The Anti-Slavery Examiner
Chapter 59 : INTRODUCTION.It is hardly possible that the success of British West India Emanc.i.p.ati

INTRODUCTION.

It is hardly possible that the success of British West India Emanc.i.p.ation should be more conclusively proved, than it has been by the absence among us of the exultation which awaited its failure. So many thousands of the citizens of the United States, without counting slaveholders, would not have suffered their prophesyings to be falsified, if they could have found whereof to manufacture fulfilment.

But it is remarkable that, even since the first of August, 1834, the evils of West India emanc.i.p.ation on the lips of the advocates of slavery, or, as the most of them nicely prefer to be termed, the opponents of abolition, have remained in the future tense. The bad reports of the newspapers, spiritless as they have been compared with the predictions, have been traceable, on the slightest inspection, not to emanc.i.p.ation, but to the illegal continuance of slavery, under the cover of its legal subst.i.tute. Not the slightest reference to the rash act, whereby the thirty thousand slaves of Antigua were immediately "turned loose," now mingles with the croaking which strives to defend our republican slavery against argument and common sense.

The Executive Committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society, deemed it important that the silence which the pro-slavery press of the United States has seemed so desirous to maintain in regard to what is strangely enough termed the "great experiment of freedom," should be thoroughly broken up by a publication of facts and testimony collected on the spot.

To this end, REV. JAMES A. THOME, and JOSEPH H. KIMBALL, ESQ., were deputed to the West Indies to make the proper investigations. Of their qualifications for the task, the subsequent pages will furnish the best evidence: it is proper, however, to remark, that Mr. Thome is thoroughly acquainted with our own system of slavery, being a native and still a resident of Kentucky, and the son of a slaveholder, (happily no longer so,) and that Mr. Kimball is well known as the able editor of the Herald of Freedom, published at Concord, New Hamps.h.i.+re.

They sailed from New York, the last of November, 1836, and returned early in June, 1837. They improved a short stay at the Danish island of St. Thomas, to give a description of slavery as it exists there, which, as it appeared for the most part in the anti-slavery papers, and as it is not directly connected with the great question at issue, has not been inserted in the present volume. Hastily touching at some of the other British islands, they made Antigua, Barbadoes, and Jamaica, successively the objects of their deliberate and laborious study--as fairly presenting the three grand phases of the "experiment"--Antigua, exemplifying immediate unrestricted abolition; Barbadoes, the best working of the apprentices.h.i.+p, and Jamaica the worst. Nine weeks were spent in Antigua, and the remainder of their time was divided between the other two islands.

The reception of the delegates was in the highest degree favorable to the promotion of their object, and their work will show how well they have used the extraordinary facilities afforded them. The committee have, in some instances, restored testimonials which their modesty led them to suppress, showing in what estimation they themselves, as well as the object of their mission, were held by some of the most distinguished persons in the islands which they visited.

So wide was the field before them, and so rich and various the fruit to be gathered, that they were tempted to go far beyond the strength supplied by the failing health they carried with them. Most n.o.bly did they postpone every personal consideration to the interests of the cause, and the reader will, we think, agree with us, that they have achieved a result which undiminished energies could not have been expected to exceed--a result sufficient, if any thing could be, to justify the sacrifice it cost them. We regret to add that the labors and exposures of Mr. Kimball, so far prevented his recovery from the disease[A] which obliged him to resort to a milder climate, or perhaps we should say aggravated it, that he has been compelled to leave to his colleague, aided by a friend, nearly the whole burden of preparing for the press--which, together with the great labor of condensing from the immense amount of collected materials, accounts for the delay of the publication. As neither Mr. Thome nor Mr. Kimball were here while the work was in the press, it is not improbable that trivial errors have occurred, especially in the names of individuals.

[Footnote A: We learn that Mr. Kimball closed his mortal career at Pembroke, N.H. April 12th, in the 25th year of his age. Very few men in the Anti-Slavery cause have been more distinguished, than this lamented brother, for the zeal, discretion and ability with which he has advocated the cause of the oppressed. "Peace to the memory of a man of worth!"]

It will be perceived that the delegates rest nothing of importance on their own unattested observation. At every point they are fortified by the statements of a mult.i.tude of responsible persons in the islands, whose names, when not forbidden, they leave taken the liberty to use in behalf of humanity. Many of these statements were given in the handwriting of the parties, and are in the possession of the Executive Committee. Most of these island authorities are as unchallengeable on the score of previous leaning towards abolitionism, as Mr. McDuffie of Mr. Calhoun would be two years hence, if slavery were to be abolished throughout the United States tomorrow.

Among the points established in this work, beyond the power of dispute or cavil, are the following:

1. That the act of IMMEDIATE EMANc.i.p.aTION in Antigua, was not attended with any disorder whatever.

2. That the emanc.i.p.ated slaves have readily, faithfully, and efficiently worked for wages from the first.

3. That wherever there has been any disturbance in the working of the apprentices.h.i.+p, it has been invariably by the fault of the masters, or of the officers charged with the execution of the "Abolition Act."

4. That the prejudice of caste is fast disappearing in the emanc.i.p.ated islands.

5. That the apprentices.h.i.+p was not sought for by the planters as a _preparation for freedom_.

6. That no such preparation was needed.

7. That the planters who have fairly made the "experiment," now greatly prefer the new system to the old.

8. That the emanc.i.p.ated people are perceptibly rising in the scale of civilization, morals, and religion.

From these established facts, reason cannot fail to make its inferences in favor of the two and a half millions of slaves in our republic. We present the work to our countrymen who yet hold slaves, with the utmost confidence that its perusal will not leave in their minds a doubt, either of the duty or perfect safety of _immediate emanc.i.p.ation_, however it may fail to persuade their hearts--which G.o.d grant it may not!

By order of the Executive Committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society.

New York, April 28th, 1838.

EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED IN THE NARRATIVE.

1. The words 'Clergy' and 'Missionary' are used to distinguish between the ministers of the English or Scotch church, and those of all other denominations.

2. The terms 'church' and 'chapel' denote a corresponding distinction in the places of wors.h.i.+p, though the English Church have what are technically called 'chapels of ease!'

3. 'Manager' and 'overseer' are terms designating in different islands the same station. In Antigua and Barbadoes, _manager_ is the word in general use, in Jamaica it is _overseer_--both meaning the practical conductor or immediate superintendent of an estate. In our own country, a peculiar odium is attached to the latter term. In the West Indies, the station of manager or overseer is an honorable one; proprietors of estates, and even men of rank, do not hesitate to occupy it.

4. The terms 'colored' and 'black' or 'negro' indicate a distinction long kept up in the West Indies between the mixed blood and the pure negro. The former as a body were few previous to the abolition act; and for this reason chiefly we presume the term of distinction was originally applied to them. To have used these terms interchangeably in accordance with the usage in the United States, would have occasioned endless confusion in the narrative.

5. 'Praedial' and 'non-praedial' are terms used in the apprentices.h.i.+p colonies to mark the difference between the agricultural cla.s.s and the domestic; the former are called _praedials_, the latter _non-praedials_.

POPULATION OF THE BRITISH (FORMERLY SLAVE) COLONIES.

(_Compiled from recent authentic doc.u.ments._)

British Colonies. White. Slave. F. Col'd. Total.

Anguilla 365 2,388 357 3,110 Antigua[A] 1,980 29,839 3,895 35,714 Bahamas 4,240 9,268 2,991 16,499 Barbadoes 15,000 82,000 5,100 102,100 Berbicel 550 21,300 1,150 23,000 Bermuda[A] 3,900 4,600 740 9,240 Cape of Good Hope[B] 43,000 35,500 29,000 107,500 Demerara[B] 3,000 70,000 6,400 79,400 Dominica 850 15,400 3,600 19,850 Grenada 800 24,000 2,800 27,600 Honduras[B] 250 2,100 2,300 4,650 Jamaica 37,000 323,000 55,000 415,000 Mauritius[B] 8,000 76,000 15,000 99,000 Montserrat 330 6,200 800 7,330 Nevis 700 6,600 2,000 9,300 St. Christophers,St. Kitts 1,612 19,310 3,000 23,922 St. Lucia[B] 980 13,600 3,700 18,280 St. Vincent 1,300 23,500 2,800 27,600 Tobago 320 12,500 1,200 14,020 Tortola 480 5,400 1,300 7,180 Trinidad[B] 4,200 24,000 16,000 44,200 Virgin Isles 800 5,400 600 6,800

Total 131,257 831,105 162,733 1,125,095

[Footnote A: These islands adopted immediate emanc.i.p.ation, Aug 1, 1834.]

[Footnote B: These are crown colonies, and have no local legislature.]

ANTIGUA.

CHAPTER I.

Antigua is about eighteen miles long and fifteen broad; the interior is low and undulating, the coast mountainous. From the heights on the coast the whole island may be taken in at one view, and in a clear day the ocean can be seen entirely around the land, with the exception of a few miles of cliff in one quarter. The population of Antigua is about 37,000, of whom 30,000 are negroes--lately slaves--4500 are free people of color, and 2500 are whites.

The cultivation of the island is princ.i.p.ally in sugar, of which the average annual crop is 15,000 hogsheads. Antigua is one of the oldest of the British West India colonies, and ranks high in importance and influence. Owing to the proportion of proprietors resident in the Island, there is an acc.u.mulation of talent, intelligence and refinement, greater, perhaps, than in any English colony, excepting Jamaica.

Our solicitude on entering the Island of Antigua was intense. Charged with a mission so nearly concerning the political and domestic inst.i.tutions of the colony, we might well be doubtful as to the manner of our reception. We knew indeed that slavery was abolished, that Antigua had rejected the apprentices.h.i.+p, and adopted entire emanc.i.p.ation. We knew also, that the free system had surpa.s.sed the hopes of its advocates. But we were in the midst of those whose habits and sentiments had been formed under the influences of slavery, whose prejudices still clinging to it might lead them to regard our visit with indifference at least, if not with jealousy. We dared not hope for aid from men who, not three years before, were slaveholders, and who, as a body, strenuously resisted the abolition measure, finally yielding to it only because they found resistance vain.

Mingled with the depressing anxieties already referred to, were emotions of pleasure and exultation, when we stepped upon the sh.o.r.es of an unfettered isle. We trod a soil from which the last vestige of slavery had been swept away! To us, accustomed as we were to infer the existence of slavery from the presence of a particular hue, the numbers of negroes pa.s.sing to and fro, engaged in their several employments, denoted a land of oppression; but the erect forms, the active movements, and the sprightly countenances, bespoke that spirit of disinthrallment which had gone abroad through Antigua.

On the day of our arrival we had an interview with the Rev. James c.o.x, the superintendent of the Wesleyan mission in the island. He a.s.sured us that we need apprehend no difficulty in procuring information, adding, "We are all free here now; every man can speak his sentiments unawed. We have nothing to conceal in our present system; had you come here as the _advocates of slavery_ you might have met with a very different reception."

At the same time we met the Rev. N. Gilbert, a clergyman of the English Church, and proprietor of an estate. Mr. G. expressed the hope that we might gather such facts during our stay in the island, as would tend effectually to remove the curse of slavery from the United States. He said that the failure of the crops, from the extraordinary drought which was still prevailing, would, he feared, be charged by persons abroad to the new system. "The enemies of freedom," said he, "will not ascribe the failure to the proper cause. It will be in vain that we solemnly declare, that for more than thirty years the island has not experienced such a drought. Our enemies will persist in laying all to the charge of our free system; men will look only at the amount of sugar exported, which will be less than half the average. They will run away with this fact, and triumph over it as the disastrous consequence of abolition."

On the same day we were introduced to the Rev. Bennet Harvey, the princ.i.p.al of the Moravian mission, to a merchant, an agent for several estates, and to an intelligent manager. Each of these gentlemen gave us the most cordial welcome, and expressed a warm sympathy in the objects of our visit. On the following day we dined, by invitation, with the superintendent of the Wesleyan mission, in company with several missionaries. _Freedom in Antigua_ was the engrossing and delightful topic. They rejoiced in the change, not merely from sympathy with the disinthralled negroes, but because it had emanc.i.p.ated them from a disheartening surveillance, and opened new fields of usefulness. They hailed the star of freedom "with exceeding great joy," because it heralded the speedy dawning of the Sun of Righteousness.

We took an early opportunity to call on the Governor, whom we found affable and courteous. On learning that we were from the United States, he remarked, that he entertained a high respect for our country, but its slavery was a stain upon the whole nation. He expressed his conviction that the instigators of northern mobs must be implicated in some way, pecuniary or otherwise, with slavery. The Governor stated various particulars in which Antigua had been greatly improved by the abolition of slavery. He said, the planters all conceded that emanc.i.p.ation had been a great blessing to the island, and he did not know of a single individual who wished to return to the old system.

His excellency proffered us every a.s.sistance in his power, and requested his secretary--_a colored gentleman_--to furnish us with certain doc.u.ments which he thought would be of service to us. When we rose to leave, the Governor followed us to the door, repeating the advice that we should "see with our own eyes, and hear with our own ears." The interest which his Excellency manifested in our enterprise, satisfied us that the prevalent feeling in the island was opposed to slavery, since it was a matter well understood that the Governor's partialities, if he had any, were on the side of the planters rather than the people.

On the same day we were introduced to a barrister, a member of the a.s.sembly and proprietor of an estate. He was in the a.s.sembly at the time the abolition act was under discussion. He said that it was violently opposed, until it was seen to be inevitable. Many were the predictions made respecting the ruin which would be brought upon the colony; but these predictions had failed, and abolition was now regarded as the salvation of the island.

SABBATH.