Chapter X: Front Matter (10)

"It appears to me, the gentleman has read the history of his
country to little purpose. When the Constitution was framed, in
every State but South Carolina free Negroes were allowed to vote.
Under British rule this class was free, and he interpreted that
'we the people' in the preamble of the Constitution, meant all
the people of every color. The mistake of that period was that
these free Negroes were not represented _in propria persona_ in
that constitutional convention, but by the Anglo-Saxon. Congress
is now correcting that mistake. The right of franchise is due the
Negroes bought by the blood of forty thousand of their race shed
in three wars. The troubles now on the country are the result of
the bad exercise of the elective franchise by unintelligent
whites, the 'poor whites' of the South. I could duplicate every
Negro who cannot read and write, whose name is on the list of
registered voters, with a white man equally ignorant. The
gentleman can claim to be a friend of the Negro, but I do not
desire to be looked upon in the light of a client. The Government
has made a solemn covenant with the Negro to vest him with the
right of franchise if he would throw his weight in the balance in
favor of the Union and bare his breast to the storm of bullets;
and I am convinced that it would not go back on itself. There are
thirty-two million whites to four million blacks in the country,
and there need be no fear of Negro domination. The State laws do
not protect the Negro in his rights, as they forbade their
entrance into the State. (Action of loyal convention of '64). I
am not willing to trust the rights of my people with the white
men, as they have not preserved those of their own race, in
neglecting to provide them with the means of education. The
Declaration of Independence declared all men born free and equal,
and I demand the enforcement of that guarantee made to my
forefathers, to every one of each race, who had fought for it.
The constitution which this ordinance would reenact it not
satisfactory, as it is blurred all over with the word 'white.'
Under it one hundred and eleven thousand beings who live in the
State have no rights which white men are bound to respect. My
people might be ignorant, but I believe, with Jefferson, that
ignorance is no measure of a man's rights. Slavery has been
abolished, but it left my people in a condition of peonage or
caste worse than slavery, which had its humane masters. White
people should look to their own ancestry; they should recollect
that women were disposed of on the James River, in the early
settlement of the country, as wives, at the price of two hundred
pounds of tobacco. When we have had eight hundred years as the
whites to enlighten ourselves, it will be time enough to
pronounce them incapable of civilization and enlightenment. The
last election showed that they were intelligent enough to vote in
a solid mass with the party that would give them their rights,
and that too in face of the influence of the intelligence and
wealth of the State, and in face of threats to take the bread
from their very mouths. I have no antipathy toward the whites; I
would drop the curtain of oblivion on the sod which contains the
bones of my oppressed and wronged ancestors for two hundred and
fifty years. Give us the franchise, and if we do not exercise it
properly, you have the numbers to take it away from us. It would
be impossible for the Negro to get justice in a State whereof he
was not a full citizen. The prejudice of the entire court would
be against him. I do not expect the Negro to take possession of
the government; I want the franchise given him as an incentive to
work to educate his children. I do not desire to discuss the
question of the inferiority of races. Unpleasant truths must then
be told; history tells us of your white ancestors who lived on
the acorns which dropped from the oaks of Didona, and then
worshipped the tree as a God. I call upon all men who would see
justice done, to meet this question fairly, and fear not to
record their votes."

In the session of January 29th, he said:

"Negroes vote in Ohio and Massachusetts, and in the latter State
are elected to high office by rich men. He had found more
prejudice against his race among the Yankees; and if they did him
a kind act, they did not seem to do it with the generous spirit
of Southern men. He could get nearer the latter; he had been
raised with them. He was the sorrier on this account that they
had refused him the rights which would make him a man, as the
former were willing to do. He wanted this a white man's
government, and wanted them to do the legislating as they had the
intelligence and wealth; but he wanted the power to protect
himself against unfriendly legislation. Justice should be like
the Egyptian statue, blind and recognizing no color."

Concerning intermarriage between whites and Negroes, Mr. Bradley, a delegate to the convention, having offered to insert in the constitution, a clause "forbidding matrimony between a white person and a person of African descent," on which point nearly all of the members spoke pro and con in that and the following days, Mr. Gray said:

"It was seldom such outrages were committed at the North, where
there are no constitutional provisions of the kind proposed. He
saw no necessity of inserting any in the present constitution. As
for his people, their condition now would not permit any such
marriages. If it was proposed to insert a provision of the kind,
he would move to amend by making it an offence punishable with
death for a white man to cohabit with a Negro woman." At another
time he observed on the same subject, that "there was no danger
of intermarriage, as the greatest minds had pronounced it
abhorrent to nature. The provision would not cover the case, as
the laws must subsequently define who is a Negro; and he referred
to the law of North Carolina, declaring persons Negroes who have
only one-sixteenth of Negro blood. White men had created the
difficulty, and it would not be impossible to draw the line which
the gentleman desired established."

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Annual Cyclopedia, 1868, pp. 34-35.

Mr. Monroe N. Work, who compiled the records of the Negro in politics during the Reconstruction period, has received the following interesting letters containing some valuable facts:

1425 MCCULLOH ST., BALTIMORE, MD., Feb. 9, 1920.

_My dear Mr. Work_:

Referring to the "Journal of Negro History" for Jan., 1920, in
the letter of the State Librarian of Virginia, page 119, occur
these words: "_For the 1881-2 session the almanac has no list of
members._"

It so happens that the writer was present, and was an employee of
that particular session of the Virginia Legislature, and
therefore takes pleasure in supplying the necessary information.

The speaker of the House of Representatives was the Hon. I.C.
Fowler, and the President protem (the Lieutenant Governor, John
F. Lewis, being President) of the Senate was the Hon. H.C. Wood.
The Governor of the State at that time was the Hon. William E.
Cameron, from my home town, Petersburg. It was quite a memorable
session, and I could almost write a book, with respect to matters
as they pertained to the Negro. The Hon. William Mahone was
United States Senator, and although a boy, I was much trusted by
Senator Mahone; and in many important conferences held in the old
"Whig" building, I was quite active in helping to prevent none
but "the faithful" from entering.

Upon the assembling of the Legislature, I was appointed one of
the six pages in the House. The other five were white boys. Very
soon afterwards, I was promoted to the postmastership of the
House. On the Senate side, there were two colored boys as pages,
a son of ex-Senator Moseley of Goochland Co., and a son of the
late R.G.L. Paige, representative from Norfolk county.

There were three colored men in the Senate Chamber, and two of
them were really able and scholarly men, and were among the
leading debaters in that chamber. One was Dr. Dan Norton, from
the Yorktown District, another was Senator William N. Stevens,
representing the senatorial district of Sussex and Greensville
counties. Senator Stevens was a speaker of much elegance and
grace, and was always listened to with respect and admiration.
Then there was Senator J. Richard Jones, representing Charlotte
and Mecklenburg counties.

In the Lower House, there were thirteen colored representatives;
the names of two I can not just recall, but the others I will
mention.

Norfolk county, R.G.L. Paige.
Princess Anne county, Littleton Owens.
York county, Robert Norton.
City of Petersburg, Armstead Green.
Dinwiddie county, Alfred W. Harris.
Powhatan county, Neverson Lewis.
Brunswick county, Guy Powell.
Cumberland county, Shed Dungee.
Prince Edward county, Batt Greggs.
Amelia and Nottoway, Archie Scott.
Mecklenburg county, Ross Hamilton.

Paige and Harris were thoroughly educated men, while Ross
Hamilton possessing only limited literary qualifications, was a
most remarkable man, and one of the parliamentary authorities of
that body. In the preceding session, of which Hamilton was a
member, he got to himself great fame by the introduction of the
measure known and referred to as the "Ross Hamilton bill." It
had to do with the settlement of the Virginia debt, the great
issue on which Mahone rode into power.

Paige and Harris were among the principal leaders of the House,
and certainly, few were the men in that house whether democrats
or republicans, who could outrank them in oratory or public
debate.

Mr. Harris introduced the measure which provided for the present
state Normal school, at Petersburg, carrying with it an
appropriation of one hundred thousand dollars. I had the great
pleasure of bearing the bill to the Speaker's desk.

During the session of this Legislature two colored men were given
clerkships at the capitol: young Bob Norton, whose father
represented York, in that body, was given a place in the General
Land Office, while Richard De Baptist, of Mecklenburg county, was
given a desk in the 2nd Auditor's office. A white physician, Dr.
David F. May, of Petersburg, was made Superintendent of the
Central Lunatic Asylum, for colored people, his two assistants
being colored physicians, Dr. J.C. Ferguson, of Richmond, and Dr.
R.F. Tancil, of Alexandria. A number of colored men were put on
as guards at the State Penitentiary. Capt. R.A. Paul, of
Richmond, was made private messenger to the Governor. So numerous
were the places filled by colored men, that that particular
period, and the one that followed, have been indicated in the
phrase, having a political bearing: "When they lived, they lived
in clover: but, when they died, they died all over."

Those were thrilling times. I remember, a year or two later, when
I had just become of age, I was elected a delegate to the State
Convention, which was held in the old Richmond Theater on Broad
St. There were over thirteen hundred delegates, only about a
fifth being colored. The writer was elected the first assistant
secretary of that gathering. That convention marked the passing
of the "re-adjuster" party into the Republican, and, under the
dominance of Senator Mahone, the slogan of the Convention was,
"We are for Arthur, because Arthur is for us." I hope that what I
have thus very hurriedly written may prove of some value to you
in the preservation of the annals of Virginia as respects the
black man.

Respectfully yours,
(Signed) GEORGE FREEMAN BRAGG, JR.

P.S. I want to correct a statement. There were two of us in the
Lower House. Clinton Paige, and myself, were in the lower
chamber, and Moseley on the Senate side. I began my first work of
the ministry in Norfolk in 1887, and about that time the Hon.
R.G.L. Paige was appointed Postmaster of Norfolk City. He really
ran the office. I have spent many a pleasant moment with him in
his office there. It will be interesting to state just here, that
"Dick" Paige made his escape from Norfolk by way of the Under
Ground Railroad, only a little fellow of nine or ten years of
age, secreting himself in a vessel leaving that port. He was
educated in Boston. After the civil war he returned to Norfolk.

Round about the same time that I took charge in Norfolk, John C.
Asbury, now of Philadelphia, was practising law in Norfolk Co.
and city. Norfolk county is one of the largest and richest
counties in the State. Asbury was elected by the voters of that
county Prosecuting Attorney, and to my own knowledge, he most
acceptably filled the office during the term of four years, I
think, for which he was elected. He was recognized as one of the
able political leaders of that section. Captain Fields was
elected and served as Commonwealth's Attorney of Newport News and
Warwick county. Rev. J. M. Dawson was the county treasurer where
the ancient capital Williamsburg is situated, while a Mr.
Mitchell, for a number of years was the Collector of Customs for
the historic port of Yorktown.

(Signed) G. F. B., Jr.

Phone 4512

E.W. SHERMAN, _Vice President_
Guaranty Mutual Life & Health Insurance Co.
774 E. Waldburg St., Savannah, Ga.

Feb. 8th, 1920.

PROF. MONROE N. WORK,
Tuskegee, Ala.

_My dear Mr. Work_:

I have perused with considerable interest your review of the
political history of the Reconstruction period. I have gotten
from the review quite a bit of useful information. In my opinion,
this particular part of your research work should be in the hands
of every Negro in America that every Negro child might know
something of the early exploits of colored men.

As a pointer for further work I want to state that succeeding
Phil. Joiner of Dougherty County, Georgia, Ishmael London
represented that county. J.H. Watson of Albany could furnish
detail information. Jack Horne of Pulaski County was Clerk of the
Court of Pulaski County and Richard White was Clerk of Chatham
County Court during the period under discussion. Mrs. Hannah
Benefield or Mr. Edward Cary of Hawkinsville will give authentic
information regarding the former and P.A. Denegall will furnish
information regarding "Dick" White.

We are pleased to follow you in your statistical ramblings
because we love to connect you with us here and to recall your
presence among us. We cherish very deeply your memory and applaud
your efforts for racial uplift.

The madam joins me in wishing for you a long and useful career--a
happy and prosperous one.

Respectfully,
(Signed) E. W. SHERMAN.

February 14, 1920.

MR. J. H. WATSON,
Albany, Georgia.

_Dear Sir_:

As you may already know, I have been for a considerable time
collecting information about the colored persons who were members
of State Legislatures during the reconstruction period. A list of
these members as far as I have been able to collect them was
published in the January number of the "Journal of Negro
History."

Mr. E.W. Sherman of Savannah, Georgia, after reading my article,
wrote to me that Phil Joiner, Dougherty County, was succeeded by
Ishmael London. He stated that you could give me further
information concerning this. Will you not, as Mr. Sherman
suggests, send to me the names of all of the colored men whom you
know to have represented Dougherty County in the Georgia
Legislature and as near as you can, the date that they were
members of the Legislature.

Thanking you in advance for your courtesy and appreciating an
early reply, I am

Yours very truly,
M. N. WORK,
_Editor Negro Year Book._

ALBANY, GEORGIA.
February 21, 1920.

PROF. MONROE WORK,
Tuskegee Inst.,
Tuskegee, Ala.
_Dear Sir:_--

Replying to your letter of the 14th inst., I beg to state that I
cannot give you the dates as I was quite a boy and do not
remember, but Phil Joiner served one term, was followed by Israel
London, who served two terms, and who was followed by Howard
Bunts, who served one term. In Thomas County, Rev. Jack Carter
was a member, but I do not remember the dates.

Yours very truly,
Signed--
J.H. WATSON.

CARNEGIE PUBLIC LIBRARY
P. A. Denegall, Librarian
Savannah, Georgia.

February 24, 1920.

PROF. MONROE WORK,
Tuskegee, Alabama.

_Dear Sir:_

I am in receipt of yours of 14th inst., seeking information
relative to the occupancy of the clerkship of Chatham Superior
Court, by the late Richard W. White, during reconstruction
period.

In reply I beg to say, that at the period, about which you desire
information, I was too young a boy to have any adequate or
understanding knowledge of the political affairs or status of
that period, so that I have no first hand knowledge of the matter
upon which you desire information. All I know about the late Mr.
White's clerkship is only what I gleaned in conversation with my
father, and as he paid no special attention to dates, simply
telling me of things taking place during reconstruction, I have
only by that means, knowledge of some things without the dates of
their occurance.

I am very sorry I cannot give you the information you desire, I
should be glad to do so if I could.

May I add that I have read your article in the January "_Journal
of Negro History_" on "Some Negro members of reconstruction
conventions and legislatures." I note that the name of the late
Prof. John McIntosh, late principal of Mape St. School of this
city is omitted from the list of colored members of Georgia
legislature. He was a member of the Georgia House of
Representatives, representing Liberty County in the "80's" a few
years after his graduation from Atlanta University. As far as I
know he was the most thoroughly educated colored man to have had
the privilege of being a member of the Georgia Legislature. I
knew him intimately. We were pupils at Beach Institute, this city
at the same time, later fellow students at Atlanta University.
Again regretting that I am not able to give the desired
information, I am

Very truly yours,
Signed--
P. A. DENEGALL.

SAYBROOK, CONN.
February 14, 1920.

MR. MONROE N. WORK,
Tuskegee Institute
Alabama.

_My dear Sir_:

I have read with keen interest the facts presented by you in the
Journal of Negro History for January 1920 on "Some Negro Members
of Reconstruction Conventions etc."

I have known intimately Gen. Samuel Smalls and his family in
Beaufort, S.C. and Miss Olive Rainey and her mother, daughter and
wife of Joseph H. Rainey; Miss Mamie Hayne of S.C. daughter of
Henry E. Hayne.

One daughter of Gen. Smalls still lives in the paternal home in
Beaufort, where are the books and personal possessions of her
distinguished father. She was companion and house-keeper for him
in his late years; she is doubtless able to furnish much valuable
information.

Brothers of Henry E. Hayne still live, though they do not
identify themselves with the Negro race. The daughter does,
however, and has friends of her father's generation who could
help in building up a Hayne's history.

Among the relatives is the mother of my husband and a large
family of relatives, the older ones of whom lived thro'
Reconstruction Days in South Carolina.

Miss Rainey and her mother live in Springfield, Massachusetts.

My own family on the maternal side is descended from George
Houston, member of the Alabama Legislature 1868-70.

I have long felt that the last opportunity to collect data
concerning this interesting period in our history, is while this
present generation lives; the next generation will have no
interest in it.

If I can assist you in collecting facts from these people who
knew intimately the men of whom you write, I should be glad to do
so.

I feel that the best way to do this would be for you to send me a
set of questionnaires which I might send to these friends with
letters.

I am trying thro' the Department of Archives and History of
Alabama and the Congressional Library to locate material which
will illuminate the life of George Houston.

If what I have written is of interest to you, then I am glad that
I have written. And can I be of assistance, I shall be glad to
make further contribution if possible.

Sincerely,
(Signed) HELEN JAMES CHISHOLM,
MRS. FRANK P. CHISHOLM.

CORRESPONDENCE

The following letter written primarily to correct certain errors has been productive of much good in bringing to light a number of facts which the public should know:

140 COTTAGE STREET, NEW HAVEN, CONN., February 23, 1920.

DR. CARTER G. WOODSON,
1216 You Street, Washington.

_My dear Dr. Woodson:_

I find the latest number of your _Journal_ most interesting and
permanently valuable, like those that have preceded. I think that
the publication is gaining a position in its particular field
which promises to make it an accepted authority on historical
questions. This makes it the more essential for manifest errors
to be carefully guarded against and eliminated from contributed
articles.

I observe on page 5 the designation "Tillston College" of The
American Missionary Association; the correct name is Tillotson
College, for the institution at Austin, Texas. The footnote gives
_Brawley_ as authority. I do not have this book at hand but have
a suspicion that the erroneous spelling is found there also.

Another statement in the same article which seems to me erroneous
in a more serious matter is found at the bottom of page 4, where
it is assumed that in 1863 "only 5 per cent of the Negro
population was literate." In your book on _The Education of the
Negro Prior to 1861_ you have stated very solid reasons for
believing 10 per cent to be about the right estimate. This
accords also with the U.S. Census figures of 1870, set forth in a
table of which I sent you a copy. Is it not a matter of vital
significance to our American history which of these statements is
to be accepted? Yesterday I saw posted on the wall of a New Haven
church the statement of _5 per cent_. It used to be considered
allowable to make wild statements on this subject when presenting
the claims of Southern education. Indeed I have known the
statement to be made in such a connection, that _none_ of the
Negroes could read or write before the war. I yield to no one in
my estimate of the importance of the work of Northern teachers
and Northern schools in the education of the colored people. But
their value is not magnified by such exaggerated and reckless
over-statement. Rather is it brought under serious question and
damaging suspicion.

You have done and are still doing most valuable work in the
interest of historical accuracy, and to clear away the fogs of
misconstruction and misapprehension concerning the Negro people
which have prevailed for at least a hundred years. I could wish
that you might see your way as an editor to insist on alteration
in a manuscript containing such a misstatement, or at least add
an editorial comment on the point.

Wishing for your _Journal_ continued and increasing circulation
and popular support, I remain,

Faithfully, yours,
G. S. DICKERMAN.

The editor made the following reply:

February 28 1920.

DR. G. S. DICKERMAN,
140 Cottage Street,
New Haven, Conn.

_My dear Dr. Dickerman:_

I have your interesting letter in which you make a strong plea
for accuracy in the writing of history that the Negro may receive
justice at the hands of those represented as treating the records
of the race scientifically. You insist that, prior to the
emancipation of the race, more than five per cent of the Negro
population was literate, and refer to my _Education of the Negro
Prior to 1861_ to support you in that statement. You must
observe, however, that I maintain that ten per cent of the adult
Negroes had the rudiments of education. It might, therefore, be
possible for some one to prove that less than ten per cent of the
whole Negro population was at that time able to read and write.

Thanking you for your interest in this work, I am

Yours very truly,
C. G. WOODSON,
_Director_.

The tables to which Dr. Dickerman refers were sent to the editor with a letter, both of which follow:

140 COTTAGE STREET, NEW HAVEN, CONN., July 14, 1917.

DR. CARTER G. WOODSON,
1216 You Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C.

_Dear Dr. Woodson:_

In preparing a chapter on The History of Negro Education for Dr.
Jones, of the Phelps Stokes Foundation, I made a study of the
Ninth Census and prepared a table of figures which I suggested
for publication in a foot note. But my manuscript was so long
that it was thought best to eliminate about a third of it and
this table with much besides.

I have therefore thrown this Census study into form for
publication in an article by itself. If you like you may have it
for _Journal of Negro History_. Of course the Census is not
infallible and the Ninth Census has been especially charged with
inaccuracy. But it certainly has some meaning, and I think the
confirmation of your conclusions is worth noticing.

If you do not wish to use the article please return it to the
above address.

Very truly yours,
G. S. DICKERMAN.

THE NINTH CENSUS ON NEGRO ILLITERACY

The treatise of Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson on _The Education of the
Negro Prior to 1861_ offers an impressive array of evidence to
show that there were many more Negroes than have usually been
supposed who had some literary knowledge while still under
slavery. Other evidence bearing on a subject of so great
importance cannot but have interest for historians of that period.

Some of the statistics in the United States Census of 1870 are in
point: Figures are there given for the colored men of voting age,
that is for those over 21, who were unable to read and write.
There are also given the total numbers of colored men of voting
age in the several States. Subtracting the former from the latter
will then give the number of those able to read and write. The
results appear in the table presented below:

COLORED MALES 21 YEARS OF AGE AND UPWARD IN 1870; WITH REFERENCE
TO THEIR ABILITY TO WRITE

=====================+===========+===========+=========+==========
| | Unable to | Able to | Per Cent
| Total | Write | Write | Able
---------------------+-----------+-----------+---------+----------
United States | 1,032,475 | 862,243 | 170,232 | 16.5
Southern States | 932,612 | 820,670 | 111,942 | 12.0
All other states | 99,863 | 41,573 | 58,290 | 58.4
---------------------+-----------+-----------+---------+----------
Alabama | 97,823 | 91,017 | 6,806 | 6.9
Arkansas | 26,789 | 23,681 | 3,108 | 11.6
District of Columbia | 10,143 | 7,599 | 2,544 | 25.1
Florida | 18,842 | 16,806 | 2,036 | 10.8
Georgia | 107,962 | 100,551 | 7,411 | 6.9
Kentucky | 44,322 | 37,889 | 6,432 | 14.5
Louisiana | 86,911 | 76,612 | 10,301 | 11.7
Maryland | 39,123 | 27,123 | 11,997 | 30.6
Mississippi | 89,920 | 80,810 | 9,116 | 10.1
Missouri | 23,886 | 18,002 | 5,880 | 24.6
North Carolina | 78,012 | 68,669 | 9,350 | 12.0
South Carolina | 85,475 | 70,830 | 14,645 | 17.1
Tennessee | 64,131 | 55,938 | 8,193 | 12.8
Texas | 51,575 | 47,235 | 4,340 | 8.4
Virginia | 107,691 | 97,908 | 9,783 | 9.1
---------------------+-----------+-----------+---------+----------

This Census gives the figures for women of color over 21 years of
age who were unable to write; but not the whole number of women of
color over 21. If however we assume the proportion of all Negro
males to all Negro females to hold the same for those over 21 we
arrive at the conclusion that the whole number of women of color
over 21 was 1,072,847 for the United States; of whom 946,332 were
unable to write and 126,515 were able. That is, in 1870, there
were approximately 126,515 women of color of 21 years of age and
upward who were able to read and write. This number added to the
170,232, found for the number of literate men, gives a total of
296,747 Negroes of 21 years of age and upward who were able to
read and write; which is 14 per cent of the whole number. There
must have been a considerable increase between 1863 and 1870, but
one can hardly suppose it to have been over 4 per cent, or 84,212,
which substantiates the estimate of about 10 per cent of the
Negroes as able to read and write at the date of emancipation. We
may suppose that the number of those who were able to read, but
did not add to this the accomplishment of writing, must have been
much larger.

The existence of so large a body of Negroes who already had the
rudiments of an education goes far to account for the rapid growth
of schools as soon as the Negroes were made free, and especially
for that eagerness that was shown for advanced learning which
made an almost immediate demand for secondary schools and colleges
at the more important centers of population throughout the South.
The people had received, in some way or other, a love of education
and a start in obtaining it under the old slave system, so that
when the new chance came they were ready to make a good use of it.

G. S. DICKERMAN.

BOOK REVIEWS

_The Centennial History of Illinois, Volume III. The Era of the
Civil War 1848-1870._ By ARTHUR CHARLES COLE. The Illinois
Centennial Commission, Springfield, Illinois, 1919.

This volume of this work deals with the period of the most dramatic history of the State. After discussing the frontier and the rise of railroads, the author directs his attention to the agitation and compromise of 1850, the origin of the Republican party, the Lincoln-Douglass Debates, the election of 1860, the appeal to arms, the war in Illinois, new abolitionists and copperheads, and the war in its relation to agriculture and the industrial revolution. The book is illustrated with such portraits as those of Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglass, Lyman Trumbull and Richard Yates. There are maps showing the foreign-born population in 1860, the presidential election in 1848, the vote for treasurer in 1854, the vote for congressmen in 1858, the vote on the constitution in 1862, the vote for congressmen-at-large in 1860, and the presidential election in 1868. The volume closes with an adequate bibliography and a useful index.

As a book on the Civil War is not uncommon, one does not ordinarily expect many things new from such a volume inasmuch as most of them cover familiar ground. In connecting the history of Illinois with the national drama of Civil War, however, the author has brought forward facts which, although belonging to local history, have a national significance and historians will make use of them, although they will not agree with him in all of his views. The scientific use which he has made of the newspaper material of that day is especially commendable. He has, moreover, shown that this history was as economic as political. Good farms and roads figured as conspicuously as efficient generals and wise statesmen.

There is some mention of the Negro as a human element. Sympathy for the race, "whether the southern slave or the northern victim of the black laws, was aroused by _Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1852_." Thereafter came the effort to secure for the blacks equal rights before the law but because of opposition to them in southern Illinois the black code could not be easily repealed, for race hatred often broke out in southern towns as in the case of Mound City, which in 1857 undertook to drive out all Negroes. The author mentions also such strivings of the Negroes as the efforts of the members of the race in Chicago to defend their rights by protesting against the oppression through local indignation meetings and the Colored National Convention in Cleveland in 1848. Their Chicago Literary Society condemned the Fugitive Slave Law, they organized to resist colonizationists and kidnappers, and at the outbreak of the war organized a military force to fight for their own freedom.

* * * * *

_The National Encyclopedia of the Colored Race._ Volume I. By
CLEMENT RICHARDSON, Editor-in-Chief. The National Publishing
Company, Montgomery, Alabama, 1919.

This is a fair effort at local and national biography with no pretense to scientific treatment. Some attention is given also to religious and educational institutions. Apparently almost any one financially able to aid the enterprise or sufficiently influential to have his sketch incorporated into the work appears in this volume. One man's achievements seemed to count for about as much as those of another and the law of proportion was disregarded. There are farmers, business men, ministers, physicians, dentists, lawyers and the like, many of whom are well known and others who have made no impression upon the world except to complete a course in an institution of learning and to use the knowledge thus acquired in making a living. The world has never heard of some of them and they will, of course, thank the editor for this publicity.

The aim of this work, according to the editor, is to inform and inspire. He complains that the ordinary work of this kind has merely had information for its purpose. As the only sure hope the black American can entertain for immediate notice comes through committing crime, the editor here endeavors to treat the records of a large number of Negroes who, because of their color, would never have a hearing. The aim of the book too is not only to inform the white race but it is to introduce Negroes to one another. To be properly inspired they need to be better informed as to what the ambitious members of the race are doing in their various fields of endeavor. An effort is made to get away from former biographical works largely given to eulogy of individuals unduly advertised. The aim seems rather to idealize the life of obscure men, who have achieved merit in applying themselves to the ordinary duties of life. Referring to the failure to treat more extensively the biographical material of the whole race the editor states that such accounts cannot be secured in many instances for the reason that, some are indifferent to fame, experience a shrinking from publicity, or are too busy to give attention to matters of this kind. The defects of this book, however, cannot be excused on this ground.

On the whole, the book has a value. It is fairly well printed, is adequately illustrated, and is readable. Although much of the information given is not now uninteresting it will in the course of time serve as a valuable source book.

* * * * *

_The Man Next Door._ By A. B. JACKSON, M.D. Neaula Publishing
Company, Philadelphia, Pa., 1919. Pp. 253.

This is another work on the much mooted question, the Negro problem. There was in the mind of the author some doubt as to whether or not he should make an apology for adding another such work to the many volumes written in this field. Observing, however, that the discussions of the race problem have in the past done some good as well as harm, he here endeavors to present an up-to-date discussion from a new point of view in order to conform with the exigencies of the day. The aim is to direct special attention to the failure to recognize the Negro as a human asset with untold economic possibilities. He believes that the matter of race values and interdependency of all races must find "a definite and assuredly positive place in the various policies of any nation which is made up of several race groups." In one sense the author believes that "racial conflict, strife and differences inspiring as they do, struggle, jealousy, and ambition, are essential to the progress of the whole group of mankind." He insists, however, that struggle should be a friendly rivalry out of which shall be woven a strong and everlasting national fabric consistent with impressing and assuring the perpetuation of the various policies which guarantee national honor and uplift.

The author believes that the one great hope for the Negro is to make himself an economic asset to his country. When this is accomplished, there will be little doubt as to the possibility of his securing full recognition as a citizen. He does not deplore the presence of obstacles but rather thinks that the salvation of the race will be in developing in the midst of this struggle the power to overcome these obstacles. It is suggested that the discussion of these matters should be dispassionate and efforts for adjustment should be based upon reason rather than upon sentiment. To show exactly how this can be done the author has directed his attention to such questions as citizenship, and patriotism, the producer and the consumer, the Negro and his church, and educational assets. The question is further treated under such captions as race consciousness, health and economics, tuberculosis a great waste, rent and ownership, and business development. The book closes with observations on racial grouping, political status, and the follies of prejudice.

* * * * *

_Darkwater._ By W. E. B. DUBOIS. Harcourt, Brace and Howe, New
York, 1920. Pp. 276.

This work is a collection of essays by the well-known author of _Souls of Black Folk_, _The Philadelphia Negro_, _The Suppression of the African Slave Trade_, and _The Negro_. The aim of the work is to show that the Negro problem is essentially connected with the problem of work or wages or education and government which, when solved, will mean also the solution of the race problem. To give his point of view, the author, therefore, describes his childhood, training, and outlook on the world as a Negro. To show the "vast emotional content of the social problem, he has inserted between the chapters, bits of poetry and fancy which interpret the bewilderment, the disappointment, the longing and the faith of millions of men. The work ends with a brief philosophy of duty and death and a story and a hymn looking toward human unity.

This book, therefore, follows the trend of thought characteristic of Dr. DuBois. As in the beautifully written essays entitled _Souls of Black Folk_ he has here put himself forward as a person representative of millions of black men seriously suffering from social proscription. Although his contention that the race problem is interwoven with the economic problems of the country is presented as the reason for directing more attention to this problem, the author does not treat the race question from an economic point of view. This has been the defect of the historical works which Dr. DuBois has written. He is at best a popular essayist with a bit of poetic genius. In all of his discussions of the race problem his mind has not as yet been adequate to the task of scientific treatment of the question. _The Suppression of the African Slave Trade_ is a literary compilation or digest of State and national legislation to curb an evil, but it does not exhibit any relief or a unifying influence. _The Philadelphia Negro_ is an ordinary report on social conditions which a local secretary of the Urban League could now compile in almost any large city in about three or six months and his _The Negro_ is merely a summary of a number of popular works setting forth such history of Africa as a few travellers have been able to learn from the outside. It is hoped, therefore, that Dr. DuBois will take his task more seriously that he may finally write a scholarly economic treatise in this long neglected field.

NOTES

The next annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History will convene in Washington, D. C., next November. All institutions interested in the teaching of Negro life and history will be invited to send representatives to this meeting to confer as to the best methods of prosecuting studies in this neglected field. The session will cover two days to be devoted to addresses by the best thinkers of the country. The official program will appear within a few weeks.

* * * * *

The illustrated textbook in Negro history by Dr. C. G. Woodson has been further delayed by disturbances among the printers. It is hoped that it will appear before the end of the year.

A. B. Caldwell, of Atlanta, has published Volume III (South Carolina edition) of what he calls the _History of the American Negro_.

THE JOURNAL

OF

NEGRO HISTORY

VOL. V--JULY, 1920--NO. 3

THE SLAVE IN CANADA