FOOTNOTES
[1] The Knoxville Gazette, January 23, 1797.
[2] American Historical Review, V, 599.
[3] Indiana Historical Society Publication, Vol. 12, p. 236.
[4] Publication of Vanderbilt Southern Historical Society, No. 2, p. 11.
[5] “We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, having met for the purpose of taking into consideration the case of the people of color held in bondage in an highly favored land, are of opinion that their case calls aloud for the attention and sympathy of Columbia’s free born sons, and for their exertions in endeavoring, by means calculated to promote and preserve the good of government to procure for that oppressed part of the community that inestimable jewel, freedom, the distinguishing glory of our country; without which all other enjoyments of life must become insignificant.
“And while we highly esteem the incomparable Constitution of our country, for maintaining this great truth ‘That freedom is the natural right of all men, we desire that the feelings of our countrymen may be awakened, and they stimulated to use every lawful exertion in their power to advance that glorious day wherein all may enjoy their natural birthright.’ As we conceive this the way to ensure to our country the blessings of heaven, we think it expedient to form into a society, to be known by the name of the “Tennessee Society for Promoting the Manumission of Slaves” and adopt the following:
CONSTITUTION
Article I
Each member to have an advertisement in the most conspicuous part of his house, in the following words, viz.: Freedom is the natural right of all men; I therefore acknowledge myself a member of the Tennessee Society for Promoting the Manumission of Slaves.
Article II
That no member vote for governor, or any legislator, unless we believe him to be in favor of emancipation.
Article III
That we convene twelve times a year at Lost Creek meeting-house; the first on the 11th of the 3rd month next; which meeting shall proceed to appoint a president, clerk and treasurer, who shall continue in office for twelve months.
Article IV
The requisite qualifications of our members are true republican principle, patriotic, and in favor of emancipation; and that no immoral character be admitted into the society as a member.”—P. of V. S. H. S., No. 2, p. 12.
[6] The Friends were the moving spirit in the organization of these early societies.
[7] The Genius of Universal Emancipation, IV, 184.
[8] These societies were distributed as follows: 8 in Virginia; 11 in Maryland; 2 in Delaware; 2 in District of Columbia; 8 in Kentucky; 25 in Tennessee, and 50 in North Carolina. Poole, William Frederick, Anti-Slavery Opinion before 1800, p. 72.
[9] The Genius, October 13, 1827.
[10] P. of V. S. H. S., No. 2, p. 13.
[11] Article 2, Constitution of the Tennessee Manumission Society.
[12] Temple, O. P., East Tennessee and the Civil War, 109ff.
[13] Annals of Congress, 17th Congress, 1st Session, pp. 642 and 709; the 18th Congress, 1st Session, p. 931.
[14] The Genius, I, 142; Ibid., IV, 66.
[15] Ibid., I, 173-4.
[16] This is one of the most important documents in the history of slavery in Tennessee. The committee reported, “that they have had that subject (slavery) under examination, and on the first proposition contained in said petition, to-wit: allowing masters, convinced of the impropriety of holding the man of color in slavery, to emancipate such, on terms not involving masters or their estates, provided such slave offered for emancipation is in a situation to provide for him or herself, express it as their opinion that it is consistent with the rights of freemen, guaranteed by the Constitution, to have, and exercise the power of yielding obedience to the dictates of conscience and humanity.
“That in all cases where chance or fortune has given the citizen dominion over any part of the human race, no matter of what hue and whose reflection has taught him to consider an exercise of that dominion inhuman, unconstitutional, or against the religion of his country, ought to be permitted to remove that yoke without the trammels at present imposed by law.
“Your committee beg leave to state that, while they feel disposed to amend the law and guarantee the right, they wish it not to be perverted to the use of the unfeeling and avaricious, who, to rid themselves of the burden of supporting the aged slave whose life has been devoted to the service of such a master would seize the opportunity of casting such on the public for support.
“Your committee beg leave further to state that very few cases have occurred where slaves freed in the State of Tennessee have become a county charge.
“Your committee, therefore, recommend an amendment, granting the prayer of the petition, so far as respects the young healthy slave, not likely to become a county charge.
“On the second point, your committee are of opinion that it is worthy the consideration of the legislature, to examine into the policy of providing for the emancipation of those yet unborn.... Liberty to the slave has occupied the research of the moral and philosophical statesmen of our own and other countries; a research into this principle extends wide into the evil, whose root is perhaps dangerously entwined with the liberty of the only free governments. On a subject so interesting, it cannot be improper to inquire; therefore, as a question of policy, it is recommended to the sober consideration of the General Assembly.
“Your committee also advise a provision by law, if the same be practicable, to prevent, as far as possible, the separating husband and wife.”—The Genius, I, 71-2.
[17] The Genius, II, 24.
[18] This memorial was as follows:
“The Manumission Society of Tennessee wish to address you again on the important subject of slavery. In calling your attention to this subject, in which we feel a most serious concern, we wish to use that sincerity and candor which become friends travelling through a world of error and sin, in which they are to make preparation for eternity. We therefore beg you to pause a moment, and let us compare the principles of slavery, as it exists among us, with the holy religion we profess, and the divine precepts of our common Lord. What is our religion? Our Divine Master has told us, that the most prominent features were, to love the Lord our God, with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. And it is also written in His holy book, as a rule of duty, to honor all and to abound in love one to another. We are also there taught to consider the whole human race as one family, descended from the same original parent; and that God made of one blood all nations who dwell upon the earth. We are also taught, that as all mankind are equally free, for one man to deprive another of liberty and to keep him in that condition, is an enormous crime. And he that stealeth a man and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. Exodus, XXI, 16. The man stealer is enrolled by the apostle amongst the other notorious criminals. Tim., I, 10.
“Now let us ask what slavery is, as it stands between Africa, America, and the Supreme Judge of Nations. Is it not injustice, cruelty, robbery, and murder, reduced to a practical system? The dreadful answer is, that hosts of the disembodied spirits of unoffending Africans have taken their flight to eternity from the dark holds of American slave ships, and their last quivering groans have descended on high to call for vengeance on the murderous deed, that stained the earth and ocean with their blood. When we ask what slavery is, we are answered by the civil wars existing in Africa—by the thousands slain by the bands of their brethren—by the captive’s last look of anguish at his native shore—and by the blood and groans of the sufferers on the seas—by the sighs of men driven like herds of cattle to market—by the tears that furrow the woe-worn cheek of sorrow, as oppression moulders down the African’s system.” The Genius, IV, 73-4.
[19] The branches were: The Greene Branch, Maryville, Bethesda, Hickory Valley, Nolachucky, Washington, French Broad, Dumplin Creek, Jefferson Creek, Holston, Sullivan, Powell Valley, Knoxville, Colter’s Station, Turkey Creek, Chestoody. The Genius, IV, 204.
[20] The Genius, IV, 185.
[21] Ibid., VI, 160.
[22] Ibid., VII, 194.
[23] The Genius, VIII, 93.
[24] Minutes of American Convention for 1828, p. 27.
[25] The Genius, XI, 3.
[26] The Genius, I, 173.
[27] Tennessee History Magazine, I, 272.
[28] The Genius, IV, 69.
[29] Goodspeed, 802. Cf. The Genius, VI, 177, which gives the following trustees: George Flower, James Richardson, Frances Wright, Camilla Wright, and Richardson Whitbey.
[30] Goodspeed, 802. The trustees consisted of General Lafayette, William McClure, Robert Owen, Camille Wright, Cadwallader, D. Flanary, and James Richardson, who, together with their successors were to hold these lands in perpetual trust for the negro race, and were subject to the following limitations:
(1) A school for colored children was always to be maintained.
(2) All slaves emancipated from the society were to be sent out of the United States.
(3) The Trustees were never to let their number fall below five, three of whom should constitute a quorum.
(4) Coadjutors, with unanimous consent of trustees, might be appointed, if they had lived six months on the lands of Nashoba.
[31] Goodspeed, 803.
[32] The Genius, VI, 177.
[33] The Genius, V, 366.
[34] Goodspeed, 821.
[35] The Genius, IV, 77.
[36] Ibid., 76.
[37] Ibid., 77.
[38] The Genius, IV, 143.
[39] Ibid., 77.
[40] Goodspeed, 670.
[41] The following recommendations were made in substance:
1. That all the manumission societies in the United States proclaim it as the Christian American Jubilee.
2. That the different societies encourage the keeping of the day, as a Jubilee, by publishing essays, songs, etc., showing the utility thereof.
3. That those societies celebrate the Fourth of July, next, with preaching, prayer, and singing as a Christian Jubilee.
4. That those who are sensible of the evil of slavery, form themselves into Christian Manumission Societies, excluding slaveholders from their number.
5. That they send forth missionaries to preach the acceptable year of the Lord to slaveholders.
6. That all these societies establish a correspondence with each other through the Genius of Universal Emancipation. The Genius, IV, 143.
[42] Minutes of the American Convention for 1826, p. 48.
[43] Tennessee History Magazine, I, 276.
[44] Niles Register, XIV, 321.
[45] “We wish you, therefore, to know, that within our bounds the public sentiment appears clearly and decidedly in your favor, and that the more vigorously and perseveringly you combine and extend your exertions on the plan you have adopted, the more you are likely to be crowned with the approbation of the people as well as with the higher rewards of doing good. While, then the heralds of salvation go forth in the name and strength of their Divine Master, to preach the Gospel to every creature, we ardently wish that your exertions and the best influence of all philanthropists may be united, to ameliorate the condition of human society, and especially of its most degraded classes, till liberty, religion, and happiness shall be the enjoyment of the whole family of man.” Tenth Annual Report of American Colonization Society, 67-8.
[46] Fifth Annual Report of American Colonization Society, 119.
[47] Minutes of the American Convention for 1825, p. 18; Eighth Annual Report of American Society for Colonization of the Free People of Color, p. 39.
[48] Eighth Annual Report of American Society for Colonization of the Free People of Color, p. 29.
[49] The Genius, IV, 66.
[50] Ibid., 67.
[51] Tenth Annual Report of American Colonization Society of the Free People of Color, 1827, 61-2.
[52] Twelfth Annual Meeting of American Colonization Society, 1829, 65.
[53] African Repository, VI, 75.
[54] American Colonization Society Report, VI, 178.
[55] African Repository. VI, 75; Ibid., V, 378.
[56] American Colonization Society Report, VI, 178; Auxiliaries at Bolivar, Somerville, Memphis, Covington, Jackson, Paris, Clarksville, Columbia, Shelbyville, Winchester, Murfreesboro, Gallatin, Knoxville, Marysville, New Market, Jonesboro, and Kingsport.
[57] Tenth Annual Report for American Society for Colonizing the Free People of Color, 1829, p. 61.
[58] African Repository, VI, 76.
[59] African Repository, V, 378.
[60] Ibid., 379.
[61] Ibid., VI, 276.
[62] Ibid., VII, 145.
[63] Ibid., 313.
[64] Ibid., IX, 282; Niles Register, Vol. 45, p. 182.
[65] Acts of 1833, Ch. 64, Sec. 1.
[66] The Nashville Banner, October 15, 1833.
[67] Petitions to the Legislature, 1832-33. State Archives.
[68] African Repository, XXII, 39.
[69] Ibid., XXV, 28.
[70] Constitution of the Society, Art. 2; African Repository. XXIV, 272.
[71] African Repository, XXIV, 288.
[72] Acts of 1850, Ch. 130, Secs. 5 and 8.
[73] He quoted from “the celebrated Texas letter of Robt. J. Walker published in 1844,” which estimated “that according to the rate of increase from 1790 to 1840, there would be in the six states of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois alone, no less than 400,000 free blacks in 1853; 800,000 in 1865; and 1,600,000 in 1890. The number of free blacks in the slave states is even greater than in the free states.” This great number of free blacks will have a powerful moral influence for good or evil upon every interest in the country.
“I refrain from pursuing the subject further. I will not look to that dark but not distant future, when in some of the largest of the free states, this population shall have grown powerful in numbers, demanding the elective franchise, and when perhaps political parties, in the frenzy of their excitement shall bid for their influence and make them a power in the State. They may hold the balance of power in these larger States, and through them in the Union. With all their capacity for mischief, through the mistaken sympathy they are calculated to inspire for the slave of the South, it is impossible to estimate the amount of discord and of injury they must inevitably produce among the states.”
[74] Annual Report of American Colonization Society for 1852, 62-65.
[75] American Historical Magazine, IX, 275.
[76] “For, sir,” said he, “the day is not far distant, when, instead of scores of tons, there will be hundreds and thousands of tons, floating from the shores of Africa to every country upon the face of the habitable globe. Your report tells us that the agriculture of Liberia is already in a flourishing condition, and that manufactures, to some extent, are springing up in the country.” Annual Report of American Colonization Society for 1860, 28-9.
[77] Annual Report of the American Colonization Society for 1867, p. 56.
CHAPTER V
Religious and Social Aspects of Slavery
The Protestant churches in America approached the question of Christianizing the negro very cautiously. There were several reasons for this attitude.[1] It was generally believed that paganism was the basis of slavery, that a Christian slave was a paradox, that Christianizing the slave would destroy his humble qualities and lessen his economic value, that it would add an element in the cost of maintaining the institution, that an idea of equality prevailed in the slave’s attending church and participating in communion with the master, and that this idea would add to the difficulty of governing him. Of course, there was the social relation that came into the problem that was very obnoxious. It was unpleasant to commune with a freshly imported brother from Africa; even a Stowe, or a Garrison would likely have hesitated.
The church, being a human institution, could not disregard its environment. It worked its way out of all the complexities of the situation, its position varying somewhat as to section and as to sect. With the exception of the Friends, there was very little difference in the attitude of the Protestants toward slavery, until after the Revolution. They were, in general, anti-slavery in sentiment, were willing to baptize slaves and receive them into the church. The Friends in this early period were the only religious body in America that saw any inconsistency in Christians holding slaves.[2] There were a great many slave communicants in all the churches prior to the Revolution.[3]
The general background can be made a bit more specific for Tennessee by particular reference to the relation of the churches to slavery in Colonial North Carolina since this was the parent state of Tennessee. The Lord Proprietors in the Fundamental Constitution of 1663 declared that conversion did not free nor enfranchise the negro.[4] This provision was kept in the new constitution of 1698.[5] It is noticeable here that this was primarily a political question—a question of freedom and suffrage—a question of state, not of church. The state was declaring its right to state the effect of conversion on the slave. It is well to note this point in the beginning, because the splits and schisms in the various churches in the period immediately preceding the Civil War came up over this point. James Adams, a clergyman, of the Episcopal Church of North Carolina, declared in 1709 that the masters would “by no means permit (their slaves) to be baptized, having a false notion that a Christian slave is by law free.”[6]
This attitude of the slaveholders did not last long in North Carolina, because Rev. Marsden in 1735 speaks of baptizing at Cape Fear “about 1300 men, women, and children, besides some negro slaves.”[7] In 1742 a missionary speaks of baptizing nine negro slaves.[8] Through a series of missionary reports, it is noticeable that, as the idea becomes fixed, that baptism does not free the slaves nor give them the suffrage, the number of baptized blacks increases. In 1765, a report speaks of 40 blacks that were baptized[9]; another report, 46;[10] and a third, 51.[11] In 1771 a report states that 65 were taken into the church and in 1772 a Rev. Taylor states that in thirteen months he had baptized 174 whites and 168 blacks.
The attitude of the Protestant churches on slavery depended very largely on the strength of their organic connection with the South. All the churches that were strong in the South preserved a compromise policy so long as it was possible. The Congregational and Unitarian churches, being Northern only, could without friction readily become anti-slavery. The Episcopal church was primarily a Southern church and was made up of the slaveocracy of the South. It remained more indifferent toward slavery than any of the other churches.[12] It is my purpose now to make a study of the anti-slavery activities of these churches in Tennessee in the order of the effectiveness of their work.