The Journal of Negro History, Volume 2, 1917

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[492] Guizot, "History of Civilization," Lect. VI.

[493] Blyden, "Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race," p. 46. A
recent work entitled "Slavery in Germanic Society During the Middle
Ages," by Dr. Agnes Wergeland, late professor of history in the
University of Wyoming, throws light on the work of the Church in
behalf of the oppressed and enslaved. In the preface of this book
Prof. J. F. Jameson, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington,
declares that "we cannot hope to attain a true understanding of
American slavery in some of its essential aspects unless we are
somehow made mindful of the history of slavery as a whole."

[494] Mark, 16-15.

[495] Details of this expedition are found in "The Franciscans in
Arizona," by Fr. Zephyrim Englehardt, O.F.M.

[496] French "Historical Collections of Louisiana," Vol. III, p. 89.

[497] Russell, "Maryland, The Land of Sanctuary," p. 268.

[498] Woodson, "The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861," pp. 23-42.

[499] _African Repository_, XI, 294-295.

[500] Woodson, "The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861," pp. 99,
121.

[501] Johnston, "The Negro in the New World," pp. 142-401.

[502] Woodson, "The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861," p. 139,
quoting Special Report of U. S. Com. of Ed., 1871, pp. 205-206.

[503] McElrone, Memoir to "Bishop England's Works," Vol. I, XIV.

[504] Acts and Decrees of the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore, p.
xxviii; also No. 484, p. 244.

[505] Acts and Decrees of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, No.
239, p. 134.

[506] This brings to mind the fact that, in one burial lot in Calvary
Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee, lie the bodies of twenty-one priests and
some fifty Catholic Sisters who fell victims of yellow fever, while
nursing the sick during the great epidemics which raged in that city
during 1873 and 1878.

[507] Reilly, "Life and Times of Cardinal Gibbons," Vol. II, p. 47.

[508] Riley, "Passing Events in the Life of Cardinal Gibbons," App. X.

[509] Will, "Life of Cardinal Gibbons," p. 361.

[510] Judge Thomas Lee, in "America," p. 495, New York, March, 1917.

[511] Bragg, "Men of Maryland," p. 131.

[512] Riley, "Passing Events in the Life of Cardinal Gibbons," p. 365.

DOCUMENTS

LETTERS OF GEORGE WASHINGTON BEARING ON THE NEGRO

In bringing together here the important expressions of George
Washington reflecting his attitude toward the Negro, no claim to the
discovery of something new is made. Our aim is rather to publish these
extracts in succinct form for the convenience of those who may be
interested in this field. While it is to be regretted that we have not
here a large collection of such materials, these are adequate to give
one a better conception of what Washington thought about the Negro
than can be usually obtained from secondary works.

Complying with the custom of transporting troublesome blacks to the
West Indies,[513] Washington addressed Captain John Thompson the
following July 2, 1766:

"_Sir:_

"With this letter comes a Negro (Tom), which I beg the favour of
you to sell, in any of the Islands you may go to, for whatever he
will fetch and bring me in return for him.

"One hhd of best molasses
One ditto of best rum
One barrell of lymes if good and cheap
One pot of tamarinds containing about 10 Ibs.
Two small ditto of mixed sweetmeats about 5 lbs. each.

"And the residue, much or little, in good old spirits. That this
fellow is both a rogue and a runaway (tho' he was by no means
remarkable for the former, and never practiced the latter till of
late) I shall not pretend to deny--But he is exceeding healthy,
strong, and good at the hoe the whole neighbourhood can testifie
and particularly M. Johnson and his son, who have both had him
under them as foreman of the gang; which gives me reason to hope
he may, with your good management, sell well, if kept clean and
trim'd up a little when offered for sale.

"I shall cherfully allow you the customary commissions on this
affair, and must beg the favour of you (least he shoud attempt
his escape) to keep him handcuffd till you get to sea--or in the
bay--after which I doubt not but you may make him very useful to
you.

"I wish you a pleasant and prosperous passage, and a safe and
speedy return, being Sir

"Yr Yery Hble. Servt.
"Go. WASHINGTON."[514]

The question as to whether Washington wanted Negroes in the army has
often been raised. Addressing a Committee of Congress January 28,
1778, Washington said in part:

"_Gentlemen_,

"The difficulty of getting waggoners and the enormous wages given
them would tempt one to try any expedient to answer the end of
easier and cheaper terms. Among others it has occurred to me
whether it would not be eligible to hire negroes in Carolina,
Virginia and Maryland for the purpose. They ought however to be
freemen, for slaves could not be sufficiently depended on. It is
to be apprehended they would too frequently desert to the enemy
to obtain their liberty, and for the profit of it, or to
conciliate a more favorable reception would carry off their wagon
horses with them."[515]

The student finds it difficult to determine exactly what was
Washington's attitude toward the enlistment of Negro soldiers. When
that question was extensively agitated Laurens wrote Washington:

"Had we arms for three thousand such black men as I could select
in Carolina, I should have no doubt of success in driving the
British out of Georgia, and subduing East Florida before the end
of July."

To this Washington replied:

"The policy of our arming slaves is in my opinion a moot point,
unless the enemy set the example. For, should we begin to form
Battalions of them, I have not the smallest doubt, if the war is
to be prosecuted, of their following us in it, and justifying the
measure upon our own ground. The contest then must be who can arm
fastest, and where are our arms? Besides I am not clear that a
discrimination will not render slavery more irksome to those who
remain in it. Most of the good and evil things in this life are
judged by comparison; and I fear a comparison in this case will
be productive of much discontent in those, who are held in
servitude. But, as this is a subject that has never employed much
of my thoughts, these are no more than the first crude Ideas that
have struck me upon ye occasion."[516]

Writing to Lieutenant Colonel John Laurens, July 10, 1782, concerning
his plan to arm Negroes to defend the South, he said:

"_My Dear Sir_:

"The last post brought me your letter of the 19th of May. I must
confess that I am not at all astonished at the failure of your
plan. That spirit of freedom, which at the commencement of this
contest would have gladly sacrificed every thing to the
attainment of its object, has long since subsided, and every
selfish passion has taken its place. It is not the public but
private interest, which influences the generality of mankind, nor
can the Americans any longer boast an exception. Under these
circumstances, it would rather have been surprising if you had
succeeded nor will you I fear succeed better in Georgia."[517]

From his headquarters October 24, 1781, Washington wrote David Ross
the following concerning Negroes who had been recaptured during the
Revolutionary War:

"_Sir_:

"In answer to your Queries of Yesterday, the Negroes that have
been retaken, from whatever State, whose owners do not appear,
should all be treated in the same manner, and sent into the
Country to work for their Victuals and Cloathes, and advertised
in the States they came from. Those from N. York, are most
probably the property of Inhabitants of that State and N. Jersey,
and should be there Advertised. If any officers, knowing who the
owners are, will undertake to send them home, they may be
delivered to them. The other steps taken by you, are proper and
Expedient. The Negroes may be furnished with two days' Provisions
to carry them to Williamsburg, where there is a State Commissary.

"I am etc.,"[518]

In a letter to Colonel Bland in 1783 Washington took up one of the
important questions arising at the close of the Revolution. This was
the return of the slaves carried off by the British:

"_Sir_,

"HEAD QUARTERS 31st March, 1783.

"The Article in the provisional Treaty respecting Negroes, which
you mention to Sir Guy Carleton, had escaped my Notice, but upon
a recurrence to the Treaty, I find it as you have stated. I have
therefore tho't it may not be amiss to send in your Letter to Sir
Guy, and have accordingly done it.

"Altho I have Servants in like predicament with yours, I have not
yet made any attempt for their recovery.

"Sir Guy Carleton's reply to you will decide upon the propriety
or expediency of any pursuit to obtain them. If that reply should
not be transmitted thro my Hands, I will thank you for a
Communication of it.

"With much Regard, I am &c."[519]

Writing to Sir Guy Carleton about the same question on May 6, 1783,
Washington said:

"Respecting the other point of discussion, in addition to what I
mentioned in my communication of the 21st ultimo, I took occasion
in our conference to inform your Excellency, that, in consequence
of your letter of the 14th of April to Robert R. Livingston,
Esquire, Congress had been pleased to make a further reference to
me of that letter, and had directed me to take such measures as
should be found necessary for carrying into effect the several
matters mentioned by you therein.[520] In the course of our
conversation on this point, I was surprised to hear you mention,
that an embarkation had already taken place, in which a large
number of negroes had been carried away. Whether this conduct is,
consonant to, or how far it may be deemed an infraction of the
treaty, is not for me to decide. I cannot, however, conceal from
you, that my private opinion is, that the measure is totally
different from the letter and spirit of the treaty. But, waving
the discussion of the point, and leaving its decision to our
respective sovereigns, I find it my duty to signify my readiness,
in conjunction with your Excellency, to enter into any agreement,
or to take any measures, which may be deemed expedient, to
prevent the future carrying away of any negroes, or other
property of the American inhabitants. I beg the favor of your
Excellency's reply, and have the honor to be, &c."[521]

In the substance of the conference between Gen. Washington and Sir Guy
Carleton, at an interview at Orangetown, 6th May, 1783, one gets a
still better idea of the attitude of Washington on this question:

"General Washington opened the Conference by observing that he
heretofore had transmitted to Sir Guy Carleton the resolutions of
Congress of the 15th ulto, that he conceived a personal
Conference would be the most speedy & satisfactory mode of
discussing and settling the Business; and that therefore he had
requested the Interview--That the resolutions of Congress
related to three distinct matters, namely, the setting at Liberty
the prisoners, the receiving possession of the posts occupied by
the British Troops, and the obtaing. the Delivery of all Negroes
& other property of the Inhabitants of these States in the
possession of the Forces or subjects of, or adherents to his
Britannic Majesty.--That with respect to the Liberation of the
prisoners, he had, as far as the Business rested with him, put it
in Train, by meetg. & conferring with the Secretary of War, &
concertg. with him the proper measures for collecting prisoners &
forwarding them to N. York, and that it was to be optional with
Sir Guy, whether the prisoners should march by land, or whether
he would send Transports to convey them by Water--and that the
Secty. of War was to communicate with Sir Guy Carleton on the
subject & obtain his Determination.

"With respect to the other two Matters which were the Objects of
the Resolutions, General Washington requested the Sentiments of
General Carleton.

"Sir: Guy then observed that his Expectations of a peace had been
such that he had anticipated the Event by very early commencing
his preparations to withdraw the British Troops from this
Country--and that every preparation which his situation &
circumstances would permit was still continued--That an
additional Number of Transports, and which were expected, were
necessary to remove the Troops & Stores--and as it was impossible
to ascertain the Time when the Transports would arrive, their
passage depending on the casualties of the Seas, he was there
unable to fix a determinate period within which the British
forces would be withdrawn from the City of New York--But that it
was his desire to exceed even our own Wishes in this Respect, &
That he was using every means in his power to effect with all
possible despatch an Evacuation of that & every other post within
the United States, occupied by the British Troops, under his
Direction--That he considered as included in the preparations for
the final Departure of the B. Troops, the previously sending away
those persons, who supposed that, from the part they had taken in
the present War, it would be most eligible for them to leave the
Country--and that upwards of 6,000 persons of this Character had
embarked & sailed--and that in this Embarkation a Number of
Negroes were comprised--General Washington therefore express his
Surprize, that after what appeared to him an express Stipulation
to the contrary in the Treaty, Negroes the property of the
Inhabitants of these States should be sent off.

"To which Sir: Guy Carleton replied, that he wished to be
considered as giving no construction of the Treaty--That by
Property in the Treaty might only be intended Property at the
Time, the Negroes were sent off--That there was a difference in
the Mode of Expression in the Treaty; Archives, Papers, &c., &c.,
were to be restored--Negroes & other property were only not to be
destroyed or carried away. But he principally insisted that he
conceived it could not have been the Intention of the B.
Government by the Treaty of Peace, to reduce themselves to the
necessity of violating their faith to the Negroes who came into
the British Lines under the proclamation of his Predecessors in
Command--That he forebore to express his sentiments on the
propriety of those proclamations, but that delivering up the
Negroes to their former Masters would be delivering then up some
possible to Execution, and others to severe punishments, which in
his Opinion would be a dishonorable violation of the public
Faith, pledged to the Negroes in the proclamations--That if the
sending off the Negroes should hereafter be declared in
Infraction of the Treaty, Compensation must be made by the Crown
of G. Britain to the Owners--that he had taken measures to
provide for this, by directing a Register to be kept of all the
Negroes who were sent off, specifying the Name, Age & Occupation
of the person, and the Name, & Place of Residence of his former
Master. Genl. Washington again observed that he conceived this
Conduct on the part of Genl. Carleton, a Departure from both the
Letter and Spirit of the Articles of Peace;--and particularly
mentioned a difficulty that would arise in compensating the
proprietors of Negroes, admitting this infraction of the Treaty
can be satisfied by such a compensation as Sir Guy had alluded
to, as it was impossible to ascertain the Value of the Slaves
from any Fact or Circumstance which may appear in the
Register,--the Value of a Slave consisting chiefly in his
Industry and Sobriety--& Genl. Washington mentioned a further
Difficulty which would attend Identifying the Slave, supposing
him to have changed his own and to have given a wrong Name of his
Master--In answer to which Sir Guy Carleton said, that as the
Negroe was free & secured against his Master, he could have no
inducement to conceal his own true Name or that of His
Master--Sir Guy Carleton then observed that by the Treaty he was
not held to deliver up any property but was only restricted from
carrying it way--and therefore admitting the interpretation of
the Treaty as given by Genl. Washington to be just, he was
notwithstanding pursuing a Measure which would operate most for
the security of the proprietors. For if the Negroes were left to
themselves without Care of Controul from him, numbers of them
would very probably go off, and not return to the parts of the
Country from whence they came, or clandestinely get on Board the
Transports in such a manner as would not be in his Power to
prevent--in either of which Cases an inevitable Loss would ensue
to the proprietors--But as the Business was now conducted they
had at least a Chance for Compensation--Sir Guy concluded the
Conversation on this subject by saying that he Imagined that the
mode of Compensating as well as the Amount and other points with
respect to which there was no provision made in the Treaty, must
be adjusted by the Commissioners to be hereafter appointed by the
two Nations."[522]

Washington admitted that slavery was wrong but he never did much to
curb its growing power, contenting himself with a deprecation much
like this expressed in the letter to Lafayette, April 5, 1783.

"The scheme, my dear Marqs., which you propose as a precedent to
encourage the emancipation of the black people of this Country
from that state of Bondage in wch. they are held, is a striking
evidence of the benevolence of your Heart. I shall be happy to
join in so laudable a work; but will defer going into a detail of
the business, till I have had the pleasure of seeing you."[523]

In 1786 Washington wrote the Marquis:

"The benevolence of your heart, my dear Marquis, is so
conspicuous on all occasions, that I never wonder at any fresh
proofs of it; but your late purchase of an estate in the colony
of Cayenne, with a view of emancipating the slaves on it, is a
generous and noble proof of your humanity. Would to God a like
spirit might diffuse itself generally, into the minds of the
people of this country. But I despair of seeing it. Some
petitions were presented to the Assembly at its last session, for
the abolition of slavery, but they could scarcely obtain a
reading. To set the slave afloat at once would, I really believe,
be productive of much inconvenience and mischief, but by degrees
it certainly might and assuredly ought to be effected; and that
too by legislative authority."[524]

Addressing Robert Morris in 1786, Washington said:

"I hope that it will not be conceived, from these observations,
that it is my wish to hold the unhappy people who are the subject
of this letter, in slavery. I can only say that there is not a
man living who wishes more sincerely than I do, to see a plan
adopted for the abolition of it; but there is only one proper and
effectual mode by which it can be accomplished, and that is by
legislative authority; and this, as far as my suffrage will go,
shall never be wanting."[525]

Although not an active abolitionist Washington did not believe in the
slave traffic, as this part of his letter to John Mercer in 1786 will
show:

"I never mean, unless some particular circumstance should compel
me to it, to possess another slave by purchase, it being among my
first wishes to see some plan adopted, by which slavery in the
country may be abolished by law."[526]

In 1799 he wrote Robert Lewis:

"It is demonstratively clear, that on this Estate (Mount Vernon)
I have more working negroes by a full moiety, than can be
employed to any adventage in the farming system, and I shall
never turn Planter thereon.

"To sell the overplus I cannot, because I am principled against
this kind of traffic in the human species. To hire them out, is
almost as bad, because they could not be disposed of in families
to any advantage, and to disperse the families I have an
aversion. What then is to be done? Something must or I shall be
ruined; for all the money (in addition to what I raise by crops,
and rents) that have been received for Lands, sold within the
last four years, to the amount of Fifty thousand dollars, has
scarcely been able to keep me afloat.

"Under these circumstances and a thorough conviction that half
the workers I keep on this Estate would render me a greater nett
profit than I now derive from the whole, has made me resolve if
it can be accomplished, to settle Plantations on some of my
other Lands. But where? without going to the Western Country, I
am unable, as yet to decide; as the best, if not all the Land I
have on the East side of the Aleghanies are under Leases, or some
kind of incumbrance or another. But as you can give me the
correct information relative to this matter, I now early apply
for it."[527]

The best evidence as to what Washington thought of the Negro may be
obtained from his treatment of his slaves, as brought out by the
following clauses from his will.

"_Item_--Upon the decease of my wife it is my will and desire,
that all the slaves which I hold in _my own right_ shall receive
their freedom--To emancipate them during her life, would tho
earnestly wished by me, be attended with such insuperable
difficulties, on account of their intermixture by marriages with
the Dower negroes as to excite the most painful sensations--if
not disagreeable consequences from the latter while both
descriptions are in the occupancy of the same proprietor, it not
being in my power under tenure by which the dower Negroes are
held to manumit them--And whereas among those who will receive
freedom according to this devise there may be some who from old
age, or bodily infirmities & others who on account of their
infancy, that will be unable to support themselves, it is my will
and desire that all who come under the first and second
description shall be comfortably clothed and fed by my heirs
while they live and (3) that such of the latter description as
have no parents living, or if living are unable, or unwilling to
provide for them, shall be bound by the Court until they shall
arrive at the age of twenty five years, and in cases where no
record can be produced whereby their ages can be ascertained, the
Judgment of the Court upon it's own view of the subject shall be
adequate and final--The negroes thus bound are (by their masters
and mistresses) to be taught to read and write and to be brought
up to some useful occupation, agreeable to the laws of the
commonwealth of Virginia, providing for the support of orphans
and other poor children--and I do hereby expressly forbid the
sale or transportation out of the said Commonwealth of any Slave
I may die possessed of, under any pretence, whatsoever--and I do
moreover most positively, and solemnly enjoin it upon my
Executors hereafter named, or the survivors of them to see that
this clause respecting slaves and every part thereof be
religiously fulfilled at the Epoch at which it is directed to
take place without evasion neglect or delay after the crops
which may then be on the ground are harvested, particularly as it
respects (4) the aged and infirm, seeing that a regular and
permanent fund be established for their support so long as there
are subjects requiring it, not trusting to the uncertain
provisions to be made by individuals.--And to my mulatto man,
William (calling himself William Lee) I give immediate freedom or
if he should prefer it (on account of the accidents which have
befallen him and which have rendered him incapable of walking or
of any active employment)[528] to remain in the situation he now
is, it shall be optional in him to do so--In either case however
I allow him an annuity of thirty dollars during his natural life
which shall be independent of the victuals and cloaths he has
been accustomed to receive; if he chuses the last alternative,
but in full with his freedom, if he prefers the first, and this I
give him as a testimony of my sense of his attachment to me and
for his services during the Revolutionary War.[529]

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