Chapter I: Preface

After availing himself of all the reliable information obtainable, the author is compelled to acknowledge the scantiness of materials for a history of the African race. He has throughout endeavored to give a faithful account of the people and their customs, without concealing their faults.

Several of the biographical sketches are necessarily brief, owing to the difficulty in getting correct information in regard to the subjects treated upon. Some have been omitted on account of the same cause.

WM. WELLS BROWN.

Cambridgeport, Mass.

PUBLISHERS’ NOTE TO THE 13TH EDITION.

Few works written upon the colored race have equaled in circulation “The Rising Son.”

In the past two years the sales have more than doubled in the Southern States, and the demand for the book is greatly on the increase. Twelve thousand copies have already been sold; and if this can be taken as an index to the future, we may look forward with hope that the colored citizens are beginning to appreciate their own authors.

WELCOME TO “THE RISING SON.”

BY ELIJAH W. SMITH.

Come forth, historian of our race,
And with the pen of Truth
Bring to our claim to Manhood’s rights,
The strength of written proof;
Draw back the curtain of the past,
And lift the ages’ pall,
That we may view the portraits grand
That hang on History’s wall!

Tell of a race whose onward tide
Was often swelled with tears;
In whose hearts bondage has not quenched
The fire of former years
When Hannibal’s resistless hosts
Wrought his imperial will,
And brave Toussaint to freedom called,
From Hayti’s vine-clad hill.

Write when, in these, our later days,
Earth’s noble ones are named,
We have a roll of honor, too,
Of which we’re not ashamed;
If, for the errors of the past,
In chains did we atone,
God, from our race’s sepulchre,
Hath rolled away the stone.

And our dear land, that long hath slept
Beneath oppression’s spell,
Welcomes the manly fortitude
That stood the test so well;
Bearing the record, blazoned o’er
With deeds of valor done,
Up to the Future’s golden door
He comes, the “Rising Son.”

The battle’s din hath passed away,
And o’er the furrowed plain
Spring, fresh and green, the tender blades
Of Freedom’s golden grain;
But eagle eyes must watch the field,
Lest the fell foe should dare
To scatter, while the sowers sleep,
Proscription’s noxious snare.

Lo! shadowy ’mid the forest-trees
Their demon forms are seen,
And lurid light of baleful eyes
Flash through the foliage green;
And till completed is the work
So gloriously begun,
A sentry true on Freedom’s walls
Stand thou, O “Rising Son!”

Go forth! the harbinger of days
More glorious than the past;
Hushed is the clash of hostile steel,
The bugle’s battle-blast;
Go, herald of the promised time,
When men of every land
Shall hasten joyfully to grasp
The Ethiope’s outstretched hand!

CONTENTS.

PAGE
MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR 9

CHAPTER I.

THE ETHIOPIANS AND EGYPTIANS 36

CHAPTER II.

THE CARTHAGINIANS 49

CHAPTER III.

EASTERN AFRICA 65

CHAPTER IV.

CAUSES OF COLOR 78

CHAPTER V.

CAUSES OF THE DIFFERENCE IN FEATURES 84

CHAPTER VI.

CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES 90

CHAPTER VII.

THE ABYSSINIANS 97

CHAPTER VIII.

WESTERN AND CENTRAL AFRICA 101

CHAPTER IX.

THE SLAVE-TRADE 118

CHAPTER X.

THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA 129

CHAPTER XI.

PROGRESS IN CIVILIZATION 135

CHAPTER XII.

HAYTI 140

CHAPTER XIII.

SUCCESS OF TOUSSAINT 150

CHAPTER XIV.

CAPTURE OF TOUSSAINT 159

CHAPTER XV.

TOUSSAINT A PRISONER IN FRANCE 168

CHAPTER XVI.

DESSALINES AS EMPEROR OF HAYTI 173

CHAPTER XVII.

WAR BETWEEN THE BLACKS AND MULATTOES OF HAYTI 185

CHAPTER XVIII.

CHRISTOPHE AS KING, AND PÉTION AS PRESIDENT OF HAYTI 201

CHAPTER XIX.

PEACE IN HAYTI, AND DEATH OF PÉTION 209

CHAPTER XX.

BOYER THE SUCCESSOR OF PÉTION IN HAYTI 218

CHAPTER XXI.

INSURRECTION, AND DEATH OF CHRISTOPHE 222

CHAPTER XXII.

UNION OF HAYTI AND SANTO DOMINGO 229

CHAPTER XXIII.

SOULOUQUE AS EMPEROR OF HAYTI 234

CHAPTER XXIV.

GEFFRARD AS PRESIDENT OF HAYTI 236

CHAPTER XXV.

SALNAVE AS PRESIDENT OF HAYTI 241

CHAPTER XXVI.

JAMAICA 243

CHAPTER XXVII.

SOUTH AMERICA 255

CHAPTER XXVIII.

CUBA AND PORTO RICO 258

CHAPTER XXIX.

SANTO DOMINGO 262

CHAPTER XXX.

INTRODUCTION OF BLACKS INTO AMERICAN COLONIES 265

CHAPTER XXXI.

SLAVES IN THE NORTHERN COLONIES 270

CHAPTER XXXII.

COLORED INSURRECTIONS IN THE COLONIES 276

CHAPTER XXXIII.

BLACK MEN IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 282

CHAPTER XXXIV.

BLACKS IN THE WAR OF 1812 286

CHAPTER XXXV.

THE CURSE OF SLAVERY 291

CHAPTER XXXVI.

DISCONTENT AND INSURRECTION 296

CHAPTER XXXVII.

GROWING OPPOSITION TO SLAVERY 319

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

MOB LAW TRIUMPHANT 322

CHAPTER XXXIX.

HEROISM AT SEA 325

CHAPTER XL.

THE IRON AGE 329

CHAPTER XLI.

RELIGIOUS STRUGGLES 336

CHAPTER XLII.

JOHN BROWN’S RAID ON HARPER’S FERRY 340

CHAPTER XLIII.

LOYALTY AND BRAVERY OF THE BLACKS 342

CHAPTER XLIV.

THE PROCLAMATION OF FREEDOM 347

CHAPTER XLV.

BLACKS ENLISTED, AND IN BATTLE 352

CHAPTER XLVI.

NEGRO HATRED AT THE NORTH 382

CHAPTER XLVII.

CASTE AND PROGRESS 387

CHAPTER XLVIII.

THE ABOLITIONISTS 393

CHAPTER XLIX.

THE NEW ERA 413