Chapter V: Freedom After Slavery

INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE GIRL. Written by Herself. By Linda Brent CONTENTS PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE GIRL I Childhood II The New Master And Mistress III The Slaves' New Year's Day IV The Slave Who Dared To Feel Like A Man V The Trials Of Girlhood VI The Jealous Mistress VII The Lover VIII What Slaves Are Taught To Think Of The North IX Sketches Of Neighboring Slaveholders X A Perilous Passage In The Slave Girl's Life. XI The New Tie To Life XII Fear Of Insurrection XIII The Church And Slavery XIV Another Link To Life XV Continued Persecutions XVI Scenes At The Plantation XVII The Flight XVIII Months Of Peril XIX The Children Sold XX New Perils XXI The Loophole Of Retreat XXII Christmas Festivities XXIII Still In Prison XXIV The Candidate For Congress XXV Competition In Cunning XXVI Important Era In My Brother's Life XXVII New Destination For The Children XXVIII Aunt Nancy XXIX Preparations For Escape XXX Northward Bound XXXI Incidents In Philadelphia XXXII The Meeting Of Mother And Daughter XXXIII A Home Found XXXIV The Old Enemy Again XXXV Prejudice Against Color XXXVI The Hairbreadth Escape XXXVII A Visit To England XXXVIII Renewed Invitations To Go South XXXIX The Confession XL The Fugitive Slave Law XLI Free At Last APPENDIX

BEHIND THE SCENES. By Elizabeth Keckley THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE, AND FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE HOUSE CONTENTS Preface 3 Chapter I. Where I was born 7 Chapter II. Girlhood and its Sorrows 13 Chapter III. How I gained my Freedom 19 Chapter IV. In the Family of Senator Jefferson Davis 28 Chapter V. My Introduction to Mrs. Lincoln 34 Chapter VI. Willie Lincoln's Death-bed 41 Chapter VII. Washington in 1862-3 50 Chapter VIII. Candid Opinions 57 Chapter IX. Behind the Scenes 62 Chapter X. The Second Inauguration 68 Chapter XI. The Assassination of President Lincoln 77 Chapter XII. Mrs. Lincoln leaves the White House 89 Chapter XIII. The Origin of the Rivalry between Mr. Douglas and Mr. Lincoln 101 Chapter XIV. Old Friends 106 Chapter XV. The Secret History of Mrs. Lincoln's Wardrobe in New York 119 Appendix --Letters from Mrs. Lincoln to Mrs. Keckley 147

THE SLAVERY QUESTION. By John Lawrence

CONTENTS CHAPTER I. ORIGIN OF AMERICAN SLAVERY. THE SLAVE TRADE. Seven millions of slaves in America—Slavery originated in the African slave trade—Slave-trade unprovoked—Excited by lust for gold—Commenced by the Portuguese in 1434—Spaniards in 1511—English in 1556—President Edwards quoted—100,000 annually destroyed—Report made to the British House of Commons—Startling statistics—A slave ship described—Slave-trade declared to be piracy and abolishedpage 13

CHAPTER II. SLAVERY DEFINED. PROPERTY IN A HUMAN BEING. A slave is a chattel—Authorities quoted—Advertised and sold as property—Facts adduced—sale of a boy—a woman with an infant in her arms—a mother—American slave-code identical in principle with the Romanpage 30[Pg viii]

CHAPTER III. SLAVERY ILLUSTRATED. THE CHATTEL PRINCIPLE IN PRACTICE. Slaves denied an education—Laws—Instances—Slavery disregards matrimonial connections—Painful factspage 41

CHAPTER IV. SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. Slavery disregards the parental and filial relations—Facts—Slave-mother’s lamentpage 56

CHAPTER V. SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. Slavery utterly impoverishes its victims—Exposes them to unbridled lust—unrestrained passion—irresponsible tyranny—Heart-rending incidents!page 64

CHAPTER VI. SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. Severity of laws against slaves—partial—unreasonable and cruel—Practice worse than the laws—Burning of slaves—Horrible examplespage 80[Pg ix]

CHAPTER VII. SLAVERY AND RELIGION. Curse of Canaan—Doubtful authority—Did not allude to slavery—A mere prediction at best—Africans not the descendants of Canaanpage 88

CHAPTER VIII. SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. Patriarchal servitude and slavery—No patriarch ever owned a slave—Slavery had no existence in the time of the patriarchs—Diodorus, Athenæus and Rollin quoted—The Hebrew word SERVANT not equivalent to the English word SLAVE—Abraham’s servants converts from idolatrypage 94

CHAPTER IX. SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. Law of Moses and slavery—Levitical statutes not perfect—Allowed what it would now be wrong to practice—Dr. Stowe quoted—Servitude under the law of Moses essentially different from American slavery—Meaning of “buy,” “heathen,” “bondmen,” and “forever,”—Servants not stolen—Voluntary—Provision for religious improvement—Kind treatment—Could not be sold—Equal to their masters—Certain emancipation—Salvation of the heathen the primary design of introducing foreign servantspage 107[Pg x]

CHAPTER X. SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. New Testament and slavery—Servants mentioned but not SLAVES—Doulos does not mean SLAVE—New Testament does not regulate slavery because it cannot be regulated—Slaveholders not addressed by the Apostles—Onesimus not a slave—Character of Roman slavery—Contrary to the fundamental principles of revealed religion—The character of God—Common origin of man—General Redemption—Moral precepts—And is necessarily unjust and unequalpage 124

CHAPTER XI. AMERICAN CHURCHES AND SLAVERY. THE POSITION THEY OCCUPY. Presbyterians (O. S. and N. S.)—Congregational—Methodist Episcopal, North and South—Methodist Protestant—Wesleyan Methodist Connection—Baptist, Regular—Freewill—Seventh Day—Evangelical Association—United Brethren—Various Churches—Summary Viewpage 149

CHAPTER XII. SLAVERY AND THE CHURCH. NON-FELLOWSHIP WITH SLAVEHOLDERS. Scriptural view—Church must keep slaveholders out—If they get in, it must expel them—If the Church sanction slavery officially or practically, withdraw from it—Non-slaveholding required that it may be holy—The pillar of truth—That it may honor the Scriptures—Convert the world—Be faithful to slaveholders and to slaves—Non-fellowship required by decency—humanity—If fellowshiped, we shall have slaveholding preachers, and women-sellers and cradle-plunderers for class-mates—Cases givenpage 169[Pg xi]

CHAPTER XIII. SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. Kind slaveholders—Examples—Excusable slaveholders—Slavery a political matter—Fault of the public corruption—Fault of the laws—Slaveholders from necessity—Slaves their property—All right ONLY this one thing—Take them in to convince them of the wrong—Mr. Fee’s opinionpage 184

CHAPTER XIV. POLITICAL DUTIES OF CHRISTIANS. EXTIRPATION OF SLAVERY FROM THE WORLD. Necessity of government—Obligation of political action—Voters responsible for slavery—United States Constitution does not endorse slavery—Founders of the Republic intended that slavery should die out speedily—Character of the government changed—Great work for Christian citizens—Slavery in the District—Territories—Slave States—Throughout the worldpage 195

CHAPTER XV. ABOLITION OF SLAVERY. IMMEDIATE EMANCIPATION. The duty plain and scriptural—Break every yoke—proclaim a year of Jubilee—Slavery cannot be reformed—Slaves prepared for freedom—Free people of color—Fugitives in Canada—West India emancipation—Colored people not dangerous when free—Amalgamation—Our fears originate in our guilt—Colonization scheme impracticable—Wrong—Watkins quoted—All objections mere excuses—We must emancipate to escape the judgments of God—Too long delayed—A good examplepage 206[Pg xii]