Slavery in Maryland briefly considered

by John L. Carey

The latter number would be sufficient to make it a serious business. But in fact the matter relates to the whole number. For emancipation would make them all of one class as they are now of one race—would add the ninety thousand to the sixty thousand and upwards, constituting altogether a vast heterogeneous element in the social sphere which could not be assimilated, and which would be too great to remain unassimilated without great disorder.

No; the moment the interests of this race are disintegrated from those of the whites, the two will come into collision, and the weaker must be sacrificed. The only safety of the black is in the swallowing up of his personality—the merging of himself and his being, in the overpowering existence of the master race.

Why will not those who call themselves the friends of the black people think of this?

The ninety thousand slaves of Maryland have now protectors; these slaves constitute part and parcel of a great interest which their masters represent. Set them free, and where will they find protectors? They will not be able to protect themselves; for their freedom would give them no participation in the political franchise—nor would such participation avail them if it were given.

In the competition which arises now between slave labor and free white labor in our slaveholding counties, the latter is obliged to give way—because the slave and the master are of one interest, and that the predominant interest. The laboring white man removes; or, if he remains, he succumbs to the overpowering force, and, though conscious of the degradation, he submits to it.

But if the slave is separated from the master and left to stand alone, then is he not only deprived of the support which upheld him, but the very power which protected is now turned against him; the stamp of his race is upon him; he is isolated. Cut off from the sympathies of the whites, without any part or lot in the political life of the State, forming no part of the frame work of society, he is like a parasite plant torn from the stock to which it clung. The slaveholding interest is no more; where is the slave-protecting interest to spring up?

The competition between white labor and that of the blacks, Slavery being abolished, would now assume a new appearance. The negroes would have none to befriend them; every white laborer, actually or prospectively a voter, would bring with him into the competition the whole force of his connection with the social and political system. Apart from this, the value of white labor would be greater than that of negro labor, in almost any pursuit. The conflict of this competition might be dangerous to domestic peace; it might prove suddenly destructive to the race which sooner or later it would inevitably overwhelm.

The danger of disturbances of tranquillity would arise from the large mass of the black population amongst us. In the northern States the negroes are too few to come into competition with the whites; yet even in those States a hostile feeling is indulged towards them. Witness the outbreaks in Philadelphia and Cincinnati a few years ago. Here in Maryland the collision between the two classes of laborers would be more violent than any which has yet taken place elsewhere. The influx of foreign laborers, German and Irish, with their superior efficiency, would add continually to the force pressing upon the negroes. Recollect that the latter form nearly one-third of our population; and then consider the probable fate of that multitude of defenceless beings, aliens in the community, with an active enemy bent on rooting them out, no sympathies in their favor, no interest to support them, but with every prejudice of society turned against them.

Again, passing by these certain provocations of disturbance, the presence of so large a body of free negroes in the State would render necessary a series of restrictive laws. At this time our legislation is thought to be very severe towards the free colored people. It is painful to contemplate the extremes to which our police severities might be obliged to go in the event of an act of emancipation.

I have used the term “free negroes,” to distinguish the emancipated blacks from the slaves. But the distinction is scarcely worth a difference so far as servitude is concerned. The emancipated negro can not emerge from a servile condition; it is impossible that he should do so in this country, while the distinctions of race and color remain. If Slavery were abolished in Maryland, the negroes amongst us would be slaves to the social system, instead of slaves to individuals; the restrictions of the laws would be more hard than the control of a master.