University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER XXI

SLAVERY

Encouraged by England. — After the first negroes were
brought to Virginia in 1619, so profitable did the slave
trade become that England encouraged it in every way.
There was at this time no moral sentiment against slavery,
as is shown by the fact that Queen Anne herself owned a
large part of the stock of the Royal African Company.

Attitude of Virginia. — While the Virginians could use
negroes with profit in agriculture, yet the wisdom of
making this system of labor the corner stone of the prosperity
of the people was early called into question, some
of the wisest men foreseeing that it was likely to prove
the cause of much disaster. During colonial days over a
hundred petitions were sent from Virginia to the king and
to Parliament, asking that the further importation of negroes
from Africa should be stopped; but these proved unavailing.
After the Revolution the feeling against the slave
trade continued; and in 1787, when Congress passed the
Ordinance for the government of the Northwest Territory,
one clause of which prohibited slavery, Virginia fully
approved this action. Many of her ablest statesmen regarded
the system as a bad one, and hoped the time would
come when she herself would be free from it.

New England's Connection with Slavery. — When the
Revolution began, slavery existed in all the colonies; but
in the North it was dying out, because it was not profitable.

For some time before the Revolution, the people of New
England began to engage in the business of importing
negroes from Africa to sell to the people of the South, and
this soon became to them a money-making employment.
So during the Revolution, when a bill, which was favored
by Virginia and other states, was brought before Congress
to put an end to the slave trade, it was opposed by New
England and the cotton states—by New England, because
she had so much money invested in slave ships, and by the
cotton states because they wished more negroes for their
cotton fields. For this reason not till early in the nineteenth
century was the trade forbidden by law; and even
after this it was for a time carried on secretly.

Change of Feeling in the North in regard to Slavery. —
So long as the New England people were engaged in the
slave trade, they did not take an active stand against
slavery; but soon after the importation of negroes was
stopped by law, the belief that slavery was an evil that
should not exist in the country at all began to win adherents.
The inhabitants of the North had nothing to lose by
the destruction of the institution; for it had never gained
any foothold among them, and had practically been
abolished by the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Gabriel's Insurrection. — The negroes in Virginia were
kindly treated by their masters, and as a rule gave but
little trouble from insubordination. Several servile insurrections,
however, mar the history of the commonwealth.
The first occurred in 1800, and was instigated by a negro,
named Gabriel, who belonged to a farmer near Richmond.
He formed a plot to capture Richmond, kill the citizens,
and plunder the place. He collected his followers, armed
them with scythe blades, and set out on his nefarious expedition
on a dark summer night. But he was doomed to

disaster from the beginning. A violent storm made a
creek in his front impassable, which delayed his operations.
Before he could make his proposed attack, he
learned that his plot had been discovered; and thereupon
he and his deluded companions at once fled to the woods
and swamps for refuge. Gabriel was captured, and with
a number of others was condemned to death.

Nat Turner's Insurrection. — Thirty-one years later the
tranquillity of the state was disturbed by a second insurrection,
which resulted more seriously. A negro preacher by
the name of Nat Turner, who belonged to a Mr. Travis
of Southampton County, succeeded in persuading his
people that he was a prophet. He appealed to their
superstitions by tracing on a sheet of paper in blood a
crucifix, a representation of the sun, and other mystic
signs, which he claimed indicated the approach of the
most remarkable events. As a result of his intriguing, the
negroes all through the South Side fell under his influence
and became frenzied with excitement. When his plot was
ripe, he started the insurrection in Southampton County,
by killing his master and family with an ax. Next a
lady and ten children were slain, and then a number of
school children. Now reveling in blood, and half crazy with
excitement, the negroes marched to Jerusalem, now called
Courtland, where they were dispersed by a party of armed
citizens. They hid in the woods and swamps, where some
were killed and the rest captured. Twenty-one were
brought to Jerusalem for trial, and thirteen of them, Nat
Turner among the number, were hanged. Fifty-five white
persons, nearly all of whom were women and children,
were the victims of this uprising.

Sentiment in Virginia in Later Times. — The feeling
which Virginia had repeatedly manifested against slavery

continued. In 1832 an emancipation bill was introduced
in the legislature. The measure did not pass; but a
resolution, postponing the consideration of the matter till
public opinion had further developed, was adopted. Had
Virginia been let alone and no attempt been made to interfere
with her domestic matters, she would doubtless have,
in due time, set her slaves free in a manner that would
have been best for them and for her own welfare.

Fugitive Slaves. — The Federal Constitution recognized
slavery fully, and it contained a provision that negroes
who might escape from their homes and go into another
state should be returned to their masters. To carry out
this provision effectually, Congress passed a special law
that all runaway negroes found in the Northern states
should be arrested and, without trial by jury, be sent back
to their masters. But the execution of this law was resisted
in the North, and in a number of states Personal Liberty
Laws were passed which nullified the act of Congress.

John Brown's Raid. — The excitement over slavery was
greatly intensified by an attempt that was made to bring
about the emancipation of the negroes of Virginia by inciting
them to raise an insurrection. This was the act of
John Brown, a native of Connecticut, who had taken part
in the struggle in Kansas to keep that state from adopting
a constitution authorizing slavery. On the night of October
16, 1859, he, with twenty followers, took possession of
Harper's Ferry, captured a number of citizens whom he
held as hostages, and seized the United States arsenal at
the place, intending to obtain from it arms for the negroes
whom he expected to join him. But in this he was mistaken,
for none of them came to his support.

Brown Captured and Executed. — Governor Wise called
out a force of volunteers and militia to put down the disturbance.

Capture of John Brown

But before the state troops could reach Harper's
Ferry, a number of Brown's gang had been killed
and the rest captured by Colonel Robert E. Lee[31] and a body
of United States marines, who had been dispatched to the
scene of action. Several citizens and one negro were killed
by Brown's party before the termination of the affair.
Brown was among those captured, and he with six of his
followers were tried and hung for treason, insurrection, and
murder.

Report of the Senate Committee. — A committee of the
United States Senate looked into the matter, and made a
report in which it was stated that Brown's attack upon
Virginia "was simply the act of lawless ruffians, under the
sanction of no public or political authority, distinguishable
only from ordinary felonies by the ulterior ends in contemplation
by them, and by the fact that the money to maintain
the expedition and the large armament they brought with
them had been contributed and furnished by the citizens
of other states of the Union under circumstances that
must continue to jeopard the safety and peace of the
Southern states, and against which Congress has no
power to legislate."

Political Significance of Brown's Attack. — Brown brought
with him to Harper's Ferry a number of muskets, pistols,
and about fifteen hundred pikes which were made expressly
for him in Connecticut, and which he thought would be
effective weapons in the hands of the negroes. An investigation
of the insurrection showed that Brown had the
sympathy and the help of a number of persons at the
North in this plot to raise a servile war. This fact convinced
Virginia that the Constitution and the laws of the
Union were not sufficient to protect her, and it hastened
the breaking out of the Civil War.

QUESTIONS

• 1. Why did England encourage the traffic in negroes?

• 2. What did Virginia do to prevent its growth?

• 3. What was New England's connection with slavery?

• 4. Why was it encouraged both by the New England and cotton
  states?

• 5. What change of feeling in regard to slavery had taken place in the
  North?

• 6. Give an account of Gabriel's Insurrection.

• 7. Of Nat Turner's Insurrection.

• 8. What was the sentiment in Virginia in later times?

• 9. What is said of fugitive slaves?

• 10. Who was John Brown, and what is said of his raid?

• 11. By whom was he captured?

• 12. Give the leading facts in the life of Robert E. Lee.

• 13. What was Brown's fate?

• 14. Give the report of the Senate Committee on this raid.

• 15. What weapons did John Brown bring, who were they for, and
  where made?

• 16. What did an investigation show?

REVIEW QUESTIONS

• 1. Describe the battles of King's Mountain and Cowpens.

• 2. Give an account of the maneuvers of Cornwallis and Lafayette.

• 3. How was Cornwallis entrapped?

• 4. Describe the siege of Yorktown and Cornwallis's surrender.

• 5. Who was Governor Nelson, and what is said of his patriotism?

• 6. Give an account of the exploits of George Rogers Clark, by which
  Virginia recovered her Northwest Territory.

• 7. What generous spirit did Virginia show in order to bring about a
  union of the states?

• 8. Why was the present Constitution formed to take the place of the
  Articles of Confederation?

• 9. Describe the Alien and Sedition Laws, and tell of the resolutions
  adopted by Virginia in regard to them.

• 10. Why is Virginia called the "Mother of States and of Statesmen"?

• 11. Describe the burning of Richmond theater.

• 12. What was the cause of the War of 1812?

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• 13. What important services did Virginians render the Union?

• 14. What was Virginia's attitude toward slavery?

• 15. Give New England's connection with slavery, and tell about the
  change of feeling at the North in regard to it.

• 16. What is said of fugitive slaves?

• 17. Give an account of John Brown's Raid, his capture and execution.

• 18. What was the report of the Senate Committee, and the political
  significance of this raid?

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF IMPORTANT EVENTS (1763-1860)

                                                     

1765.	Stamp Act passed by Parliament.
1766.	Stamp Act repealed.
1767.	A tax imposed on tea and other articles.
1769.	Famous Virginia resolves passed by the House of Burgesses.
1770.	All duties except on tea repealed.
1773.	The tea thrown overboard at Boston Harbor.
1774.	The first Continental Congress met at Philadelphia, September 5.
1775.	Battles of Lexington and Concord, April 19.
1775.	End of royal government in Virginia.
1775.	Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17.
1776.	Declaration of Independence signed, July 4.
1777.	Burgoyne's surrender, October 17.
1778.	American independence acknowledged by France.
1779.	Clark's conquest of the Northwest Territory.
1780.	Battle of King's Mountain, October 7.
1781.	Richmond captured by Arnold.
1781.	Battle of Cowpens, January 17.
1781.	Surrender of Cornwallis, October 19.
1787.	Constitution of the United States adopted in convention, September 17.
1788.	Virginia ratifies the Constitution.
1789.	Washington inaugurated, April 30.
1799.	Washington died at Mt. Vernon, December 14.
1803.	Louisiana purchased from France, April 30.
1811.	Richmond theater burned, December 26.
1812.	War declared against England.
1846.	Mexican War.
1859.	John Brown's Raid, October 16.