Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/107

 SLAVERY 99 In 1820 the slaves numbered 1,538,022; in 1830, 2,009,043; in 1840, 2,487,455; in 1850, 3,204,313 ; and in 1860, 3,953,760. The feel- ing in the United States was generally averse to slavery at the time their national existence began, and in some of the southern states that feeling was stronger than it was in most of the northern ones. The ordinance of 1787, Deluding it from the N. W. territory, was sup- )rted by southern men, and some southern bes abolished the slave trade with Africa rhile northern states continued to carry it on. r ermont abolished slavery in 1777, before she lad joined the Union. Pennsylvania in 1780 >rovided for the gradual emancipation of her 'aves, of whom 64 were still living as such in 1840, the relics of her 3,737 in 1790. In issachusetts the supreme court declared that avery was abolished by the act of adopting e state constitution of 1780, which had been framed in one part as to provide for such a lecision. Rhode Island gradually emancipated ler slaves, and had but 5 left in 1840 ; and "jnnecticut did the same, having 17 in that rear, and having had 2,759 in 1790. New r ork adopted a gradual emancipation act in L799, at which date she had upward of 20,- slaves; and in 1817 she passed another 3t declaring all slaves free on the 4th of July, 1827. New Jersey pursued the same course 1804, her slaves in 1790 numbering 11,423, whom 236 were living in 1850. That the wthern states did not imitate the emancipation olicy of those of the northern part of the American Union, is to be attributed to a va- Jty of circumstances, the principal of which rere the difference of climate and the difference social life, which made slavery far more )rofitable in the south than it could ever be ade in the north, where it never flourished, id where in some instances the young of ives were given away. The invention of the )tton gin made slavery very profitable, and > helped to cbange that opinion which had listed in the south, both in the colonial and the revolutionary times, and which, as ex- 3ressed by such men as Washington, Jefferson, id Patrick Henry, looked to the extinction slavery. That opinion passed away, and lavery was upheld in the southern states as institution excellent in itself, and to be in Tj way promoted and extended, some of more ardent friends advocating the resump- tion of the slave trade with Africa. The sys- tem of American slavery, unlike that of Greece or of Rome, was based on the alleged infe- riority of the African race. The Greeks and the Romans enslaved white men of all races with whom they came in contact. So did the Barbary states, in which, notwithstanding their proximity to the country of the blacks, there were probably as many white as col- ored slaves. In America the idea of hold- ing white men in slavery was always abhor- rent to the most devoted supporters of sla- very. But owing to the illicit amalgamation of the white and black races which is a con- comitant of slavery, there was no inconsid- erable number of American slaves in whom the proportion of African blood was so slight as to be almost or quite imperceptible. The aversion to color was so far shared in the non-slaveholding states, that before the late civil war in only one of their number (Ver- mont) were negroes entirely the equals of the whites before the law ; and socially they were everywhere treated as an inferior caste. Slavery was opposed by eminent men in the United States from the beginning. Washing- ton, Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, Jay, Hamil- ton, and many more of those who took a con- spicuous part in laying the foundations of the government, regarded slavery as a great evil, in- consistent with the principles of the declaration of independence and the spirit of Christian- ity. They confidently expected that it would gradually pass away before the advancing pow- er of civilization and freedom ; and, shrinking from what they regarded as insurmountable obstacles to emancipation in their own time, they consented, in forming the constitution, to give the system certain advantages which they hoped would be temporary, and therefore not dangerous to the stability of the govern- ment. Societies to promote the gradual abo- lition of slavery were formed in many of the states. The "Pennsylvania Abolition Socie- ty," founded in 1775, continued in existence until slavery was destroyed. Its first president was Benjamin Franklin, its first secretary Ben- jamin Rush. In 1790 it sent a memorial to con- gress, bearing the official signature of "Benja- min Franklin, president," asking that body to "devise means for removing the inconsistency of slavery from the American people," and to " step to the very verge of its power for dis- couraging every species of traffic in the persons of our fellow men." The " New York Manu- mission Society " was formed in 1785, John Jay being the first president, and Alexander Ham- ilton his successor. Similar associations were formed in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Dela- ware, Maryland, and Virginia. These socie- ties exerted a strong influence in favor of the abolition of slavery in several northern states. In 1819-'20 the opponents of slavery made a stern resistance to the admission of Missouri to the Union as a slave state, and were de- feated. (For particulars on the compromises which ended this and a similar struggle in 1850, and the whole of the political conflicts in regard to slaveholding in the territories of the United States, and the laws regulating the rendition of fugitive slaves, see UNITED STATES and the notices of the presidents and the prin- cipal party leaders, such as Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Stephen A. Douglas.) The Missouri conflict was followed by a period of profound repose in regard to the whole subject. The publication, by Benjamin Lundy, a Quaker, of a small journal at Baltimore entitled " Genius of Universal Emancipation," was almost the