Slavery

by James L. Baker

The diversities and repulsions of race which have been ordained, no doubt, for some wise purpose, are intended, perhaps, only for this state of existence. Another life may present a new order of things in which no such distinctions exist. Men have been created to differ from each other physically, morally, and intellectually, but still all are equal before the Creator of all, entitled to an equal share in his bounty, and to the enjoyments of life best suited to the genius and capacity of each. In another world the genius and capacity of all may be alike, all finding happiness in the society of all—and in a mutual pursuit of the same objects, whether of knowledge or of taste, of study or of worship.

It is much to be hoped that this subject will ere long be treated in a very different manner from what it has been for the last fifteen or twenty years. It is simply a question of races, and all the violent and bitter harangues that have been uttered have advanced not one step towards ameliorating the condition of the slave, or solving the problem of negro slavery in this country. Such harangues have only served to stir up strife and jealousy, to set one portion of the people against another portion, array in opposition members of the same family, and finally, when acting upon such fiery spirits and undisciplined minds as that of John Brown, to bring us to the brink of civil and servile war.

In offering the above suggestions, it may be proper to say, that I have done so with entire respect for the personal character and motives of many of those who have been prominent in promoting and bringing upon us the present state of things. I have the best reason to know that some of them have acted from a high sense of duty, and such no doubt is the case with those colored men to whom I have referred. I yield to no one in my regard and sympathy for the colored man, wherever he may be found, and would therefore see him placed in a true position, not in a false and impossible one.

Those who have been so long agitating this subject, however honestly, may still have done so under a mistaken sense of duty, and the time has now come when the subject should be viewed in every aspect and in all its relations, so that, if possible, we can know the ground whereon we stand. No attempt, however humble, to throw light on a subject of such momentous importance should be discouraged, and I cannot therefore feel that any apology is due from me for laying before the community some considerations which may present the subject, to many, in a somewhat new light. If it is true that the two races can never co-exist, in a state of freedom, it is a truth of the utmost importance, and should, therefore, be fully known and understood by all.[2] If that proposition is not true, its fallacy can no doubt be shown, or at any rate demonstrated by the lapse of time. In my judgment, time has, thus far, proved and confirmed it. The reader will judge from his own experience and observation, and the evidence here presented, how far my conclusion is a just and reasonable one.

When we consider that the slave is supported from birth until he can labor, and from the time when he can no longer work until he dies, and also that at best his services are not worth more than one-third as much as those of free labor, it is very easy to see that he is the best paid laborer in the world, as it is certainly true that a more happy and contented laboring population is not to be found among civilized or uncivilized nations. With rare exceptions, the relation of master and slave in our Southern States is a very happy one, at least to the slave. Kindness and indulgence are the rule, while cruelty and harsh treatment are the exception. Our Northern patience would no doubt soon be exhausted, were we compelled to deal with and provide for a similar class of laborers.

At the same time, the slave is subject to occasional hardships. This is the fate of all, under whatever social system they may live. In some form or other, all men are called on to pay for the privileges they enjoy, nor could it be expected that the slave would be an exception to this general rule. If the marriage bond could be legalized and rendered more sacred, and families not allowed to be separated by sale, many cases of hardship would be prevented. This is a matter for the serious consideration of the slaveholder, if he would manifest to the world a desire to place the dependent race in the best possible condition, consistent with its safety.

Of the possibility of such reforms, they are the best judges, however, who have the burden upon them, and are best acquainted with the wants and capacities of the African race. It is easy for those at a distance to give advice, in regard to a social system, the practical working of which they are quite ignorant of, but those who are born and bred under such system can only know the difficulties that lie in the way of reform, especially when those difficulties are aggravated by interference from abroad.

Slavery may finally come to an end in the United States, by the operation of natural causes, such as the rapid increase and constant encroachment of free labor, and the fact that slave labor is so expensive and tends so greatly to the impoverishing of the soil. As Slavery dies out, the colored race will disappear from the scene forever. It is not for us, I think, to hasten that time by revolution and servile insurrection, to put torches and pikes into the hands of such a population to be used against the whites, in re-enacting all the horrors of a St. Domingo massacre, and at the same time sealing its own fate as suddenly and as rapidly as the dew disappears before the rising sun.

Public sentiment has undergone a marked change in England, on the subject of Slavery, within the last few years. The Anti-Slavery sentiment, like an epidemic, swept over the whole length and breadth of Great Britain, and in its course swept away Slavery in the British West Indies. The natural and inevitable re-action has already taken place in England, and happy will it be for us if it comes in this country before it is too late. That such a re-action is already taking place in the United States, hastened by the foray of John Brown, there is great reason to believe.