You tell me that you are anticipating the perusal of a summary account of the slaves, and state of slavery in the West Indies; but, with every desire to meet your wishes, I feel myself incompetent to the task of directing my pen, upon this subject, in such a manner as may gratify your expectations. I can only offer you, therefore, a few general remarks, which may serve as a recapitulation of the desultory notes, which have been already transmitted to you as circumstances chanced to fall in my path.
You know already that the blacks are purchased upon the coast of Africa, and brought from thence, to the West Indies, in trading ships, fitted out expressly for that purpose. These vessels are the property of individual merchants; and the profit or loss of the adventure rests upon the same chances as in other articles of traffic; but the number, or quantum of the cargo is now regulated by act of parliament, and cannot exceed a given proportion according to the ship’s tonnage. In addition to the common feelings of humanity, it is made the interest of all concerned, to treat these poor Africans well upon the voyage; consequently ill usage and unnecessary severities are carefully avoided, and the cruelties which we read of are no longer practised. They are kept upon deck in the day-time, and induced, by the cheering sound of their favorite banjar, to dance and jump about, by way of exercise. Many of them are taught to pull the ropes, and assist in working the ship; and it is often surprising to observe their expertness, and the progress they make, during the voyage, in performing the sailors’ duties.
The men and women are separated from each other, by a boarded partition, placed across the vessel. They are fed with rice, or Guinea corn, the pounding and preparing of which afford them a source of exercise and employment. They have a great amusement in collecting together in groups, and singing their favorite African songs, in which the energy of their action is more remarkable than the harmony of the music. They sleep between decks, upon the bare boards of the empty cabins—the men below the middle hatchway, the women in the aft cabin. In these births they are necessarily much crowded, only twenty inches of board being allowed for each person; and, notwithstanding every care being taken to preserve a free ventilation, still, from being thus stowed together, the heat and fœtor of the place become intolerably offensive. But they are removed at an early hour in the morning, and great attention is paid to cleanliness, by daily washing the cabins, and leaving them as open as possible to the sun and the breeze—the purification being effected with greater facility in consequence of neither furniture, bedding, nor clothing being allowed.
Like the cargoes of any other species of merchandise, the slaves are regularly consigned to an agent for sale; and, in the course of a few days after their arrival, having acquired their best appearance, by resting from the fatigue of the voyage, and being well rubbed and cleaned, or even oiled, and blacked, and polished so as to have sleek and healthy-looking skins, they are exposed by auction or otherwise, and unreservedly sold to the planters, merchants, and other inhabitants of the colony,—each becoming as exclusively the property of the purchaser as his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is his!
After the sale they are conducted to the respective homes of their new masters; the separating from each other, often becoming their severest trial—their heaviest and most bitter affliction: but, to the credit of the parties concerned, it is contrived, as much as possible, to sell those who are of one family, to the same purchaser, in order to spare them the pangs of parting: still this cannot, in all cases, be accomplished, and the scene of separation is sometimes truly melancholy and affecting. Having reached the abodes of their several owners, they are soothed by meeting with their countrymen; and some of the old negroes are instructed to cheer and console them, by talking to them in their own language, and representing that, by good conduct, they may ensure good treatment, and make themselves happy. Next they are designated with appropriate appellations, each having the name assigned to him placed round his neck, written upon a card, or a piece of wood. Commonly the christening and marriage form but one ceremony—the men being desired to choose their wives at the time they are named; and they are paired off accordingly.
The present price of a healthy negro is from fifty to eighty pounds sterling, according to his age, and strength. The creoles, particularly if cooks, or mechanics, such as tailors, carpenters, or the like, are valued at twenty or thirty, or even sixty pounds more than the untried Africans; who, besides requiring to be taught, may prove to be subject to some malady, or may fall a sacrifice to the seasoning. Women, and boys sixteen or seventeen years old, are considered to be of nearly equal value; but they are somewhat cheaper than the men.
For a considerable time after their arrival it is usual to put them only to light work, treating them with gentleness, and making their employment more an object of amusement than of fatigue. Thus they are gradually trained to the common round of toil, which, after all that is said and written upon the subject, is not so severe or oppressive, as general opinion in Europe represents it. It is compulsory, and therefore performed with reluctance: but the labour is not more heavy, nor the day longer, than that of the poor in other countries. They are not required to toil during more than twelve hours of the twenty-four; and due intervals are allowed for taking rest and food. The climate is undoubtedly more exhausting than that of Europe, but the quantum of work performed is proportionate. The labour of an industrious English peasant, or mechanic amounts, perhaps, to three or four times as much, within the twelve hours, as is accomplished, within the same period, by a slave. Besides which, it should be taken into the account, that the temperature is congenial to the negroes; in proof of which, I have observed it to be a common practice among them, instead of retiring into the shade, to eat their dinners, and bask away the whole hour allotted them, in the open field, exposed to the direct rays of the sun.
It is always the interest of the master to be kind and considerate towards his slaves; for, if they become sickly, and unfit for labour, they will be only an useless expense to him. Among the planters, who possess large bodies of them, their hours of rest and toil are regular and proportioned: they are fitly clothed, and amply fed, and are less frequently treated with severity. It is among a different class of owners whose bread is earned by the toil of a smaller number, or who have only a single slave, that the unhappy blacks are ill-fed, hard-worked, and often punished.
From much, and careful observation, I am authorized to remark that the planters in general are humane and merciful, and do not exact immoderate toil: with them the slaves have a certain round of duty, which cannot be regarded as excessive or severe, being such as may be performed without any hurtful exertion. Still, humanity is shocked that hosts of our species should be brought to public market—sold like sheep or pigs—and driven to work, like cart-horses, with whips at their backs; and upon this ground it is, that the whole system of slavery must be condemned; for, notwithstanding the great majority of owners may be duly careful of their negroes, it must be eternally unjust, and repugnant to every proper sentiment, that any individual, possessing the common frailties of our nature, should have absolute, and unlimited control over others of his fellow-beings.
A man may be generally humane and considerate, and may recollect, upon all common occasions, that it is equally consistent with his duty and his interest to be tender toward his slaves; but it is too certain that there are moments of ungovernable feeling, when no consciousness of interest or propriety can prevail; and, when the individual, however kind in his usual conduct, should not be left, unrestrained by the laws, to wreak his vengeance upon another; for, no man, however just, honorable, and correct in his ordinary dealings, can be, at all moments, fit to be intrusted with the fourfold power of accuser, witness, judge, and executioner!
And, if periods may occur, when even good men may be so led away by their passions, as to interrupt the general consistency of their characters, and conduct themselves with inhumanity, how dreadful is the reflection that those, who, even in their best moments, are not governed by the same amiable feelings, should, upon all occasions, possess the same absolute authority!
Stupidity, obstinacy, and revenge, constitute the more prominent features in the character of slaves—forming the cruel mark, stamped upon them by the very nature of their situation; for, the man being degraded, the mind naturally becomes debased. Sunk in the darkest ignorance, they are wholly devoid of principle: having no sense of moral duty, they thieve, lie, and cheat without restraint, considering the crime to consist only in being detected: governed solely by fear, they scarcely comprehend the doctrine of right and wrong. They are depressed below all proper sense of shame, or elevation; and, being too imbecile to reason upon what is fit and best, in a general view, they have no consideration beyond self-interest, and the gratification of the present moment. Deep sulkiness, idleness, deceit, and low cunning are among their most conspicuous qualities; and if, from these feelings, they are liable to offend the temper, and provoke the irascibility of those about them, it is evident that it must require great forbearance and self-control not to treat them with severity—hence, the impropriety of their being left at the will and mercy of those, whose power over them is arbitrary and unbounded[13].
As it is the effect of bondage to debase the mind of the slave, so is it the natural effect of governing slaves to render the master inconsiderate and severe: it destroys all the finer feelings, and, by permitting men to indulge, instead of compelling them to conceal their passions, begets inordinate and cruel habits, even among those in whose bosoms nature had not implanted them. The laws of a well-ordered state may have the power of rendering bad men good in effect, by causing them to keep a constant watch over their passions, and teaching them to subdue the worst feelings of their nature: but the governing of slaves produces a directly opposite result, and tends to make the best men bad, by removing all control, and suffering their worst passions to riot in lawless sway.
One master may be severe, and punish for the slightest fault—another may miscalculate, and fancy it his interest to overwork his slaves; and others may distress them, from feelings of ill-will: also, if the master, whose real interest it is to cherish and protect his negroes, be kind and humane towards them, the manager, the overseer, or the driver, who has not the same motives of interest to check him, may be cruel, and inflict great severities, without the owner’s knowledge; for, a slave has no hope of being heard in appealing against a white man; nor would he dare to complain to the master, against those who wield the scourge, lest resentment should multiply the affliction: hence, as every man is frail, every slave must be liable to be ill treated, from one cause or other. It cannot therefore be contended that the system is otherwise than radically bad.
But, with respect to the acute feelings of the slaves, and the anguish they suffer from a sense of the galling oppression to which they are exposed, the case is not so grievous as it is sometimes represented; for, very few, if any of them comprehend the advantages of freedom, or reflect with poignancy upon the vast and bitter distinctions between that condition and the ignominious state of slavery. I have frequently taken the opportunity of leading the negroes into conversation, expressly for the purpose of ascertaining their sentiments upon this head; but I never met with one, either male or female, who knew how to estimate properly, or, indeed, fully to understand the difference. To the plain question, whether it would not be a great happiness to them to have their freedom, they commonly reply by asking, what they could do if they were free—who would give them food—who supply them with clothing—or, who send them a doctor when sick? thus implying that, in their neglected minds, the freedom from care is a compensation for their manifold privations. Many of them have been known even to refuse their proffered enfranchisement; and others, who have been liberated, have voluntarily continued the habits and toils of slavery. It will occur to you that, in these cases, they must have been well treated by their owners.
Although considerations of humanity must silence every syllable that might be urged in defence of slavery, still, upon the ground of policy, and the actual state of West India possession, the subject of emancipation claims the most calm and attentive investigation. It is a question upon which conflicting opinions are entertained; and many persons, on either side, who might give a deliberate and unbiassed judgment upon other matters, are too much under the influence of prejudice with regard to this: but, the very existence of discordant sentiments ought to teach all parties a lesson of the greatest caution. Many well-informed colonists reduce the inquiry to a simple question—whether the cultivation of the settlements should be continued or abandoned? insisting that there can be no middle course! Some, led away by a mistaken philanthropy, contend for a general and immediate emancipation, upon the plea that the colonies might be cultivated, and our West India commerce preserved, without slaves; whilst others, weighing minutely the justice and policy, as well as the humanity of the proceeding, are advocates for a slow and gradual enlargement; but in a matter of such magnitude and importance, a circumspect measure of steady operation must, undoubtedly, be far preferable to a hasty act, which, however well intended, might only multiply the evil it is designed to remove.
The abolition of the importation of slaves, from Africa[14], might be a task of less difficulty than the emancipation of those already in the colonies. To accomplish the former, with equal benefit and humanity, a wise system of regulations should be established in the settlements; and the arrangement should be concerted in conjunction with the other nations engaged in this unnatural traffic. The creole slaves are of higher value than those imported; but, while common calculation shows it to be cheaper to purchase a negro than to breed one up, it is not to be expected that the greatest possible care will be taken, and all the requisite means employed to increase the population of the creoles. It might, therefore, be an act of the highest policy to prohibit the importation, and thereby render it the general and individual interest of the colonists to introduce every useful regulation; more particularly for the better accommodation of the pregnant females, and their offspring: but, as it is doubtful, whether, under a sudden suspension of the trade, any plan could be adopted to insure an increase, or even a continuance of the existing population, it is necessary that the abolition, as well as the emancipation, should be gradually effected. Perhaps, with this view, it might be proper, among other regulations, to allow certain vessels to continue the importation for a limited period, requiring that each of them should bring an increased number of females, in every future cargo, in order that there may be an adequate proportion of women in the colonies at the time of the final prohibition.