University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER I.

In this volume I shall not attempt to
give the origin and history of the Negro
race either in Africa or in America.
My attempt is to deal only with conditions
that now exist and bear a relation
to the Negro in America and that are
likely to exist in the future. In discussing
the Negro, it is always to be borne
in mind that, unlike all the other inhabitants
of America, he came here without
his own consent; in fact, was compelled
to leave his own country and
become a part of another through physical
force. It should also be borne in
mind, in our efforts to change and improve
the present condition of the Negro,
that we are dealing with a race which
had little necessity to labour in its native
country. After being brought to
America, the Negroes were forced to
labour for about 250 years under circumstances
which were calculated not to

inspire them with love and respect for
labour. This constitutes a part of the
reason why I insist that it is necessary
to emphasise the matter of industrial
education as a means of giving the
black man the foundation of a civilisation
upon which he will grow and
prosper. When I speak of industrial
education, however, I wish it always
understood that I mean, as did General
Armstrong, the founder of the Hampton
Institute, for thorough academic
and religious training to go side by
side with industrial training. Mere
training of the hand without the culture
of brain and heart would mean
little.

The first slaves were brought into
this country by the Dutch in 1619, and
were landed at Jamestown, Virginia.
The first cargo consisted of twenty.
The census taken in 1890 shows that
these twenty slaves had increased to
7,638,360. About 6,353,341 of this

number were residing in the Southern
States, and 1,283,029 were scattered
throughout the Northern and Western
States. I think I am pretty safe in
predicting that the census to be taken
in 1900 will show that there are not far
from ten millions of people of African
descent in the United States. The
great majority of these, of course, reside
in the Southern States. The problem
is how to make these millions
of Negroes self-supporting, intelligent,
economical and valuable citizens, as
well as how to bring about proper relations
between them and the white citizens
among whom they live. This is
the question upon which I shall try to
throw some light in the chapters which
follow.

When the Negroes were first brought
to America, they were owned by white
people in all sections of this country, as
is well known,—in the New England,
the Middle, and in the Southern States.

It was soon found, however, that slave
labour was not remunerative in the
Northern States, and for that reason by
far the greater proportion of the slaves
were held in the Southern States, where
their labour in raising cotton, rice, and
sugar-cane was more productive. The
growth of the slave population in
America was constant and rapid. Beginning,
as I have stated, with fourteen,
in 1619, the number increased at such a
rate that the total number of Negroes
in America in 1800 was 1,001,463.
This number increased by 1860 to
3,950,000. A few people predicted that
freedom would result disastrously to
the Negro, as far as numerical increase
was concerned; but so far the
census figures have failed to bear out
this prediction. On the other hand, the
census of 1890 shows that the Negro
population had increased from 3,950,000
in 1860 to 7,638,260 twenty-five years
after the war. It is my opinion that the
rate of increase in the future will be still
greater than it has been from the close
of the war of the Rebellion up to the
present time, for the reason that the very
sudden changes which took place in the
life of the Negro, because of having his
freedom, plunged him into many excesses
that were detrimental to his
physical well-being. Of course, freedom
found him unprepared in clothing, in
shelter and in knowledge of how to care
for his body. During slavery the slave
mother had little control of her own
children, and did not therefore have the
practice and experience of rearing children
in a suitable manner. Now that
the Negro is being taught in thousands
of schools how to take care of his body,
and in thousands of homes mothers are
learning how to control their children,
I believe that the rate of increase, as
I have stated, will be still greater than
it has been in the past. In too many
cases the Negro had the idea that freedom
meant merely license to do as he
pleased, to work or not to work; but
this erroneous idea is more and more
disappearing, by reason of the education
in the right direction which the Negro
is constantly receiving.

During the four years that the Civil
War lasted, the greater proportion of
the Negroes remained in the South,
and worked faithfully for the support of
their masters' families, who, as a general
rule, were away in the war. The self-control
which the Negro exhibited during
the war marks, it seems to me, one
of the most important chapters in the
history of the race. Notwithstanding
he knew that his master was away from
home, fighting a battle which, if successful,
would result in his continued enslavement,
yet he worked faithfully for
the support of the master's family. If
the Negro had yielded to the temptation
and suggestion to use the torch or
dagger in an attempt to destroy his

master's property and family, the result
would have been that the war would
have been ended quickly; for the master
would have returned from the battlefield
to protect and defend his property
and family. But the Negro to the last
was faithful to the trust that had been
thrust upon him, and during the four
years of war in which the male members
of the family were absent from their
homes there is not a single instance
recorded where he in any way attempted
to outrage the family of the
master or in any way to injure his
property.

Not only is this true, but all through
the years of preparation for the war and
during the war itself the Negro showed
himself to be an uncompromising friend
to the Union. In fact, of all the charges
brought against him, there is scarcely
a single instance where one has been
charged with being a traitor to his
country. This has been true whether

he has been in a state of slavery or in a
state of freedom.

From 1865 to 1876 constituted what
perhaps may be termed the days of Reconstruction.
This was the period when
the Southern States which had withdrawn
from the Union were making an
effort to reinstate themselves and to
establish a permanent system of State
government. At the close of the war
both the Southern white man and the
Negro found themselves in the midst of
poverty. The ex-master returned from
the war to find his slave property gone,
his farms and other industries in a state
of collapse, and the whole industrial or
economic system upon which he had
depended for years entirely disorganised.
As we review calmly and dispassionately
the period of reconstruction, we must
use a great deal of sympathy and generosity.
The weak point, to my mind, in
the reconstruction era was that no
strong force was brought to bear in the

direction of preparing the Negro to
become an intelligent, reliable citizen
and voter. The main effort seems to
have been in the direction of controlling
his vote for the time being, regardless
of future interests. I hardly believe
that any race of people with similar
preparation and similar surroundings
would have acted more wisely or very
differently from the way the Negro
acted during the period of reconstruction.

Without experience, without preparation,
and in most cases without ordinary
intelligence, he was encouraged to
leave the field and shop and enter politics.
That under such circumstances
he should have made mistakes is very
natural. I do not believe that the
Negro was so much at fault for entering
so largely into politics, and for the
mistakes that were made in too many
cases, as were the unscrupulous white
leaders who got the Negro's confidence

and controlled his vote to further their
own ends, regardless, in many cases, of
the permanent welfare of the Negro. I
have always considered it unfortunate
that the Southern white man did not
make more of an effort during the period
of reconstruction to get the confidence
and sympathy of the Negro, and thus
have been able to keep him in close
touch and sympathy in politics. It was
also unfortunate that the Negro was so
completely alienated from the Southern
white man in all political matters. I
think it would have been better for all
concerned if, immediately after the close
of the war, an educational and property
qualification for the exercise of the franchise
had been prescribed that would
have applied fairly and squarely to both
races; and, also, if, in educating the
Negro, greater stress had been put
upon training him along the lines of
industry for which his services were
in the greatest demand in the South.
In a word, too much stress was placed
upon the mere matter of voting and
holding political office rather than upon
the preparation for the highest citizenship.
In saying what I have, I do not
mean to convey the impression that
the whole period of reconstruction was
barren of fruitful results. While it is
not a very encouraging chapter in the
history of our country, I believe that
this period did serve to point out many
weak points in our effort to elevate
the Negro, and that we are now taking
advantage of the mistakes that were
made. The period of reconstruction
served at least to show the world that
with proper preparation and with a
sufficient foundation the Negro possesses
the elements out of which men
of the highest character and usefulness
can be developed. I might name several
characters who were brought before
the world by reason of the reconstruction
period. I give one as an example
of others: Hon. Blanche K. Bruce, who
had been a slave, but who held many
honourable positions in the State of
Mississippi, including an election to the
United States Senate, where he served
a full term; later he was twice appointed
Register of the United States
Treasury. In all these positions Mr.
Bruce gave the greatest satisfaction,
and not a single whisper of dishonesty
or incompetency has ever been heard
against him. During the period of his
public life he was brought into active
and daily contact with Northern and
Southern white people, all of whom
speak of him in the highest measure
of respect and confidence.

What the Negro wants and what the
country wants to do is to take advantage
of all the lessons that were taught
during the days of reconstruction, and
apply these lessons bravely, honestly,
in laying the foundation upon which
the Negro can stand in the future and

make himself a useful, honourable, and
desirable citizen, whether he has his
residence in the North, the South, or
the West.