George Washington Williams
HISTORY
OF THE
NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA
FROM 1619 TO 1880.
NEGROES AS SLAVES, AS SOLDIERS, AND AS CITIZENS;
TOGETHER WITH
A PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATION OF THE UNITY OF THE
HUMAN
FAMILY, AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF AFRICA, AND AN
ACCOUNT OF THE NEGRO GOVERNMENTS OF
SIERRA LEONE AND LIBERIA.
BY
GEORGE W. WILLIAMS,
FIRST COLORED MEMBER OF THE OHIO LEGISLATURE, AND LATE
JUDGE ADVOCATE OF
THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC OF OHIO, ETC.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOLUME I.
1619 TO 1800.
NEW YORK:
G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS,
27 AND 29 WEST 23D STREET.
1883.
TO THE
REV. JUSTIN DEWEY FULTON, D.D.,
OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK;
AND TO THE
HON. CHARLES FOSTER,
GOVERNOR OF OHIO;
WHO, AS CLERGYMAN AND STATESMAN, REPRESENT THE PUREST
PRINCIPLES OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH AND STATE.
To the Illustrious Representative of the Church of
Christ:
WHO, FOR A QUARTER OF A CENTURY, HAS STOOD THE
INTREPID CHAMPION OF DIVINE TRUTH,
AND THE DEFENDER OF HUMANITY: DURING THE DARK DAYS OF SLAVERY,
PLEADING
THE CAUSE OF THE BONDMEN OF THE LAND; DURING THE WAR,
URGING
THE EQUALITY OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS, DURING RECONSTRUCTION,
ENCOURAGING THE FREEDMEN TO NOBLE LIVES THROUGH THE
AGENCY OF THE CHURCH AND THE SCHOOL, AND EVERMORE
THE ENEMY OF ANY DISTINCTION BASED UPON
RACE, COLOR, OR PREVIOUS CONDITION
OF SERVITUDE.
To the Distinguished Statesman:
WHO, ENDUED WITH THE GENIUS OF COMMON SENSE, TOO
EXALTED TO BE INFLAMED BY
TEMPORARY PARTY OR FACTIONAL STRIFE, AND WHO, AS CONGRESSMAN AND
GOVERNOR,
IN STATE AND NATIONAL POLITICS, HAS PROVEN HIMSELF CAPABLE OF
SACRIFICING PERSONAL INTEREST TO PUBLIC WELFARE;
WHO, IN DEALING WITH THE NEGRO PROBLEM, HAS ASSERTED A
NEW DOCTRINE IN
IGNORING THE CLAIMS OF RACES: AND WHO, AS THE FIRST NORTHERN
GOVERNOR
TO APPOINT A COLORED MAN TO A POSITION OF PUBLIC TRUST,
HAS THEREBY DECLARED THAT NEITHER NATIONALITY NOR
COMPLEXION SHOULD ENHANCE OR IMPAIR THE CLAIMS
OF MEN TO POSITIONS WITHIN THE GIFT OF
THE EXECUTIVE.
TO THESE NOBLE MEN THIS WORK IS DEDICATED,
WITH SENTIMENTS OF HIGH ESTEEM AND PERSONAL REGARD, BY
THEIR
FRIEND AND HUMBLE SERVANT,
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
at Avondale, O. It being the one-hundredth birthday of the American
Republic, I determined to prepare an oration on the American
Negro. I at once began an investigation of the records of the
nation to secure material for the oration. I was surprised and
delighted to find that the historical memorials of the Negro were so
abundant, and so creditable to him. I pronounced my oration on the
Fourth of July, 1876; and the warm and generous manner in which it
was received, both by those who listened to it and by others who
subsequently read it in pamphlet form, encouraged me to devote what
leisure time I might have to a further study of the subject.
I found that the library of the Historical and Philosophical
Society of Ohio, and the great Americana of Mr. Robert Clarke
containing about eight thousand titles, both in Cincinnati, offered
peculiar advantages to a student of American history. For two years I
spent what time I could spare from professional cares in studying the
whole problem of the African slave-trade; the founding of the British
colonies in North America; the slave problem in the colonies; the
rupture between the colonies and the British Government; the war of
the Revolution; the political structure of the Continental government
and Confederation; the slavery question in local and national
legislation; and then traced the slavery and anti-slavery question
down to the Rebellion. I became convinced that a history of the
Colored people in America was required, because of the ample
historically trustworthy material at hand; because the Colored people
themselves had been the most vexatious problem in North America, from
the time of its discovery down to the present day; because that in
every attempt upon the life of the nation, whether by foes from
without or within, the Colored people had always displayed a
matchless patriotism and an incomparable heroism in the cause of
Americans; and because such a history [pg vi] would give the world more
correct ideas of the Colored people, and incite the latter to greater
effort in the struggle of citizenship and manhood. The single reason
that there was no history of the Negro race would have been a
sufficient reason for writing one.
The labor incident upon the several public positions held by me
precluded an earlier completion of this task; and, finding it
absolutely impossible to write while discharging public duties or
practising law, I retired from the public service several years ago,
and since that time have devoted all my energies to this work. It is
now nearly seven years since I began this wonderful task.
I have been possessed of a painful sense of the vastness of my
work from first to last. I regret that for the sake of pressing the
work into a single volume, favorable to a speedy sale,—at the
sacrifice of the record of a most remarkable people,—I found my
heart unwilling, and my best judgment protesting.
In the preparation of this work I have consulted over twelve
thousand volumes,—about one thousand of which are referred to
in the footnotes,—and thousands of pamphlets.
After wide and careful reading, extending through three years, I
conceived the present plan of this history. I divided it into nine
parts. Two thoughts led me to prepare the chapters under the head of
PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS. First, The defenders of slavery
and the traducers of the Negro built their pro-slavery arguments upon
biblical ethnology and the curse of Canaan. I am alive to the fact,
that, while I am a believer in the Holy Bible, it is not the best
authority on ethnology. As far as it goes, it is agreeable to my head
and heart. Whatever science has added I have gladly appropriated. I
make no claim, however, to be a specialist. While the curse of Canaan
is no longer a question of debate, yet nevertheless the folly of the
obsolete theory should be thoroughly understood by the young men of
the Negro race who, though voting now, were not born when Sumter was
fired upon. Second, A growing desire among the enlightened
Negroes in America to learn all that is possible from research
concerning the antiquity of the race,—Africa, its inhabitants,
and the development of the Negro governments of Sierra Leone and
Liberia, led me to furnish something to meet a felt need. If the
Negro slave desired his native land before the Rebellion, will not
the free, intelligent, and reflective American Negro turn to Africa
with its problems of geography [pg vii] and missions, now that he
can contribute something towards the improvement of the condition of
humanity? Editors and writers everywhere throughout the world should
spell the word Negro with a capital N; and when referring to the race
as Colored people employ a capital C. I trust this will be
observed.
In PART II., SLAVERY IN THE COLONIES, I have striven to give a
succinct account of the establishment and growth of slavery under the
English Crown. It involved almost infinite labor to go to the records
of "the original thirteen colonies." It is proper to
observe that this part is one of great value and interest.
In PART III., THE NEGRO DURING THE REVOLUTION, I found much of an
almost romantic character. Many traditions have been put down, and
many obscure truths elucidated. Some persons may think it irreverent
to tell the truth in the plain, homely manner that characterizes my
narrative; but, while I have nothing to regret in this particular, I
can assure them that I have been actuated by none other spirit than
that of candor. Where I have used documents it was with a desire to
escape the charge of superficiality. If, however, I may be charged
with seeking to escape the labor incident to thorough digestion, I
answer, that, while men with the reputation of Bancroft and Hildreth
could pass unchallenged when disregarding largely the use of
documents and the citation of authorities, I would find myself
challenged by a large number of critics. Moreover I have felt it
would be almost cruel to mutilate some of the very rare old documents
that shed such peerless light upon the subject in hand.
I have brought the first volume down to the close of the
eighteenth century, detailing the great struggle through which the
slavery problem passed. I have given as fair an idea of the debate on
this question, in the convention that framed the Constitution, as
possible. It was then and there that the hydra of slavery struck its
fangs into the Constitution; and, once inoculated with the poison of
the monster, the government was only able to purify itself in the
flames of a great civil war.
The second volume opens with the present century, and closes with
the year 1880. Unable to destroy slavery by constitutional law, the
best thought and effort of this period were directed against the
extension of the evil into the territory beyond the Ohio,
Mississippi, and Missouri rivers. But having placed three-fifths of
the slave population under the Constitution, having pledged the
Constitution to the protection of slave property, [pg viii] it
required an almost superhuman effort to confine the evil to one
section of the country. Like a loathsome disease it spread itself
over the body politic until our nation became the eyesore of the age,
and a byword among the nations of the world. The time came when our
beloved country had to submit to heroic treatment, and the cancer of
slavery was removed by the sword.
In giving an account of the Anti-Slavery Agitation
Movement, I have found myself able to deal briefly with methods
and results only. I have striven to honor all the multifarious
measures adopted to save the Negro and the Nation. I have not
attempted to write a history of the Anti-Slavery Movement. Many noble
men and women have not even been mentioned. It should not be
forgotten that this is a history of the Negro race; and as such I
have not run into the topic discussed by the late Henry Wilson in his
"Rise and Fall of the Slave Power."
In discussing the problem of the rendition of fugitive slaves by
the Union army, I have given the facts with temperate and honest
criticism. And, in recounting the sufferings Negro troops endured as
prisoners of war in the hands of the Rebels, I have avoided any
spirit of bitterness. A great deal of the material on the war I
purchased from the MS. library of Mr. Thomas S. Townsend of New-York
City. The questions of vital, prison, labor, educational, and
financial statistics cannot fail to interest intelligent people of
all races and parties. These statistics are full of comfort and
assurance to the Negro as well as to his friends.
Every cabinet minister of the President wrote me full information
upon all the questions I asked, and promptly too. The refusal of the
general and adjutant-general of the army did not destroy my hope of
getting some information concerning the Negro regiments in the
regular army. I visited the Indian Territory, Kansas, Texas, and New
Mexico, where I have seen the Ninth and Tenth Regiments of cavalry,
and the Twenty-fourth Regiment of infantry. The Twenty-fifth Regiment
of infantry is at Fort Randall, Dakota. These are among the most
effective troops in the regular army. The annual desertions in white
regiments of cavalry vary from ninety-eight to a hundred and
eighteen; while in Negro regiments of cavalry the desertions only
average from six to nine per annum. The Negro regiments are composed
of young men, intelligent, faithful, brave. I heard but one complaint
from the lips of a score of white officers I met, and that was that
the Negroes sometimes struck their horses over the head. [pg ix] Every
distinction in law has disappeared, except in the regular army. Here
Negroes are excluded from the artillery service and engineer's
department. It is wrong, and Congress should place these brave black
soldiers upon the same footing as the white troops.
I have to thank Drs. George H. Moore and S. Austin Allibone, of
the Lenox Library, for the many kind favors shown me while pursuing
my studies in New-York City. And I am under very great obligations to
Dr. Moore for his admirable "History of Early Slavery in
Massachusetts," without which I should have been put to great
inconvenience. To Mr. John Austin Stevens, late editor of "The
Magazine of American History," who, during several months
residence in New-York City, placed his private library and office at
my service, and did every thing in his power to aid my
investigations, I return my sincerest thanks. To the Librarians of
the New-York Historical, Astor, and New-York Society Libraries, I
return thanks for favors shown, and privileges granted. I am
especially grateful to the Hon. Ainsworth R. Spofford, Librarian of
Congress, for the manner in which he facilitated my researches during
my sojourn in Washington. I had the use of many newspapers of the
last century, and of other material to be found only in the
Congressional Library.
To Sir T. Risely Griffith, Colonial Secretary and Treasurer of
Sierra Leone, I am indebted for valuable statistics concerning that
colony.
To the Assistant Librarian of the State Library of Ohio, the
accomplished and efficient Miss Mary C. Harbough, I owe more than to
any other person. Through her unwavering and untiring kindness and
friendship, I have been enabled to use five hundred and seventy-six
volumes from that library, besides newspaper files and Congressional
Records. To Gov. Charles Foster, Chairman of the Board of Library
Commissioners, I offer my profoundest thanks for the intelligent,
active, and practical interest he has taken in the completion of this
work. And to Major Charles Townsend, Secretary of State, I offer
thanks for favors shown me in securing documents. To the Rev. J.L.
Grover and his competent assistant, Mr. Charles H. Bell, of the
Public Library of Columbus, I am indebted for the use of many works.
They cheerfully rendered whatever aid they could, and for their
kindness I return many thanks.
I am obliged to the Rev. Benjamin W. Arnett, Financial Secretary
of the A.M.E. Church of the United States, for the statistics of his
denomination. And to all persons who have sent me newspapers and
pamphlets [pg
x] I desire to return thanks. I am grateful to C.A. Fleetwood,
an efficient clerk in the War Department, for statistics on the
Freedmen's Bank. And, above all and more than all, I return my
profoundest thanks to my heavenly Father for the inspiration, health,
and money by which I have been enabled to complete this great
task.
I have mentioned such Colored men as I thought necessary. To give
a biographical sketch of all the worthy Colored men in the United
States, would require more space than has been occupied in this
work.
Not as the blind panegyrist of my race, nor as the partisan
apologist, but from a love for "the truth of
history," I have striven to record the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth. I have not striven to revive
sectional animosities or race prejudices. I have avoided comment so
far as it was consistent with a clear exposition of the truth. My
whole aim has been to write a thoroughly trustworthy history; and
what I have written, if it have no other merit, is reliable.
I commit this work to the public, white and black, to the friends
and foes of the Negro, in the hope that the obsolete antagonisms
which grew out of the relation of master and slave may speedily sink
as storms beneath the horizon; and that the day will hasten when
there shall be no North, no South, no Black, no White,—but all
be American citizens, with equal duties and equal rights.
New York, November, 1882.
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