Freedom's Day.
The Band of Hope in Chattanooga observed the first day of January in celebrating the anniversary of the proclamation of Emancipation. The exercises were held in one of our largest halls, and were well attended. They consisted of speaking and singing, and the reading of the Proclamation. The principal address was given by Rev. Mr. Hurley, of the A. M. E. Church, and contained some excellent thoughts upon the situation of things in the South. After a brief introduction, in which he spoke of the propriety of the colored people's observing this day as the white people had been accustomed to observe the Fourth of July, as independence day, he proceeded to name some of the benefits that had come to the whole country, white and black, North and South—for we are one, and what really benefits one section, benefits all—from the emancipation of the slaves.
1. His first point related to the honor of the American name. For almost a century poets have sung and orators boasted of the national honor. The declaration of independence, "that all men are born free and equal," has been flaunted abroad as the pennant of the nation, while millions of our people were being born, living and dying in the worst form of slavery the world has ever known. In all those long years the nation lived a stupendous lie. Never was the declaration of independence true until Abraham Lincoln made it so the first day of January, 1863. It is a great benefit to the nation to be true to its professions; to have this great blot wiped out.
2. By the emancipation of the slaves, 5,000,000 pairs of hands were added to the wealth and defences of the nation—no small gift. We read of a time when a nation shall be born at once. It has come. What if the ex-slave has had to be nursed! All babes are nursed. Is not the babe a blessing to the household? Even its very helplessness is a blessing, educating the finest sensibilities of humanity. If the babe born January 1st, 1863, is nurtured aright, God alone can measure the benefits to the nation.
3. By the emancipation of the slave, a system of education was introduced to the South that insures a lasting blessing upon the whole people. The intelligence of a large portion of the white population before the war was not above that of the slave. If the slave had not been made free, there is no reason to suppose the condition of these poor whites would have been changed. Now a glance over the broad territory of these States, where school-houses have sprung up like magic, shows the immense advantage that has come to white and black alike; and with the increase of intelligence will come increase of prosperity and happiness to the whole nation. With the emancipation of the slave, the common-school system has been forced upon the South, until now, having tasted of its sweetness, we hope it is never to be abolished.
4. Another benefit resulting from the emancipation of the slave is the moral elevation of the people. Ah! we know too well the vices that sheltered themselves under that most accursed of all traffics. The slave was but a chattel; his level was the ox; he was like any other beast of burden, and his morals were not above his position. Great complaint is now made of the moral condition of the colored man. But low as it may be, every intelligent observer can perceive a vast improvement over the condition before the war. The wonder is that one virtuous, or truthful, or honest person could come out of 250 years of moral degradation like that of American slavery. But these dark days are gone. Now there is incentive enough for us to rise. The opportunity is before us to show to the world that the vices of the past are due to our education, and not to the inherent nature of the black man. We have only to recover a lost manhood. We want faith in one another. We must believe in the possibilities that are before us as a people, and aid each other to reach them, and God will give us the victory.
In closing, the speaker referred to some mistakes the colored man has made. One was too much confidence in the white man. Confidence begets dependence. Dependence is not good for those who would rise in the world. We must learn to trust God and our own exertions. We have always been dependent, and it is not strange that we have leaned upon our friends in the early days of our freedom; but now it is time for us to begin to act and think for ourselves. There is a destiny before us which we must achieve. Let us arise and work. Another mistake is the scheme of emigrating to some other land. This is our home as much as it is the white man's. It is our native land. The country and people that have witnessed our degradation should also witness our exaltation. After years of servitude shall we turn our backs upon glorious privileges that are now within our reach? No, my friends, we shall make a grand mistake if we follow to any extent the wild scheme of defeated politicians, projected in this African exodus. Let us be content to wait until we have redeemed ourselves from the evils of 250 years of servitude by the improvement of the advantages that God has so graciously brought to our door, before we venture into that dark continent from which our fathers were torn, to be ground under the iron heel of the slave-master. Until then, Africa will be no better for us, and we will be no better for Africa. We must learn to respect ourselves before we can command the respect of others. May God hasten the day when the colored man shall recognize in his brother the character which he would have all men recognize in himself.
I do not give this as a verbatim report, but the thoughts as nearly as I can recall them from a few notes taken at the time. Coming from a colored man, they show the sentiment of the more intelligent leaders among them. The address fits so exactly into the line of our work that I cannot refrain from giving this brief report.
T. C.