After the sale the purchasers become vested with the absolute property of them, according to the laws, usages, and customs of the trade, and whatever hardships are thereby imposed on those foreigners, the planters are so far excusable, having the sanction of the supreme legislature for the purchase they make. The laws of England, from necessity or expediency, have permitted such labourers to be imported among them; and therefore, on their part, the purchase, however injurious, cannot be illegal. Having acquired this kind of property, it then lies with the colonists to frame laws and regulations for the future management of their slaves. In doing this, absolute obedience and non-resistance are fundamental principles established for the government of them, and enforced by the severest penalties. All laws framed with respect to them, give their masters such authority over them as is under few limitations. Their power of correction may be said to be only not allowed to extend to death. However severely beat and abused, no negro can bring an action against his owner, or appear as an evidence against white men, in any court of law or justice. Their natural rights as human creatures are entirely disregarded, and punishments are commonly inflicted according to the will of their master, however cruel and barbarous his disposition may be. A common place of correction is instituted, to which they are sent to receive such a number of stripes as their owners shall order, and such blunders have been committed in giving and executing those orders, that the innocent sometimes have suffered along with the guilty. In short, such is their miserable condition, that they are exposed defenceless to the insolence, caprice, and passions of owners, obliged to labour all their life without any prospect of reward, or any hope of an end of their toil until the day of their death. At the decease of their masters they descend, like other estates of inheritance, to the heir at law, and sometimes to thoughtless and giddy youth, habituated from their earliest days to treat them like brutes. At other times, no doubt, they are more fortunate, but their condition of life evidently subjects them to harsh usage even from the best of masters, and we leave the world to judge what they have to expect from the worst.
Indeed it must be acknowledged, in justice to the planters of Carolina in general, that they treat their slaves with as much, and perhaps more tenderness, than those of any British colony where slavery exists; yet a disinterested stranger must observe, even among the best of masters, several instances of cruelty and negligence in the manner of managing their slaves. Comparatively speaking, they are well clothed and fed in that province, which while they continue in health fits and qualifies them for their task. When they happen to fall sick, they are carefully attended by a physician; in which respect their condition is better than that of the poorest class of labourers in Europe. But in the West Indies, we have been told, they are both covered with rags and have a scanty portion of provisions allowed them, in which case urgent necessity and pinching hunger must often urge them to pilfer, and commit many injuries to which otherwise they would have no inclination, and for which they incur severe punishment. In cases of violence and murder committed on these wretched creatures, it is next to impossible to have the delinquents brought to punishment; for either the grand jury refuse to find the bill, or the petty jury bring in the verdict not guilty. When they are tempted to fly to the woods to shun severe labour or punishment then they may be hunted down or shot as wild beasts. When whipped to death, the murderer, after all, is only subjected to an inconsiderable fine, or a short imprisonment, by the provincial laws. It is impossible that the Author of nature ever intended human beings for such a wretched fate; for surely he who gave life, gave also an undoubted right to the means of self-preservation and happiness, and all the common rights and privileges of nature.
But there is another circumstance which renders their case still more wretched and deplorable. Good masters and mistresses, whose humanity and a sense of interest will not permit them to treat their negroes in a harsh manner, do not always reside at their plantations. Many planters have several settlements at considerable distances from the place where they usually live, which they visit perhaps only three or four times in a year. In their absence the charge of negroes is given to overseers, many of whom are ignorant and cruel, and all totally disinterested in the welfare of their charge. In such a case it can scarcely be expected that justice will be equally dispensed, or punishments properly inflicted. The negroes, however, ly entirely at the mercy of such men, and such monsters they sometimes are, as can inflict misery in sport, and hear the groans extorted from nature with laughter and triumph. All slaves under their care must yield absolute obedience to their orders, however unreasonable and difficult, or suffer punishment for their disobedience. It would rouze the anguish and indignation of a humane person to stand by while a puny overseer chastises those slaves, and behold with what piercing stripes he furrows the back of an able negro, whose greatness of soul will not suffer him to complain, and whose strength could crush his tormentor to atoms. The unmerciful whip with which they are chastised is made of cow-skin, hardened, twisted, and tapering, which brings the blood with every blow, and leaves a scar on their naked back which they carry with them to their grave. At the arbitrary will of such managers, many of them with hearts of adamant, this unfortunate race are brought to the post of correction, often no doubt through malice and wantonness, often for the most trifling offences, and sometimes, O horrid! when entirely innocent. Can it be deemed wonderful, that such unhappy creatures should now and then be tempted to assert the rights of nature? Must not such harsh usage often fire them with desires of liberty and vengeance? What can be expected but that they should sometimes give those oppressors grounds of fear, who have subjected them to such intolerable hardships.
But from those labourers in the field the colonials have perhaps less danger to dread, than from the number of tradesmen and mechanics in towns, and domestic slaves. Many negroes discover great capacities, and an amazing aptness for learning trades, where dangerous tools are used; and many owners, from motives of profit and advantage, breed them to be coopers, carpenters, bricklayers, smiths, and other trades. Out of mere ostentation the colonists also keep a number of them about their families, who attend their tables, and hear their conversation, which very often turns upon their own various arts, plots, and assassinations. From such open and imprudent conversation those domestics may no doubt take dangerous hints, which, on a fair opportunity, may be applied to their owners hurt. They have also easy access to fire arms, which gives them a double advantage for mischief. When they are of a passionate and revengeful disposition, such domestic slaves seldom want an opportunity of striking a sudden blow, and avenging themselves, in case of ill usage, by killing or poisoning their owners. Such crimes have often been committed in the colonies, and punished; and there is reason to believe they have also frequently happened, when they have passed undiscovered. Prudence and self-preservation strongly dictate to the Carolineans the necessity of guarding against those dangers which arise from domestic slaves, many of whom are idle, cunning and deceitful.
[Sidenote] Oppressed with ignorance and superstition.
In other respects the policy of the colonists, with respect to the management and treatment of slaves is extremely defective. The hardships to which their bodies are exposed, would be much more tolerable and justifiable, were any provision made for civilizing and improving their minds. But how grievous their circumstances when we consider, that, together with their bodily toil and misery, they are also kept in heathen ignorance and darkness, destitute of the means of instruction, and excluded in a manner from the pale of the Christian church. Humanity places every rational creature upon a level, and gives all an equal title those rights of nature, which are essential to life and happiness. Christianity breathes a spirit of benevolence, gentleness, and compassion for mankind in general, of what nation or complexion soever they be. As government has tolerated and established slavery in the plantations, the supreme charge of these creatures may be regarded rather as a national than a provincial concern. Being members of a great empire, living under its supreme care and jurisdiction, and contributing to the increase of trade and commerce, to the improvement and opulence of the British dominions, they are unquestionably entitled to a share of national benevolence and Christian charity. An institution for their religious instruction was an object of such usefulness and importance, that it merited the attention of the supreme legislature; and the expence of a few superb and perhaps empty churches in England, would certainly have been better employed in erecting some neat buildings in the plantations for this beneficial purpose. To such an institution the merchants of Britain, especially those who owe a great part of their opulence to the labours of Africans, and whose plea for the trade was the bringing them within the pale of the Christian church, ought certainly to have contributed in the most liberal manner. The profits of the trade, abstracting from other considerations, could well admit of it; but every principle of compassion for the ignorant, the poor, and the unfortunate, powerfully dictates the same duty, the neglect of which, to every impartial judge, must appear in a very inexcusable and criminal light. Masters of slaves under the French and Spanish jurisdictions, are obliged by law to allow them time for instruction, and to bring them up in the knowledge and practice of the Catholic religion. Is it not a reproach to the subjects of Britain, who profess to be the freest and most civilized people upon earth, that no provision is made for this purpose, and that they suffer so many thousands of these creatures, residing in the British dominions, to live and die the slaves of ignorance and superstition? How can they expect the blessing of heaven on the riches flowing from their foreign plantations, when they are at no pains to introduce those objects of their care to the knowledge of the true God, and to make them partakers of the benefits and hopes of Christianity.
The advantages of religion, like the other gifts of heaven, ought to be free and common as the air we breathe to every human creature, capable of making a proper use and improvement of them. To the honour of the society for the propagation of the Gospel it must indeed be acknowledged, that they have made some efforts for the conversion and instruction of those heathens. Not many years ago they had no less than twelve missionaries in Carolina, who had instructions to give all the assistance in their power for this laudable purpose, and to each of whom they allowed fifty pounds a-year, over and above their provincial salaries. But it is well known, that the fruit of their labours has been very small and inconsiderable. Such feeble exertions were no ways equal to the extent of the work required, nor to the greatness of the end proposed. Whether their small success ought to be ascribed to the rude and untractable dispositions of the negroes, to the discouragements and obstructions thrown in the way by their owners, or to the negligence and indolence of the missionaries themselves we cannot pretend to determine. Perhaps we may venture to assert, that it has been more or less owing to all these different causes. One thing is very certain, that the negroes of that country, a few only excepted, are to this day as great strangers to Christianity, and as much under the influence of Pagan darkness, idolatry and superstition, as they were at their first arrival from Africa.
But, though neglected by the British nation, they are entitled to a share of the common privileges of humanity and Christianity, from their provincial owners. It is their duty and interest to use slaves with tenderness and compassion, and render them as happy and contented as their situation will admit. Were they to allow them certain portions of time from their labours of body for the improvement of their mind, and open the way for, and provide the means of instruction, would not kind usage be productive of many beneficial effects? The loss of labour none but avaricious wretches would grudge, and the day of rest allotted for man and beast since the beginning of the world, and properly improved for that purpose, might of itself be attended with good consequences; whereas, to encourage them to labour on that day for themselves, is not only robbing them of the opportunities of instruction, but abusing the Sunday, by making it to them the most laborious day of the week. It would strike a stranger with astonishment and indignation, to hear the excuses planters make for this criminal neglect. Some will tell you they are beings of an inferior rank, and little exalted above brute creatures; that they have no souls, and therefore no concern need be taken about their salvation. Others affirm, that they would become more expert in vice by being taught, and greater knaves by being made Christians. But such advocates for heathen ignorance and barbarism merit no serious notice, being enemies to all improvements in human nature, and all the benefits resulting to society from civilization and Christianity. Certain it is, the inhabitants of Africa have the same faculties with those of Europe. Their minds are equally capable of cultivation, equally susceptible of the impressions of religion. Ridiculous is it to imagine, that the black tincture of their skin, or the barbarous state in which they were there found, can make any material alteration. Though fortune has put the former under the power of the latter, and assigned them the portion of perpetual labour to procure the mere luxuries of life for other men; yet, if such a traffic be reasonable and just, there is no crime negroes can commit that may not be defended and justified upon the same principles. If Europe, to obtain sugar, rum, rice, and tobacco, has a right to enslave Africa; surely Africa, if she had the power, has a much better right to rob Europe of those commodities, the fruits of her children's labour. Every argument that can be brought in support of the institution of slavery, tends to the subversion of justice and morality in the world. The best treatment possible from the colonists cannot compensate for so great a loss. Freedom, in its meanest circumstances, is infinitely preferable to slavery, though it were in golden fetters, and accompanied with the greatest splendour, ease, and abundance.
If then the greatest advantages are not a sufficient compensation for the loss of liberty, what shall we think of those who deny them the smallest? But one would imagine that, exclusive of every other motive, personal safety would even induce the colonists to provide for them those advantages which would render them as easy and contented as possible with their condition. Were they duly impressed with a sense of their duty to God and man; were they taught the common rules of honesty, justice, and truth; were their dispositions to humility, submission, and obedience, cultivated and improved; would not such advantages place them more on a level with hired servants, who pay a ready and cheerful obedience to their masters? Were they favoured with the privileges of Christianity, would they not be more faithful and diligent, and better reconciled to their servile condition? Besides, Christianity has a tendency to tame fierce and wild tempers. It is not an easy thing to display the great and extensive influence which the fear of God, and the expectation of a future account, would have upon their minds: Christianity enforces the obligations of morality, and produces a more regular and uniform obedience to its laws. A due sense of the divine presence, the hopes of his approbation, and the fears of his displeasure, are motives that operate powerfully with the human mind, and in fact would prove stronger barriers against trespasses, murders, plots, and conspiracies, than any number of stripes from the hands of men, or even the terrors of certain death. Whereas, to keep the minds of human creatures under clouds of darkness, neither disciplined by reason, nor regulated by religion, is a reproach to the name of Protestants, especially in a land of Christian light and liberty. Sundays and holidays are indeed allowed the negroes in Carolina, the former cannot consistent with the laws be denied them; the latter, as they are commonly spent are nuisances to the province. Holidays there are days of idleness, riot, wantonness and excess; in which the slaves assemble together in alarming crowds, for the purposes of dancing, feasting and merriment. At such seasons the inhabitants have the greatest reason to dread mischief from them; when let loose from their usual employments, they have fair opportunities of hatching plots and conspiracies, and of executing them with greater facility, from the intemperance of their owners and overseers.
After all, it must be confessed, that the freemen of Carolina themselves were for many years in a destitute condition with respect to religious instruction; partly owing to their own poverty and the unhealthiness of the climate, and partly owing to troubles and divisions subsisting among them during the proprietary government. At that time the first object of their concern would no doubt be to provide for themselves and their children: but since the province has been taken under the royal care, their circumstances in every respect have changed for the better, insomuch that they are not only able to provide instruction for themselves and families, but also to extend the benefit to those living in a state of servitude among them. Now they are arrived to such an easy and flourishing situation, as renders their neglect entirely without excuse. The instruction of negroes would no doubt be a difficult, but by no means an impracticable undertaking, and the more difficult the end, the more praise and merit would be due to those who should effectually accomplish it. Even the Catholics of Spain pitied the miserable condition of negroes living among the protestant colonies, and to induce them to revolt, proffered them the advantages of liberty and religion at Augustine. Is it not a shame to a Protestant nation to keep such a number of human creatures so long among them, beings of the same nature, subjects of the same government, who have souls to be saved, and capable of being eternally happy or miserable in a future world, not only in a miserable state of slavery, but also of pagan darkness and superstition. What could be expected from creatures thus doomed to endless labour, and deprived of the natural rights of humanity and the privileges of Christianity, but that they should snatch at the least glimmering hopes and prospects of a better state, and give their task-masters reason to dread, that they would lay hold of some opportunity of forcing their way to it. This inexcusable negligence with respect to them may be considered of itself as no small source of danger to the colonists, as the hazard is greater from savage and ferocious, than mild and civilized dispositions, and, as the restraints of terror and temporal punishments are less constant and powerful than those of conscience and religion. The political and commercial connection subsisting between the mother country and the colonies, makes the charge of negroes, in reason and justice, to fall equally upon both. And whatever other men may think, we are of opinion, that an institution for their instruction was an object of the highest consequence, and that, by all the laws of God and man, that nation which brought this unfortunate race into such a situation, was bound to consult both their temporal and eternal felicity.