Complete Works of Harriet Beecher Stowe

by Harriet Beecher Stowe

  It appears clear to my mind that, in a qualified sense, a master sustains the same relation to a young slave, that he sustains to an orphan as a guardian; and that his relation and obligation to an orphan as guardian, does not differ materially from his obligations to a son or daughter. Suppose that he purchases a young slave with his money; he is legally his property during his natural life. Suppose that he becomes guardian to an orphan child; he acquires a legal right to control the child until he is twenty-one years of ago. Let him ask himself, what are his obligations to the orphan? Whatever they are, he is under the same obligations to the slave. But if he is at a loss as to what are his obligations to the orphan, let him ask himself what are his obligations to a son or a daughter? In a qualified sense, he is under the same obligations to the orphan that he is to a child, and ho is under the same obligations to the slave that he is to the orphan. They may differ in degree, but they cannot differ in kind. They are of the same kind, of the same quality, for the reason that the temporal wants and the eternal interests of the slave, the orphan, and the child are the same; and he, as master, guardian and father, is bound to make provision for them. He is morally bound to act with reference to the present happiness and eternal interests of the child, the orphan and the slave. As a general rule, whatever conduces to the happiness of the child, conduces to the happiness of the orphan, and whatever conduces to the happiness of the orphan, conduces to the happiness of the slave. They are each persons of like feelings, passions and propensities; requiring at his hands the same kind of training; the same moral and mental culture. I admit that the profession or occupation which they are destined to follow through life, may render it necessary that there should be some difference in their scholastic training and attainments; but it does not follow because a son is destined for the medical profession, and therefore requires a smattering of Latin and Greek, that an orphan who is expected to follow the occupation of farming, should not be a tolerable English scholar; nor, that a slave, though he remain a slave during his life, should not receive at his hands that amount of mental culture which is requisite to expand his mind, and elevate his character above that ignorance, superstition, degradation and vice, in which the African race are involved.

  The laws in conferring the right to hold slaves as property, did not invest any one with the right to act the tyrant. Every father is invested with the right to control his family; but he has no right to treat any member of his family harshly or unkindly. It is the duty of the father so to demean himself, and so to govern his family as to secure the good order, and promote the peace and happiness of every member of his household. A man’s slaves are members of his household; and the same rules, laws and great cardinal principles, which regulate his conduct as a husband, father and guardian, should regulate his conduct as a master. He has a right to control every member of his family; it is a Divine right, conferred on him for the good of the whole; but in the exercise of this delegated authority, meekness, patience and forbearance should characterize every act of his life; and in his intercourse with every member of his family, white or black, his countenance in their presence, should be as the revivifying influence of the sun on the down-trodden vegetation of the earth, infusing hope, life and animation into all around him; and his words, yea, his commands, should descend as the gentle and genial showers on a parched and thirsty soil, and not in torrents of wrath, anger and indignation. Anger, clamor and strife should be banished from his household. His commands should be mild but firm; and unconditional submission and prompt obedience should be strictly enjoined on his children, dependants and slaves. Beloved by all, he would then move in the midst of his family with that dignity and grace which becometh the true Christian gentleman. Beloved, respected and venerated by every member of his family, he would find it no difficult task to enforce obedience, and thus to govern them according to the requisitions of God’s word.

  Masters, I conceive, by pursuing the course indicated in the preceding pages, would discharge their duty to their slaves, and stand guiltless in the sight of God. The condition of the slaves would be ameliorated; their minds expanded and their manners improved; and thus, at some future period, if in the providence of God it should be their happy lot to attain the rights of freemen, then would they be qualified to appreciate the blessings of freedom, and not sink again into their original barbarism. Thus would they, as freemen, be competent to exercise the rights and privileges of free citizens; and, while rising in the scale of nations, they would point to our government as their great benefactor, who raised them from the lowest depths of savage barbarism and brutality, and conferred on them light, liberty and science, and inducted them into the doctrines of the Christian religion. Then would they view our nation as their great donor, from whom they received light, science and religion, and not as their oppressor.

  It is incumbent on me to state, in conclusion, that the clergy of the slave States have done all that was practicable, under the circumstances, to confer on the slaves the benefits and advantages of religious instruction. I doubt whether the poorer class of people, white or black, have had superior religious advantages in any part of Christendom, at least so far as it relates to the preaching of the gospel, and the ordinances of the church. The clergy of the different denominations have been untiring in their efforts to Christianize the African population. And it is a little remarkable that, in many instances, irreligious men, — men who make no pretentious to religion, men who rarely attend the preaching of the gospel themselves, should encourage their slaves to attend divine service, and, in some instances build churches and employ ministers for the benefit of their own slaves. Strange as it may appear, it is nevertheless true. But admitting the fact, and I cheerfully admit it, that all has been done that was practicable, under the circumstances, to Christianize the African race in the Southern States, yet the principles of Christianity have exerted on them but a partial influence, in consequence of their ignorance. No people can be brought fully under the influence of the Christian religion, unless their minds are at the same time enlightened and expanded by literature. Religion and literature are twin sisters; bound together by indissoluble ties, and the Divine Being never intended that they should be separated. Religious instruction without literary culture, can produce but a partial and superficial effect on the human mind; it can produce no strong, permanent and abiding influence. When the gospel is preached to an ignorant, illiterate, semi-savage people, the seed is sown in an incongenial soil, and the product will be in accordance with the soil in which the seed is sown. This accounts for a fact stated in the preceding pages, that slaves apparently pious, when liberated and exposed to certain temptations, were very likely to fall into their former habits and vices. It also accounts for the fact, that but few Africans can bear flattery and attention from the white race, it matters not how virtuous and pious they may be; it is certain to elate them, and to excite them to acts of indiscretion, and sometimes to acts grossly vicious. It is so common for Southern slaves who arc apparently pious, when exposed to temptation to fall into acts of gross immorality, that many unthinking persons in the South have come to the conclusion that there is no sincere piety among them; that they are insincere and hypocritical in their professions and pretentious. A gentleman once remarked to me, that he had never seen an African in whose piety he had entire confidence. It was a remark, I believe of Doctor Nelson, (the author of the celebrated work on infidelity,) that he had never seen but one or two consistently pious slaves. The doctor was long a resident of Tennessee, a practitioner of medicine and a minister of the gospel, and certainly had good opportunities for forming correct opinions on the subject; but it appears to me that such views are not only uncharitable, but also unphilosophical. Professors of the Christian religion of the African race are not less sincere than are the same class of persons among the white race. On the contrary a slave is more likely than his master to attach himself to a church from pure motives. Many considerations may induce a white man to make a profession of religi
on, which have no bearing, force, or influence whatever, on an African. But the slave is ignorant and degraded; and consequently he lacks moral stamina. He lacks that firmness and stability of character which result from mental culture. And moreover, his views of the Divine Being, of his attributes and his works are erroneous. He knows but little of his Creator or his works; but little about himself and his relations to his fellow creatures. He desires to do right, but he is too often unable to distinguish between right and wrong. But this is not all; for slaves are, to a great extent, devoid of what, (in ordinary parlance,) is called a sense of honor and shame; and too many white Christians, as well as black ones, require all the restraining motives and influences, that can be brought to bear on them, to keep them in the paths of rectitude. What is called the moral sense alone, would fail in a large majority of cases. The above remarks are as applicable to an ignorant, depraved and vicious class of white persons, which may be found every where, as they are to the Southern slaves and free negroes. I will here remark that all that is indispensably necessary to enable an individual to cultivate his mind, is a tolerable knowledge of his mother tongue, so far at least, as to be able to read and write it; and a few well selected books. It is neither necessary nor advisable to read many books; for most of reading men have read too many books, and have studied none. It is a little remarkable that Christians know so little about the Bible. I do not suppose that there is one in a hundred among them who ever read the sacred volume through; and a large majority of them know very little about it, except some very incorrect notions which they have gathered from sermons. It seems that some people imagine that attending church, and hearing sermons comprises the “whole duty of man.” This is all very well so far as it goes; but I beg leave to remind such persons that our Saviour preached a sermon on the mount, near two thousand years ago, which is far superior to any sermon that has been preached from that day to the present time; and that they would do well to read it at least once a month.

  It is but an act of justice to slaveholders for me to state, that the education of slaves in most of the slave States is barred by prohibitory laws. This is one of the fruits of abolition interference with slavery. I have remarked in Chapter 3, of this volume, that the abolition excitement in the North, about thirty-five years ago, cut off discussion in the South on the subject of slavery; and that the legislatures of the slave States in self-defence, or otherwise, in obedience to the imperious demands of self-preservation, enacted stringent laws in reference to the slave population, &c.; and that among them will be found enactments making the education of slaves a penal offense. It was the circulation of abolition tracts and papers among the slaves by Northern men, that first suggested this idea to the Southern legislatures. Previous to that time, many Christian slaveholders were educating their slaves. These laws are inoperative in many places in the South; and it affords me pleasure here to record the fact, that most of the slaves in Knoxville, Tennessee, the city in which I last resided while a citizen of the South, are able to read, and many of them can write. Well done, ye noble and generous sons and daughters of Knoxville.

  CHAPTER XII.

  The subject of slavery for the last thirty-five years has been an exciting one in the United States. There has been much discussion, and what is worse, much angry contention on the subject. It has been a hobby for demagogues, and a fire-brand in the hands of factious disorganizers. Fanatics and false philanthropists have rolled it as a sweet morsel under their tongues. It has furnished them with a pretext to cry liberty! liberty! from the rising to the setting sun. Their whole souls, bodies, and minds, appear to have been absorbed in the contemplation of African slavery. They appeared to be wholly engrossed with this one idea, to be engulphed! swallowed up! lost! confounded and bewildered in visionary abstractions, and ever and anon, their plaintive notes were heard throughout the hills and dales, liberty and oppression, the burden of their songs. They seemed to consider all crime, all oppression, all injustice, all wrong, as merged in African slavery and its concomitant evils, and themselves the peculiar, the special guardians of the rights of man. The North and the South have been hissed on each other with demoniac fury, and have glutted their vengeance in attempts to “bite and devour each other.” Truth, justice, and righteousness have been lost sight of, and a fair and impartial statement of facts has seldom been placed before the public; but in its stead, crimination and recrimination have been hurled from North to South, and from South to North.

  The North has arraigned the South, and the South has hurled defiance at the North; or, if the former set up a defense, it was little better than special pleading. Those who have read the foregoing pages are apprised, that it was no part of my design in this work, to exonerate either North or South, there is guilt enough everywhere to humble us all. But I have long considered the attacks of abolitionists on slaveholders, as devoid of truth and justice, and that their views on slavery, were in direct opposition to the revealed will of God. Abolitionism cannot be of God, because its views, plans, and machinations, are in direct opposition to the revealed will of God. Whosoever sows dissension or excites discontent among the slaves, and influences them to dishonor, despise, or forsake the service of their masters, in so doing, violates the positive injunctions of the Bible. Servants are commanded in the New Testament to obey, love, and serve their masters, and to resign themselves to the will of God, and be content with their lot. Servants are not only taught to obey their masters, but to account them worthy of all honor, and to endeavor to please them in all things. “If any man teach otherwise, (says the apostle), he is proud, knowing nothing.” But abolitionists do teach otherwise; hence, we find many of the leaders of that party repudiating the Bible.

  I do not suppose that Northern people, where slavery is not legalized, are any better than the Southern people where it is legalized. Each section of the Union has its virtues and vices. I do not suppose that England, where slavery is not legalized, is any better than America where it is legalized. There is more or less injustice and oppression everywhere. It looks well in England to talk about oppression in the United States. “Thou hypocrite, first cast the beam out of thine own eye.” Look at down trodden Ireland, thou despotic tyrant. And ye dukes and lords, ye pinks of mortality, professing to be Christians, have ye forgotten the words of Divine inspiration? “He that hath of this worlds goods, and seeth his brother have need, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” Look at your tenantry, the millions of miserable wretches on your own soil, whose condition is far worse than that of the African slaves in the United States? And ye bishops! ye overseers of the flock of Christ? with your princely salaries! surrounded by wealth, splendor, and luxury! Have ye ever thought of the millions, that are starving around you, not only for the bread of eternal life, but also for that which is essential to the sustenance of animal life! Woe to you, ye hypocrites. Ye wolves in sheep’s clothing! Bow your heads with shame, and repent in sack-cloth, or else as surely as there is a God in heaven, you will have “your portion in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone.”

  Some people at the North are constantly harping on the subject of slavery, and yet lo! when some one emancipates a slave in the South, and he straggles off to the North, every one with whom he meets gives him a kick. Benevolent souls, look at the treatment which the Randolph negroes received in the state of Ohio. If slaves are emancipated where are they to go? Where will they find an asylum? Not in the North? For Northern legislatures are already telling them by prohibitory enactments, here, you cannot come. “O consistency! thou art a jewel, a pearl of great price,” a virtue rarely met with.

  Abolitionists make a great noise about slavery, some of them, no doubt, conscientious and sincere; but there are many among them, should they remove to the South, that would in less than five years own a cotton farm or a sugar plantation well stocked with negroes. Facts have in many instances verified the truth of this assertion. Men have frequently emigrated from the free states to the South, professedly abolitionists, and after ge
tting into one or two difficulties with the excitable Southerners, they would all at once throw off their garb of abolitionism, and then, they too, must have slaves. Perhaps they thought that a change of location justified a change of opinion; or, it may be, that they reasoned thus: poor creatures, they are in bondage, and why should they not as well belong to us as to any one else? We can treat them as well as any one. The Southern slaves, however, tell a different tale. They say that Northern men have no business with slaves, for the reason, that they are very hard masters. The negroes of the South have as little sympathy for the Yankees, as their pro-slavery masters.