An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, Particularly the African - Thomas Clarkson
I have now only to solicit the reader again, that he will make a
favourable allowance for the present work, not only from those
circumstances which I have mentioned, but from the consideration, that
only two months are allowed by the University for these their annual
compositions. Should he however be unpropitious to my request, I must
console myself with the reflection, (a reflection that will always
afford me pleasure, even amidst the censures of the great,) that by
undertaking the cause of the unfortunate _Africans_, I have
undertaken, as far as my abilities would permit, the cause of injured
innocence.
London, June 1st 1786.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES
[Footnote 001: A Description of Guinea, with an Inquiry into the Rise
and Progress of the Slave Trade, &c.--A Caution to Great Britain and her
Colonies, in a short Representation of the calamitous State of the
enslaved Negroes in the British Dominions. Besides several smaller
pieces.]
[Footnote 002: They had censured the _African Trade_ in the year
1727, but had taken no publick notice of the _colonial_ slavery
till this time.]
[Footnote 003: The instance of the _Dutch_ colonists at the Cape,
in the first part of the Essay; the description of an African battle, in
the second; and the poetry of a negroe girl in the third, are the only
considerable additions that have been made.]
* * * * *
CONTENTS.
* * * * *
PART I.
The History of Slavery.
CHAP. I. Introduction.--Division of slavery into voluntary and
involuntary.--The latter the subject of the present work.--Chap. II.
The first class of involuntary slaves among the ancients, from
war.--Conjecture concerning their antiquity.--Chap. III. The second
class from piracy.--Short history of piracy.--The dance
carpoea.--Considerations from hence on the former topick.--Three
orders of involuntary slaves among the ancients.--Chap. IV. Their
personal treatment.--Exception in AEgypt.--Exception at
Athens.--Chap. V. The causes of such treatment among the ancients in
general.--Additional causes among the Greeks and Romans.--A
refutation of their principles.--Remarks on the writings of
AEsop.--Chap. VI. The ancient slave-trade.--Its antiquity.--AEgypt
the first market recorded for this species of traffick.--Cyprus the
second.--The agreement of the writings of Moses and Homer on the
subject.--The universal prevalence of the trade.--Chap. VII. The
decline of this commerce and slavery in Europe.--The causes of
their decline.--Chap. VIII. Their revival in Africa.--Short history
of their revival.--Five classes of involuntary slaves among the
moderns.--Cruel instance of the Dutch colonists at the Cape.
* * * * *
PART II.
The African Commerce or Slave-Trade.
CHAP. I. The history of mankind from their first situation to a
state of government.--Chap. II. An account of the first
governments.--Chap. III. Liberty a natural right.--That of
government adventitious.--Government, its nature.--Its end.--Chap.
IV. Mankind cannot be considered as property.--An objection
answered.--Chap. V. Division of the commerce into two parts, as it
relates to those who sell, and those who purchase the human species
into slavery.--The right of the sellers examined with respect to
the two orders of African slaves, "of those who are publickly seized
by virtue of the authority of their prince, and of those, who are
kidnapped by individuals."--Chap. VI. Their right with respect to
convicts.--From the proportion of the punishment to the
offence.--From its object and end.--Chap. VII. Their right with
respect to prisoners of war.--The jus captivitatis, or right of
capture explained.--Its injustice.--Farther explication of the
right of capture, in answer to some supposed objections.--Chap.
VIII. Additional remarks on the two orders that were first
mentioned.--The number which they annually contain.--A description
of an African battle.--Additional remarks on prisoners of war.--On
convicts.--Chap. IX. The right of the purchasers
examined.--Conclusion.
* * * * *
PART III.
The Slavery of the Africans in the European
Colonies.
CHAP. I. Imaginary scene in Africa.--Imaginary conversation with an
African.--His ideas of Christianity.--A Description of a body of
slaves going to the ships.--Their embarkation.--Chap. II. Their
treatment on board.--The number that annually perish in the
voyage.--Horrid instance at sea.--Their debarkation in the
colonies.--Horrid instance on the shore.--Chap. III. The condition
of their posterity in the colonies.--The lex nativitatis
explained.--Its injustice.--Chap. IV. The seasoning in the
colonies.--The number that annually die in the seasoning.--The
employment of the survivors.--The colonial discipline.--Its
tendency to produce cruelty.--Horrid instance of this
effect.--Immoderate labour, and its consequences.--Want of food
and its consequences.--Severity and its consequences.--The forlorn
situation of slaves.--An appeal to the memory of Alfred.--Chap. V.
The contents of the two preceding chapters denied by the
purchasers.--Their first argument refuted.--Their second
refuted.--Their third refuted.--Chap. VI. Three arguments, which
they bring in vindication of their treatment, refuted.--Chap. VII.
The argument, that the Africans are an inferiour link of the chain
of nature, as far as it relates to their genius, refuted.--The
causes of this apparent inferiority.--Short dissertation on African
genius.--Poetry of an African girl.--Chap. VIII. The argument, that
they are an inferiour link of the chain of nature, as far as it
relates to colour, &c. refuted.--Examination of the divine writings
in this particular.--Dissertation on the colour.--Chap. IX. Other
arguments of the purchasers examined.--Their comparisons
unjust.--Their assertions, with respect to the happy situation of
the Africans in the colonies, without foundation.--Their happiness
examined with respect to manumission.--With respect to
holy-days.--Dances, &c.--An estimate made at St. Domingo.--Chap. X.
The right of the purchasers over their slaves refuted upon their own
principles.--Chap. XI. Dreadful arguments against this commerce and
slavery of the human species.--How the Deity seems already to punish
us for this inhuman violation of his laws.--Conclusion.
* * * * *
ERRATA.
For _Dominique_, (Footnote 107) read _Domingue_.
N. B. In page 18 a Latin note has been inserted by mistake, under
the quotation of Diodorus Siculus. The reader will find the original
Greek of the same signification, in the same author, at page 49.
Editio Stephani.
* * * * *
AN ESSAY
ON THE SLAVERY and COMMERCE
OF THE HUMAN SPECIES.
IN THREE PARTS.
* * * * *
PART I.
THE HISTORY OF SLAVERY.
* * * * *
CHAP. I.
When civilized, as well as barbarous nations, have been found, through a
long succession of ages, uniformly to concur in the same customs, there
seems to arise a presumption, that such customs are not only eminently
useful, but are founded also on the principles of justice. Such is the
case with respect to _Slavery_: it has had the concurrence of all
the nations, which history has recorded, and the repeated practice of
ages from the remotest antiquity, in its favour. Here then is an
argument, deduced from the general consent and agreement of mankind, in
favour of the proposed subject: but alas! when we reflect that the
people, thus reduced to a state of servitude, have had the same feelings
with ourselves; when we reflect that they have had the same propensities
to pleasure, and the same aversions from pain; another argument seems
immediately to arise in opposition to the former, deduced from our own
feelings and that divine sympathy, which nature has implanted in our
breasts, for the most useful and generous of purposes. To ascertain the
truth therefore, where two such opposite sources of argument occur;
where the force of custom pleads strongly on the one hand, and the
feelings of humanity on the other; is a matter of much importance, as
the dignity of human nature is concerned, and the rights and liberties
of mankind will be involved in its discussion.
It will be necessary, before this point can be determined, to consult
the History of Slavery, and to lay before the reader, in as concise a
manner as possible, a general view of it from its earliest appearance to
the present day.
The first, whom we shall mention here to have been reduced to a state of
servitude, may be comprehended in that class, which is usually
denominated the _Mercenary_. It consisted of free-born citizens,
who, from the various contingencies of fortune, had become so poor, as
to have recourse for their support to the service of the rich. Of this
kind were those, both among the Egyptians and the Jews, who are recorded
in the sacred writings.[004] The Grecian _Thetes_[005] also were of
this description, as well as those among the Romans, from whom the class
receives its appellation, the [006]_Mercenarii_.
We may observe of the above-mentioned, that their situation was in many
instances similar to that of our own servants. There was an express
contract between the parties; they could, most of them, demand their
discharge, if they were ill used by their respective masters; and they
were treated therefore with more humanity than those, whom we usually
distinguish in our language by the appellation of _Slaves_.
As this class of servants was composed of men, who had been reduced to
such a situation by the contingencies of fortune, and not by their own
misconduct; so there was another among the ancients, composed entirely
of those, who had suffered the loss of liberty from their own
imprudence. To this class may be reduced the Grecian _Prodigals_,
who were detained in the service of their creditors, till the fruits of
their labour were equivalent to their debts; the _delinquents_, who
were sentenced to the oar; and the German _enthusiasts_, as
mentioned by Tacitus, who were so immoderately charmed with gaming, as,
when every thing else was gone, to have staked their liberty and their
very selves. "The loser," says he, "goes into a voluntary servitude, and
though younger and stronger than the person with whom he played,
patiently suffers himself to be bound and sold. Their perseverance in
so bad a custom is stiled honour. The slaves, thus obtained, are
immediately exchanged away in commerce, that the winner may get rid of
the scandal of his victory."
To enumerate other instances, would be unnecessary; it will be
sufficient to observe, that the servants of this class were in a far
more wretched situation, than those of the former; their drudgery was
more intense; their treatment more severe; and there was no retreat at
pleasure, from the frowns and lashes of their despotick masters.
Having premised this, we may now proceed to a general division of
slavery, into _voluntary_ and _involuntary_. The _voluntary_
will comprehend the two classes, which we have already mentioned;
for, in the first instance, there was a _contract_, founded
on _consent_; and, in the second, there was a _choice_ of
engaging or not in those practices, the known consequences of which
were servitude. The _involuntary_; on the other hand, will
comprehend those, who were forced, without any such _condition_ or
_choice_, into a situation, which as it tended to degrade a part of
the human species, and to class it with the brutal, must have been, of
all human situations, the most wretched and insupportable. These are
they, whom we shall consider solely in the present work. We shall
therefore take our leave of the former, as they were mentioned only,
that we might state the question with greater accuracy, and, be the
better enabled to reduce it to its proper limits.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES
[Footnote 004: Genesis, Ch. 47. Leviticus XXV. v. 39, 40.]
[Footnote 005: The _Thetes_ appear very early in the Grecian
History.--kai tines auto kouroi epont'Ithakes exairetoi; he eoi autou
thentes te Dmoes(?) te; Od. Homer. D. 642. They were afterwards so much
in use that, "Murioi depou apedidonto eautous ose douleuein kata
sungraphen," till Solon suppressed the custom in Athens.]
[Footnote 006: The mention of these is frequent among the classics; they
were called in general _mercenarii_, from the circumstances of
their _hire_, as "quibus, non male praecipiunt, qui ita jubent uti,
ut _mercenariis_, operam exigendam, justa proebenda. Cicero de
off." But they are sometimes mentioned in the law books by the name of
_liberi_, from the circumstances of their _birth_, to distinguish
them from the _alieni_, or foreigners, as Justinian. D. 7. 8. 4.
--Id. 21. 1. 25. &c. &c. &c.]
* * * * *
CHAP. II.
The first that will be mentioned, of the _involuntary_, were
_prisoners of war_.[007] "It was a law, established from time
immemorial among the nations of antiquity, to oblige those to undergo
the severities of servitude, whom victory had thrown into their hands."
Conformably with this, we find all the Eastern nations unanimous in the
practice. The same custom prevailed among the people of the West; for as
the Helots became the slaves of the Spartans, from the right of conquest
only, so prisoners of war were reduced to the same situation by the rest
of the inhabitants of Greece. By the same principles that actuated
these, were the Romans also influenced. Their History will confirm the
fact: for how many cities are recorded to have been taken; how many
armies to have been vanquished in the field, and the wretched survivors,
in both instances, to have been doomed to servitude? It remains only now
to observe, in shewing this custom to have been universal, that all
those nations which assisted in overturning the Roman Empire, though
many and various, adopted the same measures; for we find it a general
maxim in their polity, that whoever should fall into their hands as a
prisoner of war, should immediately be reduced to the condition of a
slave.
It may here, perhaps, be not unworthy of remark, that the
_involuntary_ were of greater antiquity than the _voluntary_
slaves. The latter are first mentioned in the time of Pharaoh: they
could have arisen only in a state of society; when property, after its
division, had become so unequal, as to multiply the wants of
individuals; and when government, after its establishment, had given
security to the possessor by the punishment of crimes. Whereas the
former seem to be dated with more propriety from the days of Nimrod; who
gave rise probably to that inseparable idea of _victory_ and
_servitude_, which we find among the nations of antiquity, and
which has existed uniformly since, in one country or another, to the
present day.[008]
Add to this, that they might have arisen even in a state of nature, and
have been coequal with the quarrels of mankind.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES
[Footnote 007: "Nomos en pasin anthropois aidios esin, otan polemounton
polis alo, ton elonton einai kai ta somata ton en te poleis, kai ta
chremata." Xenoph. Kyrou Paid. L. 7. fin.]
[Footnote 008:
"Proud Nimrod first the bloody chace began,
A mighty hunter, and his prey was man."
--POPE.]
* * * * *
CHAP. III.
But it was not victory alone, or any presupposed right, founded in the
damages of war, that afforded a pretence for invading the liberties of
mankind: the honourable light, in which _piracy_ was considered in
the uncivilized ages of the world, contributed not a little to the
_slavery_ of the human species. Piracy had a very early beginning.
"The Grecians,"[009] says Thucydides, "in their primitive state, as well
as the contemporary barbarians, who inhabited the sea coasts and
islands, gave themselves wholly to it; it was, in short, their only
profession and support." The writings of Homer are sufficient of
themselves to establish this account. They shew it to have been a common
practice at so early a period as that of the Trojan war; and abound with
many lively descriptions of it; which, had they been as groundless as
they are beautiful, would have frequently spared the sigh of the reader
of sensibility and reflection.
The piracies, which were thus practised in the early ages, may be
considered as _publick_ or _private_. In the former, whole
crews embarked for the benefit[010] of their respective tribes. They
made descents on the sea coasts, carried off cattle, surprized whole
villages, put many of the inhabitants to the sword, and carried others
into slavery.
In the latter, individuals only were concerned, and the emolument was
their own. These landed from their ships, and, going up into the
country, concealed themselves in the woods and thickets; where they
waited every opportunity of catching the unfortunate shepherd or
husbandman alone. In this situation they sallied out upon him, dragged
him on board, conveyed him to a foreign market, and sold him for a
slave.
To this kind of piracy Ulysses alludes, in opposition to the former,
which he had been just before mentioning, in his question to Eumoeus.
"Did pirates wait, till all thy friends were gone,
To catch thee singly with thy flocks alone;
Say, did they force thee from thy fleecy care,
And from thy fields transport and sell thee here?"[011]
But no picture, perhaps, of this mode of depredation, is equal to that,
with which[012] Xenophon presents us in the simple narrative of a dance.
He informs us that the Grecian army had concluded a peace with the
Paphlagonians, and that they entertained their embassadors in
consequence with a banquet, and the exhibition of various feats of
activity. "When the Thracians," says he, "had performed the parts
allotted them in this entertainment, some Aenianian and Magnetian
soldiers rose up, and, accoutred in their proper arms, exhibited that
dance, which is called _Karpoea_. The figure of it is thus. One of
them, in the character of an husbandman, is seen to till his land, and
is observed, as he drives his plough, to look frequently behind him, as
if apprehensive of danger. Another immediately appears in fight, in
the character of a robber. The husbandman, having seen him previously
advancing, snatches up his arms. A battle ensues before the plough. The
whole of this performance is kept in perfect time with the musick of the
flute. At length the robber, having got the better of the husbandman,
binds him, and drives him off with his team. Sometimes it happens that
the husbandman subdues the robber: in this case the scene is only
reversed, as the latter is then bound and driven, off by the former."
It is scarcely necessary to observe, that this dance was a
representation of the general manners of men, in the more uncivilized
ages of the world; shewing that the husbandman and shepherd lived in
continual alarm, and that there were people in those ages, who derived
their pleasures and fortunes from _kidnapping_ and _enslaving_
their fellow creatures.
We may now take notice of a circumstance in this narration, which will
lead us to a review of our first assertion on this point, "that the
honourable light, in which _piracy_ was considered in the times of
barbarism, contributed not a little to the _slavery_ of the human
species." The robber is represented here as frequently defeated in his
attempts, and as reduced to that deplorable situation, to which he was
endeavouring to bring another. This shews the frequent difficulty and
danger of his undertakings: people would not tamely resign their lives
or liberties, without a struggle. They were sometimes prepared; were
superior often, in many points of view, to these invaders of their
liberty; there were an hundred accidental circumstances frequently in
their favour. These adventures therefore required all the skill,
strength, agility, valour, and every thing, in short, that may be
supposed to constitute heroism, to conduct them with success. Upon this
idea piratical expeditions first came into repute, and their frequency
afterwards, together with the danger and fortitude, that were
inseparably connected with them, brought them into such credit among the
barbarous nations of antiquity, that of all human professions, piracy
was the most honourable.[013]
The notions then, which were thus annexed to piratical expeditions, did
not fail to produce those consequences, which we have mentioned before.
They afforded an opportunity to the views of avarice and ambition, to
conceal themselves under the mask of virtue. They excited a spirit of
enterprize, of all others the most irresistible, as it subsisted on the
strongest principles of action, emolument and honour. Thus could the
vilest of passions be gratified with impunity. People were robbed,
stolen, murdered, under the pretended idea that these were reputable
adventures: every enormity in short was committed, and dressed up in the
habiliments of honour.
But as the notions of men in the less barbarous ages, which followed,
became more corrected and refined, the practice of piracy began
gradually to disappear. It had hitherto been supported on the grand
columns of _emolument_ and _honour_. When the latter therefore
was removed, it received a considerable shock; but, alas! it had still a
pillar for its support! _avarice_, which exists in all states, and
which is ready to turn every invention to its own ends, strained hard
for its preservation. It had been produced in the ages of barbarism; it
had been pointed out in those ages as lucrative, and under this notion
it was continued. People were still stolen; many were intercepted (some,
in their pursuits of pleasure, others, in the discharge of their several
occupations) by their own countrymen; who previously laid in wait for
them, and sold them afterwards for slaves; while others seized by
merchants, who traded on the different coasts, were torn from their
friends and connections, and carried into slavery. The merchants of
Thessaly, if we can credit Aristophanes[014] who never spared the vices
of the times, were particularly infamous for the latter kind of
depredation; the Athenians were notorious for the former; for they had
practised these robberies to such an alarming degree of danger to
individuals, that it was found necessary to enact a law[015], which
punished kidnappers with death.--But this is sufficient for our present
purpose; it will enable us to assert, that there were two classes of
_involuntary_ slaves among the ancients, "of those who were taken
publickly in a state of war, and of those who were privately stolen in
a state of innocence and peace." We may now add, that the children and
descendents of these composed a third.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES
[Footnote 009: Thucydides. L. 1. sub initio.]
[Footnote 010: Idem.--"the strongest," says he, "engaging in these
adventures, Kerdous tou spheterou auton eneka kai tois asthenesi trophes."]
[Footnote 011: Homer. Odyss. L. 15. 385.]
[Footnote 012: Xenoph. Kyrou Anab. L. 6. sub initio.]
[Footnote 013: ouk echontos po Aischynen toutou tou ergou pherontos de
ti kai Doxes mallon. Thucydides, L. 1. sub initio. kai euklees touto
oi Kilikes enomizon. Sextus Empiricus. ouk adoxon all'endoxon touto.
Schol. &c. &c.]
[Footnote 014: Aristoph. Plut. Act. 2. Scene 5.]
[Footnote 015: Zenoph. Apomnemon, L. 1.]
* * * * *
CHAP. IV.
It will be proper to say something here concerning the situation of the
unfortunate men, who were thus doomed to a life of servitude. To
enumerate their various employments, and to describe the miseries which
they endured in consequence, either from the severity, or the long and
constant application of their labour, would exceed the bounds we have
proposed to the present work. We shall confine ourselves to their
_personal treatment_, as depending on the power of their masters, and
the protection of the law. Their treatment, if considered in this light,
will equally excite our pity and abhorrence. They were beaten, starved,
tortured, murdered at discretion: they were dead in a civil sense; they
had neither name nor tribe; were incapable of a judicial process; were
in short without appeal. Poor unfortunate men! to be deprived of all
possible protection! to suffer the bitterest of injuries without the
possibility of redress! to be condemned unheard! to be murdered with
impunity! to be considered as dead in that state, the very members of
which they were supporting by their labours!