An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, Particularly the African - Thomas Clarkson
With respect to the third argument, we must now suppose that the
scriptures are false; that mankind did not all spring from the same
original; that there are different species of men. Now what must we
justly conclude from such a supposition? Must we conclude that one
species is inferiour to another, and that the inferiority depends upon
their _colour_, or their _features_, or their _form_?--No--We
must now consult the analogy of nature, and the conclusion will be this:
"that as she tempered the bodies of the different species of men in a
different degree, to enable them to endure the respective climates of
their habitation, so she gave them a variety of colour and appearance
with a like benevolent design."
To sum up the whole. If the scriptures are true, it is evident that the
posterity of _Cain_ are no more; that the curse of _Ham_ has
been accomplished; and that, as all men were derived from the same
stock, so this variety of appearance in men must either have proceeded
from some interposition of the Deity; or from a co-operation of certain
causes, which have an effect upon the human frame, and have the power of
changing it more or less from its primitive appearance, as they happen
to be more or less numerous or powerful than those, which acted upon the
frame of man in the first seat of his habitation. If from the
interposition of the Deity, then we must conclude that he, who bringeth
good out of evil, produced it for their convenience. If, from the
co-operation of the causes before related, what argument may not be
found against any society of men, who should happen to differ, in the
points alluded to, from ourselves?
If, on the other hand, the scriptures are false, then it is evident,
that there was neither such a person as _Cain_, nor _Ham_, nor
_Canaan_; and that nature bestowed such colour, features, and form,
upon the different species of men, as were best adapted to their
situation.
Thus, on which ever supposition it is founded, the whole argument must
fall. And indeed it is impossible that it can stand, even in the eye of
common sense. For if you admit the _form_ of men as a justification
of slavery, you may subjugate your own brother: if _features_, then
you must quarrel with all the world: if _colour_, where are you to
stop? It is evident, that if you travel from the equator to the northern
pole, you will find a regular gradation of colour from black to white.
Now if you can justly take him for your slave, who is of the deepest
die, what hinders you from taking him also, who only differs from the
former but by a shade. Thus you may proceed, taking each in a regular
succession to the poles. But who are you, that thus take into slavery so
many people? Where do you live yourself? Do you live in _Spain_, or
in _France_, or in _Britain_? If in either of these countries,
take care lest the _whiter natives of the north_ should have a
claim upon yourself.--But the argument is too ridiculous to be farther
noticed.
Having now silenced the whole argument, we might immediately proceed to
the discussion of other points, without even declaring our opinion as to
which of the suppositions may be right, on which it has been refuted;
but we do not think ourselves at liberty to do this. The present age
would rejoice to find that the scriptures had no foundation, and would
anxiously catch at the writings of him, who should mention them in a
doubtful manner. We shall therefore declare our sentiments, by asserting
that they are true, and that all mankind, however various their
appearances are derived from the same stock.
To prove this, we shall not produce those innumerable arguments, by
which the scriptures have stood the test of ages, but advert to a single
fact. It is an universal law, observable throughout the whole creation,
_that if two animals of a different species propagate, their offspring
is unable to continue its own species_. By this admirable law, the
different species are preserved distinct; every possibility of confusion
is prevented, and the world is forbidden to be over-run by a race of
monsters. Now, if we apply this law to those of the human kind, who are
said to be of a distinct species from each other, it immediately fails.
The _mulattoe_ is as capable of continuing his own species as his
father; a clear and irrefragable proof, that the scripture[077] account
of the creation is true, and that "God, who hath made the world, hath
made of one blood[078] all the nations of men that dwell on all the face
of the earth."
But if this be the case, it will be said that mankind were originally of
one colour; and it will be asked at the same time, what it is probable
that the colour was, and how they came to assume so various an
appearance? To, each of these we shall make that reply, which we
conceive to be the most rational.
As mankind were originally of the same stock, so it is evident that they
were originally of the same colour. But how shall we attempt to
ascertain it? Shall we _Englishmen_ say, that it was the same as
that which we now find to be peculiar to ourselves?--No--This would be
a vain and partial consideration, and would betray our judgment to have
arisen from that false fondness, which habituates us to suppose, that
every thing belonging to ourselves is the perfectest and the best. Add
to this, that we should always be liable to a just reproof from every
inhabitant of the globe, whose colour was different from our own;
because he would justly say, that he had as good a right to imagine that
his own was the primitive colour, as that of any other people.
How then shall we attempt to ascertain it? Shall we look into the
various climates of the earth, see the colour that generally prevails in
the inhabitants of each, and apply the rule? This will be certainly free
from partiality, and will afford us a better prospect of success: for as
every particular district has its particular colour, so it is evident
that the complexion of Noah and his sons, from whom the rest of the
world were descended, was the same as that, which is peculiar to the
country, which was the seat of their habitation. This, by such a mode of
decision, will be found a dark olive; a beautiful colour, and a just
medium between white and black. That this was the primitive colour, is
highly probable from the observations that have been made; and, if
admitted, will afford a valuable lesson to the Europeans, to be cautious
how they deride those of the opposite complexion, as there is great
reason to presume, _that the purest white[079] is as far removed from
the primitive colour as the deepest black_.
We come now to the grand question, which is, that if mankind were
originally of this or any other colour, how came it to pass, that they
should wear so various an appearance? We reply, as we have had occasion
to say before, either _by the interposition of the Deity_; or _by
a co-operation of certain causes, which have an effect upon the human
frame, and have the power of changing it more or less from its primitive
appearance, as they are more or less numerous or powerful than those,
which acted upon the frame of man in the first seat of his
habitation_.
With respect to the Divine interposition, two epochs have been assigned,
when this difference of colour has been imagined to have been so
produced. The first is that, which has been related, when the curse was
pronounced on a branch of the posterity of _Ham_. But this argument
has been already refuted; for if the particular colour alluded to were
assigned at this period, it was assigned to the descendants of
_Canaan_, to distinguish them from those of his other brothers, and
was therefore _limited_ to the former. But the descendants of
_Cush_[080], as we have shewn before, partook of the same colour; a
clear proof, that it was neither assigned to them on this occasion, nor
at this period.
The second epoch is that, when mankind were dispersed on the building of
_Babel_. It has been thought, that both _national features and
colour_ might probably have been given them at this time, because
these would have assisted the confusion of language, by causing them to
disperse into tribes, and would have united more firmly the individuals
of each, after the dispersion had taken place. But this is improbable:
first, because there is great reason to presume that Moses, who has
mentioned the confusion of language, would have mentioned these
circumstances also, if they had actually contributed to bring about so
singular an event: secondly, because the confusion of language was
sufficient of itself to have accomplished this; and we cannot suppose
that the Deity could have done any thing in vain: and thirdly, because,
if mankind had been dispersed, each tribe in its peculiar hue, it is
impossible to conceive, that they could have wandered and settled in
such a manner, as to exhibit that regular gradation of colour from the
equator to the poles, so conspicuous at the present day.
These are the only periods, which there has been even the shadow of a
probability for assigning; and we may therefore conclude that the
preceding observations, together with such circumstances as will appear
in the present chapter, will amount to a demonstration, that the
difference of colour was never caused by any interposition of the Deity,
and that it must have proceeded therefore from that _incidental
co-operation of causes_, which has been before related.
What these causes are, it is out of the power of human wisdom positively
to assert: there are facts, however, which, if properly weighed and put
together, will throw considerable light upon the subject. These we shall
submit to the perusal of the reader, and shall deduce from them such
inferences only, as almost every person must make in his own mind, on
their recital.
The first point, that occurs to be ascertained, is, "What part of the
skin is the seat of colour?" The old anatomists usually divided the skin
into two parts, or lamina; the exteriour and thinnest, called by the
Greeks _Epidermis_, by the Romans _Cuticula_, and hence by us
_Cuticle_; and the interiour, called by the former _Derma_,
and by the latter _Cutis_, or _true skin_. Hence they must
necessarily have supposed, that, as the _true skin_ was in every
respect the same in all human subjects, however various their external
hue, so the seat of colour must have existed in the _Cuticle_, or
upper surface.
Malphigi, an eminent Italian physician, of the last century, was the
first person who discovered that the skin was divided into three lamina,
or parts; the _Cuticle_, the _true skin_, and a certain
coagulated substance situated between both, which he distinguished by
the title of _Mucosum Corpus_; a title retained by anatomists to
the present day: which coagulated substance adhered so firmly to the
_Cuticle_, as, in all former anatomical preparations, to have come
off with it, and, from this circumstance to have led the ancient
anatomists to believe, that there were but two lamina, or divisible
portions in the human skin.
This discovery was sufficient to ascertain the point in question: for it
appeared afterwards that the _Cuticle_, when divided according to
this discovery from the other lamina, was semi-transparent; that the
cuticle of the blackest negroe was of the same transparency and colour,
as that of the purest white; and hence, the _true skins_ of both
being invariably the same, that the _mucosum corpus_ was the seat
of colour.
This has been farther confirmed by all subsequent anatomical
experiments, by which it appears, that, whatever is the colour of this
intermediate coagulated substance, nearly the same is the apparent
colour of the upper surface of the skin. Neither can it be otherwise;
for the _Cuticle_, from its transparency, must necessarily transmit
the colour of the substance beneath it, in the same manner, though not
in the same degree, as the _cornea_ transmits the colour of the
_iris_ of the eye. This transparency is a matter of ocular
demonstration in white people. It is conspicuous in every blush; for no
one can imagine, that the cuticle becomes red, as often as this happens:
nor is it less discoverable in the veins, which are so easy to be
discerned; for no one can suppose, that the blue streaks, which he
constantly sees in the fairest complexions, are painted, as it were, on
the surface of the upper skin. From these, and a variety of other
observations[081], no maxim is more true in physiology, than that _on
the mucosum corpus depends the colour of the human body_; or, in
other words, that the _mucosum corpus_ being of a different colour
in different inhabitants of the globe, and appearing through the cuticle
or upper surface of the skin, gives them that various appearance, which
strikes us so forcibly in contemplating the human race.
As this can be incontrovertibly ascertained, it is evident, that
whatever causes cooperate in producing this different appearance, they
produce it by acting upon the _mucosum corpus_, which, from the
almost incredible manner in which the cuticle[082] is perforated, is as
accessible as the cuticle itself. These causes are probably those
various qualities of things, which, combined with the influence of the
sun, contribute to form what we call _climate_. For when any person
considers, that the mucous substance, before-mentioned, is found to vary
in its colour, as the _climates_ vary from the equator to the
poles, his mind must be instantly struck with the hypothesis, and he
must adopt it without any hesitation, as the genuine cause of the
phaenomenon.
This fact[083], _of the variation of the mucous substance according to
the situation of the place_, has been clearly ascertained in the
numerous anatomical experiments that have been made; in which, subjects
of all nations have come under consideration. The natives of many of the
kingdoms and isles of _Asia_, are found to have their _corpus
mucosum_ black. Those of _Africa_, situated near the line, of
the same colour. Those of the maritime parts of the same continent, of a
dusky brown, nearly approaching to it; and the colour becomes lighter or
darker in proportion as the distance from the equator is either greater
or less. The Europeans are the fairest inhabitants of the world. Those
situated in the most southern regions of _Europe_, have in their
_corpus mucosum_ a tinge of the dark hue of their _African_
neighbours: hence the epidemick complexion, prevalent among them, is
nearly of the colour of the pickled Spanish olive; while in this
country, and those situated nearer the north pole, it appears to be
nearly, if not absolutely, white.
These are facts[084], which anatomy has established; and we acknowledge
them to be such, that we cannot divest ourselves of the idea, that
_climate_ has a considerable share in producing a difference of
colour. Others, we know, have invented other hypotheses, but all of them
have been instantly refuted, as unable to explain the difficulties for
which they were advanced, and as absolutely contrary to fact: and the
inventors themselves have been obliged, almost as soon as they have
proposed them, to acknowledge them deficient.
The only objection of any consequence, that has ever been made to the
hypothesis of _climate_, is this, _that people under the same
parallels are not exactly of the same colour_. But this is no
objection in fact: for it does not follow that those countries, which
are at an equal distance from the equator, should have their climates
the same. Indeed nothing is more contrary to experience than this.
Climate depends upon a variety of accidents. High mountains, in the
neighbourhood of a place, make it cooler, by chilling the air that is
carried over them by the winds. Large spreading succulent plants, if
among the productions of the soil, have the same effect: they afford
agreeable cooling shades, and a moist atmosphere from their continual
exhalations, by which the ardour of the sun is considerably abated.
While the soil, on the other hand, if of a sandy nature, retains the
heat in an uncommon degree, and makes the summers considerably hotter
than those which are found to exist in the same latitude, where the soil
is different. To this proximity of what may be termed _burning
sands_, and to the sulphurous and metallick particles, which are
continually exhaling from the bowels of the earth, is ascribed the
different degree of blackness, by which some _African_ nations are
distinguishable from each other, though under the same parallels. To
these observations we may add, that though the inhabitants of the same
parallel are not exactly of the same hue, yet they differ only by shades
of the same colour; or, to speak with more precision, that there are no
two people, in such a situation, one of whom is white, and the other
black. To sum up the whole--Suppose we were to take a common globe; to
begin at the equator; to paint every country along the meridian line in
succession from thence to the poles; and to paint them with the same
colour which prevails in the respective inhabitants of each, we should
see the black, with which we had been obliged to begin, insensibly
changing to an olive, and the olive, through as many intermediate
colours, to a white: and if, on the other hand, we should complete any
one of the parallels according to the same plan, we should see a
difference perhaps in the appearance of some of the countries through
which it ran, though the difference would consist wholly in shades of
the same colour.
The argument therefore, which is brought against the hypothesis, is so
far from being, an objection, that we shall consider it one of the first
arguments in its favour: for if _climate_ has really an influence
on the _mucous substance_ of the body, it is evident, that we must
not only expect to see a gradation of colour in the inhabitants from the
equator to the poles, but also different[085] shades of the same colour
in the inhabitants of the same parallel.
To this argument, we shall add one that is incontrovertible, which is,
that when the _black_ inhabitants of _Africa_ are transplanted
to _colder_, or the _white_ inhabitants of _Europe_ to _hotter_
climates, their children, _born there_, are of a _different
colour from themselves_; that is, lighter in the first, and
darker in the second instance.
As a proof of the first, we shall give the words of the Abbe
Raynal[086], in his admired publication. "The children," says he, "which
they, (the _Africans_) procreate in _America_, are not so
black as their parents were. After each generation the difference
becomes more palpable. It is possible, that after a numerous succession
of generations, the men come from _Africa_ would not be
distinguished from those of the country, into which they may have been
transplanted."
This circumstance we have had the pleasure of hearing confirmed by a
variety of persons, who have been witnesses of the fact; but
particularly by many intelligent[087] Africans, who have been parents
themselves in _America_, and who have declared that the difference
is so palpable in the _northern provinces_, that not only they
themselves have constantly observed it, but that they have heard it
observed by others.
Neither is this variation in the children from the colour of their
parents improbable. _The children of the blackest Africans are born
white_[088]. In this state they continue for about a month, when they
change to a pale yellow. In process of time they become brown. Their
skin still continues to increase in darkness with their age, till it
becomes of a dirty, sallow black, and at length, after a certain period
of years, glossy and shining. Now, if climate has any influence on the
_mucous substance_ of the body, this variation in the children from
the colour of their parents is an event, which must be reasonably
expected: for being born white, and not having equally powerful causes
to act upon them in colder, as their parents had in the hotter climates
which they left, it must necessarily follow, that the same affect cannot
possibly be produced.
Hence also, if the hypothesis be admitted, may be deduced the reason,
why even those children, who have been brought from their country at an
early age into colder regions, have been observed[089] to be of a
lighter colour than those who have remained at home till they arrived at
a state of manhood. For having undergone some of the changes which we
mentioned to have attended their countrymen from infancy to a certain
age, and having been taken away before the rest could be completed,
these farther changes, which would have taken place had they remained at
home, seem either to have been checked in their progress, or weakened in
their degree, by a colder climate.
We come now to the second and opposite case; for a proof of which we
shall appeal to the words of Dr. Mitchell[090], in the Philosophical
Transactions. "The _Spaniards_ who have inhabited _America_
under the torrid zone for any time, are become as dark coloured as our
native _Indians_ of _Virginia_, of which, _I myself have
been a witness_; and were they not to intermarry with the
_Europeans_, but lead the same rude and barbarous lives with the
_Indians_, it is very probable that, in a succession of many
generations, they would become as dark in complexion."
To this instance we shall add one, which is mentioned by a late
writer[091], who describing the _African_ coast, and the
_European_ settlements there, has the following passage. "There are
several other small _Portuguese_ settlements, and one of some note
at _Mitomba_, a river in _Sierra Leon_. The people here
called _Portuguese_, are principally persons bred from a mixture of
the first _Portuguese discoverers_ with the natives, and now
become, in their _complexion_ and _woolly quality_ of their
hair, _perfect negroes_, retaining however a smattering of the
_Portuguese_ language."
These facts, with respect to the colonists of the _Europeans_, are
of the highest importance in the present case, and deserve a serious
attention. For when we know to a certainty from whom they are descended;
when we know that they were, at the time of their transplantation, of
the same colour as those from whom they severally sprung; and when, on
the other hand, we are credibly informed, that they have changed it for
the native colour of the place which they now inhabit; the evidence in
support of these facts is as great, as if a person, on the removal of
two or three families into another climate, had determined to ascertain
the circumstance; as if he had gone with them and watched their
children; as if he had communicated his observations at his death to a
successor; as if his successor had prosecuted the plan, and thus an
uninterrupted chain of evidence had been kept up from their first
removal to any determined period of succeeding time.
But though these facts seem sufficient of themselves to confirm our
opinion, they are not the only facts which can be adduced in its
support. It can be shewn, that the members of the _very same
family_, when divided from each other, and removed into different
countries, have not only changed their family complexion, but that they
have changed it to _as many different colours_ as they have gone
into _different regions of the world_. We cannot have, perhaps, a
more striking instance of this, than in the _Jews_. These people,
are scattered over the face of the whole earth. They have preserved
themselves distinct from the rest of the world by their religion; and,
as they never intermarry with any but those of their own sect, so they
have no mixture of blood in their veins, that they should differ from
each other: and yet nothing is more true, than that the _English
Jew_[092] is white, the _Portuguese_ swarthy, the _Armenian_
olive, and the _Arabian_ copper; in short, that there appear
to be as many different species of _Jews_, as there are countries
in which they reside.
To these facts we shall add the following observation, that if we can
give credit to the ancient historians in general, a change from the
darkest black to the purest white must have actually been accomplished.
One instance, perhaps, may be thought sufficient. _Herodotus_[093]
relates, that the _Colchi were black_, and that they had _crisped
hair_. These people were a detachment of the _AEthiopian_ army
under _Sesostris_, who followed him in his expedition, and settled
in that part of the world, where _Colchis_ is usually represented
to have been situated. Had not the same author informed us of this
circumstance, we should have thought it strange[094], that a people of
this description should have been found in such a latitude. Now as they
were undoubtedly settled there, and as they were neither so totally
destroyed, nor made any such rapid conquests, as that history should
notice the event, there is great reason to presume, that their
descendants continued in the same, or settled in the adjacent country;
from whence it will follow, that they must have changed their complexion
to that, which is observable in the inhabitants of this particular
region at the present day; or, in other words, that the _black
inhabitant of Colchis_ must have been changed into the _fair
Circassian_[095].