Mr. J_. Well did you do so?
_Slave_. I thought about it for some time, and I wondered that any
body should give me a book or care about me; and I wondered what that
could be which could make a poor slave like me so happy; and so I
thought more and more of it, and I said I would try and do as the
gentleman bid me, and blessed be God! he told me nothing but the
truth.
_Mr. J_. Who is your master?
_Slave_. Mr. Wilkins, sir, who lives in that house.
_Mr. J_. I know him; he is a very good man; but what does he say to
your leaving his work to read your book in the field?
_Slave_. I was not leaving his work, sir. This book does not teach me
to neglect my master's work. I could not be happy if I did that.--I
have done my breakfast, sir, and am waiting till the horses are done
eating.
_Mr. J_. Well, what does that book teach you?
_Slave_. Oh, sir! every thing that I want to know--all I am to do,
this book tells me, and so plain. It shew me first that I was a
wretched, ruined sinner, and what would become of me if I died in that
state, and then when I was day and night in dread of God's calling me
to account for my wickedness, and did not know which way to look for
my deliverance, reading over and over again those dreadful words,
"depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire," then it revealed to
me how Jesus Christ had consented to come and suffer punishment for
us in our stead, and bought pardon for us by his blood, and how by
believing on him and serving him, I might become a child of God, so
that I need be no more terrified by the thoughts of God's anger but
sure of his forgiveness and love....
(Here Mr. J. pursued his walk; but soon reflecting on what he had
heard, he resolved to walk by Mr. Wilkins's house and enquire into
this affair from him. This he did, and finding him the following
conversation took place between them.)
_Mr. J_. Sir, I have been talking with a man of yours in that field,
who was engaged, while his horses were eating, in reading a book;
which I asked him to shew me and found it was the Bible; thereupon I
asked him some questions and his answers, and the account he gave of
himself, have surprised me greatly.
_Mr. W_. I presume it was Will--and though I do not know what he
may have told you, yet I will undertake to say that he has told you
nothing but the truth. I am always safe in believing him, and do
not believe he would tell me an untruth for any thing that could be
offered him....
_Mr. J_. Well, sir, you have seen I trust in your family, good fruits
from the beginning.
_Mr. W_. Yes indeed, sir, and that man was most instrumental in
reconciling and encouraging all my people in the change. From that
time I have regarded him as more a friend and assistant, than a slave.
He has taught the younger ones to read, and by his kindness and
example, has been a great benefit to all. I have told them that I
would do what I could to instruct and improve them; and that if I
found any so vicious, that they would not receive it and strive to
amend, I would not keep them; that I hoped to have a religious,
praying family, and that none would be obstinately bent on their own
ruin. And from time to time, I endeavored to convince them that I was
aiming at their own good. I cannot tell you all the happiness of the
change, that God has been pleased to make among us, all by these
means. And I have been benefited both temporally and spiritually by
it; for my work is better done, and my people are more faithful,
contented, and obedient than before; and I have the comfort of
thinking that when my Lord and master shall call me to account for
those committed to my charge, I shall not be ashamed to present
them.--Bishop William Meade's "Tracts and Dialogues," etc., in
the Appendix of Thomas Bacon's _Sermons Addressed to Masters and
Servants_.
A TRUE ACCOUNT OF A PIOUS NEGRO
(Written about 1800)
Some years ago an English gentleman had occasion to be in North
America, where, among other adventures, the following circumstances
occurred to him which are related in his own words.
"Every day's observation convinces me that the children of God, viz.
those who believe in him, and on such terms are accepted by him
through Jesus Christ, are made so by his own especial grace and power
inclining them to what is good, and, assisting them when they endeavor
to be and continue so.
"In one of my excursions, while I was in the province of New York, I
was walking by myself over a considerable plantation, amused with its
husbandry, and comparing it with that of my own country, till I came
within a little distance of a middle aged negro, who was tilling the
ground. I felt a strong inclination to converse with him. After asking
him some little questions about his work, which he answered very
sensibly, I wished him to tell me, whether his state of slavery was
not disagreeable to him, and whether he would not gladly exchange it
for his liberty?"
"Massah," said he, looking seriously upon me, "I have wife and
children; my massah takes care of them, and I have no care to provide
anything; I have a good massah, who teach me to read; and I read good
book, that makes me happy." "I am glad," replied I, "to hear you say
so; and pray what is the good book you read?" "The Bible, massah,
God's own good book." "Do you understand, friend, as well as read this
book? for many can read the words well, who cannot get hold of the
true and good sense." "O massah," says he, "I read the book much
before I understand; but at last I found things in the book which made
me very uneasy." "Aye," said I, "and what things were they?" "Why
massah, I found that I was a sinner, massah, a very great sinner,
I feared that God would destroy me, because I was wicked, and done
nothing as I should do. God was holy, and I was very vile and naughty;
so I could have nothing from him but fire and brimstone in hell, if I
continued in this state." In short, he fully convinced me that he was
thoroughly sensible of his errors, and he told me what scriptures came
to his mind, which he had read, that both probed him to the bottom of
his sinful heart, and were made the means of light and comfort to his
soul. I then inquired of him, what ministry or means he made use of
and found that his master was a Quaker, a plain sort of man who had
taught his slaves to read, and had thus afforded him some means of
obtaining religious knowledge, though he had not ever conversed with
this negro upon the state of his soul. I asked him likewise, how he
got comfort under all his trials? "O massah," said he, "it was God
gave me comfort by his word. He bade me come unto him, and he would
give me rest, for I was very weary and heavy laden." And here he went
through a line of the most striking texts in the Bible, showing me, by
his artless comment upon them as he went along, what great things God
had done in the course of some years for his soul....--Bishop William
Meade's "Tracts, Dialogues," etc., in the Appendix of Thomas Bacon's
_Sermons Addressed to Masters and Servants_.
LETTER TO ABBE GREGOIRE, OF PARIS, 1809
I have received the favor of your letter of August 19th, and with
it the volume you were so kind as to send me on the Literature of
Negroes. Be assured that no person living wishes more sincerely than
I do to see a complete refutation of the doubts I have myself
entertained and expressed on the grade of understanding allotted to
them by nature and to find that in this respect they are on par with
ourselves. My doubts were the result of personal observation in the
limited sphere of my own state, where the opportunities for the
development of their genius were not favorable, and those of
exercising it still less so. I expressed them therefore with great
hesitation; but whatever be their degree of talent it is no measure
of their rights. Because Sir Isaac Newton was superior to others in
understanding, he was not therefore lord of the person and property
of others. On this subject they are gaining daily in the opinions
of nations, and hopeful advances are making towards their
re-establishment on an equal footing with the other colors of the
human family. I pray you therefore to accept my thanks for the many
instances you have enabled me to observe of respectable intelligence
in that race of men, which cannot fail to have effect in hastening the
day of their relief; and to be sure of the sentiments of the high and
just esteem and consideration which I tender to yourself with all
sincerity.--_Writings of Thomas Jefferson_, Memorial Edition, 1904,
vol. xii., p. 252.
PORTION OF JEFFERSON'S LETTER TO M.A. JULIEN, JULY 23, 1818
Referring to Kosciuszko, Jefferson said:
"On his departure from the United States in 1798 he left in my hands
an instrument appropriating after his death all the property he had
in our public funds, the price of his military services here, to the
education and emancipation of as many of the children of bondage
in this country as this should be adequate to. I am now too old to
undertake a business _de si longue haleine_; but I am taking measures
to place it in such hands as will ensure a faithful discharge of the
philanthropic intentions of the donor. I learn with pleasure your
continued efforts for the instruction of the future generations of
men, and, believing it the only means of effectuating their rights, I
wish them all possible success, and to yourself the eternal gratitude
of those who will feel their benefits, and beg leave to add the
assurance of my high esteem and respect."--_Writings of Thomas
Jefferson_, Memorial Edition. 1904, vol. xv., pp. 173-174.
FROM MADISON'S LETTER TO MISS FRANCES WRIGHT, SEPTEMBER 1, 1825
"Supposing these conditions to be duly provided for, particularly the
removal of the emancipated blacks, the remaining questions relate to
the aptitude and adequacy of the process by which the slaves are at
the same time to earn funds, entire or supplemental, required for
their emancipation and removal; and to be sufficiently educated for a
life of freedom and of social order....
"With respect to the proper course of education, no serious
difficulties present themselves. As they are to continue in a state
of bondage during the preparatory period, and to be within the
jurisdiction of States recognizing ample authority over them, a
competent discipline cannot be impracticable. The degree in which this
discipline will enforce the needed labour, and in which a voluntary
industry will supply the defect of compulsory labour, are vital
points, on which it may not be safe to be very positive without some
light from actual experiment.
"Considering the probable composition of the labourers, and the known
fact that, where the labour is compulsory, the greater the number of
labourers brought together (unless, indeed, where co-operation of
many hands is rendered essential by a particular kind of work or of
machinery) the less are the proportional profits, it may be doubted
whether the surplus from that source merely, beyond the support of the
establishment, would sufficiently accumulate in five, or even more
years, for the objects in view. And candor obliges me to say that I am
not satisfied either that the prospect of emancipation at a future
day will sufficiently overcome the natural and habitual repugnance to
labour, or that there is such an advantage of united over individual
labour as is taken for granted.
"In cases where portions of time have been allotted to slaves, as
among the Spaniards, with a view to their working out their freedom,
it is believed that but few have availed themselves of the opportunity
by a voluntary industry; and such a result could be less relied on
in a case where each individual would feel that the fruits of his
exertions would be shared by others, whether equally or unequally
making them, and that the exertions of others would equally avail him,
notwithstanding a deficiency in his own. Skilful arrangements might
palliate this tendency, but it would be difficult to counteract it
effectually.
"The examples of the Moravians, the Harmonites, and the Shakers,
in which the united labours of many for a common object have been
successful, have, no doubt, an imposing character. But it must be
recollected that in all these establishments there is a religious
impulse in the members, and a religious authority in the head, for
which there will be no substitutes of equivalent efficacy in the
emancipating establishment. The code of rules by which Mr. Rapp
manages his conscientious and devoted flock, and enriches a common
treasury, must be little applicable to the dissimilar assemblage
in question. His experience may afford valuable aid in its general
organization, and in the distribution of details of the work to be
performed. But an efficient administration must, as is judiciously
proposed, be in hands practically acquainted with the propensities and
habits of the members of the new community."
FROM FREDERICK DOUGLASS'S PAPER, 1853: "LEARN TRADES OR STARVE"
These are the obvious alternatives sternly presented to the free
colored people of the United States. It is idle, yea even ruinous, to
disguise the matter for a single hour longer; every day begins and
ends with the impressive lesson that free negroes must learn trades,
or die.
The old avocations, by which colored men obtained a livelihood, are
rapidly, unceasingly and inevitably passing into other hands; every
hour sees the black man elbowed out of employment by some newly
arrived emigrant, whose hunger and whose color are thought to give him
a better title to the place; and so we believe it will continue to be
until the last prop is levelled beneath us.
As a black man, we say if we cannot stand up, let us fall down. We
desire to be a man among men while we do live; and when we cannot,
we wish to die. It is evident, painfully evident to every reflecting
mind, that the means of living, for colored men, are becoming more
and more precarious and limited. Employments and callings formerly
monopolized by us, are so no longer.
White men are becoming house-servants, cooks and stewards on
vessels--at hotels.--They are becoming porters, stevedores,
wood-sawers, hod-carriers, brick-makers, white-washers and barbers,
so that the blacks can scarcely find the means of subsistence--a few
years ago, a _white_ barber would have been a curiosity--now their
poles stand on every street. Formerly blacks were almost the exclusive
coachmen in wealthy families: this is so no longer; white men are now
employed, and for aught we see, they fill their servile station with
an obsequiousness as profound as that of the blacks. The readiness and
ease with which they adapt themselves to these conditions ought not to
be lost sight of by the colored people. The meaning is very important,
and we should learn it. We are taught our insecurity by it. Without
the means of living, life is a curse, and leaves us at the mercy of
the oppressor to become his debased slaves. Now, colored men, what do
you mean to do, for you must do something? The American Colonization
Society tells you to go to Liberia. Mr. Bibb tells you to go to
Canada. Others tell you to go to school. We tell you to go to work;
and to work you must go or die. Men are not valued in this country, or
in any country, for what they are; they are valued for what they can
_do_. It is in vain that we talk of being men, if we do not the work
of men. We must become valuable to society in other departments of
industry than those servile ones from which we are rapidly being
excluded. We must show that we can _do_ as well as be; and to this end
we must learn trades. When we can build as well as live in houses;
when we can _make_ as well as _wear_ shoes; when we can produce as
well as consume wheat, corn and rye--then we shall become valuable to
society. Society is a hard-hearted affair.--With it the helpless may
expect no higher dignity than that of paupers. The individual must lay
society under obligation to him, or society will honor him only as a
stranger and sojourner. _How_ shall this be done? In this manner; use
every means, strain every nerve to master some important mechanical
art. At present, the facilities for doing so are few--institutions of
learning are more readily opened to you than the work-shop; but the
Lord helps them who will help themselves, and we have no doubt that
new facilities will be presented as we press forward.
If the alternative were presented to us of learning a trade or of
getting an education, we would learn the trade, for the reason, that
with the trade we could get the education while with the education we
could not get the trade. What we, as a people, most need, is the means
for our own elevation.--An educated colored man, in the United States,
unless he has within him the heart of a hero, and is willing to engage
in a lifelong battle for his rights, as a man, finds few inducements
to remain in this country. He is isolated in the land of his
birth--debarred by his color from congenial association with whites;
he is equally cast out by the ignorance of the _blacks_. The remedy
for this must comprehend the elevation of the masses; and this can
only be done by putting the mechanic arts within the reach of colored
men.
We have now stated pretty strongly the case of our colored countrymen;
perhaps some will say, _too_ strongly, but we know whereof we affirm.
In view of this state of things, we appeal to the abolitionists.
What Boss anti-slavery mechanic will take a black boy into his
wheelwright's shop, his blacksmith's shop, his joiner's shop, his
cabinet shop? Here is something _practical_; where are the whites
and where are the blacks that will respond to it? Where are the
antislavery milliners and seamstresses that will take colored girls
and teach them trades, by which they can obtain an honorable living?
The fact that we have made good cooks, good waiters, good barbers, and
white-washers, induces the belief that we may excel in higher branches
of industry. _One thing is certain; we must find new methods of
obtaining a livelihood, for the old ones are failing us very fast_.
We, therefore, call upon the intelligent and thinking ones amongst
us, to urge upon the colored people within their reach, in all
seriousness, the duty and the necessity of giving their children
useful and lucrative trades, by which they may commence the battle
of life with weapons, commensurate with the exigencies of
conflict.--_African Repository_, vol. xxix., pp. 136, 137.
EDUCATION OF COLORED PEOPLE
(_Written by a highly respectable gentleman of the South in_ 1854)
Several years ago I saw in the _Repository_, copied from the
_Colonization Herald_, a proposal to establish a college for the
education of young colored men in this country. Since that time I have
neither seen nor heard anything more of it, and I should be glad to
hear whether the proposed plan was ever carried into execution.
Four years ago I conversed with one of the officers of the
Colonization Society on the subject of educating in this country
colored persons intending to emigrate to Liberia, and expressed my
firm conviction of the paramount importance of high moral and mental
training as a fit preparation for such emigrants.
To my great regret the gentleman stated that under existing
circumstances the project, all important as he confessed it to be, was
almost impracticable; so strong being the influence of the enemies of
colonization that they would dissuade any colored persons so educated
from leaving the United States.
I know that he was thoroughly acquainted with the subject in all its
bearings, and therefore felt that he must have good reasons for what
he said; still I hoped the case was not so bad as he thought, and,
at any rate, I looked forward with strong hope to the time when the
colored race would, as a body, open their eyes to the miserable,
unnatural position they occupy in America; when they would see who
were their true friends, those who offered them real and complete
freedom, social and political, in a land where there is no white race
to keep them in subjection, where they govern themselves by their own
laws; or those pretended friends who would keep the African where he
can never be aught but a serf and bondsman of a despised caste, and
who, by every act of their pretended philanthropy, make the colored
man's condition worse.
Most happily, since that time, the colored race has been aroused to a
degree never before known, and the conviction has become general among
them that they must go to Liberia if they would be free and happy.
Under these circumstances the better the education of the colored
man the more keenly will he feel his present situation and the more
clearly he will see the necessity of emigration.
Assuming such to be the feelings of the colored race, I think the
immense importance of a collegiate institution for the education of
their young must be felt and acknowledged by every friend of the
race. Some time since the legislature of Liberia passed an act to
incorporate a college in Liberia, but I fear the project has failed,
as I have heard nothing more of it since. Supposing however the funds
raised for such an institution, where are the professors to come from?
They _must_ be educated in this country; and how can that be done
without establishing an institution specially for young colored men?
There is not a college in the United States where a young man of color
could gain admission, or where, supposing him admitted, he could
escape insult and indignity. Into our Theological Seminaries a few are
admitted, and are, perhaps, treated well; but what difficulty they
find in obtaining a proper preparatory education. The cause of
religion then, no less than that of secular education, calls for such
a measure.
I think a strong and earnest appeal ought to be made to every friend
of colonization throughout the United States to support the scheme
with heart, hand and purse. Surely there are enough friends of the
cause to subscribe at least a moderate sum for such a noble object;
and in a cause like this, wealthy colored persons ought to, and
doubtless will, subscribe according to their means. In addition to the
general appeal through the _Repository_, let each individual friend
of colonization use all his influence with his personal friends and
acquaintances, especially with such as are wealthy. I know from my own
experience how much can be done by personal application, even in cases
where success appears nearly hopeless.--I will pledge myself to use my
humble endeavors to the utmost with my personal acquaintances. A large
sum would not be _absolutely necessary_ to found the college; and it
would certainly be better to commence in the humblest way than to give
up the scheme altogether.
Buildings for instance might be purchased in many places for a very
moderate sum that would answer every purpose, or they might be built
in the cheapest manner; in short, everything might be commenced on the
most economical scale and afterwards enlarged as funds increased.
Those who are themselves engaged in teaching, such as the faculties of
colleges, etc., would, of course, be most competent to prepare a
plan for the proposed institution, and the ablest of them should be
consulted; meantime almost anyone interested in the cause may offer
some useful hint. In that spirit, I would myself offer a few brief
suggestions, in case this appeal should be favorably received.
Probably few men of my time of life have studied the character and
condition of the African race more attentively than I have, with what
success I cannot presume to say, but the opinion of any one devoting
so much of his time to the subject ought to be of _some_ value.
My opinion of their capacity has been much raised during my attempts
at instructing them, but at the same time, I am convinced that they
require a _totally different mode of training from whites_, and that
any attempt to educate the two races together must prove a failure.
I now close these desultory remarks with the hope that some one more
competent than myself will take up the cause and urge it until some
definite plan is formed.--_African Repository_, vol. xxx., pp. 194,
195, 196.
FROM A MEMORIAL TO THE LEGISLATURE OF NORTH CAROLINA, CIRCULATED AMONG
THE CITIZENS OF THAT STATE IN 1855, TO SECURE THE MODIFICATION OF
CERTAIN LAWS REGULATING SLAVES AND FREE PERSONS OF COLOR.
ELEVATION OF THE COLORED RACE
The Memorial is thus introduced:
"Your memorialists are well aware of the delicate nature of the
subject to which the attention of the Legislature is called, and
of the necessity of proceeding with deliberation and caution. They
propose some radical changes in the law of slavery, demanded by our
common christianity, by public morality, and by the common weal of
the whole South. At the same time they have no wish or purpose
inconsistent with the best interests of the slaveholder, and suggest
no reform which may impair the efficiency of slave labor. On the
contrary, they believe that the much desired modifications of our
slave code will redound to the welfare of all classes, and to the
honor and character of the State throughout the civilized world."
The attention of the Legislature was then asked to the following
propositions: "1. That it behooves us as christian people to establish
the institution of matrimony among our slaves, with all its legal
obligations and guarantees as to its duration between the parties. 2.
That under no circumstances should masters be permitted to disregard
these natural and sacred ties of relationship among their slaves, or
between slaves belonging to different masters. 3. That the parental
relation to be acknowledged by law; and that the separation of parents
from their young children, say of twelve years and under, be strictly
forbidden, under heavy pains and penalties. 4. That the laws which
prohibit the instruction of slaves and free colored persons,
by teaching them to read the Bible and other good books, be
repealed."--_African Repository_, vol. xxxi., pp. 117, 118.
A LAWYER FOR LIBERIA
On the sailing of almost every expedition we have had occasion to
chronicle the departure of missionaries, teachers, or a physician, but
not until the present time, that of a lawyer. The souls and bodies of
the emigrants have been well cared for; now, it is no doubt supposed,
they require assistance in guarding their money, civil rights, etc.
Most professional emissaries have been educated at public expense,
either by Missionary or the Colonization Societies, but the first
lawyer goes out independent of any associated aid. Mr. Garrison
Draper, a colored man of high respectability, and long a resident of
Old Town, early determined on educating his only son for Africa. He
kept him at some good public school in Pennsylvania till fitted for
college, then sent him to Dartmouth where he remained four years and
graduated, maintaining always a very respectable standing, socially,
and in his class. After much consultation with friends, he determined
upon the study of law. Mr. Charles Gilman, a retired member of the
Baltimore Bar, very kindly consented to give young Draper professional
instruction, and for two years he remained under his tuition. Not
having any opportunities for acquiring a knowledge of the routine of
professional practice, the rules, habits, and courtesy of the Bar,
in Baltimore, Mr. Draper spent some few months in the office of a
distinguished lawyer in Boston. On returning to the city to embark
for Liberia, he underwent an examination by Judge Lee of the Superior
Court, and obtained from him a certificate of his fitness to practice
the profession of law, a copy of which we append hereto.
We consider the settlement of Mr. Draper in the Republic as an event
of no little importance. It seemed necessary that there should be one
regularly educated lawyer in a community of several thousand people,
in a Republic of freemen. True, there are many very intelligent, well
informed men now in the practice of law in Liberia, but they have not
been educated to the profession, and we believe, no one makes that his
exclusive business. We doubt not that they will welcome Mr. Draper as
one of their fraternity. To our Liberia friends we commend him as a
well-educated, intelligent man, of good habits and principles; one in
whom they may place the fullest confidence, and we bespeak for him, at
their hands, kind considerations and patronage.
STATE OF MARYLAND,
CITY OF BALTIMORE,
October 29, 1857.
Upon the application of Charles Gilman, Esq., of the Baltimore Bar,
I have examined Edward G. Draper, a young man of color, who has been
reading law under the direction of Mr. Gilman, with the view of
pursuing its practice in Liberia, Africa. And I have found him
most intelligent and well informed in his answers to the questions
propounded by me, and qualified in all respects to be admitted to the
Bar in Maryland, if he was a free white citizen of this State. Mr.
Gilman, in whom I have the highest confidence, has also testified to
his good moral character.
This certificate is therefore furnished to him by me, with a view to
promote his establishment and success in Liberia at the Bar there.
Z. COLLINS LEE,
Judge of Superior Court, Balt., Md.
_African Repository_, vol. xxxiv., pp. 26 and 27.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
There is no helpful bibliography on the early education of the
American Negro. A few books treating the recent problems of education
in this country give facts about the enlightenment of the colored
people before their general emancipation, but the investigator has to
depend on promiscuous sources for adequate information of this kind.
With the exception of a survey of the _Legal Status of the Colored
Population in Respect to Schools and Education in the Different
States_, published in the Report of the United States Commissioner of
Education in 1871, there has been no attempt at a general treatment
of this phase of our history. This treatise, however, is too brief to
inculcate an appreciation of the extensive efforts to enlighten the
ante-bellum Negro.
Considered as a local problem this question has received more
attention. A few writers have undertaken to sketch the movement to
educate the colored people of certain communities before the Civil
War. Their objective point, however, has been rather to treat of later
periods. The books mentioned below give some information with respect
to the period treated in this monograph.
BOOKS ON EDUCATION
Andrews, C.C. _The history of the New York African Free Schools from
their Establishment in 1787 to the Present Time_. (New York, 1830.)
Embraces a period of more than forty years, also a brief account of
the successful labors of the New York Manumission Society, with an
appendix containing specimens of original composition, both in
prose and verse, by several of the pupils; pieces spoken at public
examinations; an interesting dialogue between Doctor Samuel L.
Mitchell, of New York, and a little boy of ten years old, and lines
illustrative of the Lancastrian system of instruction. Andrews was
a white man who was for a long time the head of this colored school
system.
Boese, Thomas. _Public Education in the City of New York, Its History,
Condition, and Statistics, an Official Report of the Board of
Education_. (New York, 1869.) While serving as clerk of the Board of
Education Boese had an opportunity to learn much about the New York
African Free Schools.
Boone, R.G. _A History of Education in Indiana._ (New York, 1892.)
Contains a brief account of the work of the Abolitionists in behalf of
the education of the Negroes of that commonwealth.
BUTLER, N.M. _Education in the United States_. A series of monographs.
(New York, 1910.)
FOOTE, J.P. _The Schools of Cincinnati and Its Vicinity_. (Cincinnati,
1855.) A few pages of this book are devoted to the establishment and
the development of colored schools in that city.
GOODWIN, M.B. "History of Schools for the Colored Population in the
District of Columbia." (Published in the Report of the United States
Commissioner of Education in 1871.) This is the most thorough research
hitherto made in this field. The same system has been briefly treated
by W.S. Montgomery in his _Historical Sketch of Education for the
Colored Race in the District of Columbia_, 1807-1907. (Washington,
D.C., 1907.) A less detailed account of the same is found in James
Storum's "_The Colored Public Schools of Washington,--Their Origin,
Growth, and Present Condition." (A.M.E. Church Review_, vol. v., p.
279.)
JONES, C.C. _The Religious Instruction of the Negroes in the United
States_. (Savannah, 1842.) In trying to depict the spiritual condition
of the colored people the writer tells also what he thought about
their intellectual status.
MERIWETHER, C. _History of Higher Education in South Carolina, with
a Sketch of the Free School System_. (Washington, 1889.) The author
accounts for the early education of the colored people in that
commonwealth but gives no details.
MILLER, KELLY. "_The Education of the Negro_." Constitutes Chapter
XVI. of the Report of the United States Commissioner of Education for
the year 1901. Contains a brief sketch of the early education of the
Negro race in this country.
ORR, GUSTAVUS. _The Need of Education in the South_. (Atlanta, 1880.)
An address delivered before the Department of Superintendence of the
National Educational Association in 1879. Mr. Orr referred to the
first efforts to educate the Negroes of the South.
PLUMER, W.S. _Thoughts on the Religious Instruction of Negroes_.
Reference is made here to the early work of the Moravians among the
colored people.
RANDALL, SAMUEL SIDWELL. _The Common School System of the State of New
York_. (New York, 1851.) Comprises the several laws relating to common
schools, together with full expositions, instructions, and forms, to
which is prefixed an historical sketch of the system. Prepared in
pursuance of an act of the legislature, under the direction of the
Honorable Christopher Morgan, Superintendent of Common Schools.
STOCKWELL, THOMAS B. _A History of Public Education in Rhode Island
from 1636 to 1876_. (Providence, 1876.) Compiled by authority of the
Board of Education of Providence. Takes into account the various
measures enacted to educate the Negroes of that commonwealth.
WICKERSHAM, J.P. _A History of Education in Pennsylvania, Private and
Public, Elementary and Higher, from the Time the Swedes Settled on the
Delaware to the Present Day_. (Lancaster, Pa., 1886.) Considerable
space is given to the education of the Negroes.
WRIGHT, R.R., SR. _A Brief Historical Sketch of Negro Education in
Georgia_. (Savannah, 1894.) The movement during the early period in
that State is here disposed of in a few pages.
_A Brief Sketch of the Schools for the Black People and their
Descendants, Established by the Society of Friends_, etc.
(Philadelphia, 1824.)
BOOKS OF TRAVEL BY FOREIGNERS
ABDY, E.S. _Journal of a Residence and Tour in the United States from
April, 1833, to October, 1834_. Three volumes. (London, 1835.) Abdy
was a fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge.
ALLIOT, PAUL. _Reflexions historiques et politigues sur la Louisiane_.
(Cleveland, 1911.) Good for economic conditions. Valuable for
information concerning New Orleans about the beginning of the
nineteenth century.
ARFWEDSON, C.D. _The United States and Canada in 1833 and 1834_. Two
volumes. (London, 1834.) Somewhat helpful.
BREMER, FREDERIKA. _The Homes of the New World; Impressions of
America_. Translated by M. Howitt. Two volumes. (London, 1853.) The
teaching of Negroes in the South is mentioned in several places.
BRISSOT DE WARVILLE, J.P. _New Travels in the United States of
America: including the Commerce of America with Europe, particularly
with Great Britain and France_. Two volumes. (London, 1794.) Gives
general impressions, few details.
BUCKINGHAM, J.S. _America, Historical, Statistical, and Descriptive_.
Two volumes. (New York, 1841.)
---- _Eastern and Western States of America_. Three volumes. (London
and Paris, 1842.) Contains useful information.
BULLOCK, W. _Sketch of a Journey through the Western States of North
America from New Orleans by the Mississippi, Ohio, City of Cincinnati,
and Falls of Niagara to New York_. (London, 1827.) The author makes
mention of the condition of the Negroes.
COKE, THOMAS. _Extracts from the Journals of the Rev. Dr. Coke's Three
Visits to America_. (London, 1790.) Contains general information.
---- _A Journal of the Reverend Doctor Coke's Fourth Tour on the
Continent of America_. (London, 1792.) Brings out the interest of this
churchman in the elevation of the Negroes.
CUMING, F. _Sketches of a Tour to the Western Country through the
States of Kentucky and Ohio; a Voyage down the Ohio and Mississippi
Rivers and a Trip through the Mississippi Territory and Part of West
Florida, Commenced at Philadelphia in the Winter of 1807 and Concluded
in 1809_. (Pittsburg, 1810.) Gives a few facts.
FAUX, W. _Venerable Days in America_. (London, 1823.) A "journal of
a tour in the United States principally undertaken to ascertain by
positive evidence, the condition and probable prospects of British
emigrants, including accounts of Mr. Kirkbeck's settlement in Illinois
and intended to show men and things as they are in America." The
Negroes are casually mentioned.
HUMBOLDT, FRIEDRICH HEINRICH ALEXANDER, FREIHERR VON. _The Travels and
Researches of Friedrich Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt._ (London,
1833.) The author gives a "condensed narrative of his journeys in
the equinoctial regions in America and in Asiatic Russia." The work
contains also analyses of his important investigations. He throws
a little light on the condition of the mixed breeds of the Western
Hemisphere.
KEMBLE, FRANCES ANNE. _Journal of a Residence on a Plantation in
1838-1839._ (New York, 1863.) This diary is quoted extensively as one
of the best sources for Southern conditions before the Civil War.
LAMBERT, JOHN. _Travels through Canada and the United States, in the
Years 1806, 1807, and 1808._ Two volumes. (London, 1813.) To this
journal are added notices and anecdotes of some of the leading
characters in the United States. This traveler saw the Negroes.
PONS, FRANCOIS RAYMOND DE. _Travels in Parts of South America, during
the Years 1801, 1802, 1803, and 1804._ (London, 1806.) Contains a
description of Caracas; an account of the laws, commerce, and natural
productions of that country; and a view of the customs and manners of
the Spaniards and native Indians. Negroes are mentioned.
PRIEST, WILLIAM. _Travels in the United States Commencing in the Year
1793 and ending in the Year 1797._ (London, 1802.) Priest made two
voyages across the Atlantic to appear at the theaters of Baltimore,
Boston, and Philadelphia. He had something to say about the condition
of the Negroes.
ROCHEFOUCAULD-LIANCOURT, DUC DE. _Travels through the United States of
America, the Country of the Iroquois, and Upper Canada in the Years
1795, 1796, and 1797._ (London, 1799.) The author discusses the
attitude of the people toward the uplift of the Negroes.
SCHOEPF, JOHANN DAVID. _Reise durch der Mittlern und Sudlichen
Vereinigten Nordamerikanischen Staaten nach Ost-Florida und den Bahama
Inseln unternommen in den Jahren 1783 und 1784._ (Cincinnati, 1812.)
A translation of this work was published by Alfred J. Morrison at
Philadelphia in 1911. Gives general impressions.
SMYTH, J.F.D. _A Tour in the United States_. (London, 1848.) This
writer incidentally mentions the people of color.
SUTCLIFF, ROBERT. _Travels in Some Parts of North America in the Years
1804, 1805, and 1806_. (Philadelphia, 1812.) While traveling in slave
territory Sutcliff studied the mental condition of the colored people.
BOOKS OF TRAVEL BY AMERICANS
BROWN, DAVID. _The Planter, or Thirteen Years in the South_.
(Philadelphia, 1853.) Here we get a Northern white man's view of the
heathenism of the Negroes.
BURKE, EMILY. _Reminiscences of Georgia_. (Oberlin, Ohio, 1850.)
Presents the views of a woman who was interested in the uplift of the
Negro race.
EVANS, ESTWICK. _A Pedestrious Tour of Four Thousand Miles through the
Western States and Territories during the Winter and Spring of 1818_.
(Concord, N.H., 1819.) Among the many topics treated is the
author's contention that the Negro is capable of the highest mental
development.
OLMSTED, FREDERICK LAW. _A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States, with
Remarks on their Economy_. (New York, 1859.)
---- _A Journey in the Back Country_. (London, i860.)
---- _Journeys and Explorations in the Cotton Kingdom_. (London,
1861.) Olmsted was a New York farmer. He recorded a few important
facts about the education of the Negroes immediately before the Civil
War.
PARSONS, E.G. _Inside View of Slavery, or a Tour among the Planters_.
(Boston, 1855.) The introduction was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe.
It was published to aid the antislavery cause, but in describing the
condition of Negroes the author gave some educational statistics.
REDPATH, JAMES. _The Roving Editor, or Talks with Slaves in Southern
States_. (New York 1859.) The slaves are here said to be telling their
own story.
SMEDES, MRS. SUSAN (DABNEY). _Memorials of a Southern Planter_.
(Baltimore, 1887.) The benevolence of those masters who had their
slaves taught in spite of public opinion and the law, is well brought
out in this volume.
TOWER, REVEREND PHILO. _Slavery Unmasked_. (Rochester, 1856.) Valuable
chiefly for the author's arraignment of the so-called religious
instruction of the Negroes after the reactionary period.
WOOLMAN, JOHN. _Journal of John Woolman, with an Introduction by John
G. Whittier_. (Boston, 1873.) Woolman traveled so extensively in the
colonies that he probably knew more about the mental state of the
Negroes than any other Quaker of his time.
LETTERS
JEFFERSON, THOMAS. Letters of Thomas Jefferson to Abbe Gregoire,
M.A. Julien, and Benjamin Banneker. In _Jefferson's Works_, Memorial
Edition, xii. and xv. He comments on Negroes' talents.
MADISON, JAMES. Letter to Prances Wright. _In Madison's Works_, vol.
iii., p. 396. The training of Negroes is discussed.
MAY, SAMUEL JOSEPH. _The Right of the Colored People to Education_.
(Brooklyn, 1883.) A collection of public letters addressed to Andrew
T. Judson, remonstrating on the unjust procedure relative to Miss
Prudence Crandall.
MCDONOGH, JOHN. "A Letter of John McDonogh on African Colonization
addressed to the Editor of _The New Orleans Commercial Bulletin_,"
McDonogh was interested in the betterment of the colored people and
did much to promote their mental development.
SHARPE, H. ED. _The Abolition of Negro Apprenticeship_. A letter to
Lord Brougham. (London, 1838.)
_A Southern Spy, or Curiosities of Negro Slavery in the South. Letters
from a Southern to a Northern Gentleman_. The comment of a passer-by.
_A Letter to an American Planter from his Friend in London in 1781_.
The writer discussed the instruction of Negroes.
BIOGRAPHIES
BIRNEY, CATHERINE H. _The Grimke Sisters; Sara and Angelina Grimke,
the First American Women Advocates of Abolition and Woman's Rights_.
(Boston, 1885.) Mentions the part these workers played in the secret
education of Negroes in the South.
BIRNEY, WILLIAM. _James G. Birney and His Times_. (New York, 1890.) A
sketch of an advocate of Negro education.
BOWEN, CLARENCE W. _Arthur and Lewis Tappan_. A paper read at the
fiftieth anniversary of the New York Anti-Slavery Society, at the
Broadway Tabernacle, New York City, October 2, 1883. An honorable
mention of two promoters of the colored manual labor schools.
CHILD, LYDIA MARIA. _Isaac T. Hopper: A True Life_. (Boston and
Cleveland, 1853.)
CONWAY, MONCURE DANIEL. _Benjamin Banneker, the Negro Astronomer_.
(London, 1864.)
(COOPER, JAMES F.) _Notions of the Americans Picked up by a Traveling
Bachelor_. (Philadelphia, 1828.) General.
DREW, BENJAMIN. _A North-side View of Slavery. The Refugee: or the
Narratives of Fugitive Slaves in Canada_. Related by themselves, with
an Account of the History and Condition of the Colored Population of
Upper Canada. (New York and Boston, 1856.)
GARRISON, FRANCIS AND WENDELL P. _William Lloyd Garrison, 1805-1879.
The Story of his Life told by his Children_. Four volumes. (Boston
and New York, 1894.) Includes a brief account of what he did for the
education of the colored people.
HALLOWELL, A.D. _James and Lucretia Mott; Life and Letters_. (Boston,
1884.) These were ardent abolitionists who advocated the education of
the colored people.
JOHNSON, OLIVER. _William Lloyd Garrison and his Times_. (Boston,
1880. New edition, revised and enlarged, Boston, 1881.)
LOSSING, BENSON J. _Life of George Washington, a Biography, Military
and Political_. Three volumes. (New York, 1860.) Gives the will of
George Washington, who provided that at the stipulated time his slaves
should be freed and that their children should be taught to read.
MATHER, COTTON. _The Life and Death of the Reverend John Elliot who
was the First Preacher of the Gospel to the Indians in America_. The
third edition carefully corrected. (London, 1694.) Sets forth the
attitude of John Elliot toward the teaching of slaves.
MOTT, A. _Biographical Sketches and Interesting Anecdotes of Persons
of Color; with a Selection of Pieces of Poetry_. (New York, 1826.)
Some of these sketches show how ambitious Negroes learned to read and
write in spite of opposition.
SIMMONS, W.J. _Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive, and Rising, with
an Introductory Sketch of the Author by Reverend Henry M. Turner_.
(Cleveland, Ohio, 1891.) Accounts for the adverse circumstances under
which many ante-bellum Negroes acquired knowledge.
SNOWDEN, T.B. _The Autobiography of John B. Snowden_. (Huntington, W.
Va., 1900.)
WIGHTMAN, WILLIAM MAY. _Life of William Capers, one of the Bishops of
the Methodist Episcopal Church South; including an Autobiography_.
(Nashville, Tenn., 1858.) Shows what Capers did for the religious
instruction of the colored people.
AUTOBIOGRAPHIES
ASBURY, BISHOP FRANCIS. _The Journal of the Reverend Francis Asbury,
Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, from August 7, 1781, to
December 7, 1815_. Three volumes. (New York, 1821.)
COFFIN, LEVI. _Reminiscences of Levi Coffin, reputed President of the
Under Ground Railroad_. (Second edition, Cincinnati, 1880.) Mentions
the teaching of slaves.
DOUGLASS, FREDERICK. _Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, as
an American Slave_. Written by himself. (Boston, 1845.) Gives several
cases of secret Negro schools.
---- _The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass from 1817 to 1882_.
Written by himself. Illustrated. With an Introduction by the Right
Honorable John Bright, M.P. Edited by John Loeb, F.R.G.S., of the
_Christian Age_, Editor of _Uncle Tom's Story of his Life_. (London,
1882.) Contains Douglass's appeal in behalf of vocational training.
FLINT, TIMOTHY. _Recollections of the last Ten Years_. A series of
letters to the Reverend James Flint of Salem, Massachusetts, by T.
Flint, Principal of the Seminary of Rapide, Louisiana. (Boston, 1826.)
Mentions the teaching of Negroes.
GENERAL HISTORIES
BANCROFT, GEORGE. _History of the United States_. Ten volumes.
(Boston, 1857-1864.)
HART, A.B., Editor. _American History told by Contemporaries_. Four
volumes. (New York, 1898.)
---- _The American Nation; A history, etc_. Twenty-seven volumes. (New
York, 1904-1908.) The volumes which have a bearing on the subject
treated in this monograph are Bourne's _Spain in America_, Edward
Channing's _Jeffersonian System_, F.J. Turner's _Rise of the New
West_, and Hart's _Slavery and Abolition_.
HERRERA Y TORDESILLAS, ANTONIO DE. _Historia General de los hechos de
los Castellanos en las islas i tierra firme del mar oceano. Escrito
por Antonio herrera coronista mayor de Sr. M. de las Indias y si
coronista de Castilla. En Quatro decadas desde el ano de 1492 hasta el
de 1554. Decada primera del rey Nuro Senor_. (En Madrid en la Imprenta
real de Nicolas Rodriguez Franco, ano 1726-1727.)
MCMASTER, JOHN B. _History of the United States_. Six volumes. (New
York, 1900.)
RHODES, J.F. _History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850
to the Final Restoration of Home Rule in the South_. (New York and
London, Macmillan & Company, 1892-1906.)
VON HOLST, HERMAN. _The Constitutional and Political History of the
United States of America_. (Seven volumes. Chicago, 1877.)
STATE HISTORIES
ASHE, S.A. _History of North Carolina_. (Greensboro, 1908.)
BANCROFT, HUBERT HOWE. _History of Arizona and New Mexico, 1530-1888_.
(San Francisco, 1890.)
BEARSE, AUSTIN. _Reminiscences of Fugitive Slave Days in Boston_.
(Boston, 1880.)
BETTLE, EDWARD. "Notices of Negro Slavery as Connected with
Pennsylvania." Read before the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania, 8th Mo., 7th, 1826. _Memoirs of Historical Society of
Pennsylvania_.
BRACKETT, JEFFREY R. _The Negro in Maryland_. Johns Hopkins University
Studies. (Baltimore, 1889.)
COLLINS, LEWIS. _Historical Sketches of Kentucky_. (Maysville, Ky.,
and Cincinnati, Ohio, 1847.)
JONES, CHARLES COLCOCK, JR. _History of Georgia_. (Boston, 1883.)
MCCRADY, EDWARD. _The History of South Carolina under the Royal
Government, 1719-1776_, by Edward McCrady, a Member of the Bar of
South Carolina and President of the Historical Society of South
Carolina, Author of _A History of South Carolina under the Proprietary
Government_. (New York and London, 1899.)
STEINER, B.C. _History of Slavery in Connecticut_. (Johns Hopkins
University Studies, 1893.)
STUVE, BERNARD, and Alexander Davidson. _A Complete History of
Illinois from 1673 to 1783_. (Springfield, 1874.)
TREMAIN, MARY M.A. _Slavery in the District of Columbia_. (University
of Nebraska Seminary Papers, April, 1892.)
_History of Brown County, Ohio_. (Chicago, 1883.)
"_Slavery in Illinois, 1818-1824." (Massachusetts Historical Society
Collections_, volume x.)
CHURCH HISTORIES
BANGS, NATHAN. _A History of the Methodist Episcopal Church_. Four
volumes. (New York, 1845.)
BENEDICT, DAVID. _A General History of the Baptist Denomination in
America and in Other Parts of the World_. (Boston, 1813.)
---- _Fifty Years among the Baptists_. (New York, 1860.)
DALCHO, FREDERICK. _An Historical Account of the Protestant Episcopal
Church in South Carolina, from the First Settlement of the Province to
the War of the Revolution_; with notices of the present State of the
Church in each Parish: and some Accounts of the early Civil History of
Carolina never before published. To which are added: the Laws relating
to Religious Worship, the Journal and Rules of the Convention of South
Carolina; the Constitution and Canons of the Protestant Episcopal
Church and the Course of Ecclesiastical Studies. (Charleston, 1820.)
DAVIDSON, REV. ROBERT. _History of the Presbyterian Church in the
State of Kentucky; with a Preliminary Sketch of the Churches in the
Valley of Virginia._ (New York, Pittsburgh, and Lexington, Kentucky,
1847.)
HAMILTON, JOHN T. _A History of the Church Known as the Moravian
Church, or the Unitas Fratrum, or the Unity of Brethren during the
Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries._ (Bethlehem, Pa., 1900.)
HAWKS, FRANCIS L. _Ecclesiastical History of the United States._ (New
York, 1836.)
JAMES, CHARLES P. _Documentary History of the Struggle for Religious
Liberty in Virginia._ (Lynchburg, Va., 1900.)
MATLACK, LUCIUS. _The History of American Slavery and Methodism from
1780 to 1849: and History of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection of
America. In Two Parts with an Appendix._ (New York, 1849.)
MCTYEIRE, HOLLAND N. _A History of Methodism; comprising a View of the
Rise of the Revival of Spiritual Religion in the First Half of the
Eighteenth Century, and the Principal Agents by whom it was promoted
in Europe and America, with some Account of the Doctrine and Polity of
Episcopal Methodism in the United States and the Means and Manner of
its Extension down to 1884._ (Nashville, Tenn., 1884.) McTyeire was
one of the bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.
REICHEL, L.T. _The Early History of the Church of the United Brethren
(Unitas Fratrum) commonly Called Moravians in North America, from 1734
to 1748._ (Nazareth, Pa., 1888.)
RUSH, CHRISTOPHER. _A Short Account of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church in America._ Written by the aid of George Collins. Also a view
of the Church Order or Government from Scripture and from some of the
best Authors relative to Episcopacy. (New York, 1843.)
SEMPLE, R.B. _History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in
Virginia._ (Richmond, 1810.)
SERMONS, ORATIONS, ADDRESSES
BACON, THOMAS. _Sermons Addressed to Masters and Servants._ Published
in 1743. Republished with other tracts by Rev. William Meade.
(Winchester, Va., 1805.)
BOUCHER, JONATHAN. "American Education." This address is found in the
author's volume entitled _A View of the Causes and Consequences of
the American Revolution_; in thirteen discourses, preached in North
America between the years 1763 and 1775: with an historical preface.
(London, 1797.)
BUCHANAN, GEORGE. _An Oration upon the Moral and Political Evil of
Slavery_. Delivered at a Public Meeting of the Maryland Society for
Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, and Relief of Free Negroes
and others unlawfully held in Bondage. Baltimore, July 4, 1791.
(Baltimore, 1793.)
CATTO, WILLIAM T. _A Semicentenary Discourse Delivered in the First
African Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, on the 4th Sabbath of May,
1857_: with a History of the Church from its first organization;
including a brief Notice of Reverend John Gloucester, its First
Pastor. Also an appendix containing sketches of all the Colored
Churches in Philadelphia. (Philadelphia, 1857.) The author was then
pastor of this church.
DANA, JAMES. _The African Slave Trade_. A Discourse delivered in the
City of New Haven, September 9, 1790, before the Connecticut Society
for the Promotion of Freedom. (New Haven, 1790.) Dr. Dana was at that
time the pastor of the First Congregational Church of New Haven.
FAWCETT, BENJAMIN. _A Compassionate Address to the Christian Negroes
in Virginia, and other British Colonies in North America_. With
an appendix containing some account of the rise and progress of
Christianity among that poor people. (The second edition, Salop,
printed by F. Edwards and F. Cotton.)
GARRISON, WILLIAM LLOYD. _An Address Delivered before the Free People
of Color in Philadelphia, New York, and other Cities during the Month
of June, 1831_. (Boston, 1831.)
GRIFFIN, EDWARD DORR. _A Plea for Africa_. A Sermon preached October
26, 1817, in the First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York
before the Synod of New York and New Jersey at the Request of the
Board of Directors of the African School established by the Synod.
(New York, 1817.) The aim was to arouse interest in this school.
JONES, CHARLES COLCOCK. _The Religious Instruction of Negroes_. A
Sermon delivered before the Association of the Planters in Liberty and
McIntosh Counties, Georgia. (Princeton, N.J., 1832.) Jones was then
engaged in the work which he was discussing.
MAYO, A.D. "Address on Negro Education." (_Springfield Republican_,
July 9, 1897; and the _New England Magazine_, October, 1898.)
RUSH, BENJAMIN. _An Address to the Inhabitants of the British
Settlements in America upon Slave Keeping_. The second edition with
observations on a pamphlet entitled _Slavery not Forbidden by
the Scripture or a Defense of the West Indian Planters by a
Pennsylvanian_. (Philadelphia, 1773.) The Negroes' need of education
is pointed out.
SECKER, THOMAS, Archbishop of Canterbury. _A Sermon Preached before
the Incorporated Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign
Parts_; at their Anniversary Meeting in the Parish Church of St.
Mary-le-Bow, on Friday, February 20, 1741. (London 1741.) In this
discourse Secker set forth his plan of teaching the Negroes to elevate
themselves.
SIDNEY, JOSEPH. _An Oration Commemorative of the Abolition of the
Slave Trade in the United States Delivered before the Wilberforce
Philanthropic Association in the City of New York on January 2, 1809_.
(New York, 1809.) The speaker did not forget the duty of all men to
uplift those unfortunates who had already been degraded.
SMITH, THOMAS P. _An Address before the Colored Citizens of Boston in
Opposition to the Abolition of Colored Schools, 1849_. (Boston, 1850.)
WARBURTON, WILLIAM, Bishop of Gloucester. _A Sermon Preached before
the Incorporated Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign
Parts_; at their Anniversary Meeting in the Parish Church of St.
Mary-le-Bow on Friday, February 21, 1766. (London, 1766.) The speaker
urged his hearers to enlighten the Indians and Negroes.
REPORTS ON THE EDUCATION OF THE COLORED PEOPLE
_Report of the Proceedings at the Formation of the African Education
Society_; instituted at Washington, December 28, 1829. With an Address
to the Public by the Board of Managers. (Washington, 1830.)
_Report of the Minority of the Committee of the Primary School Board
on the Caste Schools of the City of Boston._ With some remarks on the
City Solicitor's Opinion, by Wendell Phillips. (Boston, 1846.)
_Report of a Special Committee of the Grammar School Board of Boston,
Massachusetts._ Abolition of the Smith Colored School. (Boston, 1849.)
_Report of the Primary School Committee, Boston, Massachusetts._
Abolition of the Colored Schools. (Boston, 1846.)
_Report of the Minority of the Committee upon the Petition of J.T.
Hilton and other Colored Citizens of Boston, Praying for the Abolition
of the Smith Colored School._ (Boston, 1849.)
_Opinion of Honorable Richard Fletcher as to whether Colored Children
can be Lawfully Excluded from Free Public Schools._ (Boston, 1846.)
_Special Report of the Commissioner of Education on the Improvement
of the Public Schools in the District of Columbia_, containing M.B.
Goodwin's "History of Schools for the Colored Population in the
District of Columbia." (Washington, 1871.)
_Thirty-Seventh Annual Report of the New York Public School Society,
1842._ (New York, 1842.)
STATISTICS
CLARKE, J.F. _Present Condition of the Free Colored People of the
United States._ (New York and Boston, the American Antislavery
Society, 1859.) Published also in the March number of the _Christian
Examiner_.
_Condition of the Free People of Color in Ohio._ With interesting
anecdotes. (Boston, 1839.)
_Institute for Colored Youth._ (Philadelphia, 1860-1865.) Contains a
list of the officers and students.
_Report of the Condition of the Colored People of Cincinnati, 1835._
(Cincinnati, 1835.)
_Report of a Committee of the Pennsylvania Society of Abolition on
Present Condition of the Colored People, etc._, 1838. (Philadelphia,
1838.)
_Statistical Inquiry into the Condition of the People of Color of the
City and Districts of Philadelphia._ (Philadelphia, 1849.) _Statistics
of the Colored People of Philadelphia in 1859_, compiled by Benj. C.
Bacon. (Philadelphia, 1859.)
_Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1898._ Prepared by the
Bureau of Statistics. (Washington, D.C., 1899.)
_Statistical View of the Population of the United States, A_,
1790-1830. (Published by the Department of State in 1835.)
_The Present State and Condition of the Free People of Color of the
city of Philadelphia and adjoining districts as exhibited by the
Report of a Committee of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting
the Abolition of Slavery._ Read First Month (January), 5th, 1838.
(Philadelphia, 1838.)
_Trades of the Colored People._ (Philadelphia, 1838.)
United States Censuses of 1790, 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850,
and 1860.
VARLE, CHARLES. _A Complete View of Baltimore_; with a Statistical
Sketch of all the Commercial, Mercantile, Manufacturing, Literary,
Scientific Institutions and Establishments in the same Vicinity ...
derived from personal Observation and Research. (Baltimore, 1833.)
CHURCH REPORTS
_A Brief Statement of the Rise and Progress of the Testimony of
Friends against Slavery and the Slave Trade._ Published by direction
of the Yearly Meeting held in Philadelphia in the Fourth Month, 1843.
Shows the action taken by various Friends to educate the Negroes.
_A Collection of the Acts, Deliverances, and Testimonies of the
Supreme Judicatory of the Presbyterian Church, from its Origin in
America to the Present Time._ By Samuel J. Baird. (Philadelphia,
1856.)
_Acts and Proceedings of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church in the United States of America in the Year 1800._
(Philadelphia, 1800.) The question of instructing the Negroes came up
in this meeting.
PASCOE, C.F. _Classified Digest of the Records of the Society for
the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1701-1892, with much
Supplementary Information._ (London, 1893.) A good source for the
accounts of the efforts of this organization among Negroes.
"Minutes of the Methodist Conference, 1785." Found in Rev. Charles
Elliott's _History of the Great Secession from the Methodist Episcopal
Church_, etc. This conference discussed the education of the colored
people.
REPORTS OF THE AMERICAN CONVENTION, 1794-1831
American Convention of Abolition Societies. _Minutes of the
Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates from the Abolition Societies
established in different Parts of the United States, assembled at
Philadelphia on the first Day of January, one thousand seven hundred
and ninety-four, and continued by Adjournments, until the seventh Day
of the same Month, inclusive._ (Philadelphia, 1794.)
--_Minutes of the Proceedings of the Second Convention of Delegates
from the Abolition Societies established in different Parts of the
United States, assembled at Philadelphia on the seventh Day of
January, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, and continued by
Adjournments until the fourteenth Day of the same Month, inclusive._
(Philadelphia, 1795.)
--_Minutes of the Proceedings of the Third Convention of Delegates
from the Abolition Societies established in different Parts of the
United States, assembled at Philadelphia on the first Day of January,
one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, and continued, by
Adjournments, until the seventh Day of the same Month, inclusive._
(Philadelphia, 1796.)
--_Address to Free Africans and other Free People of Colour in the
United States._ (1796.)
--_Minutes of the Proceedings of the Fourth Convention of Delegates
from the Abolition Societies established in different Parts of the
United States, assembled at Philadelphia on the third Day of May,
one thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven, and continued by
Adjournments, until the ninth Day of the same Month, inclusive._
(Philadelphia, 1797.)
--_Minutes of the Proceedings of the Fifth Convention of Delegates
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