USA > Georgia > A school history of Georgia. Georgia as a colony and a state, 1733-1893 > Part 9
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to. "We have but too many undeniable proofs from un- questionable sources that the African slave trade is still carried on among us with all the implacable ferocity and insatiable rapacity of former times. Avarice has grown more subtle in its invasion of the law. It watches and seizes its prey with an appetite quickened rather than suppressed. American citizens are steeped up to their very mouths in this iniquity."
11. W. W. Story, his gifted son, in writing the biography of his father, says: - "The fortunes of many men of prominence were secretly invested in this infamous practice. Slavery itself had hardly disappeared in New England when the slave trade took on new life and was winked at. A man might still have position in society and claim consideration as a gentleman. nay, as a Christian, while his ships were freighted with human cargo and his commerce was in the blood and pain of his fellow creatures. This practice was abstractly inveighed against, but was secretly indulged in. The chances of great fortunes inflamed the cupidity of men in my father's circuit.
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It is notorious that many large fortunes were the blood money of the slave trade, and owed their existence to the wretched cargoes that survived the horrors of the middle passage. But this charge of my father to the grand juries of Massachusetts and Rhode Island seemed only to arouse the passions of those engaged in the traffic. The newspapers of the day publicly denounced my father, and one paper in Boston declared that any judge who would deliver such a charge ought to be hurled from the bench."
12. And so the traffic went on unmolested. Still there were no prosecutions. The navies of the world seemed to be asleep, or, perhaps, the traffic was still winked at by the owners of the merchantmen that traversed the seas.
13. This much has been recorded to show to the youths of this generation that neither Georgia nor the South was responsible for slavery, nor for the traffic in slaves across the seas, for from 1776 down to the present time, there was but a single attempt made by a Southern man to introduce African slaves into a Southern port, and that attempt was a failure. A small yacht, called Wanderer, was seized and condemned and her officers were pursued with unrelenting vigor by a Southern man, General Henry R. Jackson, who was then Assistant Attorney-General of the United States.
14. But, after all, slavery was really the provoking cause of the late unhappy war between the states. Georgia seceded from the Union not because she desired to perpetuate slavery, but rather because she could not maintain what she believed to be her rights under the Constitution. She desired an outlet in the territories for the disposition of her slaves, for their rapid increase was alarming. She believed that it was perilous to emancipate, and still more perilous to await results. Those of her citizens who were not slave owners were rapidly emigrating to the west. The most thoughtful men in Georgia, particularly those advanced in years, saw and felt the peril of their situation. Secession meant war, and to remain in the
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Union was to be imprisoned by state lines with an inferior race that might become a danger and a menace. A few slaves had been manumitted and sent to Liberia, but the result was bad, very bad.
15. Major Waters, a wealthy planter of Gwinnett County, had by will manumitted thirty-seven slaves, and his executor delivered them in Savannah to the Colonization Society. They were well provided with clothing, $100 in gold was presented to each, and they were sent to Liberia free of charge. Thirty of them died within twelve months. The remaining seven escaped from their exile and found passage in a merchant vessel for Philadelphia. Thence they returned to Georgia through the friendly aid of Howell Cobb and Alexander H. Stephens, who furnished them the means of getting home. This case is fully reported in one of the earlier volumes of our Supreme Court reports, for the will of Major Waters was contested by his heirs.
16. The common people of the South, the yeomanry, the toilers, were no lovers of the negro. They realized that he was in their way. The slave-holders owned the best of the land, lived in fine houses, and had the best stock, the best tools, and the best vehicles, while the toilers had to take what they could get. No wonder they were jealous of the institution. And yet these men, poor, and struggling for a livelihood in the mountains of north Georgia, or down in the piney woods of the southern counties, did not hesitate to shoulder their rifles and hurry to their country's call. "My country, right or wrong," was their motto. Only one-seventh of the tax-payers of the state were owners of slaves in 1860, and not more than one soldier in ten was interested in slavery. In fact, certain counties in north Georgia sent more soldiers to the field than there were slaves in those counties.
17. Anti-slavery was not a predominant sentiment in the North outside of New England. The cry of the West and of most of the North was, "The Union, it must be preserved."
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General Grant, whom the North idolized and honored, was himself a slave-owner, and lived off their hire in St. Louis until freedom came. Some of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln's kindred in Kentucky were slave-owners, and her brother served as a staff officer in the Confederate army. Mr. Lincoln himself declared that he signed the Emancipation Proclamation only as a war measure to suppress the rebellion, as it was called, and to save the Union. He repeatedly refused to take such a step, though urged by the members of Cabinet to do so. General Fremont, in August, 1861, issued a military order that emanci- pated the slaves of rebels in Missouri. Mr. Lincoln promptly revoked this order. In May, 1862, General Hunter issued a similar order, declaring all slaves in Georgia, South Carolina and Florida forever free. When Mr. Lincoln heard of it he immediately issued a proclamation declaring it void, and in his letter to Horace Greeley, in August, 1862, he said : "My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slaves, I would do it. If I could do it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would do that."
18. In the minds of both Lincoln and Grant there was but little sentiment concerning slavery as an institution, but after the emancipation they very naturally accepted all the honor which the North and England showered down upon them and entered heartily into plans for the safe adjustment of the matters that the sudden enfranchisement involved.
19. Such, my young friends, were the causes and conse- quences of the institution of slavery in Georgia. For half a century it had proved a blessing to both races. A blessing to the negro because it had brought him from a savage state to semi-civilization, and had elevated his children and given them a chance to live as human beings and to worship God as Christians. A blessing to the white race because it cleared up the forests, advanced agriculture and built railroads. But, as
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the years rolled on, it seemed to be manifest that the institution had run its course, and that the time was near at hand when it would cease to be a blessing to either race. Long before the war its doom was inevitable, for even had secession succeeded slavery could not have been maintained against the convictions of the unfriendly North and of . the nations that sympathized with her.
20. Why this wonderful change in the status of four million slaves had to be baptized in blood and in tears to make it a reality, is known only to that Providence who doeth all things well. We might as well ask why Cain was permitted to kill .Abel, or why Napoleon was permitted to ravage Europe and destroy millions of lives.
21. But the negro was safe during the entire struggle. Whether he remained at home or fled he was in no danger. He seemed to have no deep concern about his freedom or a continuation of his bondage. Thousands of them followed their young masters in the war, and many of them were captured, but few remained in the Northern lines. "Gwine back to Dixie," was their song. Never was such mutual affection shown between master and servant ; never such proof that in the main the master was kind and the servant loyal. During the four bloody years when our men were in the field and their wives, mothers and daughters were unprotected at home, not a single act of violence was heard of from the Potomac to the Rio Grande. As General Jackson so beautifully said. "They deserve a monument that should reach the stars. and on it I would inscribe 'To the loyalty of the slaves of the Confederate States during the years 1862, '63 and '64.'"
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THE CONDITION OF THE NEGRO AS A SLAVE.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE CONDITION OF THE NEGRO AS A SLAVE.
1. An influential number of the Northern people were Federalists from principle. That is, they were followers of Alexander Hamilton, who wanted a strong central government, and would prefer to wipe out state lines and state rights rather than not have it. Many of their ambitious men were political enemies of the South because Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Calhoun, Jackson and other Southern men remained in power so long and controlled the patronage of the Government. But the enmity of the common people arose from a sympathy for the negro. They knew nothing about him or his condition, for they never visited us, but they believed all that the political leaders told them. When the war came they rushed into it with an intense excitement. They expected the slaves to welcome them at the border with their hands outstretched and to join with them in a strike for their own freedom.
2. But this sympathy for the slave, which armed so many nien and gathered so much money, had no substantial founda- tion, for there was no happier race of people upon earth than the negroes of the South. Their average condition was infinitely better than that of the poor who lived in the slums of the great cities of the North. They had all the necessaries of life and many of its comforts, and in the main were more independent and had less care, less responsibility than their masters. Young negroes grew up to manhood with the children of their master, frolicked with them by day and hunted with them by night. They had their corn-shuckings, their harvest suppers and their Christmas dances, and their merry laugh was always heard, in the field by day and at the fireside by night. The masters were almost universally kind - kind from good policy if nothing else. It was as much to their interest
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to keep their slaves in good condition as if was to protect and nourish their horses and cows. It was rare to see a puny. sickly negro child, or one that was malformed or diseased. Corn bread, pot liquor, big hominy and plenty of grease saved doctors' bills. There was a trusting companionship between the young people of both races, but the color line was drawn and dominion was on one side and obedience on the other.
3. All the great writers on political economy agree, that a healthy increase of population depends mainly upon the thrift and contentment of the people. Never did a race increase faster than the slaves of the South. Nowhere was such ripe old age to be found among the parents. Good food was abundant on the plantations and comfortable clothing came from the home-made loom and spinning-wheel. Negro infants and children were always cared for by their master and mistress, and so were the aged ones who had served out their day and were too old to work, Simple medicines and good physicians were near at hand, and the negro was almost without care or apprehension. The marriage relation was enforced among them and divorces were unknown. They multiplied rapidly, in many cases the parents living to see more than a hundred descendants. One case in Carolina is well authenti- cated where the female ancestor lived to be 104 years old, and had. when she died, about rooo descendants. She becaine a mother at 15, had 22 children when 45, and 200 grandchildren and great-grandchildren when 75. How does this picture compare with such exceptional cases as those made in " Uncle Tom's Cabin"? Whenever there was cruelty on the part of the master, it became a matter of public concern. Neither the courts nor the grand juries would tolerate it. Public opinion was against it, and the South has always been proud that nowhere upon earth were a people to be found who were more sensitive to the touch of humanity. Of course there were. many bad negroes, and bad negroes had to be punished, and they were sometimes put upon the block and sold, but as a
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THE CONDITION OF THE NEGRO AS A SLAVE.
rule families were kept together, and when their master died and division had to be made among the children, they were divided by families. If they were sold by the administrator to pay debts, they were sold by families, and in most cases they had chosen their masters before the sale. Separation of families was the exception and a rare occurrence. In the main, the relation of master and slave was one of tenderness and humanity. Let these facts go down into history and our people be vindicated.
4. But every distinct race of human beings has its peculiar traits. The Indian is marked for the strength of his friendship and his undying revenge. He will travel miles to reward a friend who has been kind to him, and he will do the same thing to take revenge upon an enemy. The negro will do neither. His animal passions and appetites are strong, but his resentment and his sense of gratitude for favors are weak. He has but a limited idea of conscience, and less of remorse. He is a faithful and willing servant, a good companion, a trusty messenger, and he enjoys an emotional religion that condones every offence and makes him happy. The race traits of the full blooded African for pilfering were known to their old masters in slavery times, and were kept under restraint by reasonable punishment. A propensity to small pilfering or "taking things" as they call it, seems to be born in the negro. With but few exceptions, the confidential servants, the cooks, the nurses, the house boys and the waiting maids, will "take things " from their employers. Their religion does not prevent it. Forty per cent of the negro criminals are members of the church. Education does not eradicate it. Indeed, the kind of education they get seems rather to stimulate it, for out of 1744 colored convicts in our prisons, 965 are there for larceny in some form, and most of them can read and write; 1417 are under thirty years of age and of course knew nothing of slavery. The old negroes who were trained while in bond- age by good masters, are not in the chain gang, and it is
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pitiful to hear them lament in sorrow over the sins of their children.
5. It is safe to say that five times the present number would be in the chain gang if the laws were enforced against the rising generation. . But they are not. Town marshals and employers are kind to them and make no prosecutions for the petty thefts that occur in every family that hires a negro. The Commissioners' Report shows that eight per cent of the negro convicts are serving their second term for a repetition of the crime for which they were first punished. It is indeed alarming that the number of criminals is on the increase. The rate far outruns the increase in population. Two hundred and forty-six prisoners have been added to the chain gang within the last two years- 246 more than the number of discharges.
6. And yet these crimes are not heinous nor malicious, for the negro rarely steals very valuable things, knowing them to be valuable. It is with him a race trait and is even more marked than the trait which inclines the white race to cheat, or overreach, or deceive in trading. The difference is that the negro suffers less shame at being caught, and neither his religious standing nor his social position is disturbed. This trait was kept subdued when the negroes were in slavery. There were then 200 white convicts in the penitentiary and no negroes. Now there are less than 200 whites and over 2000 negroes, if we include the county convicts that are not in charge of the commissioner. In the old times the master adjusted the larceny business at home, just as he settled the sins of his children. But there were no chains, no manacles, no starvation, no bloodhounds; no stripes that put the offender's life in peril. Look at the old-time negroes who are still left us as witnesses, and listen to their praises of their old masters and mistresses, and of their young master who went to the war.
7. Their natural contentment and total lack of apprehension about the future is another race trait, and is as marked as the
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WHY GEORGIA WITHDREW FROM THE UNION.
discontent, the restlessness and the ambition of the white race. This trait will forever keep them from amassing wealth, and from securing any appreciable degree of independence. They will continue to be servants and vassals of the superior race. Education has not improved their industry or their morals. Just as a higher education has unfitted many of the whites for the ordinary callings and occupations of life, so has it unfitted a much larger proportion of the negro race for the labor for which their muscular forms seem fitted. . It is well, probably, that all people have a chance to soar among the stars, but few can ever reach them, and the edict of the Garden is still in force, " By the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread."
8. The survivors of the slaves and their descendants are with us yet, and but for the continued and persistent efforts of some Northern politicians to use them for political advantages, they would be contented with their condition. They have been sorely tempted, sorely tried, but have at last realized that the North does not want them as neighbors, and that their best friends are nearer home. They now constitute forty- seven per cent of our population. Those on the farms who live and labor under the control and assistance of generous landlords, suffer no want, have the privileges of schools and churches, and are content with their condition. Those who have gathered in the large cities, have as a general rule acquired all the vices that a crowded population engenders, and from these cities come most of the convicts that make up the colored army in our chain gangs.
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CHAPTER XXXV.
WHY GEORGIA WITHDREW FROM THE UNION.
1. About the year 1850, the utterances of Northern philan- thropists against slavery, became more manifest and there began to be heard mutterings and threats. Unscrupulous politicians
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always seek a hobby whereon to ride into power. They manu- facture great wrongs and outrages, and feed the prejudices of the common people. All admit that this element was not wanting in the North, and was no doubt responsible in part for the formation of a sectional party, branching out under different names, such as the Disunion party, the Republican party, the Friends of Freedom, and the Abolition party, all of which came to be known, in 1856, as the Republican party. This was the first sectional party in the history of the Union. Garrison and Phillips, the New England agitators, were for disunion. Garrison had a public burning of the Constitution, and in a Fourth of July speech, said, "The Union is a lie ; let us up
with the flag of disunion." Phillips said, "The Constitution of our fathers was a mistake. Let us tear it to pieces and make a better one." The excitement over Kansas thoroughly aroused all the anti-slavery elements. Emigrant societies were organized to fill up that territory and keep it from being made a slave state. Large sums of money were raised. Arms and ammunition were purchased, and large companies of men were dispatched. A prominent leader in Kansas was the notorious John Brown, afterwards hanged in Virginia for his attack upon Harper's Ferry. Though men have differed widely about John Brown, we cannot look upon him as anything but a fanatic, desperate and at least half mad. At this time even churches were not slow to incite bloodshed. Henry Ward Beecher declared from his pulpit that Sharp's Rifles were better than Bibles, and that "it was a crime to shoot at a slaveholder and not hit him."
2. The North was everywhere being educated for the war. Joshua Giddings of Ohio, another prominent leader, said : “ I look forward to the day when I shall see a servile insurrection in the South, when the black man, supplied with bayonets. shall wage a war of extermination against the whites, when the master shall see his dwelling in flames and his hearth polluted, and though I may not mock at their calamity, yet I shall hail it as the dawn of a political millennium."
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WHY GEORGIA WITHDREW FROM THE UNION.
3. The "Helper Book," of 300 pages. was published as a campaign document. It was full of such anathemas as " Slave- holders are more criminal than murderers," and "The negroes will be delighted at the opportunity to cut their masters' throats."
4. Senator Wilson of Massachusetts, attended a public meeting where it was resolved "that it is the duty of the Northern people to incite the slaves to resistance." Horace Greeley said, "History will accord an honorable niche to old John Brown," and Emerson said that "John Brown's gallows was as glorious as the cross."
5. Now all this time General Grant was a slave-owner, and lived off their hire. Lincoln's kindred in Kentucky were slave- owners, and the slaves of the South were working peacefully and happily in the fields by day, hunting or fishing by night, making brooms or foot mats or baskets, perhaps playing marbles at noon, or seining on Saturday evenings, and as innocent of all this excitement as children unborn. But the crusade went on. The zeal of the abolitionists was unrelenting.
6. In 1852 Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, sister of the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher, wrote a book called "Uncle Tom's Cabin," which was intended to fire the Northern heart against slavery, and such was the pitiful story told that it succeeded beyond her most sanguine expectations. This romance was in no respect a typical relation of the condition of the Southern slave, but the Northern people believed it and set the Southerners down as barbarians who knew no mercy. The pulpit and the press took up the book and it was made at the same time a text for the philanthropist and a weapon for the politicians. The common people, who in the main were sincere though ill-informed, believed all that was said or written against the South, and when the war began they were ripe for the conflict. But few of the Northern people had ever visited the South and remained long enough to witness and understand the true relation of the slave to his master. Those who came to stay soon comprehended it and were reconciled
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THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
to the patriarchial relation, and grew to be our fast friends. They either hired or owned slaves, and when the war came they affiliated with us and sustained us heroically against the invasions and exactions of their Northern brethren. There was hardly an exception to this in all the land, and these men were generally of a high order of intelligent manhood. They were the presidents of our colleges, the teachers of our schools, the editors of our newspapers. Some of them were upon the bench of our highest courts and some were our foremost pulpit orators. They remonstrated and entreated, but their pleadings were in vain. Never was an institution more misunderstood, never a good people so maligned. Between the cries of "The Union, the Union," "The Slave, the Slave," the South suddenly realized that she had no friends beyond her limits, and must befriend and defend herself.
7. As for the battle cry of "The Union," the South could see nothing in it but a theory and a threat of force. In the opinion of the ablest men of the South and many in the North the thirteen original states came together in a compact, a copartnership for mutual protection against foreign foes. It was never conceived that they could not separate for cause, when the cause came. This question has now been settled by force, but the South recognizes that the results of the war have settled it against the doctrine of state rights as maintained by Calhoun, Troup, Cobb, "Joe" Brown, Toombs, and hundreds of the greatest and best writers on this question.
8. Jefferson had. said, "The states may withdraw their delegated powers." Madison said, "The states themselves must be the judges whether the bargain has been preserved or broken." Chief Justice Chase said, "If a state should withdraw and resume her powers, I know of no remedy to prevent it." Edward Everett said, "To expect to hold fifteen states in the Union by force is preposterous. If our sister states must leave us, in the name of Heaven let them go." Horace Greeley said in the Tribune, three days before South
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