The Colored Regulars in the United States Army

by T. G. Steward

As early as 1787 the free colored people of Philadelphia, through two distinguished representatives, Absalom Jones and Richard Allen, "two men of the African race," as the chroniclers say, "saw the irreligious and uncivilized state" of the "people of their complexion," and finally concluded "that a society should be formed without regard to religious tenets, provided the persons lived an orderly and sober life," the purpose of the society being "to support one another in sickness and for the benefit of their widows and fatherless children." Accordingly a society was established, known as the Free African Society of Philadelphia, and on the 17th, 5th-mo., 1787, articles were published, including the following, which is inserted to show the breadth of the society's purpose:

"And we apprehend it to be necessary that the children of our deceased members be under the care of the Society, so far as to pay for the education of their children, if they cannot attend free school; also to put them out apprentices to suitable trades or places, if required."[2]

Shortly after this we read of "the African School for the free instruction of the black people," and in 1796, "The Evening Free School, held at the African Methodist Meeting House in Philadelphia" was reported as being "kept very orderly, the scholars behaving in a becoming manner, and their improvement beyond the teachers' expectations, their intellects appearing in every branch of learning to be equal to those of the fairest complexion." The name African, as the reader will notice, is used with reference to school, church, and individuals; although not to the complete exclusion of "colored people" and "people of color." These phrases seem to have been coined in the West Indies, and were there applied only to persons of mixed European and African descent. In the United States they never obtained such restricted use except in a very few localities. The practice of using African as a descriptive title of the free colored people of the North became very extensive and so continued up to the middle of the century. There were African societies, churches and schools in all the prominent centres of this population.

In 1843 one, Mr. P. Loveridge, Agent for Colored Schools of New York, wrote the editor of the African Methodist Magazine as follows:[3] "As to the name of your periodical, act as we did with the name of our schools—away with Africa. There are no Africans in your connection. Substitute colored for African and it will be, in my opinion, as it should be." The earnestness of the writer shows that the matter of parting with African was then a live question. The cool reply of the editor indicates how strong was the conservative element among the African people of '43. He says: "We are unable to see the reasonableness of the remarks. It is true we are not Africans, or natives born upon the soil of Africa, yet, as the descendants of that race, how can we better manifest that respect due to our fathers who begat us, than by the adoption of the term in our institutions, and inscribing it upon our public places of resort?" To this Mr. Loveridge rejoins in the following explanatory paragraph: "We who are engaged in the Public Schools in this city found upon examination of about 1500 children who attend our schools from year to year, not one African child among them. A suggestion was made that we petition the Public School Society to change the name African to Colored Schools. The gentlemen of that honorable body, perceiving our petition to be a logical one, acquiesced with us. Hence the adjective African (which does not apply to us) was blotted out and Colored substituted in its place. It is 'Public Schools for Colored Children.' We are Americans and expect American sympathies."

In 1816 the colored Methodists conceived the idea of organizing and evangelizing their race, and to this end a convention was called and assembled in Philadelphia of that year, composed of sixteen delegates, coming from Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey. The convention adopted a resolution that the people of Philadelphia, Baltimore and all other places who should unite with them, should become one body under the name and style of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Similar action was taken by two other bodies of colored Methodists, one in New York, the other in Wilmington, Delaware, about the same time. The people were coming together and beginning to understand the value of organization. This was manifested in their religious, beneficial and educational associations that were springing up among them. In 1841 the African Methodist Magazine appeared, the first organ of religious communication and thought issued by the American colored people. It was published in Brooklyn, N.Y., Rev. George Hogarth being its editor.

There were papers published by the colored people prior to the appearance of the African Methodist Magazine, but these were individual enterprises. They were, however, indices of the thought of the race, and looking back upon them now, we may regard them as mile-stones set up along the line of march over which the people have come. New York, city and State, appears to have been the home of these early harbingers, and it was there that the earliest literary centre was established, corresponding to that centre of religious life and thought which had been earlier founded in Philadelphia. In 1827 the first newspaper published on this continent by colored men issued from its office in New York. It was called "Freedom's Journal," and had for its motto "Righteousness exalteth a nation." Its editors and proprietors were Messrs. Cornish & Russwurm. Its name was subsequently changed to the "Rights of All," Mr. Cornish probably retiring, and in 1830 it suspended, Mr. Russwurm going to Africa. Then followed "The Weekly Advocate," "The American," "The Colored American," "The Elevator," "The National Watchman," "The Clarion," "The Ram's Horn," "The North Star," "Frederick Douglass' Paper," and finally that crowning literary work of the race, "The Anglo-African."

"The Anglo-African" appeared in 1859, under the management of the strongest and most brilliant purely literary families the American Negro up to that time had produced. It was edited and published by Thomas Hamilton, and like all the important literary ventures of the race in those days, had its birth in New York. It came out in 1859 and continued through the war, and in 1865 went out of existence honorably, having its work well done. Its first volume, that of 1859, contains the ablest papers ever given to the public by the American Negro; and taken as a whole this volume is the proudest literary monument the race has as yet erected.

Reviewing the progress of the race in the North, we may say, the period of organized benevolence and united religious effort began before the close of the past century, Philadelphia being its place of origin; that the religious movement reached much broader and clearer standing about 1816, and in consequence there sprang up organizations comprehending the people of the whole country; that the religious movement advanced to a more intellectual stage when in 1841 the African Methodist Magazine appeared, since which time the organized religion of the American Negro has never been for any considerable time without its organs of communication. The journalistic period began in 1827, its centre being New York and the work of the journals almost wholly directed to two ends: the abolition of slavery, and the enfranchisement and political elevation of the free blacks. This work had reached its highest form in the Anglo-African, as that epoch of our national history came to its close in the slave-holders' war.

The titles of the newspapers indicate the opening and continuance of a period of anti-slavery agitation. Their columns were filled with arguments and appeals furnished by men who gave their whole souls to the work. It was a period of great mental activity on the part of the free colored people. They were discussing all probable methods of bettering their condition. It was the period that produced both writers and orators. In 1830 the first convention called by colored men to consider the general condition of the race and devise means to improve that condition, met in the city of Philadelphia. The history of this convention is so important that I append a full account of it as published in the Anglo-African nearly thirty years after the convention met. It was called through the efforts of Hezekiah Grice, of Baltimore, who afterwards emigrated to Hayti, and for many years followed there the occupation of carver and gilder and finally became Director of Public Works of the city of Port-au-Prince. While visiting that city years ago, I met a descendant of Mr. Grice, a lady of great personal beauty, charming manners, accomplished in the French language, but incapable of conversing at all in English.