The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America Part 34

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~1718, Feb. 22. Pennsylvania: Duty Act.~

"An Act for continuing a duty on Negroes brought into this province."

Carey and Bioren, _Laws_, I. 118.

~1719, March 20. South Carolina: 10 Duty Act.~

"An Act for laying an Imposition on Negroes, Liquors, and other Goods and Merchandizes, imported, and exported out of this Province, for the raising of a Fund of Money towards the defraying the Publick Charges and Expences of this Government; as also to Repeal several Duty Acts, and Clauses and Paragraphs of Acts, as is herein mentioned." This repeals former duty acts (e.g. that of 1714), and lays a duty of 10 on African slaves, and 30 on American slaves. Cooper, _Statutes_, III. 56.

~1721, Sept. 21. South Carolina: 10 Duty Act.~

"An Act for granting to His Majesty a Duty and Imposition on Negroes, Liquors, and other Goods and Merchandize, imported into and exported out of this Province." This was a continuation of the Act of 1719. _Ibid._, III. 159.

~1722, Feb. 23. South Carolina: 10 Duty Act.~

"An Act for Granting to His Majesty a Duty and Imposition on Negroes, Liquors, and other Goods and Merchandizes, for the use of the Publick of this Province."

-- 1. " ... on all negro slaves imported from Africa directly, or any other place whatsoever, Spanish negroes excepted, if above ten years of age, ten pounds; on all negroes under ten years of age, (sucking children excepted) five pounds," etc.

-- 3. "And whereas, it has proved to the detriment of some of the inhabitants of this Province, who have purchased negroes imported here from the Colonies of America, that they were either transported thence by the Courts of justice, or sent off by private persons for their ill behaviour and misdemeanours, to prevent which for the future,

"_Be it enacted_ by the authority aforesaid, That all negroes imported in this Province from any part of America, after the ratification of this Act, above ten years of age, shall pay unto the Publick Receiver as a duty, the sum of fifty pounds, and all such negroes under the age of ten years, (sucking children excepted) the sum of five pounds of like current money, unless the owner or agent shall produce a testimonial under the hand and seal of any Notary Publick of the Colonies or plantations from whence such negroes came last, before whom it was proved upon oath, that the same are new negroes, and have not been six months on sh.o.a.r in any part of America," etc.

-- 4. "And whereas, the importation of Spanish Indians, mustees, negroes, and mulattoes, may be of dangerous consequence by inticing the slaves belonging to the inhabitants of this Province to desert with them to the Spanish settlements near us,

"_Be it therefore enacted_ That all such Spanish negroes, Indians, mustees, or mulattoes, so imported into this Province, shall pay unto the Publick Receiver, for the use of this Province, a duty of one hundred and fifty pounds, current money of this Province."

-- 19. Rebate of three-fourths of the duty allowed in case of re-exportation in six months.

-- 31. Act of 1721 repealed.

-- 36. This act to continue in force for three years, and thence to the end of the next session of the General a.s.sembly, and no longer. Cooper, _Statutes_, III. 193.

~1722, May 12. Pennsylvania: Duty Act.~

"An Act for laying a duty on Negroes imported into this province." Carey and Bioren, _Laws_, I. 165.

~1723, May. Virginia: Duty Act.~

"An Act for laying a Duty on Liquors and Slaves." t.i.tle only; repealed by proclamation Oct. 27, 1724. Hening, _Statutes_, IV. 118.

~1723, June 18. Rhode Island: Back Duties Collected.~

Resolve appointing the attorney-general to collect back duties on Negroes. _Colonial Records_, IV. 330.

~1726, March 5. Pennsylvania: 10 Duty Act.~

"An Act for the better regulating of Negroes in this province." Carey and Bioren, _Laws_, I. 214; Bettle, _Notices of Negro Slavery_, in _Penn. Hist. Soc. Mem._ (1864), I. 388.

~1726, March 5. Pennsylvania: Duty Act.~

"An Act for laying a duty on Negroes imported into this province." Carey and Bioren, _Laws_, I. 213.

~1727, February. Virginia: Prohibitive Duty Act (?).~

"An Act for laying a Duty on Slaves imported; and for appointing a Treasurer." t.i.tle only found; the duty was probably prohibitive; it was enacted with a suspending clause, and was not a.s.sented to by the king.

Hening, _Statutes_, IV. 182.

~1728, Aug. 31. New York: 2 and 4 Duty Act.~

"An Act to repeal some Parts and to continue and enforce other Parts of the Act therein mentioned, and for granting several Duties to His Majesty, for supporting His Government in the Colony of New York" from Sept. 1, 1728, to Sept. 1, 1733. Same duty continued by Act of 1732.

_Laws of New York, 1691-1773_, pp. 148, 171; _Doc. rel. Col. Hist. New York_, VI. 32, 33, 34, 37, 38.

~1728, Sept. 14. Ma.s.sachusetts: Act of 1705 Strengthened.~

"An Act more effectually to secure the Duty on the Importation of Negroes." For seven years; substantially the same law re-enacted Jan.

26, 1738, for ten years. _Ma.s.s. Province Laws, 1728-9_, ch. 16; _1738-9_, ch. 27.

~1729, May 10. Pennsylvania: 40s. Duty Act.~

"An Act for laying a Duty on Negroes imported into this Province." _Laws of Pennsylvania_ (ed. 1742), p. 354, ch. 287.

~1732, May. Rhode Island: Repeal of Act of 1712.~

"Whereas, there was an act made and pa.s.sed by the General a.s.sembly, at their session, held at Newport, the 27th day of February, 1711 [O.S., N.S. = 1712], ent.i.tled 'An Act for laying a duty on negro slaves that shall be imported into this colony,' and this a.s.sembly being directed by His Majesty's instructions to repeal the same;--

"Therefore, be it enacted by the General a.s.sembly ... that the said act ... be, and it is hereby repealed, made null and void, and of none effect for the future." If this is the act mentioned under Act of 1708, the t.i.tle is wrongly cited; if not, the act is lost. _Colonial Records_, IV. 471.

~1732, May. Virginia: Five per cent Duty Act.~

"An Act for laying a Duty upon Slaves, to be paid by the Buyers." For four years; continued and slightly amended by Acts of 1734, 1736, 1738, 1742, and 1745; revived February, 1752, and continued by Acts of November, 1753, February, 1759, November, 1766, and 1769; revived (or continued?) by Act of February, 1772, until 1778. Hening, _Statutes_, IV. 317, 394, 469; V. 28, 160, 318; VI. 217, 353; VII. 281; VIII. 190, 336, 530.

~1734, November. New York: Duty Act.~

The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America Part 33

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Bettle, _Notices of Negro Slavery_, in _Penn. Hist. Soc. Mem._ (1864), I. 386.

~1712, June 7. Pennsylvania: Prohibitive (?) Duty Act.~

"A supplementary Act to an act, ent.i.tuled, An impost act, laying a duty on Negroes, rum," etc. Disallowed by Great Britain, 1713. Carey and Bioren, _Laws_, I. 87, 88. Cf. _Colonial Records_ (1852), II. 553.

~1712, June 7. Pennsylvania: Prohibitive Duty Act.~

"An act to prevent the Importation of Negroes and Indians into this Province."

"Whereas Divers Plots and Insurrections have frequently happened, not only in the Islands, but on the Main Land of _America_, by Negroes, which have been carried on so far that several of the Inhabitants have been thereby barbarously Murthered, an instance whereof we have lately had in our neighboring Colony of _New York_. And whereas the Importation of Indian Slaves hath given our Neighboring _Indians_ in this Province some umbrage of Suspicion and Dis-satisfaction. For Prevention of all which for the future,

"_Be it Enacted_ ..., That from and after the Publication of this Act, upon the Importation of any Negro or Indian, by Land or Water, into this Province, there shall be paid by the Importer, Owner or Possessor thereof, the sum of _Twenty Pounds per head_, for every Negro or Indian so imported or brought in (except Negroes directly brought in from the _West India Islands_ before the first Day of the Month called _August_ next) unto the proper Officer herein after named, or that shall be appointed according to the Directions of this Act to receive the same,"

etc. Disallowed by Great Britain, 1713. _Laws of Pennsylvania, collected_, etc. (ed. 1714), p. 165; _Colonial Records_ (1852), II. 553; Burge, _Commentaries_, I. 737, note; _Penn. Archives_, I. 162.

~1713, March 11. New Jersey: 10 Duty Act.~

"An Act for laying a Duty on Negro, Indian and Mulatto Slaves, imported and brought into this Province."

"_Be it Enacted_ ..., That every Person or Persons that shall hereafter Import or bring in, or cause to be imported or brought into this Province, any Negro Indian or Mulatto Slave or Slaves, every such Person or Persons so importing or bringing in, or causing to be imported or brought in, such Slave or Slaves, shall enter with one of the Collectors of her Majestie's Customs of this Province, every such Slave or Slaves, within Twenty Four Hours after such Slave or Slaves is so Imported, and pay the Sum of _Ten Pounds_ Money as appointed by her Majesty's Proclamation, for each Slave so imported, or give sufficient Security that the said Sum of _Ten Pounds_, Money aforesaid, shall be well and truly paid within three Months after such Slave or Slaves are so imported, to the Collector or his Deputy of the District into which such Slave or Slaves shall be imported, for the use of her Majesty, her Heirs and Successors, toward the Support of the Government of this Province." For seven years; violations incur forfeiture and sale of slaves at auction; slaves brought from elsewhere than Africa to pay 10, etc. _Laws and Acts of New Jersey, 1703-1717_ (ed. 1717), p. 43; _N.J.

Archives_, 1st Series, XIII. 516, 517, 520, 522, 523, 527, 532, 541.

~1713, March 26. Great Britain and Spain: The a.s.siento.~

"The a.s.siento, or Contract for allowing to the Subjects of Great Britain the Liberty of importing Negroes into the Spanish America. Signed by the Catholick King at Madrid, the 26th Day of March, 1713."

Art. I. "First then to procure, by this means, a mutual and reciprocal advantage to the sovereigns and subjects of both crowns, her British majesty does offer and undertake for the persons, whom she shall name and appoint, That they shall oblige and charge themselves with the bringing into the West-Indies of America, belonging to his catholick majesty, in the s.p.a.ce of the said 30 years, to commence on the 1st day of May, 1713, and determine on the like day, which will be in the year 1743, _viz._ 144000 negroes, _Piezas de India_, of both s.e.xes, and of all ages, at the rate of 4800 negroes, _Piezas de India_, in each of the said 30 years, with this condition, That the persons who shall go to the West-Indies to take care of the concerns of the a.s.siento, shall avoid giving any offence, for in such case they shall be prosecuted and punished in the same manner, as they would have been in Spain, if the like misdemeanors had been committed there."

Art. II. a.s.sientists to pay a duty of 33 pieces of eight (_Escudos_) for each Negro, which should include all duties.

Art. III. a.s.sientists to advance to his Catholic Majesty 200,000 pieces of eight, which should be returned at the end of the first twenty years, etc. John Almon, _Treaties of Peace, Alliance, and Commerce, between Great-Britain and other Powers_ (London, 1772), I. 83-107.

~1713, July 13. Great Britain and Spain: Treaty of Utrecht.~

"Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the most serene and most potent princess Anne, by the grace of G.o.d, Queen of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. and the most serene and most potent Prince Philip V the Catholick King of Spain, concluded at Utrecht, the 2/13 Day of July, 1713."

Art. XII. "The Catholick King doth furthermore hereby give and grant to her Britannick majesty, and to the company of her subjects appointed for that purpose, as well the subjects of Spain, as all others, being excluded, the contract for introducing negroes into several parts of the dominions of his Catholick Majesty in America, commonly called _el Pacto de el a.s.siento de Negros_, for the s.p.a.ce of thirty years successively, beginning from the first day of the month of May, in the year 1713, with the same conditions on which the French enjoyed it, or at any time might or ought to enjoy the same, together with a tract or tracts of Land to be allotted by the said Catholick King, and to be granted to the company aforesaid, commonly called _la Compania de el a.s.siento_, in some convenient place on the river of Plata, (no duties or revenues being payable by the said company on that account, during the time of the abovementioned contract, and no longer) and this settlement of the said society, or those tracts of land, shall be proper and sufficient for planting, and sowing, and for feeding cattle for the subsistence of those who are in the service of the said company, and of their negroes; and that the said negroes may be there kept in safety till they are sold; and moreover, that the ships belonging to the said company may come close to land, and be secure from any danger. But it shall always be lawful for the Catholick King, to appoint an officer in the said place or settlement, who may take care that nothing be done or practised contrary to his royal interests. And all who manage the affairs of the said company there, or belong to it, shall be subject to the inspection of the aforesaid officer, as to all matters relating to the tracts of land abovementioned. But if any doubts, difficulties, or controversies, should arise between the said officer and the managers for the said company, they shall be referred to the determination of the governor of Buenos Ayres. The Catholick King has been likewise pleased to grant to the said company, several other extraordinary advantages, which are more fully and amply explained in the contract of the a.s.siento, which was made and concluded at Madrid, the 26th day of the month of March, of this present year 1713. Which contract, or _a.s.siento de Negros_, and all the clauses, conditions, privileges and immunities contained therein, and which are not contrary to this article, are and shall be deemed, and taken to be, part of this treaty, in the same manner as if they had been here inserted word for word." John Almon, _Treaties of Peace, Alliance, and Commerce, between Great-Britain and other Powers_, I. 168-80.

~1714, Feb. 18. South Carolina: Duty on American Slaves.~

"An Act for laying an additional duty on all Negro Slaves imported into this Province from any part of America." t.i.tle quoted in Act of 1719, --30, _q.v._

~1714, Dec. 18. South Carolina: Prohibitive Duty.~

"An additional Act to an Act ent.i.tled 'An Act for the better Ordering and Governing Negroes and all other Slaves.'"

--9 "And _whereas_, the number of negroes do extremely increase in this Province, and through the afflicting providence of G.o.d, the white persons do not proportionally multiply, by reason whereof, the safety of the said Province is greatly endangered; for the prevention of which for the future,

"_Be it further enacted_ by the authority aforesaid, That all negro slaves from twelve years old and upwards, imported into this part of this Province from any part of Africa, shall pay such additional duties as is hereafter named, that is to say:--that every merchant or other person whatsoever, who shall, six months after the ratification of this Act, import any negro slaves as aforesaid, shall, for every such slave, pay unto the public receiver for the time being, (within thirty days after such importation,) the sum of two pounds current money of this Province." Cooper, _Statutes_, VII. 365.

~1715, Feb. 18. South Carolina: Duty on American Negroes.~

"_An additional Act_ to an act ent.i.tled _an act for raising the sum of 2000, of and from the estates real and personal of the inhabitants of this Province, ratified in open a.s.sembly the 18th day of December, 1714_; and for laying an additional duty on all Negroe slaves imported into this Province from any part of America." t.i.tle only given. Grimke, _Public Laws_, p. xvi, No. 362.

~1715, May 28. Pennsylvania: 5 Duty Act.~

"An Act for laying a Duty on _Negroes_ imported into this province."

Disallowed by Great Britain, 1719. _Acts and Laws of Pennsylvania, 1715_, p. 270; _Colonial Records_ (1852), III. 75-6; Chalmers, _Opinions_, II. 118.

~1715, June 3. Maryland: 20s. Duty Act.~

"An Act laying an Imposition on Negroes ...; and also on Irish Servants, to prevent the importing too great a Number of Irish Papists into this Province." Supplemented April 23, 1735, and July 25, 1754. _Compleat Collection of the Laws of Maryland_ (ed. 1727), p. 157; Bacon, _Laws_, 1715, ch. x.x.xvi. --8; 1735, ch. vi. ----1-3; _Acts of a.s.sembly, 1754_, p.

10.

~1716, June 30. South Carolina: 3 Duty Act.~

"An Act for laying an Imposition on Liquors, Goods and Merchandizes, Imported into and Exported out of this Province, for the raising of a Fund of Money towards the defraying the publick charges and expences of the Government." A duty of 3 was laid on African slaves, and 30 on American slaves. Cooper, _Statutes_, II. 649.

~1716. New York: 5 oz. and 10 oz. plate Duty Act.~

"An Act to Oblige all Vessels Trading into this Colony (except such as are therein excepted) to pay a certain Duty; and for the further Explanation and rendring more Effectual certain Clauses in an Act of General a.s.sembly of this Colony, Int.i.tuled, An Act by which a Duty is laid on Negroes, and other Slaves, imported into this Colony." The act referred to is not to be found. _Acts of a.s.sembly, 1691-1718_, p. 224.

~1717, June 8. Maryland: Additional 20s. Duty Act.~

"An Act for laying an Additional Duty of Twenty Shillings Current Money per Poll on all Irish Servants, ... also, the Additional Duty of Twenty Shillings Current Money per Poll on all Negroes, for raising a Fund for the Use of Publick Schools," etc. Continued by Act of 1728. _Compleat Collection of the Laws of Maryland_ (ed. 1727), p. 191; Bacon, _Laws_, 1728, ch. viii.

~1717, Dec. 11. South Carolina: Prohibitive Duty.~

"A further additional Act to an Act ent.i.tled An Act for the better ordering and governing of Negroes and all other Slaves; and to an additional Act to an Act ent.i.tled An Act for the better ordering and governing of Negroes and all other Slaves."

-- 3. "And _whereas_, the great importation of negroes to this Province, in proportion to the white inhabitants of the same, whereby the future safety of this Province will be greatly endangered; for the prevention whereof,

"_Be it enacted_ by the authority aforesaid, That all negro slaves of any age or condition whatsoever, imported or otherwise brought into this Province, from any part of the world, shall pay such additional duties as is hereafter named, that is to say:--that every merchant or other person whatsoever, who shall, eighteen months after the ratification of this Act, import any negro slave as aforesaid, shall, for every such slave, pay unto the public receiver for the time being, at the time of each importation, over and above all the duties already charged on negroes, by any law in force in this Province, the additional sum of forty pounds current money of this Province," etc.

-- 4. This section on duties to be in force for four years after ratification, and thence to the end of the next session of the General a.s.sembly. Cooper, _Statutes_, VII. 368.

The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America Part 32

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"An Act for the laying an Imposition upon Negroes, Slaves, and White Persons imported into this Province." Re-enacted in 1696, and included in Acts of 1699 and 1704. Bacon, _Laws_, 1695, ch. ix.; 1696, ch. vii.; 1699, ch. xxiii.; 1704, ch. ix.

~1696. Pennsylvania: Protest of Friends.~

"That Friends be careful not to encourage the bringing in of any more negroes." Bettle, _Notices of Negro Slavery_, in _Penn. Hist. Soc. Mem._ (1864), I. 383.

~1698, Oct. 8. South Carolina: White Servants Encouraged.~

"An Act for the Encouragement of the Importation of White Servants."

"Whereas, the great number of negroes which of late have been imported into this Collony may endanger the safety thereof if speedy care be not taken and encouragement given for the importation of white servants."

-- 1. 13 are to be given to any ship master for every male white servant (Irish excepted), between sixteen and forty years, whom he shall bring into Ashley river; and 12 for boys between twelve and sixteen years.

Every servant must have at least four years to serve, and every boy seven years.

-- 3. Planters are to take servants in proportion of one to every six male Negroes above sixteen years.

-- 5. Servants are to be distributed by lot.

-- 8. This act to continue three years. Cooper, _Statutes_, II. 153.

~1699, April. Virginia: 20s. Duty Act.~

"An act for laying an imposition upon servants and slaves imported into this country, towards building the Capitoll." For three years; continued in August, 1701, and April, 1704. Hening, _Statutes_, III. 193, 212, 225.

~1703, May 6. South Carolina: Duty Act.~

"An Act for the laying an Imposition on Furrs, Skinns, Liquors and other Goods and Merchandize, Imported into and Exported out of this part of this Province, for the raising of a Fund of Money towards defraying the publick charges and expenses of this Province, and paying the debts due for the Expedition against St. Augustine." 10_s._ on Africans and 20_s._ on others. Cooper, _Statutes_, II. 201.

~1704, October. Maryland: 20s. Duty Act.~

"An Act imposing Three Pence per Gallon on Rum and Wine, Brandy and Spirits; and Twenty Shillings per Poll for Negroes; for raising a Supply to defray the Public Charge of this Province; and Twenty Shillings per Poll on Irish Servants, to prevent the importing too great a Number of Irish Papists into this Province." Revived in 1708 and 1712. Bacon, _Laws_, 1704, ch. x.x.xiii.; 1708, ch. xvi.; 1712, ch. xxii.

~1705, Jan. 12. Pennsylvania: 10s. Duty Act. ~

"An Act for Raising a Supply of Two pence half penny per Pound & ten shillings per Head. Also for Granting an Impost & laying on Sundry Liquors & negroes Imported into this Province for the Support of Governmt., & defraying the necessary Publick Charges in the Administration thereof." _Colonial Records_ (1852), II. 232, No. 50.

~1705, October. Virginia: 6d. Tax on Imported Slaves.~

"An act for raising a publick revenue for the better support of the Government," etc. Similar tax by Act of October, 1710. Hening, _Statutes_, III. 344, 490.

~1705, October. Virginia: 20s. Duty Act.~

"An act for laying an Imposition upon Liquors and Slaves." For two years; re-enacted in October, 1710, for three years, and in October, 1712. _Ibid._, III. 229, 482; IV. 30.

~1705, Dec. 5. Ma.s.sachusetts: 4 Duty Act.~

"An act for the Better Preventing of a Spurious and Mixt Issue," etc.

-- 6. On and after May 1, 1706, every master importing Negroes shall enter his number, name, and s.e.x in the impost office, and insert them in the bill of lading; he shall pay to the commissioner and receiver of the impost 4 per head for every such Negro. Both master and ship are to be security for the payment of the same.

-- 7. If the master neglect to enter the slaves, he shall forfeit 8 for each Negro, one-half to go to the informer and one-half to the government.

-- 8. If any Negro imported shall, within twelve months, be exported and sold in any other plantation, and a receipt from the collector there be shown, a drawback of the whole duty will be allowed. Like drawback will be allowed a purchaser, if any Negro sold die within six weeks after importation. _Ma.s.s. Province Laws, 1705-6_, ch. 10.

~1708, February. Rhode Island: 3 Duty Act.~

No t.i.tle or text found. Slightly amended by Act of April, 1708; strengthened by Acts of February, 1712, and July 5, 1715; proceeds disposed of by Acts of July, 1715, October, 1717, and June, 1729.

_Colonial Records_, IV. 34, 131-5, 138, 143, 191-3, 225, 423-4.

~1709, Sept. 24. New York: 3 Duty Act.~

"An Act for Laying a Duty on the Tonnage of Vessels and Slaves." A duty of 3 was laid on slaves not imported directly from their native country. Continued by Act of Oct. 30, 1710. _Acts of a.s.sembly, 1691-1718_, pp. 97, 125, 134; Laws of New York, 1691-1773, p. 83.

~1710, Dec. 28. Pennsylvania: 40s. Duty Act.~

"An impost Act, laying a duty on Negroes, wine, rum and other spirits, cyder and vessels." Repealed by order in Council Feb. 20, 1713. Carey and Bioren, _Laws_, I. 82; Bettle, _Notices of Negro Slavery_, in _Penn.

Hist. Soc. Mem._ (1864), I. 415.

~1710. Virginia: 5 Duty Act.~

"Intended to discourage the importation" of slaves. t.i.tle and text not found. Disallowed (?). _Governor Spotswood to the Lords of Trade_, in _Va. Hist. Soc. Coll._, New Series, I. 52.

~1711, July-Aug. New York: Act of 1709 Strengthened.~

"An Act for the more effectual putting in Execution an Act of General a.s.sembly, Int.i.tuled, An Act for Laying a Duty on the Tonnage of Vessels and Slaves." _Acts of a.s.sembly, 1691-1718_, p. 134.

~1711, December. New York: Bill to Increase Duty.~

Bill for laying a further duty on slaves. Pa.s.sed a.s.sembly; lost in Council. _Doc. rel. Col. Hist. New York_, V. 293.

~1711. Pennsylvania: Testimony of Quakers.~

" ... the Yearly Meeting of Philadelphia, on a representation from the Quarterly Meeting of Chester, that the buying and encouraging the importation of negroes was still practised by some of the members of the society, again repeated and enforced the observance of the advice issued in 1696, and further directed all merchants and factors to write to their correspondents and discourage their sending any more negroes."

The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America Part 31

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93. ~The Moral Movement.~ For the solution of this problem there were, roughly speaking, three cla.s.ses of efforts made during this time,--moral, political, and economic: that is to say, efforts which sought directly to raise the moral standard of the nation; efforts which sought to stop the trade by legal enactment; efforts which sought to neutralize the economic advantages of the slave-trade. There is always a certain glamour about the idea of a nation rising up to crush an evil simply because it is wrong. Unfortunately, this can seldom be realized in real life; for the very existence of the evil usually argues a moral weakness in the very place where extraordinary moral strength is called for. This was the case in the early history of the colonies; and experience proved that an appeal to moral rect.i.tude was unheard in Carolina when rice had become a great crop, and in Ma.s.sachusetts when the rum-slave-traffic was paying a profit of 100%. That the various abolition societies and anti-slavery movements did heroic work in rousing the national conscience is certainly true; unfortunately, however, these movements were weakest at the most critical times. When, in 1774 and 1804, the material advantages of the slave-trade and the inst.i.tution of slavery were least, it seemed possible that moral suasion might accomplish the abolition of both. A fatal spirit of temporizing, however, seized the nation at these points; and although the slave-trade was, largely for political reasons, forbidden, slavery was left untouched. Beyond this point, as years rolled by, it was found well-nigh impossible to rouse the moral sense of the nation. Even in the matter of enforcing its own laws and co-operating with the civilized world, a lethargy seized the country, and it did not awake until slavery was about to destroy it. Even then, after a long and earnest crusade, the national sense of right did not rise to the entire abolition of slavery. It was only a peculiar and almost fortuitous commingling of moral, political, and economic motives that eventually crushed African slavery and its handmaid, the slave-trade in America.

94. ~The Political Movement.~ The political efforts to limit the slave-trade were the outcome partly of moral reprobation of the trade, partly of motives of expediency. This legislation was never such as wise and powerful rulers may make for a nation, with the ulterior purpose of calling in the respect which the nation has for law to aid in raising its standard of right. The colonial and national laws on the slave-trade merely registered, from time to time, the average public opinion concerning this traffic, and are therefore to be regarded as negative signs rather than as positive efforts. These signs were, from one point of view, evidences of moral awakening; they indicated slow, steady development of the idea that to steal even Negroes was wrong. From another point of view, these laws showed the fear of servile insurrection and the desire to ward off danger from the State; again, they often indicated a desire to appear well before the civilized world, and to rid the "land of the free" of the paradox of slavery.

Representing such motives, the laws varied all the way from mere regulating acts to absolute prohibitions. On the whole, these acts were poorly conceived, loosely drawn, and wretchedly enforced. The systematic violation of the provisions of many of them led to a widespread belief that enforcement was, in the nature of the case, impossible; and thus, instead of marking ground already won, they were too often sources of distinct moral deterioration. Certainly the carnival of lawlessness that succeeded the Act of 1807, and that which preceded final suppression in 1861, were glaring examples of the failure of the efforts to suppress the slave-trade by mere law.

95. ~The Economic Movement.~ Economic measures against the trade were those which from the beginning had the best chance of success, but which were least tried. They included tariff measures; efforts to encourage the immigration of free laborers and the emigration of the slaves; measures for changing the character of Southern industry; and, finally, plans to restore the economic balance which slavery destroyed, by raising the condition of the slave to that of complete freedom and responsibility. Like the political efforts, these rested in part on a moral basis; and, as legal enactments, they were also themselves often political measures. They differed, however, from purely moral and political efforts, in having as a main motive the economic gain which a subst.i.tution of free for slave labor promised.

The simplest form of such efforts was the revenue duty on slaves that existed in all the colonies. This developed into the prohibitive tariff, and into measures encouraging immigration or industrial improvements.

The colonization movement was another form of these efforts; it was inadequately conceived, and not altogether sincere, but it had a sound, although in this case impracticable, economic basis. The one great measure which finally stopped the slave-trade forever was, naturally, the abolition of slavery, i.e., the giving to the Negro the right to sell his labor at a price consistent with his own welfare. The abolition of slavery itself, while due in part to direct moral appeal and political sagacity, was largely the result of the economic collapse of the large-farming slave system.

96. ~The Lesson for Americans.~ It may be doubted if ever before such political mistakes as the slavery compromises of the Const.i.tutional Convention had such serious results, and yet, by a succession of unexpected accidents, still left a nation in position to work out its destiny. No American can study the connection of slavery with United States history, and not devoutly pray that his country may never have a similar social problem to solve, until it shows more capacity for such work than it has shown in the past. It is neither profitable nor in accordance with scientific truth to consider that whatever the const.i.tutional fathers did was right, or that slavery was a plague sent from G.o.d and fated to be eliminated in due time. We must face the fact that this problem arose princ.i.p.ally from the cupidity and carelessness of our ancestors. It was the plain duty of the colonies to crush the trade and the system in its infancy: they preferred to enrich themselves on its profits. It was the plain duty of a Revolution based upon "Liberty" to take steps toward the abolition of slavery: it preferred promises to straightforward action. It was the plain duty of the Const.i.tutional Convention, in founding a new nation, to compromise with a threatening social evil only in case its settlement would thereby be postponed to a more favorable time: this was not the case in the slavery and the slave-trade compromises; there never was a time in the history of America when the system had a slighter economic, political, and moral justification than in 1787; and yet with this real, existent, growing evil before their eyes, a bargain largely of dollars and cents was allowed to open the highway that led straight to the Civil War.

Moreover, it was due to no wisdom and foresight on the part of the fathers that fortuitous circ.u.mstances made the result of that war what it was, nor was it due to exceptional philanthropy on the part of their descendants that that result included the abolition of slavery.

With the faith of the nation broken at the very outset, the system of slavery untouched, and twenty years' respite given to the slave-trade to feed and foster it, there began, with 1787, that system of bargaining, truckling, and compromising with a moral, political, and economic monstrosity, which makes the history of our dealing with slavery in the first half of the nineteenth century so discreditable to a great people.

Each generation sought to shift its load upon the next, and the burden rolled on, until a generation came which was both too weak and too strong to bear it longer. One cannot, to be sure, demand of whole nations exceptional moral foresight and heroism; but a certain hard common-sense in facing the complicated phenomena of political life must be expected in every progressive people. In some respects we as a nation seem to lack this; we have the somewhat inchoate idea that we are not destined to be hara.s.sed with great social questions, and that even if we are, and fail to answer them, the fault is with the question and not with us. Consequently we often congratulate ourselves more on getting rid of a problem than on solving it. Such an att.i.tude is dangerous; we have and shall have, as other peoples have had, critical, momentous, and pressing questions to answer. The riddle of the Sphinx may be postponed, it may be evasively answered now; sometime it must be fully answered.

It behooves the United States, therefore, in the interest both of scientific truth and of future social reform, carefully to study such chapters of her history as that of the suppression of the slave-trade.

The most obvious question which this study suggests is: How far in a State can a recognized moral wrong safely be compromised? And although this chapter of history can give us no definite answer suited to the ever-varying aspects of political life, yet it would seem to warn any nation from allowing, through carelessness and moral cowardice, any social evil to grow. No persons would have seen the Civil War with more surprise and horror than the Revolutionists of 1776; yet from the small and apparently dying inst.i.tution of their day arose the walled and castled Slave-Power. From this we may conclude that it behooves nations as well as men to do things at the very moment when they ought to be done.

APPENDIX A.

A CHRONOLOGICAL CONSPECTUS OF COLONIAL AND STATE LEGISLATION RESTRICTING THE AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE. 1641-1787.

~1641. Ma.s.sachusetts: Limitations on Slavery.~

"Liberties of Forreiners & Strangers": 91. "There shall never be any bond slaverie villinage or Captivitie amongst vs, unles it be lawfull Captives taken in iust warres, & such strangers as willingly selle themselves or are sold to us. And those shall have all the liberties & Christian usages w^{ch} y^e law of G.o.d established in Jsraell concerning such p/^{sons} doeth morally require. This exempts none from servitude who shall be Judged there to by Authoritie."

"Capitall Laws": 10. "If any man stealeth aman or mankinde, he shall surely be put to death" (marginal reference, Exodus xxi. 16). Re-enacted in the codes of 1649, 1660, and 1672. Whitmore, _Reprint of Colonial Laws of 1660_, etc. (1889), pp. 52, 54, 71-117.

~1642, April 3. New Netherland: Ten per cent Duty.~

"Ordinance of the Director and Council of New Netherland, imposing certain Import and Export Duties." O'Callaghan, _Laws of New Netherland_ (1868), p. 31.

~1642, Dec. 1. Connecticut: Man-Stealing made a Capital Offence.~

"Capitall Lawes," No. 10. Re-enacted in Ludlow's code, 1650. _Colonial Records_, I. 77.

~1646, Nov. 4. Ma.s.sachusetts: Declaration against Man-Stealing.~

Testimony of the General Court. For text, see above, page 37. _Colonial Records_, II. 168; III. 84.

~1652, April 4. New Netherland: Duty of 15 Guilders.~

"Conditions and Regulations" of Trade to Africa. O'Callaghan, _Laws of New Netherland_, pp. 81, 127.

~1652, May 18-20. Rhode Island: Perpetual Slavery Prohibited.~

For text, see above, page 40. _Colonial Records_, I. 243.

~1655, Aug. 6. New Netherland: Ten per cent Export Duty.~

"Ordinance of the Director General and Council of New Netherland, imposing a Duty on exported Negroes." O'Callaghan, _Laws of New Netherland_, p. 191.

~1664, March 12. Duke of York's Patent: Slavery Regulated.~

"Lawes establisht by the Authority of his Majesties Letters patents, granted to his Royall Highnes James Duke of Yorke and Albany; Bearing Date the 12th Day of March in the Sixteenth year of the Raigne of our Soveraigne Lord Kinge Charles the Second." First published at Long Island in 1664.

"Bond slavery": "No Christian shall be kept in Bond-slavery villenage or Captivity, Except Such who shall be Judged thereunto by Authority, or such as willingly have sould, or shall sell themselves," etc.

Apprenticeship allowed. _Charter to William Penn, and Laws of the Province of Pennsylvania_ (1879), pp. 3, 12.

~1672, October. Connecticut: Law against Man-Stealing.~

"The General Laws and Liberties of Conecticut

"Capital Laws": 10. "If any Man stealeth a Man or Man kinde, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall be put to death. Exod. 21.

16." _Laws of Connecticut_, 1672 (repr. 1865), p. 9.

~1676, March 3. West New Jersey: Slavery Prohibited (?).~

"The Concessions and Agreements of the Proprietors, Freeholders and Inhabitants of the Province of West New-Jersey, in America."

Chap. XXIII. "That in all publick Courts of Justice for Tryals of Causes, Civil or Criminal, any Person or Persons, Inhabitants of the said Province, may freely come into, and attend the said Courts, ...

that all and every Person and Persons Inhabiting the said Province, shall, as far as in us lies, be free from Oppression and Slavery."

Leaming and Spicer, _Grants, Concessions_, etc., pp. 382, 398.

~1688, Feb. 18. Pennsylvania: First Protest of Friends against Slave-Trade.~

"At Monthly Meeting of Germantown Friends." For text, see above, pages 28-29. _Fac-simile Copy_ (1880).

~1695, May. Maryland: 10s. Duty Act.~

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[69] Four or five such attempts were made: Dec. 12, 1860, _House Journal_, 36 Cong. 2 sess. pp. 61-2; Jan. 7, 1861, _Congressional Globe_, 36 Cong. 2 sess. p. 279; Jan. 23, 1861, _Ibid._, p. 527; Feb. 1, 1861, _Ibid._, p. 690; Feb. 27, 1861, _Ibid._, pp. 1243, 1259.

[70] "The Slave-Trade in New York," in the _Continental Monthly_, January, 1862, p. 87.

[71] New York _Herald_, July 14, 1856.

[72] _Ibid._ Cf. _Senate Exec. Doc._, 37 Cong. 2 sess. V. No.

53.

[73] _27th Report of the Amer. Anti-slav. Soc._, pp. 25-6. Cf.

_26th Report_, _Ibid._, pp. 45-9.

[74] _27th Report_, _Ibid._, pp. 26-7.

[75] _26th Report_, _Ibid._, p. 54.

[76] _British and Foreign State Papers_, 1859-60, pp. 899, 973.

[77] Nov. 29, 1851: _House Exec. Doc._, 32 Cong. 1 sess. II.

pt. 2, No. 2, p. 4.

[78] Dec. 4, 1852: _House Exec. Doc._, 32 Cong. 2 sess. I. pt.

2, No. 1, p. 293.

[79] _Ibid._, 34 Cong. 1 sess. I. pt. 3, No. 1, p. 5.

[80] _Ibid._, 34 Cong. 3 sess. I. pt. 2, No. 1, p. 407.

[81] Commander Burgess to Commodore Wise, Whydah, Aug. 12, 1857: _Parliamentary Papers_, 1857-8, vol. LXI. _Slave Trade_, Cla.s.s A, p. 136.

[82] _House Exec. Doc._, 35 Cong. 1 sess. II. pt. 3, No. 2, p.

576.

[83] _Ibid._, 35 Cong. 2 sess. II. pt. 1, No. 2, pp. 14-15, 31-33.

[84] _Senate Exec. Doc._, 36 Cong. 2 sess. I. No. 1, p. 24.

The Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1859, contains this ambiguous pa.s.sage: "What the effect of breaking up the trade will be upon the United States or Cuba it is not necessary to inquire; certainly, under the laws of Congress and our treaty obligations, it is the duty of the executive government to see that our citizens shall not be engaged in it": _Ibid._, 36 Cong. 1 sess. III. No. 2, pp. 1138-9.

[85] _Senate Exec. Doc._, 36 Cong. 2 sess. III. pt. 1, No. 1, pp. 8-9.

[86] _Statutes at Large_, XII. 40.

[87] _Confederate States of America Statutes at Large_, 1861, p. 15, Const.i.tution, Art. 1, sect. 9, ---- 1, 2.

[88] From an intercepted circular despatch from J.P. Benjamin, "Secretary of State," addressed in this particular instance to Hon. L.Q.C. Lamar, "Commissioner, etc., St. Petersburg, Russia," and dated Richmond, Jan. 15, 1863; published in the _National Intelligencer_, March 31, 1863; cf. also the issues of Feb. 19, 1861, April 2, 3, 25, 1863; also published in the pamphlet, _The African Slave-Trade: The Secret Purpose_, etc.

The editors vouch for its authenticity, and state it to be in Benjamin's own handwriting.

[89] L.W. Spratt of South Carolina, in the _Southern Literary Messenger_, June, 1861, x.x.xII. 414, 420. Cf. also the Charleston _Mercury_, Feb. 13, 1861, and the _National Intelligencer_, Feb. 19, 1861.

[90] Captain Gordon of the slaver "Erie;" condemned in the U.S. District Court for Southern New York in 1862. Cf. _Senate Exec. Doc._, 37 Cong. 2 sess. I. No. 1, p. 13.

[91] _Ibid._, pp. 453-4.

[92] _Statutes at Large_, XII. 132, 219, 639; XIII. 424; XIV.

226, 415; XV. 58, 321. The sum of $250,000 was also appropriated to return the slaves on the "Wildfire": _Ibid._, XII. 40-41.

[93] _Statutes at Large_, XII. 368-9.

[94] _Senate Exec. Doc._, 37 Cong. 2 sess. I. No. 1, pp.

453-4.

[95] _Statutes at Large_, XII. 531.

[96] For a time not exceeding five years: _Ibid._, pp. 592-3.

[97] By section 9 of an appropriation act for civil expenses, July 2, 1864: _Ibid._, XIII. 353.

[98] British officers attested this: _Diplomatic Correspondence_, 1862, p. 285.

[99] _Report of the Secretary of the Navy_, 1866; _House Exec.

Doc._, 39 Cong. 2 sess. IV. p. 12.

[100] There were some later attempts to legislate. Sumner tried to repeal the Act of 1803: _Congressional Globe_, 41 Cong. 2 sess. pp. 2894, 2932, 4953, 5594. Banks introduced a bill to prohibit Americans owning or dealing in slaves abroad: _House Journal_, 42 Cong. 2 sess. p. 48. For the legislation of the Confederate States, cf. Mason, _Veto Power_, 2d ed., Appendix C, No. 1.

_Chapter XII_

THE ESSENTIALS IN THE STRUGGLE.

92. How the Question Arose.

93. The Moral Movement.

94. The Political Movement.

95. The Economic Movement.

96. The Lesson for Americans.

92. ~How the Question Arose.~ We have followed a chapter of history which is of peculiar interest to the sociologist. Here was a rich new land, the wealth of which was to be had in return for ordinary manual labor. Had the country been conceived of as existing primarily for the benefit of its actual inhabitants, it might have waited for natural increase or immigration to supply the needed hands; but both Europe and the earlier colonists themselves regarded this land as existing chiefly for the benefit of Europe, and as designed to be exploited, as rapidly and ruthlessly as possible, of the boundless wealth of its resources.

This was the primary excuse for the rise of the African slave-trade to America.

Every experiment of such a kind, however, where the moral standard of a people is lowered for the sake of a material advantage, is dangerous in just such proportion as that advantage is great. In this case it was great. For at least a century, in the West Indies and the southern United States, agriculture flourished, trade increased, and English manufactures were nourished, in just such proportion as Americans stole Negroes and worked them to death. This advantage, to be sure, became much smaller in later times, and at one critical period was, at least in the Southern States, almost _nil_; but energetic efforts were wanting, and, before the nation was aware, slavery had seized a new and well-nigh immovable footing in the Cotton Kingdom.

The colonists averred with perfect truth that they did not commence this fatal traffic, but that it was imposed upon them from without.

Nevertheless, all too soon did they lay aside scruples against it and hasten to share its material benefits. Even those who braved the rough Atlantic for the highest moral motives fell early victims to the allurements of this system. Thus, throughout colonial history, in spite of many honest attempts to stop the further pursuit of the slave-trade, we notice back of nearly all such attempts a certain moral apathy, an indisposition to attack the evil with the sharp weapons which its nature demanded. Consequently, there developed steadily, irresistibly, a vast social problem, which required two centuries and a half for a nation of trained European stock and boasted moral fibre to solve.

The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America Part 29

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[25] _Ibid._; _27th Report_, pp. 13-4.

[26] _26th Report_, _Ibid._, p. 44.

[27] Quoted in Lalor, _Cyclopaedia_, III. 733; Cairnes, _The Slave Power_ (New York, 1862), p. 123, note; _27th Report of the Amer. Anti-slav. Soc._, p. 15.

[28] Quoted in Cairnes, _The Slave Power_, p. 123, note; _27th Report of the Amer. Anti-slav. Soc._, p. 19.

[29] _27th Report_, _Ibid._, p. 16; quoted from the Mobile _Register_.

[30] Edition of 1859, pp. 63-4.

[31] _De Bow's Review_, XXVII. 121, 231-5.

[32] _Report of the Special Committee_, etc. (1857), pp. 24-5.

[33] _26th Report of the Amer. Anti-slav. Soc._, p. 40. The vote was 47 to 46.

[34] _House Exec. Doc._, 36 Cong. 2 sess. IV. No. 7, pp.

632-6. For the State law, cf. above, Chapter II. This refusal of Cobb's was sharply criticised by many Southern papers. Cf.

_26th Report of the Amer. Anti-slav. Soc._, p. 39.

[35] New York _Independent_, March 11 and April 1, 1858.

[36] _26th Report of the Amer. Anti-slav. Soc._, p. 41.

[37] Gregory to the Secretary of the Navy, June 8, 1850: _Senate Exec. Doc._, 31 Cong. 1 sess. XIV. No. 66, p. 2. Cf.

_Ibid._, 31 Cong. 2 sess. II. No. 6.

[38] c.u.mming to Commodore Fanshawe, Feb. 22, 1850: _Senate Exec. Doc._, 31 Cong. 1 sess. XIV. No. 66, p. 8.

[39] New York _Journal of Commerce_, 1857; quoted in _24th Report of the Amer. Anti-slav. Soc._, p. 56.

[40] "The Slave-Trade in New York," in the _Continental Monthly_, January, 1862, p. 87.

[41] New York _Evening Post_; quoted in Lalor, _Cyclopaedia_, III. 733.

[42] Lalor, _Cyclopaedia_, III. 733; quoted from a New York paper.

[43] _Friends' Appeal on behalf of the Coloured Races_ (1858), Appendix, p. 41; quoted from the _Journal of Commerce_.

[44] _26th Report of the Amer. Anti-slav. Soc._, pp. 53-4; quoted from the African correspondent of the Boston _Journal_.

From April, 1857, to May, 1858, twenty-one of twenty-two slavers which were seized by British cruisers proved to be American, from New York, Boston, and New Orleans. Cf. _25th Report_, _Ibid._, p. 122. De Bow estimated in 1856 that forty slavers cleared annually from Eastern harbors, clearing yearly $17,000,000: _De Bow's Review_, XXII. 430-1.

[45] _Senate Exec. Doc._, 33 Cong. 1 sess. VIII. No. 47, p.

13.

[46] _House Exec. Doc._, 34 Cong. 1 sess. XII. No. 105, p. 38.

[47] New York _Herald_, Aug. 5, 1860; quoted in Drake, _Revelations of a Slave Smuggler_, Introd., pp. vii.-viii.

[48] _House Exec. Doc._, 35 Cong. 2 sess. IX. No. 89. Cf.

_26th Report of the Amer. Anti-slav. Soc._, pp. 45-9.

[49] Quoted in _26th Report of the Amer. Anti-slav. Soc._, p.

46.

[50] For all the above cases, cf. _Ibid._, p. 49.

[51] Quoted in _27th Report_, _Ibid._, p. 20. Cf. _Report of the Secretary of the Navy_, 1859; _Senate Exec. Doc._, 36 Cong. 1 sess. III. No. 2.

[52] _27th Report of the Amer. Anti-slav. Soc._, p. 21.

[53] Quoted in _Ibid._

[54] Issue of July 22, 1860; quoted in Drake, _Revelations of a Slave Smuggler_, Introd., p. vi. The advertis.e.m.e.nt referred to was addressed to the "Ship-owners and Masters of our Mercantile Marine," and appeared in the Enterprise (Miss.) _Weekly News_, April 14, 1859. William S. Price and seventeen others state that they will "pay three hundred dollars per head for one thousand native Africans, between the ages of fourteen and twenty years, (of s.e.xes equal,) likely, sound, and healthy, to be delivered within twelve months from this date, at some point accessible by land, between Pensacola, Fla., and Galveston, Texas; the contractors giving thirty days' notice as to time and place of delivery": Quoted in _26th Report of the Amer. Anti-slav. Soc._, pp. 41-2.

[55] _Congressional Globe_, 35 Cong. 1 sess. p. 1362. Cf. the speech of a delegate from Georgia to the Democratic Convention at Charleston, 1860: "If any of you northern democrats will go home with me to my plantation, I will show you some darkies that I bought in Virginia, some in Delaware, some in Florida, and I will also show you the pure African, the n.o.blest Roman of them all. I represent the African slave trade interest of my section:" Lalor, _Cyclopaedia_, III. 733.

[56] _Senate Misc. Doc._, 36 Cong. 1 sess. No. 8.

[57] _Senate Journal_, 34 Cong. 1-2 sess. pp. 396, 695-8; _Senate Reports_, 34 Cong. 1 sess. I. No. 195.

[58] _House Journal_, 31 Cong. 2 sess. p. 64. There was still another attempt by Sandidge. Cf. _26th Report of the Amer.

Anti-Slav. Soc._, p. 44.

[59] _Senate Journal_, 36 Cong. 1 sess. p. 274; _Congressional Globe_, 36 Cong. 1 sess. p. 1245.

[60] Congressional Globe, 32 Cong. 2 sess. p. 1072.

[61] I.e., since 1846: _Statutes at Large_, XI. 90.

[62] _Ibid._, XI. 227.

[63] _Ibid._, XI. 404.

[64] _Ibid._, XII. 21.

[65] E.g., Clay's resolutions: _Congressional Globe_, 31 Cong.

2 sess. pp. 304-9. Clayton's resolutions: _Senate Journal_, 33 Cong. 1 sess. p. 404; _House Journal_, 33 Cong. 1 sess. pp.

1093, 1332-3; _Congressional Globe_, 33 Cong. 1 sess. pp.

1591-3, 2139. Seward's bill: _Senate Journal_, 33 Cong. 1 sess. pp. 448, 451.

[66] Mr. Blair of Missouri asked unanimous consent in Congress, Dec. 23, 1858, to a resolution instructing the Judiciary Committee to bring in such a bill; Houston of Alabama objected: _Congressional Globe_, 35 Cong. 2 sess. p.

198; _26th Report of the Amer. Anti-slav. Soc._, p. 44.

[67] This was the object of attack in 1851 and 1853 by Giddings: _House Journal_, 32 Cong. 1 sess. p. 42; 33 Cong. 1 sess. p. 147. Cf. _House Journal_, 38 Cong. 1 sess. p. 46.

[68] By Mr. Wilson, March 20, 1860: _Senate Journal_, 36 Cong.

1 sess. p. 274.

The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America Part 28

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nevertheless, in this same year, according to Secretary Toucey, "the force on the coast of Africa has fully accomplished its main object."[82] Finally, in the same month in which the "Wanderer" and her mates were openly landing cargoes in the South, President Buchanan, who seems to have been utterly devoid of a sense of humor, was urging the annexation of Cuba to the United States as the only method of suppressing the slave-trade![83]

About 1859 the frequent and notorious violations of our laws aroused even the Buchanan government; a larger appropriation was obtained, swift light steamers were employed, and, though we may well doubt whether after such a carnival illegal importations "entirely" ceased, as the President informed Congress,[84] yet some sincere efforts at suppression were certainly begun. From 1850 to 1859 we have few notices of captured slavers, but in 1860 the increased appropriation of the thirty-fifth Congress resulted in the capture of twelve vessels with 3,119 Africans.[85] The Act of June 16, 1860, enabled the President to contract with the Colonization Society for the return of recaptured Africans; and by a long-needed arrangement cruisers were to proceed direct to Africa with such cargoes, instead of first landing them in this country.[86]

90. ~Att.i.tude of the Southern Confederacy.~ The attempt, initiated by the const.i.tutional fathers, to separate the problem of slavery from that of the slave-trade had, after a trial of half a century, signally failed, and for well-defined economic reasons. The nation had at last come to the parting of the ways, one of which led to a free-labor system, the other to a slave system fed by the slave-trade. Both sections of the country naturally hesitated at the cross-roads: the North clung to the delusion that a territorially limited system of slavery, without a slave-trade, was still possible in the South; the South hesitated to fight for her logical object--slavery and free trade in Negroes--and, in her moral and economic dilemma, sought to make autonomy and the Const.i.tution her object. The real line of contention was, however, fixed by years of development, and was unalterable by the present whims or wishes of the contestants, no matter how important or interesting these might be: the triumph of the North meant free labor; the triumph of the South meant slavery and the slave-trade.

It is doubtful if many of the Southern leaders ever deceived themselves by thinking that Southern slavery, as it then was, could long be maintained without a general or a partial reopening of the slave-trade.

Many had openly declared this a few years before, and there was no reason for a change of opinion. Nevertheless, at the outbreak of actual war and secession, there were powerful and decisive reasons for relegating the question temporarily to the rear. In the first place, only by this means could the adherence of important Border States be secured, without the aid of which secession was folly. Secondly, while it did no harm to laud the independence of the South and the kingship of cotton in "stump" speeches and conventions, yet, when it came to actual hostilities, the South sorely needed the aid of Europe; and this a nation fighting for slavery and the slave-trade stood poor chance of getting. Consequently, after attacking the slave-trade laws for a decade, and their execution for a quarter-century, we find the Southern leaders inserting, in both the provisional and the permanent Const.i.tutions of the Confederate States, the following article:--

The importation of negroes of the African race, from any foreign country other than the slaveholding States or Territories of the United States of America, is hereby forbidden; and Congress is required to pa.s.s such laws as shall effectually prevent the same.

Congress shall also have power to prohibit the introduction of slaves from any State not a member of, or Territory not belonging to, this Confederacy.[87]

The att.i.tude of the Confederate government toward this article is best ill.u.s.trated by its circular of instructions to its foreign ministers:--

It has been suggested to this Government, from a source of unquestioned authenticity, that, after the recognition of our independence by the European Powers, an expectation is generally entertained by them that in our treaties of amity and commerce a clause will be introduced making stipulations against the African slave trade. It is even thought that neutral Powers may be inclined to insist upon the insertion of such a clause as a _sine qua non_.

You are well aware how firmly fixed in our Const.i.tution is the policy of this Confederacy against the opening of that trade, but we are informed that false and insidious suggestions have been made by the agents of the United States at European Courts of our intention to change our const.i.tution as soon as peace is restored, and of authorizing the importation of slaves from Africa. If, therefore, you should find, in your intercourse with the Cabinet to which you are accredited, that any such impressions are entertained, you will use every proper effort to remove them, and if an attempt is made to introduce into any treaty which you may be charged with negotiating stipulations on the subject just mentioned, you will a.s.sume, in behalf of your Government, the position which, under the direction of the President, I now proceed to develop.

The Const.i.tution of the Confederate States is an agreement made between independent States. By its terms all the powers of Government are separated into cla.s.ses as follows, viz.:--

1st. Such powers as the States delegate to the General Government.

2d. Such powers as the States agree to refrain from exercising, although they do not delegate them to the General Government.

3d. Such powers as the States, without delegating them to the General Government, thought proper to exercise by direct agreement between themselves contained in the Const.i.tution.

4th. All remaining powers of sovereignty, which not being delegated to the Confederate States by the Const.i.tution nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people thereof.... Especially in relation to the importation of African negroes was it deemed important by the States that no power to permit it should exist in the Confederate Government.... It will thus be seen that no power is delegated to the Confederate Government over this subject, but that it is included in the third cla.s.s above referred to, of powers exercised directly by the States.... This Government unequivocally and absolutely denies its possession of any power whatever over the subject, and cannot entertain any proposition in relation to it.... The policy of the Confederacy is as fixed and immutable on this subject as the imperfection of human nature permits human resolve to be. No additional agreements, treaties, or stipulations can commit these States to the prohibition of the African slave trade with more binding efficacy than those they have themselves devised. A just and generous confidence in their good faith on this subject exhibited by friendly Powers will be far more efficacious than persistent efforts to induce this Government to a.s.sume the exercise of powers which it does not possess.... We trust, therefore, that no unnecessary discussions on this matter will be introduced into your negotiations. If, unfortunately, this reliance should prove ill-founded, you will decline continuing negotiations on your side, and transfer them to us at home....[88]

This att.i.tude of the conservative leaders of the South, if it meant anything, meant that individual State action could, when it pleased, reopen the slave-trade. The radicals were, of course, not satisfied with any veiling of the ulterior purpose of the new slave republic, and attacked the const.i.tutional provision violently. "If," said one, "the clause be carried into the permanent government, our whole movement is defeated. It will abolitionize the Border Slave States--it will brand our inst.i.tution. Slavery cannot share a government with Democracy,--it cannot bear a brand upon it; thence another revolution ... having achieved one revolution to escape democracy at the North, it must still achieve another to escape it at the South. That it will ultimately triumph none can doubt."[89]

91. ~Att.i.tude of the United States.~ In the North, with all the hesitation in many matters, there existed unanimity in regard to the slave-trade; and the new Lincoln government ushered in the new policy of uncompromising suppression by hanging the first American slave-trader who ever suffered the extreme penalty of the law.[90] One of the earliest acts of President Lincoln was a step which had been necessary since 1808, but had never been taken, viz., the unification of the whole work of suppression into the hands of one responsible department. By an order, dated May 2, 1861, Caleb B. Smith, Secretary of the Interior, was charged with the execution of the slave-trade laws,[91] and he immediately began energetic work. Early in 1861, as soon as the withdrawal of the Southern members untied the hands of Congress, two appropriations of $900,000 each were made to suppress the slave trade, the first appropriations commensurate with the vastness of the task.

These were followed by four appropriations of $17,000 each in the years 1863 to 1867, and two of $12,500 each in 1868 and 1869.[92] The first work of the new secretary was to obtain a corps of efficient a.s.sistants.

To this end, he a.s.sembled all the marshals of the loyal seaboard States at New York, and gave them instruction and opportunity to inspect actual slavers. Congress also, for the first time, offered them proper compensation.[93] The next six months showed the effect of this policy in the fact that five vessels were seized and condemned, and four slave-traders were convicted and suffered the penalty of their crimes.

"This is probably the largest number [of convictions] ever obtained, and certainly the only ones for many years."[94]

Meantime the government opened negotiations with Great Britain, and the treaty of 1862 was signed June 7, and carried out by Act of Congress, July 11.[95] Specially commissioned war vessels of either government were by this agreement authorized to search merchant vessels on the high seas and specified coasts, and if they were found to be slavers, or, on account of their construction or equipment, were suspected to be such, they were to be sent for condemnation to one of the mixed courts established at New York, Sierra Leone, and the Cape of Good Hope. These courts, consisting of one judge and one arbitrator on the part of each government, were to judge the facts without appeal, and upon condemnation by them, the culprits were to be punished according to the laws of their respective countries. The area in which this Right of Search could be exercised was somewhat enlarged by an additional article to the treaty, signed in 1863. In 1870 the mixed courts were abolished, but the main part of the treaty was left in force. The Act of July 17, 1862, enabled the President to contract with foreign governments for the apprenticing of recaptured Africans in the West Indies,[96] and in 1864 the coastwise slave-trade was forever prohibited.[97] By these measures the trade was soon checked, and before the end of the war entirely suppressed.[98] The vigilance of the government, however, was not checked, and as late as 1866 a squadron of ten ships, with one hundred and thirteen guns, patrolled the slave coast.[99] Finally, the Thirteenth Amendment legally confirmed what the war had already accomplished, and slavery and the slave-trade fell at one blow.[100]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] _British and Foreign State Papers_, 1854-5, p. 1156.

[2] Cluskey, _Political Text-Book_ (14th ed.), p. 585.

[3] _De Bow's Review_, XXII. 223; quoted from Andrew Hunter of Virginia.

[4] _Ibid._, XVIII. 628.

[5] _Ibid._, XXII. 91, 102, 217, 221-2.

[6] From a pamphlet ent.i.tled "A New Southern Policy, or the Slave Trade as meaning Union and Conservatism;" quoted in Etheridge's speech, Feb. 21, 1857: _Congressional Globe_, 34 Cong. 3 sess., Appendix, p. 366.

[7] _De Bow's Review_, XXIII. 298-320. A motion to table the motion on the 8th article was supported only by Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Maryland. Those voting for Sneed's motion were Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Tennessee. The appointment of a slave-trade committee was at first defeated by a vote of 48 to 44. Finally a similar motion was pa.s.sed, 52 to 40.

[8] _De Bow's Review_, XXIV. 473-491, 579-605. The Louisiana delegation alone did not vote for the last resolution, the vote of her delegation being evenly divided.

[9] _De Bow's Review_, XXVII. 94-235.

[10] H.S. Foote, in _Bench and Bar of the South and Southwest_, p. 69.

[11] _De Bow's Review_, XXVII. 115.

[12] _Ibid._, p. 99. The vote was:--

_Yea._ _Nay._ Alabama, 5 votes. Tennessee, 12 votes.

Arkansas, 4 " Florida, 3 "

South Carolina, 4 " South Carolina, 4 "

Louisiana, 6 " Total 19 Texas, 4 "

Georgia, 10 " Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, and Mississippi, 7 " North Carolina did not vote; they either Total 40 withdrew or were not represented.

[13] Quoted in _26th Report of the Amer. Anti-slav. Soc._, p.

38. The official organ was the _True Southron_.

[14] Quoted in _24th Report of the Amer. Anti-slav. Soc._, p.

54.

[15] Quoted in _26th Report_, _Ibid._, p. 43.

[16] _27th Report_, _Ibid._, pp. 19-20.

[17] Letter of W.C. Preston, in the _National Intelligencer_, April 3, 1863. Also published in the pamphlet, _The African Slave Trade: The Secret Purpose_, etc., p. 26.

[18] Quoted in Etheridge's speech: _Congressional Globe_, 34 Cong. 3 sess. Appen., p. 366.

[19] _House Journal_, 34 Cong. 3 sess. pp. 105-10; _Congressional Globe_, 34 Cong. 3 sess. pp. 123-6; Cluskey, _Political Text-Book_ (14th ed.), p. 589.

[20] _House Journal_, 35 Cong. 2 sess. pp. 298-9. Cf. _26th Report of the Amer. Anti-slav. Soc._, p. 45.

[21] Cf. _Reports of the Amer. Anti-slav. Soc._, especially the 26th, pp. 43-4.

[22] _Ibid._, p. 43. He referred especially to the Treaty of 1842.

[23] _Ibid._; _Congressional Globe_, 35 Cong. 2 sess., Appen., pp. 248-50.

[24] _26th Report of the Amer. Anti-slav. Soc._, p. 44.