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T h e Pro j e c t G u t e n b e rg e Bo o k o f T h e J o u rn a l o f
Ne g ro Hi s t o ry, Vo l u m e 8 , 1 9 2 3

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Title: The Journal of Negro History, Volume 8, 1923

Author: Various

Editor: Carter Godwin Woodson

Release date: December 3, 2013 [eBook #44343]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE
JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY, VOLUME 8, 1923 ***

Transcriber's Note:
Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible,
including obsolete and variant spellings and other inconsistencies. Most
notably, in Issue No. 2, April, 1923, spelling errors found in Paul Cuffe's own
writings (e.g., travel journals, letters, will, etc.) are left as published. Text that
has been changed is noted at the end of this ebook.

THE JOURNAL
OF

NEGRO HISTORY

CARTER G. WOODSON
EDITOR

VOLUME VIII

1923

THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF NEGRO LIFE
AND HISTORY, Inc.

LANCASTER, PA., AND WASHINGTON, D. C.
1923

LANCASTER PRESS, INC.
LANCASTER, PA.

CO NT ENT S O F VO L UM E VI I I

No. 1. January, 1923
L. P. Jackson: The Educational Efforts of the Freedmen's Bureau
1
and Freedmen's Aid Societies in South Carolina, 1862-1872
G. R. Wilson: The Religion of the American Negro Slave: His
41
Attitude toward Life and Death
G. Smith Wormley: Prudence Crandall 72
Documents: 81
Extracts from Newspapers and Magazines.
Anna Murray-Douglass—My Mother as I Recall Her.
Frederick Douglass in Ireland.
Book Reviews: 108
Bragg's The History of the Afro-American Group of the
Episcopal Church; Haynes's The Trend of the Races;
Hammond's In the Vanguard of a Race; The Chicago
Commission on Race Relations, The Negro in Chicago.
Notes: 115
Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Association for the
116
Study of Negro Life and History

No. 2. April, 1923
J. W. Bell: The Teaching of Negro History 123
Paul W. L. Jones: Negro Biography 128
George W. Brown: Haiti and the United States 134
H. N. Sherwood: Paul Cuffe 153
Documents: 230
The Will of Paul Cuffe.
Book Reviews: 233
Wiener's Africa and the Discovery of America; Detweiler's
The Negro Press in the United States; McGregor's The
Disruption of Virginia; Johnston's A Comparative Study of the
Bantu and Semi-Bantu Languages.
Notes: 243

No. 3. July, 1923
T. R. Davis: Negro Servitude in the United States 247
Gordon B. Hancock: Three Elements of African Culture 284
J. C. Hartzell: Methodism and the Negro in the United States 301
William Renwick Riddell: Notes on the Slave in Nouvelle France 316
Documents: 331
Banishment of the Free People of Color from Cincinnati.
First Protest against Slavery in the United States.
A Negro Pioneer in the West.
Concerning the Origin of Wilberforce.
Communications: 338
A Letter from Mr. J. W. Cromwell bearing on the Negro in
West Virginia.
A Letter from Dr. James S. Russell giving Information about
Peter George Morgan of Petersburg, Virginia.
A Letter from Captain A. B. Spingarn about early Education of
the Negroes in New York.
Book Reviews: 346
Jones's Piney Woods and its Story; Johnson's American
Negro Poetry; Rhodes's The McKinley and Roosevelt
Administrations; Gummere's Journal of John Woolman.
Notes: 351
The Spring Conference 353

No. 4. October, 1923
Albert Parry: Abram Hannibal, the Favorite of Peter the Great 359
Alrutheus A. Taylor: The Movement of the Negroes from the East
367
to the Gulf States from 1830 to 1850
Elizabeth Ross Haynes: Negroes in Domestic Service in the
384
United States
Documents: 443
Documents and Comments on Benefit of Clergy as applied to
Slaves, by Wm. K. Boyd.
Communications: 448
A Letter from A. P. Vrede giving an Account of the
Achievements of the Rev. Cornelius Winst Blyd of Dutch
Guiana.
A Letter from Captain T. G. Steward throwing Light on various
Phases of Negro History.
Book Reviews: 455
Frobenius's Das Unbekannte Africa; Oberholtzer's History of
the United States since the Civil War; Lucas's Partition of

Africa; Jackson's Boy's Life of Booker T. Washington.
Notes: 465
Annual Report of the Director for the Year 1922-23 466

T H E J O U R N A L
O F

N E G R O H I S T O R Y

Vol. VIII., No. 1 January, 1923.

T HE EDUCAT I O NAL EF F O RT S O F T HE
F REEDM EN'S BUREAU AND F REEDM EN'S AI D
SO CI ET I ES I N SO UT H CARO L I NA, 1 8 6 2 - 1 8 7 2 [ 1 ]

Introduction

Slavery in the United States was abolished by force of
circumstances. The appeal to arms in April, 1861, was made by the
North for the purpose of saving the Union, but only within a few
months after the breaking out of hostilities "what shall we do with the
slaves within our lines" was the cry heard from all sections of the
invaded territory. Deserted by their masters or endeavoring to obtain
freedom, the Negroes came into the Union camps in such large
numbers that humanitarian as well as military reasons demanded
that something be done to change their status and alleviate their
physical suffering.[2] In the absence of a uniform national policy on
the matter, the several commanding generals settled the question
according to their own notions. Butler, at Fortress Monroe, for
example, refused to return the group of fugitive slaves and cleverly
styled them "contraband of war."
It was under these circumstances that voluntary benevolent
associations or freedmen's aid societies sprang up in quick
succession all over the North as agencies first to relieve physical
suffering and finally to administer to the religious and educational
needs of the blacks and white refugees. Missionary efforts were
rapidly pushed by them to all Confederate States just as fast as the
Union armies advanced into the invaded territory. These private
philanthropic efforts which began in 1861 finally led toward the close
of the war to the establishment by the United States Government of
the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands—an
agency which carried on the work already begun by the societies

and at the same time cooperated with them until changed conditions
were reached about 1870.
The military event in South Carolina which called forth immediate
relief was the capture of Hilton Head and the adjacent sea islands on
November 7, 1861, by Commodore Dupont and General T. W.
Sherman.[3] The agencies formed to succor the blacks on these
islands were the New England Freedmen's Aid Society, the New
York National Freedmen's Relief Association, and the Pennsylvania
Freedmen's Relief Association. These several bodies were non-
sectarian in character. Cooperating with them were some regular
church organizations.
At some time during the seven years existence of the Freedmen's
Bureau it embraced a six-fold program: (1) distributing rations and
medical supplies; (2) establishing schools and aiding benevolent
associations; (3) regulating labor contracts; (4) taking charge of
confiscated lands; (5) administering justice in cases where blacks
were concerned, and (6) the payment of bounties to soldiers. The
societies likewise exercised various physical functions, but it is only
the educational activities of all parties concerned that are of primary
interest here.
The chosen period of ten years, 1862-1872, represents a rise and
fall. During the war the non-sectarian societies operated with all the
vigor that the military situation would permit. At its close in 1865 and
lasting through 1866 their greatest efforts were expended. Beginning
about 1867, signs of retrenchment appear; and in 1868 their
operations practically cease. At the same time, both as a cause and
as a result of the dissolution of the non-sectarian societies, the
church organizations took up the work and carried it not only until the
end of this decade but down to the present time. The Freedmen's
Bureau, as guardian over all, had no funds the first year or two, but
in 1867 and especially in 1868 and 1869 when the societies
weakened, it did its greatest work. After 1870 the Freedmen's
Bureau had but a nominal existence. By Congressional action the
institution expired in 1872. With this ending and one or two important
developments by the church organizations in 1871 and 1872, this
essay likewise closes.

This educational campaign is thus one conducted by outside parties.
The several organizations adopted the policy of "no distinction on
account of race or color"; but, inasmuch as the schools were
conducted primarily for the blacks, these ten years represent an
effort for this race with automatically very little attention to the native
whites. The subject, then, lends itself to the following organization:
The Port Royal Experiment, the organization and relationship, the
establishment and work of schools, the difficulties and complications,
and self-help and labor among the freedmen.

The Port Royal Experiment

The sea islands of South Carolina are located between Charleston
and Savannah on the Atlantic seaboard. In the group connected with
the capture of Hilton Head are St. Helena, Port Royal, Morgan, Paris
and Phillips. Collectively, as a military designation, these were
known as Port Royal. On these islands in 1861 there were about
nine thousand slaves,—the lowest in America.[4] As laborers on the
cotton and rice plantations these slaves for generations had been
removed from all the influences that tended to elevate the bondmen
elsewhere. They were densely illiterate, superstitious and in general
but little removed from African barbarism.[5] To add to the general low
stage of these slaves their language was a jargon hardly
understandable by those who came to teach them.[6] For example,
some of them would say: "Us aint know nothin' an' you is to larn we."
Upon the capture of Hilton Head by the Federals, the white masters
fled to Charleston and the up-country and abandoned all of their
property.[7] The control of abandoned property at this time rested
with the Treasury Department. Accordingly, Secretary Chase sent
Edward L. Pierce, of Milton, Massachusetts, to Port Royal to report
on the amount of cotton and also to make recommendations for its
collection and sale. The findings of Pierce together with that of
Sherman in command of the military forces introduce us to our main
story. At the suggestion of Chase, Pierce and Sherman sent appeals
broadcast to the North for the immediate relief of the abandoned
slaves. In February, 1862, Sherman issued this General Order No. 9:

"The helpless condition of the blacks inhabiting the vast area in the
occupation of the forces of this command, calls for immediate action
on the part of a highly favored and philanthropic people.... Hordes of
totally uneducated, ignorant and improvident blacks have been
abandoned by their constitutional guardians, not only to all the future
chances of anarchy and starvation, but in such a state of abject
ignorance and mental stolidity as to preclude all possibility of self-
government and self-maintenance in their present condition.... To
relieve the Government of a burden that may hereafter become
insupportable ... a suitable system of culture and instruction must be
combined with one providing for their physical wants. In the
meanwhile ... the service of competent instructors will be received
whose duties will consist in teaching them, both young and old, the
rudiments of civilization and Christianity."[8]
In response to this appeal there was organized in Boston, on
February 7, 1862, the Boston Education Commission, later known as
the New England Freedmen's Aid Society or the New England
Society, and on the twenty-second of the same month, at a mass
meeting held at the Cooper Institute in New York City, the New York
National Freedmen's Relief Association was organized. At this
meeting the following rules were adopted with reference to the
abandoned slaves:
1. "They must be treated as free men.
2. "They must earn their livelihood like other freemen and not be dependent upon
charity.
3. "Schools and churches shall be established among them, and the sick shall be cared
for."[9]

Following in the wake of Boston and New York came Philadelphia in
March with the Port Royal Relief Committee, later known as the
Pennsylvania Freedmen's Relief Association or the Pennsylvania
Society. Carrying out the resolutions mentioned above, there
assembled on the third of March, 1862, at the port of New York, a
party of fifty-three teachers and superintendents of labor, including
twelve women, who set sail on the same day for Port Royal.[10] The
salaries of these persons were to be paid by their respective
societies, while transportation and military protection were afforded

by the United States Government. Following this original party in
March and April, came twenty more representatives from the New
England Society and likewise added increments from New York,
Philadelphia and elsewhere all through the year. In the Fall the
American Missionary Association of New York added a corps of
thirty-one teachers. It must be remarked at this point that these
individuals represented the flower of New England culture. The first
party, "Gideonites" as they were called, was made up in part of
recent graduates of Harvard, Yale, Brown and the divinity schools of
Andover and Cambridge.[11] Furthermore, they were sent forward on
their mission by William Cullen Bryant, William Lloyd Garrison,
Francis G. Shaw and Edward Everett Hale, with the sanction and
close cooperation of the Secretary of the Treasury, S. P. Chase.
The voluntary steps taken by these parties attracted considerable
attention and concern from the best minds of Europe, as well as the
United States. Articles on the subject appeared in English and
French periodicals.[12] The result of these efforts to aid and elevate
the sea island Negroes was to be considered as an index as to their
ability to learn and likewise would indicate the possibility of general
development of slaves in other States. The labors of the United
States Government and the societies here, therefore, came to be
known as the "Port Royal Experiment."
The United States Government and the regulation of the abandoned
territory for three years, until the close of the war, underwent a
number of changes. Prior to the arrival of the Gideonites on March
9th, the territory was controlled by the special cotton agent, E. L.
Pierce, as directed by the Treasury Department. In June, in response
to Congressional action, control passed to the War Department.
Pierce was displaced and Major Rufus Saxton was made the
administrator with headquarters at Beaufort on Port Royal. His duties
were to supervise the growth and sale of cotton, to regulate labor, to
direct the activities of new comers and settle them at suitable points
over the several islands. At the same time the military forces
stationed at Hilton Head passed successively under the command of
Sherman and General David Hunter.

Pursuant to the Congressional Act of June 7, 1862, "for the collection
of direct taxes in insurrectionary states" the abandoned property was
bought in by the United States Government and private individuals.
In September, 1863, the Government relinquished its purchases
whereby the "freedmen," as they were now called, could buy
property in twenty-acre lots and at the same time establish school
farms of six thousand acres, the proceeds from which were to be
used for educational purposes. According to the plan laid out by
Pierce, the islands were divided into four districts which contained a
total of one hundred and eighty-nine plantations.[13] Over each
district was placed a general superintendent with a local
superintendent for each plantation. W. C. Gannet and John C.
Zachas of the New England Society were placed in charge of the
schools.[14]
School work had already begun prior to the arrival of the main party
through the initiative taken by Pierce and his coworkers. On the
eighth of January, 1862, Rev. Solomon Peck, of Roxbury,
Massachusetts, established a school for the contrabands at
Beaufort. Another was opened at Hilton Head by Barnard K. Lee of
Boston the same month.[15] In February there was organized still
another at Beaufort, which was taught for a short while by an agent
of the American Missionary Association.[16] In estimating what was
accomplished by these preliminary disorganized efforts we can
assume that it was no more than learning the alphabet.
After their arrival in March those persons who had come in the
capacity of teachers began their work immediately. By the eighth of
May there were eight schools in operation.[17] The improvised school
houses consisted of cotton barns, sheds or old kitchens and "praise
houses."[18] Some had classes in tents.[19] The furniture
correspondingly was equally as crude. The desks were mere boards
thrown across old chairs. A fair idea of the general informal state of
affairs both as to the time and place of teaching is gained by this
recital of one teacher's experience: "I leave town about 6 o'clock A.
M. and arrive at the first plantation about 9, and commence teaching
those too young to labor. About 11 the task is done, and the field
hands come in for their share. About 1 P. M. I go to the other three

plantations one and a half miles. They assemble at the most central
one for instruction. This lasts about two hours, first teaching the
young then the older persons ... there being no buildings suitable for
a school on any plantation, I teach them under the shadow of a tree,
where it is more comfortable than any house could be in hot
weather."[20] In only one or two instances were there buildings
erected specifically for school purposes. One interesting case is that
of a building sent from the North in sections and likewise erected
piece by piece. An estimate of what was done as a whole during the
first year of the "experiment" may be made from the fact that 35,829
books and pamphlets were sent to Port Royal by northern agencies,
and 3,000 scholars were put under instruction. In addition to this
purely educational effort there were distributed 91,834 garments,
5,895 yards of cloth, and $3,000 worth of farming implements and
seeds.[21]
Further light on the general nature and progress of the work is
gained through a return visit made by Pierce to Port Royal in March,
1863. At this time he reported that there were more than 30 schools
conducted by about 40 or 45 teachers. The average attendance was
2,000 pupils and the enrollment 1,000 more. The ages ranged from 8
to 12.[22] As to the studies "the advanced classes were reading
simple stories and mastered some passages in such common school
books, as Hillard's Second Primary Reader, Wilson's Second
Reader, and others of similar grade." Some few were having
elementary lessons in arithmetic, geography and writing.
A very large part of the school exercises consisted of utilizing what
the teachers found the scholars endowed with by nature—an
abundance of feeling as expressed in their folk songs and crude
religion. An insight into their inwardly depressed condition is gained
by the fact that these songs were usually cast in the minor mode,
although they were sung in a joyful manner.[23] "In their lowest state
singing was the one thing they could always do well. At first they
sang melody alone, but after having once been given an idea of
harmony, they instantly adopted it. Their time and tone were always
true."[24] They took particular delight in ringing out "Roll Jordan Roll."
Along with the singing the general atmosphere of the instruction was

religious. Indeed, the New Testament was used as a text-book. After
the pupils had learned to read a little they were set to work learning
the Psalms and the Ten Commandments.
One teacher of the Port Royal group, herself of African descent, was
Charlotte S. Forten of Philadelphia. She was a graduate of the State
Normal School, Salem, Massachusetts, and had taught in the same
city. Refusing a residence in Europe, she joined one of the parties for
Port Royal to teach among her own people. This woman enjoyed the
friendship of Whittier and, as a beautiful singer herself, the poet sent
her directly his Hymn written for the scholars of St. Helena Island
which she taught them to sing for the Emancipation Proclamation
exercises of January 1, 1863.[25]
The banner school on "St. Helen's Isle" and Port Royal was the one
in charge of Laura M. Towne, of Philadelphia, and supported by the
Philadelphia Society. After three years' work this school had reached
a fair degree of organization. The school was conducted in the
building sent in sections as referred to above and was known as the
"Penn School" in honor of the society which supported it. Classes
were grouped as primary, intermediate, and higher, each in charge of
one teacher in a separate room. The branches of study, however,
were the same in all—reading, spelling, writing, geography, and
arithmetic.[26] The situation here described represents in the embryo
the present day Penn Normal and Agricultural Institute.
Similarly well housed was the school taught by Elizabeth Hyde
Botume, of Boston, under the auspices of the New England Society.
It commands interest for the reason that it was the beginning in
industrial training on these islands. As plantation laborers the pupils
knew little or nothing of sewing. To supply this need Miss Botume
solicited the necessary apparatus from her northern friends and
began work on some old contraband goods stored in an arsenal.
She reported that sewing was a fascination to all and that "they
learned readily and soon developed much skill and ingenuity."[27]
This school has come down today as the Old Fort Plantation School.
The work of these two women thus took on a permanent character
and to this extent largely formed an exception to the general
informality of the schooling at Port Royal.

Obviously, the heroic efforts of the several societies to assist the
blacks amounted to far more than school-room procedure. Indeed,
this was a very small part of the work of the teachers and it was so
regarded by them. They visited the little cabins, counselled and
advised their wards, attended church, and taught them in the
Sabbath Schools. Three years of this intermingling between the
culture of New England and the most degraded slaves in America
resulted in some promising signs for the latter. There was some
improvement in manners and dress and an increase in wants. At the
stores set up on the islands they were buying small articles for the
improvement of their surroundings.[28] For the first time they were
now being paid wages. At the tax sales in March, 1863, when 16,479
acres were up for auction they purchased about 3,500 acres at the
price of 93½ cents an acre. Shortly afterwards they had doubled this
amount.[29] As free laborers, however, they were somewhat
disappointing to their new employers since old habits still persisted.
All in all, with some three thousand or one-third of the whole number
having received "more or less" instruction in books the societies
were well satisfied with the experiment and at the close of the war
increased their efforts at Port Royal and throughout the State.

Organization and Relationship

The Freedmen's Bureau as established by Act of Congress March 3,
1865, "with the supervision and management of all abandoned lands
and the control of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen from
rebel states," was an outgrowth of the Port Royal experiment and
other such enterprises carried on elsewhere. Social conditions in the
South at the close of the war called for increased efforts on the part
of northern benevolence, but this was only possible through
governmental aid and supervision. The societies already at work
during the war made appeals to the government toward this end.
One committee, for example, on December 1, 1863, stated that the
needs represented "a question too large for anything short of
government authority, government resources, and government
ubiquity to deal with."[30]

The organization of the Freedmen's Bureau as affecting South
Carolina consisted of a commissioner at Washington, an assistant
commissioner for the State at large with headquarters at Charleston,
and sub-assistant commissioners—one for each of the five districts
into which the State was divided. Furthermore, there was a
subdivision of each district with agents in charge. For the educational
work of the Freedmen's Bureau there was a corps consisting of a
general superintendent on the commissioner's staff, a State
superintendent correspondingly on the assistant commissioner's staff
at Charleston, and the various sub-assistant commissioners and
agents who combined the supervision of schools with their other
duties. The personnel of this hierarchy consisted of General O. O.
Howard, Commissioner, J. W. Alvord, general superintendent of
education, General Rufus Saxton, General R. K. Scott, Colonel J. R.
Edie, successively, assistant commissioners, and Reuben
Tomlinson, Major Horace Neide, Major E. L. Deane, successively,
State superintendents of education. These officers, beginning with
the lowest, made to their respective chiefs monthly, quarterly or
semi-annual reports which were finally submitted to the
commissioner at Washington, who was required to make "before the
commencement of each regular session of Congress, a full report of
his proceedings."
The duties of the general superintendent were to "collect information,
encourage the organization of new schools, find homes for teachers
and supervise the whole work."[31] Similarly, the State superintendent
was to take cognizance of all that was "being done to educate
refugees and freedmen, secure proper protection to schools and
teachers, promote method and efficiency, and correspond with the
benevolent agencies ... supplying his field."[32] On October 5, 1865,
Tomlinson sent out this notice to the people of the whole State: "I
request all persons in any part of this state ... to communicate with
me furnishing me with all the facilities for establishing schools in their
respective neighborhoods."[33]
Between the Freedmen's Bureau and the several aid societies there
was perfect understanding. Howard announced: "In all this work it is
not my purpose to supersede the benevolent agencies already

engaged, but to systematize and facilitate them."[34] So close was
the cooperation between the efforts of the Bureau and the societies
that it is hard in places to separate the work of the two.
Prior to the supplementary Freedmen's Bureau Act of July 16, 1866,
the Commission had no funds appropriated to it for educational
purposes. It was able to help only by supervision, transportation of
teachers and occupation of buildings in possession of the
Freedmen's Bureau. This action of the first year met the full approval
of Congress, for in the Act of July 16, 1866, it was stated "that the
commissioner ... shall at all time cooperate with private benevolent
agencies of citizens in aid of freedmen ... and shall hire or provide by
lease buildings for purposes of education whenever such association
shall without cost to the government, provide suitable teachers and
means of instruction, and he shall furnish such protection as may be
required for the safe conduct of such schools." Further, "the
commissioner of this bureau shall have power to seize, hold, use,
lease or sell all buildings and tenements ... and to use the same or
appropriate the proceeds derived therefrom to the education of the
freed people."[35] In the following March, 1867, $500,000 was
appropriated by Congress for the Freedmen's Bureau "for buildings
for schools and asylums; including construction, rental and repairs."
[36]

The aid societies which under these provisions operated in South
Carolina may be classified in three groups:
1. Non-sectarian: The New York National Freedmen's Relief
Association, the New England Freedmen's Aid Society and the
Pennsylvania Freedmen's Relief Association (as enumerated
above).
2. Denominational: (a) The American Baptist Home Mission Society;
(b) the Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church;
(c) the Presbyterian Committee of Missions for Freedmen; (d) the
Friends Association of Philadelphia for the Aid and Elevation of the
Freedmen; (e) and the Protestant Episcopal Freedman's
Commission.
3. Semi-denominational: The American Missionary Association.

To the non-sectarian societies might be added the London
Freedmen's Aid Society and the Michigan Freedmen's Relief
Association, although the latter supported only one school and for a
short time only. The American Missionary Association, during the
war, served as the agency for the Free Will Baptists, Wesleyan
Methodists, and Congregationalists, at which time its work was non-
sectarian; but as the first two drew out at the close of the war, this
association became very largely a congregational agency,
establishing churches along with its schools. None of these several
agencies confined their attention exclusively to South Carolina,
although two of them, the New York and New England societies, did
their best work in this State.
The spirit of good will that existed between the Freedmen's Bureau
and the societies, however, did not exist among the societies
themselves, particularly among the church organizations. For the
purpose of bringing about coordination and unity of action from 1863
to 1866, the New York, New England and Pennsylvania societies
joined hands with various western societies operating in other
States. Each year and oftener these bodies underwent
reorganization until in May, 1866, at Cleveland, all non-sectarian
societies in all parts of the country united and formed the American
Freedmen's Union Commission.[37] To this general body the local
societies sustained a relationship of local autonomy. They were now
known as the New York, New England, and Pennsylvania
"Branches."
In addition to the organization already mentioned, there were
attached to each of the branches or local bodies numerous
auxiliaries which usually made themselves responsible for some one
teacher or group of teachers. In 1867 the New England Society had
a total of 187 auxiliaries, 104 in Massachusetts, 75 in Vermont, 6 in
New Hampshire, 1 in Connecticut and 1 in Georgia.[38] The strongest
New England auxiliary was that at Dorchester, while that of New York
was at Yonkers. The London Freedmen's Aid Society with its many
branches raised one-half a million of dollars for the cause of the
freedmen in America. England reasoned that since America had
given so freely toward the Irish famine that it was now her duty and

opportunity to return the favor.[39] South Carolina's share in this sum
was the support of a school at Greenville and one at St. Helena.[40]
During the war the several church bodies supported the non-
sectarian societies, but toward the close of the war they began by
degrees to withdraw support and take independent action.[41] To their
regular missionary departments was now added this new
"Freedmen's Aid Society" and to support it a "Freedmen's Fund."
Several of the churches also had their Woman's Home Missionary
Society which established and conducted schools in conjunction with
the parent organization. The efforts of the Presbyterians, Friends,
and Episcopalians were similarly directed in that they established the
parochial type of school as an annex to the church. With some
exceptions, this policy militated against the progress of their schools.
[42] Among all the different classes of societies the American
Missionary Association (New York City) was the best prepared for its
work. This association was organized in 1846 and prior to the war
had already established schools and missions.
The several groups of societies had elements in common. They were
one on the question of the treatment of the Negro, there being
scarcely any difference in their purposes as stated in their
constitutions. They felt that the National Government was too silent
on the principles of freedom and equality and that the State
Governments, North as well as South, had laws inimical to the Negro
that should be abolished. The two groups differed in personnel, the
non-sectarian consisting largely of business men, particularly the
New York Society, and the denominational of clergymen. In the
selection of teachers the former made no requirements as to church
affiliation, whereas the latter usually upheld this principle.
The ultimate aim of the church bodies was usually religious. They
endeavored to institute the true principles of Christianity among the
blacks, but in order to do this, in order to raise up ministers and
Christian leaders among them, schools were necessary.[43] The
Baptists in particular emphasized the training of ministers and the
reports of their agents in the field always included the number
baptized along with the number of schools and students.

Establishment and Work of Schools

The schools established during this period may be roughly classified
as primary and higher, under the auspices of the non-sectarian and
denominational bodies respectively. They include day schools, night
schools, and Sabbath schools.
The term "higher" includes secondary and college instruction,
although within this decade only two or three schools were even
doing secondary work while another which reports "classical"
students was really of secondary rank. Some of the church schools
were graced with the name "college" and "university" which in reality
merely represents the expectation of the promoters. In later years at
least two of the institutions begun at this time reached college rank.
[44]

The Freedmen's Bureau assumed general charge and supervision of
education for the State in the fall of 1865, under the direction of
Superintendent Reuben Tomlinson. Schools were in operation,
however, before this time—those at Port Royal and the Beaufort
district, as mentioned above, continued in operation and in increased
numbers. At Charleston schools were opened under the control of
the military government on the fourth of March, 1865, only a few
weeks after the surrender of the city. James Redpath was appointed
as superintendent of these schools. Outside of these two places no
regularly organized schools were begun until the Fall, when they
were extended over all the State.
The Charleston and Columbia schools are of chief interest. On
March 31, 1865, after the schools had just opened, Redpath
reported the following in operation with the attendance of each:
Morris Street School 962
Ashley Street School 211
Saint Phillip Street School 850
Normal School 511
King Street School (boys) 148
Meeting Street School 211
Saint Michael's School 221
Total 3,114

There were employed eighty-three teachers, seventy-five of whom,
white and colored, were natives of Charleston. The salaries of these
teachers were paid by the New York and New England societies and
cooperating with Redpath in organizing these schools were agents of
these societies, one of whom served as a principal of one school.
Within a month or two another school was added to this list, and
during the same time there sprang up five night schools for adults.
The students were made up of both white and Negro children and
were taught in separate rooms. The whites, however, represented a
very small proportion of the total number.[45]
In the fall of the year, with the reopening of the schools, the general
organization underwent considerable changes due to the restoration
of the regular civil government in charge of the ex-Confederates.
Most of the schools mentioned above were now conducted for white
children and taught by the native whites as of old. The Morris Street
School, however, was kept for Negro children and taught by the
native whites. The Normal School in time became the Avery Institute.
The New England Society, which in the Spring had supported the
Morris Street School, moved to the Military Hall and subsequently
built the Shaw Memorial School. This school was named in the
honor of Colonel Robert G. Shaw, who was killed during the war in
the assault on Fort Wagner (Morris Island) while leading his Negro
troops. The funds for the erection of the school were contributed by
the family of Colonel Shaw and they retained a permanent interest in
it. In 1874, when the New England Society dissolved, the school was
bought by the public school authorities and used for Negro children.
[46] During the course of four or five years other schools were
established here or in the vicinity of Charleston by the several church
organizations.
Charleston thus made a commendable start in education partly for
the reason that the city had a school system before the war and for a
while during the conflict. The free Negroes of this city likewise had
been instructed under certain restrictions during slavery time.[47] The
schools which were controlled or supported by the northern agencies
were by 1868 offering an elementary grade of instruction
corresponding to about the fourth or fifth grade with classes in

geography, English composition and arithmetic. Just here, however,
it must be said that the personnel of the student body was constantly
changing or at least during 1865 and 1866. Charleston was merely a
sort of way station for the blacks, who, returning from the up-country
where they had fled or had been led during the war, were on their
way to the sea islands to take up land as offered by Sherman's
order.[48] During April, 1865, Redpath reported that at least five
hundred pupils "passed through" the schools, remaining only long
enough to be taught a few patriotic songs, to keep quiet and to be
decently clad. Others in turn came and in turn were "shipped off."[49]
Columbia, though behind Charleston in point of time, made an
equally good beginning in spite of annoying handicaps. There was a
fertile field here for teaching, since the blacks were crowding in from
all the surrounding territory. Sherman having destroyed about all the
suitable buildings, T. G. Wright, representative of the New York
Society, in company with three northern ladies, started a school on
November 6, 1865, in the basement of a Negro church with 243
scholars. Soon thereafter, on November 7th, another was begun in
the small room of a confiscated building "very unsuitable for a school
room." On the same day two other schools were begun at similar
places, one of them at General Ely's headquarters and taught by his
daughters. On the ninth another school started on Arsenal Hill in an
old building rented for a church by the freedmen and on the
thirteenth still another was opened in one of the government
buildings. These schools were numerically designated as "No. 1,"
"No. 2," etc., being nine in all. In addition to these there were two
night schools begun about the same time, one of them enrolling fifty
adult males and the other 121.[50] The Columbia schools were taught
wholly under the control of the New York Society by northern ladies
with the assistance of a few Negro instructors who were competent
to assist them. They had a large attendance and consequently there
were many changes made in the location of schools in the course
even of the first few months.
Fortunately these temporary congested quarters gave way in the fall
of 1867 when the Howard School was completed. This school was
erected by the New York Society and the Freedmen's Bureau at a

cost of about $10,000. It contained ten large class rooms. At the
close of the school year (1868) it had an attendance of 600. The
closing exercises of the year seemed to have attracted considerable
attention inasmuch as the officers of the city, Tomlinson, and
newspaper men all attended. The examinations at the close
embraced reading, spelling, arithmetic, geography, history and
astronomy. The Columbia Phoenix (a local paper) said of the
exercises: "We were pleased with the neat appearance and
becoming bearing of the scholars ... and the proficiency exhibited in
the elementary branches was respectable."[51]
The New York Society did its best work in Columbia. At Beaufort this
same organization had schools which occupied the large buildings
formerly used by the whites. The New England Society was best
represented at Charleston and Camden. The Philadelphia Society
was best represented at St. Helena. Some notion of the exact
location of the schools fostered by these societies (May, 1866) may
be gained from the following table:[52]
Number of
Town Support
teachers
Ashdale 1 New York Branch
Combahee 1 New York Branch
Columbia 10 New York Branch
Edgerly 1 New York Branch
Greenville 6 New York Branch
Gadsden 2 New York Branch
Hopkins 1 New York Branch
James Island 5 New York Branch
Mitchellville 2 New York Branch
Lexington 2 New York Branch
Pineville 1 New York Branch
Perryclear 1 New York Branch
Pleasant Retreat 2 New York Branch
Red House 1 New York Branch
Rhett Place 2 New York Branch
River View 1 New York Branch
Woodlawn 2 Michigan Branch
Camden[53] 2 New England Branch
Darlington 2 New England Branch
Edisto Island 2 New England Branch
Hilton Head 6 New England Branch

Jehosse's Island 2 New England Branch
Johns Island 1 New England Branch
Marion 2 New England Branch
Orangeburg 3 New England Branch
Summerville 3 New England Branch
Port Royal Island 2 Pennsylvania Branch
Rockville 2 Pennsylvania Branch
St. Helena 5 Pennsylvania Branch
Beaufort 9 New York Branch 7
New England Branch 2
Charleston 36 New York Branch 13
New England Branch 23
Georgetown 4 New York Branch 1
New England Branch 3

With some exceptions the schools enumerated here and elsewhere
unfortunately had only a short existence for the reason that the
societies which supported them gradually became short of funds.
The New York Society, for example, in 1868, found itself hardly able
to bring its teachers home. The efficiency of other societies likewise
began to wane. By January 1, 1870, or within a few months
afterwards, the Freedmen's Bureau passed out of existence. Alvord
and his whole staff thereby were discharged from duty. The non-
sectarian societies ceased to exist because the aid societies of the
several northern churches claimed the allegiance of their members.
A stronger reason, as given by them, was that the freedmen were
now (1868) in a position to help themselves politically through the
provision of Negro Suffrage for the new State government, under the
Congressional plan of reconstruction. The Freedmen's Bureau was
discontinued for similar reasons.
A few of the schools so well begun either passed into the hands of
the State under regular State or municipal control of schools, as, for
example, the Shaw Memorial at Charleston, or they became private
institutions with other means of northern support. Before expiration,
however, during 1869, the Freedmen's Bureau used its remaining
funds to establish new schools and repair buildings throughout the
State. A graphic picture of the Bureau's activity during the latter part
of 1869 is thus shown:[54]
School Houses Erected

Value Ownership
Location Cost Size Material
of lot of lot
Bennettsville $1,000 30 x 40 Wood $100 Freedmen
Gadsden 800 25 x 40 " 50 "
Laurens 1,000 30 x 40 " 100 "
Newberry 2,500 2 " 300 "
stories}
26 x
50 }
Walterboro 1,000 30 x 40 " 100 "
Manning 500 25 x 40 " 50 "
Lancaster 500 25 x 30 " 50 "
Graniteville 700 25 x 40 " 100 "
Blackville 500 25 x 30 " 50 "
$8,500
School Houses Repaired and Rented
Locality Ownership Amount expended
Conkem Freedmen $500
Beaufort Freedmen 1,000
Columbia Bureau 100
Charleston (Orphan Asylum) Protestant Episcopal 2,400
Charleston (Shaw School) Bureau 100
Charleston (Meeting St. Post Office) Rented 40
Charleston Protestant Episcopal 8,000
Chester Rented 30
Darlington Bureau 100
Eustis Place Bureau 800
Florence Freedmen 35.75
Marion Bureau 150
Mt. Pleasant Bureau 40
Sumter Freedmen 500
Shiloh Freedmen 100
Winnsboro Bureau 50
Orangeburg Methodist Episcopal Church 2,500
Total $16,445.75

After all, the real significance of this educational movement was the
policy adopted by the denominational bodies that they should

establish permanent institutions—colleges and normal schools to
train teachers for the common schools and also in time that the
Negroes themselves should run these institutions.[55] South Carolina
under the Negro-Carpet-Bag rule in 1868, then, for the first time
ventured to establish a school system supported by public taxation.
For this object there were practically no competent teachers to serve
the Negroes. The only sources of supply were the persons trained in
the schools herein described and a few of the northern teachers who
remained behind.[56] Very small and crude it was in the beginning,
but the policy adopted here at least furnishes the idea upon which
ever since the public schools of the State have been mainly justified.
By 1870 the Perm School at St. Helena was sending out teachers in
response to calls from the State.[57] In the same year the principal of
the Avery Institute reported that he was asked by the State to furnish
fifty teachers.[58] This school was perhaps the best fitted to perform
this function.
The American Missionary Association supported, at Port Royal and
other points in the State, schools which, along with many others, had
only a temporary existence. The lasting and best contribution of this
association to this movement was the Avery Institute, its second best
was the Brewer Normal. Avery was established at Charleston on
October 1, 1865, in the State Normal School building, which was
offered by General Saxton. The school commenced with twenty
teachers and one thousand scholars with every available space
taken, one hundred being crowded in the dome. The next year,
having been turned out of this building, the school was held for two
years in the Military Hall in Wentworth Street. On May 1, 1869, the
school entered its present new large building on Bull Street when it
dropped the name of the Saxton School for Avery in honor of the
philanthropist from a portion of whose bequest $10,000 was spent by
the American Missionary Association for the grounds and a mission
home. The building proper was erected by the Freedmen's Bureau at
a cost of $17,000.[59]
Avery very soon dropped its primary department and concentrated
its efforts on the normal or secondary department where it had from
the beginning a comfortable number of students. These students

came largely from the free Negro class. Under the guidance of their
well-trained Negro principal the boys and girls here were reading
Milton's "L'Allegro," translating Caesar, and solving quadratic
equations.[60] From the standpoint of grade of instruction, Avery was
the banner school of the State. With a less pretentious beginning
Brewer was established by the American Missionary Association at
Greenwood in 1872 on school property valued at $4,000.
The Baptist Home Mission Society, following in the wake of the
American Missionary Association, made a beginning at Port Royal
with the labor of Rev. Solomon Peck, at Beaufort. This society in
1871 established Benedict at Columbia. The school property
consisted of eighty acres of land with one main building—"a
spacious frame residence," two stories, 65 x 65. This property cost
$16,000 with the funds given by Mrs. Benedict, a Baptist lady of New
England. During the first year the school had sixty-one students,
most of whom were preparing for the ministry.[61] In 1868, Mrs.
Rachel C. Mather established the Industrial School at Beaufort which
now bears her name. This school came under the auspices of the
Women's American Baptist Home Mission Society.
The Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church
conducted primary schools at Charleston, Darlington, Sumter, John's
Island, Camden, St. Stephens, Gourdins' Station, Midway and
Anderson; but, like the Baptists, its substantial contribution was
Claflin University. This institution was established in 1869 in the
building formerly used by the Orangeburg Female Academy. The
property was purchased through the personal efforts of its first
president, Dr. A. Webster. The University was granted a charter by
the State and named in honor of Hon. Lee Claflin of Massachusetts,
by whose liberality it came into existence. The attendance the first
year was 309 and by 1872 the institution had a college department,
a normal department, a theological department, and a preparatory
department.[62] The Women's Home Missionary Society of this same
church had the excellent policy of establishing homes for girls where,
in addition to purely classroom work, they would be taught the
principles of home making and Christian womanhood. In pursuance
of this object in 1864 Mrs. Mather of Boston established a school at

Camden which in later years became known as the Browning
Industrial Home.
The Presbyterian Church, through its Committee of Missions for
Freedmen, in 1865 established the Wallingford Academy in
Charleston at a cost of $13,500, the Freedmen's Bureau paying
about one-half of this amount. In 1870 the number of pupils was 335.
In later years this school, like others planted by the churches, was
doing creditable secondary work and training teachers for the city
and different parts of the State.[63] At Chester in 1868 this Committee
established the Brainerd Institute and in the same year the Goodwill
Parochial School at Mayesville.
The Protestant Episcopal Freedmen's Commission in cooperation
with its South Carolina Board of Missions to Negroes established a
school at Charleston (1866) in the Marine Hospital through the effort
of Rev. A. Toomer Porter, a native white man of Charleston. Two
years later this institution had a corps of thirteen teachers and about
six hundred pupils.[64] Smaller efforts were likewise made by this
commission at Winnsboro and other parts of the State.
The Friends (Pennsylvania Quakers) made a most valuable
contribution to this general educational movement in 1868 through
the efforts of Martha Schofield in establishing at Aiken the Schofield
Normal and Industrial School. This institution in time became one of
the most influential, not only in South Carolina but in the entire
South. The Friends' Association of Philadelphia for the Aid and
Elevation of the Freedmen, established, in 1865, at Mt. Pleasant
(Charleston) the school which later became known as the Laing
Normal and Industrial School.[65] Miss Abbey D. Munro, in 1869,
became its principal.

Difficulties and Complications.

As a result of these efforts an observer said: "In South Carolina
where, thirty years ago, the first portentious rumblings of the coming
earthquake were heard and where more recently the volcanic fires of
rebellion burst forth ... our missionaries and teachers have entered to
spread their peaceful and healing influence.... The Sea Islands have

been taken possession of in the name of God and humanity.... King
Cotton has been dethroned and is now made humbly to serve for the
enriching and elevating of the late children of oppression."[66]
Another said: "New England can furnish teachers enough to make a
New England out of the whole South, and, God helping, we will not
pause in our work until the free school system ... has been
established from Maryland to Florida and all along the shores of the
Gulf."[67] They came to the South with the firm belief in the capacity
of the Negro for mental development and on a scale comparable to
the white man. The letters written by teachers to northern friends
abound in reports to this effect. Such was the spirit in which the
northern societies entered the South.
The northern societies, however, failed "to make a New England out
of the South"; but due credit must be given them for their
earnestness and enthusiasm. They entered the State while the war
was in progress and thus imperiled their lives. The planters at Port
Royal who had abandoned their property certainly looked forward to
the restoration of the same and to this end they struggled by force of
arms. The freedmen themselves, as well as their northern
benefactors under these conditions, lived in fear lest the restored
planters should successfully reestablish the old regime. One teacher
at Mitchelville on Hilton Head reported one week's work as
"eventful." A battle only twelve miles away at Byrd's Point was raging
while her school was in session. The cannonading could be heard
and the smoke of the burning fields was visible.[68]
There were other difficulties. In view of the fact that the missionaries
associated with the freedmen in a way totally unknown to southern
tradition, they were met with social ostracism. It was impossible to
obtain boarding accommodations in a native white family and in line
with the same attitude the lady teachers were frequently greeted with
sneers and insults and a general disregard for the courtesies of
polite society. One teacher said: "Gentlemen sometimes lift their hats
to us, but the ladies always lift their noses."[69]
Social contact with the Negroes, however, was a necessity.[70] The
letter of instruction to teachers from the Pennsylvania Branch
contained this rule: "All teachers, in addition to their regular work, are

encouraged to interest themselves in the moral, religious and social
improvement of the families of their pupils; to visit them in their
homes; to instruct the women and girls in sewing and domestic
economy; to encourage and take part in religious meetings and
Sunday schools."[71] Thus it was that a very large part of the
activities of the teachers were what we call "extracurricular." They
were not confined to the school room but went from house to house.
[72]

The spirit of informality which seemed to pervade the whole work,
along with that of the Freedmen's Bureau, moreover, serves to
explain in part their misfortune resulting from poor business
methods. The reports which Howard and Alvord have left us reveal
unusually important facts. Their funds were limited and what monies
they did raise were not always judiciously expended. The salaries of
the teachers usually ranged from $25 to $50 a month. One society
paid $35 a month without board and $20 with board. These salaries,
the personal danger, the social ostracism and unhealthy climate, all
lead one to feel, however, that the motive behind these pioneering
efforts was strictly missionary. Some of the teachers worked without
a salary and a few even contributed of their means to further the
work.
The campaign of education for the elevation of the freedmen was a
product of war time and as such was conducted in the spirit
engendered by war conditions. In addition to the purely school
exercises of the three R's was the political tenor of the instruction. As
staunch Republicans no little allusion was made to "Old Jeff Davis"
and the "Rebels." Besides the native songs with which the scholars
were so gifted there was frequent singing of John Brown and
Marching through Georgia. The Fourth of July and the first of
January were carefully observed as holidays. Several of the teachers
in the schools and officers of the Freedmen's Bureau—Tomlinson,
Cardoza, Jillson, Mansfield, French, and Scott—became office
holders in the Negro-carpetbagger government of 1868.
There was another handicap. The Civil War left South Carolina
"Shermanized." The story of this invader's wreck of the State is a
familiar one. Barnwell, Buford's Bridge, Blackville, Graham's Station

(Sato), Midway, Bamberg, and Orangeburg were all more or less
destroyed. Three-fifths of the capital was committed to the flames
and Charleston, although this city escaped the invader, had been
partially burned already in 1861.[73] With millions of dollars in slave
property lost, added to the above, the native whites were in no frame
of mind to approve this philanthropic effort of the northern teachers.
Furthermore, on the question of education the State had no
substantial background by which it could encourage any efforts at
this time. Free schools had been established prior to the war, but
owing to the eleemosynary stigma attached to them and the
permissive character of the legislative acts very little had been
accomplished for the whites even, in the sense that we understand
public education today.[74]
There ran very high the feeling that the Yankees were fostering
social equality and that if they were allowed to educate the freedmen
the next thing would be to let them vote.[75] Some reasoned that
since the North had liberated the slaves, it was now its business to
care for them. It is safe to say that without the protection of the
United States military forces during the first year at least the efforts
to enlighten the ex-slaves would have been impossible. The native
white attitude, however, appears to have undergone a change from
year to year and from locality to locality.
At Orangeburg, the superintendent of education reported that a night
school was fired into on one or two occasions, and the attempt to
discover the perpetrators of this outrage was without success.[76] A.
M. Bigelow, a teacher of a colored school at Aiken, was compelled
by curses and threats to leave the town in order to save his life.[77] In
the town of Walhalla a school conducted by the Methodist church
was taught by a lady from Vermont. A number of white men tried to
break it up by hiring a drunken vagabond Negro to attend its
sessions and accompany the young lady through the village street.
The attempted outrage was frustrated only by the intercession of a
northern gentleman. At Newberry, about the same time, a man who
was building a school for the freedmen was driven by armed men
from the hotel where he was staying and his life threatened. These
occurrences the superintendent reported as "specimen" cases.[78]

In other sections of the State where the planters sustained amicable
relations to all the functions of the Freedmen's Bureau, there was
little opposition to the elevation of the freedmen. In the districts of
Darlington, Marion, and Williamsburg there was a fair spirit of
cordiality. At Darlington the Yankee editor of The New Era in its first
edition probably thus expressed the feeling of the community: "Let
the excellent work be sustained wherever it shall be introduced and
the happiest results will be witnessed."[79]
Charleston and Columbia, despite the wreck of these cities, as
already shown, proved to be an open field for educational endeavor.
In the former city where it was no new thing to see the blacks striving
for education, the opposition expressed itself in the occupation of the
buildings formerly used for the whites.[80] A correspondent of The
New York Times reported that in Columbia "the whites extend every
possible facility and encouragement in this matter of education."[81]
There is one instance of actual initiative in the education of the
freedmen in the case of Rev. A. Toomer Porter of the Episcopal
Church in Charleston as already mentioned. This gentleman went
North to solicit the necessary funds and while there visited Howard
and President Johnson. For his purpose the president himself
contributed one thousand dollars.[82] For this deed The Charleston
Courier remarked that it was "a much more substantial and lasting
token of friendship to the colored race than all the violent harangues
of mad fanatics." Finally in enumerating here and there cases of a
favorable attitude, Governor Orr's remarks cannot be overlooked. To
the colored people at Charleston he said: "I am prepared to stand by
the colored man who is able to read the Declaration of
Independence and the Constitution of the United States. I am
prepared to give the colored man the privilege of going to the ballot-
box and vote."[83]
The length of service for most of the teachers was one year. In the
original Port Royal party of March 3, 1862, several of the party
returned home before summer. The American Missionary
Association which sent thirty-five teachers to Port Royal reported
"eight for a short time only." From these facts it is to be inferred,
despite the glowing reports of success, that the teachers met with

discouragement and disappointment. Some of them were unfit for
their duties and some no doubt committed acts of indiscretion with
reference to the relationship of the races.
The difficulties and complications of this movement were a part of
the war itself. Calmer moments of reflection which it is ours now to
enjoy, however, reveal the great value of the educational efforts of
the northern missionaries. Unfortunately, the efforts to uplift were
directed to only one race, but in a larger sense the work done has
been for the welfare of all. South Carolinians to-day will all pay
tribute to the work of Abbey D. Munro, Martha Schofield and Laura
M. Towne. These women, with others, gave their lives for the
elevation of the Negro race and what they did is merely a
representation of that common battle against ignorance and race
prejudice. "She (Miss Towne) came to a land of doubt and trouble
and led the children to fresh horizons and a clearer sky. The school
she built is but the symbol of a great influence; there it stands,
making the desert blossom and bidding coming generations look up
and welcome ever-widening opportunities. Through it she brought
hope to a people and gave them the one gift that is beyond all price
to men."[84]

Self-Help and Labor Among the Freedmen

Were the Negroes there in such numbers and condition as to help
themselves? South Carolina in 1860 had a white population of
291,300, a slave population of 402,406 and a free colored population
of 9,914.[85] Having this large number of slaves, the dominant race in
its efforts to maintain control passed its police laws by which the
evils of slavery existed there in their worst form. One of these laws
was that of 1834 which made it a punishable offense to teach any
slave to read and write.[86] This law, however, was often violated and
free Negroes and even slaves attended school long enough to
develop unusual power.
After generations of oppression the dawn of freedom brought with it
a social upheaval. The freedmen now proceeded to taste the
forbidden fruit and the people who brought learning to them they

received with open arms.[87] The Yankee school master was not only
to the freedmen a teacher but his deliverer from bondage. Happily in
the enthusiasm of the "late children of oppression" for learning they
proved themselves to be not objects of charity but actual supporters
and promoters of the educational movement.
It was a principle of some of the societies to open no new school
unless a fair proportion of its expenses could be met by the parents
of the pupils.[88] There were made various arrangements by which
the freedmen could help sustain the schools. In some instances they
boarded the teachers and met the incidental expenses of the school
while the societies paid the salaries and traveling expenses. In this
way nearly one-half of the cost was sustained by them and in some
instances nearly two-thirds of it.[89] As the foregoing tables have
helped to show in part, in some cases the freedmen met the entire
expenses, bought the lot, erected the school house, and paid the
salary of the teacher.
During 1866, Tomlinson reported five houses had been built by them
and others were under the course of erection. These were located at
the following places:
Kingstree size 20 x 37 ft.
Darlington size 30 x 72 ft.
Florence size 35 x 45 ft.
Timmonsville size 14 x 24 ft.
Marion size 20 x 50 ft.

During 1867 twenty-three school houses were reported to have been
built by the freedmen aided by the Freedmen's Bureau and northern
societies. For the support of school teachers this year they
contributed $12,200. This with $5,000 for school houses made an
aggregate of $17,200.[90] The school houses were placed in the
hands of trustees selected from among themselves and were to be
held permanently for school purposes.[91]
The means by which the freedmen offered their support was not
always in cash but in kind. During the early years following the war
there was a scarcity of money in circulation. The employers of the
blacks, the planters, were themselves unable always to pay in cash,
and as a substitute a system of barter grew up.[92] Directing attention

to this situation and the general question of self-help, Governor
Andrews of Massachusetts, president of the New England Society,
sent out the following circular to the freedmen of the South: "The
North must furnish money and teachers—the noblest of her sons
and daughters to teach your sons and daughters. We ask you to
provide for them, wherever possible, school houses and
subsistence. Every dollar you thus save us will help to send you
another teacher ... you can supply the teachers' homes with corn,
eggs, chickens, milk and many other necessary articles.... Work an
extra hour to sustain and promote your schools."[93] The value of
such labor averaged only about eight dollars a month, but Governor
Andrews' recommendation was carried out in so many cases that
much good was thereby accomplished.
The campaign of education for the freedmen was temporary in
character and was so regarded by the Freedmen's Bureau and the
societies. It was merely an effort to place the ex-slaves on their own
feet and afterwards it was their task. In line with this policy the
Freedmen's Bureau and the military authorities seized every
opportunity of instituting self-government among them, especially
where they were congregated in large numbers. Such a case was
Mitchelville.
Sherman's field order 15 called for the laying aside of a vast stretch
of territory exclusively for the freedmen. In the same manner in 1864
the military officers at Hilton Head laid out a village for them near the
officers' camps and introduced measures of self-government. The
village was called Mitchelville in honor of General Ormsby Mitchell
who had been like a father to the multitude of fifteen hundred or
more occupying the village. The place was regularly organized with a
Mayor and Common Council, Marshal, Recorder and Treasurer, all
black, and all elected by Negroes, except the Mayor and Treasurer.
Among the powers of the Common Council, which concern us here,
was the compulsory provision that "every child between the ages of
six and fifteen years ... shall attend school daily, while they are in
session, excepting only in cases of sickness ... and the parents and
guardians will be held responsible that said children so attend
school, under the penalty of being punished at the discretion of the

Council of Administration."[94] We may or may not call this South
Carolina's first compulsory school law.
With a view to training teachers from among themselves the northern
teachers seized every opportunity to pick out a bright student who
would ultimately assume full responsibility. Accordingly, the schools
were taught by persons of both races. In addition those Negroes who
already had some learning were pressed into service. This
arrangement had its obvious disadvantages as well as advantages.
The Negro teacher understood the environment and the character
and nature of the pupils to a far greater extent than the northern
coworker; but, as could be expected, the native teacher was lacking
in preparation. As one of the northern journals expressed the
situation, the "men and women from the North carry much more than
their education. They carry their race, moral training, their faculty,
their character, influence of civilization, their ideas, sentiments and
principles that characterize northern society."[95] Occasionally native
white teachers were employed, but not always to the satisfaction of
either the Yankee teachers or their pupils.
Besides the regular organized schools that came under the control of
the Freedmen's Bureau and the societies, the freedmen in their
eagerness to learn opened what Alvord styles "native schools" where
some man or woman who had just learned to read and write a very
little set about for the smallest pittance to teach his neighbors'
children. Such teaching, though possibly arising from a
commendable spirit, was a travesty on education. The white
teachers characterized these native schools "so far as any intelligent
result goes" as "worse than useless." They would rather receive
"their pupils totally ignorant than with the bad habits of reading,
pronunciation and spelling of these schools."[96] However, there were
among the Negro teachers a few who deserve special mention as
showing signs of an endeavor to help the movement and at the
same time may serve as a test of the value of the missionary
movement by their northern friends.
Some of the Negro teachers were from the North, as in the case of
Charlotte S. Forten already mentioned. There was also Mrs. C. M.
Hicks who was sent South by the New York Society and supported

by an auxiliary association in Albany. Her school was located at
Anderson and contained nearly two hundred pupils. After mentioning
the good order and decorum of the school, The Anderson
Intelligencer, a local white paper, says: "We were gratified with the
proficiency and success attained and trust that they will persevere in
their efforts to make better citizens and become more worthy of the
high privileges now granted to the race. This school is presided over
by a colored female (Mrs. Hicks) ... she is intelligent and capable and
devotes all her energies to the school."[97]
At Greenville there was Charles Hopkins who taught a school for the
support of which his white neighbors contributed $230. He bought at
his own risk the building from the State arsenal and moved it two
miles on a piece of ground which he had leased for one year. The
school opened with about two hundred scholars among whom were
"boys and girls with rosy cheeks, blue eyes and flaxen hair, though
lately slaves, mingled with the black and brown faces."[98] A visitor
characterized the school as having "good order, rapid progress in
learning and a great deal more." After supporting the school as long
as possible Hopkins was relieved by the Freedmen's Bureau which
assumed the responsibility he had incurred, and he was further
aided by the accession of three additional teachers. His salary was
contributed by the New York Branch. Frank Carter at Camden was
making similar efforts during this period.
Down on Hilton Head at Mitchelville in connection with the Port
Royal experiment there was Lymus Anders, a full-blooded African,
who, prior to the coming of the northern teachers, was unable to
read and write. Although fifty years old and having a family, he
managed to learn to read by having one of the teachers give him
lessons at night and at odd intervals. He was enterprising and after
only a year or two had managed to save four or five hundred dollars.
He bought land at the tax sales; and, in the efforts of his people at
Mitchelville to have churches and schools, he succeeded in erecting
a church and a school house with help from the whites and Negroes.
The building cost nearly $350 and in time there was added a
teachers' home. The school was taught by ladies from Northampton,
Massachusetts, who always had the cooperation and assistance of

Anders. They characterized him as a "black Yankee," not very moral
or scrupulous, but a man who led all the others of his race in
enterprise and ambition.[99]
Ned Lloyd White, who had picked up clandestinely a knowledge of
reading while still a slave, was an assistant to two ladies at St.
Helena, who had a school of ninety-two pupils made up largely of
refugees from a neighboring island. Likewise engaged was "Uncle
Cyrus," a man of seventy, who, in company with one Ned,
assembled one hundred and fifty children in two schools and taught
them the best they could until teachers were provided by the relief
societies.[100]
The brightest light among the Negro teachers was F. L. Cardoza. He
was a native of Charleston and received his primary and common
school education there under the instruction of the free Negroes of
that city. Being unable at his own expense to pursue his studies at
home as far as he desired, he attended the University of Glasgow.
He returned to Charleston and became a leader in the educational
affairs of the city immediately at the close of the war. He was
employed by the American Missionary Association and became
principal of the Saxton School, later known as Avery Institute. In
conformity with his classical training, he offered his advanced pupils
languages and in time they were ready for Howard University in
Washington. There were some four thousand children in the city of
school age. Seeing the need of a permanent graded school system
supported by public taxation, he used his influence to bring about
this result. With regard to this project Governor Orr said: "I heartily
approve of the scheme of Mr. Cardoza to educate thoroughly the
colored children of Charleston.... I am satisfied he will devote himself
to the work earnestly and faithfully, and merits, and should receive
the confidence of the public in his laudable undertaking." Other
public officials spoke in the same vein. One of the northern teachers
said of him: "He is the right man in the right place and I am very
thankful that it has fallen my lot to be placed under him."[101]

Conclusion

Most of the work of the Bureau and the societies as already shown
was temporary in character and perhaps rightly so. In Howard's own
words, "it was but a beginning—a nucleus—an object lesson." Not
more than one-sixth of the total black population of school age was
reached. The movement only inaugurated a system of educational
pioneering in the benighted South. Scientific data as to exactly what
was accomplished unfortunately cannot be obtained owing to the
inaccuracy of the Freedmen's Bureau reports. For example, in the
report of July 1, 1868, the superintendent gives a total of sixty-two
schools in operation with an additional "estimated" number of 451.
Again, the amount of work done by the separate individual societies
does not always tally with the reports of the Freedmen's Bureau.
Notwithstanding the fact that the efforts put forth failed to reach our
modern ideal of the education of all the people, yet the movement
did accomplish at least these three things: (1) By penetrating almost
every county or district in the State, the schools served to awaken
the Negroes to the need of education and to demonstrate to all
persons that it was practicable to educate them; (2) it led up to the
establishment of the public schools and left for this system material
equipment in the form of school buildings and furniture; and (3),
greatest of all, the combined efforts of the Freedmen's Bureau and
the societies left the State with institutions of higher grade—the
principal source of teachers for the common schools.
Luther P. Jackson

FOOTNOTES:
[1] This dissertation was submitted in partial fulfilment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Faculty of Education
of Columbia University in 1922.
[2] I. The sources for this dissertation are:
1. Public Documents. Senate: 38 Cong., 1 Sess., Vol. 1, No. 1—Letter
from freedmen's aid societies, Dec. 17, 1863. 39 Cong., 1 Sess., Vol. 2,
No. 27—Reports of assistant commissioners, Dec. 1, 1865, to March 6,
1866. 39 Cong., 2 Sess., Vol. 1, No. 6—Reports of assistant
commissioners, Jan. 3, 1867. House Executive Documents. 39 Cong., 1
Sess., Vol. 7, No. 11; 39 Cong., 2 Sess., Vol. 3, No. 1; 40 Cong., 2 Sess.,
Vol. 2, No. 1; 40 Cong., 3 Sess., Vol. 3, No. 1; 41 Cong., 2 Sess., Vol. 6,
No. 142; 41 Cong., 3 Sess., Vol. 1, No. 1; 42 Cong., 2 Sess., Vol. 1, No. 1

—Reports of Howard as Commissioner, Dec. 1865-Dec. 1871. United
States Statutes at Large, Vols. 13-17. (Boston).
2. Reports of General Superintendent and the Societies. J. W. Alvord,
Schools and Finances of Freedmen (Washington, 1866); J. W. Alvord,
Semi-annual reports, 1867-'70; J. W. Alvord, Letters from the South,
relating to the condition of freedmen, Addressed to General O. O.
Howard (Washington, 1870); American Missionary Association, Annual
report, 1862-1872; Educational Commission for freedmen, Annual report,
No. 1, 1862-'63 (Boston, 1863); and New England Freedmen's Aid
Society, Annual report, No. 2, 1863-'64; New York National Freedmen's
Relief Association, Annual report, 1865-'66 (N. Y., 1866). Ibid., Brief
History with 4th annual report, 1865; Friends Association of Philadelphia
for the Aid and Elevation of Freedmen, Annual report, 1866-71;
Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Annual
report, 1869-'72; American Baptist Home Mission Society, Annual report,
1863-'72; and Board of Missions for Freedmen of the Presbyterian
Church, Annual report, 1869-'70.
3. Newspapers and Periodicals. The New York Times; The New York
Tribune; The Charleston Daily Courier; The Darlington New Era; The
Columbia Phoenix; The Nation. The Atlantic Monthly, vol. XII (Sept.,
1863). Edward L. Pierce—"The Freedmen at Port Royal"; Atlantic
Monthly, vol. XII (May-June, 1864). Charlotte S. Forten, Life on the Sea
Islands, The North American Review, vol. CI (July, 1865); William C.
Gannet, The Freedmen at Port Royal; The Southern Workman, vol. XXX
(July, 1901). Laura M. Towne, Pioneer Work on the Sea Islands; The
American Missionary, 1862-'72, organ of the American Missionary
Association; The American Freedman, 1866-'68 (incomplete), organ of
American Freedmen's Union Commission; The National Freedman,
1865-66 (incomplete), organ of New York National Freedman's Relief
Association; Pennsylvania Freedmen's Bulletin, 1866-'67 (incomplete),
organ of Pennsylvania Freedmen's Relief Association; Freedmen's
Record and Freedmen's Journal, 1865-'68 (incomplete), organ of New
England Freedmen's Aid Society; The Freedman, London, 1866
(incomplete), organ of London Freedmen's Aid Society; and The Baptist
Home Mission Monthly, 1878-'80, organ of American Baptist Home
Mission Society.
4. Diary, Reminiscences, and Autobiography. Eliza Ware Pearson (editor),
Letters from Port Royal, written at the time of the Civil War (Boston,
1906); Rupert S. Holland (editor), Letters and Diary of Laura M. Towne,
written from the sea islands of South Carolina, 1862-1884 (Cambridge,
1912); Henry N. Sherwood (editor), Journal of Mrs. Susan Walker, March
3d to June 6th, 1862. Quarterly publication of the Historical and
Philosophical Society of Ohio, vol. 1, No. 1, 1912; Eliz Hyde Botume,
First days among the Contrabands (Boston, 1893); Oliver O. Howard,
Autobiography, 2 vols., vol. 2 (New York, 1907); and A. Toomer Porter,
The History of a Work of Faith and Love in Charleston, S. C. (New York,
1882).
5. Description and Travel. Charles Nordhoff, The Freedmen of South
Carolina; some account of their appearance, condition and peculiar

customs (New York, 1863); Whitelaw Reid, After the War, A Southern
Tour, May 1, 1865, to May 1, 1866 (New York, 1866); and Sidney
Andrews, The South Since the War as Shown by 14 Weeks Travel in
Georgia and the Carolinas, 1866.
II. Secondary Sources. Myrta L. Avary, Dixie After the War (New York,
1906); Laura J. Webster, Operation of the Freedmen's Bureau in South
Carolina, Smith College Studies in History, vol. 1, 1915-'16; Paul S.
Pierce, The Freedmen's Bureau, University of Iowa Studies (Iowa City,
1904); Thomas Jesse Jones, Negro Education, U. S. Bureau of
Education, Bulletins, 1916, Nos. 38 and 39; Colyer Meriwether, History of
Higher Education in South Carolina, U. S. Bureau of Education, Circular
of Information, No. 3, 1888; William W. Sweet, The Methodist Episcopal
Church and the Civil War (Cincinnati, 1912); Amory D. Mayo, Work of
Northern Churches in the Education of the Freedmen. Advanced sheets.
U. S. Bureau of Education. Chapter V, 1903; Bowyer Stewart, The Work
of the Church in the South during the Period of Reconstruction
(Episcopalian). Hale Memorial Sermon, 1913 (Chicago, 1913); J. P.
Hollis, Early Period of Reconstruction in South Carolina. Johns Hopkins
University. History and Political Studies, 1905; Negro Year Book, 1918-
'19 (Tuskegee, Alabama); Charleston Year Book, 1880; and W. E. B.
DuBois, Souls of Black Folk (Chicago, 1903).
[3] Not to be confused with the more familiar Gen. W. T. Sherman
mentioned later.
[4] Gannet, North American Review, vol. 101 (1865), p. 2.
[5] Laura M. Towne, Southern Workman, July, 1901, "Life on the Sea
Islands"; Journal of Mrs. Susan Walker; Charles Nordhoff, The Freedmen
of South Carolina.
[6] The Nation, vol. I (1865), p. 744. Sidney Andrews, The South
Since the War, p. 228.
[7] Charlotte S. Forten, in The Atlantic Monthly, vol. XIII (May, 1864),
p. 593; Botume, First Days among the Contrabands, p. 11.
[8] New York National Freedmen's Relief Association, Annual Report,
1866, pp. 5-6.
[9] Ibid., pp. 8-9.
[10] Journal of Susan Walker, p. 11; Boston Ed. Commission, Annual
Report, 1863, p. 7; Letters from Port Royal, pp. 2-3.
[11] Pierce, in The Atlantic Monthly, vol. XII, 1863, p. 299.
[12] Ibid., p. 292.
[13] Nordhoff, The Freedmen of South Carolina, p. 12.
[14] Journal of Susan Walker, p. 14.
[15] Congressional Globe, 41 Cong., 3 Sess., vol. I, No. 1.
[16] J. W. Alvord, Fifth Semi-annual Report (Jan. 1, '68), p. 4.
[17] New York Tribune, June 17, 1862.

[18] "Cabins of slaves for religious meetings."
[19] Botume, First Days among the Contrabands, p. 42.
[20] The American Missionary, vol. VI (Aug., 1862), p. 186.
[21] House Executive Documents, 41 Cong., 2 Sess., vol. VI, No. 142,
p. 4.
[22] Pierce, in The Atlantic Monthly, vol. XII (1863), p. 303.
[23] The Nation, vol. I (1865), p. 745.
[24] Laura M. Towne, Southern Workman, July, 1901, p. 337. Nordhoff,
p. 10.
[25]
"Oh, none in all the world before
Were ever glad as we!
We're free on Carolina's shore,
We're all at home and free.

"We hear no more the driver's horn
No more the whip we fear,
This holy day that saw Thee born
Was never half so dear.

"The very oaks are greener clad,
The waters brighter smile;
Oh, never shone a day so glad
On sweet St. Helen's Isle.

"Come once again, O blessed Lord!
Come walking on the sea!
And let the mainlands hear the word
That sets the islands free!"
See Pierce, in The Atlantic Monthly, vol. XII, p. 305; Letters from Port
Royal, p. 133.
[26] The Nation, vol. I (1865), p. 747.
[27] Botume, First Days among the Contrabands, p. 64.
[28] The Nation, vol. I (1865), p. 746.
[29] N. E. Freedman's Aid Society, Annual Report, 1864, p. 15.
[30] Senate Executive Documents, 38 Cong., 1 Sess., vol. I, No. 1, pp.
2-6.
[31] House Executive Documents, 41 Cong., 2 Sess., vol. VI, No. 142,
p. 11.
[32] Ibid., 39 Cong., 1 Sess., vol. VII, No. 11, p. 49.
[33] National Freedman, Oct., 1865, p. 300.
[34] Howard, Autobiography, vol. II, p. 221.
[35] Statutes at Large, XIV, p. 176.

[36] Ibid., p. 486.
[37] U. S. Bureau of Ed. Bulletin, 1916, No. 38, pp. 269-271; Annual
Reports of Societies, 1863-1868.
[38] The Freedmen's Record (1865-1874), quoted in Bulletin, 1916,
No. 38, p. 297.
[39] The Freedman, August, 1865, p. 12.
[40] J. W. Alvord, Semi-annual Report, July 1, 1869, p. 81.
[41] W. W. Sweet, Methodist Episcopal Church and the Civil War, p.
175.
[42] A. D. Mayo, Northern Churches and the Freedmen, p. 300.
[43] A. D. Mayo, Northern Churches and the Freedmen, p. 291.
[44] U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin (1916), No. 39, p. 16.
[45] National Freedman, May 1, 1865, p. 122; Ibid., April 30, 1865, p.
150. American Freedman, May, 1866, p. 29.
[46] Charleston Year Book (1880), p. 122.
[47] See Carter G. Woodson, Education of the Negro Prior to 1861, p.
129.
[48] Sidney Andrews, The South Since the War, p. 98.
[49] National Freedman, June 1, 1865, p. 150.
[50] National Freedman, Nov. 15, 1865, p. 314; Ibid., May, 1866, pp.
139-140.
[51] J. W. Alvord, Report, Jan. 1, 1868, p. 27. American Freedman,
July-August, 1868, p. 442.
[52] The American Freedman, May, 1866, p. 261. This does not,
however, indicate in all cases the number of schools at each town.
[53] The school at Camden increased in size the next year.
[54] J. W. Alvord, Report, Jan. 1, 1870, p. 25.
[55] Freedmen's Aid Society of the M. E. Church, Annual Report, 1871,
pp. 19-20.
[56] Mayo, Northern Churches and the Freedmen, p. 300.
[57] Letters and Diary of Laura M. Towne, p. 221.
[58] American Missionary Ass'n Annual Report, 1870, p. 221.
[59] History of the A. M. A., p. 36; Annual Report, 1868, p. 47; Mayo, p.
287.
[60] The Nation, vol. 1 (1865), p. 778.
[61] American Baptist Home Mission Society, Annual Report, 1872, p.
26.
[62] Merriwether, History of Higher Education in South Carolina, p. 125;
Annual Report (1872) F. A. S., p. 17.

[63] Charleston Year Book (1880), pp. 126-127; Annual Report (1870)
Presbyterian Committee, p. 12.
[64] Porter, Work of Faith and Love, p. 6; Stewart, Work of the Church
during Reconstruction, p. 63.
[65] Annual Report (1866) Friends Ass'n, p. 8.
[66] A. M. A. Annual Report (1864), p. 16.
[67] Freedmen's Journal, Jan. 1, 1865, p. 3.
[68] Ibid., p. 7.
[69] National Freedman, Feb., 1866, p. 49.
[70] Letters from Port Royal; Letters and Diary of Laura M. Towne.
[71] Pennsylvania Freedmen's Bulletin, Oct., 1866, p. 1.
[72] Baptist Home Mission Monthly (1879), p. 6.
[73] Columbia Phoenix, March 21, 1865.
[74] Merriwether, History of Higher Education in South Carolina, p. 115.
[75] House Executive Documents, 39 Cong., 1 Sess., vol. VII, No. 11,
p. 13.
[76] J. W. Alvord, Semi-annual Report (July 1, 1867), p. 25.
[77] The Nation, vol. III, Oct. 25, 1866.
[78] Alvord, Semi-annual Report (Jan. 1, 1870), p. 26.
[79] The New Era, July 28, 1865.
[80] Alvord, Report, Aug. 6, 1866, p. 5.
[81] New York Times, Aug. 14, 1866.
[82] Porter, Work of Faith and Love, p. 6; The Nation, vol. II (1866); p.
770.
[83] Charleston Courier, Feb. 15, 1867; American Freedman, April,
1867, p. 204.
[84] The school referred to here is the one already mentioned, the
Penn Normal and Agricultural School. It is an excellent community school
and one especially fitted for St. Helena, the population of which is still
largely colored. See United States Bureau of Education Bulletin (1916),
No. 39, p. 483. Miss Towne remained in service 39 years, Miss Schofield
48 years, and Miss Munro at Mt. Pleasant 45 years.
[85] United States Census, 1860.
[86] Hurd, Law of Freedom and Bondage, II, p. 98.
[87] Baptist Home Mission Monthly, June, 1879, p. 182.
[88] Freedmen's Record, April, 1868, p. 50.
[89] Freedmen's Aid Society, Annual Report (1871), p. 13.
[90] H. Ex. Docs., 40 Cong., 2 Sess., vol. II, No. 1, p. 8.

[91] J. W. Alvord, Report on Schools and Finances of Freedmen, July,
1866, p. 6.
[92] American Freedman, July, 1868, p. 446.
[93] National Freedman, Oct., 1865, p. 299.
[94] Whitelaw Reid, After the War, pp. 89-91.
[95] National Freedman, June, 1866, p. 169.
[96] Freedmen's Record, April, 1868, p. 52.
[97] Anderson Intelligencer, July, 1867, quoted in The American
Freedman, Aug., 1867, p. 264.
[98] American Freedman, Feb., 1867, p. 168.
[99] Letters from Port Royal, p. 37; The Freedmen's Journal, Jan. 1,
1865, pp. 13-15; W. C. Gannet, North American Review, vol. CI (1865), p.
24.
[100] Pierce, in Atlantic Monthly, vol. 12 (1863), p. 305.
[101] A. M. A. Annual Report, 1866, p. 27; 1867, pp. 32-33; National
Freedman, May, 1866, p. 142.

T HE REL I G I O N O F T HE AM ERI CAN NEG RO
SL AVE: HI S AT T I T UDE TO WARD L I F E AND
DEAT H

I propose to discuss the religious behavior of the American Negro
slave, between 1619 and the close of the Civil War, first, by a brief
discussion of the religion of the tribes in Africa, and the tendency of
the old habits and traditions to maintain themselves among the
American slave; second, by a consideration of what the slave found
in America, and his contact with another religious culture called
Christianity; and third, by a description of the slave's reaction to a
Christian environment, or what the slave's religious behavior really
was.[1] My thesis is that the religion of Africa disappeared from the
consciousness of the American slave; that the slave himself, by
contact with a new environment, became a decidedly different
person, having a new religion, a primitive Christianity, with the
central emphasis, not upon this world, but upon heaven.[2]
My task is to show that the religion of the Negro slave between 1619
and the Civil War did not originate in Africa, but was something
totally different from the prevailing religion of the black continent in
that it placed emphasis upon heaven; and that this distinctive
element in the religion of the slave grew out of his contact with
Christianity in America. In taking this position I have tried to give due
weight to those considerations which tend to support a contrary
position, such as the inertia of African habits and traditions in the life
of the American slave, and the hostile tendency of his social
surroundings to religious development.[3] On the other hand, I have
considered the disintegrating effects of the American slave system
upon black groups that originated in Africa, together with the
American slave's new social contacts, which produced in him the
religious attitude found, and out of which arose the early slave-
preacher and church. Finally, I have attempted to show that the

naive imagery and emphasis in the "spirituals" are selected elements
that helped the slave adjust himself to his particular world.
Our beginning is with the prevailing religion of Africa, Fetishism.
Authorities use the term "Fetishism" as the "(a) worship of inanimate
objects, often regarded as purely African; (b) Negro religion in
general; (c) the worship of inanimate objects conceived as the
residence of spirits not inseparably bound up with, nor originally
connected with, such objects; (d) the doctrine of spirits embodied in,
or attached to, or conceiving influence through certain material
objects;[4] (e) the use of charms, which are not worshipped, but
derive their magical power from a god or spirit; (f) the use as charms
of objects regarded as magically potent in themselves."
All of the elements embodied in this definition are found, generally, in
the primitive religions of the African peoples. Believing that persons
and objects of this world were inhabited by spirits, the African
necessarily accounted for the phenomena of the universe by the
arbitrary will of spiritual beings, whom he feared, and, therefore,
worshipped, or sought to control by magic. Unable thus to find
companionship with these unseen, mysterious personalities, the men
of Africa knew no land of sunshine beyond the dreadful shadow of
the grave; but the American slave, who experienced death as a short
period of darkness before a day of eternal glory, did not inherit the
fears of Africa.
Now what did the slave bring from Africa? In answering this question
let us consider what is commonly referred to as the inertia of African
heritage. American missionaries reported that it was harder to teach
the slaves who were born in Africa than those born in this country.
This quotation from the Calendar of State Papers, Colonial America
and West Indies, 1699, Section 473, supports this view: "Negroes
born in this country were generally baptized, but for Negroes
imported, the gross barbarity and rudeness of their manners, the
variety and strangeness of their language, and the weakness and
shallowness of their minds rendered it in a manner impossible to
attain to any progress in their conversion."[5]

Two definite cases bear a similar testimony, the one being that of
Phyllis Wheatley, a girl brought here from Africa, who spoke of how
her mother there worshipped the rising sun, the other, this story
related by a man concerning his grandfather: "He was an old man,
nearly 80 years old," he said, "and he manifested all the fondness for
me that I could expect from one so old.... He always expressed
contempt for his fellow slaves, for when young he was an African of
rank.... He had singular religious notions, never going to meeting, or
caring for the preachers he could, if he would, occasionally hear. He
retained his native traditions respecting the deity and hereafter."[6]
Other cases, though few, clearly demonstrate that among the
American slaves also there existed a belief in ghosts and a lurking
fear of the denizens of a mysterious world. But what was religion in
Africa was generally regarded by the American slaves themselves as
mere superstition.
The hostility of masters to new slave-contacts had some bearing on
the situation. Whatever superstition, whether from Africa or another
source, we find among the slaves, had a tendency to maintain itself
the more because of the attitude of some masters toward the
religious education of their bondmen. Slaves of those owners, who,
through love of money, were indifferent toward education,
encouraged in vice and superstition, had no time for religious
training. Although, ever since 1619, and especially after the rebellion
of Nat Turner, there were some slaves whose eagerness to learn
occasioned State-laws against the education or assembling of
slaves, nevertheless, during the entire period there was a countless
number of slaves who were absolutely disinterested in their own
education. They were also handicapped in religious advancement,
because many owners believed that baptism made the slave free,
which belief was prevalently held until 1729, when the Christian
nations finally reached the decision that baptism did not mean
manumission, and that even a Christian could be a slave.[7] Such a
sentiment against the contact of slaves with the Christian religion,
beyond doubt, tended to keep them in ignorance and superstition,
and to develop among them religious habits and attitudes peculiar to

an isolated group, but the point can be over-emphasized, in view of
all that actually happened.
Dr. Park says: "Coming from all parts of Africa and having no
common language, and common tradition, the memories of Africa
which they brought with them were soon lost.... The fact that the
Negro brought with him from Africa so little tradition which he was
able to transmit and perpetuate on American soil makes that race
unique among all peoples of our cosmopolitan population."[8] In
connection herewith, moreover, we must also take into account that
slave-groups, upon reaching America, were broken up and the
members thereof sold into different parts of the country, where new
habits had to be formed, because of a different environment.
Contrasting the life in Africa with that of slaves in America,
Washington better expresses the idea in these words: "The porters,
carrying their loads along the narrow forest paths, sing of the loved
ones in their far-away homes. In the evening the people of the
villages gather around the fire and sing for hours. These songs refer
to war, to hunting, and to the spirits that dwell in the deep woods. In
them all the wild and primitive life of the people is reflected....
"There is a difference, however, between the music of Africa and that
of her transplanted children. There is a new note in the music which
had its origin in the Southern plantations, and in this new note the
sorrow and the sufferings which came from serving in a strange land
find expression."[9]
Let us direct attention to what the Negro slave found in America, a
Christian atmosphere. With their various groups broken into
fragments and scattered by the American slave-trade, as the slaves
here learned the English language, they were more able to
assimilate the elements of Christianity found in American life. Sold
into Christian homes, but gathered with their masters around the
family altar, they became actual participants in the singing and
praying that broke the morning and evening silence of those eventful
days. The old records show that from the very beginning of American
slavery[10] slaves experienced Christianity through the conscious
help of some masters, and later, as the whites saw that the Christian
religion made the Negroes better slaves and did not set them free,

the blacks secured more favorable opportunities for religious
instruction. In some States masters were required even by legislation
to look after the religious education of their slaves.[11] In Louisiana,
for example, planters were obliged by the Code Noir to have their
Negroes instructed and baptized, to give them Sundays and holidays
for rest and worship. But, even when not required by law, a few
owners established schools for their slaves, and either taught or
hired others to teach them "the way of eternal life."
So it is reported that by the 19th century: "Few Negroes escaped
some religious instruction from those good people. Usually on
Sunday afternoons, but sometimes in the morning, the slaves would
be gathered in the great house and lessons in the catechism had to
be learned. The Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten
Commandments were also taught. Hymns were sung and prayers
rose to Heaven. Many good masters read sermons to their slaves.
Other masters hired ministers.... Others preached themselves."[12]
Another source of contact with Christianity was that resulting from
the attitude of persons who worked, not for the religious
development of their own slaves alone, but who, with a larger human
interest, unmindful of the benefits that might come to their individual
households, gave their lives to bless all slaves. One of the very
purposes of American slavery being to benefit the slaves, one can
readily see how missionary work among them grew with the system
of slavery itself.
"After 1716," Woodson tells us, "when Jesuits were taking over
slaves in large numbers, and especially after 1726, when Law's
Company was importing many to meet the demand for laborers in
Louisiana, we read of more instances of the instruction of Negroes
by the Catholics. ... Le Petit spoke of being 'settled to the instruction
of the boarders, the girls who live without, and the Negro women.' In
1738 he said, 'I instruct in Christian morals the slaves of our
residence, who are Negroes, and as many others as I can get from
their masters.'"
Awakened by what the zealous French in Louisiana were doing,
English missionaries made progressive plans for preaching the

gospel to the blacks. During the 18th century numerous
missionaries, catechists, and school-masters, sent from England to
America, founded schools for the slaves, and distributed many
sermons, lectures, and Bibles among them. In 1705 Thomas
counted among his communicants in South Carolina twenty Negroes
who could read and write. Later, making a report of the work he and
his associates were doing, he said: "I have here presumed to give an
account of 1,000 slaves so far as they know of it and are desirous of
Christian knowledge and seem willing to prepare themselves for it, in
learning to read, for which they redeem the time from their labor.
Many of them can read the Bible distinctly, and great numbers of
them were learning when I left the province."[14]
"After some opposition," Woodson further says, "this work began to
progress somewhat in Virginia. The first school established in that
colony was for Indians and Negroes.... On the binding out a 'bastard
or pauper-child black or white,' churchwardens specifically required
that he should be taught 'to read and write and calculate as well as
to follow some profitable form of labor.' ... Reports of an increase in
the number of colored communicants came from Accomac County
where four or five hundred families were instructing their slaves at
home and had their children catechised on Sunday."[15]
Side by side with the work done by missionaries, men of different
denominations vied with one another in bringing slaves into the light
of a Christian atmosphere. Some founded Sunday schools, some
preached of the "inner light in every man," others more successfully
preached salvation by faith in the power of a risen Christ, who died
for the sins of men. Soon after the first Negroes were placed upon
the shores of Jamestown, slaves began to be baptized, and received
into the Episcopal Church. Earnest says that "at least one Negro
was baptized soon after the contact with the colonists in Virginia."[16]
Washington says that only five years after slavery was introduced
into Virginia a Negro child named William was baptized, and that
from that time on the names of Negroes can be found upon the
register of most of the churches. In the old record-book of Bruton
Parish, 1,122[17] Negro-baptisms were recorded between 1746 and
1797.[18] In 1809 there were about 9,000 Negro Baptists in Virginia.

[19] The African Baptist Church of Richmond alone subsequently
increased from 1,000 to 3,832 in 24 years. The Methodist Magazine
of October, 1827, reports that as early as 1817 there were 43,411
Negro members in the Methodist societies.[20]
"The Negro seems, from the beginning," says Washington, "to have
been very closely associated with the Methodists in the United
States. When the Reverend Thomas Coke was ordained by John
Wesley, as Superintendent or Bishop of the American Society in
1784, he was accompanied on most of his travels throughout the
United States by Harry Hosier, a colored minister who was at the
same time the Bishop's servant and an evangelist of the Church.
Harry Hosier, who was the first American Negro preacher of the
Methodist Church in the United States, was one of the notable
characters of his day."[21]
Let us now consider the effects of these early religious contacts
upon the life of slave-preachers, some of whom were comparatively
well educated. Concerning Jack of Virginia it is said that "his
opinions were respected, his advice followed, and yet he never
betrayed the least symptoms of arrogance or self-conceit. His
dwelling was a rude log-cabin, his apparel was of the plainest,
coarsest materials.... He refused gifts of better clothing, saying,
'These clothes are a great deal better than are generally worn by
people of my color, and, besides, if I wear them I find I shall be
obliged to think about them even at meetings.'"[22]
With an influence among the slaves equal to Jack's, two other Negro
messengers of the gospel, Andrew Bryan and Samson, his brother,
who earlier had appeared in Georgia, were publicly whipped and
imprisoned with 50 companions, but they joyously declared that they
would suffer death for their faith found in Christ, whom they expected
to preach until death.[23] By their uncompromising attitude,[24] which
silenced opponents and raised up friends, they won for themselves
among the slaves that sacred esteem belonging to saintly martyrs
like Polycarp, Huss, and Fox.
There were other itinerant ministers in these days, who were either
given their freedom or purchased it by working as common laborers

while preaching. Being better educated, and more closely in contact
with the religious life of the whites than the masses of slaves, they
were carriers of Christian sentiment from the whites to the blacks,
inspiring them with the hope of life in an unseen world. One day
there arrived in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Henry Evans, a
Methodist preacher, a free Negro from Virginia, who worked as a
carpenter during the week and preached on Sunday. Forbidden by
the Town Council of Fayetteville to preach, he made his meetings
secret, changing them from time to time until he was tolerated. Just
before his death, while leaning on the altar-rail, he said to his
followers:
"I have come to say my last word to you. It is this: None but Christ.
Three times I have had my life in jeopardy for preaching the gospel
to you. Three times I have broken the ice on the edge of the water
and swam across the Cape Fear to preach the gospel to you, and if
in my last hour I could trust to that or anything but Christ crucified, for
my salvation, all should be lost, and my soul perish forever."[25]
Some of these ministers led an independent movement. Six years
after Richard Allen, with a few followers, withdrew in 1790 from the
Free African Society in Philadelphia,[26] and started an independent
Methodist Church in a blacksmith shop, Negro members of the
Methodist Episcopal Church in New York began separate meetings.
After pastoring a white church,[27] Josiah Bishop started the First
Colored Baptist Church of Portsmouth in 1791. Finding
accommodations in the white church of Richmond inadequate, the
Negroes petitioned for separate meetings in 1823.[28] Harding,
speaking of the opportunity of religious instruction and of divine
worship allowed the slaves in Kentucky, says that "in every church-
edifice, seats were set apart for the occupancy of colored
worshippers.... Almost every neighborhood had its Negro preacher
whose credentials, if his own assertion was to be taken, came
directly from the Lord."[29]
What were the results of these contacts? The most important was
that with its charming stories of the creation of the universe, of the
Egyptian bondage, and of the journey across the Red Sea, with its
New Testament emphasis upon the power, death, and resurrection of

Christ, with its apocalyptic imagery, the Bible became to the slave
the most sacred book of books. Upon its pages he saw the tears of
men and women constantly fall, and from its truths he saw the pious
preacher choose words suitable for exhortation. The peculiar interest
of the Negro-slave in reading this book was soon apparent.
One old man, being secretly taught by a slave-girl to read the Bible,
said, with trembling voice, while tears were falling from his
penetrating eyes: "Honey, it 'pears when I can read dis good book I
shall be nearer to God."[31] Another slave prayed thus: "I pray de
good massa Lord will put it into de niggers' hearts to larn to read de
good book. Ah, Lord, make de letters in our spelling books big and
plain, and make our eyes bright and shining, and make our hearts
big and strong for to larn.... Oh, Hebbenly Fader, we tank De for
makin' our massas willin' to let us come to dis school."[32]
Upon a battlefield of the Civil War, another, a soldier, said: "Let me
lib wid dis musket in one hand an' de Bible in de oder,—dat if I die at
de muzzle ob de musket, die in de water, die on de land, I may know
I hab de bressed Jesus in my hand an' hab no fear."[33]
How the text from Hebrews 2:9, "That He, by the grace of God,
should taste of death for every man," became a part of his life, was
told by Josiah Henson after becoming free: "This was the first text of
the Bible to which I had ever listened, knowing it to be such. I have
never forgotten it, and scarce a day has passed since, in which I
have not recalled it, and the sermon that was preached from it. The
divine character of Jesus Christ, his life and teachings, his sacrifice
of himself for others, his death and resurrection were all alluded to,
and some of the points were dwelt upon with great power.... I was
wonderfully impressed, too, with the use which the preacher made of
the last words of the text, 'for every man' ... the bond as well as the
free; and he dwelt on the glad tidings of the Gospel to the poor, the
persecuted ... till my heart burned within me, and I was in a state of
greatest excitement ... that such a being ... should have died for me
... a poor slave...."[34]
Contemporaries assert that often while following the plow, gathering
up the frosty corn, or driving the ox-cart to the barn, slaves, burning

with enthusiasm, talked of how much sermons satisfied their hungry
souls. Household and plantation slaves, gray-haired fathers and
mothers with their children, crowded eagerly to hear the gospel
preached. Thus Earnest says of one man: "His slaves came 17 miles
to reach Mr. Wright's nearest preaching place."[35] Concerning the
spread of the Christian religion among the slaves on the seaboard of
South Carolina, it is affirmed that "the scenes on the Sabbath were
affecting. The Negroes came in crowds from two parishes. Often
have I seen (a scene, I reckon, not often witnessed) groups of them
'double-quicking' in the roads, in order to reach the church in time....
The white service being over, the slaves would throng the seats
vacated by their masters...."[36] John Thompson, in the story of his
life, says that, "As soon as it got among the slaves, it spread from
plantation to plantation, until it reached ours where there were but
few who did not experience religion."[37]
From the blighting, superstitious fears of a heartless universe, the
heralds of Christianity brought to the slave words of hope and
salvation, a message of companionship with a heavenly father. "You
are poor slaves and have a hard time of it here," said they, "but I can
tell you the blessed Savior shed his blood for you as much as for
your masters.... Break off from all your wicked ways, your lying,
stealing, swearing, drunkenness, and vile lewdness; give yourselves
to prayer and repentance and fly to Jesus, and give up your heart to
him in true earnest; and flee from the wrath to come."[38]
Fred Douglass relates that "the preaching of a white Methodist
minister, named Hanson, was the means of causing me to feel that
in God I had such a friend. He thought that all men, great and small,
bond and free, were sinners in the sight of God: that they were by
nature rebels against his government; and that they must repent of
their sins, and be reconciled to God through Christ.... I was
wretched."[39]
Besides definite principles of morality which included humble
submission to the divine right of masters, Negro slaves were also
taught that "parents who meet their children in heaven will be more
than consoled for their early death." "You can not imagine," said they,
"what happiness is in reserve for you from this source.... When you

have entered heaven you will probably be met by a youthful spirit
who will call you father! mother! Perhaps you have a little family
there, expecting your arrival ... save your own soul."[40]
Exactly what was this religion of the slave? Thus coming into contact
with this Christian environment, the slave consciously lived a new
life, which definitely began with conversion, the phenomenon marked
by a feeling of remorse, inner conflict, prayer, and release of tension,
or what was felt to be "freedom from hell." Prior to conversion he had
been a member of the "disobedient servant-group," perhaps lying,
stealing, drinking, and using profanity; but after conversion, being
initiated into a new group, he had to live a circumspect life.
Conversion, then, meant to the slave that experience by which he
turned his back toward hell and began the journey toward heaven.
Very often it signified retiring to some lonely spot, where the slave
struggled with an unseen power, until freed by Christ, with whom, no
longer a child of fear, he afterwards lived in filial companionship,
hopefully asking and joyfully securing aid in an unfriendly world.
"I always had a natural fear of God from my youth," declared one
slave, describing his feelings leading up to conversion, "and was
often checked in conscience with thoughts of death, which barred
me from my sins and bad company. I knew no other way at that time
to hope for salvation but only in the performance of my good
works.... If it was the will of God to cut me off at that time, I was sure
I should be found in hell, as sure as God was in heaven. I saw my
condemnation in my own heart, and I found no way which I could
escape the damnation of hell, only through the merits of my dying
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; which caused me to make
intercession with Christ, for the salvation of my poor immortal soul....
After this I declared before the congregation of believers the work
which God had done for my soul."[41]
The slaves used to express it thus in song:[42]

"One day when I was walkin' along,
De element opened, an' de love came down,
I never shall forget dat day,
When Jesus washed my sins away."
They also sang such words as these:[43]
"Jesus snatched me from de doors of hell,
An' took me in with him to dwell."
"Jesus told you ... go in peace an' sin no mo'."
"Soul done anchored in Jesus Christ."
With reference to the wilderness, where, without food, they
overcame the spirit of evil by the aid of Jesus, and with reference to
the life led after having this experience, the slaves sang with much
feeling:[44]
"All true children gwine in de wilderness,
Gwine in de wilderness, gwine in de wilderness,
True believers gwine in de wilderness,
To take away de sins ob de world."

"Stay in the field, stay in the field, stay in
the field, till de war is ended."[45]

"You say your Jesus set-a you free;
View de land, view de land,
Why don't you let-a your neighbor be,
Go view de heavenly land.
You say you're aiming for de skies,
Why don't you stop-a your telling lies?"[46]
Another ceremonial feature of slave-conversion was the shout, in
which the prospective convert, upon the "mourners' bench,"
surrounded by a group of singing dancers, prayed continually, until
convinced of perfect relief from damnation, when he leaped and ran
to proclaim the joyous news. When shouting, whether for making
converts or for mere group-response, these noisy, black singers of
antiphonal songs preferred to be alone in some cabin or in the

praise-house, where they could express themselves with absolute
freedom.
Just how they disturbed the peace is expressed in the following
words: "Almost every night there is a meeting of these noisy, frantic
worshippers.... Midnight! Is that the season for religious
convocation?... is that the accepted time?"[47] Concerning worship by
a light-wood fire another said: "But the benches are pushed back to
the wall when the formal meeting is over, and old and young, men
and women ... begin, first walking and by and by shuffling around,
one after the other, in a ring. The foot is hardly taken from the floor
and the progression is mainly due to a jerking, hitching motion which
agitates the entire shouter and soon brings out streams of
perspiration. Sometimes they dance silently; sometimes as they
shuffle they sing the course of the spiritual, and sometimes the song
itself is also sung by the dancers. But more frequently a band,
composed of some of the best singers and of tired shouters, stand at
the side of the room to 'face' the others singing the body of the song
and dropping their hands together or on their knees. Song and
dance are alike extremely energetic and often, when the shout lasts
into the middle of the night, the monotonous thud, thud of the feet
prevents sleep within half a mile of the praise-house."[48]
"And all night, as I waked at intervals, I could hear them praying and
'shouting' and chattering with hands and heels," relates Colonel T. W.
Higginson. "It seemed to make them very happy, and appeared to be
at least an innocent Christian dissipation ... the dusky figures moved
in the rhythmical barbaric dance the Negroes called a 'shout,'
chanting, often harshly, but always in the most perfect time, some
monotonous refrain."[49]
"By this time every man within hearing, from oldest to youngest,
would be wriggling and shuffling, as if through some piper's
bewitchment; for even those who at first affected contemptuous
indifference would be drawn into the vortex ere long."[50]
Whatever may be said about the "shout," the fact remains, that
whether this ceremony was mere play, or relaxation after a day of
repressing toil, or whether it served to drive away a hostile spirit by

creating within the members of the group the feeling of being
possessed with the power of God, it became an indispensable part
of the slave religious worship. In this Christian dance, the slave
sang: "O shout, shout, de debbil is about, O shut yo' do' an' keep him
out." Through it he expected to destroy the kingdom of Satan, and
thereby make the assurance of reaching heaven more complete.
The feeling gained thereby became spiritual balm for the aches of
by-gone and coming days.[51]
The songs, also, used by the slave in these meetings and sung
generally by the individuals thereof, tell in a very definite way what
the religious attitude of the American Negro slave was. They relate
the sorrows of this world, and the joys felt by the slave, who
anticipated a home in heaven. They describe in naive imagery the
rugged journey of the weary traveler and the land of his happy
destination. "Nothing," says Washington, "tells more truly what the
Negro's life in slavery was, than the songs in which he succeeded,
sometimes, in expressing his deepest thoughts and feelings. What,
for example, could express more eloquently the feelings of despair
which sometimes overtook the slave than these simple and
expressive words:[52] 'O Lord, O my Lord! O my good Lord! keep me
from sinking down.'"
Unable to sing or pray during the lifetime of their master, after his
death, by permission of their mistress, a crowd of Negro slaves sang
the following hymn:
"Oh walk togedder, children,
Don't yer get weary,
Walk togedder, children,
Don't yer get weary,
Walk togedder, children,
Don't yer get weary,
Dere's a great camp meetin' in de Promised Land.
Gwine to mourn an' nebber tire ...
Mourn an' nebber tire,
Mourn an' nebber tire,
Dere's a great camp meetin' in de Promised Land."[53]

With longing for that mother who used to carry him upon her back to
the dewy fields, where she, setting her babe upon the springing
grass at the end of the row, began her daily task with the hoe,
returning now and then to give him of her breast; for her whose
beaming eyes turned back until the coming of the night, when she
again held him in her arms, the slave sang in bitter tears. Her tender
help was gone. Father's smile was no more.[54]
"My mother's sick an' my father's dead,
Got nowhere to lay my weary head."

"My mother an' my father both are dead ...
Good Lord, I cannot stay here by myself.
I'm er pore little orphan chile in de worl',
I'm er pore little orphan chile in de worl' ..."[55]

"My mother'n yo' mother both daid an' gone,
My mother'n yo' mother both daid an' gone,
Po' sinner man he so hard to believe.
My folks an' yo' folks both daid an' gone,
Po' sinner man he so hard to believe.
My brother an' yo' brother both daid an' gone,
Po' sinner man he so hard to believe."[56]
With great hope the slave sang:
"Gwine to see my mother some o' dese mornin's,
See my mother some o' dese mornin's,
See my mother some o' dese mornin's,
Look away in de heaven,
Look away in de heaven, Lord,
Hope I'll jine de band.
Look away in de heaven, Lord,
Hope I'll jine de band."[57]
To express his sorrow and his longing for relief from the burdens of
his condition the slave sang:

"One more valient soldier here,
One more valient soldier here,
One more valient soldier here,
To help me bear de cross."[58]

"My trouble is hard,
O yes,
My trouble is hard,
O yes,
Yes indeed my trouble is hard."[59]

"Nobody knows the trouble I've seen,
Nobody knows but Jesus.
Nobody knows the trouble I've seen,
Glory halleluyah!
Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down!
O yes, Lord!
Sometimes I'm almost to de groun'!
O yes, Lord!
What makes old Satan hate me so?
O yes, Lord,
Because he got me once, but he let me go;
O yes, Lord!"[60]

"Ever since my Lord done set me free,
Dis ole worl' been a hell to me,
I am de light un de worl'."[61]

"Oh, what a hard time,
Oh, what a hard time,
Oh, what a hard time,
All God's children have a hard time.

"Oh, what a hard time,
Oh, what a hard time,
Oh, what a hard time,
My Lord had a hard time too."[62]

"I'm a-trouble in de mind,
O I'm a-trouble in de mind.
I'm a-trouble in de mind,
What you doubt for?
I'm a-trouble in de mind."[63]

"I'm in trouble, Lord,
I'm in trouble.
I'm in trouble, Lord,
Trouble about my grave,
Trouble about my grave,
Trouble about my grave.
Sometimes I weep, sometimes I mourn,
I'm in trouble about my grave;
Sometimes I can't do neither one,
I'm in trouble about my grave."[64]

"My father, how long,
My father, how long,
My father, how long,
Poor sinner suffer here?
And it won't be long,
And it won't be long,
And it won't be long,
Poor sinner suffer here.
We'll soon be free,
De Lord will call us home.
We'll walk de miry road
Where pleasure never dies.
We'll walk de golden streets
Of de new Jerusalem ...
We'll fight for liberty
When de Lord will call us home."[65]

"Gwine rock trubbel over,
I b'lieve,
Rock trubbel over,
I b'lieve,
Dat Sabbath has no end."[66]

"My fader's done wid de trouble o' de world,
Wid de trouble o' de world,
Wid de trouble o' de world,
My fader's done wid de trouble o' de world,
Outshine de sun."[67]
Although the songs above tell the slave's dissatisfaction with the
present world, there are other songs that relate his definite
experiences of joy arising from a feeling of triumph over this world of
sorrow by assurances of a future world of bliss. Some of these songs
of joy are the following:

"I started home, but I did pray,
An' I met ole Satan on de way;
Ole Satan made a one grab at me,
But he missed my soul, an' I went free.
My sins went a-lumberin' down to hell,
An' my soul went a-leapin' up Zion's hill."[68]

"Ole Satan's church is here below.
Up to God's free church I hope to go.
Cry Amen, cry Amen, cry Amen to God!"[69]

"I'm so glad, so glad;
I'm so glad, so glad,
Glad I got religion, so glad,
Glad I got religion, so glad.
I'm so glad, so glad;
I'm so glad, so glad,
Glad I bin' changed, so glad,
Glad I bin' changed, so glad."[70]

"My brudder have a seat and I so glad,
Good news member, good news;
My brudder have a seat and I so glad,
And I heard from heav'n today."[71]

"Brudder, guide me home, an' I am glad,
Bright angels biddy me to come;
Brudder, guide me home, an' I am glad,
Bright angels biddy me to come.
What a happy time, chil'n,
What a happy time, chil'n,
What a happy time, chil'n,
Bright angels biddy me to come.
Let's go to God, chil'n,
Bright angels biddy me to come."[72]

"I jus' got home f'um Jordan,
I jus' got home f'um Jordan,
I jus' got home f'um Jordan,
'Ligion's so-o-o sweet.
My work is done an' I mus' go,
My work is done an' I mus' go,
My work is done an' I mus' go,
'Ligion's so-o-o sweet."[73]

"Shout an' pray both night an' day;
How can you die, you in de Lord?
Come on, chil'n, let's go home;
O I'm so glad you're in de Lord."[74]

"Little children, then won't you be glad,
Little children, then won't you be glad,
That you have been to heav'n, an' you gwine to go again,
For to try on the long white robe, children,
For to try on the long white robe."[75]
Even a slave, when dying, cried: "I am going home! Oh, how glad I
am!"[76] The following hymns also vividly set forth what happy anxiety
the slave felt about his journey "home."
"Gwine to weep, gwine to mourn,
Gwine to get up early in de morn,
Fo' my soul's goin' to heaven jes' sho's you born,
Brother Gabriel goin' ter blow his horn.
Goin' to sing, goin' to pray,
Goin' to pack all my things away,
Fo' my soul's goin' to heaven jes' sho's you born,
Brother Gabriel gwine ter blow his horn."[77]

"I want to go to Canaan,
I want to go to Canaan,
I want to go to Canaan,
To meet 'em at de comin' day."[78]

"I'm goin' home fer to see my Lord,
Bear yo' burden, sinner,
An' don't you wish you could go 'long
Bear yo' burden, let in the heat."[79]

"Oh, my mudder's in de road,
Most done trabelling;
My mudder's in de road,
Most done trabelling,
My mudder's in de road,
Most done trabelling,
I'm bound to carry my soul to de Lord."[80]

"Run, Mary, run,
Run, Mary, run,
Oh, run, Mary, run,
I know de oder worl' 'm not like dis.
Fire in de east an' fire in de west,
I know de oder worl' 'm not like dis,
Bound to burn de wilderness,
I know de oder worl' 'm not like dis.
Jordan's ribber is a ribber to cross,
I know de oder worl' 'm not like dis,
Stretch your rod an' come across,
I know de oder worl' 'm not like dis."[81]

"We will march through the valley in peace,
We will march through the valley in peace;
If Jesus himself be our leader,
We will march through the valley in peace."[82]

"My sister's goin' to heaven fer to see my Lord,
To see my Lord, to see my Lord;
Well, my sister's goin' to heaven, to see my Lord,
What's de onbelievin' soul?"[83]

"Bend-in' knees a-ach-in'
Body racked wid pain,
I wish I was a child of God,
I'd git home bim-by.
Keep prayin; I do believe
We're a long time waggin o' de crossin,
Keep prayin; I do believe
We'll git home to heaven bim-by.
O yonder's my old mudder,
Been a-waggin' at the hill so long;
It's about time she cross over,
Git home bim-by.
O hear dat lumerin' thunder
A-roll from do' to do',
A-callin' de people home to God;
Dey'll git home bim-by."[84]

"When the roll is called up yonder,
I'll be there.
By the grace of God up yonder,
I'll be there.
Yes my home is way up yonder,
An' I'll be there.
I got a mother way up yonder,
I'll be there.
I got a sister way up yonder,
I'll be there."[85]
Although this world was a hell to the slave, still he could wait here
with patience until the time of death, after which he would see the
real home of his inner longing. To the slave heaven was a beautiful,
comfortable place beyond the sky. It had golden streets and a sea of

glass, upon which angels danced and sang in praise to Him upon the
golden throne. There was no sun to burn one in that bright land of
never-ending Sabbath. There kindred and friends reunited in the
happiest relationships. The slave was poor, hampered, and sorrowful
in this world; but in that world above, whose glory falling stars and
melting elements would signify in the day of judgment, he would be
rich and free to sing, shout, walk, and fly about carrying the news.
There he would know no tears or the sorrow of parting, but only rest
from toil and care, in the delightful companionship of the heavenly
groups.
"Dere's no rain to wet you,
O, yes, I want to go home.
Dere's no sun to burn you,
O, yes, I want to go home.
O, push along believers,
O, yes, I want to go home.
Dere's no hard trials,
O, yes, I want to go home.
Dere's no whips a crackin'
O, yes, I want to go home."[86]

"Oh de hebben is shinin', shinin',
O Lord, de hebben is shinin' full ob love.
Oh, Fare-you-well, friends,
I'm gwine to tell you all,
Gwine to leave you all a-mine eyes to close;
De hebben is shinin' full ob love."[87]

"How sweet a Sabbath thus to spend,
In hope of one that ne'er shall end."[88]

"Yes my mother's goin' to heaven to outshin the sun,
An it's way beyon' the moon."[89]

"Po' man goin' to heaven,
Rich man goin' to hell,
For Po' man got his starry crown,
Rich man got his wealth."[90]

"Well there are sinners here and sinners there,
An' there are sinners everywhere,
But I thank God that God declare,
That there ain't no sinners in heaven."[91]

"O join on, join my Lord,
Join de heaven wid the angels;
O join on, join my Lord,
Join de heaven wid de angels."[92]

"I'm gwin to keep a climbin' high
Till I meet dem angels in de sky.
Dem pooty angels I shall see—
Why doan de debbil let a me be?
O when I git to heaven goin sit an' tell,
Three archangels gwin er ring dem bells
Two white angels come a walkin' down,
Long white robes an' starry crown.
What's dat yonder, dat I see?
Big tall angels comin' after me."[93]
The following spirituals emphasize what the slave felt that he would
do in heaven.
"Heaven, heaven,
Everybody talkin' bout heaven an' goin' there
Heaven, heaven,
Goin' to shine all 'round God's heaven."[94]

"Oh, I wish I was there,
To hear my Jesus' orders,
Oh, how I wish I was there, Lord,
To wear my starry crown."[95]

"A golden band all 'round my waist,
An' de palms of victory in-a my hand,
An' de golden slippers on to my feet,
Gwine to walk up and down o' dem golden street.
Oh, wait till I put on my robe.
An' a golden crown-a placed on-a my head,
An' my long white robe a-com a dazzlin' down,
Now wait till I get on my gospel shoes,
Gwine to walk about de heaven an' a-carry de news,
Oh, wait till I put on my robe."[96]

"You can hinder me here but you can't hinder me dere
For de Lord in Heaven gwin' hear my prayer.
De evening's great but my Cap'n is strong,
U'm fightin' fer de city an' de time ain't long."[97]

"Well, my mother's goin' to heaven,
She's goin' to outshine the sun, O Lord,
Well, my mother's goin' to heaven,
She's going to outshine the sun, O Lord,
Yes, my mother's goin' to heaven to outshine the sun,
An' its way beyon' the moon.
The crown that my Jesus give me,
Goin' outshine the sun,
You got a home in the promise lan',
Goin' outshine the sun,
Goin' to put on my crown in glory,
An' outshine the sun, O Lord.
'Way beyon' de moon."[98]

"Gwine hab happy meetin',
Gwine shout in hebben,
Gwine shout an' nebber tire,
O slap yo' han's chilluns,
I feels de spirit movin',
O now I'm gittin' happy."[99]

"Gwine to march a-way in de gold band,
In de army bye-and-bye;
Gwine to march a-way in de gold band,
In de army by-and-bye.
Sinner, what you gwine to do dat day?
Sinner, what you gwine to do dat day?
When de fire's a-rolling behind you,
In de army bye-and-bye.
Sister Mary gwine to hand down the robe,
In the army bye-and-bye;
Gwine to hand down the robe and the gold band,
In the army, bye-and-bye."[100]

"You got a robe, I got a robe,
All God's children got a robe,
Goin' try on my robe an' if it fits me,
Goin' to wear it all round God's heaven."[101]

"We'll walk up an' down dem golden streets,
We'll walk about Zion.
Gwine sit in de kingdom,
I really do believe, where sabbath have no end.
Look way in de heaven—hope I'll jine de band,—
Sittin' in de kingdom.
I done been to heaven an' I done been tried.
Dere's a long white robe in de heaven for me,
Dere's a golden crown, golden harp, starry crown, silver
slippers,
In de heaven for me I know."[102]

"I want to go to heaven when I die,
To shout salvation as I fly.
You say yer aiming fer de skies,
Why don't yer quit yer tellin' lies.
I hope I git dere bye-an' bye,
To jine de number in de sky.
When I git to heaven gwine to ease, ease,
Me an' my God goin' do as we please,
Sittin' down side o' de holy Lamb.
When I git to heaven goin' set right down,
Gwiner ask my Lord fer starry crown.
Now wait till I gits my gospel shoes,
Gwin-er walk 'bout heaven an' carry de news."[103]
A boy of ten, being sold from his mother, said,
"I'm gwine to sit down at the welcome table,
Den my little soul's gwine to shine.
I'm gwine to feast off milk and honey,
Den my little soul's gwine to shine.
I'm gwine to tell God how-a you sarved me,
Den my little soul's gwine to shine."[104]
The place that heaven must have had in the attitude of the slave we
shall now consider, by an examination of the slave's mental world. To
do so we must feel the hand of slavery holding him in subjection to

the will of the master. The inner voices that called the black slave at
his task, clothed in simple garb, and living on homely fare, we also
must hear speaking to us, and invoking the same response. Then we
shall be able to appreciate the religious significance of the situations.
The bell upon the white pole in the great-house yard summons the
slaves to their daily tasks in the fields. Quickly, the slave-mother,
rising from the cabin-floor, and taking her babe upon her back, sets
out to join the crowd. With brawny arms around his mother's neck,
the young child glares at the red rising of the sun, until he is left at
the end of the row. Then as mother's hoe cuts grass from the tender
corn, he hears her foot-steps blend with those of the plowman, her
voice of love mingle with the mumble of slaves, and the songs of
birds, that play in the warm sunlight of the morning. With longing
eyes the child watches her who, last night, when her work was done,
fed him from her breast, as she sat upon the cabin-floor, murmuring
of a better world, where child and mother would know no weary sun.
Sitting upon the green grass that fringes the end of the long rows, he
watches her toiling, disappearing into the distance.
Taken from his mother at the age of seven, the child is transferred to
the great-house yard, where the harsh voices of slave-children,
conscious of their lot, fill the air. Yesterday he sat in the cabin-door,
upon grandmother's knee, listening to the grinding of the big mill
down by the pond, and watching the squirrels drop acorns from the
old oak tree. Last night he opened the door for father, who, worn
from being away so long, brought few potatoes and corn. Then there
was a great time. Father, in overalls, grandmother with a "slat-
bonnet" upon her gray head, mother with a "grass-sack" around her
waist, all knelt upon their knees in prayer to God above, father
leading mournfully. "Get up in heaven by-and-by," he said, until all
were filled with joy. How different things are today. The old mill by the
pond is now seen lifting its white, bird-like wings into heaven, where
mother, father and grandmother may be. They may be up there in
the sunlight, singing and shouting with the angels.
The dawn of another day comes in the life of the slave. Now all must
help kill the "fatted hogs." The knives have been sharpened, the
scaffolds built, the ashes brought up from the ash-heap. The slaves

are gathered around the fire, warming themselves and waiting for the
water in the big black pots to boil. They hear the shrill voice of the
cock and the noise of the mules heralding the coming of day, when
the presence of old master will stop their friendly discussions. While
fading stars twinkle in the pines that cast ghost-like shadows upon
the white-washed cabins, the slaves talk of their religious
experiences, how they "overcame the devil in the wilderness"
through the help of Christ. The stars were shining thus a year ago,
when Aunt Lucinda died. She had been a good woman, never
receiving a flogging. She used to make cakes for the neighbors and
tell them when to plant their crops. When she died a bright star, like
an angel, lit upon the cabin-roof, to take her soul away. This morning
she is in heaven, wearing golden slippers, long, white robe, and
starry crown, about which she used to sing in the camp-meetings.
The big hogs killed and put into the "smoke-house" and the coming
of night ending the slave's work, he is now allowed to attend the
camp-meeting, in the log-house, down by the side of the river, that
lies behind the big woods. In the leaves of the old red oak, that
stands upon the shore and that is said to be the place of ghosts, he
hears the noise of the wood owl, calling to him, as he takes his boat
and glides silently away amid the solemn shadows that lie upon the
deep, moon-lit waters. Unconsciously he sings the words of his
comrades as they marched last night to the grave-yard:
"I know moon-rise;
I know star-rise;
Lay dis body down
I march to the grave-yard,
I march through the grave-yard
Lay dis body down
I lay in de grave-yard and stretch out my arms,
Lay, dis body down."
At the meeting-house, not only does he sing and shout, but each
slave for some sinner-friend or relative who has been sold away,
sincerely asks the prayers of the other. There parent prays for child
and child for parent. "Sister Martha," dressed in gingham, is there,
that gray-haired woman, who goes each day to the river, hoping that

some message may come floating from her "Tom." She is there to
weep and to rejoice and to talk with "Brother Robert" about the cross
of Christ. The slaves, singing and shouting, tearfully kiss each
other's cheek, shake hands, and part. They were there to worship
and not to play.
Inevitable then is the conclusion that the religion of the American
slaves was decidedly different from the prevailing religion found
among the peoples of Africa. We saw that fetishism was the
prevailing religion found in Africa; that the few American slaves who
maintained any of their African religious heritage were considered
grossly superstitious by the American slaves generally; that the
slave-groups brought to America from Africa were so broken up and
scattered that the old group-habits did not continue to exist. We
found on the other hand that the slaves of America, who were in
contact with Christianity, became very enthusiastic over the Christian
religion; that they developed a sorrow for this world and a joyous
longing for heaven, as they showed by their shouts and songs. This
emphasis upon a place of rest in heaven, we conclude, helped the
American slave adjust himself to his particular environment. As it
helped him to live, so it helped him also to die.
G. R. Wilson.

FOOTNOTES:
[1] This dissertation was submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate
School of Arts and Literature of the University of Chicago in candidacy for
the degree of Bachelor of Divinity, March, 1921, by Gold Refined Wilson.
[2] Working toward this end, I have examined a vast amount of
material on slavery, much of which is controversial, having been written
by men who favored slaves, or by abolitionists and slaves who were able
to see only one side of the question discussed. Such literature, being
biased, so distorts the truth that it is extremely difficult to discover what is
social fact. As sources, however, I have used books and magazine-
articles, written from a more scientific point of view. There are a few
representative ones. Kingsley's West African Studies, which, although
expressing the attitude of the author, gives us a comprehensive picture of
what the life in Africa is. Washington, in the Story of the Negro, in a
simple, sincere manner, sets forth the struggles of the Negro in his
contact with a higher civilization. Woodson's Education of the Negro prior
to 1861 shows to what extent effort was made by the whites to bring the

slaves into contact with the white civilization. The Religious Development
of the Negro in Virginia, by Earnest, shows how the church of the Negro
slave, beginning in the church of the whites, grew to be an independent
organization. Fragmentary evidence in the histories of the religious
denominations shows the same progressive development. A few of the
stories of fugitive slaves, though written for other purposes, still speak
very clearly of how dependent the slave was upon his cultural
surroundings for his religious ideas. The stories of the lives of Nat Turner,
the Virginia slave insurrectionist, and of Harriet, the Moses of Her People,
are filled with apocalyptic imagery. Concerning the phenomena of cultural
contacts, the most scholarly piece of work yet produced is that by Prof.
Park, which shows the tendency of one civilization to accommodate itself
to another, by assimilation of concepts, expressed in language and
custom. For a study of the religion of the slave, however, the best of all
the sources is that spontaneous, naive body of literature consisting of the
slave-songs, sometimes called "spirituals," which were sung by
individuals upon various occasions, and by shouting groups of religious
enthusiasts. Krehbiel, who set many of these primitive verses to printed
scales, made of them a psychological interpretation that has given the
slave-mood. Colonel T. W. Higginson, the commander of a "black
regiment" in South Carolina, during the Civil War, an eyewitness of many
of the slave religious meetings, gives the circumstances under which a
number of the "spirituals" arose. But Odum, in Volume III of the Journal of
Religious Psychology and Education, makes of all the classes of slave-
songs a psychological interpretation that is unsurpassed. The value of
these collections is the common longing found therein, a burning
enthusiasm to live in heaven.
[3] In the preparation of this dissertation the following works were
used: R. H. Nassau, Fetichism in West Africa, 1904; Mary H. Kingsley,
West African Studies (London, 1901); J. B. Earnest, The Religious
Development of the Negro in Virginia (Charlottesville, Va., 1914); H. M.
Henry, Slavery in South Carolina (Emory, Va., 1914); Ivan E. McDougle,
Slavery in Kentucky, 1792-1865 (Reprinted from The Journal of Negro
History, vol. III, No. 3, July, 1918); H. A. Trexler, Slavery in Missouri,
1804-1865, Being a Dissertation in Johns Hopkins University Studies
(Baltimore, 1914); J. C. Ballagh, Slavery in Virginia, Johns Hopkins
University Studies, vol. XXIX, 1902 (Baltimore); J. H. Russell, Free Negro
in Virginia, 1619-1865, Johns Hopkins University Studies, Series 31, No.
3 (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1913); J. R. Brackett,
Negro in Maryland (Baltimore, 1889); G. H. Moore, Slavery in
Massachusetts (New York, 1866); R. Q. Mallard, Plantation Life before
Emancipation (Richmond, Virginia, 1892); Frances Anne Kemble, Journal
of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838-9 (New York, 1863); C.
G. Woodson, The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861 (New York, 1915);
The Journal of Negro History, edited by C. G. Woodson, vols. I-IV, 1916-
1919 (The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, Inc.,
Washington, D. C.); Alcee Fortier, History of Louisiana, 4 vols. (New York,
1904); Code Noir, I (Published 1724); M. W. Jernegan, Slavery and
Conversion in the American Colonies (Reprinted from The American
Historical Review, vol. XXI, No. 3, April, 1916); G. M. West, Status of the

Negro in Virginia during the Colonial Period (New York); L. A.
Chamerorzow, Slave Life in Georgia; Narrative of John Brown (London,
1865); B. T. Washington, Story of the Negro, 2 vols. (New York, 1909);
Baptist Annual Register; A. N. Waterman, A Century of Caste (Chicago,
1901); Geo. Thompson, Prison Life and Reflections, 3d Edition (Hartford,
1849); Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Boston, 1861); Sarah
H. Bradford, Harriet, The Moses of Her People (New York, 1861); Thos.
W. Higginson, Life of a Black Regiment (Boston, 1870); Jas. B. Avirett,
The Old Plantation, Great House and Cabin before the War, 1817-65
(New York, Chicago, London, 1901); Jno. S. Abbott, South and North
(New York, 1860). Lucius P. Little, Ben Harding, His Times and
Contemporaries (Louisville, 1867); De Bow's Commercial Review (New
Orleans, 1847); Life of Josiah Henson (Boston, 1849); Baptist Home
Missions in America (New York, 1883); Presbyterian Magazine, I
(Philadelphia, 1851); Methodist Magazine, X (New York, 1827); W. L.
Grissom, History of Methodism in North Carolina, 1772-1805, vol. I;
Sermons by John Wesley, 3d Edition, vols. I-II (New York); B. F. Riley,
History of Baptists in Southern States East of Mississippi (Philadelphia,
1888); John Rankin, 1793-1886, Letters on Slavery (Boston, 1833); W. G.
Hawkins, Lunsford Lane (Boston, 1863); Frederick Douglass, My
Bondage and Freedom (New York, 1857); K. E. R. Pickard, The
Kidnapped and the Ransomed, Recollections of Peter Still and His Wife
Vina, 3d Ed. (Syracuse, 1865); Fifty Years in Chains, Life of an American
Slave (New York); H. E. Krehbiel, Afro-American Folk-Songs, R. E. Park,
Education, Conflicts, and Fusions, American Sociological Society, vol.
XIII (Sept. 3, 1918); Journal of American Folk-Lore, vol. XIV (1901), pp.
1-11, vol. XXVII (1914), pp. 241-5, vol. XXIII, p. 435, vol. XXIV, p. 255;
Songs by Thos. P. Fennes; W. F. Allen, Slave Songs of the United States
(New York, 1867); Twenty-two Years Work of Hampton Normal and
Agricultural Institute (Hampton, 1893); T. P. Fenner, Hampton and its
Students by Two of its Teachers, with 50 Cabin and Plantation Songs
(New York, 1875); American Journal of Religious Psychology and
Education, vol. III, pp. 265-365; Negro Year-Book; E. W. Pearson, Letters
from Port Royal (1916); C. H. Jones, Instruction of Negro Slave (1842).
[4] Tylor's Anthropology.
[5] Earnest, p. 28.
[6] Fifty Years in Chains, p. 14.
[7] Jernegan, pp. 506-7.
[8] Education, Conflicts, and Fusion, p. 47.
[9] Washington, Story of the Negro, pp. 260-261.
[10] Earnest, p. 19.
[11] Woodson, Education of Negro Prior to 1861, p. 23.
[12] Earnest, p. 60.
[13] Woodson, Education of Negro Prior to 1861, p. 21.
[14] Woodson, Education of Negro Prior to 1861, p. 26.

[15] Ibid., p. 29.
[16] Earnest, Religious Development, p. 17.
[17] Ibid., p. 45.
[18] Ibid., p. 66.
[19] Ballagh, p. 114.
[20] In 1841, there were 500,000 slaves who were church members, or
1/5 of total number of slaves. 2,000,000 were regular attendants. J. C.
Ballagh, p. 114.
[21] Story of the Negro, p. 257.
[22] Story of the Negro, p. 268; Quoted from Ballagh.
[23] Washington, Story of Negro, p. 266.
[24] Quite different from the early experiences of Bryan and Samson,
who made adversity serve them, the beginning of Jasper's Christian
career was greatly aided by his master, a man with a similar conversion
and a similar faith in Christ. Using the Bible as the norma of all truth, in
his attack upon current scientific knowledge, Jasper impressed all men by
his sincere conviction and devout Christian life. A contemporary said of
him: "Jasper made an impression upon his generation, because he was
sincerely and deeply in earnest in all that he said. No man could talk with
him in private, or listen to him from the pulpit, without being thoroughly
convinced of that fact.... He took the Bible in its literal significance; he
accepted it as the inspired Word of God; he trusted it with all his heart
and soul and mind; he believed nothing that was in conflict with the
teachings of the Bible."—See Washington's Story of the Negro, p. 264.
[25] Washington, Story of the Negro, pp. 260-1.
[26] Ibid., pp. 254-5.
[27] Ibid., pp. 255-6.
[28] Earnest, p. 72.
[29] Ben Harding, His Times and Contemporaries, p. 544.
[30] Earnest, p. 73.
[31] Jacobs, Life of a Slave-Girl, p. 112.
[32] Coffin, p. 60.
[33] Higginson, p. 26.
[34] Henson, Life of Josiah Henson, p. 12.
[35] Earnest, p. 42.
[36] Plantation Life before Emancipation, p. 164.
[37] Life of John Thompson, p. 19. See Methodists in N. C., p. 238.
[38] Earnest, Religious Development, p. 54.
[39] Life of Douglass, p. 82.

[40] Presbyterian Magazine: 1831, p. 27; See vol. 6, pp. 8-9; Woodson,
Education of Negro Prior to 1861, p. 49; Sermons of Wesley and
Whitefield.
[41] Journal of Negro History, vol. I, p. 70.
[42] Twenty-two Years Work at Hampton.
[43] Journal of Religious Psychology and Education, vol. 3, pp. 290-1.
[44] Higginson, Life of a Black Regiment, p. 133.
[45] Twenty-two Years at Hampton.
[46] Hampton and its Students, p. 182.
[47] Henry, p. 141.
[48] Life of Black Regiment, by Higginson, pp. 51-2.
[49] Ibid., pp. 35, 198.
[50] My position is that the shout was a natural and spontaneous
creation of group-phenomena. It differed from the whites' behavior in
ceremonial emphasis. Neither the shout nor the antiphonal song was
brought from Africa. The real religious significance of both, however, is
not in external behavior, but in content.
[51] Am. J. Rel. Psy. and Ed., 3: 287.
[52] Story of the Negro, p. 260.
[53] Fenner, Hampton and its Students, p. 223.
[54] Am. J. Rel. Psy. and Ed., 3: 303.
[55] Ibid., 340.
[56] Ibid., 3: 321.
[57] Fenner, Hampton and its Students, p. 190.
[58] Higginson, Black Regiment of South Carolina, 200-1.
[59] Am. J. Rel. Psy. and Ed., 3: 351.
[60] Krehbiel, p. 75.
[61] Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed., 3: 304.
[62] Ibid., 320.
[63] Allen, 30-1.
[64] Allen, Slave Songs, 113, p. 94.
[65] Ibid., 112, p. 93.
[66] Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed., 3: 304.
[67] Allen, Slave Songs, 124, p. 101.
[68] Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed., 3: 288.
[69] Jacobs, p. 109.
[70] Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed., 3: 309.

[71] Allen, Slave Songs, 120, p. 98.
[72] Ibid., 107, p. 86.
[73] Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed., 3: 365.
[74] Allen, Slave Songs, 80, p. 60.
[75] Allen, Slave Songs, 108, p. 87.
[76] Plantation Life Before Emancipation, p. 168.
[77] Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed., 3: 331.
[78] Atlantic Monthly, 19: 687.
[79] Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed., 3: 317.
[80] Fenner, Hampton and its Students, p. 215.
[81] Fenner, Hampton and Its Students, p. 188.
[82] Allen, Slave Songs, p. 73.
[83] Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed., 3: 334.
[84] Krehbiel, p. 99.
[85] Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed., 3: 362.
[86] Atlantic Monthly, XIX, 687.
[87] Fenner, Hampton and Its Students, p. 219.
[88] Am. J. Rel. Psy. and Ed., 3: 279.
[89] Ibid., 337.
[90] Am. J. Rel. Psy. and Ed., 336.
[91] Ibid., 328.
[92] Ibid., 332.
[93] Ibid., 298.
[94] Ibid., 328.
[95] Life before Emancipation, p. 163.
[96] Hampton and its Students, p. 187.
[97] Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed., 3: 323.
[98] Ibid., 337.
[99] Ibid., 299.
[100] Allen, Slave Songs, Song 103, p. 83.
[101] Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed., 3: 328.
[102] Ibid., 294.
[103] Ibid., 293.
[104] Hampton and its Students, p. 173.

PRUDENCE CRANDAL L

Prior to the Civil War, education for the American of color, was for the
most part surreptitiously obtained. There were, however, a few
fearless men and women of the white race, who, endowed with a
magnanimous spirit and indomitable will, rose above the sordid
plane of self-advancement and comfort, brooked the tide of social
ostracism and censure to a realm of true altruism in behalf of the
circumstantially weak and defenseless race.
Many of these noted benefactors belonged to that sect known in
American history as Friends. True to their noble heritage, they faced
the facts of social crises with intrepidity and strong convictions. They
acted with unerring judgment and penetrating vision upon those
principles sacred to the life and happiness of all mankind. In the
vanguard of this honorable group, of martyrs to the cause of justice,
stands an American school teacher, born of Quaker parentage, at
Hopkinton, Rhode Island, September 3, 1803—Prudence Crandall.
The noble purpose and sympathetic nature of this great teacher are
clearly demonstrated in this extract from a letter addressed to
William Lloyd Garrison, January 18th, 1833:[1]
"Now I will tell you why I write you, and the object is this: I wish to know your opinion
respecting changing white scholars for colored ones. I have been for some months past
determined if possible during the remaining part of my life to benefit the people of color.
I do not dare tell any one of my neighbors anything about the contemplated change in
my school and I beg of you, sir, that you will not expose it to any one; for if it was
known, I have no reason to expect but it would ruin my present school. Will you be so
kind as to write by the next mail and give me your opinion on the subject.
"Yours, with greatest respect,
"Prudence Crandall."[2]

This letter shows clearly that Prudence Crandall foresaw that any
undertaking of an educational nature in behalf of Negroes would
meet with opposition, require personal sacrifices, and demand
unfaltering courage and patience.

That she was willing to undergo these tests was proved when a
young Negro girl applied for admission to the school which she was
then conducting for white girls only. This ambitious pupil of color was
Sarah Harris, seventeen years old, the daughter of a respectable
man who owned a small farm near the village of Canterbury. Sarah
had attended the same district school in which the majority of
Prudence Crandall's students had received their elementary training
and had proved herself a bright scholar and a pious young lady. So
deeply impressed was the teacher with this girl's plea and her
earnest desire to get a broader education to teach other girls of
color, that Prudence Crandall admitted Sarah to her school.
The students themselves offered no opposition nor manifested any
objection to her presence. Parents, however, began to complain and
informed Prudence Crandall that her school would not be supported
if she kept the Negro girl as a student. To this threat Prudence
Crandall replied: "It might sink then for I should not turn her out."
Soon the white girls began to leave the school, but the philanthropic
teacher was determined to adhere to the principles of democratic
education. She finally gave up the teaching of white girls entirely and
brought a number of Negro children into her school, then situated in
the most aristocratic part of the town of Canterbury. "If the
Canterbury people," said Ellen D. Larned, "had quietly accepted the
situation and left them in peace the difficulty would soon have ended.
Even if the children had remained they would have given them little
annoyance. Twenty Indian lads were received into Plainfield
Academy a few years later, and few outside of the village even heard
of them."[3]
This step, however, aroused the most intense feeling of the town
people and met with strong and immediate opposition. A committee
of four of the chief men of the village, Adams, Frost, Fenner and
Harris, visited Prudence Crandall and attempted to show her that
such an undertaking was decidedly objectionable and seriously
detrimental to the welfare of the whites of the community. One
Esquire Frost intimated that Prudence Crandall's project fostered
social equality and intermarriage of whites and blacks. To this
insidious insinuation, she bluntly replied: "Moses had a black wife."

To emphasize their decided opposition to this project, the people
called a public meeting and drew up and adopted resolutions of a
hostile nature. One of the leading politicians of that day, Andrew T.
Judson, was so incensed at Miss Crandall's action that he
denounced her in the most severe and scathing terms.
The Rev. Mr. May and Mr. Buffum, who were present on behalf of
Miss Crandall, made several attempts to speak in her defense but
were rudely and abruptly prohibited. Denied the privilege of
espousing her cause in this meeting, Mr. May, upon adjournment,
rose from his seat and addressed the people as they were leaving
the hall: "Men of Canterbury, I have a word for you! Hear me!" A few
turned to listen, and he pleaded with force and feeling the cause of
the noble little teacher of Canterbury. He told them that Prudence
Crandall was willing to move her school from its present situation,
which was next door to the residence of Mr. Judson, her bitterest
enemy, to some more retired part of the city.
May's arguments, however, were of no avail and only drew forth
tirades of invective and abuse; for Mr. Judson responded: "Mr. May,
we are not merely opposed to the establishment of that school in
Canterbury; we mean there shall not be such a school set up
anywhere in our state. The colored people can never rise from their
menial condition in our country; they ought not to be permitted to rise
here. They are an inferior race of beings, and never can or ought to
be recognized as the equals of the whites. Africa is the place for
them. I am in favor of the colonization scheme. Let the niggers and
their descendants be sent back to their fatherland and there improve
themselves as much as they can. I am a colonizationist. You and
your friend Garrison have undertaken what you cannot accomplish.
The condition of the colored population of our country can never be
essentially improved on this continent. You are fanatical about them.
You are violating the constitution of our Republic, which settled
forever the status of the black men in this land. They belong to
Africa. Let them be sent back there or kept as they are here. The
sooner you abolitionists abandon your project the better for our
country, for the niggers and yourselves."[4]

In answer to this outburst of feeling, typical of ignorance and
prejudice, though it came from the lips of a prospective judge of the
Supreme Court, Mr. May replied: "Mr. Judson, there never will be
fewer colored people in this country than there are now. Of the vast
majority of them, this is their native land as much as it is ours. It will
be unjust, inhuman in us to drive them out, or to make them willing to
go by our cruel treatment of them ... and the only question is whether
we will recognize the rights which God gave them as men and
encourage and assist them to become all he has made them
capable of being, or whether we will continue wickedly to deny them
the privileges we enjoy, condemn them to degradation, enslave and
imbrute them; and so bring upon ourselves the condemnation of the
Almighty, Impartial Father of all men and the terrible visitation of the
God of the oppressed. I trust, sir, you well e're long come to see that
we must accord to these men, their rights or incur justly the loss of
our own. Education is one of the primal fundamental rights of all the
children of men. Connecticut is the last place where this right should
be denied."
These eloquent remarks truly portrayed the difference in the
character of the two men. Encouraged by such noble characters as
May and Garrison, Prudence Crandall was determined not to be
deterred in her purpose by men like Judson. Her lofty ideals of
service to humanity and to the humbler lot especially were evidenced
in this extract from Garrison's letter to Isaac Knapp, April 11, 1833:
"She is a wonderful woman, as undaunted as if she had the whole world on her side.
She has opened her school and is resolved to persevere. I wish brother Johnson to
state this fact particularly in the next Liberator and urge all those who intend to send
their children thither, to do so without delay."[5]

Despite all vicissitudes, Miss Crandall opened her school for girls of
color early in April, with an enrollment of fifteen or twenty students.
These for the most part came from Philadelphia, New York,
Providence, and Boston.
The townspeople, greatly incensed, resorted to every foul means
possible to destroy the school. At first, they searched for some
obsolete vagrancy law for the purpose of intimidating those who
came from other cities to attend school. One Negro girl, Anna Eliza

Hammond, seventeen years of age, from Providence, was arrested,
but Samuel May and other residents of Brooklyn gave bonds for
$10,000 and thus defeated this plan. Frustrated in their first efforts,
the townspeople held an indignation meeting at which they
expressed their sentiment in the following resolutions:
"Whereas, it hath been publicly announced that a school is to be opened in this town,
on the first Monday of April next, using the language of the advertisement, 'for young
ladies and little misses of color,' or in other words for the people of color, the obvious
tendency of which would be to collect within the town of Canterbury large numbers of
persons from other States whose characters and habits might be various and unknown
to us, thereby rendering insecure the persons, property, and reputations of our citizens.
Under such circumstances our silence might be construed into an approbation of the
project: Thereupon, Resolved That the locality of a school for the people of color at any
place within the limits of this town, for the admission of persons of foreign jurisdiction,
meets with our unqualified disapprobation, and it is to be understood, that the
inhabitants of Canterbury protest against it in the most earnest manner.
"Resolved, That a committee be now appointed to be composed of the Civil Authority
and Selectmen, who shall make known to the persons contemplating the establishment
of said school, the sentiments and objections entertained by this meeting in reference
to said school—pointing out to her the injurious effects and incalculable evils resulting
from such an establishment within this town, and persuade her to abandon the project."
[6]

The people then influenced the Legislature to enact a disgraceful but
well-named "Black Law,"[7] amid the ringing of church bells and great
rejoicing. This act outlawed Miss Crandall's school. The people
closed all shops and meeting houses to the teacher and her pupils.
Stage drivers refused them transportation in the common carriers of
the town. Physicians would not attend them. Miss Crandall's own
family and friends were forbidden under penalty of heavy fines to
visit her. The well near her house was filled with manure and water
was denied her from other sources. The house itself was smeared
with filth, assailed with rotten eggs, stormed with stones, and finally
set afire.
Not only was Prudence Crandall herself assailed with threats of
coming vengeance and ejection, but her father in the south part of
the town was insulted and threatened. "When lawyers, courts and
jurors are leagued against you," said one to him, "it will be easy to
raise a mob and tear down your house." "Mr. Crandall, if you go to
your daughter," they said, "you are to be fined $100 for the first

offense, $200 for the second and double it every time; Mrs. Crandall,
if you go there, you will be fined and your daughter Almira will be
fined, and Mr. May and those gentlemen from Providence (Messrs.
George and Henry Benson), if they come there, will be fined at the
same rate. And your daughter, the one that established the school
for colored females, will be taken up the same way as for stealing a
horse or for burglary. Her property will not be taken but she will be
put in jail, not having the liberty of the yard. There is no mercy to be
shown about it!"[8]
Miss Crandall was arrested and cast into prison, where she spent
the night in a cell previously occupied by a murderer. She was twice
tried. The first trial was held before the county court on August 22,
1833. The attorneys for the prosecution were Jonathan A. Welch,
Andrew T. Judson and Ichabod Bulkley, while those for the defense
were Calvin Goddard, W. W. Ellsworth and Henry Strong. The latter
were secured by Samuel May and paid by Arthur Tappan.
The counsel for the defense argued that the "Black Law" conflicted
with that article of the Federal Constitution which granted to citizens
of each State all the privileges and immunities of citizens of the
several States. The counsel for the prosecution argued that people
of color were not and could not ever be citizens of any State. The
judge, Mr. Eaton, gave the decision that the law was constitutional
and binding upon the people of that State. The jurors, however,
could not agree and so the case went over to the October term. It
was then tried before the Superior Court of Windham County and its
constitutionality again pronounced by Judge Daggett, who expressed
himself as follows: "It would be a perversion of terms and the well-
known rule of construction to say that slaves, free blacks, or Indians
were citizens within the meaning of that term as used in the
constitution." The jurors thus influenced gave their verdict against the
defendant. Prudence Crandall's counsel then appealed to the Court
of Errors, where the decision was reversed, July 22, 1834, upon the
ground of "insufficiency of the information," which omitted to allege
that the school was opened without necessary license.[9]
While the decision of the Court of Errors was pending, Prudence
Crandall and her pupils were the victims of other fiendish acts of the

townspeople. Having failed in their attempt to burn down her school,
a number of them, with heavy clubs and iron bars, crept stealthily
upon her house at midnight on the 9th of September, and
simultaneously smashed in the windows with such force and
suddenness that all the occupants were terror stricken. Even
Prudence Crandall, for the first time, trembled with fear. Realizing
that she and her pupils would ever be the object of insult and injury,
she decided, upon the advice of Mr. May and other friends, to give
up the school and send her girls back to their homes. Samuel May
said that when he stood before Prudence Crandall and her pupils
and advised them to leave, the words blistered his lips and his
bosom glowed with indignation. "I felt ashamed of Connecticut," said
he, "ashamed of my state, ashamed of my country, ashamed of my
color."
The burden of these terrible ordeals was somewhat alleviated by the
fidelity of her friends, the love and faith of her pupils and the devotion
of her sister, father and husband. Having recently married the Rev.
Calvin Philleo, a Baptist clergyman of Ithaca, New York, Prudence
Crandall upon solicitation left Windham County never to return again.
Tis true she had but little opportunity to teach the young women of
color, nevertheless through sacrifice and service she taught the
people of Connecticut a lesson of philanthropy and sacrifice.
G. Smith Wormley.

FOOTNOTES:
[1] Garrison's Garrison, I, Chap. X, p. 315; B. C. Steiner's History of
Slavery in Connecticut (Johns Hopkins University Studies, XI, 415-422).
[2] May's Antislavery Conflict.
[3] Johns Hopkins University, Studies in Historical and Political
Science, XI, p. 417. Larned's Windham County, p. 493.
[4] May's Antislavery Conflict, p. 47.
[5] Garrison's Garrison, I, p. 341.
[6] Larned's Windham County, Connecticut, II, 490-502.
[7] This law was:
Whereas, attempts have been made to establish literary institutions in
this State, for the instruction of colored persons belonging to other States

and counties, which would tend to the great increase of the colored
population of the state, and thereby to the injury of the people: Therefore,
Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in
General Assembly convened, that no person shall set up or establish in
this State any school, academy or literary institution for the instruction or
education of colored persons who are not inhabitants of this State; nor
instruct or teach in any school, or other literary institution whatsoever, in
this State; nor harbor or board, for the purpose of attending or being
taught or instructed in any such school, academy, or literary institution,
any colored person who is not an inhabitant of any town in this State,
without the consent in writing first obtained, of a majority of the civil
authority, and also of the Selectmen of the town, in which such school,
academy, or literary institution is situated, etc. See Superior Court,
October Term, 1833, and Report of Arguments of Counsel in the Case of
Prudence Crandall; also The Laws of Connecticut, 1833.
[8] Garrison's Garrison, I. ch. X, and Larned's Windham County,
Connecticut, II, 490-502.
[9] The report of this case was:
This information charges Prudence Crandall with harboring and boarding
certain colored persons, not inhabitants of any town in this State, for the
purpose of attending and being taught and instructed in a school, set up
and established in said town of Canterbury, for the instruction and
education of certain colored persons, not inhabitants of this State.
She is not charged with setting up a school contrary to law, not with
teaching a school contrary to law; but with harboring and boarding
colored persons, not inhabitants of this State, without license, for the
purpose of being instructed in such school.
It is, however, not here alleged that the school was set up without license,
or that the scholars were instructed by those who had no license.
If it is an offence within the statute to harbor or board such persons
without license, under all circumstances, then this information is correct.
But if the act, in the description of the defense itself, shows, that under
some circumstances, it is no offence, then this information is defective.
The object in view of the legislature, as disclosed by the preamble, is to
prevent injurious consequences resulting from the increase of the colored
population, by means of literary institutions, attempted to be established
for the instruction of that class of inhabitants of other States. Such
institutions and instructors teaching such schools are prohibited, unless
licensed, as are also persons from harboring or boarding scholars of that
description, without license.
From the first reading of the Act, it might seem as if licenses must be
obtained by each of these classes; by those who set up the school, those
who instruct it and those who board the pupils; but, it is believed, this
cannot have been intended. The object professedly aimed at is, to
prevent the increase of this population, which, it is supposed, will take
place by allowing them free education, and instruction; to prevent which it

provides, 1st, That no person shall set up or establish any school for that
purpose, without license: 2d, That no one shall instruct in any school, etc.
without license: and 3rd, That no one shall board or harbor such persons,
so to be instructed in any such school etc. without license. The object,
evidently is to regulate the schools, not the boarding houses; the latter
only is auxiliary to the former.
This information charges, that this school was set up in Canterbury, for
the purpose of educating these persons of color, not inhabitants of this
State, that they might be instructed and educated; but omits to state that
it was not licensed. This omission is a fatal defect; as in an information on
a penal statute, the prosecutor must set forth every fact that is necessary
to bring the case within the statute; and every exception within the
enacting clause of the act, descriptive of the offence, must be negated.
See Smith v. Mouse, 6 Green 1, p. 274; and Judson's Remarks to the
Jury, Superior Court, October Term, 1833.

DO CUM ENT S

EXTRACTS FROM NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES

Magazines and newspapers sometimes unconsciously give valuable
facts not only as to sentiment but as to the actual achievements of
persons and agencies through which they have worked. This is true
of the extracts given below.
Endeavoring to set forth the part which Philadelphia played in African
Colonization before the Civil War, The Evening Bulletin of that city
carried the following, May 9, 1921:
THE LIBERIAN REPUBLIC
Philadelphia's Part in Founding the Negro Commonwealth
The visit to Philadelphia of the negro President of the Liberian Republic, recalls the
important part which a small group of local philanthropists played a century ago in
promoting the foundation of the only free country in Africa under republican rule. The
Liberian enterprise owed its origin, not solely to pity for the condition of the enslaved
blacks of the South but also to the desire of many northern friends of the negroes to
ameliorate the hardships of the freed blacks of the north. Both Pennsylvania and New
Jersey, in common with several other northern States, witnessed at close range the
evils of slavery. During the Revolutionary War steps had been taken to liberate the
blacks in Pennsylvania and the famous Act of March 1st, 1780, decreed the abolition of
slavery throughout the colony. In this, as in other and later efforts to liberate the
negroes the Philadelphia Quakers had an important part and the Pennsylvania
Abolition Society, founded under the presidency of Benjamin Franklin, antedated the
Revolutionary War by two years.
The plan for establishing an African Negro Republic, populated by emigrants from the
United States, is credited to Dr. Robert Finley, one of the trustees of Princeton, who
was well acquainted with the extent of slavery in New Jersey, where the census of
1810 revealed the presence of more than ten thousand slaves, and who also had
knowledge of the miserable condition of the freed negroes in Pennsylvania. Late in
1816 he went to Washington, where his brother-in-law, Elias Boudinot Caldwell was a
member of Congress, and endeavored to obtain national support for his project. A
sympathetic response was not wanting, although Congress was not yet prepared for
immediate action. Accordingly, Finley turned in another direction, secured the backing
of Justice Bushrod Washington of the Supreme Court, aroused the interest of Henry
Clay and other notables and, toward the end of 1816, succeeded in forming, at a public
meeting in Washington presided over by Henry Clay, the American Colonization Society
which immediately selected Justice Washington as its president.

As yet Dr. Finley had not hit upon any definite location for the proposed colony,
although years before he began his efforts in behalf of the negroes. Thomas Jefferson
had suggested that Virginia and other American Commonwealths might profitably
imitate the example set in England by the Sierra Leone Company in populating that
district of Africa. But the English plan of transporting the indigent negroes from London,
started toward the close of the eighteenth century, was on an altogether different basis.
Blacks and whites were mixed in the English colony, the emigrants were made up
mainly of the idle and the dissolute, and the humanitarian motive, so strongly marked in
the work of the American Colonization Society, was missing almost entirely.
Oddly enough, the free negroes of the North protested against the plans of the
Colonization Society. In Philadelphia a number of negroes, meeting in the Bethel
Church, adopted an indignant resolution of protest which Congressman Joseph
Hopkinson presented in the House. But these incidents served also to arouse greater
interest in the society's plan and led to the formation of several local auxiliaries, one of
which was established promptly in Philadelphia, where the Friends and the Abolitionists
were ready to give active support to any plan for the betterment of the negroes.
Philadelphia money, representing the contributions of many local philanthropists, aided
largely in strengthening the treasury of the national society, and, as an opportunity was
afforded for the purchase of a number of smuggled slaves, put on sale by the State of
Georgia, in 1817, and George Washington Parke Custis offered part of his lands for a
refuge for the Colonization Society's purchases, an active effort was made again to
arouse Congressional support, resulting this time in the founding of the African
Republic by the Government of the United States.
While the Society was in the initial stages of development, two missionary agents,
Samuel J. Mills and Ebenezer Burgess, had visited England and, after receiving a
rebuff from Bathurst, the Secretary of State for the English Colonies, had gone down
the African coast as far as Sherbro Island and selected a site for the American colony.
Interest was aroused to such extent that Congress assented to the proposal for
purchasing the Georgia blacks and shipping them to Africa and an appropriation of one
hundred thousand dollars was granted for the purpose. A brig was chartered by the
government to carry away the negroes, furnished by the Colonization Society, and the
United States ship Cyane ordered to accompany the expedition as an armed guard.
The vessels departed from New York in February, 1820, and after a five weeks voyage
landed eighty-six men, women and children on Sherbro Island. The inclemency of the
climate, however, proved disastrous to the little group, and, after a number had
succumbed to malarial fever, the remainder fled to Sierra Leone. But the Society and its
local auxiliaries kept at work and the next year sent out another party of negroes from
Norfolk, this time seeking Cape Montserado as a place of settlement.
Success now attended the enterprise. Lieutenant Richard F. Stockton of the Navy
arrived at Montserado in the autumn of 1821 and, in company with Dr. Ayres, the agent
of the Colonization Society, succeeded in purchasing, for a few hundred dollars' worth
of trinkets, the land on which Liberia was founded. Although the promoters had
negotiated a favorable treaty with the natives the early settlers were attacked by hostile
tribes and more than once they were on the point of abandoning the little town of
Monrovia that had been named in honor of the American President and which is now
the capital of the African Republic and a place of about six thousand inhabitants. A few
years after this Philadelphia took up the work of colonization on a larger scale. At a
meeting, held in the Franklin Institute in 1829, the Pennsylvania Colonization Society
was formed, with Dr. Thomas C. James as its president and numbering among its

founders many prominent citizens, including William White, Roberts Vaux, B. W.
Richards, J. K. Mitchell, George W. Blight, James Bayard and Elliott Cresson, the latter
becoming one of the most active assistants of the enterprise, in which he was joined by
Mathew C. Carey, Solomon Allen and Robert Ralston, the last four contributing liberally
to the colonization cause. For a time, too, a fortnightly journal, known as the
Colonization Herald, was published in this city and local interest was aroused by
reports of the parades of the State Fencibles, the Liberian imitation of Philadelphia's
military organization, which assembled on fete days on Broad Street, the principal
thoroughfare of Monrovia.
County and local societies to aid the project were formed throughout Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia had a Young Men's Society fostered by the Methodists, the local
Presbyterians endorsed the enterprise, the Bible societies backed it and the Quakers
lent their friendly support. Ships were chartered and slaves transported at local
expense and under Philadelphia direction a boat named the "Liberia" was built on the
Delaware and employed in the work, while the manumission of slaves was freely
encouraged. A colony on the St. John's River was assigned particularly to the care of
the Pennsylvanians and African place names, such as Careysburg and Philadelphia,
still commemorate the interest of Philadelphians. At first the government of Liberia was
purely proprietary under the direction of the society's agents, the blacks being allowed
to select only minor officials and it was not until 1847, when the colonization movement
was losing ground before the growth of the abolition sentiment in this country, that the
Free and Independent Republic of Liberia came into existence, after drafting a
declaration of independence and adopting a constitutional form of government. But the
dream of repatriating the negro had failed and now Liberia, extended in area by Anglo-
Liberian and Franco-Liberian agreements of recent years until it is almost as large as
Pennsylvania, numbers less than fifty thousand of the transplanted stock among a
population of a million and a half.

On September 18, 1921, The New Orleans States displayed on its
title page the following distorted sketch of the late Caesar Confucius
Antoine by W. O. Hart:
A telegram to The States from Shreveport three days ago told of the death of C. C.
Antoine, colored, who had been lieutenant-governor of Louisiana and sometimes acted
as governor of the State.
The death of Antoine, widely known in New Orleans, cuts off another link with
Reconstruction days.
At the request of The States, W. O. Hart, Louisiana historian, contributes the story
telling how Antoine went from a barber's chair to power and affluence.
Caesar Confucius Antoine, who was a native of New Orleans, was in many respects
one of the most remarkable of the colored politicians who thrived in reconstruction days
in Louisiana.
He was a native of New Orleans, but appears to have been unknown until he was
elected from the Parish of Caddo, a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1868.
He was a very small man and light in weight. He was coal-black in color and always
dressed with the utmost neatness and simplicity.

When the Constitution was adopted he was elected to the State Senate from Caddo
Parish and held that office for four years. In 1872 he was nominated for Lieutenant-
Governor on the ticket headed by W. P. Kellogg, and though that ticket was defeated by
the Democratic ticket which carried the names of John McEnery, of Ouachita, for
Governor, and Davidson B. Penn, of New Orleans, for Lieutenant-Governor, Kellogg
and all those returned as elected by the Returning Board, were recognized by
President Grant and served out their full terms of four years.
Antoine like many of the other colored Legislators of those days acquired an almost
perfect knowledge of parliamentary law and presided over the Senate with dignity and
impartiality.
He was a man who, in general, had the respect of all parties. He was renominated on
the ticket with S. B. Packard in 1876 and with Packard remained in the State House,
which was the old St. Louis Hotel, until April, 1877, when President Hayes, having
withdrawn the Federal troops, the semblance of Government which Packard
established, disappeared and the Nicholls Government went into full possession of all
the State Offices.
My recollection is that he held some Federal office after this but I am not certain what it
was.
In a suit which he brought against D. D. Smith and the heirs of George L. Smith,
reported in the 40th Annual (1888), beginning at page 560, considerable of the record
of Antoine is given.
How He Made Money
The suit was brought after the death of George L. Smith, to recover two hundred
shares of the capital stock of the Louisiana State Lottery Company, which at the time of
the suit, had a very large value. The allegations of Antoine's petition and his evidence in
the case were to the effect that on March 31st, 1873, he purchased from Charles T.
Howard the lottery stock at sixty cents on the dollar, that is twelve thousand dollars for
all, and that he was induced by George L. Smith, who also owned 225 shares of the
stock, to transfer it to D. D. Smith, a cousin of George L. Smith, because as Smith said
to Antoine: "We are both engaged in politics, and it would not do to have the stock in
our name—more especially myself, as I was Lieutenant-Governor, and President of the
Senate; that questions in regard to the charter of the Lottery Company might come up,
and that, in case of a tie vote, I would naturally have to vote on it; and, probably, my
vote might be challenged."
Smith had been Tax Collector and also speculated in salary warrants for account of
himself and Antoine and Antoine's profits therefrom were three or four thousand dollars.
Partner Of Pinchback
When Antoine first went into politics he was the proprietor of a barber shop in the city of
Shreveport; a few years afterwards, he engaged in the cotton factorage business in
New Orleans, in partnership with P. B. S. Pinchback; also once Lieutenant-Governor.
He acquired an interest in a newspaper establishment; had a grocery store and
purchased and operated a small plantation in Caddo Parish. He also purchased some
city lots in Shreveport and a $1300 residence in this city, this in addition to the twelve
thousand dollars he paid for the Lottery Stock.
The Supreme Court, after stating the above facts, commented thereon as follows:

"We cannot refrain from expressing some surprise at the auspicious good fortune that
seemed to attend his efforts, whereby his hitherto slender income and limited means
had yielded such a comfortable little fortune within so few years.
"Money matters appeared to have been so easy with him that he could loan a friend a
thousand dollars, payable on call."
The opinion of the court was rendered by Mr. Justice L. B. Watkins, and the court
concluded that the acquisition of the stock by Antoine was so tainted with fraud that he
was entitled to receive no redress at the hands of the courts and the judgment of the
lower court which was rendered by Judge Albert Voohries, presiding in Division "E" of
the Civil District Court, was affirmed.
Antoine was represented in the suit by Rouse and Grant and Thomas J. Semmes,
America's greatest lawyer, while the defendants were represented by the firm of
Leonard, Marks and Brueno. Everyone connected with the case is now dead except
Pinchback who, over eighty years of age, is now living in Washington.
When under the Wheeler Compromise after the election of 1874, the Democrats
secured a majority in the State House of Representatives, an effort was made to
impeach Kellogg, which, if successful, would have made Antoine Governor, but what
benefit the Democrats could have derived therefrom, it is impossible to say because
even if Antoine had then resigned, as was thought possible, the President of the
Senate, who would become Governor was or would be a Republican as the Democrats
had but nine of the thirty-six members of that body. However, the impeachment trial
properly speaking, was never held.
As soon as the Senate which had adjourned, heard of the impeachment resolution, it
immediately reconvened and sent for the Chief Justice, John T. Ludeling, and the Court
of Impeachment was opened without waiting for the presentation of the charges from
the House of Representatives, and Kellogg was "triumphantly" acquitted.

The Item, a New Orleans newspaper, featured the following sketch
of Isaiah T. Montgomery by Stanley Cisby Arthur in its Sunday
magazine section on September 25, 1921:
One of the most interesting figures at the meeting of the secretaries of the Federal
Farm Loan Association, was an aged negro, "Uncle" Isaiah T. Montgomery, of Mound
Bayou City, Bolivar County, Mississippi. "Uncle" Isaiah is not only one of the wealthiest
farmers in his district, but he founded the town of Mound Bayou, which is composed
exclusively of colored people, who run the stores, the banks, the postoffice, the schools
and the peace offices, but "Uncle" Isaiah was a former slave and a body servant of
Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy.
Black of face, with white hair and a white chin beard "Uncle" Isaiah looks exactly the
part of the regulation stage "Uncle" of the old regime. He looks every bit of his 74 years
but his mind is exceedingly bright and he recounted the happenings of over half a
century with the utmost clarity of speech and showed many evidences of his education,
which he says he gave himself. When he took recourse to a piece of paper and a pen
to estimate the ginnage of his community, he set down words and figures with
Spencerian exactness. His handwriting was truly a revelation to the interviewer.

"I was born on Hurricane plantation, in Warren county, Mississippi, in 1847, and my
father and I were owned by Joseph E. Davis, brother of Jefferson Davis. The plantation
owned by the late president of the Confederacy adjoined the Hurricane, and was called
Brierfield plantation," said the aged colored man and former slave who is now a
prosperous banker in the town he founded. "I was about nine years old when I first
remember Jefferson Davis real well. I was working in my master's office when his
brother came back from Congress and I was told to meet the steamboat Natchez in a
row boat and get Mr. Jeff.
"When the Natchez blew her whistle as she came around a bend of the river I rowed
out and Mr. Jeff got in my boat with his grips and things and I took him to shore and
toted all his things into the 'White Room' where Mr. Jeff staid for a considerable spell.
While there I was his personal attendant, I blacked his shoes, kept his room in order,
held his horse for him and other little things that a servant like I was was supposed to
do. On one of his trips down the river on the Natchez (Mr. Jeff and Captain Tom P.
Leathers, the historic commander of that boat, were close friends), he brought his wife
and daughter, who was afterwards Mrs. Hayes, and they all were very kind to me
because I was Mr. Jeff's personal servant all the time they were at the Hurricane.
"When the war between the states came I staid on the Joseph Davis plantation all
during the fighting. In '62 or '63, anyway, after the battle of Corinth, the Yankees
commenced overrunning the South and Mr. Joe, took all his stock and colored people
to Jackson, and later on to Alabama. He had me return to the plantation with my mother
and act as sort of caretakers and we were there when Admiral Porter's Mississippi
squadron made its way up the river. It seems sometime before a gunboat, the
Indianola, had been sunk in the river, just off the Hurricane plantation and folks in the
neighborhood had dismantled her.
"When Admiral Porter came up the river he stopped at the plantation so as to look at
the wreck and see if her guns could be found. But they had been thrown overboard and
had gone down in the quicksand. The Admiral asked me if I wanted to go with him as
cabin boy. I said yes, and ran to get my mammy's consent which was given. This was
in April of '63 and a few months later I was with the Admiral in the siege of Vicksburg
and later the battle at Grand Gulf. Soon afterwards I got a sickness from drinking Red
River water and when I was sent back to Hurricane I found my parents had gone to
Cincinnati and when I got word of this to Admiral Porter he secured transportation there
for me.
"When the war was over Mr. Joe Davis got in touch with my father and had him come
back to Hurricane plantation and after we got there he made a proposition that we
could buy the two plantations, Hurricane, that Mr. Joe owned, and Brierfield, of 4,000
acres, that Mr. Jeff Davis owned. While he could not sell to colored people under the
existing laws, through a court action by which my father, Benjamin T. Montgomery, and
my brother William T. and myself, agreed to pay $300,000 for the combined properties,
they were turned over to us and we were to pay six per cent a year on the whole until it
was paid off.
"Our first year working the plantation resulted in almost disaster as we suffered from an
overflow and when the first payment came around we were only able to pay $6,000.
When we sent this to Mr. Joe Davis with our excuses he sent us back a canceled note
for the rest of the $18,000. The Davis brothers, were gentlemen, sir. Well, we kept the
plantation going for thirteen years and in that time we ranked as third in the production
of cotton in Warren county. While we were growing cotton I became very well

acquainted with Captain John W. Cannon, the commander of the famous steamboat
the Robert E. Lee. He and Captain Tom Leathers, the commander of the Natchez, were
always having some sort of a fight or another and I saw the famous race between the
two when they actually settled the matter for good and all.
"The death of Mr. Joe Davis and taking over of his properties by his heirs lost us our
holdings and I became interested in the Yazoo Delta. I heard that the Y. & M. V. was
asking colored people to come in and open up the country and after going over the
situation I decided to select Mound Bayou for the seat of my future operations. This
place was selected because between Big and Little Mound bayous there was an old
Indian mound. This was in 1887 and it certainly was a wild territory, it had rich land but
it was thickly grown over with oak and ash and gum, and acres and acres of cane.
Well, I plundered around here and induced other colored folks to settle there. I founded
Mound Bayou Settlement—the railroad folks wanted to name it Montgomery, a few
years ago but I made the original name stick.
"Building up our community was slow work. All the colored folks bought their places on
10-year contracts and it was hard work for some of them in the face of a few crop
failures, overflows, boll weevil and other set-backs but we succeeded. Mound Bayou
Settlement is now a town of a little over 1,000 population and there are about 2,500 in
the country nearby. The town is of wholly colored population and we have three big
churches, one costing $25,000, another costing $15,000 and another $10,000. There
are several other less pretentious places of worship, as well.
"We have two big mercantile establishments. The largest being the one I founded and
known as the Mercantile Co-operative Company which now has a $20,000 stock. We
also have the Mound Bayou State Bank, with $10,000 capital, a $3,000 surplus, with
resources between $150,000 and $200,000. I am a member of the board of directors
and we make a great many loans to our colored people to see they get out their crops,
and being in the staple cotton belt, we make most of it on this crop.
"We have just completed a consolidated school house, 95 feet square, three stories
high, with 16 large class rooms. It cost us $100,000 which was raised by a local bond
issue. We have a seven to eight months' term and employ an agricultural expert, co-
operating under the Smith-Lever national fund and a very fine domestic science class.
"The town has a mayor and a board of aldermen, all office holders being colored folks,
and the present mayor, B. H. Green, was the first man born in the settlement. I was
mayor for over four years, being the first to hold the office, resigning it to hold the office
of receiver of public monies at Jackson, Miss.
"We have four gins that can handle over 5,000 bales and our people now feel that the
upward trend of the cotton price will make for further prosperous times."
Uncle Isaiah Montgomery remembers his services with the Jefferson family, first as
slave and afterwards as a trusted servant, with the kindliest feelings. He told of the
periods in 1880 and 1883 when Jefferson Davis returned to the old Brierfield and
Hurricane plantations, spending several weeks at the old home once or twice a year.
He usually had Mrs. Davis with him and the aged negro said that Mrs. Davis was a
remarkable woman.
"She displayed a wonderful interest in the future of the colored race," he said. "It was
the impression made on me by this lovely woman that helped confirm my belief in the
ultimate outcome of my work and efforts toward race betterment, education and uplift of
the negro. Mrs. Jefferson Davis had a broader comprehension of the race's needs than

anyone with whom I have ever come in contact with. With her death the negro lost one
of his greatest friends.
"Mr. Jefferson Davis was a wonderful man, too. My thoughts frequently go back, now
that I am approaching the end of my days, to the time I was his personal servant as a
barefoot boy. I truly believe, when he got his last sickness, had I been near to nurse
and care for him, that he would have lived many more years. I knew, and so did my
wife, what he needed in the way of food and we could have done for him as no one
else could.
"It was the influence of Jefferson Davis and his sweet life that has guided all my efforts
in bettering the life of my colored brothers and if I have succeeded it was because of
them."

The American Magazine in July, 1914, gave the following account,
an achievement of "Comebacks" of recent date:
Beaten Once, Perry Tried Again—and Succeeded.
For years Heman E. Perry, a negro, traveled over Texas for white companies, selling
old line life insurance to his people. But he had a vision of someday founding a
company under negro management, to transact its business and make its investments
among the colored race.
Finally, plans outlined and prospectus and other literature completed, he undertook the
arduous task of organizing his company. He applied for a charter under the laws of
Georgia, which require that the full $100,000 capital shall be raised in two years, or the
charter be revoked.
To raise $100,000 among white men, or even $100,000,000, is a comparatively easy
task, for they are accustomed to corporate investments. But Mr. Perry was to raise
$100,000 among a people whose investments had taken the form of horses and
houses, and who did not understand the value of commercial paper, especially when
purchased for $150 with a par value of $100. In other words, he had to sell 1,000
shares of stock, one, two or three shares at a time, and he must do this among a
people who had never before raised $100,000 for a business venture.
For two years, at his own expense, Perry traveled throughout the South. Then, with a
scant thirty days left, he found himself with but two thirds of the money in hand. He
hastened to New York hoping to obtain a loan from some bankers. They put him off
until the last day slipped by. Then began Perry's heart-breaking task of returning the
money he had collected. He returned every dollar with four per cent interest—money
that he had spent all his own cash in collecting.
This was enough to crush any ordinary man. But after three months Perry met a
selected assembly of negro business men in Atlanta, ready to begin all over again.
He retraced his first long journey, constantly hearing, "You failed once, you'll fail again."
But he continued his fight, and on June 14th, 1913, after $105,000 had been paid for
Georgia state bonds, the first and only old line legal reserve life insurance company in
the world managed and operated by negroes formally began business. It now operates
in nine states, and has over $2,000,000 insurance on the lives of negroes, because
Heman E. Perry would not acknowledge defeat, and had the power to "come back" and
conquer.

George F. Porter

ANNA MURRAY-DOUGLASS—MY MOTHER AS I RECALL
HER[1]

Looking backward over a space of fifty years or more, I have in
remembrance two travelers whose lives were real in their activity;
two lives that have indelibly impressed themselves upon my
memory; two lives whose energy and best ability was exerted to
make my life what it should be, and who gave me a home where
wisdom and industry went hand in hand; where instruction was given
that a cultivated brain and an industrious hand were the twin
conditions that lead to a well balanced and useful life. These two
lives were embodied in the personalities of Frederick Douglass and
Anna Murray his wife.
They met at the base of a mountain of wrong and oppression,
victims of the slave power as it existed over sixty years ago, one
smarting under the manifold hardships as a slave, the other in many
ways suffering from the effects of such a system.
The story of Frederick Douglass' hopes and aspirations and longing
desire for freedom has been told—you all know it. It was a story
made possible by the unswerving loyalty of Anna Murray, to whose
memory this paper is written.
Anna Murray was born in Denton, Caroline County, Maryland, an
adjoining county to that in which my father was born. The exact date
of her birth is not known. Her parents, Bambarra Murray and Mary,
his wife, were slaves, their family consisting of twelve children, seven
of whom were born in slavery and five born in freedom. My mother,
the eighth child, escaped by the short period of one month, the fate
of her older brothers and sisters, and was the first free child.
Remaining with her parents until she was seventeen, she felt it time
that she should be entirely self-supporting and with that idea she left

her country home and went to Baltimore, sought employment in a
French family by the name of Montell whom she served two years.
Doubtless it was while with them she gained her first idea as to
household management which served her so well in after years and
which gained for her the reputation of a thorough and competent
housekeeper.
On leaving the Montells', she served in a family by the name of Wells
living on S. Caroline Street. Wells was Post-master at the time of my
father's escape from slavery. It interested me very much in one of my
recent visits to Baltimore, to go to that house accompanied by an old
friend of my parents of those early days, who as a free woman was
enabled with others to make my father's life easier while he was a
slave in that city. This house is owned now by a colored man. In
going through the house I endeavored to remember its
appointments, so frequently spoken of by my mother, for she had
lived with this family seven years and an attachment sprang up
between her and the members of that household, the memory of
which gave her pleasure to recall.
The free people of Baltimore had their own circles from which the
slaves were excluded. The ruling of them out of their society resulted
more from the desire of the slaveholder than from any great wish of
the free people themselves. If a slave would dare to hazard all
danger and enter among the free people he would be received. To
such a little circle of free people—a circle a little more exclusive than
others, Frederick Baily was welcomed. Anna Murray, to whom he
had given his heart, sympathized with him and she devoted all her
energies to assist him. The three weeks prior to the escape were
busy and anxious weeks for Anna Murray. She had lived with the
Wells family so long and having been able to save the greater part of
her earnings was willing to share with the man she loved that he
might gain the freedom he yearned to possess. Her courage, her
sympathy at the start was the mainspring that supported the career
of Frederick Douglass. As is the condition of most wives her identity
became so merged with that of her husband, that few of their earlier
friends in the North really knew and appreciated the full value of the
woman who presided over the Douglass home for forty-four years.

When the escaped slave and future husband of Anna Murray had
reached New York in safety, his first act was to write her of his arrival
and as they had previously arranged she was to come on
immediately. Reaching New York a week later, they were married
and immediately took their wedding trip to New Bedford. In "My
Bondage of Freedom," by Frederick Douglass, a graphic account of
that trip is given.
The little that they possessed was the outcome of the industrial and
economical habits that were characteristic of my mother. She had
brought with her sufficient goods and chattel to fit up comfortably two
rooms in her New Bedford home—a feather bed with pillows, bed
linen, dishes, knives, forks, and spoons, besides a well filled trunk of
wearing apparel for herself. A new plum colored silk dress was her
wedding gown. To my child eyes that dress was very fine. She had
previously sold one of her feather beds to assist in defraying the
expenses of the flight from bondage.
The early days in New Bedford were spent in daily toil, the wife at
the wash board, the husband with saw, buck and axe. I have
frequently listened to the rehearsal of those early days of endeavor,
looking around me at the well appointed home built up from the labor
of the father and mother under so much difficulty, and found it hard
to realize that it was a fact. After the day of toil they would seek their
little home of two rooms and the meal of the day that was most
enjoyable was the supper nicely prepared by mother. Father
frequently spoke of the neatly set table with its snowy white cloth—
coarse tho' it was.
In 1890 I was taken by my father to these rooms on Elm Street, New
Bedford, Mass., overlooking Buzzards Bay. This was my birth place.
Every detail as to the early housekeeping was gone over, it was
splendidly impressed upon my mind, even to the hanging of a towel
on a particular nail. Many of the dishes used by my mother at that
time were in our Rochester home and kept as souvenirs of those first
days of housekeeping. The fire that destroyed that home in 1872,
also destroyed them.

Three of the family had their birthplace in New Bedford. When after
having written his first narrative, father built himself a nice little
cottage in Lynn, Mass., and moved his family there, previously to
making his first trip to Europe. He was absent during the years '45
and '46. It was then that mother with four children, the eldest in her
sixth year, struggled to maintain the family amid much that would
dampen the courage of many a young woman of to-day. I had
previously been taken to Albany by my father as a means of
lightening the burden for mother. Abigail and Lydia Mott, cousins of
Lucretia Mott, desired to have the care of me.
During the absence of my father, mother sustained her little family by
binding shoes. Mother had many friends in the anti-slavery circle of
Lynn and Boston who recognized her sterling qualities, and who
encouraged her during the long absence of her husband. Those
were days of anxious worry. The narrative of Frederick Douglass with
its bold utterances of truth, with the names of the parties with whom
he had been associated in slave life, so incensed the slaveholders
that it was doubtful if ever he would return to this country and also
there was danger for mother and those who had aided in his escape,
being pursued. It was with hesitancy father consented to leave the
country, and not until he was assured by the many friends that
mother and the children would be carefully guarded, would he go.
There were among the Anti-Slavery people of Massachusetts a
fraternal spirit born of the noble purpose near their heart that served
as an uplift and encouraged the best energies in each individual, and
mother from the contact with the great and noble workers grew and
improved even more than ever before. She was a recognized co-
worker in the A. S. Societies of Lynn and Boston, and no circle was
felt to be complete without her presence. There was a weekly
gathering of the women to prepare articles for the Annual A. S. Fair
held in Faneuil Hall, Boston. At that time mother would spend the
week in attendance having charge, in company of a committee of
ladies of which she was one, over the refreshments. The New
England women were all workers and there was no shirking of
responsibility—all worked. It became the custom of the ladies of the
Lynn society for each to take their turn in assisting mother in her

household duties on the morning of the day that the sewing circle
met so as to be sure of her meeting with them. It was mother's
custom to put aside the earnings from a certain number of shoes she
had bound as her donation to the A. S. cause. Being frugal and
economic she was able to put by a portion of her earnings for a rainy
day.
I have often heard my father speak in admiration of mother's
executive ability. During his absence abroad, he sent, as he could,
support for his family, and on his coming home he supposed there
would be some bills to settle. One day while talking over their affairs,
mother arose and quietly going to the bureau drawer produced a
Bank book with the sums deposited just in the proportion father had
sent, the book also containing deposits of her own earnings—and
not a debt had been contracted during his absence.
The greatest trial, perhaps, that mother was called upon to endure,
after parting from her Baltimore friends several years before, was the
leaving her Massachusetts home for the Rochester home where
father established the "North Star." She never forgot her old friends
and delighted to speak of them up to her last illness.
Wendell Phillips, Wm. Lloyd Garrison, Sydney Howard Gay and
many more with their wives were particularly kind to her. At one of
the Anti-Slavery conventions held in Syracuse, father and mother
were the guests of Rev. Samuel J. May, a Unitarian minister and an
ardent Anti-Slavery friend. The spacious parlors of the May mansion
were thrown open for a reception to their honor and where she could
meet her old Boston friends. The refreshments were served on trays,
one of which placed upon an improvised table made by the sitting
close together of Wendell Phillips, Wm. Lloyd Garrison and Sydney
Howard Gay, mother was invited to sit, the four making an interesting
tableaux.
Mother occasionally traveled with father on his short trips, but not as
often as he would have liked as she was a housekeeper who felt that
her presence was necessary in the home, as she was wont to say
"to keep things straight." Her life in Rochester was not less active in
the cause of the slave, if anything she was more self-sacrificing, and

it was a long time after her residence there that she was understood.
The atmosphere in which she was placed lacked the genial cordiality
that greeted her in her Massachusetts home. There were only the
few that learned to know her, for, she drew around herself a certain
reserve, after meeting her new acquaintances that forbade any very
near approach to her. Prejudice in the early 40's in Rochester ran
rampant and mother became more distrustful. There were a few
loyal co-workers and she set herself assiduously to work. In the
home, with the aid of a laundress only, she managed her household.
She watched with a great deal of interest and no little pride the
growth in public life of my father, and in every possible way that she
was capable aided him by relieving him of all the management of the
home as it increased in size and in its appointments. It was her
pleasure to know that when he stood up before an audience that his
linen was immaculate and that she had made it so, for, no matter
how well the laundry was done for the family, she must with her own
hands smooth the tucks in father's linen and when he was on a long
journey she would forward at a given point a fresh supply.
Being herself one of the first agents of the Underground Railroad she
was an untiring worker along that line. To be able to accommodate in
a comfortable manner the fugitives that passed our way, father
enlarged his home where a suite of rooms could be made ready for
those fleeing to Canada. It was no unusual occurrence for mother to
be called up at all hours of the night, cold or hot as the case may be,
to prepare supper for a hungry lot of fleeing humanity.
She was greatly interested in the publication of the "North Star" or
Frederick Douglass' paper as it was called later on, and publication
day was always a day for extra rejoicing as each weekly paper was
felt to be another arrow sent on its way to do the work of puncturing
the veil that shrouded a whole race in gloom. Mother felt it her duty
to have her table well supplied with extra provisions that day, a
custom that we, childlike, fully appreciated. Our home was two miles
from the center of the city, where our office was situated, and many
times did we trudge through snow knee deep, as street cars were
unknown.

During one of the summer vacations the question arose in father's
mind as to how his sons should be employed, for them to run wild
through the streets was out of the question. There was much hostile
feeling against the colored boys and as he would be from home most
of the time, he felt anxious about them. Mother came to the rescue
with the suggestion that they be taken into the office and taught the
case. They were little fellows and the thought had not occurred to
father. He acted upon the suggestion and at the ages of eleven and
nine they were perched upon blocks and given their first lesson in
printer's ink, besides being employed to carry papers and mailing
them.
Father was mother's honored guest. He was from home so often that
his home comings were events that she thought worthy of extra
notice, and caused renewed activity. Every thing was done that could
be to add to his comfort. She also found time to care for four other
boys at different times. As they became members of our home circle,
the care of their clothing was as carefully seen to as her own
children's and they delighted in calling her Mother.
In her early life she was a member of the Methodist Church, as was
father, but in our home there was no family altar. Our custom was to
read a chapter in the Bible around the table, each reading a verse in
turn until the chapter was completed. She was a person who strived
to live a Christian life instead of talking it. She was a woman strong
in her likes and dislikes, and had a large discernment as to the
character of those who came around her. Her gift in that direction
being very fortunate in the protection of father's interest especially in
the early days of his public life, when there was great apprehension
for his safety. She was a woman firm in her opposition to alcoholic
drinks, a strict disciplinarian—her no meant no and yes, yes, but
more frequently the no's had it, especially when I was the petitioner.
So far as I was concerned, I found my father more yielding than my
mother, altho' both were rigid as to the matter of obedience.
There was a certain amount of grim humor about mother and
perhaps such exhibitions as they occurred were a little startling to
those who were unacquainted with her. The reserve in which she
held herself made whatever she might attempt of a jocose nature

somewhat acrid. She could not be known all at once, she had to be
studied. She abhorred shames. In the early 70's she came to
Washington and found a large number of people from whom the
shackles had recently fallen. She fully realized their condition and
considered the gaieties that were then indulged in as frivolous in the
extreme.
On one occasion several young women called upon her and
commenting on her spacious parlors and the approaching holiday
season, thought it a favorable opportunity to suggest the keeping of
an open house. Mother replied: "I have been keeping open house for
several weeks. I have it closed now and I expect to keep it closed."
The young women thinking mother's understanding was at fault,
endeavored to explain. They were assured, however, that they were
fully understood. Father, who was present, laughingly pointed to the
New Bay Window, which had been completed only a few days
previous to their call.
Perhaps no other home received under its roof a more varied class
of people than did our home. From the highest dignitaries to the
lowliest person, bond or free, white or black, were welcomed, and
mother was equally gracious to all. There were a few who presumed
on the hospitality of the home and officiously insinuated themselves
and their advice in a manner that was particularly disagreeable to
her. This unwelcome attention on the part of the visitor would be
grievously repelled, in a manner more forceful than the said party
would deem her capable of, and from such a person an erroneous
impression of her temper and qualifications would be given, and
criticisms sharp and unjust would be made; so that altho' she had
her triumphs, they were trials, and only those who knew her
intimately could fully understand and appreciate the enduring
patience of the wife and mother.
During her wedded life of forty-four years, whether in adversity or
prosperity, she was the same faithful ally, guarding as best she could
every interest connected with my father, his lifework and the home.
Unfortunately an opportunity for a knowledge of books had been
denied her, the lack of which she greatly deplored. Her increasing
family and household duties prevented any great advancement,

altho' she was able to read a little. By contact with people of culture
and education, and they were her real friends, her improvement was
marked. She took a lively interest in every phase of the Anti-Slavery
movement, an interest that father took full pains to foster and to keep
her intelligently informed. I was instructed to read to her. She was a
good listener, making comments on passing events, which were well
worth consideration, altho' the manner of the presentation of them
might provoke a smile. Her value was fully appreciated by my father,
and in one of his letters to Thomas Auld, (his former master,) he
says, "Instead of finding my companion a burden she is truly a
helpmeet."
In 1882, this remarkable woman, for in many ways she was
remarkable, was stricken with paralysis and for four weeks was a
great sufferer. Altho' perfectly helpless, she insisted from her sick
bed to direct her home affairs. The orders were given with precision
and they were obeyed with alacrity. Her fortitude and patience up to
within ten days of her death were very great. She helped us to bear
her burden. Many letters of condolence from those who had met her
and upon whom pleasant impressions had been made, were
received. Hon. J. M. Dalzell of Ohio, wrote thus:
"You know I never met your good wife but once and then her
welcome was so warm and sincere and unaffected, her manner
altogether so motherly, and her goodby so full of genuine kindness
and hospitality, as to impress me tenderly and fill my eyes with tears
as I now recall it."
Prof. Peter H. Clark of Cincinnati, Ohio, wrote: "The kind treatment
given to us and our little one so many years ago won for her a place
in our hearts from which no lapse of time could move her. To us she
was ever kind and good and our mourning because of her death, is
heartfelt."
There is much room for reflection in the review in the life of such a
woman as Anna Murray Douglass. Unlettered tho' she was, there
was a strength of character and of purpose that won for her the
respect of the noblest and best. She was a woman who strove to
inculcate in the minds of her children the highest principles of

FOOTNOTES:
[1] This paper and the one which follows give valuable information
about Frederick Douglass and his wife.

FREDERICK DOUGLASS IN IRELAND

Few persons have any idea as to the connection between the
abolition of slavery in the United States and the struggle of the Irish
for freedom. According to The Standard Union, when in the decade
1830 Negro slavery existed in the British West Indies, a little party of
liberal men in the British Parliament began to agitate in season and
out of season for emancipation, Daniel O'Connell, with a few Irish
members who supported him, threw his strength to this little party on
every division. There was a West Indian interest pledged to maintain
Negro slavery, and this interest counted twenty-seven votes in
Parliament. They came to O'Connell and offered their twenty-seven
votes to him on every Irish question if he would oppose Negro
emancipation.
"It was," said Wendell Phillips, "a terrible temptation. How many a so-called statesman
would have yielded!" O'Connell said: "Gentlemen, God knows I speak for the saddest
nation the sun ever sees, but may my right hand forget its cunning and my tongue
cleave to the roof of my mouth, if to serve Ireland, even Ireland, I forget the Negro one
single hour."

The following account taken from The Liberator, including a letter
from Frederick Douglass, shows the genuineness of this Irish
friendship for the Negro in the United States:
A letter of extraordinary interest at this time from Mr. Frederick Douglass to Mr. William
Lloyd Garrison has just come to light in the columns of The True American, a little anti-
slavery paper published in Cortland Village, N. Y., in 1846. The letter, written with the
eloquence and depth of feeling which characterized all Mr. Douglass's utterances on
the subject of slavery and the abuse of the Negro in this country. The letter, which The
True American copied from The Boston Liberator, Mr. Garrison's Paper, is introduced
by the following editorial comment from The Albany Journal under date of February 11,
1846.

"It is scarcely necessary to direct attention to the letter of Frederick Douglass which we
copy from The Boston Liberator. It will be read with equal pleasure and amazement by
those who remember that eight years ago he was a slave, and that he literally stole the
elements of an education which now gives him rank among the most gifted and
eloquent men of the age.
"We shall not blame those who refuse to believe that Frederick wrote this letter. Without
the personal knowledge we possess of his extraordinary attainments, we too should
doubt whether a fugitive slave, who, as but yesterday, escaped from a bondage that
doomed him to ignorance and degradation, now stands up and rebukes oppression
with a dignity and force scarcely less glowing than that which Paul addressed to
Agrippa."
The letter is as follows:
Victoria Hotel, Belfast,
January 1st, 1846.
My dear Friend Garrison:
I am now about to take leave of the Emerald Isle, for Glasgow, Scotland. I have been
here a little more than four months.—Up to this time, I have been given no direct
expression of the views, feelings and opinions which I have formed, respecting the
character and condition of the people of this land. I have refrained thus purposely. I
wish to speak advisedly, and in order to do this, I have waited till I trust experience has
brought my opinions to an intelligent maturity. I have been thus thankful, not because I
think what I may say will have much effect in shaping the opinions of the world, but
because whatever of influence I may possess, whether little or much, I wish it to go in
the right direction, and according to truth.
I hardly need say that in speaking of Ireland, I shall be influenced by no prejudices in
favor of America. I think my circumstances all forbid that. I have no end to serve, no
creed to uphold, no government to defend; and as to nation, I belong to none. I have no
protection at home, or resting place abroad. The land of my birth welcomes me to her
shores only as a slave, and spurns with contempt the idea of treating me differently.—
So that I am an outcast from the society of my childhood, and an outlaw in the land of
my birth. "I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner as all my fathers were." That men
should be patriotic is to me perfectly natural; and as a philosophical fact, I am able to
give it an intellectual recognition. But no further can I go. If ever I had any patriotism, or
any capacity for the feeling, it was whipt out of me long since by the lash of the
American souldrivers.
In thinking of America, I sometimes find myself admiring her bright blue sky—her grand
old woods—her fertile fields—her beautiful rivers—her mighty lakes, and star crowned
mountains. But my rapture is soon checked, my joy is soon turned to mourning. When I
remember that all is cursed with the infernal spirit of slaveholding, robbery and wrong,
—when I remember that with the waters of her noblest rivers, the tears of my brethren
are borne to the ocean, disregarded and forgotten, and that her most fertile fields drink
daily of the warm blood of my outraged sisters, I am filled with unutterable loathing, and
led to reproach myself that anything could fall from my lips in praise of such a land.
America will not allow her children to love her. She seems bent on compelling those
who would be her warmest friends, to be her worst enemies. May God give her
repentance before it is too late, is the ardent prayer of my heart. I will continue to pray,
labor and wait, believing that she cannot always be insensible to the dictates of justice,
or deaf to the voice of humanity.

My opportunities for learning the character and condition of the people of this land have
been very great. I have travelled almost from the hill of "Howth" to the Giant's
Causeway, and from the Giant's Causeway to Cape Clear. During these travels, I have
met with much in the character and condition of the people to approve, and much to
condemn—much that has thrilled me with pleasure—and very much that has filled me
with pain. I will not in this letter attempt to give any description of those scenes which
have given me pain. This I will do hereafter. I have enough, and more than your
subscribers will be disposed to read at one time, of the bright side of the picture. I can
truly say, I have spent some of the happiest moments of my life since landing in this
country. I seem to have undergone a transformation. I live a new life.
The warm and generous co-operation extended to me by the friends of my despised
race—the prompt and liberal manner with which the press has rendered me its aid—the
glorious enthusiasm with which thousands have flocked to hear the cruel wrongs of my
down-trodden and long enslaved countrymen portrayed—the deep sympathy of the
slave, and the strong abhorrence of the slaveholder, everywhere evinced—the
cordiality with which members and ministers of various religious bodies, and of various
shades of religious opinion, have embraced me and lent me their aid—the kind
hospitality constantly proffered to me by persons of the highest rank in society—the
spirit of freedom that seems to animate all with whom I come in contact—and the entire
absence of everything that looked like prejudice against me, on account of the color of
my skin—contrasting so strongly with my long and bitter experience in the United
States, that I look with wonder and amazement on the transition.
In the Southern part of the United States I was a slave, thought of and spoken of as
property. In the language of the law, "held, taken, reputed and adjudged to be chattel in
the hands of my owners and possessors, and their executors, administrators, or
assigns, to all intents, constructions, and purposes whatever."—Brev. Digest, 224. In
the Northern States, a fugitive slave, liable to be hunted at any moment like a felon,
and to be hurried into the terrible jaws of slavery—doomed by an inveterate prejudice
against color to insult and outrage in every hand. (Massachusetts out of the question)—
denied the privileges and courtesies common to others in the use of the most humble
of conveyances—shut out from the cabins on steamboats—refused admission to
respectable hotels—caricatured, scorned, scoffed, mocked and maltreated with
impunity by any one (no matter how black his heart), so he has a white skin.
But now behold the change! Eleven days and a half gone, and I have crossed three
thousand miles of the perilous deep. Instead of a democratic government, I am under a
monarchical government. Instead of the bright blue sky of America, I am covered with
the soft gray fog of the Emerald Isle. I breathe, and lo! the chattel becomes a man. I
gaze around in vain for one who will question my equal humanity, claim me as his
slave, or offer me an insult. I employ a cab—I am seated beside white people—I reach
the hotel—I enter the same door—I am shown into the same parlor—I dine at the same
table—and no one is offended. No delicate nose grows deformed in my presence. I
have no difficulty here in obtaining admission into any place of worship, instruction or
amusement, on equal terms with people as white as any I ever saw in the United
States. I meet nothing to remind me of my complexion. I find myself regarded and
treated at every turn with the kindness and deference paid to white people. When I go
to church, I am met by no upturned nose and scorned lip to tell me, "We don't allow
niggers in here!"
I remember about two years ago, there was in Boston, near the southwest corner of
Boston Common, a menagerie. I had long desired to see such a collection as I

understood were being exhibited there. Never having had an opportunity while a slave,
I resolved to seize this, my first, since my escape. I went, and as I approached the
entrance to gain admission, I was met and told by the doorkeeper in a harsh and
contemptuous tone, "We don't allow niggers here!" I also remember attending a revival
meeting in the Rev. Henry Jackson's meeting house, at New Bedford, and going up the
broad aisle to find a seat. I was met by a good deacon, who told me in a pious tone,
"We don't allow niggers here!" Soon after my arrival in New Bedford from the South, I
had a strong desire to attend the Lyceum, but was told, "We don't allow niggers here!"
While passing from New York to Boston on the steamer Massachusetts, on the night of
the 9th Dec., 1843, when chilled almost through with the cold, I went into the cabin to
get a little warm, I was soon touched upon the shoulder and told, "We don't allow
niggers here!" On arriving in Boston from an anti-slavery tour, hungry and tired I went
into an eating house near my friend Mr. Campbell's, to get some refreshments. I was
met by a lad in a white apron, "We don't allow niggers here!" A week or two before
leaving the United States, I had a meeting appointed at Weymouth, the home of that
glorious band of true abolitionists, the Weston family and others. On attempting to take
a seat on the omnibus to that place, I was told by the driver (and I never shall forget the
fiendish haste), "I don't allow niggers in here!"
Thank heaven for the respite I now enjoy! I had been in Dublin but a few days, when a
gentleman of great respectability kindly offered to conduct me through all the public
buildings of that beautiful city; and a little afterwards, I found myself dining with the Lord
Mayor of Dublin. What a pity there was not some American Democratic Christian at the
door of his splendid mansion, to bark out at my approach, "They don't allow niggers in
here!" The truth is, the people here know nothing of the Republican Negro hate
prevalent in our glorious land. They measure and esteem men according to their moral
and intellectual worth, and not according to the color of their skin. Whatever may be
said of the aristocracies here, there is none based on the color of a man's skin. This
species of aristocracy belongs pre-eminently to "the land of the free, and the home of
the brave." I have never found it abroad, in any but Americans. It sticks to them where-
ever they go. They find it almost as hard to get rid of as to get rid of their skins.
The second day after my arrival at Liverpool, in company with my friend Buffum, and
several other friends I went to Eaton Hall, the residence of the Marquis of Westminster,
one of the most splendid buildings in England. On approaching the door, I found
several of our American passengers who came out with us in the Cambria, waiting at
the door for admission, as but one party was allowed in the house at a time. We all had
to wait till the company within came out. And of all the faces, expressive of chagrin,
those of the Americans were pre-eminent. They looked as sour as vinegar, and as bitter
as gall, when they found I was to be admitted on equal terms with themselves. When
the door was opened I walked in, on an equal footing with my white fellow citizens, and
from all I could see I had as much attention paid me by the servants who showed me
through the house as any with a paler skin. As I walked through the building, the
statuary did not fall down, the pictures did not leap from their places, the doors did not
refuse to open, and the servants did not say, "We don't allow niggers in here!"
A happy new year to you and to all the friends of freedom.
Excuse this imperfect scrawl and believe me to be ever and always yours,
Frederick Douglass

BO O K REVI EWS

The History of the Afro-American Group of the Episcopal Church. By
George F. Bragg, Rector St. James First African Church,
Baltimore. With an Introduction by the Rt. Rev. T. DuBose
Bratton, D.D., LL.D., Bishop of Mississippi. The Church Advocate
Press, Baltimore, 1922, pp. 319.
This work is intended to supply the need of a volume tracing the
connection of the Negro with the Protestant Episcopal Church in
America. As this particular group of communicants has not the status
of independent organization, its peculiar history has remained only in
fragments. To embody these in the form of a handy volume to show
how this denomination has influenced the life of the Negro and how
members of the race have been affected thereby, will be a distinct
service for which the public would feel thankful. Whether or not the
author has accomplished this task the readers themselves will
decide. He has undertaken the work with so much enthusiasm and
found so many things to praise and such a few to condemn that the
reader may find the work somewhat ex parte. The struggle of the
Negro communicants in this denomination and its indifference
toward the strivings of the race before the Civil War are not
emphasized. Approaching the volume with reservation, however, the
investigator will find the work of some value.
The volume begins with the early baptism of African children during
the early days. He directs attention to the work of missionaries in
South Carolina, Maryland, Georgia, and Virginia and brings his story
down to the days of the independent movement among Negro
communicants as it culminated in the organization of the Free
African Society of Philadelphia out of which emerged the St. Thomas
African Church under the leadership of Absalom Jones. He then
discusses the rise of such churches as St. Phillips in New York, St.
James in Baltimore, Christ Church in Providence, St. Luke in New
Haven, The Church of the Crucifixion in Philadelphia, St. Matthews

in Detroit, St. Phillips in New Jersey and St. Phillips in Buffalo. The
renewed interest of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the uplift of
the Negro is interwoven around his discussion of the Freedman's
Commission organized in 1868 to Christianize and educate the
Negroes recently emancipated in the South. He then discusses the
further interest shown by the General Convention of 1871 and treats
with some detail the efforts through mission schools in the South.
The remaining portion of the book consists of biographical sketches.
It contains a list of the Negro clergy prior to 1866, mentioning such
names as Absalom Jones, Peter Williams, William Levington, James
C. Ward, Jacob Oson, Gustavus V. Caesar, Edward Jones, William
Douglass, Isaiah G. DeGrasse, Alexander Crummell, Eli Worthington
Stokes, William C. Munroe, Samuel Vreeland Berry, Harrison
Holmes Webb, James Theodore Holly, William Johnson Alston, and
John Peterson. Among these are accounts of such veteran friends
as Bishops Atkinson, Lyman, Johns, Whittie, Smith, Quintard,
Whittingham, Howe, Stevens, Young, and Dudley, along with Mr.
Joseph Bryan, General Samuel C. Armstrong, and Mrs. Loomis L.
White. He then gives sketches of some self-made strong characters
like James E. Thompson, Cassius M. C. Mason, James Solomon
Russell, James Nelson Denver, Henry Mason Joseph, Henry
Stephen McDuffy, Primus Priss Alston, Paulus Moort, Henry L.
Phillips, August E. Jensen, Joshua Bowden Massiah, William Victor
Tunnell, and John W. Perry. Honorable mention is given to Samuel
David Ferguson, John Payne, Edward T. Demby, Henry B. Delany,
and T. Momolu Gardiner.

The Trend of the Races. By George E. Haynes, Ph.D. With an
introduction by James H. Dillard. Published jointly by Council of
Women for Home Missions and Missionary Education Movement
of the United States and Canada. New York, 1922, pp. 205.
This volume is at once both historical and sociological. It is
interesting but might have been more readable if the materials had
been better organized so as to avoid unnecessary repetition from

chapter to chapter. It marks an epoch in the history of the Negro in
the United States, however, in that it was written at the request of
white persons constituting the Joint Committee on Home Mission
Literature representing the Missionary Education Movement and the
Council of Women for Home Missions and the Missionary
Educational Boards. The aim of the work is to present to the white
workers in the Church the achievements of the Negro, believing that
if the Negro becomes known to the white man, he will not be any
longer hated by him; or, as the chairman of the committee herself
says in the foreword to the volume: "Our seeking to know him must
be on the basis of the broadest sympathy. In the friendliest and most
helpful spirit we should sincerely desire to understand him in the
place where he is and to apprehend something of the road by which
he came and the direction of his highest and best aspirations, that
we may, so far as we can, make it possible for him to attain his best
in our common civilization. We should at the same time quite as
earnestly seek to know ourselves in respect to our limitations,
achievements, and goals in the building of the social order."
The book begins with a presentation of the case of the Negro,
reviewing two methods of racial adjustment. It then discusses the
conditions under which some choice of procedure must be made in
view of the white and Negro public opinion. The author then
endeavors to show what the Negro has accomplished during the
sixty years emphasizing his achievements both economic and
industrial. In this chapter he deals largely with the progress of Negro
farmers, the growth of business enterprises, improvements in health,
moral uplift, the development of homes, achievements in community
life, education, inventions, scientific discovery, and religious life. The
author then treats in some detail the mental capacity of the Negro,
his feelings, his conduct, his humor and his dramatic ability. He
shows how the Negro practices self-abnegation, toleration and
optimism in spite of oppression and yet brings out the fact that there
is a rising tide of race consciousness, increasing resentment and
suspicion. The development of racial self-respect, and the forward
looking program of self-assertion are also mentioned in showing how
the Negroes are learning to depend upon their own leaders and to

undertake to do for themselves what they have long requested
others to accomplish for them.
One of the important features of the book is its emphasis on the part
which the Negro has played in the various wars in the United States
beginning with the American Revolution and bringing the story
through all of our national and international struggles. Most space,
however, is devoted to the Negro's participation in the World War
and to the local economic situation in which the Negroes figured
during the dearth of labor and the scarcity of money when they
responded to the call to render non-combatant service and to lend
the Government their means by purchasing Liberty Bonds. Following
this the author finds it opportune to show the trend of the white
world, bringing out its attitude and ways of action due to conscience.
Here he discusses the influence of economic motives, survivals from
the past, attitudes due to ideals of race, the effects of the principles
and ideals of democracy and the interracial mind. The author
believes that the way to interracial peace is through racial contacts,
church co-operation, efficient reorganization in the division of labor,
and through mutual economic and life interests, group
interdependence between mental and social factors, educational
institutions, popular government, and voluntary organizations
coordinating interracial activities.

In the Vanguard of a Race. By L. H. Hammond. Published jointly by
Council of Women for Home Missions and Missionary Education
Movement of the United States and Canada. New York, 1922, pp.
176.
This is a volume not so serious as that of Dr. Haynes's but written for
the purpose of presenting to the American public a number of useful
leaders now shaping the destiny of the Negro race. Inasmuch as all
famous workers of the race could not be mentioned, the author
endeavored to select one typical of each particular thought and to
portray them as the representatives of a large host of laborers
rebuilding the civilization of a large portion of mankind. The persons

sketched have worked as musicians, painters, sculptors, actors,
singers, poets, educators, physicians, farmers, and clergymen.
When one considers several of the selections made, however, he
must be astounded at the lack of judgment shown as to who are the
leading Negro workers doing something worth while. The author
seems to have obtained advice from such friends and helpers as
Miss Ida A. Tourtellot of the Phelps-Stokes Foundation, Miss Flora
Mitchell of the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, Mrs. Booker T. Washington of Tuskegee, Mr.
Jackson Davis of the General Education Board, Mr. N. C. Newbold of
the North Carolina State Department of Education, Mr. W. T. B.
Williams of the Jeanes and Slater Boards, Professor G. L. Imes of
Tuskegee, and Dr. A. M. Moore of Durham, North Carolina, all of
whom do not claim to be authorities in matter of this kind.
On the whole, however, the book has a value. In the first chapter, "A
Long Ascent," there is an interesting sketch of the rising race
showing unusual possibilities which must convince the world of the
inherent worth and bright future of the Negro. The sketch of Booker
T. Washington entitled "A Story of Service" is decidedly interesting
and is written in such a style as to popularize the achievements of
the great educator. Presented very much in the same way is the
account of the valuable service of Dr. C. V. Roman whose efforts
have not been restricted to medicine, inasmuch as he is an author
and a lecturer of recognized standing. Miss Nannie H. Burroughs is
properly presented to typify that part of the story known as "Saving
an Idea." Herein is sketched the rise and the culmination of the
career of one of the most useful women of our day. In the same style
the work of Dr. William N. DeBerry of Springfield, Massachusetts,
appears. There follows the sketch of the career of Mrs. Jane Barrett,
a believer in happiness, then that of John B. Pierce, a builder of
prosperity, and next that of Mrs. Maggie L. Walker, a woman banker.
Much space is given also to the career of the famous composer,
Harry T. Burleigh. This sketch is followed by two others directing
attention to Miss Martha Drummer and James Dunston. The book
closes with a brief biography of Joseph S. Cotter, Jr., the young poet
who recently attained distinction in expressing the strivings of an
oppressed people.

The Negro in Chicago. A study of race relations and a race riot. By
the Chicago Commission on Race Relations. The University of
Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1922, pp. 672.
It is generally admitted that this report of the Commission on Race
Relations is the most important contribution to this interesting
subject. The very organization of the commission deepens this
impression. Before the end of this racial conflict in which 38 lives
were lost and 537 persons injured between July 27 and August 6,
1919, representatives of 48 social, civic, commercial and
professional organizations of Chicago met on the first of August and
requested Governor Frank O. Lowden, of Illinois, to appoint an
emergency State Committee "to study the psychological, social and
economic causes underlying the conditions resulting in the present
race riot and to make such recommendations as will tend to prevent
a recurrence of such conditions in the future." In response to this and
other urgent requests, according to the report and pursuant to his
personal knowledge of the situation derived from investigations
made by him in Chicago during the riot, Governor Lowden appointed
as a commission, Edgar A. Bancroft, William Scott Bond, Edward
Osgood Brown, Harry Eugene Kelley, Victor F. Lawson, and Julius
Rosenwald as representatives of the white race and Robert S.
Abbott, George Cleveland Hall, George H. Jackson, Edward H.
Morris, Adelbert H. Roberts, and Lacey Kirk Williams representing
the Negroes, all to serve as a commission to undertake the work
suggested by the memorialists. Mr. Bancroft was designated by the
Governor as chairman but on account of his absence due to ill
health, Dr. F. W. Shepardson, Director of the State Department of
Registration and Education, was appointed to serve as acting
chairman and on the return of Mr. Bancroft, Dr. Shepardson was
added to the commission and made its Vice-Chairman. Inasmuch as
the commission had no funds a committee consisting of Messrs.
James B. Forgan, chairman, Abel Davis, Treasurer, Arthur Meeker,
John J. Mitchell, and John G. Shedd, together with Messrs. R. B.
Beach and John F. Bowman of the staff of the Chicago Association
of Commerce, enabled the commission of inquiry to meet this

emergency. The actual work was done under the direction of an
Executive Secretary, Graham Romeyn Taylor and an Associate
Executive Secretary, Charles S. Johnson, the latter assuming charge
of the actual inquiries and investigation.
The report does not present any solution by which all racial troubles
may be avoided. It well fulfills its mission, however, in finding facts
which, if properly studied, will serve to guide others in promoting
amicable relations between racial groups. It at once convinces the
general public that causes of racial friction may be insignificant in
themselves but are nevertheless capable of leading to serious
results, although a little effort can easily effect their removal in time
to avoid such fatal consequences. It shows, moreover, that
grievances too often portrayed as justifiable reasons for self-help are
generally exaggerated primarily for the purpose of inflaming the
public mind and should such findings be given adequate publicity the
effects of such unwise action may be counteracted in time. It is
claimed for this commission, moreover, that its work has promoted
an understanding between the two racial groups in the city of
Chicago and removed misunderstandings which have been such
prolific sources of trouble.
The report covers in some detail an informing account of the race riot
itself and of other outbreaks in the State of Illinois. Going to the very
causes of things, the commission studied the migration of the
Negroes from the South, the Negro population in Chicago, directing
attention to the housing of Negroes, racial contacts, vicious
environments, and lines of industry. One of the most informing parts
of the work is a treatment of public opinion in race relations, bringing
out beliefs concerning Negroes and the background of such and
public opinion as expressed by Negroes themselves. Adequate
space is given to the instruments of opinion-making, such as
Chicago newspapers and the Negro press as well as to rumors,
myths, and propaganda. The recommendations of the Commission
require careful attention. While the public will not generally accept
these recommendations as final, they are at least suggestive and
require careful consideration.

One defect of the work, however, if it has a defect, is that it fails to
take into account one important cause, namely, the migration of
many poor whites to the North during the period of scarcity of labor
incident to the World War when these southerners brought north
their own opinions about how to keep the Negro down and helped to
aggravate the situation in Chicago.

NO T ES

Mr. George W. Brown, a graduate of Howard University who, as a
result of a year of graduate work in History and Political Science at
Western Reserve University, has received the degree of Master of
Arts, has been appointed Instructor in History at the West Virginia
Collegiate Institute. Mr. Brown is the author of a dissertation entitled
Haiti and the United States.
Mr. Miles Mark Fisher who contributed to the last issue of The
Journal of Negro History the valuable dissertation and documents
bearing on the career of Lott Cary and who has written two other
valuable works, The History of the Olivet Baptist Church and The
Master's Slave, has been appointed an instructor at the Virginia
Union University, Richmond, Virginia.
Mr. Luther P. Jackson, a graduate of Fisk University, who specialized
at Columbia in History and Education leading to the degree of
Master of Arts, and who contributes to the current number of The
Journal of Negro History the dissertation entitled The Educational
Efforts of the Freedmen's Bureau and Freedmen's Aid Societies in
South Carolina, 1862-1872, has been appointed an instructor in the
Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute, Petersburg, Virginia.
The Macmillan Company has published A Boys' Life of Booker T.
Washington by W. C. Jackson, Vice President of the North Carolina
College for Women, Greensboro, and Professor of History.
The A. B. Caldwell Publishing Company, Atlanta, Georgia, has
brought out an autobiography, Echoes from a Pioneer Life by Jared
Maurice Arter, an instructor in Storer College, Harpers Ferry, West
Va.
From the University of Chicago Press there has come another
interesting volume on the Negro. This is entitled The Negro Press in
the United States by Frederick G. Detweiler.

Sir Harry H. Johnston, G. C. M. G., K. C. B., Sc.D., has published
through Oxford at the Clarendon Press his second volume of A
Comparative Study of the Bantu and Semi-Bantu Languages.

T HE PRO CEEDI NG S O F T HE ANNUAL M EET I NG
O F T HE ASSO CI AT I O N F O R T HE ST UDY O F
NEG RO L I F E AND HI STO RY

The Association met in annual session on the 22d, 23d and 24th of
November in Louisville, Kentucky. The day sessions were held at the
Chestnut Street Branch Library and the evening sessions at the
Quinn Chapel A. M. E. Church. The meeting was a success from
both the local and national points of view. Persons from afar came to
take an active part and the citizens of Louisville and nearby cities of
Kentucky attended in considerable numbers.
The meeting was opened at eight o'clock Wednesday evening at the
Chestnut Street Branch Library with a stereopticon lecture on the
History of the Negro by Dr. A. Eugene Thomson, principal of Lincoln
Institute, Lincoln Ridge, Kentucky. This lecture covered the early
history of the Negro in Egypt and Ethiopia with illustrations of the
historic monuments exhibiting the progress of the natives in
architecture and the fine arts. There followed an informing discussion
of the importance of the study of this particular part of the past of the
dark races.
On Thursday morning at ten o'clock a conference on "The Present
State of the Negro" was held. Mr. E. E. Reed, principal of the
Bowling Green High School, delivered an address on "The Social
and Economic Status of the Negro." This was the main feature of the
conference. The general discussion was opened by Mr. E. A. Carter,
secretary of the Louisville Urban League, who discussed "The
Political Status of the Negro." The views of the speakers were such
as to present both the optimistic and the pessimistic sides of the
question. They believed that while there have been some
developments which indicate improvement in the status of the
Negro, there have been also other changes which indicate a
tendency of things to become static.

Early in the afternoon at 1:30 P. M. a special session was held at the
William J. Simmons University. The aim here was to interest the
students in the importance of the preservation of the records of the
Negro. Several members of the Association discussed the history of
the organization, its achievements and plans, and welcomed the
cooperation of all as coworkers in this long neglected field. Dr. W. H.
Steward, the editor of The American Baptist, then spoke from his
experience on "The Value of a Written Record," mentioning several
cases in Kentucky where important matters have been decided by
such documentary evidence. He emphasized the importance of the
work accomplished by the Association and encouraged the youth to
connect themselves with it that the cause may be promoted more
successfully.
At three o'clock Thursday afternoon with Professor W. B. Matthews,
principal of the Central High School, presiding, there followed a
session devoted to "The Teaching of Negro History." Many of the
teachers from the local school system were present. In a very
thoughtful and impressive manner Mr. J. W. Bell, principal of the
Hopkinsville High School, discussed the teaching of Negro history as
a matter of concern not only to the Negro himself but to the white
man. He expressed the opinion that through the dissemination of
such information the one race may become better acquainted with
the other. He was then followed by Mr. P. W. L. Jones, instructor in
History at the Kentucky Normal and Industrial Institute, Frankfort,
Kentucky. Mr. Jones directed his attention to "The Value of Negro
Biography" as a means of keeping before the race the records of a
number of useful citizens who might otherwise be forgotten and as a
means of inspiring the youth to useful endeavor and noble
achievement. He took occasion to present brief sketches of a
number of Negroes once prominent in the past but now almost
forgotten because of the failure to pass their story on to the coming
generation. Mr. Thomas F. Blue, librarian of the Chestnut Street
Branch Library, then opened the general discussion showing from
his experience the need for directing more attention to these
neglected aspects of this peculiar problem of a race in the making.

The first evening session was held at the Quinn Chapel A. M. E.
Church with Dr. Noah W. Williams presiding. On this occasion the
Honorable C. C. Stoll, representing the Mayor of Louisville,
welcomed the Association in words adequate to arouse interest and
enthusiasm. Dr. L. G. Jordan, secretary emeritus of the National
Baptist Foreign Mission Board, responded to this address on behalf
of the Association. He took occasion, moreover, to make some
interesting observations out of his experiences in America and in
Africa. Then followed an address by Dr. C. G. Woodson who briefly
connected the achievements of the Negro with such movements in
history as the commercial revolution, the intellectual revival, the
struggle for the rights of man, the industrial revolution, the reform
movements of the nineteenth century, and the present effort to attain
social justice.
On Friday morning at ten o'clock with Dr. James Bond presiding
there followed a conference on the Negro slave. Mr. W. H. Fouse,
principal of the Russell High School of Lexington, read an informing
paper on "The Contribution of the Slave to Civilization." He
emphasized especially the value of Negro labor as the basis upon
which Southern society was established, showing that whatever
valuable culture was developed was made possible by the work of
the Negro slave. He did not, however, subscribe to the theory that it
is necessary to enslave one part of the population that the other may
apply itself to the study of science, philosophy and politics. Dr. R. S.
Cotterill, instructor in History at the University of Louisville, then read
a valuable dissertation entitled "The Use of Slaves in Building
Southern Railroads." The speaker showed that he had made an
extensive research into documentary material, and he presented an
array of facts which unusually enlightened his audience in this
neglected field. During the general discussion which followed some
other important facts were brought forward, and much interest in the
researches of these two speakers was generally expressed.
From Friday afternoon at two o'clock to 5:30 P. M. there were
exhibited at the Chestnut Street Branch Library samples of the
publications of the Association and a number of valuable engravings
of the Antique Works of Art in Benin, West Africa. This offered the

public an opportunity to judge the progress made by the Association
since its organization in 1915 and to form an opinion as to the sort of
work prosecuted and the manner in which it has been done. The
engravings setting forth the achievements of an important group of
African peoples of the 16th century convinced a large number that
the Negro race has behind it a valuable record which can never be
known except through such research and expeditions as will unearth
these important contributions.
At three o'clock there was held the business session of the
Association. The reports of the Director and the Secretary-Treasurer
were read and, after favorable comment, were accepted and
approved by vote of the Association. These reports follow:
THE REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR.
With respect to the most difficult task of the Director, that of raising money, the work of
the Association has been eminently successful. Encouraged by the appropriation of
$25,000 obtained from the Carnegie Corporation last year, the Director appealed to
several boards for the same consideration. Last February one of these, the Laura
Spelman Rockefeller Memorial, appropriated $25,000 to this work, payable in annual
installments of $5,000, as in the case of that obtained from the Carnegie Corporation. It
is to be regretted, however, that smaller contributions, heretofore yielding most of the
income of the Association prior to obtaining the two appropriations, have diminished in
number and amount. Appealed to repeatedly, many of these persons give the heavy
income tax as an excuse, while not a few make the mistake of thinking that the other
funds received by the Association are sufficient to take care of the general expenses.
During the fiscal year 1921-1922, thirty-seven persons, most of whom were Negroes,
contributed $25.00 each, whereas during the previous fiscal year the number was
larger.
The following report of the Secretary-Treasurer shows how these funds have been
used:
Financial Statement of the Secretary-Treasurer
Washington, D. C., July 1, 1922
The Association for the Study of
Negro Life and History, Inc.,
Washington, D. C.
Gentlemen:
I hereby submit to you a statement of the amount of money received and expended by
the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, Incorporated, from July 1, 1921,
to June 30, 1922, inclusive:

Receipts Expenditures

Subscriptions $ 1,772.63 Printing and Stationery $ 4,929.97

Memberships 241.00 Petty Cash 670.00
Contributions 9,113.75 Stenographic service 990.23
Advertising 195.45 Rent and Light 714.67
Rent and Light 180.14 Salaries 3,450.00
Books 1.70 Traveling Expenses 468.09
Refunds 50.42 Miscellaneous 286.46
Total receipts $11,555.09 Total expenditures $11,509.42
Bal. on hand July 1, 1921 43.09 Bal. on hand June 30, 1922 88.76
$11,598.18 $11,598.18
This report does not cover the $5,000 annually received for research into the Free
Negro Prior to 1861 and Negro Reconstruction History. This fund was made available
on the first of July, the beginning of the fiscal year, and has been apportioned so as to
pay three investigators and a copyist employed to do this work.
Respectfully submitted,
(Signed) S. W. Rutherford,
Secretary-Treasurer.
The appropriation of $25,000 obtained from the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial
requires the employment of investigators to develop the studies of the Free Negro Prior
to 1861 and of Negro Reconstruction History. The annual allowance of $5,000 is
devoted altogether to this work, inasmuch as special instructions received from the
Trustees of the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial prohibit the use of this money for
any other purpose. The Association has, therefore, employed Dr. George Francis Dow
to read the eighteenth century colonial newspapers of New England, C. G. Woodson to
make a study of the Free Negro Prior to 1861, A. A. Taylor to study the Social and
Economic Conditions of the Negro during the Reconstruction, and a clerk serving the
investigators in the capacity of a copyist.
At present Mr. A. A. Taylor is spending only one-half of his time at this work, but after
the first of next June he will have the opportunity to direct his attention altogether to this
task. During this year it is expected that he will complete his studies of the Social and
Economic Conditions in Virginia and South Carolina.
In the study of the Free Negro the Director has spent the year compiling a statistical
report giving the names of free Negroes who were heads of families in the South in
1830 showing the number in each family and the number of slaves owned. Within a few
months that part of the report dealing with Louisiana, South Carolina and North
Carolina will be completed.
The Association is also directing attention to the work of training men for research in
this field. The program agreed upon is to educate in the best graduate schools with
libraries containing works bearing on Negro life and history at least three young men a
year, supported by fellowships of $500 from the Association and such additional stipend
as the schools themselves may grant for the support of the undertaking. One of these
students will take up the study of Negro History, one will direct his attention to
Anthropometric and Psychological measurements of Negroes, and one to African
Anthropology and Archaeology. In this undertaking the Director has not only the
cooperation of Prof. Carl Russell Fish, of the University of Wisconsin, and Prof. William
E. Dodd, of the University of Chicago, who with him constitute the Committee on

Fellowships, but also the assistance of Professors Franz Boas and E. L. Thorndike of
Columbia University and of Professor E. A. Hooton of Harvard University.
Closely connected with these plans, moreover, are certain other projects to preserve
Negro folklore and the fragments of Negro music. In this effort the Association has the
cooperation of Mrs. Elsie Clews Parsons, the moving spirit of the American Folklore
Society. She is now desirous of making a more systematic effort to embody this part of
the Negro civilization and she believes that the work can be more successfully done by
cooperation with the Association. As soon as the Director can obtain a special fund for
this particular work, an investigator will be employed to undertake it.
The interest manifested in the study of Negro History in clubs and schools has been
very encouraging. Most of the advanced institutions of learning of both North and South
make use of The Journal of Negro History in teaching social sciences. The Director's
two recent works, The History of the Negro Church and The Negro in Our History are
being extensively used as textbooks in classes studying Sociology and History. The
enthusiasm of some of these groups has developed to the extent that they now request
authority to organize under the direction of the Association local bodies to be known as
State Associations for the Study of Negro Life and History.
Respectfully submitted,
C. G. Woodson,
Director.

Upon taking up the election of officers there prevailed a motion to
cast the unanimous ballot of the Association for the following officers:
John R. Hawkins, President
S. W. Rutherford, Secretary-Treasurer
C. G. Woodson, Director
The following were elected members of the Executive Council:
John R. Hawkins Henry C. King
S. W. Rutherford William E. Dodd
Carter G. Woodson E. A. Hooton
Julius Rosenwald Bishop John Hurst
James H. Dillard Alexander L. Jackson
Bishop R. A. Carter Bishop R. E. Jones
Robert R. Church Clement Richardson
Franz Boas Robert C. Woods
Carl Russell Fish

John R. Hawkins, S. W. Rutherford and C. G. Woodson were chosen
as trustees of the Association. John R. Hawkins, S. W. Rutherford
and A. L. Jackson were elected members of the Business
Committee.

There then followed a brief discussion of plans and ways and means
for the expansion of the work. Most of this discussion developed
from the various items of the report of the Director. Mr. W. H. Fouse,
of Lexington, Kentucky, proposed that the Association should
authorize the organization of State Associations for the Study of
Negro Life and History to cooperate with the national body in
preserving local biographical records of Negroes in counties and
cities inaccessible to national workers. This proposal was favorably
received.
On Friday evening at 8:30 P. M. there took place the second evening
session at the Quinn Chapel A. M. E. Church with Prof. H. C. Russell
presiding. The chief feature of the occasion was the address of Dr.
C. V. Roman entitled "The American Civilization and the Negro."
Following the line of his researches and his opinions already
expressed in various works, Dr. Roman discussed the meaning of
culture and connected the achievements of the Negro therewith. He
took occasion also to show how the history of the race has been
neglected and how many records worth while have been accredited
to the defamers of the Negro race. Mr. J. W. Bell, of Hopkinsville,
Kentucky, then entertained the audience with a very eloquent
address, speaking in general of the achievements of the Association
and emphasizing the importance of close cooperation therewith. The
meeting was then closed with a few remarks by the Director who
thanked the people of Louisville and of Kentucky for their
cooperation in making the meeting a success.

T H E J O U R N A L

O F

N E G R O H I S T O R Y

Vol. VIII., No. 2 April, 1923.

T HE T EACHI NG O F NEG RO HI STO RY [ 1 ]

The teaching of Negro history will serve the two-fold purpose of
informing the white man and inspiring the Negro. The untoward
circumstances under which the Negro lives make the teaching of his
history imperatively necessary. When the founders of this
government brought forth a new nation conceived in liberty and
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, many
thought that the Negro was not regarded as a man. Thomas
Jefferson himself, the writer of that document, held the Negro as a
slave. The Negro was regarded as mere property, as a mere beast of
burden. It required four years of bloody war to transform him from
the position of a thing and place him in the ranks of men with a mere
chance to struggle for actual democracy. These circumstances have
caused one of the most intricate problems, the race problem. They
have placed the American Negro in a category by himself. They have
brought about the peculiar situation of a nation within a nation.
The teaching of Negro history would contribute much to the solution
of this complicated race problem. The solution of any problem
depends upon an adequate understanding of it. The most
illuminating approach to the race problem is the historical approach.
The white man of this country must be supplied with the real facts
pertaining to the Negro. If not, all of his generalizations will be mere
verbiage based upon tradition inspired by prejudice. To prevent a
distorted social perspective and to develop a wider community
consciousness, the white man should read history from the Negro's
point of view.
For more than four centuries the Negro has been brought into
contact with the European white man. For the most part the Teutonic
stocks have regarded the Negro as a negative factor in history. The
Latin and Slavic races have been more kindly disposed toward him.
They have been disposed to give honor to whom honor is due
regardless of race or color. To them color has been an incident of

birth, not a badge of inferiority. In the annals of Russia Alexander
Pushkin is recognized as her national poet. France considered
Toussaint L'Ouverture, one of the most commanding figures of any
age, a conspicuous example of the possibilities of the pure-blooded
Negro. She recognized Alexander Dumas as her most distinguished
romancer. Today she places this mantle upon the shoulders of René
Maran.
The white people of the United States consider their race to be men
of a superior breed and have ignored the Negro in recording
European and American history. In their desire to substantiate the
theory of the superiority of the white man and the inferiority of the
Negro, they have failed to publish or suppressed the truth about the
achievements of the Negro. They have looked for nothing
praiseworthy in him; they have widely proclaimed his faults and
failures. Well did Macaulay say:
By exclusive attention to one class of phenomena, by exclusive taste for one species of
excellence the human intellect was stunted. The best historians of later days have been
seduced from truth, not by their imagination, but by their reason. They far excel their
predecessors in the art of deducing general principles from facts, but unhappily they
have fallen into the error of distorting the facts to suit the general principles. They arrive
at a theory from looking at a part of the phenomena; the remaining phenomena they
strain or curtail to suit the theory. In every human character and transaction there is a
mixture of good and evil: a little exaggeration, a little suppression, a judicious use of
epithets, a watching and searching skepticism with respect to the evidence on one
side, a convenient credulity with respect to every report or tradition on the other side
may easily make a saint of Laud or a tyrant of Henry IV.

The Negro's most important contribution to American history is his
unparalleled progress—his rise from poverty to wealth, from
ignorance to knowledge, from backwardness to civilization. No other
race has achieved more under the same conditions. No authentic
history of the United States, then, can ignore or exclude the Negro.
The part which he has played in American history has served largely
to make the nation what it is today.
The fidelity of the Negro slave to his master, his devotion and loyalty
to his country should constitute interesting historical themes. Under
the regime of slavery the Negro was literally bought and sold like the
very soil. His life was but one unceasing round of toil and misery; his
faith, his hope, and his ambition, were fettered down with chains

which he had no power to rend. Under these circumstances he
contributed two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil. With the
muscles of his brawny arms he cleared away the forests, tilled the
soil, and made the wilderness to blossom like the rose. With his
callous hands he has built railroads and cities in this country and has
thus made this a goodly land in which to live.
Every time a foreign foe has threatened this nation, the Negro with
unswerving patriotism and undaunted courage has contributed his
full quota of protection. With profound sincerity he has offered his
services to his country; with voluntary devotion he has laid himself
upon her altar. It was Crispus Attucks who rushed upon the plains of
Boston, struck the first blow and thus became the first martyr to the
cause of American independence. It was the Negro soldiers who
plunged dauntlessly into the face of death, scaled the heights of El
Caney and San Juan and brought victory to the American flag. It was
the black boys of the Ninth and the Tenth Cavalry that led the van
and spilt their blood upon the troublous soil of Mexico in order that
the dignity of the United States might be maintained. Negro soldiers
were among the first to carry the stars and stripes into the trenches
upon the gory field somewhere in France. These Negro soldiers
have written their names high upon the scroll of fame.
You cannot erase their record without destroying some of the most
important pages of American history. In the true annals of this nation
their illustrious deeds of valor and patriotism cannot be hidden.
Unobscured by prejudice these records shall shine forth and point
out to posterity some of the most daring exploits and some of the
most vicarious sacrifices. When the ponderous volumes of history
rich with the spoils of time shall unroll their ample pages before the
eyes of generations yet unborn, there in letters which he who runs
may read should be inscribed the names of Johnson, Roberts,
Butler, and many other black boys who staked their lives in the World
War upon the contention that the world should be made safe for
democracy.
Teaching of Negro history to the white people will give them a
broader view. It will prove to them that the Negro has contributed a
very considerable portion to the wealth, population and resources of

the nation. It will engender a greater sympathy and a wider
community consciousness. It will prove that the Negro is imbued with
the white man's spirit and strives after his ideals. To the white man
who truly studies Negro history will come views of tolerance and a
spirit of justice, kindness, and helpfulness.
What benefit will accrue to the Negro from the teaching of Negro
history? If the purpose of history teaching in our schools is to train for
citizenship, what kind of a citizen will the Negro be, if the history he
studies does not comprehend his race? The education of any race is
incomplete unless it embodies the ideals of that race. The histories
taught in Negro schools were not written in contemplation of the
race. They were written for the white man and are the embodiment
of his ideals and prejudices. The teaching of Negro history to the
Negro youth is necessary to inspire race pride and arouse race
consciousness. The study of what his race has done under adverse
circumstances will animate the Negro youth to greater
achievements. By contemplating the deeds of the worthy members
of his own race the Negro youth will have his aspirations raised to
attain the highest objective of life.
Because of existing conditions the inevitable conclusion is, that
Negro history should be taught in all the schools of all races in the
United States. The history outline should provide that Negro history
supplement the regular text in United States history. The teaching of
Negro history will bring a knowledge of those essential elements
without which there can be no solution of the race problem. Standing
upon the vantage ground of history retrospecting the past and
prospecting the future, every real seeker of the truth can catch a
glimmer of the glory in the realization of the prophetic utterance:
"Princes shall come out of Egypt and Ethiopia shall soon stretch
forth her hand to God."
J. W. Bell.

FOOTNOTES:
[1] An address delivered before the Association for the Study of
Negro Life and History at Louisville, November 23, 1922.

NEG RO BI O G RAPHY [ 1 ]

Twenty years ago I became interested in the study of Negro
biography. I was anxious to know more about the personal histories
of a score or more of Negro men and women whose part in helping
to make the history of the Negro in the United States stood out pre-
eminently. I did not desire detailed accounts of their lives at that time,
but I did wish to know when and where they were born, how they
made their way to front rank, how they suffered, fought, and
sacrificed, where they spent their declining years, and when they
passed away. I found the field of Negro biography a neglected one. I
set to work, in my weak way, then, to bring to light the main facts in
these personal histories.
The early Negro historians seem to have placed little emphasis on
telling the interesting facts in the lives of the leaders of the race, and
these persons themselves, with a few exceptions, were too modest,
too busy, or too poor to publish their lives in book form. Josiah
Henson, Samuel Ringgold Ward, Frederick Douglass, William Wells
Brown, and a few others published their autobiographies.
Unsatisfactory brief sketches of Phyllis Wheatley, Benjamin
Banneker, Crispus Attucks, Lott Cary, and a score of others could be
found here and there. Many writers have attempted to make known
the part the Negro group has played in helping to make American
history and civilization, but few have brought to light the stories of the
Negro men and women of might and mark whose impress upon their
generation gives evidence of our onward march of progress.
Looking over the field of American Negro historiography one sees a
change in aspect and in tone. The early historian told the chronicled
story of the race as a separate and distinct narrative, an
independent, isolated tale of a people apart from the world. He
endeavored to show the part the Negro had played in making
possible his own progress. Today the Negro historian points to the
fact that the Negro's advancement is a part of the forward movement

of the world, and his progress in all the fields wherein he has labored
is a part of the general progress of mankind. The historian of today is
scientifically bringing to light the evidences as to the worth of the
Negro and his contributions to the uplift of the World. More and more
the historian is directing attention to the private lives of our leaders.
More and more the leaders themselves are recording their own
deeds, writing their autobiographies, and uncovering many inside
facts connected with movements with which they were identified and
in which they played conspicuous parts. But the personal histories of
the old leaders, "the Old Guard" of the race, remain unknown. The
stories of their lives, in addition to making rare literature, would shed
light on the past, teach race loyalty and pride, and give inspiration to
thousands of Negro youths who would find encouragement in their
trials and battles.
"Biography," says Lossing, "is history teaching by example." Every
race that has counted for much in history has had its heroes. Every
nation that has helped to build civilization got its inspiration from
within. Every nation that has left a record of value had its ideal men
and women, its patriots, its martyrs—its examples of usefulness
within itself. The white race seeks its ideals within its own ranks. The
Red man's ideal is his group. The Greek youth imbibed the dare-
and-do spirit from the tales of the Greek heroes. The Roman
fashioned his life after those citizens who fought and achieved for
Rome. Englishmen find their heroes among their own, and though
they admire and praise genius and usefulness in men of other
nationalities, their greatest men are those who played well their parts
in helping to expand the influence of England and to establish the
British Empire. The German gets his inspiration from German history.
The Japanese worships at the shrine of those of his country who
have been factors in giving Japan "a place in the sun." The
Frenchman sees his examples of true greatness in the men and
women who sacrificed all for the glory of France.
No race, no nation, no people whose ideals of manhood and
patriotism are without, can hope to be accorded full recognition by
the world. The Negro's ideal must be a Negro if he is to appreciate
keenly his own particular stock. The Negro's examples of

achievement and devotion must be found within his group, if he is to
learn to serve the race faithfully and intelligently. Its sages, its
patriots, its heroes must all be persons of color, men whose faces
show the mark of Africa, if the Negro youth is to develop that
essential feeling commonly known as race pride. Negro
achievements must be taught to the young men and women, if they
are to learn to labor and to achieve, to do and to dare.
Negro biography stands out as the medium through which the youths
of the race can be taught to love the race more and to serve it better.
Negro biography is the main source from which the young Negro is
to get inspiration and encouragement. Negro biography is the door
through which he enters Negro history. Negro biography unlocks the
past and explains the present effectively and impressively. If we want
our children trained to love the race we must not only teach them
what the world is, what nations have accomplished, and what
individuals within the ranks of these nations have done toward
helping to brighten the path of life, but we must tell them of the
sturdy characters of Negro ancestry who have labored and struggled
and triumphed and by their contributions enriched the history of
civilization. The appreciation for the record of our own group will
stimulate the youth to greater endeavor.
The histories of nations are but narratives of what their citizens have
said and done. If, then, we would teach effectively the chronicles of
the nations, we must be answering questions, incessantly
responding to inquiries about the men and the women who blazed
the way and led their kinsmen to toil and suffer to bring to pass a
happier and a brighter day for themselves and their posterity. Such
examples of devotion to the cause of humanity, examples of
consecration to truth and righteousness, examples of goodness and
greatness worthy of the praise of all races and creeds, are found
everywhere in the ranks of the Negro race. If unearthed and
popularized, these examples would shed light upon the history of the
race in the United States, illuminate the general history of man, and
inculcate a profound respect for the Negro.
In connection with the Negro's early efforts at freedom and culture
mention is made of John Chavis, George Moses Horton, John Sella

Martin, George Liele, John S. Rock, James Varick, Andrew Bryan,
Daniel Coker, Peter Spencer, David Walker, John T. Hilton, David
Ruggles, William Whipper, James Monroe Whitefield, James
McCune Smith, James Madison Bell, Thomas Paul, Mary Shadd
Carey, Jupiter Hammon, and Samuel Ringgold Ward, about whose
personal histories, Ward excepted, little is known. And even in the
case of Ward, his life after he left the United States is almost a blank.
Few people know what work he did after making his home in
Jamaica, and the circumstances under which he passed away there.
Let it be remembered that Frederick Douglass called Ward the most
brilliant Negro orator of the abolition cause. Would not the story of
his remarkable career be a valuable addition to our history? He was
one of the chief pillars of the anti-slavery movement.
Would not the true facts concerning the birth, education and early life
of Lieutenant Colonel William N. Reed, First North Carolina
Volunteers, or the Thirty-fifth United States Colored Troops, who fell
mortally wounded in the battle of the Olustee in 1864, make
interesting reading to arouse the imagination of the youth? A full
narrative of the life of Dr. John V. DeGrasse, the first commissioned
surgeon in the United States Army, would give a new idea of the
versatility of the Negro patriot. The life of David Ruggles, told in
detail, would be both informing and inspiring. His hatred of the
slaveholder and his love of freedom brought him to deal sledge
hammer blows at the institution of slavery and to oppose the
colonization of free Negroes in Africa. His manly appeal to reason
and his eloquent and convincing arguments against deportation did
much to make friends for Negro freedom. James W. C. Pennington,
an honor alumnus of the University of Heidelberg (Germany),
deserves more consideration in our history than will ever be given
him because we know so little about his life and labors. An eloquent
preacher and a lover of justice and truth, he won the praise of the
good and the great in both America and Europe.
How many American Negroes know the name of Joseph Colvis, a
native of the United States who won distinction during the Franco-
Prussian War, who was decorated by the French Government, and
who retained till his death his American citizenship? What Negro of

the United States knows the story of the last years of Edmonia
Lewis, the sculptress, one of the truly great products of the race?
Her name should be made to live by telling every youth of her
wonderful career as an artist.
How many Negro youths know the names of C. H. J. Taylor, James
Monroe Trotter, John H. Jackson and J. McHenry Jones, four men of
our own time who successfully labored for the uplift of the race?
Taylor and Trotter were among the first to preach Negro
independence in politics, and Jackson and Jones infused new life
into two State schools and made these institutions mighty
instruments of service in the uplift of the race. What do we know of
Whipper, Rock, Martin, Chavis, Jones, Whitefield, pioneers all? of
Bell, Varick, Coker, Cary, Bryan, Liele, all but martyrs? What these
men achieved, in spite of handicap, in an environment unfavorable to
progress by peoples of dark skin, has won the admiration of the
enemies of the race. Is there a student of history who does not wish
to know more about them? Unbiased historians on both sides of the
seas will some day find delight in doing them honor.
Shall these heroes go unsung? Shall these makers of the history of
the race go unhonored? Should not their names become familiar to
our children and their struggles for truth and right the epics of the
fireside? Lest we forget, and lest our children never know them, let
us do our best to chronicle their deeds and to perpetuate their
memories. Let us do our part towards placing these heroes before
the world, erecting in their honor monuments in song and in story to
the end that coming generations may be inspired to serve their day
faithfully and aspiring youths everywhere be shown the path to true
worth and glory.
Paul W. L. Jones.

FOOTNOTES:
[1] An address delivered before the Association for the Study of
Negro Life and History at Louisville, November 23, 1922.

HAI T I AND T HE UNI T ED STAT ES [ A ]

Introductory

We do not generally speak of American imperialism. Such words are
incompatible. Imperialism in the United States, the land of the free
and the home of the brave, seems ironical. The degenerate, dying
one, however, gave birth to the vital, growing other. Imperialism is
the torch that fired the souls that flared and flamed forth in
conquering righteous anger and tore in twain the bond which held
the British Lion's restless brood intact and set one loose to roam
apart a land in which to breed and suckle a stock after its kind. It was
thus the United States had its beginning. Can it be the echo of that
severed bond still faintly heard shall prematurely die? drown in the
clamor of our near Imperialistic programme in the republics of Haiti
and Santo Domingo? Be that as it may, the sovereignty of Haiti and
Santo Domingo has been impaired, and their independence
overthrown by the United States of America. This is a fact against
which no one holds a brief.
Whether we accept the interpretation of our country's actions in the
island republics by Earnest H. Gruening, Managing Editor of The
Nation, or that of Carl Kelsey,[1] Professor of Sociology at the
University of Pennsylvania,[2] whether we conclude with, what may
be termed conveniently "public opinion," or with the Investigation
Committee of the Senate,[3] is finally a matter of individual judicature.
To accept or reject, establish or refute, either interpretation or
conclusion would require a thorough study of the character and
motives of the men, and the nature, extent, and the conditions under
which the facts were collected. Such a survey would lead us far
afield in this dissertation.
Knowing as we do the importance of the Monroe Doctrine, we
believe the basis of the present Haitian-Dominican relation with the

United States to be found in our practical interpretation of that
unwritten law. There is another factor which, if possible, is
paramount to the Monroe Doctrine, our economic interests. The
strength of a nation is its wealth. In our economic interests upon
which rests our political government, and in the Monroe Doctrine—
time honored, versatile chaperon and guardian of them both at
international fetes—are to be found the official justification and true
motives of the foreign policy of the United States in Haiti and Santo
Domingo.

Survey of Haiti

Before proceeding farther, let us briefly review Haiti up to the
American Occupation. The story of the Santo-Dominican affair is
singularly similar to that of Haiti, and it needs to be referred to only in
the rare instances of dissimilarity.
Hispaniola or Haiti is the second largest island in the Antilles. It lies
between Cuba and Porto Rico. It was discovered by Columbus, and
the earliest Caucasian civilization in this hemisphere took root there.
The tomb supposed to hold the ashes of Columbus is in the
Cathedral of Santo Domingo. The eastern two-thirds of the island is
occupied by the Dominican Republic, the western one-third by that of
Haiti. The island was a French colony until 1804, although the
French claims were frequently disputed by the Spaniards, who at
various times established themselves in the eastern part, where
language and culture remained Castilian. Following nearly fifteen
years of struggle, which began when the Bastile fell, the natives
achieved their independence.[4] This revolution was unique in that
the revolutionaries, who had formerly been slaves, secured both the
political independence of their country and their personal freedom.
The republic of Haiti was established on January 1, 1804, the
second republic in the Western Hemisphere. In 1844 the eastern
two-thirds of the island seceded and set up the Dominican Republic.
The republic of Haiti continued free and independent until 1915.
During that one hundred and eleven years it had a troublous history.
The constitutional office for a president in Haiti is seven years, but

President Salomon, who held office from 1879 to 1886, is apparently
the only such functionary to fill out his term of office. He was
overthrown within two years after his reelection for a second term in
1886.
This drama may be reduced to read thus: In 1804 Dessalines was
crowned as emperor. Two years later he was assassinated; and war
broke out between Christophe and Petion. In 1807 Christophe
became king under the title of Henry I, but had upon his hands
annoying strife. In 1811 Petion was made president of the southern
part of the island and civil war ensued. Boyer was declared regent
for life in 1820 and after tremendous insurrection and flow of blood
Christophe committed suicide. In 1843 Boyer was deposed and
exiled after a revolution. In 1844 Santo Domingo, the Spanish port of
the island, became an independent republic in spite of the efforts of
the French portion to subdue it. Herard, the next ruler, was exiled
after a rule of one year. Then came Guerrier and Pierrot, each of
whom could hold out one year only. In 1846 Riché was proclaimed
president but he passed away within twelve months. In 1849
Soulouque was declared emperor after many wars and much
bloodshed. He managed to rule in some way until he was exiled in
1859. Geffrad then became president and ruled until 1867 when he
was exiled. From 1856 to 1867 there followed a dreadful revolution
when Salnave revolted, taking refugees from the British consulates
and killing them. An English ship drove them out and helped Geffrad
who, however, was finally banished. Salnave was then made
president with a new constitution; and the revolt was suppressed
amidst torrents of blood. From 1868 to 1870 there was continual
revolution, but Salnave massacred his enemies, proclaimed himself
emperor, and thus reigned until he was finally defeated and shot. In
1874 after Nissage Saget had completed his term of four years,
Domingue seized the government, but after bloody revolution he was
exiled in 1876. Then came another bloody revolution when Canal
seized power but after a stormy reign he was exiled in 1879, when
Salomon was elected. Salomon was reelected in 1886 but was
deposed and exiled in 1888. Then came civil war between Hippolyte
and Légitime resulting in the temporary success of Légitime, who
held sway for one year only. In 1889 Hippolyte was chosen chief

executive and he died in office in 1896. Sam who became president
that year had trouble with Germany and numerous disorders in the
country. In 1902 Sam took all the funds and left the country. In 1902
General Alexis Nord was proclaimed president, and he was retired
by revolution in 1908 when the powers sent warships to stop
massacre. Cincinnatus Lecompte was elevated to the presidency in
1911 and was killed in 1912. Tancrede Auguste, who succeeded him,
met the same fate the following year. Michall Oreste, the next
unfortunate, served into the year 1914 when he was dethroned by
the usual upheaval; and so suffered Zamor in 1914, and Guillaume
who was killed in 1915. On July 28, 1915, United States forces
landed at Port-au-Prince and began the present Occupation.[5]

Survey of Santo Domingo

National and domestic conditions of Haiti are popular knowledge. It
is unnecessary to go into that upon which all students of Latin
American countries are agreed. Accordingly we make no mention of
the form of government and detailed exposition of its operation in
this country.
It is not agreed that Santo Domingo is as well known. The total area
of the Dominican Republic is over 19,000 square miles, or somewhat
more than the combined areas of the States of Vermont and New
Hampshire. The country is divided by a great central range whose
highest peaks rise to 9,000 or 10,000 feet, forming valleys like
Constanza, whose elevation is over 3,000 feet. The first census of
the Dominican Republic ever taken was completed in the summer of
1921. This showed a total population of 894,587, a little over 45 a
square mile, or about one-fourth the density of Haiti. The crop areas,
rainfall being heavy in the vicinity of the central range, indicate fairly
accurately the location of the mass of the population. The people are
a mixture of Negro, Indian, and Spaniard with the Negro strain
predominant. Among them, as in Haiti, the question of land
ownership is important. There is no system of deeds by which titles
are registered. As the country has never been surveyed, titles are in
confusion.

The agricultural methods of the Dominicans do not differ materially
from those of the Haitians, but modern machinery is rapidly
appearing. Conservatively it might be said that the Dominican
farmers are more prosperous than the Haitian. One finds here the
culture of cane, cacao, tobacco, and bananas to a greater extent
than in Haiti, but these crops are not efficiently handled.
The most valuable crop of the country is sugar. Owing to the
enormous cost of the mills, sugar is produced chiefly on large
plantations. Of these there are about a dozen, most of which are
today under American control. Two of the largest are La Romana in
the east and Barahona in the west. In the former the investment is
estimated at $7,000,000 with 16,000 acres in cane and a labor force
of 7,000. Barahona is a new plantation which was grinding the winter
of 1921 for the first time. The investment here is said to be over
$10,000,000. A splendid plant with adequate provision for houses for
the employees has been built. Besides sugar there are a few other
industries including a little manufacturing. Factories are not
numerous in the country, but at Puerto Plata, there are a match
factory, a few distilleries, and two cigar factories turning out excellent
products, and they are owned and operated by Dominicans. It is an
open question whether forces and influences of this kind will do more
to advance and stabilize these countries than all the resorts to force
of military control and occupation.
Some transportation facilities and a few other economic factors of
interest are observed. There are two lines of railroads doing a
general business, with a combined mileage of about 150 miles. The
Dominican Central Railway runs from Puerto Plata through Santiago
to Moca, 60 miles. This was built by foreign interests but was taken
over by the government in 1908. The second road, the Samaná and
Santiago Railway, runs from Moca to Samaná with branches to San
Fernando de Macoris and La Vega. No railroad runs from the
northern to the southern part of the country. On the sugar estates in
the south there are 225 miles of private roads. There is also a short
line of some five miles connecting Azura with its ports. An excellent
beginning had been made in road building. The engineers of the
American forces since the occupation have carried it farther. There

are docks at Puerto Plata, La Romana,[6] San Pedro de Macoris,
Santo Domingo and Barahona. Elsewhere lighters are used. The
Clyde Steamship Line has had a monopoly much of the time in the
trade with the United States. Now at least two other lines send
freight steamers regularly. The French line gives direct connection
with Europe, and there is also frequent communication with Porto
Rico.
A study of the statistical table of commerce indicates a very gratifying
increase in the total foreign trade but a considerable part of the
increase after 1914 was due to war time prices, just as the terrible
slump which came in 1921, and had little relation to production. The
output of sugar has been increased from 85,000 tons in 1910 to
about 185,000 in 1920. A large part of this commerce is with the
United States. For instance, in 1919-20 the United States trade
represented 77 per cent of the imports and 87 per cent of the
exports. 13 per cent more of the imports were from Porto Rico, and
to that island went 26 per cent of the exports. The rapid increase in
commerce brought great prosperity to the country. Then came the
reaction, disastrous to creditors, many of whose accounts were
settled for 35 cents on the dollar. The country, however, is relatively
undeveloped, which means its day is yet ahead. Schvenrich is
correct in speaking of Santo Domingo as the country with a future.
Religion, education, and politics come next in this hurried survey.
The Roman Catholic Church is dominant in this country. With the
exception of a few Franciscans all the priests are natives. The
Protestant churches in the country are few and small.
Education is still in a backward state. In 1915 the Dominican
Republic did not own a single school building. Rural schools did not
exceed eighty-four in number. The total school enrollment was about
18,000. While there were some public schools in rented buildings
dependence seems to have been placed on the private subsidized
schools, and the amount granted was determined wholly by political
influence. The teachers were irregularly and poorly paid. A
commission appointed by the government investigated thoroughly
the educational situation and because of its findings prepared and
recommended the following laws: (a) Compulsory school

attendance; (b) school administration; (c) general studies, literary,
law, and theological courses; and an (d) organic law of public
education, and school revenues. The educational institutions now
total: (a) 647 rural schools—enrollment 50,000, the chief work being
in agriculture; (b) 194 primary schools; (c) 7 secondary and normal
schools; (d) 6 industrial schools for girls; (e) 2 schools of fine arts;
and (f) 2 correctional schools and the Central University at the
capital. The total school attendance is 100,000, and the total number
of teachers is 1,468.
The constitution establishes a representative form of government—a
republic. The government is of executive, legislative, and judicial
branches. The national congress meets annually at the capital,
Santo Domingo, on February 27 for a period of 90 days, which may
be extended 60 days if necessary. It is composed of a senate of 12
members, one from each province, and of a chamber of deputies of
24 members, two from each province. Senators are elected by
indirect vote for a term of six years, and the senate is renewed by
thirds every two years. Deputies are elected by indirect vote for a
period of four years, and the chamber is renewed by half every two
years. Suffrage is free to all male citizens over 18 years old. The
President is the executive authority of the republic. He is elected for
six years by indirect vote. There is no Vice-President. The cabinet is
composed of seven functionaries: the Secretary of Interior and
Police, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Secretary of Treasury and
Commerce, Secretary of War and Marine, Secretary of Justice and
Public Instruction, Secretary of Agriculture and Immigration, and
Secretary of Promotion and Communications.
The chief judicial power resides in the Supreme Court of Justice,
which consists of a president and six justices chosen by Congress,
and one Procurador Fiscal General appointed by the executive to
serve for a term of four years, and sitting at Santo Domingo. The
territory of the republic is divided into twelve judicial districts, each
having its own civil and criminal tribunal and court of first instance.
These districts are subdivided into communes, each with a local
justice. There are two courts of appeal, one at Santiago de los
Caballeros, and the other at Santo Domingo City. For administrative

purposes these twelve provinces are subdivided into communes.
The provinces are administered by governors appointed by the
President as are the chief executive officers of other political
divisions.

Early International Relations

Let us now direct attention to the early international relations of Haiti
and Santo Domingo with the United States. For many years
recognition of the little state by certain world powers fearing the
disastrous effect on their slaves, was withheld. The French,
moreover, under the constant threat of reinvasion, succeeded in
exacting a 90,000,000 franc indemnity for the property of Frenchmen
expelled in the Haitian war of independence. Charles X of France
then recognized the republic. Recognition by the United States did
not come until the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Until recently,
however, Haiti has had only one significant attraction for the United
States. The important relations of Haiti with this country from then
until 1915 amounted chiefly to negotiations and efforts to secure the
cession of Mole St. Nicholas, a harbor, at the northwestern extremity
of the island. It controls the Windward Passage, and the United
States desired it for a naval base.
Notwithstanding the insistence of the United States that Haiti grant
her Mole St. Nicholas for naval use, the harbor did not change
hands. The Haitians adhered firmly to the constitutional provision,
which forbade the cession of territory. During 1914 and 1915 the
United States began overtures of a different character. A treaty giving
American control of the customs and finances was proposed. The
cession of Mole St. Nicholas appears also in the early exchanges. In
October, 1914, William J. Bryan, Secretary of State, wrote to
President Wilson, urging the immediate increase of our naval forces
in Haitian waters, "not only for the purpose of protecting foreign
interests, but also as an evidence of the earnest intention of this
Government to settle the unsatisfactory state of affairs which exists."
More naval vessels were sent, and at the same time the United
States offered to assist the President of Haiti to put down some

threatened revolutionary disturbances. As certain conditions were
attached to this assistance, it was refused. In November and
December modifications of previous treaty drafts were again
submitted. They proposed the control and administration of the
Haitian customs by the United States, and were again refused for
reasons similar to those given above. On December 13, 1914,
American marines from the United States Ship Machias landed in
the Haitian capital and removed property of the country without the
consent of the people.
The recent Dominican situation may be said to have begun on
November 19, 1915. A draft giving the United States military and
financial control was presented to President Jimenez of the
Dominican Republic one week after the final ratification by Haiti of its
similar treaty. It was rejected. In the following April, impeachment
proceedings were entered upon against the President in the
Dominican Congress. On May 4, 1916, during some revolutionary
disturbances, and without warning to the Dominican Government,
American marines were landed near Santo Domingo. The American
minister at that time gave assurance that these forces were solely for
the purpose of protecting the American Legation.
On the eleventh of May Frederico Henrique Y Carvajol was
nominated for president of the republic in the Chamber of Deputies
and confirmed by the Senate on the twenty-third of May. On the
thirteenth of May, the American minister formally notified the
Dominican Government of the intention of the United States
Government to land a large armed force and to occupy the capital,
threatening bombardment of the city and unrestricted firing upon the
natives, if in any way they interfered with the landing of the American
forces. On the eighteenth of May the American minister notified the
Dominican Congress that Carvajol was not acceptable to the United
States as President. On the fifth of June the American minister gave
a formal notice to the Dominican Government that the Receiver
General of Customs would take charge of all the finances and funds
of the Government. Under the treaty of 1907 with the United States
one of its citizens appointed by this country was in charge of the
collection of customs of the Dominican Republic. It was his duty

under this treaty to turn in all but the sum of $100,000 monthly to the
Dominican Government. All above this $100,000 was to go, one half
to the Dominican Government for its own uses, the other half to the
sinking fund of the loan contracted under the treaty. On the sixteenth
of June, following orders from Washington the Receiver General of
Customs took charge of all revenues,—internal as well as customs
revenues which alone were stipulated in the treaty of 1907—and set
himself up as disbursing agent of the republic. Then followed a
series of protests, exchange of notes and the like. On November 26,
1916, there was issued a "proclamation of occupation" by the United
States, followed by martial law, but the Dominicans refused to ratify
the acts of the Military Government. The occupation here continued
more than five years.
These and similar acts in both Haiti and Santo Domingo aside from
questions of expediency, justification, or best interest have given rise
to the present situation. Up to this time the United States
Government has published no complete and comprehensive
explanation of these acts. The answer to the question of motives is
not to be found in surface considerations; not even the unlimited
popular accounts convince us that this country is not adhering to a
principle, to an accepted and subscribed policy, no matter how
secret it may be.

The United States in the Larger Canal Zone

When the United States secured Panama from Columbia she
entered upon a new era. With the centralization of a large portion of
our wealth in this section of Latin America came the recognition by
statesmen that our political interests would have to expand
accordingly. Then our attitude took on an air of aggression which,
conflicting with our ideals, gives rise to varied conjectures upon our
Latin American policy, and especially our policy in the Caribbean
Sea.
There were steps made towards securing a coaling station or naval
base even prior to our ownership of the Panama Canal Lands. In
1867 Admiral Porter and Mr. F. W. Seward, the assistant-secretary of

state, were sent to Santo Domingo for the purpose of securing the
lease of Samaná Bay as a naval station. Later President Grant sent
Colonel Babcock to the island to report on the condition of affairs.
Babcock, without diplomatic authority of any kind, negotiated a treaty
for the annexation of the Dominican Republic and another for the
lease of Samaná Bay.
The Spanish American War was the occasion for the advance of the
United States into the Caribbean. From this conflict we acquired
Porto Rico and a protectorate over Cuba. Furthermore, too much
importance can not be attached to the Hay-Pauncefote treaty of
1901 in studying this expansion of the United States in that sphere.
By this convention Great Britain abjured her claim to an equal voice
with the United States in the control of an Isthmian Canal and
withdrew her squadrons from the Caribbean Sea, leaving us the
naval supremacy in this important strategic area.
Immediately following these occurrences came the episode of the
Panama Canal. To review briefly a long told and well known story,
the United States Government had not been successful in its attempt
to secure from Columbia the treaty it sought for the building of the
Isthmian Canal. In 1903 a revolution broke out in Panama, and
Columbia failed to coerce effectively the insurgents, hindered, it is
asserted, by the far reaching influence of the Roosevelt
Administration. As soon as this revolution got in full swing the United
States recognized Panama, and negotiated the long sought treaty.
By the year 1903 we had acquired the canal zone. The
determination to build a canal not only rendered inevitable the
adoption of a policy of naval supremacy in the Caribbean Sea, but
led also to the formulation of new political policies to be applied in
the larger Canal Zone, that is, the West Indies, Mexico, Central
America, Columbia, and Venezuela. These new policies are: (a) The
establishment of protectorates, (b) the supervision of finances, (c)
the control of naval routes, (d) the acquisition of naval stations, (e)
and the policing and administration of disorderly countries. This
program of policies has afforded this country many opportunities for
expansion in these areas.

American Seas a Commercial Center

Prior to the completion of the Panama Canal the American Seas, the
Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, for many years had been
silent waters. The Panama Canal has reversed these conditions.
The important trade routes of the world will pass about these islands
and over these seas, and they will be noisy with the whirl of the
propeller and bright with the sail of ships. A great part of American
commerce and a larger part of the traffic of the world will be through
the American seas between the walls of this canal and by the shores
of Haiti. These seas will become more popular with commerce than
any other section of the world. They will be a gathering place and
crossing point for the east and the west, and their possession, either
forcibly or otherwise, will carry with it more potentiality than the
possession of any other body of water on the face of the earth. It will
be absolutely necessary, says this country, so to speak, that the
outposts of the canal shall be in the hands of strong and stable
governments, and it cannot be thought that the harbors necessary
for that commerce and the islands by which it will pass, and in whose
broad bays it will be compelled to anchor, shall be ripe with
revolution and dangerous to that commerce. This country which is
practically guardian of this commerce must allow to obtain no
condition which will be a daily menace to this unusual trade.
In all of these communities the commercial diplomacy of our time will
have a growing interest, an interest greatly enhanced by the fact that
through the Caribbean, the traffic center of the American tropics, will
pass the trade routes developed by the Panama Canal. Both the
competition for the control of the trade which lies within their borders,
and the fact that before their ports passes the commerce of distant
countries, will give to Caribbean communities an importance in
international affairs they have not had since the days when the
Spanish Empire in America was at its height and the people of one of
the great world powers depended for its prosperity on the arrival of
the gold ships from its American colonies. The fortunes of the
Caribbean are no matter of merely local interest. They involve, to a
degree still unappreciated, the world at large and especially the

American continents, both North and South. Upon the solution of the
problems which arise there may depend the character of
international and economic development in America. The importance
of the new position in which the Caribbean region stands is brought
home by almost every development in American international affairs.
Caribbean problems take on another important aspect when we
remember the wonderful possibilities of economic development.
Partly acting as a cause of this trade development, partly one of its
results, there is going on a steady and rapid influx of foreign capital.
The English financing of the Argentine is familiar to students of Latin-
American history. In recent years, with the establishment of order in
Mexico, that country has attracted large amounts of foreign
investments. The departure of Spain from Cuba and Porto Rico was
the signal for a rush of investors to these islands to develop
resources which mistaken fiscal policies and local unrest had
formerly kept unused. Foreign capital exploits the sugar, tobacco,
coffee, cocoa, fruit, oil, and asphalt. These investments are scattered
among all the great commercial nations. They give an international
character even to purely internal improvements. Economic interests
now tend to overflow national boundaries and to make the orderly
development of every state truly a matter of general concern. Under
the Monroe Doctrine we practically say to European nations they
shall not for any cause lay their hands heavily upon a country in this
hemisphere, which, with the added responsibility as trustee for the
world in the possession of the Isthmian Canal, makes it dependent
upon the United States, it is said, to keep order.

Haiti's Commercial Position

This policy of aggression has only one explanation. Next to Cuba,
Haiti is the island of the greatest strategical influence in the
Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. The two important routes to
the mouth of the canal from North America are, first the route by the
Windward Passage between the island of Cuba and the island of
Haiti; second, the route by the Mona Passage between the island of
Haiti and the island of Porto Rico. This latter passage will be that

chiefly used by the sailing vessels to and from the canal to the
eastern portion of North America. The other important passage to the
mouth of the canal is the Annegada Passage by the islands of St.
Thomas and Porto Rico, and will be the route used from the isthmus
to the Mediterranean and Central Europe. The travel to the British
Islands and northern Europe will also use the Mona Passage
between Haiti and Porto Rico. In other words, every ship sailing from
Canada, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Newport News,
Charleston or the eastern coast of North America on its journey to
the Latin American world of commerce will be compelled to pass by
the island of Haiti, either through the Windward or the Mona
Passage, and the travel to the greater part of Europe will use the
Mona Passage by the east coast of Haiti. This world-wide commerce
in case of stress and storm, according to the business world, must
utilize this island in the necessities of sea life. It is the first
convenient harboring place on its way to the Canal, and on its return
it is the last stopping place. It will be as necessary to the commerce
of this country as Malta or Aden or Gibraltar are to the Suez route. It
lies athwart the greatest commerce that will cleave the seas. With
the friendly influence of Cuba and Haiti the commerce of the United
States will have a tremendous advantage in case of war or
unfriendliness on the part of any nation, even if Jamaica is held by
an unfriendly power. Modern nations with the shortening of trade
routes, the touching of countries, and their demand for sure
commercial conditions, are unfortunately arriving at the thought that
there is no inalienable right on the part of any people to control any
region to the detriment and injury of the world at large.

Summary

While many believe that the United States has thrown aside her lofty
ideals to take on a program of imperialism, there is a growing
colonial interest and expansion which does not, probably due to the
very nature of conditions, extend these ideals. Whether the condition
is one acceptable to us or not, says the business world, we are no
longer merely a continental power. We already hold an Asiatic
colony. A weak African state founded from this country has asked us

for a protectorate and is already under our benevolent supervision.
Toward the south we hold a colony, Porto Rico, and are the
protectors of Cuba, Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti. We
have responsibilities in Nicaragua.
That the end of this development has come is highly unlikely.
Political parties may differ as to national policies, internal and
external, but they will bend before the natural cause of economic and
political development. Our latest three administrations, those of
Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson, have represented widely divergent
political views, but the general policy of all toward the Caribbean
countries has been fundamentally the same, and the Harding
administration has not yet departed therefrom. All have been willing
to "assume increasing responsibilities toward our weaker neighbors"
to secure economic advantage. It has been a development which is
the response of the nation to its larger economic and political
interests in the Larger Canal Zone.
Whilst this government disclaims any desire for conquest, yet the
great advantage in the world movement and in the vital commercial
affairs of the globe, the commercial world says, demand that the
peace and safety of this hemisphere shall not be needlessly and
wickedly broken, and that the peace, happiness and safety of this
nation and the commerce of the world within the bounds of our
governmental life shall not be imperiled in the future as they have
been in the past. The tremendous impetus, which under the world
movement of today has been so potent and plain, demands order in
all the affairs and details of life. The conditions of the time and the
dependence of one part of the globe upon the other, brought about
by the easy interchange between the nations, mean that no disorder
in that great world commerce can be tolerated. Unstable
governments are unwelcome to a diplomacy which has as one of its
controlling motives the creation of an extensive international
exchange, especially when these governments are of races
despised by the Teuton. Weakness of government may lead in the
future, as it has in the past, to the rise of acute international
questions. In recent years there have been many examples of the
complications which may rise out of such conditions.

The areas referred to as the Larger Canal Zone have received great
attention from this country. In fact our latest Latin-American
diplomacy, which has as one of its controlling motives the creation of
an extensive international exchange, is for these areas. Our
economic interests have made demands upon our political life, the
Monroe Doctrine has lighted the way and we have come forward
with new policies. Haiti, it has been said, is not to be set apart and
dealt with particularly in this new diplomatic program; it is but a factor
in our "American Seas" interest, a vital economic and political part of
our present-day American life. The subsequent questions of impaired
sovereignty and overthrown independence, say the aggressors,
should not obscure the real policies. Nor is it fair to accuse the
United States of a lack of appreciation and respect for the
governments of peoples of this section of the world.
Finally we are told: America stands at the dividing of the ways. Are
we to pursue the ideals of "All men are created free and equal" with
the equally idealistic form of government, or are we to keep pace
with our commercial and economic expansion and accept the
complementary program of economic imperialism? We are informed
that the trend of our political policies is one of colonization; that
colonization with respect to Western European Civilization is
contradictory to democracy; and that a program of colonization at a
time when racial and national antipathy exceed even individual
expression, are all demonstrated by the refusal of our government to
acknowledge and commit itself to any definite political program in
these island republics. Our government, the defenders say, has
occupied these republics apparently fearful of European intervention.
Entering upon this policy committed to no program, with a lack of
centralization of authority into one of the many departments of the
government, it has caused much confusion. Obviously the position in
which we find ourselves in Haiti is one of embarrassment and one
which has affected the prestige of our country detrimentally.
American statesmen are put to task. Shall our government admit and
support its economic imperialistic policy inseparably from the added
political burden accompanying our Panama Canal enterprise,
profiting, thereby, upon the commercial importance of the canal; or
shall it long continue the dexterous fête of keeping eyes and hands

on democratic ideals with both feet in the path of imperialism? Our
new policy is an economic imperialistic policy. The world wishes to
know if we will admit it and announce our intentions in these regions,
or whether we shall continue our imperialistic policy under the veil of
the Monroe Doctrine held in position by the idealistic principles of
democracy.
George W. Brown.

FOOTNOTES:
[A] This dissertation was submitted to the Graduate School of
Western Reserve University in 1922 in partial fulfilment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Arts.
[1] Current History, Vol. XV, No. 6, March, 1922.
[2] Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science,
Vol. C, No. 189, March, 1922.
[3] Treaties and Conventions between the United States and other
Powers.
[4] In the preparation of this article the following works were used:
Tyranny by the United States in Haiti and Santo Domingo, by Earnest H.
Gruening, Managing Editor of The Nation, in Current History, Volume
XV, No. 6, March, 1922; Latin America, Clark University Addresses,
November, 1913, edited by George H. Blakeslee, Professor of History,
Clark University; Caribbean Interests of the United States, by Chester
Lloyd Jones, Professor of Political Science, University of Wisconsin; The
United States and Latin America, by John Holladay Latané, Professor of
History, Johns Hopkins University; The American Intervention in Haiti and
the Dominican Republic, in The Annals of The American Academy of
Political and Social Science, Volume C, No. 189, March, 1922, by Carl
Kelsey, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania; The
Monroe Doctrine and Its Application to Haiti, by William A. MacCorkle,
Former Governor of West Virginia, in The Annals of The American
Academy of Political and Social Science, Volume LIV, July, 1914; The
Haitian Revolution, by T. G. Steward; The Journal of Negro History, Vol.
II, No. 4, October, 1917; Independence of South American Republics, by
F. L. Paxson; and Treaties and Conventions between the United States
and Other Powers, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.
[5] These facts are well set forth in Steward's Haitian Revolution.
[6] This dock belongs to a sugar company, but it is open to others.

PAUL CUF F E [ A ]

CHAPTER I

Early Life

The records tell us that on the sixteenth day of February, 1742, in
consideration of the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds, Ebenezer
Slocum of Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, sold to John
Slocum of the same city a Negro man.[1] He was about twenty-five
years of age and a native African whom, doubtless, a slave trader
had brought over some fifteen years before. This Negro was Cuffe
by name (also spelled Cuff, Cuffee, and Cuffey) and, in conformity
with the custom at that time was called Cuffe Slocum to indicate his
master. While the name of the slave does not appear in the bill of
sale yet, since the bill is a part of the family papers of his son, it must
have been Cuffe.
There exists among the Negro's descendants a tradition that this
slave with the aid of his master worked out his purchase price and
obtained his liberty. It may have been that John Slocum purchased
the Negro with this end in view. At any rate a grand-daughter relates
how on a rainy morning when all, including Cuffe, were seated at the
breakfast table, a justice of the peace appeared with papers of
emancipation.[2] Having received his liberty at an unexpected
moment, Cuffe knew not what to do. Seeing his bewilderment, the
gracious squire and the quondam master gave him temporary
employment and, when he was ready to leave, advised him to lead a
steady life, take good care of his money, and get him a home. With
this advice, two suits of clothes, and freedom, the manumitted slave
went happily away.
Now it happened that about this time there came to Dartmouth an
Indian girl called Ruth Moses. In due time the town clerk recorded:

"Intention of marriage between Cuffe Slocum and Ruth Moses both
of Dartmouth, was entered 3 January 1745."[3] The rest of the story
is told by the minister of Dartmouth in these words: "July ye 7, 1746,
Cuffe Slocum a Negro man and Ruth Moses an Indian woman both
of Dartmouth were married by me Philip Taber."[4] These two records
tell us all we know of the courtship and marriage of Cuffe Slocum.
Probably the newly-weds made their home in Chilsmark, Dukes
County. The deed to some land which they bought in 1766 from
David Brownell of Dartmouth refers to Cuffe Slocum of Chilsmark.
The land was a farm of one hundred and twenty acres and sold for
six hundred and fifty Spanish milled dollars. As indicated in the deed,
the boundary was: "Northerly on the Country Road, Westerly on
Land belonging to Jonathan Sowle, Southerly on Land Enos Gifford
gave to his Daughter Rachel Wilbur, Easterly partly on said Gifford
and partly on Philip Allen, or according to the Deed I had of Solomon
Southwick."[5]
All of the children, except the youngest, were born previous to this
purchase. There were six girls and four boys. The youngest boy and
the seventh child born January 17, 1759, was Paul. Tradition holds
that he was born on Cuttyhunk, one of the Elizabeth Islands, about
nine miles from the main, and Cuffe himself says that he was born in
the only house on the island.
About 1778, on the initiative of Paul, it is said, all of the children,
except the youngest, dropped the slave name of Slocum. For their
surname they used the given name of their father. In this way the
Cuffe family came to be, and in this way we are introduced to its best
known representative, Paul.
John, an older brother of Paul, made this memorandum which is
preserved with the family papers: "My honored good old father Cuffe
Slocum deceased in the month called March 1772—and our honored
good old mother Ruth Slocum deceased the sixth day of January
1787 at 8 o'clock in the morning." The father left the farm jointly to
Paul and his brother John. Later the brothers agreed to divide it
between themselves. It was unproductive land and, no doubt, this
fact caused the brothers to venture into commercial pursuits. The

care of the family fell for the most part on them, for the older children
had homes of their own.
At thirteen Paul was barely able to read and write. He kept at his
studies, being assisted occasionally by a private tutor, and gave
considerable time to the subject of navigation. On taking his first
lesson in this subject he said it "was all black as midnight"; at the
end of the second lesson he saw "a little gleam of light"; after the
third lesson he had more light. Finally, it was all plain to him. He told
a certain Professor Griscom: "There were always three things that I
paid attention to—latitude, lead, and lookout."

A Sea Captain

When about sixteen Paul secured employment as a common
seaman on a vessel bound for the Gulf of Mexico on a whaling
voyage. His next trip took him to the West Indies. On a third voyage,
the Revolutionary War having broken out, he was captured by the
British and held in New York for three months. On his release he
repaired to Westport to engage in agricultural pursuits until the times
were more propitious for life on the sea. In the meantime he carried
on the study of arithmetic and navigation.
Having equipped himself for a life at sea both by study and service
as a common seaman, Paul, aided by his brother David, built, at the
age of twenty, an open boat to trade with the Connecticut people.
But the hazard of the sea and the refugee pirates were too much for
David. He left his younger brother and went to the farm, whereupon
Paul had for the time being to give up the venture. Soon, however,
he was at sea again but lost everything. The undaunted youth,
nevertheless, would not give up. He made a boat himself from keel
to gunwale, and in it he started to consult his brother concerning
future undertaking. On the way he was discovered by the pirates
who seized him and his vessel. He was lucky to reach home.
He was now no better off than when he first began. David, however,
agreed to build a boat for him if he would furnish the material. When
the boat was completed Paul, with borrowed money, bought a cargo

and started for Nantucket. On the way he was chased by the pirates
and compelled to return to Westport to refit his boat which was
damaged by striking a rock. He still persevered, reached Nantucket,
and sold his cargo. Financially it was not a profitable voyage.
On a second voyage the pirates robbed him of his cargo and inflicted
personal injuries, but a third voyage netted good returns. Soon he
procured a covered boat and employed a helper. From now on the
business adventures of Cuffe brought him large profits. The war was
over and the new Constitution was in operation—two reasons why
the sea was safer and business more promising. With his new
eighteen ton boat he sailed from his rented home on the Westport
River for Saint George for a cargo of codfish. The voyage was the
foundation for a profitable fishing industry near his home for many
years.
At this time Michael Wainer, his brother-in-law, an Indian, entered his
service. His brother-in-law was a good seaman and with a new
twenty ton vessel, the Sunfish, the men made two trips to the Strait
of Belle Isle and Newfoundland. With the profits from the ventures he
built in connection with another person, the Mary, a forty-two ton
schooner.
In the Mary, accompanied by two small boats, and with a crew of
ten, they went on a whaling expedition to the Strait of Belle Isle. On
reaching the Strait, Cuffe found four other vessels fully equipped with
boats and harpoons. These vessels would not, as was customary,
cooperate with Captain Cuffe, so he and his crew went at it alone.
Now fearing they might get no whales the strangers fell in with the
Mary. Seven whales were captured, six by the crew of the Mary. Two
whales were the victims of Cuffe's own hand. Reaching Westport in
the autumn of 1793 he proceeded to Philadelphia with his cargo of
oil and bone and exchanged it for bolts and iron with which to build a
new vessel.[6]
Accordingly the keel for a sixty-nine ton vessel was laid at Westport
and in 1795 it was launched. He called it the Ranger. With a cargo
valued at $2000, he sailed for Norfolk on the Chesapeake. From
here he went to Vienna on Nanticoke River to buy corn. On reaching

port it is said the townspeople "were filled with astonishment and
alarm. A vessel owned and commanded by a black man, and
manned with a crew of the same complexion, was unprecedented
and surprising. Suspicions were raised, and several persons
associated themselves for the purpose of preventing him from
registering his vessel, or remaining among them. On examination,
however, his papers proved to be correct and, therefore, the custom
house officers could not legally oppose proceeding in a regular
course. Paul combined prudence with resolution, and on this
occasion conducted himself with candor, modesty, and firmness; his
crew also behaved not inoffensively but with conciliating propriety. In
a few days the inimical association vanished, and the inhabitants
treated him and his crew with respect and even kindness."[7] Another
writer affirms "Many of the principal people visited his vessel, and at
the instance of one of them, Paul dined with his family in the town."[8]
The investment in corn proved so profitable that a second voyage
was made to Vienna. On the two trips Captain Cuffe cleared about
$2000. The Ranger also made a trip to Passamaquoddy to get a
cargo for James Brian of Wilmington.
In 1800 there was launched the Hero, a hundred and sixty-two ton
bark, in which Captain Cuffe had one-half interest. This vessel, on
one of its trips, rounded the Cape of Good Hope. In 1806 the Alpha
was fitted out. This was a ship of two hundred and sixty-eight tons in
which the Captain had three-fourths interest. Captain Cuffe with a
crew of seven Negroes commanded the Alpha in a voyage from
Wilmington to Savannah, thence to Gottenburg, Sweden, and from
there to Philadelphia. Cuffe also owned one-half of the one hundred
and nine ton brig, the Traveller, built in 1806. Of this ship more will
be said elsewhere.
Captain Cuffe was now slightly beyond middle age. Instead of a
small open boat, trading with the neighboring townsmen, he had
obtained a good sized schooner. "In this vessel," to quote from the
funeral oration, "he enlarged the scope of his action, trading to more
distant places, and in articles requiring larger capital, and thus, in the
process of time, he became owner of one brig, afterwards of two,
then he added a ship, and so on until 1806, at which time he was

possessed of one ship, two brigs, and several smaller vessels,
besides considerable property in houses and lands."[9]

Family Affairs

In the Cuffe manuscripts there is a laconic note chronicling this
important event in Paul's life.
Bristol, Dartmouth. February 25, 1783. There personally appeared Paul Cuffe and Alice
Pequit both of Dartmouth and was joined together in marriage by me.
Benj. Russel, Justice of Peace.

Other than that she was an Indian girl, little is known of this bride.
She, like the groom's mother, probably belonged to the Wampanoag
tribe. Paul's sister Mary married an Indian and there is reason for
believing that his brother Jonathan also wedded an Indian. Certain it
is that it was not uncommon for Negroes and Indians of this vicinity
to intermarry.
For several years Captain Cuffe lived in a rented house. But in 1797,
when he had such a successful venture in importing corn from
Vienna, he purchased a $3500 farm on the shore of the Westport
River, a few miles below Hip's Bridge. He soon built a wharf and a
store house. At Westport Captain and Mrs. Cuffe made their home
and reared their family of two sons and six daughters.
At the time of the purchase of the new farm the neighborhood was
without educational facilities. There was neither school house nor
tutor. This situation was displeasing to Cuffe. He called a meeting of
the neighbors and proposed that steps be taken for adequate
educational equipment. So much difference of opinion resulted that
no agreement could be reached at this initial meeting. Subsequent
efforts were alike unsuccessful. At last Cuffe built a school house
with his own funds on his own farm and offered its use to the public.
[12]

One wonders what books were read in his own home. Among his
papers a few items relate to the purchase of books. A representative
one reads:

Taylor's Concordance $1.25
Perry's Dictionary 1.00
Clerk's Magazine 1.25
Bowditch Navigators 4.00
Paper .53
$8.03

The religious affiliation of the family was with the Friends. The
parents of Captain Cuffe had attended the meetings of the Quakers
and it was the natural course for the son to follow them. According to
the records of the Westport monthly meeting of Friends, Cuffe
requested membership with that body in 1808. He was faithful to his
profession of Christ. He was considerate of the little folks, for he
presented them with Bibles and good counsel and endeavored to set
before them an example of righteous conduct. He must have
believed that children should have something to do, for in a letter to
his brother, he points out that his nephew Zacharis is lying around
too much. Moreover, he writes:
I observe that my son Paul has brought home a gun that he borrowed of his Uncle John
which I dare say his good uncle lent unto him out of pure love and good will for the
want of due consideration, for in the first place I have two guns in order and make but
littel use of them which is enough as Christ said unto Peter by the sword. My wife well
knows that it is but littel time since Paul got my powder and loaded a logg and Charles
fired it and it was wonderful that he had not been killied again he has lately sold his
trunk to be abel to gratify himself in these unnecessary evils which we hath
disapproved of. Now to support him in that we both disapprove I think that it is for the
want of watchfulness.[14]

Two nieces were entrusted to his care. Although they had good
"school learning for girls" Cuffe wished them to continue their
studies. Later, when he became the guardian of two grandchildren,
he began making arrangements to put them in the New York Yearly
Meeting School.
The Westport Friends sold their meeting house in 1813 for $128.72
and erected a new one costing $1198.08. Material costing almost
$600, including "nine gallons of cider when raising house—$1.00"
was furnished by Captain Cuffe. It is impossible to state just how
much if any of this material was furnished gratis but it is safe to say
that he carried a heavy responsibility in overseeing the business end
of the matter.

CHAPTER II

Problems of Citizenship

"Having no vote or Influence in the Election of those that Tax us yet
many of our Colour (as is well known) have Cherfully Entered the
field of Battle in the defense of the Common Cause and that (as we
conceive) against a similar Exertion of Power (in Regard to taxation)
too well known to need a Recital in this place," voicing this
sentiment, John and Paul Cuffe and others sent a petition for relief to
the General Court, Massachusetts Bay, February 10, 1780. Such
requests, however, were not new. At the beginning of the American
Revolution there were probably about 7,000 Negroes, slave and
free, in Massachusetts. About 1,500 lived in Boston. A petition,
signed by Prince Hall and others, praying for the abolition of slavery,
was presented to the General Court of Massachusetts Bay in 1777.
Another petition dated February 18, 1780, embodies a pathetic and
earnest appeal for relief from taxation. It is preserved in the
manuscript collection of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and is
signed by John and Paul Cuffe and five others.[10] A copy is with the
Cuffe papers. There are two other copies among these papers, both
shorter in form, and dated January 22, 1781.
On one of the duplicate petitions in the Cuffe papers there is a
notation signed by John Cuffe. "This is the copy," it records, "of the
petition which we did deliver unto the honorable Council and House
for relief from Taxation in the days of our distress. But we received
none."
The petition recites that they were in poor circumstances. When
slaves they were deprived of the profits of their labor and of the
benefits of inheritance. So distressed were they at this time that only
five or six owned a cow. They could not meet the taxes assessed
against them. They were aggrieved because they had no vote either
in local or colonial affairs and nobody had ever heard of one of their
number sitting in the Court of the General Assembly. The petitioners
most humbly requested the Massachusetts General Court to grant
them relief from taxation.

Interest in the Cuffe brothers is now transferred from the State
capitol to Bristol County,[11] where these men were indefatigable in
their efforts to obtain relief. Late in 1780 a petition was made "To the
Honble the Justices of the Court of General Sessions of the peace
begun and held at Taunton within and for the County of Bristol." The
petitioners ask relief from taxation on the grounds that they are
"Indian men and by law not the subjects of Taxation for any Estate
Real or personal and Humbly Pray your Honors that as they are
assessed jointly a Double Poll Tax and the said Paul is a minor for
whom the Said John is not by law answerable or chargeable that the
said Poll Taxes aforesaid and also all and regular Taxes aforesaid on
their and Each of their Real and personal Estate aforesaid, may be
abated to them and they allowed their Reasonable Costs."
The taxes for which complaint was made were for the years 1777 to
1780 inclusive, and amounted to about two hundred pounds. They
were heaviest for the years 1779 and 1780. The assessors, then, on
December 15, gave Richard Collins, constable of Dartmouth, a
warrant for the arrest of the Cuffe brothers. It recites that their taxes
were delinquent for
1778: 5 lbs. 17s. 6d.
1779: 9 lbs. 2s. 8d.
29 lbs. 16s. 10½d.
29 lbs. 18s. 9d.
1780: 61 lbs. 18s. 4d.
17 lbs. 7s. 5/25d.
Grand total: 154 lbs. 1s. 1-7/10d.

The assessors found no estate on which to levy for the taxes. In the
name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Bay, therefore, they
required the "said Richard Collens to take into safe custody the body
of the said John and Paul Cuffe and then commit to the common
gaol of the said County of Bristol there to remain until they, the said
John and Paul Cuffe shall pay and satisfy the above sum with all
necessary charges" or be discharged by due process of law. The
constable followed the instructions and reported on December 19
that he had placed the Cuffe brothers in the common gaol in
Taunton. For this service, including travel for twenty-five "milds," he
turned in a bill of twelve shillings, nine pence.

The next step in the legal battle was on the part of the Cuffe
brothers. The keeper of the gaol or his underkeeper was directed on
the nineteenth of December in the "Name of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts to have the bodies of John and Paul Cuffe said to be
Indian men whom you have now in keeping before the Justices of
our Inferior Court of Common Pleas now holden at Taunton for said
County together with the cause of their and each of their
Commitiment and Detention. Hereof fail not and make Return of this
writ with your doings therein. Witness Walter Spooner Esqr." Elijah
Dean, underkeeper, produced the two men on the same day that he
received the writ of habeas corpus.
When the Court of General Sessions of the Peace met on the
nineteenth of December it ordered on the petition of John and Paul
Cuffe that the assessors of Dartmouth appear at the next term to
show cause, wherefore the Prayer of said Petition should not be
granted. The order was given to the sheriff of Bristol County on the
twenty-ninth of December. The assessors, Benjamin Russell,
Richard Kriby, Christopher Gifford, and John Smith were accordingly
summoned by Elijah Dean. He served the warrant on the twenty-
sixth of February and recorded his fee as twenty-four pence.
Meanwhile, on the twentieth of February the selectmen of Dartmouth
were called on to choose an agent to defend the action against the
Cuffe brothers. At their annual meeting on the eighth of March the
Honorable Walter Spooner, a member of the Massachusetts
Constitutional Convention 1780, was chosen in behalf of the town to
make answer to the petitioners in question. At the March meeting the
case was continued and came up for action at the next meeting of
the court.
In the meantime, John and Paul Cuffe made a request to the
selectmen of Dartmouth. In the Cuffe papers three such requests are
preserved. The one dated the twenty-fourth of April is followed by a
notation attesting it a true copy of the request delivered to the
selectmen. It asks them to "put a stroak on your next Warrant for
calling a town meeting so that it may legally be Laid Before said town
By way of voat to know the mine of said town whether all free
Negroes and molattoes shall have the same Privileges in this said

town of Dartmouth as the white People have Respecting Places of
profit choosing of officers and the Like together with all other
Privileges in all cases that shall or may happen or be Brought in this
said town of Dartmouth or that we have Reliefe granted us Joyntly
from Taxation which under our present depressed circumstances
and your poor Petitioners as in duty Bound shall ever pay."
The disposition of the case as found in the records is contained in a
few sentences. One is dated the eleventh of June and is signed by
Richard Collens, constable. It reads as follows:
Then received of John Cuffe eight pounds twelve shillings silver money in full for all
John Cuffe and Paul Cuffe Rates until this date and for all my court charges received
by me.

Elijah Dean presented his bill for summoning the assessors. It was
paid, and the bill with an acknowledgment from Edward Pope is
entered in Cuffe's letter book with the tax receipt of the eleventh of
June. The other laconic note is from the Records of the Court of
General Sessions held at Taunton on June 12. It curtly "ordered that
the Petition of Paul Cuffe and John Cuffe and the proceedings
thereon be dismissed."
Several writers have commented on the significance of the petitions
of the Cuffe brothers and their resistance to the payment of taxes.
Practically all of them overestimate the matter. For example, a
representative writer says, "This was a day equally honorable to the
petitioners and to the legislature; a day in which justice and humanity
triumphed over prejudice and oppression; a day which ought to be
gratefully remembered by every person of color within the
boundaries of Massachusetts, and the names of John and Paul
Cuffe, should always be united with its recollection."[13]
There is no documentary proof for statements of this kind. A property
qualification for voting fixed by the William and Mary Charter with
slight modifications carried down to 1785. Negroes acquired rights
and privileges in Massachusetts not by special acts of the General
Assembly, but by a judicial act of 1783 based on article one of the
Declaration of Rights of the Constitution of 1780.

CHAPTER III

The Redemption of Africa

Early in his life Paul Cuffe became interested in the redemption of
Africa. "The travail of my soul," said he, "is that Africa's inhabitants
may be favored with reformation." The following letter to James
Pemberton not only illustrates Cuffe's style and manifests his spirit
but shows the redemption of Africa as the main interest of his life:
Westport 9th mo 14th 1808
Worthy friend
In Reply to thine of the 8-6 mo.
I desire ever to humble myself before my Maker who hath I trust favored me to the
notice of my friends. I desire that God will Bless all Our friends who hath been made
willing to Rise to our assistance. Without hope of a providential hand we must ever
been miserabal.
As to poor me I feel very feebel and all most worn out in hard service and uncapable of
doing much for my brethren the African Race but blessed be God I am what I am and
all that I can conceive that God pleases to lay upon me to make me an instrument for
that service I desire ever to be submissive that his will may be done and I shall not
loose sight of the above but endeavor to wright thou again on the subject if thee will
wright me if any further information can be given it would be kindly excepted by one
who wishes well to all mankind &c.
Paul Cuffe.

In this cause, however, Paul Cuffe was not struggling alone. The
question of ameliorating the condition of the Negro in Africa was, at
the opening of the nineteenth century, a matter of general concern.
Men with a philanthropic spirit both in Denmark and Sweden had by
this time investigated the problem. In France, in addition to individual
activity, the society, Les Amis des Noirs, was organized. In England,
interest was more pronounced than in any other European country.
The African Institution, the Saint George's Bay Company, better
known as the Sierra Leone Company, and the British African
Colonization Society, directed efforts toward the western coast. The
foundation of the Sierra Leone was laid by these societies. This
same interest in advancing the civilization of Africa was found among
distinguished Americans like Samuel D. Hopkins, pastor of the First
Congregational Church in Newport, Rhode Island, Ezra Stiles,

sometime president of Yale, and William Thornton, head of the
United States Patent Office.[17]
In 1808, when expressions from Cuffe showing his interest in Africa
appeared, considerable progress had been made by the English
philanthropists. In the first place, they had carried on successful
propaganda. They were in touch with the Americans and had the
support of the Quakers. In a pamphlet specifically printed to call the
attention of Parliament to the "case of their fellow creatures" the
Quakers asserted that "Africa, so populous, and so rich in vegetable
and mineral productions, instead of affording all the advantages of a
well regulated commerce, is scarcely known but as a mart for slaves,
and as the source of violent barbarities, perpetuated in order to
secure them, by men professing the Christian religion."[18] The
leading men in the African Institution, Thomas Clarkson, William
Wilberforce, and Granville Sharp, exerted much influence both
through personal activity and the agency of the African Institution.
In the second place, the Englishmen, as stated above, had actually
established a settlement on the Guinea coast known as Sierra
Leone. Many Negroes from London and vicinity, the black American
Loyalists, and the Jamaica Maroons, settled in Nova Scotia, and the
"Willyfoss" Negroes were transported to the Africa coast. The
commendable intentions of the promoters of this settlement on the
west coast of Africa were conveyed to Cuffe by his Philadelphia
friend, James Pemberton, who was in touch with the activities of the
African Institution. In September, 1808, he wrote:
I perceive they are earnestly attentive to pursue the laudable object of promoting the
civilization of the Blacks in their own country with a view to draw them off from the wild
habits of life to which they have been accustomed, by instructing them in the arts of
agriculture, mechanic labor, and domestic industry, by which means they hope to be
instrumental in preparing the minds of those uninstructed people gradually to become
qualified to receive religious instruction.

Pemberton also called attention to the fact that the leaders of the
African Institution were distinguished men and he especially noted
that the president was the Duke of Gloucester, a nephew of the King.
Moreover, he likened the plan for benefiting the African to the one
which the Friends were using to civilize the American Indian. In the

concluding paragraph of the letter, Pemberton sounds a personal call
to Cuffe:
Thou wilt be sensible that the undertaking is very important and those concerned to
promote it are anxious to receive all the assistance and encouragement they can from
the friends of humanity at home and in America. Now if thy concern for the good of the
poor untutored people continues and finds thy mind impressed with a sense that any
portion of the work is allotted for thee to perform, I hope and trust thou wilt give it thy
most serious consideration, and should it ripen to such a degree as to bring thee under
an apprehension of religious duty to perform it in such a way as that wisdom which is
superior to human may point out, a consultation with thy friends on the occasion may
be reasonably useful, tending to thy strength and encouragement.[19]

Already assurance had come from Zachariah Macaulay, Governor of
Sierra Leone, that if Cuffe should make a voyage to Africa he would
receive every encouragement from him. As a director of the African
Institution he felt that its views would be advanced if any free blacks
from America of good conduct and religious principles should be
induced to offer their personal assistance. In June, 1810, therefore,
Cuffe, as an "ever well wishing Friend," wrote to Friends in
Philadelphia that he planned to make a visit to Africa in the fall. He
hoped that some solid Friend would feel called on to accompany him
as an adviser. In September he laid his plans for the voyage before a
large committee of Westport Friends. He was authorized by this
committee to pursue his prospects and was given a letter of
recommendation.
In this letter his neighbors stated that Cuffe "had lately been received
a member of their religious society, that he was highly respected by
Friends in Philadelphia, and that he felt a religious concern to assist,
as far as in his power, the views of the African Institution. His
intention was, provided he met with sufficient encouragement here,
to sail from America to Sierra Leone, with a cargo likely to be
suitable for the place, and, when there, make such observations as
would enable him to judge whether he should do right to encourage
some sober families of black people in America to settle among the
Africans, and if so, he intended to convey them in his own vessel."
They also reported Cuffe as the owner of a vessel and worth five
thousand pounds.[20]

The lively interest that Cuffe had had in the people of color at Sierra
Leone, his wish that they might become established in the truth, and
his desire that they might then do missionary work among the African
brethren, influenced him to visit his friends on the Guinea coast. He
rented his farm and commended his family to his brother John. The
latter wrote his sister Freelove in New York that Paul would be gone
for a year, possibly two, and that he went for a "religious visit
amongst the inhabitants of that land, our own nation."[21]
When everything was ready the Traveller sailed out of Westport for
Sierra Leone via Philadelphia. Nine Negroes composed the crew.
The story of the voyage from Philadelphia is interestingly told by
Cuffe himself in his journal:[22]
1810. 12mo. 4. I called on Friends in Philadelphia. They appointed a time at Arch Street
meeting-house, and after a feeling conference, they expressed satisfaction and left me
at liberty. Hence it fell under the head of my former advisers, John James and
Alexander Wilson, I called on them: John professed that he could not see any other
way, better, than to take a load of corn that he had long held, and take it to Portugal or
Cadiz. I then had to tell him the said John James, that was not my business; it rather
appeared to me that it was not for the profit or gain that I had undertaken this voyage;
but I had about four thousand dollars property, and would wish to proceed as far as that
would carry me; and it appeared that if this opportunity was neglected, I might never
expect to have the opportunity again. John then gave up the prospect of shipping his
corn, and he and I left Alexander, and he told me he believed my concern was real, and
that he would assist me in fitting out for the voyage and make no charges. I told him It
then felt pleasant to me.
1mo. 20th. 19 days out from Philadelphia to Sierra Leone.
Our minds were collected together to wait on the Lord notwithstanding we were on the
great deep.
2mo. 2. At three A. M. wind and sea struck us down on our beam ends, washed John
Masters overboard, but by the help of some loose rigging he regained the ship again.
2mo. 21st. The dust of Africa lodged on our rigging. We judged that land to be about
twenty-five leagues off.
2mo. 24th. At 10 A. M. sounded and got bottom for the first ground that we got on the
coast of Africa. Sixty-five fathoms.
3mo. 1st. We came to Sierra Leone road.
[As the directors of the African Institution said, "It must have been a strange and
animating spectacle to see this free and enlightened African entering as an
independent trader, with his black crew into that port which was so lately the Nidus of
the slave trade."]
3mo. 4th. An invitation was given me this day to dine with the Governor, at whose table
an extensive observation took place of the slave trade and the unsuccessfulness of the

colony of Sierra Leone.
3mo. 5th. Visited the school of 30 girls, which is a pleasing prospect in Sierra Leone.
3mo. 10th. First day. Attended a Methodist meeting in the forenoon.
3mo. 13th. King Thomas came on board to see me. He was an old man, gray headed,
appeared to be sober and grave. I treated him with civility, and made him a present of a
bible, a history of Elizabeth Webb, a Quaker, and a book of essays on War: together
with several other small pamphlets accompanied with a letter of advise from myself,
such as appeared to be good to hand to the King for the use and encouragement of the
nations of Africa. He and retinue were thirteen in number. I served him with victuals, but
it appeared that there was rum wanting, but none was given.
3mo. 14. King George from Bullion Shore sent his messenger on board, with a present
of three chickens and invited me over to see him.
3mo. 17. This day being the first day of the week we went on shore to the church, and
in the afternoon to the new Methodist.
3mo. 18. This day I went to Bullion Shore in order to visit the King George, King of
Bullion, who received and treated us very cordially. I presented the King with a bible, a
testament, a treatise of Benjamin Holmes, a history of Elizabeth Webb, and an epistle
from the yearly meeting, and a history, or called a short history of a long travel from
Babel to Bethel.
3mo. 19. Visiting families on Sierra Leone, found many of them without bibles, and
others who had bibles with out the living substance of the spirit.
3mo. 28. I breakfasted with the Governor Columbine and after breakfast had
conference with him on the subject of the country, and settling in it—to good
satisfaction.
3mo. 31. Attended the church. The Mendingo men have the Scriptures in their tongue,
viz the old testament, but deny the new testament. They own Mahomet a prophet.
1811. 4mo. 3. Thomas Wainer is much put out, and is exceeding wroth for giving him
what I call good advice: but time will make manifest. God alone knows the hearts of
men. I desire to have him be my preserver.

CHAPTER IV

In England

When Captain Cuffe sailed from Philadelphia on New Year's Day,
1811, he apparently intended to visit only Sierra Leone. After an
examination of the plans then in operation for the civilization of the
Africans, doubtless he meant to return to America. However, when
there reached him a letter from William Allen with an order in council
which Allen and Wilberforce had procured for him, he changed his

mind and determined to visit England.[23] He recorded thus this part
of the voyage:
1811. 7mo. 12. Arrived safe all well (at Liverpool) after a passage of sixty-two days.[24]
Soon after we got in the dock, two of my men going out of the dock gate, were met by
the press-gang and carried to the rendevous. The press gang then came on board my
vessel, and let me know that they had two of my men, and overhauled the remainder of
the crew, among which they found Aaron Richard, an African that I had taken as an
apprentice in Africa to instruct in navigation. They claimed him as a British subject and
took him off. At eleven I went to the rendezvous and got the two men first mentioned,
but they would not let Aaron off.
7mo. 13. This morning the Ship Alpha arrived fifty-two days from New Orleans. All well.
My friends Richard Rathbone and Thomas Thompson were very anxious in assisting
me to regain Richard.... They wrote immediately to London for the liberation of Aaron,
with a petition to the Board of Admiralty.
7mo. 14. I this day put up with Thomas Thompson, and took a first day meeting with
them, and feeling very anxious for Aaron's liberty, I took place in the stage for London.
Arrived in London three day morning, six-o-clock, it making thirty-two hours, distance
two hundred and eight miles.
7mo. 15. This day passed with the pleasant prospect of passing through a well
cultivated and very fertile country. How often did I feel my mind enlivened with the
peaceful desire that this land and people might enjoy a universal and tranquil peace.
7mo. 16. At six this morning arrived in the great city of London. I put up at an inn and
took breakfast. At ten-o-clock took a pilot for Plough Court, where I was courteously
received by my friend William Allen, who was engaged about the liberation of Aaron.
7mo. 17. This day went to meeting, and in the afternoon Cornelius attended me to see
the great church of St. Paul and many other curiosities of London, such as London
Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge.
7mo. 18. This day my friend Wm. Allen had a note from Wm. Wilberforce desiring that I
should see him at — o-clock.
Wilberforce called for pen, ink and paper and wrote to the Board of Admiralty and sent
his man immediately....
Wm. Allen and Paul Cuffe then went into the Parliament.
7mo. 19. We went over London Bridge to Lancaster's school, where were taught one
thousand scholars by one master. But about eight hundred were then in school. This
prospect of the school was the greatest gratification that I met with.
7mo. 20. This afternoon took stage for William Dillwyn's, at whose house I was friendly
and cordially received, and took great satisfaction.
7mo. 21. I went and dined with George and Mary Stacey, who were very kind and
loving, appeared to live in the truth.
7mo. 22. Spent the fore part of this day in conversing with Wm. Dillwyn on subjects of
importance. After dinner Wm. gave me two volumes of Clarkson's work on the slave
trade. His wife and two daughters accompanied me to town in their carriages about five
miles. At seven this evening Thomas Clarkson arrived.

7mo. 23. Thomas Clarkson sets to for Aaron's liberation. Makes so far, as for certain
persons to go with him to the Board of Admiralty, where they found the order had been
some days gone, for Aaron's discharge. You may think that it was great consolation to
me to think, if God permitted, that I should have the happy opportunity of returning
Aaron to his parents and fellow citizens at Sierra Leone.
7mo. 25. Zachariah Macaulay called at Wm. Allen's and had a good conversation. He
then invited me to dine with him on the morrow, which was accepted, hoping there my
some good come out of it.
7mo. 26. I this day went to Z. Macaulay's where I meet with exceeding kind treatment.
He said Macaulay promised to me the continuation of his friendship.
7mo. 27. This morning came to Wm. Allen's from Macaulay's accompanied by
Macauley. Thomas Clarkson this day sets off for home, who has been of service and
consolation. Thomas is a man of good deportment. My friends this day forwarded a
petition to the Privy Council for a license for the Traveller to go to Africa, commanded
by Paul Cuffe, or some other person.
7mo. 28. In the evening my friend Allen called his family together and we were
comforted, and I believe I may say the presence of the precious comforter was felt to
be near. In the evening conversation took place between Wm. Allen and P. Cuffe on the
most advantageous way of encouragement of the improvement of the Colony of Sierra
Leone. I then told Wm. that it appeared that the Colony people wanted help, or
encouragement; that I had my mind still impressed that a channel of intercourse should
be kept open between America and Sierra Leone, and that my mind was to build a
house in Sierra Leone, encouragement might be given of accomodation.
7mo. 30. This morning Cornelius, William and Paul went to see the mint and the works
thereof were great and wonderful. I this day took place in the stage for Liverpool at
three guineas.
[William Allen records in his diary that he took leave of Cuffe, "in much nearness of
spirit; he is certainly a very interesting man."[25]]
7mo. 31. At six we set forward for Liverpool. The prospect of the fertility of the country
was highly gratifying.
8mo. 1. I arrived at Liverpool at nine-o-clock after a passage of thirty-nine hours; took
my package to my friend, Thomas Thompson's where I was kindly received.
8mo. 2. I arose much refreshed, and found all well on board, and Aaron Richards had
arrived the same afternoon as I did. Saw and had much conversation with many folks,
among whom was Stephen Crillett a minister from America. I took breakfast with him at
Isaac Hadwins, in whose company, and conversation, I was much comforted, he was to
leave Liverpool the next day for the country. My mate and second mate went to dinner
with Isaac and he was anxious for more to come along with them. The crew were
spoken of in the highest terms for their steadiness, not given to swearing, but I found to
my sorrow that Zachariah had behaved very unbecoming in keeping unbecoming
company, and drinking to excess and speaking light of Jesus Christ.
8mo. 3. It felt pleasant to me to hold out that honour without virtue, was not true honor:
and also from whence came wars and fightings. I also had to hold out to William and
Richard Rathbone that the flesh was imperfect and forewarned, forearmed; and that
was not to put too great confidence in me as I was but flesh and blood. For those
young men had taken a very early and active part in assisting me in every way and

manner not only making their house my home, but stepping forward to give me every
aid even petitioning the Board of Admiralty for the relief of Aaron Richards as did also
my friend Thomas Thompson afford me every aid, with kind invitation to make his
house my home all which I felt easy to accept of. Have this day seen William Bootell
the great slave dealer as I have been told, who invited me to his lodgings.
8mo. 4. Attended fore and afternoon meetings—in the former I was favored with the
Spirit of Supplication. Capt. Coffin of the Ship Alpha and my crew were at the meeting,
which was very gratifying to me. Letter from Wm. Allen stating that the license would
not be obtained under four or five days.
8mo. 5. A man of color talks of going to Sierra Leone in order to help the colonists. In
the afternoon another man proposed going to help in any way that may be helpful,
either in printing, school keeping, or by other means. I think here is rather
encouragement.
8mo. 6. I this day had further communication with Wm. Thomas, a European, a printer
about going to Sierra Leone, who seems to be very anxious and it is concluded to write
to London in order to see if it may be encouraged.
8mo. 7. This day took dinner with Wm. and Richard Rathbone in company with Thomas
Thompson and William Roscoe, a well engaged man, for the establishing the slave
trade, that the ships of war should be commissioned to take all vessels that were found
in that trade belonging to whom they would. Also Lord John Russell dined with us.
8mo. 9. I this day took dinner with Captain Bootell and Captain Pane formerly slave
dealers, but treated me politely.
8mo. 11. This day all attended meeting, and after meeting the men went home with the
Rathbones and took dinner.
8mo. 14. This day I dined with Capt. Brown, Captain of his Majesty's navy ship who
was a very civil, goodly man; and his wife and family thoughtful people, on the whole I
had a comfortable meal.
8mo. 18. At half past nine in the evening set forward for London accompanied with
three very agreeable people.
8mo. 20. At half past five arrived in London, found Wm. Allen and family all well.
8mo. 21. At four-o-clock P. M. I departed from Wm. Allen's after having a comfortable
sitting in company of a woman Friend, who appeared to be a chosen vessel unto the
Lord, and was a comfort unto us and also a man by the name of Morris Burbeck.
Cornelius Hanbury accompanied me to Waltham Stone at Wm. Dillwyn's where we
were cordially received. Wm. was very unwell and it appears that his glass is almost
run, and his duty faithfully discharged. Much of our time whilst together was taken up
for the good, and beneficial improvement of the inhabitants of Africa: for that which
might attend for their good, and for the honor and glory of God.
8mo. 22. Half past one this morning I went to meeting with Wm. Dillwyn's family in the
coach, where I had a comfortable open meeting, after meeting went home with Wm.
Fanster, to dinner. After dinner came Mary Stacey who had good advice delivered it in
much love and tenderness.
8mo. 23. This day dined in company with Capt. Eber Clark of and from New Bedford
who said he left Peter and Alexander Howard well, and heard nothing but that my
family was well. Wm. Rotch mentioned my name in his letter to Wm. Allen and

mentioned nothing but my family was well. His letter arrived in good time to do good,
and was consolation to me in such a distant land.
8mo. 25. Came from Newington in a carriage with Joseph Bevan. I went to the great
meeting where I had pretty clear openings in the forenoon. Took dinner with Wm.
Allen's mother and son Joseph, where we were very aggreeably entertained. Came
home to Plough Court where we had a good refreshing season in the evening.
8mo. 26. This morning very pleasant; Cornelius Hanbury and I went to the London and
West India Docks, which was exceeding gratifying, both to see the shipping, and
accomodations in the Docks, and also the shipping in the river that lay in the tiers as
we passed for three miles. They continued to extend as far as I could see; the river is
about one-half mile wide. At five-o-clock in the afternoon I dined with Z. Macauley,
where I was very agreeably entertained.
8mo. 27. This day met the committee of the African Institution who sat at one P. M. and
expressed great satisfaction on the information I gave them, and felt also that I was
endeavoring to assist them in maintaining the good cause; with blessing that we may
reasonably hope that we may be supported with—to endeavor that the subject may not
fall beneath the level where we found it. I made the Duke of Gloucester a present of an
African robe, a letter box and a dagger to show that the Africans were capable of
mental endowments and so forth.
8mo. 28. This day attended the Grace Street Church meeting. It was comfortable for
me to sit with Friends in true humiliation and supplication. And may this be the
continuation of our lives through time, that peace may be our lot. [William Allen, writing
of the meeting with the Committee of the African Instruction in his diary, says Cuffe
"returned very sensible and satisfactory answers" to questions by the Duke of
Gloucester and others and that "his simplicity and strong natural good sense made a
great impression upon all parties. On the whole it was a most gratifying meeting, and
fully answered, and even exceeded all we could have asked." Captain Clarke from New
Bedford, Massachusetts, says that he has "known Cuffe from a boy and that a person
of greater integrity and honor in business he never met with. I did not give the smallest
hint which might call forth this declaration."
In the Seventh report of the directors of the African Institution this meeting is recorded
as follows:
African Institution had "the very judicious plan of profiting by the opportunity of inducing
Captain Paul Cuffe to settle in Sierra Leone, and carry over with him free blacks of
good character and of some property, who might settle in the colony and practice
among the natives the mechanical arts, and the cultivation of tropical produce. He and
his crew in Great Britain attracted universal respect by the propriety of their
deportment, as well as admiration by their singular proficiency in both the science and
the practice of navigation. The African board held a meeting, although in vacation time,
for the purpose of seeing and conferring with the captain. His royal highness the Duke
of Gloucester attended, as he always does, at the Board, and, together with the other
Directors, entered fully in to the subjects alike interesting to those distinguished
philanthropists, and to their dark-colored but civilized ally."[26] Referring to Cuffe in his
diary on this day, William Allen writes: "We had an affecting parting, as it is not very
probable that we shall see him any more. He has left a wife and eight children, and a
profitable business in which he was engaged, to forward the views of the African
Institution, and this, at the risk of his person and property."[27]]

8mo. 30. Arrived at Manchester at eight-o-clock.
8mo. 31. David Docknay and Paul Cuffe spent this day in seeing the factories. They
have got them to great perfection. They light the darkest room with gas extracted from
sea coal. This light far exceeds the candle light; it is more like day light. This air issues
out of a small tube and by the blaze of a candle being put to it, it blazes and burns until
the gas is stopped. This is done by the turning of the stop that reaches through the
pipe. One woman spins one hundred-fifty threads at a time. This afternoon Robert
Benson came. John Thorp dined with us this day.
9mo. 1. This day attended meeting, both fore and afternoon. Took dinner at Isaac
Crenden's, and then went to see Richard and Martha Routh.
9mo. 2. Took stage for Liverpool arrived at ten. I this day wrote to Wm. Allen and stated
the necessity of establishing commerce in Africa and building a vessel in Africa, and if
there should be any owner found in London.
9mo. 4. This morning being a pleasant morning Hannah Rathbone's family and myself
went to Wm. Roscoes, which was about two miles further. He being a very warm friend
for the abolishing the slave trade, many subjects took place between us. He stated the
necessity, and propriety of condemning all nations, that might be found in the trade. I
likewise was favored to state to him the necessity there was of keeping open a
communication between America, Africa and England in order to assist Africa in its
civilization and that the two powers to contenance it, even if they were at variance, and
to consider it as a neutral path. And I could not see wherein the French Goverment may
not gain in adopting this neutral path.
9mo. 6. After breakfast went into the blind school and it was wonderful to see the
operation of all kinds of work they would go through of spinning, weaving, matting,
carpeting, of many colors.
[On this day Cuffe signed a contract with Will Midgley by which the latter was to furnish
flannels for shipment on the Traveller for Sierra Leone.[28]]
9mo. 17. Took breakfast with my passengers and also with Wm. Rathbone
accompanied with a friend belonging to London, where the African conversation took
place which was the most expediant method of civilization of Africa.
9mo. 20. At ten-o-clock weighed anchor.... A great many attended our departure....
11mo. 12. At four P. M. we anchored in Sierra Leone.

CHAPTER V

The Return to America

Cuffe remained in Sierra Leone for three months. On Sundays he
attended the various churches. He made the most of these
opportunities to caution the lukewarm and to reprimand closely the
unconcerned. On the other days of the week, he explored the

country because he wanted to know every advantage this location
had for the many settlers he hoped would come from America.
He noted the growing pineapples and was pleased with the Guinea
grass so tall that he could just reach the top of it with his umbrella.
He found Indian corn and buckwheat growing well. Although he
sought diligently he could find no good place to make salt. In his
survey of the streams he found two that had fall sufficient for twenty
and thirty foot undershot wheels respectively. This pleased him
greatly, as the water power made mills possible. On his rounds he
distributed many kinds of seeds and silk worm eggs, but few knew
what to do with them.
On the eleventh of December he was called to the home of James
Reed by the Social Society of Sierra Leone to help draw up a
constitution for this organization. Subsequent meetings were
necessary to complete the work. When it had been done, the
Friendly Society of Sierra Leone was born, beginning to function
immediately. A communication from William Allen addressed to John
Kizel was presented to the Society. It was duly answered and
preparations made for carrying on commercial relations with the
London African Institution. The government prohibition on landing
rum and tobacco displeased many of the members because it took
from them one possibility for lucrative revenues.
In addition to these interests, Cuffe visited the schools and greeted
the new missionaries. He was a first class teacher himself and many
ambitious Negroes learned the art of navigation from his teachings.
Occasionally he took apprentices, and at this time four Africans were
indentured to him.
Finally he made arrangements with the Governor for the reception of
colonists who might come over from America. They discussed
means for civilizing the natives, land grants to the new settlers, and
problems of trade for all. When every measure had been taken
looking to future relations between England, Sierra Leone, and
America, he set sail for his home land.
He was just four days out when Captain James Tildwell of the British
sloop of war, Abrina, took the Traveller back to Sierra Leone. Captain

Tildwell did not understand the arrangement by which Captain Cuffe
had four indentured servants on board. The matter was immediately
brought to the attention of the Governor and Cuffe was permitted to
renew his homeward voyage. Cuffe sailed according to the old
rhyme—

If the wind comes before the rain,
Clear the top sails and hoist them again.
If the rain comes before the wind,
Lower the top sails, and take them in.
All went well on sea. But when on April 19, 1812, he reached
American waters a grave difficulty beset him. The Traveller was
bringing to the United States a British cargo. This was contrary to the
existing trade laws. What could be done? A pilot boat, the Daggett,
offered to take him to New Bedford where he could interview the
authorities. Moreover, it was an opportunity speedily to reach
Westport and see his family. So he left the Traveller at sea and took
passage on the Daggett.
When he returned, Captain John Cahoone in a revenue cutter had
condemned the Traveller for bringing in a British cargo. There was
nothing left for Captain Cuffe to do except to carry his cause to
Washington and this he decided to do. Accordingly letters of
recommendation were prepared to present the case to the Federal
authorities. He engaged the services of John Vase, Amasa Robbins,
and others to prepare a petition to the Secretary of War. The
Collector of Customs approved the petition. Governor Simeon
Martin, Judge Constant Taber, former Congressman, G. C.
Champlin, as well as John Coggeshall, I. Vernon, Thomas G.
Pitman, and Walter Channing, endorsed his papers.
Armed with these letters of recommendation, he started for
Washington. On his way he stopped at Providence where his good
friend, William Rotch, Jr., gave him counsel and aid. He put Cuffe in
touch with Moses Brown, who brought in the services of Thomas
Arnold. They called on the Judge and Attorney-General. All favored
Captain Cuffe, and Brown and Arnold signed his general letters of
recommendation. While in Providence he made his home with
Obadiah Brown and attended fore and afternoon meetings. He
stopped off at Philadelphia on the 29th of April, to tell John James
his troubles. "In travelling through the country," he wrote, "I perceived
that the people seemed to have great knowledge of me."

Arriving in Washington on the first of May, he sought Samuel
Hutchinson, who accompanied him to call on President Madison, the
Secretary of War, and others to whom he had letters of
recommendation. "The Secretary observed to me," wrote the
Captain, "that French brandy could not be imported from a British
port but observed whether it would be inconvenient to me to have it
entered for exportation. I then told him my funds were small, and it
would lock up my funds. All people appeared very kindly indeed."
The authorities at Washington thought his voyage was innocent and
laudable. The Traveller and all his property was restored to him
without reservation and the government offered its services to him in
carrying out his African plans.
On the day following this decision, the Captain started home. "When
I took my seat," he wrote, "being the first in, I took the after seat.
When the passengers came, in came a blustering powder headed
man with stern countenance. 'Come away from that seat.' I was no
starter and sat still. He then bustled along and said, 'I want to put my
umbrella in the box.' I arose, he then put his umbrella in. He then
said, 'You must go out of this for there is a lady coming in.' I entered
into no discourse with him, but took my seat; he took his seat beside
me but showed much evil contempt. At length the woman and a girl
made their appearance. I then arose and invited the woman into the
after seat saying we always give way to accomodate the women. We
set forward on our journey. On our way at the tavern I was overtaken
by Wm. Hunter, member of Congress. He was very free and
conversant, which this man above mentioned observed. Before we
got to Baltimore he became loving and openly accosted me,
'Captain, take the after seat,' but from the common custom I thanked
him, and wished him to keep his seat.
"When I arrived in Baltimore, they utterly refused to take me in at the
tavern or to get me a dinner unless I would go back among the
servants. This I refused, not as I thought myself better than the
servants, but from the nature of the case, thought it not advisable. I
found my way to a tavern where I got my dinner. Friend Barnard
Gilbert went with me and was friendly. Jesse Talbot, a very worthy
friend, had paid every attention to me; by this time I seemingly had

friends on every side. I staid at the home of Elisha Tyson, who
offered to be a real friend of the people of color."
While in Baltimore the Captain attended Preparation Meeting. He
called on a number of his friends, among whom were Daniel Coker
and George Collins, teachers of the African school of one hundred
and seven children. At a tea where many colored people were
present, Cuffe told about his African visit. Plans were made to form a
Society to correspond with the London African Institution and the
Friendly Society of Sierra Leone.
Cuffe stopped in Philadelphia and New York and renewed old
acquaintances, and also made plans for the organization of Societies
to communicate with the African Institution in London and the
Friendly Society of Sierra Leone. These societies with the one
started in Baltimore were centers for the discussion of questions
relating to Africa and for commercial undertakings with their African
neighbors.
When Cuffe was in New York, his guide introduced him to two
Methodist preachers. One said to him, "Do you understand English?"
Cuffe replied that there was a part he did not understand, namely,
"that many persons who profess being enlightened with the true
light, yet had not seen the evil of one brother professor making
merchandise of and holding his brother in bondage." The ministers
did not clear up the question, and in Cuffe's own words, "We bid
each other farewell without any further conversation." He put this
same query to the United Society assembled for the Methodist
Conference in New York, but it was received with coldness. While it
shows Cuffe's zeal in working for the emancipation of slavery, it also
gives an index to the state of the popular mind on this subject fifty
years before the Civil War.
Elated over the recovery of the Traveller and permission to land his
cargo, he reached Westport on May 23. He expressed his gratitude
to President Madison in the following letter:
I stopped short of my duty in not calling to acknowledge the favor that I received from
the seat of Government; for which I desire to be excused. But upon serious reflection,
feeling that there is an acknowledgment due unto the ruler of the people—certainly
there is greater acknowledgment due unto the Father of all our mercies.

May the blessing of heaven attend thee; may the United States be preserved from the
calamities of a war, and be favored to retain her neutrality in peace and happiness.

Another letter equally important went out. It recounted his
experiences to William Allen and promised continued interest in all
things relating to the uplift of the Negro race. "Paul Cuffe," he wrote
in closing, "doth not at present go to Africa, but shall send such
characters as confidence may be placed in. At present it is thought
that I may be as serviceable towards the promotion of the colony, as
though I was to remove. However, as my wife is not willing to go, I do
not feel at liberty to urge, but feel in duty bound to escort myself to
the uttermost of my ability for the good cause of Africa."[29]

CHAPTER VI

A Quaker Mission

The visit of Captain Cuffe to Africa was a spontaneous movement on
his part. He was anxious to contribute to the improvement of his
countrymen. His visit to England was a great incentive to the
Directors of the African Institution. Both the Duke of Gloucester and
William Allen were convinced that the colonists of Sierra Leone
needed only a stimulus to their industry and that the Institution could
give it without the slightest inconvenience. They regarded Paul Cuffe
as a medium for this service—a medium providentially afforded.
One is impressed with the methodical and thorough-going way Cuffe
conducted his affairs during the first part of his visit in Sierra Leone.
He was soon acquainted both with the land and the people. Just as
soon as he obtained information he began its dissemination. A letter
was dispatched to America in care of his brother, John Cuffe. The
Captain wrote "Hope it may find its way to its destination and obtain
its desired effect which will be a consolation to one who wishes well
to all mankind both here and hereafter world without end." The
following letter dated April 20, 1811, was "The Epistle of the Society
of Sierra Leone in Africa,"[30] formed for the further promotion of the
Christian religion:
Sierra Leone, April 20, 1811.

To the Saints and Faithful Brethren in Christ; grace be unto you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We desire to humble ourselves with that thankful acknowledgment to the Father and
Fountain of all our mercies, for the liberty and freedom we enjoy. And our prayer to God
is, that our Brethren, who live in distant lands, and are held in bondage, and groan
under the galling chain of Slavery, that they may be liberated and enjoy the liberty that
God has granted unto all his faithful Saints. Dearly beloved Brethren in the Lord, may
the power and peace of God rule in all your hearts, for we feel, from an awful
experience, the distresses that many of our African Brethren groan under; therefore we
feel our minds engaged to desire all the Saints and Professors in Christ, to diligently
consider our cause, and to put cause to the Christian Query: whether it is agreeable to
the testimony of Jesus Christ, for one Professor to make merchandise of another? We
are desirous, that this may be made manifest to all Professors of all Christian
denominations, who have not abolished the holding of slaves.
We salute thee, Beloved Brethren, in the Lord, with sincere desire that the works of
Regeneration may be more and more experienced. It would be a consolation to us, to
hear from the Saints, in distant lands, and we could receive all who are disposed to
come unto us with open arms.
Our dearly beloved African Brethren, we also salute you in the love of God, to be
obedient unto your masters, with your prayers lifted to God, whom we would
recommend you to confide in, who is just as able in these days, to deliver out of the
Egyptian bondage: finally brethern, may the power and peace of God rule in all your
hearts.
Grace be unto you, and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

John × Gorden, preacher Geo. × Clark
Warwick × Francis Peter Francis
James Reed George Carrel
Joseph Brown Edwin × Willoughby
Moses × Wilkinson Thos. × Richards, Sen.
S. Jones Eli Aiken
John × Ellis Jno. × Stevenson
Adam × Jones Jas. Wise

Two days after he had sent this epistle to his friends in America he
wrote a personal note to William Allen in London. He acknowledged
the receipt of the license to bring goods to England, called attention
to a petition which the inhabitants had presented to Governor
Columbine with a request that he lay it before Parliament, and set
forth many facts concerning the land and its people. He also
announced his intention to keep open a commercial intercourse
between America and Sierra Leone in the hope that through such a
channel some families might find their way to Africa.[31]

The outline of the petition referred to in his letter to William Allen is
inserted as follows:
1st. That encouragement may be given to all our brethern, who may come from the
British Colonies or from America, in order to become farmers, or to assist us in the
cultivation of our land.
2nd. That encouragement may be given to our foreign brethdren who have vessels for
the purpose, to establish commerce in Sierra Leone.
3d. That those who may undertake to establish the whale fishery in the colony may be
encouraged to persevere in that useful and laudable enterprise.

Cuffe states that several of the most respectable inhabitants signed
this petition. From its contents and its date one would conclude that
its origin can safely be traced to Cuffe himself. Attention is called to a
school for adults and the other schools which accommodate about
two hundred and thirty children. In his letter to Allen he gives the
names of seven teachers. Mention is made of a Society of Sierra
Leone and of the places for public worship. Four meetings are held
on Sunday and two on other days. In his letter to Allen the churches
are enumerated as follows: two Methodists, one Baptist, and one
without denominational designation but in charge of "an old woman,
Mila Baxton who keeps at her dwelling house."
A brief paragraph describes poor relief: "An institution," said he, "was
formed on the first of the twelfth month last for the relief of the poor
and disabled. It is now regularly held on the first second day in every
month, at which time proper persons are appointed to take charge of
those under the care of the institution. A general meeting is held
once every six months. Everyone can judge of the happy effect of
such institutions as these in improving the dispositions and softening
the manners of our native brethren."
Five courts are described and attention is called to the supremacy of
British law. A short discussion of the native Africans appears, and the
letter includes in the "Brief Account" an address "to my scattered
brethren and fellow countrymen at Sierra Leone." It closes with these
words:
Grace be unto you and peace be multiplied from God the Father, and from the Lord
Jesus Christ, who hath begotten a lively hope in remembrance of you; and for which I
desire ever to be humbled, world without end, amen.

Dearly beloved friends and fellowcountrymen,
I earnestly recommend to you the propriety of assembling yourselves together for the
purpose of worshipping the Lord your God. God is a spirit and they who worship him
acceptably must worship him in spirit and in truth; in so doing you will find a living hope
which will be as an anchor to the soul and a support under afflictions. In this hope may
Ethiopia stretch out her hand unto God. Come my African brethren and
fellowcountrymen, let us walk together in the light of the Lord. That pure light which
bringeth salvation into the world, hath appeared unto all men to profit withall. I would
recommend unto all the saints, and elders and sober people of the colony, that you
adopt the mode of meeting together once every month in order to consult with each
other for your mutual good. But above all things let your meetings be owed of the Lord,
for he hath told us that "Where two or three are gathered together in his name, there
will he be in the midst of them." And I recommend that you keep a record of your
proceedings at those meetings in order that they be left for the benefit of the young and
rising generation. In these meetings let it be your care to promote all good and laudable
institutions, and by so doing you will increase both your temporal and spiritual welfare.
That the Prince of Peace may be your preserver, is the sincere desire of one who
wishes well to all mankind.

The following advice, though detached from the foregoing address,
appears to be intended to accompany it:
First. That sobriety and steadfastness, with all faithfulness, be recommended, that so
professors may be good examples in all things; doing justly, loving mercy, and walking
humbly.
Secondly. That early care be extended towards the youth whilst their minds are young
and tender, that so they may be redeemed from the corruptions of the world—such as
nature is prone to—not swearing, following bad company and drinking of spiritous
liquors. That they may be kept out of idleness, and encouraged to be industrious, for
this is good to cultivate the mind, and may you be good examples therein yourselves.
Thirdly. May servants be encouraged to discharge their duties with faithfulness; may
they be brought up to industry; may their minds be cultivated for the reception of the
good seed, which is promised to all that will seek after it. I want that we should be
faithful in all things, that so we may become a people, giving satisfaction to those, who
have borne the heat and burden of the day, in liberating us from a state of slavery. I
must leave you in the hands of Him who is able to preserve you through all time, and to
crown you with that blessing that is prepared for all those who are faithful unto death.

In closing he cites, with approbation, the advice contained in an
address to free people of color given in 1796 at Philadelphia before
the general convention of abolition societies. They are advised to
attend to religion, to get an elementary education, teach their
children useful trades, use no spiritous liquors, avoid frolicking and
idleness, have marriage legally performed, lay up their earnings, and
to be honest and to behave themselves.

An object always dear to Cuffe was the abolition of the slave trade.
He thought a commercial intercourse would be conducive to its
suppression. For trade in human beings he would offer trade in the
legitimate articles of commerce. If such an intercourse could be kept
open with cargoes coming and going between Sierra Leone and
England and Sierra Leone and America, then "some good sober
steady characters may find their way to that country." This would be
a laudable method for civilizing Africa, he thought, because the
establishment of colonists who would engage in productive
enterprises would soon leaven the lump of African idleness and
ignorance, and Christians engaged in legitimate business pursuits
would inoculate a large area of the African continent.
In order to foster this plan, Cuffe formed while in Sierra Leone in
1812, "The Friendly Society." John Kizell was elected president and
monthly meetings were held. It began a business correspondence
with the African Institution in London. William Allen ever responsive
to Cuffe's "earnest breathings" sent a consignment of goods worth
70 pounds with permission to return the amount in rice, Indian corn,
etc. He offered to be their agent in London, and he engaged the
services of W. and R. Rathbone of Liverpool in their behalf.
Since the African Institution was not to "engage in commercial
speculation" some measure had further to be devised in England to
help the Friendly Society dispose of its produce advantageously and
promote industry among its members. Therefore, "A Society for the
Purpose of Encouraging the Black Settlers at Sierra Leone, and the
Natives of Africa generally, in the cultivation of their Soil, by the sale
of their Produce" was formed. Some progress was noted for, after
four years Cuffe wrote that the Friendly Society was worth 1200
pounds.[33]
Similar movements were going on in America. William Roth of New
Bedford on October 10, 1812, wrote William Allen: "Paul Cuffe still
continues his concern for his African plan, and has recently
petitioned Congress for liberty to send his vessel to Sierra Leone,
provided liberty can be obtained from your side. His character stands
conspicuously approved as far as it is known, his kind concern for
the civilization of Africa, and his devotion of time and money to that

object, have greatly strengthened the impression of his real worth
and merit; and from some intentions from the President I am led to
believe his application will succeed."[34]

CHAPTER VII

Pathfinder in Negro Colonization

It was Cuffe's plan to make a trip to Sierra Leone once every year.
This would enable him to keep in touch with the colony. He would
carry over whatever goods were needed, buy and market the African
produce, take desirable emigrants over; withall, he would be a
benevolent father to Africa. The Captain himself said, as recorded in
Minutes of Paul Cuffe's Opinions, 1814: "The most advantageous
means of encouragement to be rendered towards civilization of
Africa is that the popularity of the colony of Sierra Leone be
encouraged; and in order to render them aid and assistance my
mind is that some families of good character should be encouraged
to remove from America and settle at Sierra Leone in order to
become farmers; and to lend them aid in such useful utilities as they
are capable of; and in order for this accomodation it appears to me
there should be an intercourse kept open between America and
Sierra Leone, that, through that channel some people might find their
way to Africa; and for their accomodation and reception when arrived
I think proper that a house be built that they have some place of
refuge or shelter." He thought one thousand pounds might be
needed for the beginning of this benevolent purpose.
But there were obstacles in the way. The voyage of the Traveller in
1812 was financially unprofitable. The Alpha had just returned with a
$3000 deficit. A bark that had gone around Cape Horn on a whaling
voyage had not returned. It was without insurance and subject to
capture by British cruisers. Moreover, the War of 1812 had begun
and this seemed an insuperable obstacle.
Already Cuffe had informed William Allen as to his troubles. He had
also told him what things urged him to overcome the difficulties in his
way. Did not Sierra Leone need a sawmill, a millwright, and a plow?

And instead of carrying loads on their heads, how much better would
it be if the colonists had a wagon on which to haul the loads. The
native Africans, moreover, had been schooled in America and were
ready to return. In addition, free blacks in the United States had
made application for passage to Sierra Leone. And could not
mercantile relations be established between Africa and America in
such a way as to supplant the slave trade? There was a possibility,
too, of starting the whale fishery on the western coast of Africa.
To achieve these ends was worth a hard struggle. He had overcome
difficulties all his life. Surely he could do it again. He would petition
Congress for permission to make the voyage and ask William Allen
to seek a similar concession from Great Britain. Accordingly a
memorial, dated "Westport, 6th month, 1813" was presented to
Congress.[35] In it Cuffe asserts that he "could but view the practice
of his brethren of the African race in selling their fellow creatures into
a state of slavery for life as very inconsistent" with divine principle of
equity and justice and that he "conceived it a duty incumbent upon
him, as a faithful steward of the mercies he had received, to give a
portion of his time and his property in visiting that country, and
affording such means as might be in his power to promote the
improvement and civilization of the Africans."
He further recites in this memorial that he had visited Sierra Leone to
learn about the country and its inhabitants, and that when he was in
London, he had the satisfaction to find his recommendations
approved by the celebrated philanthropists, the Duke of Gloucester,
William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson, William Allen, and others.
Special provision, moreover, had already been made by them to
carry his plans into effect. One plan was to keep up an "intercourse
with the free people of color in the United States in the expectation
that persons of reputation would feel sufficiently interested to visit
Africa, and endeavor to promote habits of industry, sobriety, and
frugality, among the natives of that country." His plans, he continued,
had been placed before free blacks in Baltimore and Philadelphia,
New York, and Boston. As a result "several families, whose
characters promise usefulness, have come to a conclusion, if proper

ways could be opened, to go to Africa, in order to give their aid in
promoting the objects already adverted to."
In view of these facts, provided Great Britain was willing, Cuffe
asked permission to take a ship to Sierra Leone to "transport such
persons and families ... also some articles of provision, together with
implements of husbandry, and machinery for some mechanic arts,
and to bring back such of the native productions of that country as
may be wanted." The trifling commerce, he hoped, would lighten the
expense of the voyage.
Congressman Laban Wheaton of Massachusetts presented this
memorial to the House of Representatives on January 7, 1814. Four
days later the National Intelligencer at the request of subscribers
published it. The memorial was referred to the Committee on
Commerce and Manufacturing by the Speaker of the House.
Interest in Cuffe's request now shifts to the Senate where a measure
was passed authorizing the President of the United States to permit
Paul Cuffe to depart from the United States with a vessel and cargo
for Africa and similarly to return. The House was informed of this
action on the twenty-seventh of January and four days later read the
Senate bill twice and referred it to the Committee on Commerce and
Manufacturing. This committee reported that since the government
had been compelled to prohibit the coasting trade, it would be
impolitic to relax the provisions on the "application of an individual,
for a purpose, which, how benevolently soever conceived, cannot be
considered in any other light than as speculative—the efforts
heretofore made and directed by the zeal and intelligence of the
Sierra Leone Company having failed to accomplish the object
designed by its institution."[36]
This report was referred to the Committee of the Whole House and
debated on the nineteenth of March. The representatives who
wished to grant Cuffe's request agreed that the Senate bill would be
an invitation to free blacks to emigrate to Africa. This part of the
population they said could well be spared. The opponents of Cuffe's
request doubted the expediency of permitting to go out a cargo
which must necessarily sail under British license. Such a license

would be granted, they argued, only if advantageous to the enemy.
The House by a vote of 72 to 65 rejected the Senate measure and
Cuffe's request was denied.
He fared little better at the hands of the British Government. Allen
carried the request to the ministers and told them that it was the
opinion of many that the one thing most needed to help Sierra Leone
was to enlist the services of Paul Cuffe. If the Government granted
the license, it was hoped that a vessel could be purchased, that
Cuffe be made its proprietor, and that it be used to carry African
produce to Britain. The ministers, from the Chancellor of the
Exchequer on down, were exceedingly kind and were willing to grant
the license but could not, owing to the navigation laws, insure the
vessel against a seizing officer. Such an officer might consider the
boat more valuable than his office. Allen thought such a risk too
great either for Cuffe or the African Institution and the request for a
license was withdrawn.
Cuffe's spirit would not down. Let Congress turn him down and the
British ministers deny his request. There was still one group willing to
help him along. This group was the Society of Friends at Westport.
Here was fuel for the fire of Cuffe's zeal. Ebenezer Baker, clerk of
the monthly meeting, on the "16th of the 11th month 1815" records:
Our friend Paul Cuffe (who is a member of our religious society) informed this meeting
that he has a prospect of making a voyage to Africa on business, and in a particular
manner, with the laudable view of endeavoring to promote the temporal and civil
improvement and comfort of the inhabitants of some parts of that country; which having
had our solid deliberation, we feel desirous that he may be enabled to accomplish this
object, to the peace of his own mind; and leave him at liberty to pursue his prospect,
recommending him to the friendly notice and regard of those amongst whom his lot
may be cast.[37]

Just as soon as the war was over Cuffe set sail for Africa. The
papers evidently were well supplied with his plans, for a Louisville
paper, The Western Courier, related that "Capt. Paul Cuffe, a man of
color is about to proceed to Africa, with several families to form a
settlement there. He will sail in the brig Traveller, now at
Philadelphia, receiving two families there, afterwards touch at New
Bedford and receive the remainder of her company, and then
proceed the latter part of October on her voyage."

The Traveller cleared from the custom house on the second of
December. Two days later Cuffe wrote Allen, "I shall sail through
God's permission the first wind after tomorrow." The first wind came
the tenth of December. When the Traveller finally sailed she carried
a cargo of tobacco and soap, candles, naval stores and flour. She
had also iron with which to build a sawmill, a wagon, grindstones,
nails and glass, and a plow. There were thirty-eight passengers,
eighteen heads of families and twenty children.
The Captain himself reported the voyage to the American
Colonization Society in this laconic letter:
Thirty-eight in number went out with me, their expenses were estimated at one hundred
dollars per head, but were there a large number they could be carried out for sixty
dollars. The expense of thirty of the above number was born by Paul Cuffe. The others
paid for their own passages. In addition to the above expense, I furnished them
provisions to the amount of 150 pounds 8s 3d sterling; all this was done without fee or
reward—my hope is in a coming day.[38]

The passengers were all common laborers and they wished to
cultivate the land. Perry Locke, a Methodist, was licensed to preach.
He is an honest man, wrote Cuffe, but "has rather a hard voice for a
preacher." Another passenger was Antony Survance, a native of
Senegal, who had been sold to the French in St. Domingo. During
the revolution he came to Philadelphia. He had learned to read and
write and had studied navigation, but Cuffe thought he would never
make a mariner on account of seasickness. He paid his passage to
Africa and hoped by and by to return to Senegal. He said the black
man had two eyes and two ears, the white man has no more. Could
he not hear with his ears and see with his eyes. All the passengers
were provided with certificates of good character.[39]
The fares paid by the passengers and a contribution from William
Rotch of New Bedford amounted to over $1000. Cuffe's expenses
consisted of $480 for insurance, $1000 for portage, $703.96 for
supplies, and $3000 for passages. His expenses, therefore,
exceeded the sources of income by something over $4000.
It was a rough passage and the Captain was troubled with a sick
crew. When he reached Sierra Leone on the third of February, the
crew was well "for which as well as all other preservations," he

wrote, "I desire ever to be truly humbled before the father and
fountain of all our mercies." On its arrival at port, the Traveller was
hailed from a canoe, "What brig is this? where from? what cargo?"
Cuffe asked to anchor the Traveller. But word came from the custom
house boat "No Americans permitted to anchor in these waters." It
was then near sunset and permission was given to anchor until nine
o'clock the following morning. The Governor on the next day allowed
Cuffe to anchor in the harbor but could not secure him against
seizure by a man-of-war. The Traveller remained in the harbor a
month and a day enjoying every indulgence and encountering no
warship.
The passengers were well received by the Governor and the
Friendly Society. They were given a town lot and fifty acres of land. A
year's rations for seven families was provided at a cost of 411
pounds 14s 5d. This expense, it seems, was met by the London
African Institution. Cuffe thanked his friend William Allen for the
"Ardent exercises thee must have had in order to forward the plan."
[40]

Cuffe did not succeed so well in the disposition of his cargo. No
instructions awaited him from the London African Institution and no
arrangements had been made with the British Government. He had,
therefore, to pay import duty on the articles he sold; tobacco, soap,
candles and naval stores which at first he could not even land. Later,
evidently the tobacco at least was landed, because to William Allen
was referred a matter in connection with the price of it on which
Cuffe and the Friendly Society could not agree. He sold flour at $12
per barrel and purchased camwood at $100 per ton.
As to Cuffe himself, he was well received. He dined with Governor
McCarthy and the Chief Justice. William Allen offered him his African
quarters during his stay but the Captain declined, for, said he, "I feel
myself unworthy to become one of thy family."[41] He went with
Governor McCarthy to inspect the schools; he was particularly
pleased with the boys' school taught by Thomas Hurt, a
schoolmaster Cuffe himself had brought from England.

He discussed the question of keeping a line of communication open
between England and Sierra Leone, advised that an additional place
for colonizing be selected, and took an active part in suppressing the
slave trade. While he was in Sierra Leone three brigs and four
schooners, active in this traffic, were captured. Later he sought to
secure from Governor McCarthy the names of the vessels and
commanders so that the African Institution or the Abolition Society in
Philadelphia could initiate legal proceedings against them.
Every encouragement was given to the Friendly Society. He pointed
out to William Allen its prosperity and cautioned him not to make too
great advances to it. He was greatly pleased to find it establishing
factories at places within the interior. At these points the tribes could
secure their own produce. When engaged in enriching the produce
of their own country, Cuffe thought that they would be drawn away
from the slave trade. Above all things, he pointed out the abuse of
the twenty-two license houses which did business with the slave
traders. By establishing factories and opening roads from one tribe
to another he believed he could render the native chiefs friendly to
civilization.
Cuffe kept in touch with everything and everybody. He noted
sickness and death; he chronicled the accession of thirteen new
colonists to the Baptist church. He also heard complaints. Perry
Locke, the licensed Methodist minister, disliked to do jury duty. On
receiving the following summons he at once carried it to the Captain:
Mr. Perry Locke. You are hereby summoned and required to appear at the ensuing
general session of the peace, which will be held at the court hall in Freetown, on
Wednesday, the 10th day of April, at the hour of ten in the afternoon, there to serve as
a grand juror; herein fail not, at your peril. W. D. Grant, Sheriff.[42]

Cuffe told him that "he complained in America because he was
deprived of these privileges; and then he murmured because he was
called upon: Go and fill thy seat, do as well as thou canst."[43]
The citizens wished him to begin a settlement at Sherbro, and the
African Institution again took occasion to profit by the experience of
their "dark colored but civilized ally" who suggested that a house be
built on the farm of each settler brought over.

When Cuffe began preparations for the return voyage "it was like a
father taking leave of his children." He sailed on April 4th, and after a
voyage of fifty-four days reached the United States again. After
juggling in his mind the various proposals for ameliorating the
condition of "that part of the great family of Africa" in America he
concluded: "Nothing: Nothing of much amount can be affected by an
individual or private bodies until the government removes the
obstruction in the way."[44]

CHAPTER VIII

Afro-American Interests

Neither voyage to Africa was financially profitable. Cuffe did not
make either visit with that end in view. But he was careful to make
use of every opportunity to reduce the expense of the trip. An
undated item in his letters says property to the value of $1337.15
was landed from the Traveller and placed in charge of Thomas
Wainer. Blue cloth, cassimere and flannels bought through William
and Richard Rathbone of Liverpool were imported when Cuffe made
his first voyage to Sierra Leone. Peter and Alexander Howard of New
Bedford shared equally with Cuffe in this transaction. The estimated
value of the goods was $2300; the profit to each party was $439.93.
[45]

Cuffe imported camwood and squills when he returned in 1816, but
neither sold well. Abner Gifford made a small sale of camwood in
Albany but the bulk of it was sold by Hicks Jenkins and Company of
New York. Peleg Howland and Sons and Swift and Barnes, both of
Poughkeepsie, purchased some of the camwood.
The Traveller, however, was kept busy. In 1816 and 1817 she carried
freight along the Atlantic coast and made several voyages to the
West Indies. Tuite and Amie, a firm in Port au Prince, was a
correspondent of Cuffe. Tuite at one time seems to have lived at
Bridgeport and to have established a line of Quaker connections.
While Cuffe had business dealings with a number of houses the
ones most frequently referred to are Josiah Crodler and Company of

Boston, Hicks Jenkins and Company of New York and William Roth,
Jr., and Company of New Bedford. At the time of his death Cuffe was
constructing salt works at Westport.
Cuffe never allowed his own private business affairs to engulf his
interests in Sierra Leone. He wrote frequently to the colonists that he
took over and he kept in close touch with the Friendly Society. He
gave them financial advice, quoted prices, and promised another
visit when satisfactory arrangement could be made with either the
London African Institution or the British Government. He expressed
the wish that an additional port might be selected for a settlement
because, from the rumors of insurrection in the South, "many will be
glad to find some place where they could send them."[46]
He exhorted the Friendly Society as a whole to "stand fast, grow
strong, be respectable, and be active to suppress the slave trade."
To its secretary, James Wise, he gave this special message:
"As thou art one of the main spokes in the great wheel in which the Friendly Society are
upheld I earnestly instruct thee to stand firm for her support for if she falls and comes to
naught, it will be a deadly blow to Africa. I am a well wisher to her prosperity and could I
be the means of her firm establishment I think I should consent to be made use of in
any way which might be for her advancement. I instruct thee to endeavor that she, the
Friendly Society, may not give up her commercial pursuits, for that is the greatest outlet
to her national advancement.—I forsee this to be the means of improving both your
country and nation."[47]

The African Institutions at Philadelphia and New York were as dear
to his heart as the Friendly Society. He kept in close touch with both
of them. "I wish these institutions," he said, "to be brought as much
under action as possible; by these means the colored people of
these large cities would be more awakened than from an individual,
and a stranger, and thereby prevailed upon for their own good."[48]
The secretary of the New York African Institution was Peter Williams,
Jr., a rector of the St. Phillip's Episcopal Church. Cuffe constantly
spurred him on to greater activity in the organization. He should write
Governor McCarthy of Sierra Leone expressing interest in Cuffe's
mission; he should cooperate with the Abolition Society in New York
in its efforts to secure information leading to the capture of slave

traders; he should open up a correspondence with the Friendly
Society.
Cuffe counted on the help of the Institution to break up the slave
trade. He expressed to Samuel C. Aiken, of Andover, the view that
general manumission could never occur until this trade was really
stopped. He reported that in 1815 two hundred sail cleared from
Savannah for this traffic. Six vessels had been brought in by the
forces in Sierra Leone. If the road could be kept open between Africa
and America, it would help the authorities in Sierra Leone. "I
believe," he continued, "if there could be mercantile correspondence
opened between the African race in America and Africa it would have
good tendency to keep open this communication and acquaint them
with each other. It would employ their children; and if religious
characters wished to visit that country they would obtain a passage."
[49] William Allen had asked him again to come to England to help
keep communication open between London and Sierra Leone. In
harmony with the invitation Rathbone Hodgson Company of
Liverpool wrote, "It will give us much pleasure to learn that you are
embarking for England."
James Forten seems to have been the leading spirit in the African
Institution at Philadelphia. It was no less eager than the sister one in
New York to diffuse knowledge about Africa, to help civilize its
inhabitants, and to help substitute a beneficial commerce for the
slave trade. The Institution had among the members an African
Prince, a grandson of King Lurker, who reigned about fifty leagues
south of Sierra Leone. He was about eight years old and had been
secured by the local Abolition Society in order to educate him. James
Forten hoped that his return to Africa would serve to open up a
correspondence between King Lurker and the Friendly Society which
would be very advantageous to the Sierra Leone colony. Forten
reported the Institution greatly concerned over the will of Samuel
Gist because there was no asylum for the blacks whom he desired to
free and whom he finally colonized in Brown County, Ohio.
Neither organization, however, was lively enough to please Cuffe. He
feared that their inactivity might cause the mission in Africa to fail.
Rather than see the seed planted in Africa perish, he wrote William

Allen that he would bestow some further labor; he would come to
England if necessary and be used there.
Cuffe had another important purpose in connection with colonization.
From the time that he built a schoolhouse at Westport to his death
he was interested in the cause of education both in Africa and in
America. He said: "I am one of those who rejoice to see good
institutions established for the instruction and reformation of our
fellow creatures.... I approve of the plan for educating young men of
color. I think such characters would be useful in Africa." Teachers
were sought out for schools in Sierra Leone and passage for them
on the Traveller was always ready. He contributed to teachers'
salaries and was interested in putting children in private boarding
schools. Prospect for establishing a school for blacks in Charleston,
South Carolina, was laid before Cuffe by Samuel R. Fisher of
Philadelphia. The information was a solicitation for advice and
financial help.
Naturally, as soon as he returned from Sierra Leone, his
correspondence increased. He received many inquiries about that
country and to all he gave kind and considerate reply. Dr. Jedekiah
Morse of Boston wants to know what offices are held by men of
color. There are sheriffs, constables, clerks of court, and jurors; and
there is a colored printer. But "Africa calls for men of character to fill
stations in the Legislature."
"What does it cost to go to Africa?" asked Thomas Fay, of
Providence. "Does there exist any arrangement under the auspices
of the African Institution for the payment of passage for those unable
to meet this expense?" And the answer comes that it costs about
one hundred dollars per person and that there is no arrangement at
present with the African Institution. But if you go you must set your
face against the slave trade; prepare as do the Irish who come to
America.
Peter Williams, Jr., of New York, upon being reminded that there is
no time to lose if a mercantile line of business is established
between Africa and the United States, makes this inquiry, "Any news

from England on colonization? A carpenter here ready to settle in
Sierra Leone if his passage paid."
Cuffe wants to know whether James Forten, of Philadelphia, could
tell him the cost of a rice mill? Could he refer him to a man who
would manage a sawmill; to another who was a good watch
repairer? "What are the African news?" asks James Forten. "And can
you give me information about Cuffe Johnson who claims he sailed
with you twelve years ago and was marked with a mold on his left
breast?" Thomas Ash, merchant and employer of Forten, inquires if
ebony wood may be obtained on the Gaboon River and reports his
intention to make an expedition there.
John James wants Cuffe to visit Philadelphia and clear up
unfavorable reports about the Sierra Leone Mission. Several wish to
emigrate and they must be saved for Africa. And Cuffe sends to
Peter Williams, Jr., of New York for the minutes of Perry Locke and a
communication from Governor McCarthy so that he may have
documentary evidence to submit to his colored brethren at
Philadelphia. "I think it is time," says Cuffe to Forten, "some steps
were taken to prevent insurrection."[50]
From Wilmington, Delaware, William Gibbons sends the respect and
friendship of his wife and family and asks how many Negroes are in
Sierra Leone? How far has the colony civilized the natives? What
about the moral, religious, civil and political situation?
The colonists who were taken out in 1815 wrote many letters to
Cuffe and to their "Dear Friends and Brethren" in America. Friend
Gwinn had lost a leg; Samuel Hews and Mrs. Thomas Jarvis were
dead. Would Cuffe bring two Bibles when he came over again?
Would the American Government purchase a small tract in Sherbro?
It is a splendid site for a colony and camwood, palm oil and a little
ivory are available there.
And Cuffe writes back: "The camwood is stored in New York, six
families in Boston and a considerable number in New York want to
go over. They must wait and see how things turn out. There will be
no voyage really soon for there is no arrangement made with the
London African Institution or the British Government. May Perry

Locke get on with his friends in religion. Let George Davis and others
meet their financial obligations promptly."
An incident which created no little concern among Cuffe's friends in
New Bedford, Philadelphia and New York was the appearance of a
colored man who claimed to be a relative of the Captain. He made
his appearance in New Bedford late in 1816, where he claimed to be
a minister, and the son of Richard Allen. He sat in the pulpit with the
local minister and had sittings with the Negroes. Soon he left for
Boston with false letters from William Rotch setting forth that he was
a brother-in-law of Paul Cuffe and that his home was in New York.
He was now using the name Samuel Bailey. He bought nine hundred
dollars worth of goods on his credentials and came very near making
away with the purchase.
The imposter next appeared in New Bedford, where, on the initiative
of William Rotch, he was arrested. Unfortunately, however, he
escaped from prison. From New Bedford he made his way to New
York where he presented false letters of credit to the extent of
$10,000. Here he was brought before the authorities and was
requested to leave the State. He went to Albany and was employed
by Ira Porter for one month. To disguise himself better he had made
a plain suit, Quaker style, and then absconded on one of Porter's
fine black horses, worth $200. He rode him to York, introduced
himself as Paul Cuffe and found hospitality at the home of Joseph
Jessop. Although he attended meeting on the first day, nevertheless
suspicions were aroused as to his real self. His conduct and
pretentions while at York are further set forth by a contemporary in
the following language:
"An African pretending to be the son of the Celebrated Paul Cuffe, came here about
eight or ten days ago. He was received as Paul Cuffe, in this place, and entertained by
members of the Society of Friends. He said he was on his way to Congress, for the
purpose of soliciting aid in a project he had on foot, to colonize Sierra Leone, or the
Leone Country, on the west coast of Africa. He said he had been the first man that put
a yoke on a pair of oxen in Sierra Leone.
"He tarried in this place several days, and though he is an artful fellow, he told in the
course of his conversation upon the Sierra Leone project some inconsistent stories. He
said, for instance, that he would lay a memorial before Congress embracing a view of
his Sierra Leone business. One of the Friends advised him to have a sufficient number
of copies printed to supply all the members. This, he said, was already done and he

had them along with him. On his being pressed to show one of them he could not make
it appear that he told a straight story. This gave rise to a suspicion that he was not a
Real Cuffe, of the Cape Cod breed. He proceeded from this place to Baltimore. Letters
were sent from here giving intelligence of the suspiciousness of his character.
"The letters were read to him at Baltimore, upon which he came back to this place to
clear up his character. He appears not to have done it to the satisfaction of his friends
here, as they took him before a magistrate and had him committed to the care of
Robert Wilson. On his examination it appeared that he could neither read nor write, but
at the same time exhibited proof of a keenness of intellect seldom met with in persons
of his color. The real celebrated Paul Cuffe resides in the State of Massachusetts in the
vicinity of Cape Cod at the entrance to Boston Bay."[51]

What was the upshot of the matter is not known but the significance
of the affair is well pointed out by the Real Cuffe in a letter to the
impostor:
"I think it looks as though thou art arrested from thy labors, and thy words do follow
thee. How canst thou, a sinful impostor, call me thy father when I never saw thee to my
knowledge. It appears that thou art a scribe, but hath missput the name that thee
presumed to assume. It is a great pity that thou who hath been so well treated should
make such ill use of it. This I speak to thy shame. The great evil that thou hast
embarked upon is not only against me as an individual. It is a national concern. It is a
stain to the whole community of the African race. Wilt thou consider, thou imposter, the
great number thou hast lifted thy head against, would not it have been good that thou
had never been born. Let me tell thee that the manumission of 1,500,000 slaves
depends on the faithfulness of the few who have obtained their freedom, yea, it is not
only those who are in bondage, but the whole community of the African race, which are
according to best accounts 30,000,000. If nothing better can be obtained from thee
than the fruit that thou produced, let me intreat thee to petition for a prison for life;
Awake thou imposter unto righteousness and pray God to forgive thee, if happily thou
may find firgiveness before the door of mercy is closed against thee. Thus thou hast
the advise of one who wishes well to all mankind."
Paul Cuffe.[52]

CHAPTER IX

A Friend in Need

There is no evidence in the Cuffe papers that he was acquainted
with the history of the Negro deportation projects in America. It is
altogether likely that the one hundred years of individual
propaganda, religious and humanitarian exertions, were unknown to
him. Means for the dissemination of knowledge were not so well
perfected in his day as in ours; the plans for deportation were

isolated; not until 1816 did private movements unite with
governmental organizations,—facts which further explain why Cuffe
knew nothing about the history of the movements to colonize the
Negro.
Many of his friends and many persons whose lives were dedicated to
Negro emancipation were connected with his plans. But whatever he
did appears to have been done wholly on his own initiative. It is the
first time, apparently, in the history of colonization that a Negro
becomes prominent in the movement. He leads the way in an effort
not only to bless the free Negroes, but also to liberate the slaves. It
is a constructive effort on the part of the Negro race.
When Cuffe returned from Africa in the early summer of 1816 the
cause for which he had given so much time and made so many
sacrifices was more prominent than it had ever been in its history.
The Union Humane Society, founded in Ohio in 1815 by Benjamin
Lundy as an anti-slavery organization, had declared for the removal
of the Negro beyond the white man's pale. The Kentucky
Colonization Society had petitioned Congress to settle, at public
expense, on some unappropriated tract of public land, the Negroes
already free and those who might subsequently obtain their freedom.
The Virginia Assembly, also, had presented a memorial to Congress
praying that the National Government find a place on the North
Pacific or African coast for colonizing the free blacks of the State.
Finally, the inhabitants of New Jersey petitioned their Legislature to
instruct their representatives in Congress to lay before that body at
its next meeting as a subject for discussion "the expediency of
forming a colony on the coast of Africa, or elsewhere, where such of
the people of color as are now free, or may hereafter be set free,
may, with their own consent, be removed."[53]
Cuffe returned from Africa about June 1, 1816. The New Jersey
meeting was on the sixth of the following November. Final action by
the Virginia Assembly was taken on the twenty-first of December of
that year. A graduate of Princeton, Robert Finley, then engaged in
the Presbyterian ministry and later president of the University of
Georgia, participated in the New Jersey meeting. He now took a
leading part in the deliberation of a body of men in Washington,

D.C., where a national organization was launched for the purpose of
deporting to Africa or elsewhere the free blacks of the United States.
A preliminary meeting was held on December 21, 1816; the
constitution was adopted on December 28, 1816, and on New Year's
Day 1817, the officers were elected. This was the beginning of the
American Colonization Society.
At this meeting the enthusiasm of Reverend Mr. Finley was
boundless. He offered five hundred dollars from his savings to insure
the success of the movement, and when some, thinking the plan
foolhardy, laughed, he declared, "I know the scheme is from God."
The one practical colonizationist, at this time, was Paul Cuffe, and to
him Rev. Mr. Finley went for advice and help.
Using for letter paper the blank space of the printed New Jersey
petition, Finley wrote Cuffe on December 5 from Washington City.
Cuffe was in this way put in touch with Finley's past activities and
with his present exertions. "Many indulge," he wrote, "a hope that
could the more virtuous of our own free people of color be removed
to the coast of Africa, with their own consent, to carry with them their
arts, their industry, and above all, their knowledge of Christianity and
the fear of God, great and lasting benefits would arise to the people
of Africa itself. Knowing that you have been to Sierra Leone and
must be well acquainted with the state and prospects of the colony,
we beg of you such information as you may be able to give on the
following heads:
"1. What is the present population of the settlements of Sierra
Leone, and what its prospects of happiness and growth?
"2. What is the nature of the soil and what the advantage for
settlement on the coast of Africa from Sierra Leone to the equator?
"3. Are there any navigable rivers in the country called Guinea, or
any positions where a good harbor might be formed along the coast?
"4. In the region above alluded to, are there any European regular
settlements, or does it contain any slave factories?
"5. Whether in your opinion is there any other situation in Africa
where the contemplated settlement or settlements could be formed

with greater advantage than in the district mentioned above?
"The great desire of those whose minds are impressed with this
subject," says Finley, "is to give an opportunity to the free people of
color to rise to their proper level and at the same time to provide a
powerful means of putting an end to the slave trade, and sending
civilization and Christianity to Africa."[54]
Another active member of the group at Washington was Samuel J.
Mills, whose devotion to missionary activity is almost unequaled in
history. The origin of the American Bible Society, the United Foreign
Missionary Society, and the American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions, is attributed to him. Writing to Cuffe, March 17,
1817, Mills said: "Your two voyages to Africa have been of great
service in preparing the public mind for an attempt to colonize your
colored brethren and probably much is depending on your future
assistance as it respects the success of efforts of this kind. I hope
you will hold yourself in a state of readiness to aid any great efforts
which may hereafter be made." He wanted to know:
1. In what manner would a request from our government for liberty to send free people
of color to Sierra Leone be received by the English government?
2. Should the request be granted, would the Americans have equal privileges to trade
to the colony?
3. Should an effort be made to explore the west coast of Africa to find a place for a
colony, how great a force ought to be employed? Would one vessel be sufficient and
what number of men would be required?
4. As a preparatory step to further exertions, would it be best to have an agent go to
Africa and to England during the proceeding summer and autumn? Or to either of these
places?
5. How should we answer those who say that people of color will not go to Africa if a
place is provided?
6. Would those persons who are ready to go to Sierra Leone be ready to aid in
establishing a new colony, in another place?
7. What was the expense of carrying out those persons who went to Africa with you,
and how was the expense defrayed? Be so good as to add anything you think
interesting. I hope you will write to me soon.[55]

Mills supplied Cuffe with the news of the activities at Washington and
sent him a pamphlet on colonization. Mills, also, inquired "If the
general government were to request you to go out for the purpose of

exploring in your own vessel would you engage in this service if
offered proper support?" If Cuffe did not go as an agent it was the
wish of Mills that he take out another group of colonists. "Since you
have so generously commended this mighty effort," says Mills, "do
not value further sacrifices in order to effect it." The voyage will not
only tone up public feeling, it will also give the foundation for an
appeal for governmental aid.
To these questions from Finley and Mills Cuffe gave prompt
attention. He gave them what facts he had gathered from his two
visits to Africa. He wrote with feeling about the slave trade, and
raised the question of the desirability of a government vessel making
explorations on the west coast of Africa. Small beginnings, he said,
had been made in Sierra Leone, but in case there was a general
manumission the Cape of Good Hope offered the most desirable
place for a colony. Attention was also called to the Congo region.
Withal to draw off the colored citizens it seemed best not only to
have a colony in Africa but one in America as well. In any event, the
slaves should be freed and until they are capable of managing for
themselves they might be allowed to work the plantations on a lay.
The work of the African Institution is called to the attention of Finley
and Mills and both Peter Williams, Jr., and James Forten are
recommended. On returning from his second voyage he states that
he received so many applications that he could have taken over the
greater part of Boston. He himself is ready to serve in any capacity
"although," he continued, "I stand (as it were) in a low place and am
not able to see far; but blessed by God who hath created all things
and for his own glory they are and were created he is able to make
use of instruments in such a way as he pleases and may I be
resigned to his holy will."[56]
Both Mills and Finley signed the constitution of the American
Colonization Society. Finley was one of the Vice Presidents, and
Mills was sent to Africa by the society to make investigations for it.
He went via England where he met the colaborers of Cuffe. While in
Africa he consulted with the members of the Friendly Society
established by Cuffe in 1811. Two of the settlers that Cuffe
transported in 1815, Kizell and Martin, acted as interpreters and

guides for Mills. In one of Mills' observations he says, "Should a
colony be established in this part of Africa, it remains a question
whether it should be governed by white men, or whether the people
will consider themselves competent to self government in the first
instance."
The arguments for and against colonization were considered by Mills
and Cuffe. "Whenever the subject of colonization shall be discussed
by Congress," says Mills, "some will object that the free people of
color will not go to Africa. Again, that it will cost too much to transport
them and to afford them the necessary protection. Again it will be
said that too many of these people are very useful and are wanted in
this country. We should be prepared to meet these objectors as far
as possible and trust in God for the success of our efforts."[57]
Mills was right in his anticipation of the argument that the free blacks
would not go to Africa. Hardly had the American Colonization Society
been formed when, under the auspices of the African Institution at
Philadelphia, a meeting estimated at three thousand met at
Reverend Richard Allen's church to discuss the question. Many were
frightened, for they believed force would be used, particularly in the
South, to compel immigration to Africa. James Forten reported none
of them favored going to Africa and that they thought the
slaveholders wanted to get rid of the free blacks so as to make the
slaves themselves more secure. Although Forten was convinced that
his brethren would never "become a people until they came out from
amongst the white people"[58] he concluded to be silent on the
question of deportation for the time being.
When this opposition to the colonization project was known to the
Society, Finley came to Philadelphia to take charge of the situation.
He met the committee to whom the matter was referred and
explained to them "the purity of the motives" which actuated many of
the leading spirits in the Society. He was so convincing that the
committee unanimously decided that "benevolence to them and the
land of their fathers guided the movements that were made at
Washington."[59] But James Forten showed his confidence in the
Captain by writing for his opinion on colonization.

Captain Cuffe had given advice to the men who organized the
American Colonization Society, his co-workers in London had been
drawn upon, his friends in Sierra Leone had served the agents of the
Society in Africa, but his influence did not end with his death. When
Bishop Meade was in the South on behalf of the Society he read
Cuffe's letters to the free blacks of Savannah. He made use, too, of
information obtained from some other Negroes who had been in
Sierra Leone and conversed with the emigrants taken over in 1815.
In fact, the Society printed letters from the American Settlers in Africa
and disseminated them as propaganda. Perry Locke exhorts his
brethren in America to come to the "land of Canaan, abounding in
honey and fruits, fish and oysters, wild fowls and wild hogs. The only
thing that Africa wants is the knowledge of God—fear not to come, if
the Lord will. When you come I hope to be with you and more
besides me,—let this be printed if you please."[60]
The testimony of Samuel Wilson was no less convincing. He
concludes: "Sir, when I set my foot on the African shore, I had only
seven and six pence sterling; now, notwithstanding, all my sickness,
I am master of a hundred pounds sterling. I think if I had had
something to have begun with, I should have had about four or five
thousand."[61]
Another letter signed by a number of Cuffe's passengers is directed
to the American Negroes in general. It says:
Be not fearful to come to Africa, which is your country by right. If any of you think it not
proper to come, and say it is well with you, you must remember your brethren who are
yet in slavery. They must be set free as yourselves. How shall they be set free, if not by
your good behavior, and by coming to get a place ready to receive them? Though you
are free that is not your country. Africa, not America, is your country and your home.
Africa is a good country. You will have no trouble to raise your children when all things
are plenty: you will have no want of warm clothing: you will have no need of firewood,
for we have it in abundance; and here you will be looked upon like the blessed
creatures of the Almighty God, and that bad opinion and contempt which our white
brethren harbor, will be quite done away, and the whole of us will become a large and
wonderful nation. We will forget all our former troubles when we turn to the land from
which our forefathers came. The whole of you will have your own lands and houses;
when you cultivate the land, (in which a few horses would be an assistance) you will be
supplied with yams, cassada, plantains, fowls, wild hogs, deer, ducks, goats, sheep,
cattle, fish in abundance, and many other articles, good running water, large oysters.
[62]

Another clever device of the advocates of deportation to make use of
the Captain was a dialogue between Absalom Jones on one side
and William Penn and Paul Cuffe on the other. The dialogue was
printed in The Union for June 18, 1818.[63] The scene of the dialogue
is in Heaven and the subject is the colonization of the free Negroes
in Africa. Cuffe narrates his connections with the movement and sets
forth purposes he had in view. He had hoped by establishing a
colony in Africa to draw there gradually all the Negroes in America. In
this way slavery would be abolished, Africa would be explored,
civilized, and Christianized.
Absalom Jones, opposed to the movement in general, raises
objections to it. Why not colonize them on the banks of the
Mississippi or the Missouri, he asks. William Penn, a Quaker too,
answers the objection by pointing out that the whites are migrating to
that section and that were the Negroes to settle there trouble would
arise between the two races. The Indians, moreover, would make
trouble with the Negroes.
Jones next asks why should the colored people leave America at all?
They are happy in America, and more and more is done for their
uplift all the time. To this objection Penn replied that prejudice will
always keep them down. "Can one imagine," asks he, "that the
period will ever arrive in which they will bear any sway in our country,
guide our legislative councils, preside in our courts of judicature, or
take the lead in the affairs of the republic? Is it possible that the time
will ever come in which intermarriages will be sought between their
families and those of the most respectable whites? It would be the
height of folly to indulge in such an expectation; and until such is the
case, they will never occupy the rank or enjoy the privileges of white
men; until this is the case, they will ever hold an inferior and
subordinate place in society, and be in some degree aliens in their
own land." Paul Cuffe had the sensibility and discernment to
perceive this state of things, the penetration to discover the early
practicable means by which his race could be relieved from their
painful sense of inferiority, and the activity to commence the
execution of a project to remedy the evil.

Would not deportation stop the manumission of slaves, asks Jones.
Penn replies that many southerners are now ready to emancipate
their slaves, and that their only handicap is a just provision for them.
A colony in Africa would gradually attract to its sphere every slave in
America.
At the end of the dialogue Penn and Cuffe convince Jones that the
deportation of the free Negroes in America to Africa is a meritorious
plan. What the dialogue did for one opponent of the scheme it was
hoped that it would do for others.
The experiences of Cuffe were a great asset in the ventures of the
colonizationists. In testimony to his services the Board of Managers
of the American Colonization Society incorporated the following
paragraph in its first annual report:
The managers cannot omit the testimony of Captain Paul Cuffe so well known in Africa,
Europe, and America, for his active and large benevolence, and for his zeal and
devotedness to the cause of the people of color. The opportunities of Captain Cuffe of
forming a correct opinion were superior perhaps to those of any man in America. His
judgment was clear and strong, and the warm interest he took in whatever related to
the happiness of that class of people is well known. The testimony of such a man is
sufficient to out weigh all the unfounded predictions and idle surmises of those opposed
to the plan of this society. He had visited twice the coast of Africa, and became well
acquainted with the country and its inhabitants. He states that, upon his opinion alone
he could have taken to Africa at least two thousand people of color from Boston and its
neighborhood. In the death of Paul Cuffe the society has lost a most useful advocate,
the people of color a warm and disinterested friend, and society a valuable member.
His character alone ought to be sufficient to rescue the people to which he belonged
from the unmerited aspersions which have been cast upon them. The plan of the
society met with his entire approbation, its success was the subject of his ardent
wishes, and the prospect of its usefulness to the native Africans and their descendants
in this country was the solace of his declining years, and cheered the last moments of
his existence.[64]

CHAPTER X

The Pale Messenger

The formation of the American Colonization Society stimulated
interest in Negro deportation. Both whites and blacks put many
inquiries to Cuffe. He was thought of as the prospective first
governor of the colony but he did not live to realize this. Near the end

of his career his advice to his people was to be quiet and trust in
God; be industrious and honest; such conduct is the greatest boon
toward liberation. "Experience is the best schoolmaster."
He took advantage of this correspondence to exhort his brethren to
improve their morals. To William Harris he wrote: "We must depart
from that Monster—I mean intemperance. Examine your selves, your
families. Are you clean? If not set about this work immediately.... Do
not admit him into your houses in any other shape than a mere
medicine. I formerly kept him company but for many years I have
forsaken him and I find great consolation thereby."
About a year before his death he gave sound financial advice to
Edward Cooke. In the postscript of the letter he wrote "My dear
Friend Edward Cooke, if I could know that thee had given up the use
of strong drink, I should feel rejoiced, and would render thee such
aid, that thee could soon become a man of property."
About the same time that he gave this advice, Isaac Gifford received
a "Watchword." "By experience," wrote the Captain, "I have ever
found when I attended to my business I seldom suffered loss. I have
found it to be good to make choice of good companions. I have ever
found it not to be profitable for me to sit long after dining and make a
tipling habit of wine and other liquors. These very people who adopt
those practices when they see a sober, steady man will put business
in his way. The surest way to conquer strong drink is to make no use
of it. We are born and we must die. Amen."
He points out to Joel Rogers, chosen to represent the Gayhead
people, the fields among his neighbors, "devastated either by
creatures or weeds." More frugality is needed. Excessive drink and
idleness are very destructive to society. These and similar truths
were recommended to Rogers to guide his work for his people.
When Cuffe and his wife with some relatives visited there, meeting
was held, and "many lively testimonies borne to the truth of their
state and standing."
The admonitions were in accord with the life of Captain Cuffe.
Another lively testimony was given to young men in a meeting in
Arch Street, Philadelphia. He said to the young men that "he was

afraid to dignify what he had to say, by calling it a vision, but it
appeared to him at a time when he was very low in mind and much
cast down, and being very disconsolate, there appeared before him
the form of a man, inquiring what ailed him. He said he could not tell.
The Form told him the disease was in his heart, and he could show it
to him. Upon his expressing submission, the Form took a sharp
instrument, separated his heart from his body and laid it before him.
He was greatly terrified in viewing it, it being very unclear and
contained all kinds of abominable things. The Form said he could
never be healed, till he submitted to have his heart cleansed. Then,
said he, I fear I never shall be healed. But on the Form asking him, if
he was willing to have it cleansed, and he consenting, he took a
sharp instrument and separated all that was vile and closed up the
heart, replaced it, and healed the wound. Thus he said he felt
himself a changed man and a new creature, and then recommended
the young men to that Physician who could heal them, although their
state was ever so deplorable.
"In the course of his testimony he also related that when he was
about twelve years of age he lived upon an island where there was
no house but that of his father. Being one evening near night sent on
an errand alone, he became afraid that he should meet with some
wild beast that would attack him. He crossed to a fence in order to
cut a stick to defend himself; but after cutting it, the thought occurred
that he was not on his father's ground, and as he had no right to the
stick it was not likely it would serve to defend him. On which he laid it
down, near the place he had taken it from and in recrossing the
fence laid his hand on a loose piece of wood which was on their own
ground resting against the fence. It proved to be a club, which he
took up, and went cheerfully on his way."[65]
It was while engaged in activity of this kind that he met "the pale
messenger." His health began to fail him early in the spring of 1817.
In April, however, he was well enough to attend Quarterly Meeting,
but in June he was "on the bed of languishing." An eminent Rhode
Island physician was summoned but he could not heal him. He
doubtless then realized what he himself expressed in these words to
Samuel R. Fisher, February 28, 1817: "May we often call to

remembrance that we have no certain containing city here but above
all things may we seek one to come whose builder is God that when
we put off this body of mortality we may be clothed with the spirit of
immortality that we may be prepared and favored to experience that
glorious regeneration and friendship of everlasting peace."
On the morning of July 27 the Captain took solemn leave of his
family. The hand that had guided the Traveller to so many ports was
now so enfeebled that it was limp in the grasp of the little
grandchildren. He shook hands with all the relations and the
immediate members of his own household. As he bade them farewell
it was "as broken a time," wrote his brother John, "as wast ever
known amongst us." "Not many days hence," he said to his
neighbors, "and ye shall see the glory of God; I know that my works
are gone to judgment before me but it is all well, it is all well." Day by
day he kept failing and on first day morning at two o'clock,
September 9, the Captain was borne away on the invisible but
irresistible tide.[66]
The funeral exercises were held on the following Monday afternoon.
In marked solemnity a great concourse of people gathered. After
waiting in great silence his friends bore testimony to his work and
merit. He was buried in the Friends cemetery at the South Meeting
House in Westport, a place of worship formerly known as the Old
Meeting House when the Cuffe family worshipped there. "Many of
his neighbors and friends," said William Rotch, Jr., "evinced their
respect for his memory by attending his funeral (which was
conducted agreeably to the usages of the Society of Friends, of
which he was a member) and at which several lively testimonies
were borne to the truth, that the Almighty Parent has made of one
blood all the nations of men, and worketh righteousness, is accepted
with him."[67]
The New York African Institution held services for him in October
following his death. The funeral sermon was preached in the African
Methodist Episcopal Zion Church by Peter Williams, Jr. That trait of
character which rendered Cuffe so eminently useful, said the
speaker, was "a steady perseverance in laudable undertaking, which

overcomes obstacles apparently insurmountable and attains its
object, while others fall back in despair."
"Shall I say to you, my African brethren," continued the Reverend Mr.
Williams, "go and do likewise? Subjected as we too generally are, to
multiplied evils of poverty, made more intolerant by the prejudices
which prevail against us, his example is worthy of our imitation. It is
only by an honest, industrious, and prudent husbanding of all the
means which are placed in our power, that we can hope to rise on
the scale of society."[68]
His death was chronicled in many papers with appropriate praise of
his life. Niles Register noted that all classes of people esteemed his
morality, truth and intelligence.[69] The Columbian Sentinel praised
his charity and particularly his deep interest in his race. "He was
concerned not only to set them a good example by his own correct
conduct; to admonish and counsel them against the habits to which
he found them most prone; but more extensively to promote their
welfare."[70] The Colonization Herald said, "Captain Cuffe was a man
of the strictest integrity, modest yet dignified in his manners, of a
feeling and liberal heart, public spirited and well versed in the
business of the world."[71]
"In the example of Paul Cuffe," said The New York Spectator, "the
free people of color in the United States may see the manner in
which they may require competency and reputation. It is the beaten
path of industry and integrity. Captain Cuffe cultivated his own farm
and guided his own ship. He labored with his own hands and kept
his own book of accounts. He did not waste his time in idleness, nor
his income in extravagance. He was never charged with intrigue in
his contracts, neglect in his promises, or fraud in his traffic.... His
example therefore, is capable of imitation by every free person of
color."[72]

One Hundred Years After

Paul Cuffe had some descendants of consequence. Horatio P.
Howard, a great-grandson of Captain Cuffe, wrote a short biography

of his grandsire and erected a monument in his memory. Ruth Cuffe
married Alexander Howard and their son, Shadrack, was the father
of Horatio. He was born in New Bedford in 1854, and beginning in
1888 served as a clerk in the Custom House in New York City.
Howard died February 20, 1923, leaving considerable wealth, $5000
of which he bequeathed to Hampton, and the balance of which he
gave to Tuskegee as a fund to establish Captain Paul Cuffe
Scholarships.
The monument which Howard erected is of Westerly Rhode Island
granite and cost $400. It bears the inscription: "In memory of Captain
Cuffe, Patriot, Navigator, Educator, Philanthropist, Friend." It stands
five feet high on an elevation in the front part of the church yard and
along the principal highway.
The biography is a booklet containing twenty-eight pages and is
entitled "A Self-Made Man Captain Paul Cuffe." "By the erection of
this lasting Memorial," says Howard, "in honor of the courage,
achievements and life work of Capt. Paul Cuffe, a resident of
Westport, Massachusetts, for many years, the donor, a great
grandson, hopes to awaken and stimulate energy and ambition in
the rising generation of Negro youth, that they may profit thereby."
On June 15, 1913, dedication services were held in Central Village,
Westport. Rev. Tom A. Sykes, minister of the Westport Society of
Friends, presided. The exercises, which were attended by about two
hundred people, were opened by a flower brigade of school children
led by Horatio P. Howard. Flowers were strewn on the graves of the
Captain and his wife. Speeches were made by Rev. Mr. Sykes and
Mr. Samuel T. Rex, the designer of the monument. Miss Elizabeth C.
Carter read a paper descriptive of the career of Capt. Cuffe. Howard
distributed his booklet and showed a compass used by his great-
grandfather on his last voyages.

The life of Paul Cuffe is noteworthy for several reasons. In the first
place, it is a tribute to American democracy. He is an example of an