Chapter VIII: Front Matter (8)

In the actual events at Harper's Ferry the assistance given by Canada was small. Of the men who marched out with Brown on that fateful October night only one could in any way be described as a Canadian. This was Osborn Perry Anderson, a Negro born free in Pennsylvania. He was working as a printer in Chatham at the time of the convention and threw in his lot with Brown. He was one of those who escaped at Harper's Ferry. He later wrote an account of the affair, served during the latter part of the Civil War in the northern army and died at Washington in 1871. He is described by Hinton as "well educated, a man of natural dignity, modest, simple in character and manners."[15]

There naturally arises the question, why was the aid given John Brown by the Canadian Negroes so meagre? That Brown had counted on considerable help in his enterprise from the men who joined with him in drafting the "provisional constitution" is certain. John Edwin Cook, one of Brown's close associates, declared in his confession made after Harper's Ferry, that "men and money had both been promised from Chatham and other parts of Canada."[16] Yet, apart from Anderson, a Negro, only one other Canadian of either color seems to have had any share in the raid. Dr. Alexander Milton Ross went to Richmond, Virginia, before the blow was struck, as he had promised Brown he would do, and was there when word came of its unhappy ending. Brown evidently counted on Ross being able to keep him in touch with developments at the capital of Virginia.

Chatham had been chosen as the place of meeting with special reference to the effect it might have on the large Negro population resident in the immediate vicinity. There were more Negroes within fifty miles of Chatham than in any other section of Canadian territory and among them were men of intelligence, education and daring, some of them experienced in slave raiding. Brown was justified in expecting help from them. There is also evidence that among the Negroes themselves there existed a secret organization, known under various names, having as its object to assist fugitives and resist their masters. Help from this organization was also expected.[17] Hinton says that Brown "never expected any more aid from them than that which would give a good impetus."[18] John Brown himself is quoted by Realf, one of his associates, as saying that he expected aid from the Negroes generally, both in Canada and the United States,[19] but it must be remembered that his plans called for quality rather than quantity of assistance. A few daring men, planted in the mountains of Virginia, would have accomplished his initial purpose better than a thousand.

The real reason why the Canadian Negroes failed to respond in the summer of 1860 when Brown's men were gathering near the boundary line of slavery seems to be that too great a delay followed after the Chatham convention. The convention was held on May 8 and 10, 1858; but Brown did not attack Harper's Ferry until the night of October 16, 1859, nearly a year and a half later. The zeal for action that manifested itself in May, 1858, had cooled off by October, 1859, the magnetic influence of Brown himself had been withdrawn, and the Negroes had entered into new engagements. Frank B. Sanborn says he understood from Brown that he hoped to strike about the middle of May of 1858, that is about a week after the convention or as soon as his forces could gather at the required point.[20] The delay was caused by the partial exposure of Brown's plans to Senator Henry Wilson by Hugh Forbes, who had been close to Brown. Panic seized Brown's chief white supporters in New England, the men who financed his various operations, and they decided that the plans must be changed. Brown was much discouraged by their decision, but being dependent upon them for support in his work he submitted and went west to Kansas. Among his exploits there was the running off of more than a dozen slaves whom he landed safely at Windsor, Canada.

There was some effort made in the early summer of 1859 to enlist the support of the Canadian Negroes,[21] the mission being in charge of John Brown, Jr., who was assisted by Rev. J. W. Loguen, a well-known Negro preacher and anti-slavery worker. Together they visited Hamilton, St. Catharines, Chatham, London, Buxton and Windsor, helping also to organize branches of the League of Liberty among the Negroes. The letters of John Brown, Jr., show that there was little enthusiasm for the cause, which, indeed, could only have been presented in an indefinite way. There was more interest at Chatham than elsewhere, as might be expected, but even there it was not sufficiently substantial to bring the men that were needed. Against this rather dismal picture should be placed some evidence that there were a few Canadians on the way South when the end came.[22]

FRED LANDON.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Longfellow, _Life of Longfellow_, vol. II, p. 347.

[2] Thoreau, _A Plea for Capt. John Brown, read at Concord, October 30, 1859_.

[3] _Toronto Weekly Globe_, Nov. 25, 1859.

[4] _Ibid._, Dec. 9, 1859, and Dec. 16, 1859.

[5] _Toronto Weekly Globe_, Dec. 12, 1859.

[6] "There is no country in the world so much hated by slaveholders as Canada," Ward, _Autobiography of a Fugitive Negro_, London, 1855, p. 158.

[7] _Journal of the Senate of Virginia_, 1859, see pp. 9-25.

[8] _The Toronto Weekly Globe_ of Dec. 6, 1859, reported Governor Wise as saying: "One most irritating feature of this predatory war is that it has its seat in the British provinces which furnish asylum for our fugitives and send them and their hired outlaws upon us from depots and rendezvous in the bordering states."

[9] _Toronto Weekly Globe_, Dec. 28, 1859.

[10] _Toronto Weekly Globe_, Dec. 28, 1859.

[11] _Ibid._, Dec. 23, 1859.

[12] _Ibid._, July 20, 1860.

[13] _Harper's Ferry Invasion, Report of Senatorial Committee_, pp. 2 and 7.

[14] _Harper's Ferry Invasion, Report of Senatorial Committee_, p. 99.

[15] Hinton, _John Brown and His Men_, pp. 504-507.

[16] _Ibid._, appendix, p. 704. See also report of Senatorial Committee, p. 97.

[17] Hinton, _John Brown and His Men_, pp. 171-172.

[18] _Ibid._, p. 175.

[19] _Report of Senatorial Committee_, p. 97.

[20] Sanborn, _Life and Letters of John Brown_, pp. 457-8.

[21] Sanborn, _Life and Letters of John Brown_, pp. 536-538, 547.

[22] Hinton, _John Brown and His Men_, pp. 261-263.

THE NEGRO AND THE SPANISH PIONEER IN THE NEW WORLD

Negro slaves probably made their first appearance in the New World in 1502. Those who came in the beginning were Christians and personal servants of masters who had acquired them in Spain, but soon afterwards, thanks to the influence of the religious order of _Predicatores_ and of the more famous Las Casas, they began to be introduced directly from Africa, in order that the sufferings of the Indians who were dying out under the Spanish system of forced labor might be alleviated.[1] By the close of the second decade of the sixteenth century no inconsiderable number had been brought over, and a perusal of the early accounts of the exploits of the _Conquistadores_ will reveal the fact that the Negro participated in the exploration and occupation of nearly every important region from New Mexico to Chile. As personal attendants of the Spanish Pioneers, as burden-bearers and drudges connected with exploration and the founding of colonies, they played an indispensable though inconspicuous rôle in one of the greatest achievements which history records. Such accounts of their service as have been preserved are, for the most part, accidental: only when he performed an act of unusual heroism or connected himself with a strange or humorous occurrence was the Negro's name placed alongside of that of his Spanish master where it is destined to remain for all time.

When Balboa set out from Darién on the tour of exploration which resulted in the discovery of the South Sea, at least one Negro, Nufio de Olano, was numbered in his party. Three years later, when the timbers for the four boats with which he intended to explore the Pacific had been prepared, thirty Negroes were among those who carried them piece by piece over mountain and jungle from Acla to San Miguel. Moreover, when Balboa's successor constructed the first highway from ocean to ocean he made use of Negro labor along with that of the Indian.[2]

Hernán Cortés carried with him from Cuba not only Indian servants but Negro slaves who helped to drag along the artillery which he used to strike mortal terror into the Indians of Mexico. There has been preserved a list of those who set out on this famous expedition, and among the names are those of two Negroes, one of whom Saco claims to have been the first to sow and reap small grain in Mexico. Moreover, two Negroes were among the company sent out by Velásquez in 1520 to punish Cortés for his insubordination. One of these has the unenviable distinction of having introduced smallpox among the Mexican Indians. The other, who seems to have observed the fight between the men of the agent of Velásquez (Narváez) from the safe and comfortable distance of a neighboring tree, has, because of some witty and flattering remarks which he made to Cortés, received the honor of a paragraph in the _Decades_ of Herrera.[3]

It is not definitely known whether Pedro de Alvarado, one of the bravest and most gallant lieutenants of Cortés, carried Negroes with him into Guatemala in 1523, but it is certain that eleven years later, when his ambition and love of gain led him to fit out that ill-fated expedition to Quito, he saw fit to include in the company two hundred black slaves, most of whom perished while making their way through the blinding snows of the Andes.[4]

It is certain, moreover, that several Negroes were along with the _Conquistadores_ of Perú and Chile. The contract of Francisco Pizarro permitted him to introduce fifty Negroes into Perú free of duty; and even before this, Negroes had accompanied those who had spied out the land. In 1525, when Diego de Almagro effected a landing near the port of Quemado, on the west coast of South America, and attempted to penetrate the adjacent country, he encountered rather severe opposition from the Indians of the section. During the resulting skirmish one of his eyes was crushed by a dart and he was saved from captivity and death only by the valiant succor of his Negro slave. A year later, the debarkation of a Spaniard and his slave at Tumbez resulted in an amusing occurrence which once more gave the Negro a few brief sentences in the _Decades_. Astonished at the color of his face, the natives of the region had him wash time after time in order to see if the black would disappear; and the Negro, true to his good nature and love of a joke, complied willingly while he grinned so as to display his pearly white teeth.[5]

Several Negroes assisted the Yanaconas Indians in carrying the baggage of Diego de Almagro and Rodrigo Orgoñez during their perilous journey along the frozen Andes from Cuzco to Chile; and many of them perished on the way.[6] Moreover, upon at least one occasion the forces of the great conqueror of Chile, Pedro Valdivia himself, would probably have been destroyed, had it not been for the cool-headed alertness of Captain Gonzalo de los Rios and a Negro who managed to procure the saddle-horses of the Spaniards as soon as they saw a band of Indians dart from their hiding places.[7]

Numerous African slaves were along with the Spanish pioneers in Venezuela. Ortal, Sedeño, and Heredia each had permission to introduce one hundred Negroes to build fortresses and search for mines; and in 1537, when the licentiate Vadillo came to Cartagena to hold the residencia of Heredia, he brought down a large number who later accompanied him on the luckless excursions which he undertook apparently in the hope of finding the mines of Perú.[8]

But of all the members of the colored race who accompanied the Spaniards upon their explorations in the New World, it may be doubted whether any played so conspicuous a part as did Estevánico, or Estévan, an Arabian black from Azamor, in Morocco, and the slave of Andrés Dorantes de Carrança. He was a member and one of the survivors of the ill-fated expedition of Pánfilo de Narváez which went to pieces somewhere on the southern coast of the United States, (1528). For six years he was a captive and slave among the Indians of Texas where, in company with others of the expedition who had escaped with their lives, he effected miraculous cures. He was one of the three companions of Cabeza de Vaca on his historic journey across the continent from the Gulf of Mexico to Culiacán. From Culiacán he accompanied De Vaca and his companions to Mexico City, where he was honored by being made the slave of the viceroy, Antonio de Mendoza.

Surely these were rare and noteworthy experiences for a member of the black race, but still greater things awaited Estévan. He was destined ere he met his tragic fate to accompany the expedition which resulted in the discovery of New Mexico and Arizona. The party which, besides the Negro, consisted of three Spaniards--Fray Marcos de Niza, a lay brother, and Fray Onorato--and several Pima Indians, set out from Culiacán on March 7, 1539. They were in search of the famed Seven Cities.

After proceeding northward several days, Fray Marcos decided to rest while he dispatched the Negro to reconnoiter. He directed Estévan to advance to the north several leagues, and in case he discovered indications of a rich and populous country, to return in person or await his coming, sending back, by some of the Pimas who were to accompany him, a cross the size of which should be in proportion to the importance of the information gained. Four days passed, and then the messengers of Estévan returned bearing a cross "as high as a man" and the news that the Negro had discovered "the greatest thing in the world." Fray Marcos hastened to follow in the footsteps of Estévan hoping to overtake him soon, but his efforts were vain. The dusky adventurer could not resist the temptation to proceed and win for himself the honor of conquering the rich country.

This country concerning which such glowing reports had reached Estévan was none other than the land of the Pueblo Indians. His procedure after separating from Fray Marcos is thus narrated by a contemporary, though not an eyewitness:

"After Estevan had left the friars, he thought he could get all the reputation and honor himself, and that if he should discover these settlements with such famous high houses, alone, he would be considered bold and courageous. So he proceeded with the people who had followed him, and attempted to cross the wilderness which lies between the country he had passed through and Cibola, ... [He] reached Cibola loaded with the large quantity of turquoises they [the Indians along the route] had given him and some beautiful women whom the Indians who followed him and carried his things were taking with them and had given him. These had followed him from all the settlements he had passed, believing that under his protection they could traverse the whole world without any danger. But as the people in this country were more intelligent than those who followed Estevan, they lodged him in a little hut they had outside their village, and the older men and governors heard his story and took steps to find out the reason he had come to that country. The account which the Negro gave them of two white men who were following him, sent by a great lord, who knew about the things in the sky, and how these were coming to instruct them in divine matters, made them think that he must be a spy or a guide from some nations who wished to come and conquer them, because it seemed to them unreasonable to say that the people were white in the country from which he came and that he was sent by them, he being black. Besides these other reasons, they thought it was hard of him to ask them for turquoises and women, and so they decided to kill him. They did this, but they did not kill any of those who went with him...."[9]

From this and other contemporary sources, Lowery[10] has constructed a more complete and lively picture of Estévan's last days. Lowery says that "he travelled with savage magnificence, gaily dressed with bells and feathers fastened about his arms and legs. He carried with him a gourd decorated with bells and two feathers, one white and the other red. This gourd he sent before him by messengers as a symbol of authority and to command obedience, as he had seen successfully done in the western part of Texas, when in company with Cabeza de Vaca.... As soon as they had delivered the gourd to the chief [of the pueblo] and he had observed the bells he became very angry," and ordered Estévan and his party to depart at once. But the Negro was persistent. He and his retinue lodged just outside the walls of the Pueblo of Hawaikuh. Early the next morning they were attacked by a large band of warriors from the Pueblo and Estévan was killed while attempting to make his escape.

There has been preserved among the legends of the Zuñi Pueblos of New Mexico one which apparently dates back to the coming of Estévan, the Black Mexican from the south. The scene of his death is placed at Kiakima, and the single Black Mexican has been magnified into many, but the legend is nevertheless interesting and significant.

"It is to be believed that a long time ago, when roofs lay over the walls of Kya-ki-me, when smoke hung over the housetops, and the ladder rounds were still unbroken in Kya-ki-me, then the Black Mexicans came from their abodes in Everlasting Summerland. One day, unexpectedly, out of Hemlock Cañon they came, and descended to Kya-ki-me. But when they said they would enter the covered way, it seems that our ancients looked not gently at them; for with these Black Mexicans came many Indians of So-no-li, as they call it now, ... who were enemies of our ancients. Therefore, these our ancients, being always bad-tempered, and quick to anger, made fools of themselves after their fashion, rushing into their town and out of their town, shouting, skipping and shooting with their sling-stones and arrows and tossing their war-clubs. Then the Indians of So-no-li set up a great howl, and thus they and our ancients did much ill to one another. Then and thus was killed by our ancients, right where the stone stands down by the arroyo of Kya-ki-me, one of the Black Mexicans, a large man, with chilli lips [_i.e._, lips swollen from eating chilli peppers], and some of the Indians they killed, catching others. Then the rest ran away, chased by our grandfathers, and went back toward their country in the Land of Everlasting Summer...."[11]

J. FRED RIPPY.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] José Antonio Saco, _Historia de la Esclavitud ..._ (Barcelona, 1879), IV, 57 ff.

[2] Saco, _op. cit._, IV, 74, 75, 178; Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo, _Historia General ..._ tom. 3, lib. 29, cap. 3.

[3] Dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 4; Bernal Diaz del Castillo, _Conquista de Nueva-Espana_, cap. 124.

[4] Herrera, dec. 5, lib. 5, cap. 7-9.

[5] Dec. 3, lib. 10, cap. 5.

[6] Herrera, _op. cit._, dec. 5, lib. 10, cap. 1, 2, y 3.

[7] Saco, _op. cit._ IV, 166.

[8] _Ibid._, IV, 170.

[9] Pedro de Casteñeda, "Account of the Expedition to Cibola which took place in the year 1540 ...," translated in _Spanish Explorers in the Southern United States_ (J. F. Jameson, ed.), pp. 289-290.

[10] _Spanish Settlements in the United States_, 1513-1561, pp. 278-280.

[11] Quoted in Lowery, _op. cit._, pp. 281-282.

THE ECONOMIC CONDITION OF THE NEGROES OF NEW YORK PRIOR TO 1861

The institution of slavery existed in the State of New York until 1827. The number of slaves had increased from 6,000 slaves in 1700 to 21,000 in 1790.[1] Moved by the struggle for the rights of man, the legislature of New York passed in 1799 an act of emancipation, providing that all children born of slave parents after July 4 ensuing should be free and subject to apprenticeship in the case of males until the age of 28, and of the females until the age of 25, while the exportation of slaves was forbidden. By the process of emancipation all slaves were liberated in 1827. Thenceforth, birth on the soil of New York was a guaranty of freedom and slaves from other States fled to New York as an asylum.[2] As a result of these efforts at gradual emancipation, there were more than 10,000 free Negroes in New York City in 1800.

We are to inquire here as to exactly what was the economic condition of these Negroes. What of their wealth, their means and methods of living well and wisely? With gradual emancipation and the cessation of the sale of slaves the Negroes became economically unimportant to the whites.[3] They were employed as servants, laborers, sailors and mechanics.[4] It was reported to the American Convention of Abolition Societies in 1797, however, "that a degree of decorum and industry prevailed among them much to their honor and advantage." This report further said that "Many in the town and country were freeholders, several worth from $300 to $1,300. Various associations among the free blacks for mutual support, benefit and improvement had been established. One of these had a lot for a burying ground and the site of a church worth fifteen hundred dollars. All were in a state of progressive improvement."[6] Still another part of the report made by these delegates stated that "on the whole they exhibited an example of successful industry highly honorable to themselves, gratifying to their parents, encouraging to patrons and consoling to humanity."[7] Again, in 1803, the New York delegates reported that the "increase of the number of freeholders among the free blacks is an evidence of the progress of industry, sobriety, and economy, and strengthens the hope that they will gradually emerge from their degraded condition to usefulness and respectability."[8]

Further evidence of the economic improvement of free Negroes during this period is evidenced by a significant appeal made by the members of the American Convention of Abolition Societies to the Free Negroes of New York in 1805. "The education of your offspring," said these friends of the Negroes, "is a subject of lasting importance and has obtained a large portion of your attention and care. In this, too, we call upon you for your aid; many of you have been favored to acquire a comfortable portion of property and are consequently enabled to contribute in some measure to the means of educating your offspring."[9] In response to this appeal, the society of free people of color was established in 1812 to maintain a Free Orphan School in New York City and employed two teachers; and there were three other schools which they supported with their tuition fees, while those who were not sufficiently well circumstanced to educate their children sent them to the African Free Schools maintained by the New York Manumission Society.[10]

These African Free Schools were conducted in such a way as to have a direct bearing on the economic improvement of the Negroes. In 1818 the New York Mission Society informed the American Convention of Abolition Societies that the former had devised a plan of extending their care to certain children of color who had completed their course of instruction in the New York African Free Schools "in putting them at some useful trade or employment." These friends of the race in New York said that it had long been a regret that Negro children "educated at their schools had been suffered after leaving it to waste their time in idleness, thereby incurring those vicious habits which were calculated to render their previous education worse than useless." To remedy this evil they appointed an Indenturing Committee, whose duty was to provide places for these children and put them at a trade or some other employment when they had completed their education. The Committee took special care that the persons with whom children might be placed should be those of good character and while on the one hand they insisted that the children demean themselves with sobriety they extended their guardian care to them so that they might not "become subjects of oppression and tyranny." This Indenturing Committee in reaching its decision as to the sort of occupations to which the children could be apprenticed expressed a decided preference for agricultural pursuits, being persuaded that an occupation of this nature was far more conducive to the moral improvement of these Negroes than the pursuits of the city under the most favorable circumstances. This plan upon being presented to the parents and guardians of these children was favorably received, but it does not appear that a large number of them thereafter participated in agriculture.[11]

The activity of the girls who had received instruction in household economics in free schools showed progress in another direction. They formed a society under the name of the African Dorcas Association for the purpose of procuring and making garments for the destitute. The boys, too, contributed their share to this progress, taking up such trades as sail makers, tire-workers, tailors, carpenters and blacksmiths.

Such reports[12] represent the condition of the free Negroes of New York before slavery was completely abolished. This change in the status of the Negroes then, and the evolving industrial system effected a change in the economic condition of the Negro throughout the city.[13]

It must be remembered in this connection, however, that these Negroes experienced difficulties on account of their color either in obtaining a thorough knowledge of the trades or, after they had obtained it, in finding employment in the best shops. White and black laborers at first worked together in the same room and at the same machine. But soon prejudice developed. It was made more intense by the immigration into this country of a large number of poor Germans and Irish, who came to our shores because of the disturbed conditions of Europe. Their superior training and experience enabled them to get positions in most of the trades. Most northern men, moreover, still objected to granting Negroes economic equality. When the supply of labor exceeded the demand, the free Negroes, unable to compete with these foreigners, were driven not only from the respectable positions, but also from the menial pursuits. Measures to restrict to the whites employment in higher pursuits were proposed and where they were not actually made laws, public opinion, to that effect, accomplished practically the same result. This reversal of the position of labor, however, did not take place without a struggle, for there soon arose ill-feeling which culminated in the riots between 1830 and 1840.[14]

In spite of this condition, Arthur Tappan, Gerrit Smith and William Lloyd Garrison reported to the Second American Convention for the Improvement of the Free People of Color that "by perseverance, the youth of color could succeed in procuring profitable situations.[15] To these benefactors, however, it was soon evident that Negroes had to be trained for the competition with white laborers or be doomed to follow menial employment. In accordance with this Gerrit Smith established in 1834 a school in Peterboro, for the purpose of training Negro youths under the manual labor system.[16] With such training, he believed, free Negroes would gain a livelihood, send their children to school, and gradually accumulate money. He hoped that many of them would make progress to the extent of possessing property valued at $250, which amount would enable citizens of color[17] to vote in the State of New York.

Hoping to put an end to economic poverty among these Negroes, Gerrit Smith devised a scheme for the distribution of 3,000 parcels of land of 40 or 60 acres each among the unfortunate blacks then handicapped in this untoward situation in New York City. From a list of names furnished him by Rev. Charles B. Ray, Rev. Theodore F. Wright and Dr. J. McCune Smith, three prominent Negroes in New York City, Gerrit Smith apportioned this land among the Negro colonists in the counties of Franklin, Essex, Hamilton, Fulton, Oneida, Delaware, Madison, and Ulster. On account of the intractability of the soil, however, the harshness of the climate, and, in a great measure, the inefficiency of the settlers, the enterprise was a failure and offered no relief to the economic condition of the Negroes in this city.

It will be interesting to note the observations of a promoter of colonization on the condition of Negroes in New York City at this time. While his statements must be taken with some reservation they, nevertheless, contain a truth which must be taken into account. Hoping to induce Negroes to accept colonization in Africa, he endeavored to show that they could not finally succeed in the struggle in competition with the white laborers and would be crowded out of the higher pursuits of labor. He referred to the fact that a few years prior to 1846 there was a vast body of colored laborers in New York but that at that time they could not be seen. The writer inquired as to "who may find a dray or a cart or a hack driven by a colored man?" "Where are the vast majority of colored people in the city?" "None," said he, "can deny that they are sunken much lower than they were a few years ago and are compelled to pursue none but the meanest avocations."

The gentleman making these observations tried to emphasize this striking contrast by calling attention to the fact that New York was a place that had a great deal of compassion for the slave while it was neglecting to take into account the awful condition of the free Negroes, in spite of the fact that the process of their depression had been going on at the same time that the abolitionists in New York were working for the emancipation of the slave. Although these friends of the Negroes and the Negroes themselves had during these years been boldly asserting their rights and demanding to be elevated, they had been losing ground, sinking into meaner occupations and less lucrative employments. He believed that the day was not far when every desirable business in the city would be entirely monopolized by the whites because of the rapid influx of foreigners who had to labor or serve and knew how to toil to advantage, to the extent that they could make their labor more valuable than that of the people of color.[18]

In things economic, however, the free Negroes of New York made considerable improvement after 1845; a decided improvement in this respect was noted by 1851. So evident was this progress that the colonizationists who had repeatedly referred to the poverty of the Negroes and the prejudice against them in the laboring world as a reason why they should migrate to Africa, thereafter ceased to say very much about their poverty, shifting their complaint rather to social proscription. In 1851 a contributor to _The African Repository_, the organ of the American Colonization Society, discussed the situation of the 48,000 free Negroes of New York. Directing his attention to the 14,000 living in the metropolis, the editor said that the condition of 4,000 of them approached that of comfort; 1,000 of the number having substantial wealth, or that one out of every ten was in a pleasant and enviable social condition. As this pessimist was compelled to concede that this was not a bad showing for an oppressed people he goes off on another line, saying: "Everywhere the Negro, whatever his wealth or education or talents, is excluded from social equality and social freedom."[19]

There were many instances of individual enterprise, however, but these often meant little since Negroes had such a little knowledge of business that white persons often defrauded them out of what they accumulated. Sojourner Truth accumulated more than enough money to supply her wants, but lost some of it by depositing it in a bank without taking account of the sum which she deposited and without asking for the interest when she drew her money from the bank.[20] One Pierson persuaded her to take her money out of the bank and invest it in a common fund which he was raising to be drawn upon by all needy and faithful free Negroes.[21] Her savings, therefore, served to increase this fund, which instead of relieving the economic condition of many needy free Negroes enriched this white impostor.

As evidences of this unusual progress of the Negroes there are many instances of persons who gained wealth in spite of the various handicaps. Many of the caterers and restaurant keepers of high order of New York were Negroes, the most popular of whom being Thomas Downing, the keeper of a restaurant under what is now the Drexel Building, near the corner of Wall and Broad streets, New York City.[22] Abner H. Frances and James Garrett, were formerly extensive clothiers of Buffalo, New York, doing business to the amount of $60,000 annually. They continued their enterprise successfully for years, their credit being good for any amount of money they needed. They failed in business in 1849 but thereafter adjusted the claims against them.[23] Henry Scott and Company, of New York City, engaged in the pickling business, principally confined to supplying vessels.[24] Edward V. Clark, another business man of New York, had a jewelry establishment requiring much capital. His name had, moreover, a respectable standing even among the dealers of Wall Street.[25] Mr. Huston kept for years an intelligence office in New York. He was succeeded by Philip A. Bell, an excellent business man. Concerning it, Austin Steward reported in his book entitled "_The Condition of the Colored People_" that "his business is very extensive, being sought from all points of the city by the first people of the community.[26]

Many other names may be mentioned. William H. Topp was one of the leading merchant tailors of Albany, New York. Starting in the world without aid he educated and qualified himself for business.[27] In Penyan, Messrs. William Platt and Joseph C. Cassey were said to be carrying on an extensive trade in lumber.[28]

Situated in the midst of a rapidly developing country the enterprises of these free Negroes increased in importance every year. This was especially true of the drug stores of Dr. James McCune Smith, on Broadway, a Negro physician, who was practicing in New York City during the thirties, and of the establishment of Dr. Philip White, on Frankfort street. Many Negroes accumulated considerable wealth. Edward Bidwell successfully operated during the period of 1827-40 two stores on the main street of New York City, hoarding considerable money. Austin Steward, still another instance of New York City, made "handsome profits" from the sale of spirituous liquors. At one time he said that no further exertion was necessary on his part to enjoy life, or to better his economic condition. Finally, William Smith, a shrewd sailor of New York, managed to accumulate considerable wealth.

The statistics of the census of 1850 give further evidences of this general progress. Of the 50,000 free people of color in the State of New York over 15 years of age in 1850, sixty were clerks, doctors and lawyers and about 55 were merchants and teachers.[29] There were, moreover:

2 apprentices 3 barkeepers 4 bakers
1 blacksmith 122 barbers 21 boarding house keepers
28 boatmen 33 butchers 8 cigar makers
12 carpenters 39 carmen 95 cooks
107 coachmen 2 confectioners 1 gunsmith
24 farmers 7 gardeners 3 merchants
2 hatters 11 ink makers 1144 laborers
3 jewelers 21 ministers 4 painters
24 musicians 434 mariners 2 mechanics
15 marketmen 4 printers 23 tailors
44 stewards 808 servants 23 shoemakers
12 sextons 8 teachers
207 engaged in other
occupations

Many Negroes used wisely the money which they obtained from these businesses. Out of a free population of 50,000 Negroes, 5,447, or about one in ten was in school during this period. In a pamphlet entitled the _Present Condition of Free People of Color_ published by James Freeman Clarke in 1859, the author stated that they were no less neat in person and attire than their white neighbors.[30] One year during the period from 1850 to 1860 Negroes of New York City invested in business carried on by themselves $775,000; in businesses of Brooklyn $76,000. That same year these free Negroes purchased real estate in New York worth $733,000, and in Brooklyn $276,000.[31]

With complete freedom in New York, free Negroes made more efforts to improve their condition. There were established several newspapers which served not only to present their cause to the public but also as economic factors. First of these must be mentioned a publication called _Freedom's Journal_ or _The Rights of All_. This paper, edited by James B. Russworm, the first Negro college graduate in the United States, and Rev. Samuel F. Cornish, was established in March, 1827.[32] Another journal, styled _The Weekly Advocate_, changing its name later to _The Colored American_, appeared in New York, March 4, 1837. The editor was Philip A. Bell. Later Charles Bennett Ray became one of the proprietors and editors. Finally, mention must be made of such journals of this period as _The Elevator_, of Albany, edited by Stephen Myers; _The Genius of Freedom_, by David Ruggles; _People's Press_, by Thomas Hamilton; and _North Star_, by Frederick Douglass. Concerning the last named publication, it was generally said that it was conducted on a higher plane than any of the others and that it was among the first newspapers of the country.

ARNETT G. LINDSAY.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Census of New York before 1790:

_Year_ _Number_
1664 "very few"
1678 "very few"
1698 King's County, 293.
1703, 5 counties about N. Y. City 1,301.
1712, 5 counties about N. Y. City 1,775.
1723 6,171
1731 7,231
1746 9,717
1774 21,717
1790 21,324
1800 20,903
1810 15,017
1820 10,088
1830 75
1840 4

NEW YORK CITY SLAVES.

1703 801
1712 960
1731 1,571
1737 1,719
1746 2,444

Morgan, _Slavery in New York_, page 38.

[2] _New York Emancipation Law--African Repository_, Vol. 31, page 155.

[3] _Half a Man_, M. W. Ovington, page 69.

[4] _American Convention of Abolition Societies, 1797_, p. 39.

[5] _Ibid._, p. 31.

[6] _Ibid._, p. 39.

[7] _Ibid._, p. 30.

[8] _Ibid._, 1803, p. 7.

[9] _American Convention of Abolition Societies, 1805_, p. 38.

[10] _Ibid._, 1812, p. 7.

[11] _American Convention of Abolition Societies_, 1812, p. 14.

[12] Inspectors of the New York African Free Schools reported to _The Commercial Advertiser_, May 12, 1824, that "we never beheld a white school of the same age in which without exception there was more order, neatness of dress, and cleanliness of person."

[13] _Ibid._

[14] _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. III, p. 354.

[15] Woodson, _Education of the Negro Prior to 1861_, p. 286.

[16] _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. III.

[17] _Hurd's Law of Freedom-Bondage_, p. 81.

[18] _African Repository_, September, 1846, p. 278.

[19] _Ibid._, 1851, p. 263.

[20] _Narrative of Sojourner Truth_, p. 99.

[21] _Ibid._, p. 99.

[22] Martin Delaney, _Condition of Colored People_, p. 139.

[23] _Ibid._, p. 102.

[24] _Ibid._, p. 106.

[25] Austin Steward, _Condition of Colored People_, p. 102.

[26] _Ibid._, p. 102.

[27] Austin Steward, _Condition of Colored People_, p. 102.

[28] _Ibid._, p. 132.

[29] _Seventh Census of the United States._

[30] J. F. Clarke, _Present Condition of People of Color_, p. 14.

[31] _Ibid._

[32] _Afro-American Press_, p. 27.

DOCUMENTS

THE APPEAL OF THE AMERICAN CONVENTION OF ABOLITION SOCIETIES

The student of the so-called Negro problem of today may find it profitable to study the methods of persons thus concerned more than a century ago. What their plans were, what machinery they constructed for carrying them out, and the hopes they had for ultimate success, will furnish much material for reflection for social workers. There is published below, therefore, a number of the annual appeals of the American Convention of Abolition Societies to the various branches, setting forth the annual review of the work, the general survey of results obtained and the ways and means to carry it forward to a successful completion.

TO THE ANTISLAVERY GROUPS

_To the Society for
promoting the abolition of Slavery, Ec._

It is with peculiar pleasure we inform you, that the Convention
of Delegates, from most of the Abolition Societies formed in the
United States, met in this city, have, with much unanimity, gone
through the business which came before them. The advantages to be
derived from this meeting are so evident, that we have agreed
earnestly to recommend to you, that a similar meeting be annually
convened, until the great object of our association--the liberty
of our fellowmen--shall be fully and equivocally established.

To obtain this important end, we conceive that it is proper,
constantly to have in view the necessity of using our utmost and
unremitting endeavors to abolish slavery, and to protect and
meliorate the condition of the enslaved, and of the emancipated.
The irresistible, though silent progress of the principles of
true philosophy, will do much for us; but, placed in a situation
well adapted to promote these principles, it surely becomes us to
improve every occasion of forwarding the great designs of our
institutions. For this purpose, we think it proper to request you
to unite with us, in the most strenuous exertions, to effect a
compliance with the laws in favour of emancipation; and, where
these laws are deficient, respectful applications to the
State-Legislatures should not be discontinued, however
unsuccessful they may prove.--Let us remember, for our
consolation and encouragement in these cases, that, although
interest and prejudice may oppose, yet the fundamental principles
of our government, as well as the progressive and rapid influence
of reason and religion, are in our favour--and let us never be
discouraged by a fear of the event, from performing any task of
duty, when clearly pointed out; for it is an undoubted
truth--that no good effort can ever be entirely lost.

While contemplating the great principles of our associations, we
cannot refrain from recommending to your attention the propriety
of using your endeavours to form, as circumstances may require,
Abolition Societies in your own, and in the neighboring States;
as, for want of the concurrence of others, the good intentions
and efforts of many an honest and zealous individual are often
defeated.

But, while we wish to draw your attention to these objects, there
is another which we cannot pass over. We are all too much
accustomed to the reproaches of the enemies of our cause, on the
subject of the ignorance and crimes of the Blacks, not to wish
that they were ill-founded. And though, to us, it is sufficiently
apparent that this ignorance, and these crimes, are owing to the
degrading state of slavery; yet, may we not, with confidence,
attempt to do away the reproach?--Let us use our endeavours to
have the children of the emancipated, and even of the enslaved
Africans, instructed in common literature--in the principles of
virtue and religion, and in those mechanic arts which will keep
them most constantly employed, and, of course, will less subject
them to idleness and debauchery; and thus prepare them for
becoming good citizens of the United States: a privilege and
elevation to which we look forward with pleasure, and which we
believe can be best merited by habits of industry and virtue.

We shall transmit you an exact copy of our proceedings, with the
different memorials and addresses which to us have appeared
necessary at this time; and would recommend to you the propriety
of giving full powers to the Delegates who are to meet in the
year 1795; believing that the business of that Convention will be
rendered more easy and more extensively useful, if you send, by
your Representatives, certified copies of the constitution and
laws of your _Society_, and of all the laws existing in your
state concerning slavery, with such facts relative to this
business, as may ascertain the respective situation of slavery,
and of the Blacks in general.

_To the Society for
promoting the abolition of slavery, &c._

The Delegates, from the several Abolition Societies in the United
States, convened in this city, express to you, with great
satisfaction, the pleasure they have experienced from the
punctual attendance of the persons, delegated to this Convention,
and that harmony with which they have deliberated on the several
matters that have been presented to them, at this time, for their
consideration. The benefits which may flow from a continuance of
this general meeting, by aiding the principal design of its
institution--the universal emancipation of the wretched Africans
who are yet in bondage, appear to us so many and important, that
we are induced to recommend to you, to send Delegates to a
similar Convention, which we propose to be holden, in this city,
on the first day of January, in the year one thousand, seven
hundred and ninety-six.

We have thought it proper to request your further attention to
that part of the address of the former Convention, which relates
to the procurement of certified copies of the laws of your state
respecting slavery; and that you would send, to the next
Convention, exact copies of all such laws as are now in force,
and of such as have been repealed. Convinced that an historical
review of the various acts and provisions of the Legislatures of
the several states, relating to slavery, from the periods of
their respective settlements to the present time, by tracing the
progress of the system to African slavery in this country, and
its successive change in the different governments of the Union,
would throw much light on the objects of our enquiry and
attention, and enable us to determine, how far the cause of
justice and humanity has advanced among us, and how soon we may
reasonably expect to see it triumphant;--we recommend to you, to
take such measures as you may think conducive to that purpose,
for procuring materials for the work now proposed, and assisting
its publication; and to communicate, to the ensuing Convention,
what progress you shall have made toward perfecting the plan here
offered for your consideration and care.

Believing that an acquaintance with the names of the officers of
the several Abolition Societies, would facilitate that friendly
correspondence which ought always to be preserved between our
various associations, we request that you would send, to the
next, and to every future Convention, an accurate list of all the
officers of your Society, for the time being, with the number of
members of which it consists. And it would assist that Convention
in ascertaining the existing state of slavery in the United
States, if you were to forward to them an exact account of the
persons who have been liberated by the agency of your Society,
and of those who may be considered as signal instances of the
relief that you have afforded; and, also, a statement of the
number of free blacks in your state, their property, employments,
and moral conduct.

As a knowledge of what has been done, and of that success which
has attended the efforts of humanity, will cherish the hope of
benevolence, and stimulate to further exertion, we trust that you
will be of opinion with us, that it would be highly useful to
procure correct reports of all such trials, and decisions of
courts of judicature, respecting slavery, a knowledge of which
may be subservient to the cause of abolition, and to transmit
them to the next, or to any future Convention.

It cannot have escaped your observation, how many persons there
are who continue the hateful practice of enslaving their fellow
men, and who acquiesce in the sophistry of the advocates of that
practice, merely from want of reflection, and from an habitual
attention to their own immediate interest. If to such were often
applied the force of reason, and the persuasion of eloquence,
they might be awakened to a sense of their injustice, and be
startled with horror at the enormity of their conduct. To produce
so desirable a change in sentiment, as well as practice, we
recommend to you the instituting of annual, or other periodical,
discourses, or orations, to be delivered in public, on the
subject of slavery, and means of its abolition.

We cannot forbear expressing to you our earnest desire, that you
will continue, without ceasing, to endeavour, by every method in
your power which can promise any success, to procure, either an
absolute repeal of all the laws in your state, which countenance
slavery, or such an amelioration of them as will gradually
produce an entire abolition. Yet, even should that greater end
be happily attained, it cannot put a period to the necessity of
further labor. The education of the emancipated, the noblest and
most arduous task which we have to perform, will require all our
wisdom and virtue, and the constant exercise of the greatest
skill and discretion. When we have broken his chains, and
restored the African to the enjoyment of his rights, the great
work of justice and benevolence is not accomplished--The new born
citizen must receive that instruction, and those powerful
impressions of moral and religious truth, which will render him
capable and desirous of fulfilling the various duties he owes to
himself and to his country. By educating some in the higher
branches of science, and all in the useful parts of learning, and
in the precepts of religion and morality, we shall not only do
away with the reproach and calumny so unjustly lavished upon us,
but confound the enemies of truth, by evincing that the unhappy
sons of Africa, in spite of the degrading influence of slavery,
are in no wise inferior to the more fortunate inhabitants of
Europe and America.

As a mean of effectuating, in some degree, a design so virtuous
and laudable, we recommend to you to appoint a committee,
annually, or for any other more convenient period, to execute
such plans, for the improvement of the condition and moral
character of the free blacks in your state, as you may think best
adapted to your particular situation.

By a decree of the National Convention of France, all the blacks
and people of color, within the territories of the French
republic, are declared free, and entitled to an equal
participation of the rights of citizens of France. We have been
informed that many persons, of the above description,
notwithstanding the decree in their favor, have been brought from
the West-India islands, by emigrants, into the United States, and
are now held as slaves,--We suggest to you the propriety, as well
as the necessity, of making enquiry into the subject, and of
effecting their liberation, so far as may be found consistent
with the laws of your state.[2]

_To the Society for promoting
the Abolition of Slavery, &c._

The Delegates from the several Abolition Societies in the United
States inform you, that, agreeably to the recommendation of the
Convention of last year, they met in this city on the first
instant, and have, with much harmony and satisfaction, gone
through the business which came before them. They have the
pleasure to assure you, that every successive meeting evinces the
importance of that union and concert which are so happily
established among the several Societies, in pursuing the great
object of their association.

But, although the exertions of this delegated Body have been
hitherto attended, as we hope, with considerable
success--Although we are persuaded that no small progress may be
marked in the great business of emancipation; yet much remains to
be done; as long as _seven hundred thousand_ of our Fellow
Creatures, in the United States, continue in a state of bondage,
there appears a pressing necessity for the continuance of our
efforts; that we should keep our attention fixed upon the
subject, and stand ready to improve every favorable opportunity
that may occur, to forward the interesting cause in which we are
engaged. We are therefore induced to continue the recommendation
heretofore made, that a similar meeting be annually held; and as
convening at the present season is attended with inconveniences,
we propose, that the next Convention, should assemble in this
city, on the first Wednesday of May, in the year 1797.