USA > Virginia > A history of the valley of Virginia, 1st ed > Part 31
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37
Having no idea of crime, I thought it could be no otherwise than unjust, that some should have so little and others so much, and that one should work so hard and others perform no labor.
. My residence was in a neighborhood where slaves and convicts were numerous, and where tortures inflict- ed upon them had become the occurrences of almost every day, so that they were viewed with indifference by the whole population of the neighborhood as mat- ters of course. Thus it is that custom reconciles hu- man nature, with all its native sympathies, to the gross- est barbarities, and hardens the heart against the intru- sion of feeling at the sight of the most exquisite suffer- ing of a fellow creature.
Not so with me, who never had witnessed such tor- tures. I had not been long in my new habitation. be- fore I witnessed a scene which I shall never forget. .1 convict servant, accused of some trivial offense. was doomed to the whip, tied with his arms extended up- wards to the limb of a tree, and a bundle of hickorics thrown down before him, which he was ordered to look at, and told that they should all be worn out on him,
24
-
-
388
SLÁVERY:
and a great many more, if he did not make a confes- sion of the crime alledged against him. The operation began by tucking up the shirt over his head, so as to leave his back and shoulders naked. The master then took two of the hickories in his hand, and by forward and backhanded strokes, each of which sounded like a wagon whip, and applied with the utmost rapidity and with his whole muscular strength, in a few seconds la- cerated the shoulders of the poor miserable sufferer with not less than fifty scourges, so that in a little time the whole of his shoulders had the appearance of a mass of blood, streams of which soon began to flow down bis back and sides. He then made a confession of his fault, one not worth naming : but this did not save him from further torture. He had put his master "to the trouble of whipping him, and he must have a little more." His trowsers were then unbuttoned and suffered to fall down about his fect; two new hickories were selected from the bundle, and so applied, that in a short time his pos- teriors, like his shoulders, exhibited nothing but lacera- tion and blood. A consultation was then held between the master and the bystanders, who had been coolly looking on, in which it was humanely concluded "that he had got enough." . A basin of brine and a cloth were ordered to be brought, with which his stripes were wash- ed. or salted as they called it. During this operation the suffering wretch writhed and groaned as if in the agonies of death. He was then untied and told to go home, and mistress would tell him what to do.
From this seene of torture I went home with a heavy heart, and wished myself in the backwoods again; nor did the frequency of witnessing such scenes lessen in any degree the horror which they first occasioned in my mind.
It frequently happened that torture was inflicted up- on slaves and convicts in a more protracted manner than that above described. When the victim of cruelty was doomed by his master to receive the lash, several of his neighbors were called on for their assistance. They
389
SLAVERY.
attended at the time and place appointed. A jug of rum and water were provided for the occasion. After the trembling wretch was brought forth and tied up, the number of lashes which he was to receive was deter- mined on. Who should begin the operation, was de- cided by lot or otherwise, and the torture commenced. At the conclusion of the first course, the operator pre- tending great weariness, called for a drink of rum and water, in which he was joined by the company. A cer- tain time was allowed for the subject of their cruelty "to cool," as they called it. When the allotted thue had expired, the next hand took his turn, and in like man- ner ended with a drink, and so on until the appointed number of lashes were all imposed. This operation last- ed several hours, sometimes half a day: at the conclu- sion of which, the sufferer, with his hands swollen with: the cords, was unbound, and suffered to put on his shirt. His executioners, to whom the operation was rather $ frolick than otherwise, returned home from the scene of their labor half drunk. Another method of punish- ment, still more protracted than this, was that of doom- ing a slave to receive so many lashes, during several days in succession, cach whipping, excepting the first, being called " tickling up the old scabs."
A couple of wagoners in the neighborhood having caught a man, as they said, in the act of stealing sonte- thing from the wagon, stripped him and fastened him to the hinder part of the wagon, got out their jug of rum, and amused themselves by making scores ou his back for wagers. He that could make the deepest score was to have the first dram. Sometimes the cuts ap- pearing to be equal, no decision could be bad until the second or third trial was made. This sport was contin- ted for several hours, until the poor fellow was almost killed, and the wagoners both drunk.
Female servants, both white and black, were subject .. ed to the whip in common with the males. Having to pass through the yard of a neighbor, on my way to school, it happened that in going my usual route in a
390
SLAVERY.
cold, snowy morning, when I came within view of the house I was much surprised at seeing a naked woman standing at the whipping post, and her master with a hickory in his hand. When I got to the place, I stop- ped to see what was going on. After the woman had received a certain number of lashes, a female black slave was ordered from the kitchen, stripped and fastened by the irons of the whipping post, her scars exhibiting the stripes and corrugations of former years. Both these women had handkerchiefs ticd around their eyes, to prevent them from seeing when the blow was coming. The hickory used by this man was a forked one, tivist- ed together and ticd. A hickory of this kind, owing to the inequality of its surface, gives the greater pain. With this he scored the backs of these two women al- ternately ; but for what length of time I do not know; for being shocked at the sight, I hurried on to school, and left the master at his work.
I might here relate many other methods of torture, of which I have been eye witness among these people, such as the thumb screw, sweating, the birch, &c. ; but it is enough; the heart sickens at the recollection of such crueltics.
Some time ago I made inquiry of a gentleman, who had recently removed from the neighborhood in which I had lived in Maryland to this country, concerning the present state of the families of my former acquain- tance in Maryland. He informed me, that of the whole number of those families, only three or four of their de- scendants remain possessors of the estates of their fore- fathers ; of the others, their sons had become dissipated, sold their lands, and had either perished in consequence of intemperance, or left the country, so that the places which once knew those families as princes in the Innd, now know theni no more. Thus it is, that in moral and physical respects at least, "the sins of the fathers are visited upon their children to the third and fourth generation."
If the very sanctuaries built by the former hierarchy
-
391
SLAVERY.
of the slave states, in which the oppressors used the ritual of the christian service, with hands reeking with the blood of slaves, have long since ceased to be vocal with the songs of Zion, have passed to other hands, or even fallen to decay, it is only saying that GOD IS JUST.
The recollection of the tortures which I witnessed so carly in life, is still a source of affliction to my mind. Twenty-four hours never pass during which my imagi- nation does not present me with the afflicting view of the slave or servant, writhing beneath the lashes of his master, and cringing from the brine with which he salt- ed his stripes.
During my stay of three years in the region of sla- very, my only consolation was, that the time would come, in which the master and slave would change situations; that the former would receive the punish- ment due to his cruelty, while the latter should find rest from his toils and sufferings in the kingdom of Heaven. The master I regarded as Dives, who, after "being clothed in purple and fine linen, and faring sumptuously every day," must soon " lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment." The slave was Lazarus, who, after closing his sufferings in death, was to be " carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom."
From this afflicting state of society, I returned to the backwoods a republican, without knowing the mean- ing of the term, that is, with an utter detestation of an arbitrary power of one man over another.
On reading this reci al, the historian will naturally reflect, that personal, real, or political slavery, has at all times been the condition of almost the whole humain race-that the history of man is the history of oppress- ors and the victims of oppression. Wars, bastiles, pri- so is, crosses, gibbets, tortures, scourges and fire. in the hands of despots. have been the instruments of spread- ing desolation and misery over the earth. 'The philo- sopher regards those means of destruction, and their extensive use, in all ages, as indices of the depravity and ferocity of man. From the bloodstained pages of
21%
القص
392
SLAVERY.
history, he turns with disgust and horror, and pronoun- ces an involuntary anathema on the whole of his race.
But is the condition of the world still to remain the same ? Are the moral impressions of our nature to be sacrificed at the shrine of lawless ambition ? Is man, as heretofore, to be born only to destroy or be destroyed. Does the good Samaritan see no rational ground of hope of better things for future ages ? We trust he does, and that ages yet to come will witness the fulfillment of his benevolent wishes and predictions.
The American revolution was the commencement of a new era in the history of the world. The issue of that eventful contest snatched the scepter from the hands of the monarch, and placed it, where it ought to be, in the hands of the people.
On the sacred altar of liberty it consecrated the rights of man, surrendered to him the right and power of gov- erning himself, and placed in his hands the resources of his country, as munitions of war for his defense. The experiment was indeed bold and hazardous; but suc- cess has hitherto more than justified the most sanguine anticipations of those who made it. The world has wit- nessed, with astonishment, the rapid growth and con- firmation of our noble fabric of freedom. From our distant horizon, we have reflected a strong and steady blaze of light on ill fated Europe, from time immemo- rial involved in the fetters and gloom of slavery. Our history has excited a general and ardent spirit of in- quiry into the nature of our civil institutions, and a strong wish, on the part of the people in distant coun- tries, to participate in our blessings.
But will an example, so portentous of evil to the chiefs of despotic institutions, be viewed with indiffer- ence by those who now sway the scepter with unlimited power, over the many millions of their vassals ? Will they adopt no measures of defense against the influence of that thirst for freedom, so widely diffused and so rapidly gaining strength throughout their empires ? Will they make no effort to remove from the world
393
SLAVERY.
those free governments whose example gives them so much annoyance? 'The measures of defense will be adopted, the effort will be made ; for power is never sur- rendered without a struggle.
Already nations, which, from the earliest period of their history, have constantly crimsoned the earth with each other's blood, have become a band of brothers for the destruction of every gerin of human liberty. Every year witnesses an association of the monarchs of those nations, in unhallowed conclave, for the purpose of concerting measures for effecting their dark designs. Hitherto the execution of those measures has been, alas! too fatally successful.
It would be impolitic and unwise in us to calculate on escaping the hostile notice of the despots of conti- nental Europe. Already we hear, like distant thunder, their expressions of indignation and threats of ven- geance. We ought to anticipate the gathering storm without dismay, but not with indifference. In viewing the dark side of the prospect before us, one source of consolation, of much magnitude, presents itself. It is . confidently expected, that the brave and potent nation, with whom we have a common origin, will not risk the loss of that portion of liberty, which at the expense of so much blood and treasure they have secured for them- selves, by an unnatural association with despots, for the unholy purpose of making war on the freedom of the few nations of the earth, which possess any considera- ble portion of that invaluable blessing ; on the contrary, it is hoped by us that they will, if necessity should re- quire, employ the bravery of their people, their immense resources, and the trident of the ocean, in defense of their own liberties, and by consequence those of others.
Legislators, fathers of our country ! lose no time, spare no expense in hastening on the requisite means of co. fense, for meeting with safety and with victory the im- pending storm, which sooner or later must fall upon us,
21+
-
-
394
CHAPTER XXXI.
Civilization.
The causes which led to the present state of civili- zation of the western country, are subjects which de- serve some consideration.
The state of society and manners of the early settlers, as presented in these notes, shews very clearly that their grade of civilization was indeed low enough. The de- scendants of the English cavaliers from Maryland and - Virginia, who settled mostly along the rivers, and the descendants of the Irish, who settled in the interior parts of the country, were neither of them remarkable for science or urbanity of manners. The former were mostly illiterate, rough in their manners, and addicted to the rude diversions of horse racing, wrestling, jump- ing, shooting, dancing, &c. These diversions were often accompanied with personal combats, which con- sisted of blows, kicks, biting and gouging. This mode of fighting was what they called rough and tumble. Sometimes a previous stipulation was made to use the fists only. Yet there people were industrious, enter- prising, generous in their hospitality, and brave in the defense of their country.
These people, for the most part, formed the cordon along the Ohio river, on the frontiers of Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky, which defended the country against the attacks of the Indians during the revolu- tionary war. They were the janizaries of the country, hat is, they were soldiers when they chose to be so, and when they chose laid down their arms. "Their military service was voluntary, and of course received no pay.
With the descendants of the Irish I had but little acquaintance, although I lived near them. At an early period they were comprehended in the Presbyterian
395
CIVILIZATION.
church, and were more reserved in their deportment than their frontier neighbors, and from their situation being less exposed to the Indian warfare, took less part in that war.
'The patriot of the western region finds his love of country and national pride augmented to the highest grade, when he compares the political, moral, and reli- gious character of his people, with that of the inhabi- tants of many large divisions of the old world. In Asia and Africa, generation after generation passes without any change in the moral and religious charac- ter or physical condition of the people.
On the Barbary coast, the traveler, if a river lies in his way and happens to be too high, must either swim it or wait until it subsides. If the traveler is a chris- tian, he must have a firman and a guard. Yet this was once the country of the famous Carthagenians.
In Upper Egypt, the people grind meal for their dhou- ra bread, by rubbing it between two flat stones. This is done by women.
In Palestine, the grinding of grain is still performed by an ill-constructed hand mill, as in the days of our Savior. The roads to the famous city of Jerusalem are still almost in the rude state of nature.
In Asiatic Turkey, merchandise is still carried on by caravans, which are attended with a military guard ; and the naked walls of the caravansera is their fortress and place of repose at night, instead of a place of en- tertainment, The streets of Constantinople, instead of being paved, are in many places almost impassable from mud, filth, and the carcasses of dead beasts. Yet this is the metropolis of a great empire.
Throughout the whole of the extensive regions of Asia and Africa, man, from his cradle to his grave, sees no change in the aspect of any thing around him, unless from the desolations of war. Itis dress, his ordinary sa- lutations of his neighbors, his diet and his mode of eat- ing . it, are prescribed by his religious institutions; and his rank in society, as well as his occupation, are deter-
396
CIVILIZATION.
mined by his birth. Steady and unvarying as the lapse of time in every department of life, generation after generation beats the dull monotonous round. The Hin- doo would sooner die a martyr at the stake, than sit on a chair or eat with a knife and fork.
The descendant of Ishmael is still "a wild man." Hungry, thirsty and half naked, beneath a burning sun, he traverses the immense and inhospitable desert of Zahara, apparently without any object, because his forefathers did so before him. Throughout life he sub- sists on camel's milk and flesh, while his only covering from the inclemency of the weather is a flimsy tent of camel's hair. His single, solitary virtue, is that of hos- pitality to strangers: in every other respect he is a thief and a robber.
The Chinese still retain their alphabet of thirty-six thousand hieroglyphics. They must never exchange it for one of twenty letters, which would answer an in- finitely better purpose.
Had we pursued the course of the greater number of the nations of the earth, we should have been at this day treading in the footsteps of our forefathers, from whose example in any respect we should have thought it criminal to depart in the slightest degree.
Instead of a blind or superstitious imitation of the manners and customsof our forefathers, we have thought and acted for ourselves, and we have changed ourselves and every thing around us.
The linsey and coarse linen of the first settlers of the country, have been exchanged for the substantial and fine fabrics of Europe and Asia-the hunting shirt for the fashionable coat of broad cloth-and the moccason for boots and shoes of tanned leather. The dresses of our ladies are equal in beauty, fineness and fashion, to those of the cities and countries of Europe and Atlan- tic America.
It is not enough that persevering industry has enabled us to purchase the " purple and fine linen" from foreign- ers, and to use their porcelain and glass-ware, whether
23:0
397
CIVILIZATION,
plain, engraved or gilt; we have nobly dared to fabri- cate those elegant, comfortable, and valuable produc- tions of art for ourselves.
A well founded prospect of large gains from useful arts and honest labor has drawn to our country a large number of the best artisans of other countries. Their mechanic arts, immensely improved by American ge- nius, have hitherto realized the hopeful prospect which induced their emigration to our infant country.
The horse pathis, along which our forefathers made their laborious journeys over the mountains for salt and iron, were soon succeeded by wagon roads, and those again by substantial turnpikes, which, as if by magic enchantment, have brought the distant region, not ma- ny years ago denominated "the backwoods," into a close and lucrative connection with our great Atlantic cities. The journey over the mountains, formerly con- sidered so long, so expensive and even perilous, is now made in a very few days, and with accommodations not displeasing to the epicure himself. Those giants of North America, the different mountains composing the great chain of the Allegany, formerly so frightful in their aspect, and presenting so many difficulties in their passage, are now scarcely noticed by the traveler, in his journey along the graduated highways by which they are crossed.
The rude sports of former times have been discon- tinued. Athletic trials of muscular strength and activ- ity, in which there certainly is not much of merit, have given way to the more noble ambition for mental en- dowments and skill in useful arts. To the rude and often indecent songs, but roughly and unskillfully sung, have succeeded the psalm, the hymn, and swelling an- them .. To the clantorous boast, the provoking banter, the biting sarcasm, the horrid oath and imprecation, have succeeded urbanity of manners, and a course of conversation enlightened by science and chastened by mental attention and respect.
Above all, the direful spirit of revenge, the exercise
398
.- CIVILIZATION.
of which so much approximated the character of many of the first settlers of our country to that of the worst of savages, is now unknown. The Indian might pass in safety among those, whose remembrance still bleeds at the recollection of the loss of their relatives, who have perished under the tomahawk and scalping knife of the savages.
The Moravian brethren may dwell in safety on the sites of the villages desolated, and over the bones of their brethren and forefathers murdered, by the more than savage ferocity of the whites. Nor let it be supposed that the return of peace produced this salutary change of feeling towards the tawny sons of the forest. The thirst of revenge was not wholly allayed by the balm of peace : soveral Indians fell victims to the private ven- geance of those who had recently lost their relations in the war, for some years after it had ceased.
If the state of society and manners, from the com- mencement of the settlements in this country, during the lapse of many years, owing to the sanguinary char- acter of he Indian mode of warfare and other circum- stances, was in a state of retrogression, as was evident- ly the case-if ignorance is more easily induced than science --- if society more speedily deteriorates than im- proves-if it be much easier for the civilized man to become wild, than for the wild man to become civilized; -I ask what means have arrested the progress of the early inhabitants of the western region towards barbar- ism ?- What agents have directed their influence in fa- vor of science, morals and picty ?
The early introduction of commerce was among the first means of changing, in some degree, the exterior aspect of the population of the country, and giving a now current to pul lic feeling and individual pursuit. . .
The huntsman and warrior, when he had exchang- ed his hunter's dress for that of the civilized man, soon lost sight of his former occupation, and assumed a new character and a new line of life,-like the soldier, who, when he receives his discharge and lays aside his regi-
399
CIVILIZATION,
mentals, soon loses the feeling of a soldier, and even forgets in some degree his manual exercise.
Had not commerce furnished the means of changing the dresses of our people and the furniture of their housee -- had the hunting shirt, moccason and leggins, contin- ued to be the dress of our men-had the three-legged stool, the noggin, the trencher and wooden bowl, con- tinued to be the furniture of our houses,-our progress towards science and civilization would have been much slower.
It may seem strange that so much importance is at- tached to the influence of dress in giving the moral and intellectual character of society.
In all the institutions of despotic governments we discover evident traces of the highest grade of human sagacity and foresight. It must have been the object of the founders of those governments to repress the ge- nius of man, divest the mind of every sentiment of am- bition, and prevent the cognizance of any rule of life, excepting that of a blind obedience to the despot and his established institutions of religion and government: hence the canonical laws of religion, in all governments despotic in principle, have prescribed the costume of each class of society, their diet, and their manner of eating it; and even their household furniture is in like manner prescribed by law. In all these departments, no devia- tion from the law or custom is permitted or even thought of. The whole science of human nature, under such governments, is that of a knowledge of the duties of the station of life prescribed by parentage, and the whole duty of man that of a rigid performance of them ; while reason, having nothing to do with either the one or the other, is never cultivated.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.