Martin R. Delany - The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States

M >> Martin R. Delany >> The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States

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In 1442, fifty years previous to the sailing of Columbus in search of a
new world, Anthony Gonzales, Portuguese, took from the gold coast of
Guinea, ten Africans and a quantity of gold dust, which he carried back
to Lisbon with him. These Africans were set immediately to work in the
gardens of the emperor, which so pleased his queen, that the number were
much augmented, all of whom were found to be skillful and industrious in
agriculture.

In 1481, eleven years prior to the discovery by Columbus, the Portuguese
built a fort on the Gold Coast, and there commenced mining in search of
gold. During this time until the year 1502, a period of ten years, had
there been no other evidence, there was sufficient time and opportunity,
to give full practical demonstrations of the capacity of this people to
endure toil, especially in the mining operations, and for this cause and
this alone, were they selected in preference to any other race of men,
to do the labor of the New World. They had proven themselves physically
superior either to the European or American races--in fact, superior
physically to any living race of men--enduring fatigue, hunger and
thirst--enduring change of climate, habits, manners and customs, with
infinitely far less injury to their physical and mental system, than any
other people on the face of God's earth.

The following extract shows, that even up to the year 1676, the
Indians were enslaved--but that little value were attached to them
as laborers, as the price at which they were disposed and sold to
purchasers, fully shows:

SLAVERY IN PROVIDENCE, R.I.--Immediately after the struggle between
the natives and some of the New England settlers, known as "King
Philip's war," it became necessary to dispose of certain Indian
captives then in Providence. The method adopted was common in that
day, but to us remarkable, as also the names of those who figured
prominently therein. Only think of ROGER WILLIAMS sharing in the
proceeds of a slave sale. The following is from the "Annals of
Providence."

"A town meeting was held before Thomas Field's house, under a tree,
by the water side, on the 14th of August, 1676. A committee was
appointed to determine in what manner the Indians should be
disposed of. They reported as follows:

"Inhabitants wanting, can have Indians at the price they sell at
the Island of Rhode Island or elsewhere. All under five, to serve
till thirty; above five and under ten, till twenty-eight; above ten
to fifteen, till twenty-seven; above fifteen to twenty, till
twenty-six; from twenty to thirty, shall serve eight years; all
above thirty, seven years.

"We whose names are underwritten, being chosen by the town to see
the disposal of the Indians now in town, we agree that Roger
Williams, N. Waterman, T. Fenner, H. Ashton, J. Morey, D. Abbot, J.
Olney, V. Whitman, J. Whipple, sen., E. Pray, J. Pray, J. Angell,
Jas. Angell, T. Arnold, A. Man, T. Field, E. Bennett, T. Clemence,
W. Lancaster, W. Hopkins, W. Hawkins, W. Harris, Z. Field, S.
Winsor, and Capt. Fenner, shall each have a whole share in the
product. I. Woodward and R. Pray, three-fourths of a share each. J.
Smith, E. Smith, S. Whipple, N. Whipple, and T. Walling each half a
share."

Signed, "Roger Williams, Thomas Harris, sen., Thomas X Angell,
Thomas Field, John Whipple, Jr."

To gratify curiosity as to the price of Indians on those terms, the
following extracts are made from an account of sales about this
time;

"To Anthony Low, five Indians, great and small, L8.

"To James Rogers, two, for twenty bushels of Indian corn.

"To Philip Smith, two, in silver, $4 10.

"To Daniel Allen, one, in silver, $2 10.

"To C. Carr, one, twelve bushels of Indian corn.

"To Elisha Smith, one, in wool, 100 lbs.

"To Elisha Smith, one, for three fat sheep."

From 1492, the discovery of Hispaniola, to 1502, the short space of but
four years, such was the mortality among the natives, that the Spaniards
then holding rule there, "began to employ a few" Africans in the mines
of the Island. The experiment was effective--a successful one. The
Indian and African were enslaved together, when the Indian sunk, and the
African stood. It was not until June the 24th of the year 1498, that the
Continent was discovered by John Cabot, a Venetian, who sailed in August
of the previous year 1497, from Bristol, under the patronage of Henry
VII., King of England, with two vessels, "freighted by the merchants of
London and Bristol, with articles of traffic," his son Sebastian, and
300 men. In 1517, but the short period of thirteen years from the date
of their first introduction, Carolus V., King of Spain, by the right of
a patent, granted permission to a number of persons, annually, to supply
to the Islands of Hispaniola, (St. Domingo,) Cuba, Jamaica, and Porto
Rico, natives of Africa, to the number of four thousand annually. John
Hawkins, an unprincipled Englishman--whose name should be branded with
infamy--was the first person known to have engaged in so inhuman a
traffic, and that living monster his mistress, Queen Elizabeth, engaged
with him and shared in the profits.

The natives of Africa, on their introduction into a foreign country,
soon discovered the loss of their accustomed food, and mode and manner
of living. The Aborigines subsisted mainly by game and fish, with a few
patches of maize or Indian corn near their wigwams, which were generally
attended by the women, while the men were absent. The grains and
fruits, such as they had been accustomed to, were not to be had among
the Aborigines of the country, and this first induced the African to
cultivate patches of ground in the neighborhood of the mines, for the
raising of food for his own sustenance. This trait in their character
was observed, and regarded by the Spaniards with considerable interest;
and when on contracting with the English slave-dealer, Captain Hawkins,
and others for new supplies of slaves, they were careful to request them
to secure a quantity of the seeds and different products of the country,
to bring with them to the New World. Many of these were cultivated to
some extent, while those indigenous to America, were cultivated by them
with considerable success. And up to this day, it is a custom on many of
the slave plantations of the South, to allow the slave his "patch," and
Saturday afternoon or Sabbath day, to cultivate it.

Shortly after the commencement of the shameful traffic in the blood and
bones of men--the destiny and chastity of women by Captain Hawkins, and
what was termed England's "Virgin Queen"; Elizabeth gave a license to
Sir Walter Raleigh, to search for uninhabited lands, and seize upon all
uninhabited by Christians. Sir Walter discovered the coast of North
Carolina and Virginia, assigning the name of "Virginia" to the whole
coast now composing the old state. A feeble colony was settled here,
which did not avail, and it was not until the month of April, 1607, that
the first permanent settlement was made in Virginia, under the patronage
of letters patent from James I, King of England, to Thomas Gates and his
associates.

This was the first settling of North America, and thirteen years
anterior to the landing of the Pilgrims.

"No permanent settlement was effected in what is now called the United
States, till the reign of James the First."--_Ramsay's Hist. U.S._, vol.
I., p. 38.

"The month of April, 1607, is the epoch of the first permanent
settlement on the coast of Virginia; the name then given to all that
extent of country which forms thirteen States."--_Ibid._, p. 39. The
whole coast of the country was now explored, not for the purpose of
trade and agriculture--because there were no products in the
country--the natives not producing sufficient provisions to supply
present wants, and, consequently, nothing to trade for; but like the
speculations of their Spanish and Portuguese predecessors, on the
islands and in South America, but for that of mining gold. Trade and the
cultivation of the soil was foreign to their designs and intention on
coming to the continent of the new world, and they were consequently,
disappointed when failing of success. "At a time when the precious
metals were conceived to be the peculiar and only valuable productions
of the new world, when every mountain was supposed to contain a
treasure, and every rivulet was searched for its golden sands, this
appearance was fondly considered as an infallible indication of the
mine. Every hand was eager to dig."...

"There was now," says Smith, "no talk, no hope, no work; but dig gold,
wash gold, refine gold. With this imaginary wealth, the first vessel
returning to England was loaded, while the _culture of the land_, and
every useful occupation was _totally neglected_."...

The colonists, thus left, were in miserable circumstances for want of
provisions. The remainder of what they had brought with them, was so
small in quantity, as to be soon expended--and so damaged in the course
of a long voyage, as to be a source of disease.... In their expectation
of getting gold, the people were disappointed, the glittering substance
they had sent to England, proving to be a valueless mineral. "Smith, on
his return to Jamestown, found the colony reduced to thirty-eight
persons, who, in despair, were preparing to abandon the country. He
employed caresses, threats, and even violence, in order to prevent them
from executing this fatal resolution." _Ibid._, pp. 45-46. In November,
1620, the Pilgrims or Puritans made the harbor of Cape Cod, and after
solemn vows and organization previous to setting foot on shore, they
landed safely on "Plymouth Rock," December the 20th, about one month
after. They were one hundred and one in number, and from the toils and
hardships consequent to a severe season, in a strange country, in less
than six months after their arrival, "forty-four persons, nearly
one-half of their original number," had died.

... "In 1618, in the reign of James I, the British government
established a regular trade on the coast of Africa. In the year 1620,
negro slaves began to be imported into Virginia: a Dutch ship bringing
twenty of them for sale."--_Sampson's Hist. Dict._, p. 348. The Dutch
ship landed her cargo at New Bedford, (now Massachusetts,) as it will be
remembered, that the whole coast, now comprising the "Old Thirteen," and
original United States, was then called Virginia, so named by Sir Walter
Raleigh, in honor of his royal Mistress and patron, Elizabeth, the
Virgin Queen, under whom he received his royal patent commission of
adventure and expedition.

Beginning their preparation in the slave-trade in 1618, just two years
previous, giving time for successfully carrying out the project against
the landing of the first emigrant settlers, it will be observed that the
African captain, and the "Puritan" emigrants, landed upon the same
section of the continent at the same time, 1620--the Pilgrims at
Plymouth, and the captives at New Bedford, but a few miles
comparatively south.

The country at this period, was one vast wilderness. "The continent of
North America was then one continued forest."... There were no horses,
cattle, sheep, hogs, or tame beasts of any kind.... There were no
domestic poultry.... There were no gardens, orchards, public roads,
meadows, or cultivated fields.... They "often burned the woods that they
could advantageously plant their corn."... They had neither spice, salt,
bread, butter, cheese, nor milk.... They had no set meals, but eat when
they were hungry, and could find any thing to satisfy the cravings of
nature.... Very little of their food was derived from the earth, except
what it spontaneously produced.... The ground was both their seat and
table.... Their best bed was a skin.... They had neither steel, iron,
nor any metallic instruments....--_Ramsay's Hist._, pp. 39-40.

We adduce not these historical extracts to disparage our brother the
Indian--far be it: whatever he may think of our race, according to the
manner in which he has been instructed to look upon it, by our mutual
oppressor the American nation; we admire his, for the many deeds of
noble daring, for which the short history of his liberty-loving people
are replete: we sympathise with them, because our brethren are the
successors of their fathers in the degradation of American bondage--but
we adduce them in evidence against the many aspersions charged against
the African race, that their inferiority to the other races caused them
to be reduced to servitude. For the purpose of proving that their
superiority, and not inferiority, alone was the cause which first
suggested to Europeans the substitution of Africans for that of
aboriginal or Indian laborers in the mines; and that their superior
skill and industry, first suggested to the colonists, the propriety of
turning their attention to agricultural and other industrial pursuits,
than that of mining.

It is very evident, from what has been adduced, the settlement of
Captain John Smith, being in the course of a few months, reduced to
thirty-eight, and that of Plymouth, from one hundred and one, to that of
fifty-seven in six months--it is evident, that the whites nor the
Indians were equal to the hard and almost insurmountable difficulties,
that now stood wide-spread before them.

An endless forest, the impenetrable earth; the one to be removed, and
the other to be excavated. Towns and cities to be built, and farms to be
cultivated--all these presented difficulties too arduous for the
European then here, and unknown to the Indian.

It is very evident, that at a period such as this, when the natives
themselves had fallen victims to tasks imposed upon them by their
usurpers, and the Europeans were sinking beneath the weight of climate
and hardships; when food could not be had nor the common conveniences of
life procured--when arduous duties of life were to be performed and none
capable of doing them, but those who had previously by their labors, not
only in their native country, but in the new, so proven themselves--as
the most natural consequence, the Africans were resorted to, for the
performance of every duty common to domestic life.

There were no laborers known to the colonists from Cape Cod to Cape Look
Out, than those of the African race. They entered at once into the
mines, extracting therefrom, the rich treasures that for a thousand ages
lay hidden in the earth. And from their knowledge of cultivation, the
farming interests in the North, and planting in the South, were
commenced with a prospect never dreamed of before the introduction of
this most extraordinary, hardy race of men: though pagans, yet skilled
in all the useful duties of life. Farmers, herdsmen, and laborers in
their own country, they required not to be taught to work, and how to do
it--but it was only necessary to tell them to go to work, and they at
once knew what to do, and how it should be done.

It is notorious, that in the planting States, the blacks themselves are
the only skillful cultivators--the proprietor knowing little or nothing
about the art, save that which he learns from the African husbandman,
while his ignorant white overseer, who is merely there to see that the
work is attended to, knows a great deal less. Tobacco, cotton, rice,
hemp, indigo, the improvement in Indian corn, and many other important
products, are all the result of African skill and labor in this country.
And the introduction of the zigzag, or "Virginia Worm Fence," is purely
of African origin. Nor was their skill as herdsmen inferior to their
other attainments, being among the most accomplished trainers and
horsemen in the world. Indeed, to this class of men may be indebted the
entire country for the improvement South in the breed of horses. And any
one who has travelled South, could not fail to have observed, that all
of the leading trainers, jockies, and judges of horses, as well as
riders, are men of African descent.

In speaking of the Bornouese, a people from among whom a great many
natives have been enslaved by Arabian traders, and sold into foreign
bondage, and of course many into this country, "It is said that Bornou
can muster 15,000 Shonaas in the field mounted. They are the greatest
breeders of cattle in the country, and annually supply Soudan with from
two to three thousand horses."... "Our road lying along one of them,
gave me an excellent view of beautiful villages all round, and herds of
cattle grazing in the open country."... "Plantations of cotton or indigo
now occupy the place where the houses formerly stood."... "The Souga
market is well supplied with every necessary and luxury in request among
the people of the interior." "The country still open and well
cultivated, and the villages numerous. We met crowds of people coming
from Karro with goods. Some carried them on their heads, others had
asses or bullocks, according to their wealth."... "The country still
highly cultivated."... "We also passed several walled towns, quite
deserted, the inhabitants having been sold by their conquerors, the
Felatohs." "Women sat spinning cotton by the road side, offering for
sale to the passing caravans, gussub water, roast-meat, sweet potatoes,
coshen nuts," &c. (_Dunham and Clapperton's Travels and Discoveries in
North and Central Africa_, vol. 2, pp. 140, 230, 332, 333, 353.)

The forests gave way before them, and extensive verdant fields, richly
clothed with produce, rose up as by magic before these hardy sons of
toil. In the place of the unskillful and ill-constructed wigwam, houses,
villages, towns and cities quickly were reared up in their stead. Being
farmers, mechanics, laborers and traders in their own country, they
required little or no instruction in these various pursuits. They were
in fact, then, to the whole continent, what they are in truth now to the
whole Southern section of the Union--the bone and sinews of the country.
And even now, the existence of the white man, South, depends entirely on
the labor of the black man--the idleness of the one, is sustained by the
industry of the other. Public roads and highways are the result of their
labor, as are also the first public works, as wharves, docks, forts, and
all such improvements. Are not these legitimate investments in the
common stock of the nation, which should command a proportionate
interest?

We shall next proceed to review the contributions of colored men to
other departments of the nation, and as among the most notorious and
historical, we refer to colored American warriors.

VIII

COLORED AMERICAN WARRIORS

Among the highest claims that an inhabitant has upon his country, is
that of serving in its cause, and assisting to fight its battles. There
is no responsibility attended with more personal hazard, and
consequently, none for which the country owes a greater debt of
gratitude. _Amor patria_, or love of country, is the first requisition
and highest attribute of every citizen; and he who voluntarily ventures
his own safety for that of his country, is a patriot of the purest
character.

When the country's attention is arrested--her fears aroused--her peace
disturbed, and her independence endangered--when in the dread and
momentous hour, the tap of the drum, the roll of the reveille, the
shrill sound of the bugler's trumpet, or the thunders of the cannon's
roar, summons the warrior on to the pending conflict--upon whom then do
the citizens place their dependence, and in whom the country her trust?
Upon him who braves the consequences, and fights his country's battles
for his country's sake. Upon whom does the country look, as the most
eligible of her favored sons? Upon none more so than he, who shoulders
his musket, girds on his sword, and faces the enemy on to the charge.
The hero and the warrior, have long been estimated, the favorite sons of
a favored people.

In the Convention for the formation of the national compact, when the
question arose on the priority of citizen's rights, an honorable
member--Mr. Jefferson, if we mistake not--arose and stated, that for the
purpose of henceforward settling a question of such moment to the
American people, that nativity of birth, and the descendants of all who
had borne arms in their country's struggle for liberty, should be always
entitled to all the rights and privileges to which an American citizen
could be eligible. This at once, enfranchised the native citizen, and
the posterity of all those at the time, who may have been so fortunate
as to have been born on the American continent. The question was at once
settled, as regards American citizenship. And if we establish our right
of equal claims to citizenship with other American people, we shall have
done all that is desirable in this view of our position in the country.
But if in addition to this, we shall be able to prove, that colored men,
not only took part in the great scene of the first act for independence,
but that they were the actors--a colored man was really the hero in the
great drama, and actually the first victim in the revolutionary
tragedy--then indeed, shall we have more than succeeded, and have reared
a monument of fame to the history of our deeds, more lasting than the
pile that stands on Bunker Hill.

For a concise historical arrangement of colored men, who braved the
dangers of the battlefield, we are much indebted to William C. Nell,
Esq., formerly of Boston, now of Rochester, N.Y., for a pamphlet,
published by him during the last year, which should be read by every
American the country through.

For ten years previous, a dissatisfaction had prevailed among the
colonists, against the mother country, in consequence of the excessive
draughts of supplies, and taxation, made upon them, for the support of
the wars carried on in Europe. The aspect began to change, the light
grew dim, the sky darkened, the clouds gathered lower and lower, the
lightning glimmered through the black elements around--the storm
advanced, until on the fifth of March, 1773, it broke out in terrible
blasts, drenching the virgin soil of America, with the blood of her own
native sons--Crispus Attuck, a colored man, was the first who headed,
the first who commanded, the first who charged, who struck the first
blow, and the first whose blood was spilt, and baptized the colony, as a
peace-offering on the altar of American liberty. "The people were
greatly exasperated. The multitude, armed with clubs, ran towards King
street, crying, 'Let us drive out the ribalds; they have no business
here!' The rioters rushed furiously towards the Custom House; they
approached the sentinel crying, 'Kill him, kill him!' They assaulted him
with snowballs, pieces of ice, and whatever they could lay their hands
upon. They encountered a band of the populace led by a mulatto named
Attucks, who brandished their clubs and pelted them with snow-balls. The
maledictions, the imprecations, the execrations of the multitudes were
horrible. In the midst of a torrent of invectives from every quarter,
the military were challenged to fire. The populace advanced to the
points of the bayonets; the soldiers appeared like statues; the cries,
the howlings, the menaces, the violent din of bells still sounding the
alarm, increased the confusion and the horrors of these moments: at
length the mulatto and twelve of his companions, pressing forward
environed the soldiers, and striking their muskets with their clubs
cried to the multitude: 'Be not afraid, they dare not fire; why do you
hesitate, why do you not kill them, why not crush them at once?' The
mulatto lifted his arm against Captain Preston, having turned one of the
muskets, he seized the bayonet with his left hand, as if he intended to
execute his threat. At this moment confused cries were heard: 'The
wretches dare not fire!' Firing succeeds. Attucks is slain. Two other
discharges follow. Three were killed, five severely wounded, and several
others slightly." Attucks was killed by Montgomery, one of Captain
Preston's soldiers. He had been foremost in resisting, and was first
slain; as proof of front and close engagement, received two balls, one
in each breast." "John Adams, counsel for the soldier, admitted that
Attucks appeared to have undertaken to be the hero of the night, and to
lead the army with banners. John Hancock, in 1774, invokes the injured
shades of Maverick, Gray, Caldwell, _Attucks_ and Carr." _Nell's Wars_,
1776 and 1812, pp. 5, 6.--RHODE ISLAND also contributes largely to the
capital stock of citizenship. "In Rhode Island, the blacks formed an
entire regiment, and they discharged their duty with zeal and fidelity.
The gallant defence of Red Bank, in which the black regiment bore a
part, is among the proofs of their valor." In this contest it will be
recollected, that four hundred men met and repulsed, after a terrible
sanguinary struggle, fifteen hundred Hessian troops, headed by count
Donop." _Ibid._, p. 10. CONNECTICUT next claims to be heard and given
credit on the nation's books. In speaking of the patriots who bore the
standard of their country's glory, Judge Goddard, who held the office of
commissioner of pensions for nineteen colored soldiers, says, "I cannot
refrain from mentioning one aged black man, Primus Babcock, who proudly
presented to me an honorable discharge from service during the war,
dated at the close of it, wholly in the hand-writing of GEORGE
WASHINGTON. Nor can I forget the expression of his feelings, when
informed that, after his discharge had been sent to the department, that
it could not be returned. At his request it was written for, as he
seemed to spurn the pension and reclaim the discharge." It is related of
Babcock, that when the British in a successful charge took a number of
the Americans prisoners, they were ordered to deliver up their arms by
the British officer of the detachment, which demand was readily conceded
to by all the prisoners except Babcock, who looking at the officer
sternly--at the margin of a mud pond foot of Bunker Hill--turned his
musket bayonet downwards, thrusting it into the mire up to the armpit,
drawing out his muddy arm, turned to the British officer, and said, "Now
dirty your silk glove, and take it--you red coat!" The officer raised
his sword as if to cut him down for the impertinence, then replied, "You
are too brave a soldier to be killed, you black devil!" A few years
since, a musket evidently a relic of the Revolution, was found near the
same spot in the singular position of that thrust down by Babcock, no
doubt being the same, which was deposited among the relics in the
archives at Washington. Babcock died but a few years ago, aged we
believe 101 years.

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