Read Ebook: The year of jubilee; but not to Africans a discourse delivered July 4th 1825 being the 49th anniversary of American independence by Prime Nathaniel S Nathaniel Scudder

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UNITED STATES

WASHINGTON, D.C.

But such is the fact. This day commences the 50th year of freedom to American white men, and yet a million and a half of our fellow men, within our own dwellings, are this moment groaning under the chains of bondage. Tell me not, as it is often told by the advocates of slavery, that they are incapable of providing for themselves; and are therefore happier in their present dependent condition, than if they were immediately emancipated. I cheerfully admit that the little feathered songster that was hatched in a cage or incarcerated before his wings were fledged, may be ignorant of most of the sweets of liberty; and after being long accustomed to have his food provided by his owner's hand, might be incapable of finding it, in equal profusion, in the fields and forests; but does this prove that he has not a nature adapted to the enjoyment of liberty, and equally entitled to the privilege with other birds?

A man may also forfeit his liberty, and even his life, by the commission of crimes against the interests of society. And in all such cases, every nation on the globe has a charter from the King of heaven to inflict merited punishment. But surely no man of common sense will pretend that this authorizes any individual or commonwealth to reduce to perpetual bondage, and entail the same on their posterity, those who have never violated a single law of the land.

The time has been when the event of war has been supposed to confer on the victorious party the right of enslaving the vanquished. But this is now universally acknowledged to be a principle of barbarism, and is abandoned by the civilized world. Where then is our charter for the oppression of our fellow men?

Perhaps the most plausible argument in support of American slavery, is, that the New Testament distinctly recognises without any mark of disapprobation, the relation of masters and servants, and St. Paul in his Epistles explicitly enjoins on the latter the duty of respect, obedience and fidelity. This argument has been triumphantly urged as presenting Divine authority for slavery. But pray tell me, are there no servants but slaves? Is there no such thing as the relation of master and servant unless where slavery exists? If so, tell Great Britain to blot the word from her vocabulary, that it has no meaning in the English language, and is exclusively of American origin and use.

Footnote 1:

This whole argument, in all its parts, was once urged with amazing zeal, on the floor of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church.

If I am not greatly mistaken in regard to the nature of this argument, I could prove, in the same way, that tyranny and despotism are approved of God; and that those who submit to such a kind of government, live in greater conformity to the Scriptures than the citizens of a republick.

In the same manner I think it can be shown that polygamy is approved by St. Paul, at least among the Gentiles. He expressly ordained that "a bishop or deacon must be the husband of one wife." 1 Tim. iii. 2, 12. Now the inference is fair, that all other men might have more than one. Private members of the church are not restricted in their inclinations in this respect, only the officers of the church are not indulged. I see no way to avoid this conclusion. How then shall we reconcile these apparent inconsistencies?

In my view, the solution is plain and easy. Upon the first introduction of the gospel into any pagan land, there always will be many evils existing, which are so completely wrought into the customs, interests and institutions of society, that it is impossible to correct them at once. Nay, if it were possible, the sudden revolution would instantly produce unspeakable misery. Take, for instance, the last mentioned case: Suppose, in a nation where polygamy is extensively practised, every man could be induced to repudiate all his wives but one; how many thousands of helpless women and children would be turned on the wide world, without the means of support, exposed to inevitable wretchedness and want! The sudden adoption of the true Christian principle, under these circumstances, would be productive of vastly greater misery than is now experienced from this horrid pagan practice; and the Christian religion would be execrated as a system of cruelty.

Thus it appears to be the genius of the gospel to tolerate an evil for a while, where the immediate and total abolition would be productive of greater miseries and crimes; while, at the same time, it requires the use of all prudent and effectual measures for its ultimate extirpation.

I humbly conceive that it is on this ground alone, that the Scriptures, in certain cases, allude to despotism, slavery and many other evils without a distinct expression of disapprobation. Had the evangelists and apostles explicitly denounced the tyranny of Rome, and declared that slavery was contrary to the law of nature, and the law of God, they would have been instantly slain, or driven, at the point of the sword, from every province of the Roman empire.

On this account every argument founded on such texts of Scripture in support of slavery, is of no more weight than the dust of the balance.

That slavery is an evil is generally acknowledged in those parts of our country where the least of it exists; and of course, where the most of its horrors are unknown. And there are undoubtedly many in the slave-holding states who deplore the evil, and would gladly remove it, if there was no obstacle in the way. But it is a matter of deep regret that there are thousands of our countrymen, claiming the style of republicans, who are the unblushing advocates of slavery. And what is worse than all, and what renders the extirpation of this evil the more hopeless, is, that when our northern citizens remove to the south, many of them become not only the owners of slaves, but in many instances, the warmest advocates of the principle of slavery. This amazing change in sentiment and feeling, I am unwilling to ascribe so much to what is often alleged, that they find the evils of slavery far less than they expected, and the subjects of it contented and happy; as to the fact, that familiarity with any vice blinds the human mind to its enormity. I doubt not that the most enthusiastick republican of our country, if he found it for his interest to reside under the most despotick government of Europe, would, after a number of years, return with the report, that the subjects of that country were much better contented, and vastly more happy than he had anticipated; and it would not be strange if his zeal for democracy, and hatred of monarchy were equally diminished. But this would never prove to me, that the subjects of a despotism are as happy as they would be, if they were placed in a situation, and prepared, to enjoy the blessings of a free government.

This association was formed, at the city of Washington, in the beginning of the year 1817; and is patronized by many of the most distinguished officers of the general government. The Chief Justice of the United States has been, from its first formation, the president of the Society. Its object is the transportation to Africa of the free people of colour, who are willing to go, and the establishment of them in a colony, or colonies, under all the advantages of civil and religious privileges. Though its incipient measures were attended with some adverse providences, yet it has progressed with as much success, and with as flattering prospects as could possibly have been anticipated. A district of fertile territory on the Western Coast of Africa has been purchased of the natives, and a flourishing colony planted there, under the direction and control of resident agents. Schools are organized, and the means of grace established among them. The plan has been countenanced, though not explicitly approved, by the government of our country; and it has been distinctly recommended by the supreme judicatories of several of the most numerous and respectable denominations of Christians to the patronage of their members, especially on this interesting occasion.

As this Society, since its organization, has met with considerable opposition, I feel it to be my duty to present a few considerations in support of its claims.

If the slaves of our country are ever to enjoy all the blessings of freedom, it must evidently be, in a state of total separation from the white population. Such are the present feelings of our citizens, and so firmly are they fixed in their breasts, that we need never expect to see the blacks amalgamated with the whites in all the social connexions of life. In what district of our country will the latter become willing to connect themselves with the former in the relations of the domestick circle? What legislature will be willing to admit the negro to equal privileges and powers with the white man, on the floor of the senate chamber? What University will hold forth the same advantages and honours to our own children and the descendants of Africans? But until all these things are realized, if they must live together in the same territory, the negro's mind will forever be depressed to the dust with a sense of conscious inferiority, and can never aspire to those elevated distinctions of which it is capable. And this is the grand reason of all that present dulness and stupidity, which are frequently adduced, as evidence that negroes are a race of beings but little elevated above the brutal creation. If therefore universal liberty should be proclaimed through our land, and the African race still be permitted to live in the midst of us, disfranchised by our feelings and customs, if not by our laws, of the rights of freemen, we have no reason to suppose that they would be essentially improved or benefited by their freedom. It is therefore most palpably manifest, that if our slaves are ever to enjoy all the blessings of liberty, they must not only be liberated from the chains of bondage, but at the same time, be placed in a situation in which they may aspire to all the advantages and distinctions of civilized life.

Footnote 2:

This is the immediate object of the Colonization Society. Nor is it a mere matter of doubtful experiment. A similar attempt has long since been made by the British nation, at Sierra Leone, and the result has fully proven to the world, that the minds of black men are as capable as the whites, when placed under equal circumstances of improvement. The same results are beginning to be realized in the infant colony planted by our own countrymen at Cape Mesurado. And nothing is wanting, but the patronage of our own citizens, to extend the same advantages to hundreds and thousands of the degraded and oppressed sons of Africa, who are still in our land.

In further confirmation of the same views, it may be observed, that in the slave-holding states there are many owners of slaves who would gladly emancipate them, but are expressly prohibited. It is impossible, therefore, for them to proclaim "liberty to the captives," unless they can transport them without the limits of the state. What then can such benevolent masters do with their slaves? To turn them out into our western wilds, would be to expose them to certain starvation; or if any survived, they would be hunted down as wild beasts, by a herd of brutal kidnappers, and carried back and sold to less merciful masters than they served before. To transport them to a foreign shore, if any individual were able to incur the expense, without any concert of action, would be to expose them to immediate death by barbarous hands. It is therefore impossible to afford those who are disposed, an opportunity to emancipate their slaves, without such a concert of action as shall protect the colony in its infantile state, till it shall acquire strength and ability to defend itself. Such is the object of the Colonization Society.

Footnote 3:

O my country! what atonement canst thou make for such bloody crimes? What fountain, but that which flows from Calvary, can wash away thy crimson stains? In vain wouldst thou offer "many thousands of rams, or ten thousands of rivers of oil. The blood of thy firstborn would not expiate thy transgression, nor the fruit of thy body, the sin of thy soul." Mic. vi. 7. "Though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God." Jer. ii. 22. I beseech thee, do not aggravate thy guilt, and provoke anew the wrath of heaven, by justifying thy deeds or pleading innocent of the charge. "For thy sin is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond; it is graven on the table of thy heart, and" if not "upon the horns of thy altars," it is inscribed in the archives of thy cabinet, and whilst thy children shall read the legacies of their fathers they shall remember and bear witness of thy crimes, to the latest posterity. Fly, O fly, in the first place, to the fountain of a Saviour's bleeding veins, and there be washed from all thy pollution: and then, as a testimony of thy gratitude, that much, very much is forgiven thee, summon all thy energies to repair the injuries thou hast done. "Proclaim liberty to thy captives; say to the prisoners, go forth; and to them that are in darkness, show yourselves." Isa. xlix. 9. Restore them to "the land of their fathers' sepulchres," and let them once more peacefully enjoy the inheritance of their ancestors. Wherever they may have been born, Africa is their home. Though transported to the most distant countries, and situated in the most temperate regions of the globe, and transmitted through a series of generations, they still retain in the constitution of their frames, and on the whole surface of their bodies, the title of heaven to those torrid climes. The God of nature has evidently determined, that they shall never be divested of their original inheritance. Though "the descendants of Cush can never change their skin," yet the time will come when their souls shall be made white in the blood of the Lamb; and then, in their own land, which God allotted to their progenitor, they shall stretch forth their hands to God, and under their own vine and fig-tree enjoy the fruit of their labours, without any to molest or make them afraid.

There is one consideration more, by which I would urge the claims of this subject. If the people of the United States cannot be extensively aroused to undertake the redress of African wrongs, from motives of humanity, and a sense of duty, the apprehension of personal danger may with propriety be awakened in their minds. God deals with nations, in this world, on a different principle from what he deals with individuals.--The wicked man is often permitted to prosper in his sins, and to die without pain; because the righteous retributions of justice await him in the eternal world.--But wicked nations exist, in their national capacity, only in this life. Therefore, if national sins are ever visited with the indignation of heaven, it must be in the present world. Hence, we may draw the conclusion, that if American slavery is offensive to God, the judgments of heaven are now impending over this guilty nation. And in what form they will descend, we need not the spirit of prophecy to prognosticate. In several of the slave-holding states, the black population is already nearly equal to the white; and the ratio of increase is so much in their favour, that, in the course of a few years, they will be far the most numerous. During the period of ten years intervening between the last United States' census and the preceding, the following was the ratio of increase in several states:

In Kentucky, the blacks increased 57 per cent, whites only 37 per cent. Tennessee, the blacks increased 80 per cent, whites only 57 per cent. Georgia, the blacks increased 40 per cent, whites only 30 per cent. North-Carolina, the blacks increased 22 per cent, whites only 11 per cent. South-Carolina, the blacks increased 26 per cent, whites only 8 per cent. And in Louisiana as early as 1810 there were 5 blacks to every four white men.

It is obvious, that, at this rate, in the course of a few years, those districts of our country will be covered with a black population; in comparison with which, the whites will appear as grasshoppers before them. Now I ask, in such a state of things, what can hinder the blacks from arising, and after avenging all their wrongs, by slaying their opposers, taking possession of those very lands as the reward of their own and their fathers' labours? Do you say, their minds are incapable of such an enterprize? Look at St. Domingo; what has been effected there by the African race, in as ignorant and degraded a state as is any where witnessed in our own country! And what will our blacks need, but a few resolute spirits to concentrate their efforts and direct their energies? And if the genius of negroes is so far debased in our own country, that nature cannot produce them here, they can easily be furnished from the kingdom of Hayti. Though that little empire is now at peace with us and the world, yet black men have always a peculiar sympathy for their own colour. Besides this, many of our own free blacks have already gone, and many more will still go to that island, to enjoy all the blessings of liberty, civilization and science; leaving many of their brothers and children and connexions in bondage among us.--And do you think that a black man's memory is so treacherous, or his heart so callous, that he can forget, or not feel for the wrongs of his own flesh and blood? Depend upon it, my hearers, on the shore of that sea-beaten isle, many a champion will stand, and while he looks to the north and rejoices in the privileges which he is permitted to enjoy, he will long to impart them to those he has left behind; and if nothing is done, on your part, to redress the wrongs of Africa, before you are aware, the alarm of war, the din of arms, and the rage of conflagration will have laid in ruins the fairest portions of our land.

Footnote 4:

Do I hear the inhabitants of the north say, "If such events should be realized, the desolation will not come nigh us; and we will not interfere to avenge the slaughter of slave-holders!" And are you then prepared to perjure yourselves? You have sworn to maintain the union of these states, at the price of your treasures and your lives; and are you now meditating treason and rebellion in your hearts? You have become a party to the guilt of slavery, and will you desert your friends when the contract on the part of heaven is to be fulfilled?

This is a concern in which every citizen of the country is interested; whether he is now or ever has been a slave-holder or not: and there is something for every one to do. The sympathies of every heart must be aroused; the patronage of every purse must be secured in favour of these incipient measures to remedy the evil; publick attention must not only be aroused by an occasional effusion, but be kept awake by frequent communications; the general government must be convinced that it is not enough to countenance, they must approve and aid this humane undertaking--that the fountain of guilt springs from the foundation of our Capitol, and that the principal remedy must be applied there; our state legislatures must be made to feel that they also have imbrued their hands in African blood, and that not a moment is to be lost in washing away the stain. Every motive that can interest the philanthropist, the patriot, the Christian and the Christian Missionary is presented in this subject, and he that can be insensible of its influence is unworthy to occupy a place in human society, unless in the capacity of "a servant of servants."

May the voice of timely warning arouse us, before the sword of sleepless justice smite our souls.

? Transcriber's Notes: ? Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected. ? Typographical errors were silently corrected. ? Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant form was found in this book. ? Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores .

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