The Project Gutenberg eBook of History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880, Vol. 1, by George W. Williams.

In June, 1779, a Spanish ship called "Victoria" sailed from Charleston, S.C., for Cadiz. During the first part of her voyage she was run down by a British privateer; but, instead of being captured, she seized her assailant, and found on board thirty-four Negroes, whom the English vessel had taken from plantations in South Carolina. The Spaniards got the Negroes on board their ship, disabled the English vessel, and then dismissed her. Within a few days she was taken by two British letters-of-marque, and headed for New York. During her passage thither she was re-captured by the "Hazard" and "Tyrannicide," armed vessels in the service of Massachusetts, and taken into the port of Boston. By direction of the Board of War she was ordered into the charge of Capt. Johnson, and was unloaded on the 21st of June. The Board of War reported to the Legislature that there were thirty-four Negroes "taken on the high seas and brought into the state." On the 23d of June [1780] the Legislature ordered "that Gen. Lovell, Capt. Adams, and Mr. Cranch, be a committee to consider what is proper to be done with a number of negroes brought into port in the prize ship called the [594] Lady Gage."[595] On the 24th of June, "the committee appointed to take into consideration the state and circumstances of a number of negroes lately brought into the port of Boston, reported a resolve directing the Board of War to inform our delegates in Congress of the state of facts relative to them, to put them into the barracks on Castle Island, and cause them to be supplied and employed."[596] The resolve passed without opposition.

The Negroes were delivered to Thomas Knox on the 28th of June, and were conveyed "to Castle Island pr. Order of Court." The Board of War voted the "34 Negroes delivered" rations. Lieut.-Col. Paul Revere was instructed to "issue to the Negroes at Castle Island—1 lb. of Beef, 1 lb. of Rice pr. day." The following letter is not without interest:—

In accordance with the order of the Legislature, made on the 24th of June, the president of the Board of War, Samuel P. Savage, wrote a letter to the Massachusetts delegates in Congress, dated "War Office June 29th 1779," calling attention to the re-captured Negroes. The letter closed with the following:—

The writer was at pains to enumerate, in his letter, such slaves as he was enabled to locate.

Pending the action of the lawful owners of these captives, the council instructed the commandant of Castle Island, Col. Paul Revere, to place out to service, in different towns, some of the Negroes, with the understanding that they should be delivered up to the authorities on their order. Some were delivered to gentlemen who desired them as servants. But in the fall of 1779 quite a number were still on the island, as may be seen by the following touching letter:—

In the mean time some of the reputed owners of the Negroes at Castle Island had come from Charleston, S.C., to secure their property. When they arrived in Boston they secured the services of John Codman, Isaac Smith, and William Smith, who on the 15th of November, 1779, petitioned the Council for the "restitution" of slaves taken by a British privateer, and retaken by two armed vessels of Massachusetts. A committee was appointed to consider the petitions, and report what action should be taken in the matter. Two days later another petition was presented to the Council by one John Winthrop, "praying that certain negroes, who were brought into this state by the Hazard and Tyrannicide, may be delivered to him." It was referred to the committee appointed on the 15th of November. On the 18th of November, "Jabez Fisher, Esq., brought down a report of the Committee of both Houses on the petition of Isaac Smith, being by way of resolve, directing the Board of War to deliver so many of the negroes therein mentioned, as are now alive. Passed in Council, and sent down for concurrence." The order of the House is, "Read and concurred, as taken into a new draught. Sent up for concurrence."

On the 12th of April, 1780, Massachusetts passed an Act providing more effectually "for the security, support, and exchange of prisoners of war brought into the State." It declares that

The above Act was passed in compliance with a resolution of Congress, Jan. 13, 1780; and it repealed an Act of 1777, that made no provisions for the capture of Negroes.

On the 23d of January, 1784, Gov. Hancock sent a message to the Legislature, transmitting correspondence received dining the adjournment of the Legislature from Oct 28, 1783, to Jan. 21, 1784. Calling the attention of the Legislature to this correspondence, he referred to a letter from "His Excellency the Governor of South Carolina, respecting the detention of some Negroes here, belonging to the subjects of that state. I have communicated it to the Judges of the Supreme Judicial Court—their observations upon it are with the Papers. I have made no reply to the letter, judging it best to have your decision upon it."[602] The same papers on the same day were read in the Senate, and a joint committee of both houses was appointed. The committee reported to both branches of the Legislature on the 23d of March, 1784, and the report was adopted. A request was made of the governor to furnish copies of the opinions of the judges, etc.

The papers referred to seem to have been lost, but extracts are here produced:—

By the Treaty of Peace in 1783, Negroes were put in the same category with horses and other articles of property.[604]

It is clear, that notwithstanding the Act of the Massachusetts Legislature, and in the face of the law of Congress on the question of recaptures, Gen. Washington, the Congress of the United Colonies, and subsequently of the United States, regarded Negroes as property from the beginning to the end of the war. The following treaties furnish abundant proof that Negroes were regarded as property during the war, by the American government:—

It was not a difficult matter to retake Negroes captured by the enemy, and then treat them as prisoners of war. But no officer in the American army, no member of Congress, had the moral courage to proclaim that property ceased in a man the moment he donned the uniform of a Revolutionary soldier, and that all Negro soldiers captured by the enemy should be treated as prisoners of war. So, all through the war with Britain, the Negro soldier was liable to be claimed as property; and every bayonet in the army was at the command of the master to secure his property, even though it had been temporarily converted into an heroic soldier who had defended the country against its foes. The unprecedented spectacle was to be witnessed, of a master hunting his slaves under the flag of the nation. And at the close of hostilities many Negro soldiers were called upon to go back into the service of their masters; while few secured their freedom as a reward for their valor. The following letter of Gen. Washington, addressed to Brig.-Gen. Rufus Putnam, afterwards printed at Marietta, O., from his papers, indicates the regard the Father of his Country had for the rights of the master, though those rights were pushed into the camp of the army where many brave Negroes were found; and it also illustrates the legal strength of such a claim:—

Enlistment in the army did not work a practical emancipation of the slave, as some have thought. Negroes were rated as chattel property by both armies and both governments during the entire war. This is the cold fact of history, and it is not pleasing to contemplate. The Negro occupied the anomalous position of an American slave and an American soldier. He was a soldier in the hour of danger, but a chattel in time of peace.

FOOTNOTES:

[588] Felt says, in History of Salem, vol. ii. p. 278: "Sept. 17 [1776]. At this date two slaves, taken on board of a prize, were to have been sold here; but the General Court forbid the sale, and ordered such prisoners to be treated like all others."

[589] Resolves, p. 14. Quoted by Dr. Moore from the original documents.

[590] Mr. Motley, "Rise of Dutch Republic," vol. i. p. 151, says that in the sixteenth century, in wars between European states, the captor had a property in his prisoner, which was assignable.

[591] Law of Fiefdom and Bondage, vol. i. p. 158.

[592] Mr. Hurd says, "In ascribing slavery to the law of nations it is a very common error to use that term not in the sense of universal jurisprudence—the Roman jus gentium-but in the modern sense of public international law, and to give the custom of enslaving prisoners of war, in illustration: as if the legal condition of other slaves who had never been taken in war were not equally jure gentium according to the Roman jurisprudence" See Mr. Webster's speech, 7th March, 1830; Works, vol. v. p. 329.

[593] Dawson's Stony Point, pp. 111, 118.

[594] Dr. Moore thinks this the wrong name. The resolve proves it.

[595] House Journal, p. 60.

[596] Ibid, pp. 63, 64.

[597] Resolves, p. 51.

[598] Mass. Archives, vol. cli., pp. 202-294.

[599] The indefatigable Dr. George H. Moore copied the letter from the original manuscript. The portions in Italics are in the handwriting of Hancock. I have been placed under many obligations to my friend Dr. Moore.

[600] Resolves, p. 131.

[601] Laws, 1780, chap. v. pp. 283, 284.

[602] Journal, vol. iv. pp. 308, 309.

[603] From Mr. Bancroft's MSS., America, 1783, vol. ii. Quoted by Dr. Moore.

[604] Sparks's Washington, vol. viii. p. 428, note.

[605] Works of Hamilton, vol. vii. p. 191.

[606] Sparks's Washington, vol. viii. pp. 431,432.

[607] Sparks's Washington, vol. viii, Appendix, p. 544.

[608] U.S. Statutes at large, vol. viii, pp. 54, 57.

[609] Ibid., pp. 80, 83.

[610] U.S. Statutes at large, vol. viii. p. 218.

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE NEGRO INTELLECT.—BANNEKER THE ASTRONOMER.[611].— FULLER THE MATHEMATICIAN.—DERHAM THE PHYSICIAN.

Statutory Prohibition against the Education of Negroes.—Benjamin Banneker, the Negro Astronomer and Philosopher.—His Antecedents—Young Banneker as a Farmer and Inventor—The Mills of Ellicott & Co.—Banneker cultivates his Mechanical Genius and Mathematical Tastes.—Banneker's first Calculation of an Eclipse submitted for Inspection in 1789.—His Letter to Mr Ellicott.—The Testimony of a Personal Acquaintance of Banneker as to his Upright Character.—His Home becomes a Place of Interest to Visitors.—Record of his Business Transactions.—Mrs. Mason's Visit to him.—She addresses him in Verse.—Banneker replies by Letter to her.—Prepares his First Almanac for Publication in 1792.—Title of his Almanac—Banneker's Letter to Thomas Jefferson.—Thomas Jefferson's Reply.—Banneker invited to accompany the Commissioners to run the Lines of the District of Columbia.—Banneker's Habits of studying the Heavenly Bodies.—Minute Description given to his Sisters in Reference to the Disposition of his Personal Property after Death.—His Death.—Regarded as the most Distinguished Negro of his Time.—Fuller the Mathematician, or "The Virginia Calculator."—Fuller of African Birth, but stolen and sold as a Slave into Virginia.—Visited by Men of Learning.—He was pronounced to be a Prodigy in the Manipulation of Figures.—His Death.—Derham the Physician.—Science of Medicine regarded as the most Intricate Pursuit of Man.—Early Life of James Derham.—His Knowledge of Medicine, how acquired.—He becomes a Prominent Physician in New Orleans.—Dr. Rush gives an Account of an Interview with him.—What the Negro Race produced by their Genius in America.

FROM the moment slavery gained a foothold in North America until the direful hour that witnessed its dissolution amid the shock of embattled arms, learning was the forbidden fruit that no Negro dared taste. Positive and explicit statutes everywhere, as fiery swords, drove him away hungry from the tree of intellectual life; and all persons were forbidden to pluck the fruit for him, upon pain of severe penalties. Every yearning for intellectual food was answered by whips and thumb-screws.

But, notwithstanding the state of almost instinctive ignorance in which slavery held the Negro, there were those who occasionally astounded the world with the brightness of their intellectual genius. There were some Negroes whose minds ran the gauntlet of public proscription on one side and repressive laws on the other, and safely gained eminence in astronomy, mathematics, and medicine.

Benjamin Banneker, the Negro astronomer and philosopher, was born in Maryland, on the 9th of November, 1731. His maternal grandmother was a white woman, a native of England, named Molly Welsh. She came to Maryland in a shipload of white emigrants, who, according to the custom of those days, were sold to pay their passage. She served her master faithfully for seven years, when, being free, she purchased a small farm, at a nominal price. Soon after she bought two Negro slaves from a ship that had come into the Chesapeake Bay, and began life anew. Both of these Negroes proved to be men of more than ordinary fidelity, industry, and intelligence. One of them, it was said, was the son of an African king. She gave him his freedom, and then married him. His name was Banneker.[612] Four children were the fruit of this union; but the chief interest centres in only one,—a girl, named Mary. Following the example of her mother, she also married a native of Africa: but both tradition and history preserve an unbroken silence respecting his life, with the single exception that, embracing the Christian religion, he was baptized "Robert Banneker;" and the record of his death is thus preserved, in the family Bible: "Robert Banneker departed this life, July ^ye 10th 1759." Thus it is evident that he took his wife's surname. Benjamin Banneker was the only child of Robert and Mary Banneker.

Young Benjamin was a great favorite with his grandmother, who taught him to read. She had a sincere love of the Sacred Scriptures, which she did not neglect to inculcate into the youthful heart of her grandson. In the neighborhood,—at that time an almost desolate spot,—a school was conducted where the master admitted several Colored children, with the whites, to the benefits of his instructions. It was a "pay school," and thither young Banneker was sent at a very tender age. His application to his studies was equalled by none. When the other pupils were playing, he found great pleasure in his books. How long he remained in school, is not known.

His father purchased a farm of one Richard Gist, and here he spent the remnant of his days.

When young Banneker had obtained his majority, he gave attention to the various interests of farm-life. He was industrious, intelligent in his labors, scrupulously neat in the management of his grounds, cultivated a valuable garden, was gentle in his treatment of stock,—horses, cows, etc.,—and was indeed comfortably situated. During those seasons of leisure which come to agriculturists, he stored his mind with useful knowledge. Starting with the Bible, he read history, biography, travels, romance, and such works on general literature as he was able to borrow. His mind seemed to turn with especial satisfaction to mathematics, and he acquainted himself with the most difficult problems.

He had a taste also for mechanics. He conceived the idea of making a timepiece, a clock, and about the year 1770 constructed one. With his imperfect tools, and with no other model than a borrowed watch, it had cost him long and patient labor to perfect it, to make the variation necessary to cause it to strike the hours, and produce a concert of correct action between the hour, the minute, and the second machinery. He confessed that its regularity in pointing out the progress of time had amply rewarded all his pains in its construction.[613]

In 1773 Ellicott & Co. built flour-mills in a valley near the banks of the Patapsco River. Banneker watched the mills go up; and, when the machinery was set in motion, looked on with interest, as he had a splendid opportunity of observing new principles of mechanism. He made many visits to the mills, and became acquainted with their proprietors; and, till the day of his death, he found in the Ellicotts kind and helpful friends.

After a short time the Ellicotts erected a store, where, a little later, a post-office, was opened. To this point the farmers and gentlemen, for miles around, used to congregate. Banneker often called at the post-office, where, after overcoming his natural modesty and diffidence, he was frequently called out in conversations covering a variety of topics. His conversational powers, his inexhaustible fund of information, and his broad learning (for those times and considering his circumstances), made him the connoisseur of that section. At times he related, in modest terms, the difficulties he was constrained to encounter in order to acquire the knowledge of books he had, and the unsatisfied longings he still had for further knowledge. His fame as a mathematician was already established, and with the increasing facilities of communication his accomplishments and achievements were occupying the thought of many intelligent people.

The following question was propounded to Mr. George Ellicott, and was solved by Benjamin Hallowell of Alexandria.

"A Cooper and Vintner sat down for a talk,
Both being so groggy, that neither could walk,
Says Cooper to Vintner, 'I'm the first of my trade,
There's no kind of vessel, but what I have made,
And of any shape, Sir,—just what you will,—
And of any size, Sir,—from a ton to a gill!'
'Then,' says the Vintner, 'you're the man for me,—
Make me a vessel, if we can agree.
The top and the bottom diameter define,
To bear that proportion as fifteen to nine;
Thirty-five inches are just what I crave,
No more and no less, in the depth, will I have;
Just thirty-nine gallons this vessel must hold,—
Then I will reward you with silver or gold,—
Give me your promise, my honest old friend?'
'I'll make it to-morrow, that you may depend!'
So the next day the Cooper his work to discharge,
Soon made the new vessel, but made it too large:—
He took out some staves, which made it too small,
And then cursed the vessel, the Vintner and all.
He beat on his breast, 'By the Powers!'—he swore,
He never would work at his trade any more!
Now my worthy friend, find out, if you can,
The vessel's dimensions and comfort the man!

The greater diameter of Banneker's tub must be 24.746 inches; the less diameter, 14.8476 inches.

He was described by a gentleman who had often met him at Ellicott's Mills as "of black complexion, medium stature, of uncommonly soft and gentlemanly manners and of pleasing colloquial powers."

Fortunately Mr. George Ellicott was a gentleman of exquisite literary taste and critical judgment. He discovered in Banneker the elements of a cultivated gentleman and profound scholar. He threw open his library to this remarkable Negro, loaded him with books and astronomical instruments, and gave him the emphatic assurance of sympathy and encouragement. He occasionally made Banneker a visit, when he would urge upon him the importance of making astronomical calculations for almanacs. Finally, in the spring of 1789, Banneker submitted to Mr. Ellicott his first projection of an eclipse. It was found to contain a slight error; and, having kindly pointed it out, Mr. Ellicott received the following reply from Banneker:—

His mother, an active, intelligent, slight-built Mulatto, with long black hair, had exercised a tender but positive influence over him. His character, so far as is known, was without blemish, with the single exception of an occasional use of ardent spirits. He found himself conforming too frequently to the universal habit of the times, social drinking. Liquors and wines were upon the tables and sideboards of the best families, and wherever Banneker went it confronted him. He felt his weakness in this regard, and resolved to abstain from the use of strong drink. Some time after returning from a visit to Washington, in company with the commissioners who laid out the District of Columbia, he related to his friends that during the entire absence from home he had abstained from the use of liquors; adding, "I feared to trust myself even with wine, lest it should steal away the little sense I have." On a leaf of one of his almanacs, appears the following in his own handwriting:—

He had a just appreciation of his own strength. He hated vice of every kind; and, while he did not connect himself to any church, he was deeply attached to the Society of Friends. He was frequently seen in their meeting-house. He usually occupied the rear bench, where he would sit with uncovered head, leaning upon his staff, wrapt in profound meditation. The following letter addressed to Mr. J. Saurin Norris shows that his character was upright:—

After the death of his mother, Banneker dwelt alone until the day of his death, having never married, his manners were gentle and engaging, his benevolence proverbial. His home became a place of great interest to visitors, whom he always received cordially, and treated hospitably all who called.