Chapter I: Preface: Lecture I

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON THE SUBJECT OF AFRICAN SLAVERY IN THE
UNITED STATES.

General subject enunciated--Why this discussion may be regarded
as humiliating by Southern people--Other stand-points, however,
disclose an urgent necessity, at this time, for a thorough
investigation of the whole subject--The results to which it is
the object of these lectures to conduct the mind

LECTURE II.

THE ABSTRACT PRINCIPLE OF THE INSTITUTION OF DOMESTIC SLAVERY.

If the system be sinful, _per se_, the sin of it must be found
in the principle--Is the principle sinful?--The principle
defined--Objections to the term “submission” answered--The
effects of Mr. Jefferson’s doctrine upon many conscientious
persons in the Southern States

LECTURE III.

OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED.

Objections classified--Popular views discussed--“All men are
born free and equal”--“All men are created equal”--“All men in
a state of nature are free and equal”--And the particular form
in which Dr. Wayland expresses the popular idea, viz., “The
relation in which men stand to each other is the relation of
equality; not equality of condition, but equality of
right”--Remarks on Dr. Wayland’s course--His treatise on Moral
Science as a text-book.

LECTURE IV.

THE QUESTION OF RIGHTS DISCUSSED.

Why it is necessary to define the term RIGHTS--The RIGHT in
itself defined to be the GOOD--The doctrine that the will of
God is the origin of the right considered--The will of God not
the origin of the right, but an expression of the right which
is the GOOD--Natural rights and acquired rights, each defined

LECTURE V.

THE DOCTRINES OF RIGHTS APPLIED TO GOVERNMENT.

Government, human as well as Divine, is a necessity of man’s
fallen condition--All men concur in this--Man did not originate
government: he has only modified the form--The legitimate
objects of government, and the means which it employs to effect
these objects--The logical inferences: 1. Although he has the
power, he has no _right_ to do _wrong_; 2. As a fallen being,
he is, without a government over him, liable to lose the power
of self-control--What are the rights of man, 1. In a state of
infancy, 2. In a state of maturity, and, 3. In a savage or
uncivilized state--Civil government is not founded on a
concession of rights

LECTURE VI.

THE ABSTRACT PRINCIPLE OF SLAVERY DISCUSSED ON SCRIPTURE
GROUNDS, AND MISREPRESENTATION OF THE PRINCIPLE EXAMINED.

The true subjective right of self-control defined according to
the Scriptures--The abstract principle of slavery sanctioned by
the Scriptures--The Roman government--Dr. Wayland’s Scripture
argument examined and refuted--The positions of Dr. Channing
and Professor Whewell examined and refuted

LECTURE VII.

THE INSTITUTION OF DOMESTIC SLAVERY.

The question stated--The conduct of masters a separate
question--The institution defined--The position of the
abolitionists, and that of the Southern people--The
_presumption_ is in favor of the latter--Those who claim
freedom for the blacks of this country failed to secure it to
those on whom they professed to confer it--The _doctrine_ by
which they seek to vindicate the claim set up for them,
together with the _fact_ of history assumed to be true, is
false

LECTURE VIII.

DOMESTIC SLAVERY, AS A SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT FOR THE AFRICANS IN
AMERICA, EXAMINED AND DEFENDED ON THE GROUND OF ITS ADAPTATION
TO THE PRESENT CONDITIONS OF THE RACE.

There should be a separate and subordinate government for our
African population--Objection answered--Africans are not
competent to that measure of self-government which entitles a
man to political sovereignty--They were not prepared for
freedom when first brought into the country; hence they were
placed under the domestic form of government--The humanity of
this policy--In the opinion of Southern people, they are still
unprepared--The fanaticism and rashness of some, and the
inexcusable wickedness of others, who oppose the South

LECTURE IX.

THE NECESSITY FOR THE INSTITUTION OF DOMESTIC SLAVERY
EXEMPLIFIED BY FACTS.

The attempts made at domestic colonization--The result of the
experiment in the case of our free colored population--The
colonization experiment on the coast of Africa--The example of
the Canaanitish nations--Summary of the argument on the general
point, and inferences

LECTURE X.

EMANCIPATION DOCTRINES DISCUSSED.

Gradual emancipation the popular plan--It would operate to
collect the slaves into a few States, cut them off from contact
with civilization, and reduce them to barbarism--It would make
an opening for Northern farmers and their menials to come into
those States from which they retired--The modifications which
the system of slavery has undergone within late years--A
comparison of the menials of the free and of the slave States,
and the only plan of emancipation admissible--The gospel the
only remedy for the evils of slavery--Paul’s philosophy and
practice, 1 Tim. vi. 1-5

LECTURE XI.

TEACHING THE SLAVES TO READ AND WRITE.

Superiors frequently neglect inferiors--The policy of the South
vindicated by necessity--The results that would follow an
_attempt_ to establish a system for instructing the blacks in
letters, and those which would follow the establishment of such
a system--The domestic element of the system of slavery in the
Southern States affords the means for their improvement adapted
to their condition and the circumstances of the country--It
affords the _natural_, _safe_, and the effectual means of the
intellectual and moral elevation of the race--The prospects of
the Africans in this country, and their final removal to
Africa--The country never will be entirely rid of them--The
Southern policy wise and humane

LECTURE XII.

THE CONSERVATIVE INFLUENCE OF THE AFRICAN POPULATION OF THE
SOUTH.

Preliminary remarks--American party--The present and
prospective condition of our country--The large number of
voters in the free-soil States who will be under a foreign
influence, political and religious, inducing them to discard
the Bible and the right of private judgment--The freedom of the
Southern States from this anti-Christian and anti-republican
influence--The presence of the African race in the Southern
States secures them this advantage--The unpatriotic policy of
freesoilism

LECTURE XIII.

THE DUTIES OF MASTERS TO SLAVES.

“Masters, give unto your servants (δούλοις, slaves) that which
is just and equal, knowing that ye also have a Master in
heaven.”--COL. iv. 1.

The duty of masters and the rights of slaves reciprocal--1. The
duty of masters to their slaves considered as “their money:” in
regard to working, resting, feeding, clothing, housing, and the
employment of persons over them: also to the sick and the aged.
2. Their duty to their slaves considered as social
beings--Punishments and the social principle discussed. 3.
Their duty to their slaves considered as religious
beings--Public instruction on the Sabbath and at other times,
and the opportunity of attending--The employment of preachers,
and the religious instruction of children