Contents
Introduction ...... xxvii
Gerret Hendricks, Derick op de Graeff, Francis Daniell Pastorius, and Abraham op den Graef Resolution .of .Germantown .Mennonites ...... 1
George Keith An .Exhortation .& .Caution .to .Friends .Concerning . . Buying .or .Keeping .of Negroes...... 4
Samuel Sewall The .Selling .of .Joseph: .A .Memorial ...... 9
John Hepburn from .The .American .Defence .of .the .Christian .Golden . Rule, .or .an .Essay to. .Prove .the .Unlawfulness .of . . Making .Slaves .of .Men ...... 15
Elihu Coleman from .A .Testimony .against .the .Anti-Christian .Practice . of .Making .Slaves .of .Men ...... 20
Benjamin Lay from All. Slave-Keepers. that. Keep. the. Innocent. in. Bondage. . 23
John Woolman from The .Journal, .1755; .1758 ...... 25
Anthony Benezet from .Observations on. .the Inslaving,. .Importing .and . Purchasing .of .Negroes ...... 28
Arthur Lee Letter .to .the .Virginia Gazette, .March .19, .1767 ...... 34
Benjamin Franklin A .Conversation .on Slavery...... 39 xi xii . contents
John Trumbull The .Correspondent, No. . .8 ...... 46
Jane Dunlap The .Ethiopians .shall .Stretch .out .their .hands .to .God, . . or .a .call .to .the .Ethiopians ...... 49
David Cooper from .A .Mite .Cast .into the. .Treasury; .or, .Observations . on .Slave-Keeping ...... 50
Patrick Henry Letter .to .John .Alsop, .January .13, .1773 ...... 52
Phillis Wheatley To .the .Right .Honourable .William, .Earl .of .Dartmouth, . . His .Majesty’s .Principal .Secretary .of .State .for .North- . America, .&c ...... 54 Letter .to .the .Rev . .Samson .Occom, February. 11,. .1774 . . . . . 56
Elhanan Winchester from .The .Reigning Abominations,. .Especially .the . Slave .Trade, .Considered .as .Causes .of .Lamentation . . . . 57
Thomas Paine Letter .to .the .Pennsylvania Journal, . March .8, .1775 ...... 61 . Lemuel Haynes from .Liberty .Further Extended:. .Or .Free .Thoughts .on . the .Illegality .of .Slave-Keeping ...... 66
Samuel Hopkins from .A .Dialogue, .Concerning .the .Slavery .of .the .Africans . 69
Joel Barlow from .The .Prospect .of Peace...... 75 from .The .Columbiad ...... 76 . contents . xiii
Anthony Benezet Observations .on .Slavery ...... 78 from .Short .Observations .on .Slavery ...... 85
Jupiter Hammon from .A .Dialogue, .intitled, .The .Kind .Master .and .the . Dutiful .Servant ...... 89
Anonymous Shandyism ...... 94
George Washington Letter .to .Robert .Morris, .April 12,. .1786 ...... 96 from .Last .Will .and .Testament ...... 97
Benjamin Rush The .Paradise .of .Negro-Slaves—a .dream ...... 100
Anonymous Essay .on .Negro .Slavery, .No . .I ...... 105
Theodore Dwight “Help! .oh, .help! .thou .God .of .Christians!” ...... 111 . Prince Hall The .Petition .of .a .Great .Number .of .Blacks, .Freemen . . of .this .Commonwealth ...... 114
Susanna Rowson from .The .Inquisitor; .or, .Invisible .Rambler ...... 116
Olaudah Equiano from .The .Interesting .Narrative .of .the .Life .of .Olaudah . Equiano, .or .Gustavus .Vassa, .the .African . .Written . . by .Himself ...... 119
Benjamin Franklin Sidi .Mehemet .Ibrahim .on .the .Slave .Trade ...... 122 xiv . contents
Joseph Sansom from .A .Poetical .Epistle .to .the .Enslaved .Africans, . in .the .Character .of .an Ancient. .Negro, .Born .a .Slave . . in .Pennsylvania ...... 126
Benjamin Banneker from .Copy .of .a .Letter .from .Benjamin .Banneker .to the. . Secretary .of .State ...... 129
Jonathan Edwards from .The .Injustice .and .Impolicy .of .the .Slave .Trade, . and .of .the .Slavery .of the. .Africans ...... 133 . Ezra Stiles et al. The .Petition .and .Address .of .the .Connecticut .Society, . . for .the .promotion .of Freedom...... 140
Robert Pleasants et al. The .Memorial .of .the .Virginia .Society, .for .promoting . . the .Abolition .of Slavery...... 143
Anonymous The .Wretched .Taillah: .An .African .Story ...... 145
Sarah Wentworth Apthorp Morton The .African .Chief ...... 148
Noah Webster from .Effects .of .Slavery .on .Morals .and .Industry ...... 151
Timothy Dwight from .Greenfield .Hill ...... 156 from .Triumph .of .Democracy ...... 157 from .The .Charitable .Blessed ...... 158
Philip Freneau On .the .Migration to. .America, .and .Peopling .the . . Western .Country ...... 161 Virginia: .A .Fragment ...... 163 . contents . xv
David Humphreys from .A .Poem .on .Industry .Addressed .to .the .Citizens . of .the .United .States .of .America ...... 165 from .A .Valedictory .Discourse ...... 167
Charles Pinckney Sumner from .The .Compass ...... 169
Anonymous from .Reflections .on the. .Slavery .of .the .Negroes, . Addressed .to .the .Conscience .of .Every .American . . Citizen ...... 170
St. George Tucker from .A .Dissertation .on Slavery:. .With .a .Proposal .for the. . Gradual .Abolition .of .It, in. .the .State .of .Virginia . . . . 172
Anonymous from .The .American .in .Algiers, .or .the .Patriot .of . Seventy-Six .in .Captivity ...... 174
Boston King from .Memoirs .of .the .Life .of .Boston .King, .a .Black . Preacher ...... 176
Anonymous The .African .Slave .[“Ye .Sons .of Columbia”]...... 182
Thomas Branagan from .The .Penitential .Tyrant; .or, .Slave .Trader .Reformed . . 184
Isabella Oliver On .Slavery ...... 187
Absalom Jones from .A .Thanksgiving Sermon...... 193
Anonymous The African. Slave. [“Shall. the. muse. that’s. wont. to. . . wander”] ...... 197 xvi . contents
Peter Williams Jr. Hymn .I ...... 199
Boyrereau Brinch from .The .Blind .African .Slave, .or .Memoirs .of .Boyrereau . Brinch, .Nick-Named .Jeffrey .Brace ...... 201
William Hamilton Hymn .II ...... 203
Adam Carman from .An .Oration .Delivered .at .the .Fourth .Anniversary . of .the .Abolition .of .the Slave. .Trade ...... 205
Peter Clemmons Sr. from .Poor .Peter’s .Call .to His. .Children, .and .to .All . Others .Who .Can .Hear .and .Believe ...... 208
James Forten from .Letters .from .a .Man .of Colour. .on .a .Late .Bill . Before .the .Senate .of .Pennsylvania ...... 211
George Bourne from .The .Book .and .Slavery .Irreconcilable ...... 216
Prince Saunders from .A .Memoir .Presented .to the. .American .Convention . for .Promoting .the Abolition. .of .Slavery, .and . . Improving .the .Condition .of .the .African .Race ...... 219
John Jay Letter .to .Elias .Boudinot, .Esq ., .November 17,. .1819 ...... 223
Rufus King from .Observations .of .Rufus .King, .on .the .Missouri Bill. . . . 225
Anonymous The .Christian .Slave ...... 228
Jeremiah Gloucester from .An .Oration .on .the Abolition. .of .the .Slave .Trade . . . . 232 . contents . xvii
Ann Evans from .Africa ...... 237
William Cullen Bryant The .African .Chief ...... 239
Elizabeth Margaret Chandler The .Slave-Ship ...... 242 The .Enfranchisement ...... 243 Tea-Table .Talk ...... 245 Think .of .Our .Country’s .Glory ...... 248
Lydia Sigourney To .the .First .Slave .Ship ...... 249 Slavery: Written. for. the. Celebration. of. the. Fourth. of. July. . .. 251
George Moses Horton On .Liberty .and .Slavery ...... 253 The .Slave’s .Complaint ...... 254
Robert Voorhis from .Life .and .Adventures .of .Robert .Voorhis, . the .Hermit .of .Massachusetts ...... 256
David Walker from .Walker’s .Appeal .in Four. .Articles; .Together .with . a .Preamble, .to .the Coloured. .Citizens .of .the .World . . . . 262
Anonymous The .African .Woman ...... 265
William Lloyd Garrison To .the .Public ...... 267 Universal .Emancipation ...... 270 Truisms ...... 271 Song .of .the .Abolitionist ...... 274
John Greenleaf Whittier To .William .Lloyd .Garrison ...... 276 The .Hunters .of .Men ...... 278 The .Yankee .Girl ...... 279 xviii . contents
Clerical .Oppressors ...... 281 The .Slave .Ships ...... 282 The .Branded .Hand ...... 286
Anonymous A .Dream ...... 289 Another .Dream ...... 296
Anonymous The .Family .Circle—No . .8 ...... 303
Lydia Maria Francis Child Jumbo .and .Zairee ...... 308 Slavery’s .Pleasant .Homes ...... 316
William Ellery Channing from .Slavery ...... 322
Charles Ball from .Slavery .in .the .United .States: .A .Narrative .of .the . Life .and .Adventures .of .Charles .Ball, .A .Black .Man . . . . 325
James Gillespie Birney To .the .Slaveholders .of the. .South ...... 328 from .The .Sinfulness .of Slaveholding. .in .All . Circumstances; .Tested by. .Reason .and .Scripture . . . . 330
James Forten from .An .Address .Delivered .before .the .Ladies’ . Anti-Slavery .Society .of Philadelphia...... 331
Sarah Moore Grimké from .An .Epistle .to .the Clergy. .of .the .Southern .States . . . 336 Narrative .and .Testimony .of Sarah. .M . .Grimké ...... 340
Angelina Emily Grimké from .An .Appeal .to the. .Women .of .the .Nominally . Free .States ...... 347 . contents . xix
John Pierpont A .Word .from .a .Petitioner, .to .Congress ...... 354 The .Tocsin ...... 358 Plymouth .Rock ...... 361 ‘I .Would .Not .Live Always’...... 362
Moses Roper from .A .Narrative .of the. .Adventures .and .Escape .of . Moses .Roper, .from .American .Slavery ...... 363
James Williams from .Narrative .of .James .Williams: .An .American .Slave: . Who .Was .for .Several .Years .a .Driver .on .a .Cotton . . Plantation .in .Alabama ...... 367
Edmund Quincy Mother .Cœlia ...... 372
Gerrit Smith from .Letter .of .Gerrit .Smith .to Hon. . .Henry .Clay . . . . . 376
Theodore Dwight Weld from .American .Slavery .As .It .Is: .Testimony .of . a .Thousand .Witnesses ...... 379
Maria Weston Chapman Pinda:—A .True .Tale ...... 387
Harriet Winslow The .Lonely .Hearted ...... 400
John Quincy Adams from .Argument .of .John .Quincy .Adams, .Before .the . Supreme .Court .of .the United. .States, .in .the .Case of. . . the .United .States, .appellants, .vs . .Cinque, and. .Others, . . Africans, .Captured .in .the .Schooner .Amistad ...... 403
Daniel Henshaw Dialogue .on .Slavery ...... 413 xx . contents
Lunsford Lane from .The .Narrative .of .Lunsford .Lane, .Formerly . of .Raleigh, .N C...... 423
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The .Slave’s .Dream ...... 430 The .Slave .in .the .Dismal Swamp...... 432 The .Slave .Singing at. Midnight...... 433 The .Quadroon .Girl ...... 434 The .Witnesses ...... 435
John Neal Duty .and .Safety .of .Emancipation ...... 437
M. L. Gardner Arouse, .New-England’s .Sons ...... 441
Henry Highland Garnet An Address. to. the. Slaves. of. the. United. States. of. . . America ...... 443
Jairus Lincoln Hymn .17 ...... 452
Anonymous Am .I .not .a .Sister? ...... 454
Margaret Lucy Shands Bailey The .Blind .Slave .Boy ...... 455
George W. Clark March .to .the .Battlefield ...... 458
Eliza Lee Follen The .Slave .Boy’s .Wish ...... 461 Pic-nic .at .Dedham ...... 462
Elizur Wright Jr. The .Fugitive .Slave .to .the Christian...... 467 . contents . xxi
Ralph Waldo Emerson Anniversary .of .West .Indian .Emancipation ...... 470
James Russell Lowell A .Rallying .Cry .for .New-England, .Against .the . . Annexation .of .Texas ...... 474
Lewis Garrard Clarke from .Narratives .of .the Sufferings. .of .Lewis .and . Milton .Clarke ...... 477
Hannah Townsend and Mary Townsend The .Anti-Slavery .Alphabet ...... 479
Henry Ward Beecher from .A .Discourse .Delivered .at .the .Plymouth .Church, . Brooklyn, .N Y. . .upon .Thanksgiving .Day ...... 489
William Wells Brown from .A .Lecture .Delivered before. .the .Female .Anti-Slavery . Society .of .Salem ...... 491 from .Narrative .of .William .W . .Brown, .a .fugitive .slave . . Written .by .himself ...... 493 The .American .Slave-Trade ...... 503 from .Clotel; .or, .the .President’s .Daughter ...... 506 from .The .Escape; .or, .A .Leap .for .Freedom ...... 514
Caroline W. Healey Dall A .Sketch .from .Maryland .Life ...... 516
Joseph Evans Snodgrass The .Childless .Mother ...... 521
Jane Elizabeth Hitchcock Jones from .The .Young .Abolitionists; .or, .Conversations . on .Slavery ...... 524
Henry Bibb from .The .Narrative .of .the .Life .and .Adventures .of .Henry . Bibb, .an .American .Slave, .Written .by .Himself ...... 527 xxii . contents
Henry “Box” Brown from .Narrative .of .the .Life .of .Henry .Box .Brown, . Written .by .Himself ...... 532
Josiah Henson from .The .Life .of .Josiah .Henson, .Formerly .a .Slave, . Now .an .Inhabitant .of .Canada ...... 538
Lucretia Mott from .A .Sermon .to .the .Medical Students...... 543
James Russell Lowell Compromise ...... 546
Horace Mann from .Speech .of .Horace .Mann .of .Massachusetts, .on . the .Subject .of .Slavery .in .the .Territories, .and .the . . Consequences .of .a .Dissolution .of .the .Union . . . . . 550 from .Speech .on .the .Fugitive .Slave .Law ...... 553
Sojourner Truth from .The .Narrative .of Sojourner. .Truth: .A .Northern . Slave, .Emancipated .from .Bodily .Servitude .by .the . . State .of .New .York, .in .1828 ...... 555
William Lloyd Garrison from .The .Great .Apostate ...... 558
J. M. Eells Impromptu .Stanzas, .Suggested .by .the .Working .of . . the .Fugitive .Slave .Act, .as .Illustrated .in .the .Case . . of .Rev . .Doctor .Pennington ...... 564
Harriet Beecher Stowe from .Uncle .Tom’s .Cabin ...... 567 Caste .and .Christ ...... 574 The .Sale .of .Little .Harry ...... 576 Eliza .Crossing .the .River ...... 577 Legree .Striking .Tom ...... 579 The .Two .Altars; .or, .Two .Pictures .in .One ...... 580 . contents . xxiii
George L. Aiken from .Uncle .Tom’s .Cabin: .or, .Life .Among .the .Lowly, . A .Domestic .Drama ...... 593
Frederick Douglass What .to .the .Slave .Is .the .4th of. .July? ...... 596 from .The .Heroic .Slave ...... 623
Wendell Phillips from .Speech .of .Wendell Phillips. .at .the .Melodeon ...... 644
Mary B. Harlan from .Ellen, .or .The Chained. .Mother ...... 659
Solomon Northup from .Twelve .Years .a .Slave, .Narrative .of .Solomon . Northup ...... 662
Annie Parker Passages .in .the .Life .of .a .Slave .Woman ...... 666
John Pierpont Ode ...... 672
William H. Seward Be .Up .and .Doing ...... 675
Horace Greeley The .Domestic .Slave .Trade ...... 677
Thomas Wentworth Higginson from .Massachusetts .in .Mourning ...... 682
Abraham Lincoln from Speech .on .the .Kansas-Nebraska .Act .at . Peoria, .Illinois ...... 687
Mary Hayden Green Pike from .Ida .May: .A .Story .of .Things .Actual .and .Possible . . . . . 691 xxiv . contents
Henry David Thoreau Slavery .in .Massachusetts ...... 694
Ralph Waldo Emerson Lecture .on .Slavery ...... 709
Herman Melville from .Benito .Cereno ...... 725
James McCune Smith from .Introduction to. .Douglass’s My Bondage and My Freedom ...... 734
Lydia Adams from .The .Refugee: .Or .the .Narratives .of .Fugitive .Slaves . in .Canada ...... 740
Harry Thomas from .The .Refugee: .Or .the Narratives. .of .Fugitive .Slaves . in .Canada ...... 741
Harriet Tubman from .The .Refugee: .Or .the Narratives. .of .Fugitive .Slaves . in .Canada ...... 745
Martha Griffith Browne from .Autobiography .of .a .Female .Slave ...... 746
Thomas Mayne Reid from .The .Quadroon; .or, .A .Lover’s .Adventures . in .Louisiana ...... 750
Charles Sumner from .The .Crime .Against .Kansas ...... 753
John T. Trowbridge from .Neighbor .Jackwood ...... 762
Harriet Hamline Bigelow from .The .Curse .Entailed ...... 772 . contents . xxv
Austin Steward from .Twenty-Two .Years .a .Slave, .and .Forty . Years .a .Freeman ...... 775
Anonymous Lucy; .or, .The .Slave .Girl of. .Kentucky ...... 778
Jermain Wesley Loguen from .The .Rev . .J . .W . .Loguen, as. .a .Slave .and .as .a . Freeman: .A .Narrative .of .Real .Life ...... 788
John Brown Speech .to .the .Court ...... 792 Letter .to .Mrs . .George .L . .Stearns, .November .29, .1859 . . . . 794
Ralph Waldo Emerson Speech .by .Ralph .Waldo .Emerson ...... 795
Louisa May Alcott With .A .Rose, .That .bloomed .on .the .day .of .John . . Brown’s .martyrdom ...... 798 An .Hour ...... 800
Elizabeth Cady Stanton The .Slave’s .Appeal ...... 825
Charles Sumner from .The .Barbarism .of .Slavery ...... 830
Walt Whitman Mannahatta ...... 835
Julia Ward Howe The .Battle .Hymn .of .the .Republic ...... 837
Harriet Ann Jacobs from .Incidents .in .the .Life of. .a .Slave .Girl ...... 839
Martin R. Delany from .Blake: .or .the .Huts .of .America ...... 846 xxvi . contents
Horace Greeley The .Prayer .of .Twenty .Millions ...... 853
Abraham Lincoln The .Emancipation .Proclamation ...... 859
Lucretia Mott No .Greater .Joy .Than .to .See .These .Children .Walking . . in .the .Anti-Slavery .Path ...... 862
Emily Dickinson “Color—Caste—Denomination” ...... 866
John T. Trowbridge from .Cudjo’s .Cave ...... 867
John Greenleaf Whittier Laus .Deo ...... 874
Henry Highland Garnet from .A .Memorial .Discourse ...... 877
Abraham Lincoln Second .Inaugural .Address ...... 880
William Cullen Bryant The .Death .of .Lincoln ...... 882
Charles Sumner from .Eulogy .on .Abraham .Lincoln ...... 883
Lyman Trumbull et al. The .Thirteenth .Amendment .to .the .U .S . .Constitution . . . . 886
Chronology ...... 889 Note on the Illustrations ...... 897 Note on the Texts ...... 901 Notes ...... 917 Index ...... 947