第 104 节
作者:
红色风帆 更新:2021-04-30 17:08 字数:9322
I see that in a certain portion of the territory of the United States at the present day; the legal barrier which separated the two races is tending to fall away; but not that which exists in the manners of the country; slavery recedes; but the prejudice to which it has given birth remains stationary。 Whosoever has inhabited the United States must have perceived that in those parts of the Union in which the negroes are no longer slaves; they have in no wise drawn nearer to the whites。 On the contrary; the prejudice of the race appears to be stronger in the States which have abolished slavery; than in those where it still exists; and nowhere is it so intolerant as in those States where servitude has never been known。
It is true; that in the North of the Union; marriages may be legally contracted between negroes and whites; but public opinion would stigmatize a man who should connect himself with a negress as infamous; and it would be difficult to meet with a single instance of such a union。 The electoral franchise has been conferred upon the negroes in almost all the States in which slavery has been abolished; but if they come forward to vote; their lives are in danger。 If oppressed; they may bring an action at law; but they will find none but whites amongst their judges; and although they may legally serve as jurors; prejudice repulses them from that office。 The same schools do not receive the child of the black and of the European。 In the theatres; gold cannot procure a seat for the servile race beside their former masters; in the hospitals they lie apart; and although they are allowed to invoke the same Divinity as the whites; it must be at a different altar; and in their own churches; with their own clergy。 The gates of Heaven are not closed against these unhappy beings; but their inferiority is continued to the very confines of the other world; when the negro is defunct; his bones are cast aside; and the distinction of condition prevails even in the equality of death。 The negro is free; but he can share neither the rights; nor the pleasures; nor the labor; nor the afflictions; nor the tomb of him whose equal he has been declared to be; and he cannot meet him upon fair terms in life or in death。
In the South; where slavery still exists; the negroes are less carefully kept apart; they sometimes share the labor and the recreations of the whites; the whites consent to intermix with them to a certain extent; and although the legislation treats them more harshly; the habits of the people are more tolerant and compassionate。 In the South the master is not afraid to raise his slave to his own standing; because he knows that he can in a moment reduce him to the dust at pleasure。 In the North the white no longer distinctly perceives the barrier which separates him from the degraded race; and he shuns the negro with the more pertinacity; since he fears lest they should some day be confounded together。
Amongst the Americans of the South; nature sometimes reasserts her rights; and restores a transient equality between the blacks and the whites; but in the North pride restrains the most imperious of human passions。 The American of the Northern States would perhaps allow the negress to share his licentious pleasures; if the laws of his country did not declare that she may aspire to be the legitimate partner of his bed; but he recoils with horror from her who might become his wife。
Thus it is; in the United States; that the prejudice which repels the negroes seems to increase in proportion as they are emancipated; and inequality is sanctioned by the manners whilst it is effaced from the laws of the country。 But if the relative position of the two races which inhabit the United States is such as I have described; it may be asked why the Americans have abolished slavery in the North of the Union; why they maintain it in the South; and why they aggravate its hardships there? The answer is easily given。 It is not for the good of the negroes; but for that of the whites; that measures are taken to abolish slavery in the United States。
The first negroes were imported into Virginia about the year 1621。 *f In America; therefore; as well as in the rest of the globe; slavery originated in the South。 Thence it spread from one settlement to another; but the number of slaves diminished towards the Northern States; and the negro population was always very limited in New England。 *g
'Footnote f: See Beverley's 〃History of Virginia。〃 See also in Jefferson's 〃Memoirs〃 some curious details concerning the introduction of negroes into Virginia; and the first Act which prohibited the importation of them in 1778。'
'Footnote g: The number of slaves was less considerable in the North; but the advantages resulting from slavery were not more contested there than in the South。 In 1740; the Legislature of the State of New York declared that the direct importation of slaves ought to be encouraged as much as possible; and smuggling severely punished in order not to discourage the fair trader。 (Kent's 〃Commentaries;〃 vol。 ii。 p。 206。) Curious researches; by Belknap; upon slavery in New England; are to be found in the 〃Historical Collection of Massachusetts;〃 vol。 iv。 p。 193。 It appears that negroes were introduced there in 1630; but that the legislation and manners of the people were opposed to slavery from the first; see also; in the same work; the manner in which public opinion; and afterwards the laws; finally put an end to slavery。'
A century had scarcely elapsed since the foundation of the colonies; when the attention of the planters was struck by the extraordinary fact; that the provinces which were comparatively destitute of slaves; increased in population; in wealth; and in prosperity more rapidly than those which contained the greatest number of negroes。 In the former; however; the inhabitants were obliged to cultivate the soil themselves; or by hired laborers; in the latter they were furnished with hands for which they paid no wages; yet although labor and expenses were on the one side; and ease with economy on the other; the former were in possession of the most advantageous system。 This consequence seemed to be the more difficult to explain; since the settlers; who all belonged to the same European race; had the same habits; the same civilization; the same laws; and their shades of difference were extremely slight。
Time; however; continued to advance; and the Anglo…Americans; spreading beyond the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean; penetrated farther and farther into the solitudes of the West; they met with a new soil and an unwonted climate; the obstacles which opposed them were of the most various character; their races intermingled; the inhabitants of the South went up towards the North; those of the North descended to the South; but in the midst of all these causes; the same result occurred at every step; and in general; the colonies in which there were no slaves became more populous and more rich than those in which slavery flourished。 The more progress was made; the more was it shown that slavery; which is so cruel to the slave; is prejudicial to the master。
Chapter XVIII: Future Condition Of Three Races … Part IV
But this truth was most satisfactorily demonstrated when civilization reached the banks of the Ohio。 The stream which the Indians had distinguished by the name of Ohio; or Beautiful River; waters one of the most magnificent valleys that has ever been made the abode of man。 Undulating lands extend upon both shores of the Ohio; whose soil affords inexhaustible treasures to the laborer; on either bank the air is wholesome and the climate mild; and each of them forms the extreme frontier of a vast State: That which follows the numerous windings of the Ohio upon the left is called Kentucky; that upon the right bears the name of the river。 These two States only differ in a single respect; Kentucky has admitted slavery; but the State of Ohio has prohibited the existence of slaves within its borders。 *h
'Footnote h: Not only is slavery prohibited in Ohio; but no free negroes are allowed to enter the territory of that State; or to hold property in it。 See the Statutes of Ohio。'
Thus the traveller who floats down the current of the Ohio to the spot where that river falls into the Mississippi; may be said to sail between liberty and servitude; and a transient inspection of the surrounding objects will convince him as to which of the two is most favorable to mankind。 Upon the left bank of the stream the population is rare; from time to time one descries a troop of slaves loitering in the half…desert fields; the primaeval forest recurs at every turn; society seems to be asleep; man to be idle; and nature alone offers a scene of activity and of life。 From the right bank; on the contrary; a confused hum is heard which proclaims the presence of industry; the fields are covered with abundant harvests; the elegance of the dwellings announces the taste and activity of the laborer; and man appears to be in the enjoyment of that wealth and contentment which is the reward of labor。 *i
'Footnote i: The activity of Ohio is not confined to individuals; but the undertakings of the State are surprisingly great; a ca