University of Virginia Library

42. XLII

In my desultory sketches of the white and negro
population of the south-west, my intention has not
been to detail minutely their social relations and
domestic economy. To convey a general idea of
their condition alone enters into my present plan.
Having enlarged upon that of the white population,
I will devote a portion of the following pages to a
brief sketch of a variety of the human species,
which has ever presented an interesting field for
the efforts of the philanthropist.

The origin of slavery is lost: but there is no
doubt that it prevailed, in the early post-diluvian
ages, among all the infant nations of the earth.[18]

Sacred history assures us of its existence shortly
after the flood; and divine economy, in regulating
the political and domestic state of the Jews, permitted
its existence. But Jewish, and all ancient
slavery, was a species of warlike retribution against
enemies taken in battle. Civilization and Christianity
had not then established the modern treatment
and disposal of prisoners. Then they were held
in bondage by their conquerors during life; now
their detention is but for a limited time; then, they
were individual, now they are national, property.
Christianity, in this enlightened age, has taught
conquerors to mitigate their severity toward the
conquered; and national policy has found it most
expedient to make other disposition of them than
holding them in bondage.

But the establishment and preservation of slavery
in the south-west, are more immediately the objects

of my remarks. If any people can repudiate with
justice the charge of originating it, the Mississippians
can do so. The Spaniards introduced it here;
the first American settlers of this state found slaves
attached to its soil, after the Spaniards resigned the
country to the government of the United States,
and they received them as a portion of the possessions,
which fell into their hands by treaty or purchase.
Finding them here they retained them—
for the slavery question, like many others in those
days of innocence, had not been agitated—or they
might have sent them after their Spanish masters.

There was, of course, nothing more natural and
easy than the increase of this property. The process
of generation was too slow, however, and men
commenced purchasing, not free men from slave
ships, but Africans who were already slaves. Virginia,
where the lands were worn out, and slaves were
numerous, and almost useless, afforded them facilities
for purchasing; emigrants from that and other
slave-holding states also brought great numbers
with them, and in a few years this species of property
had accumulated to a great extent. Planters'
sons, and all new planters, must be supplied from
the same fountain—losses by death and elopement
must be made up, till, almost imperceptibly, slavery
became firmly established here, and is now a state
institution; and Virginia, with the Carolinas and
Georgia, and recently Kentucky, has become the
great mart for slave purchasers from the south-west.

The increased demand for slaves led many farmers

in Virginia, whose lands were unavailable, to
turn their attention to raising slaves, if I may so
term it, for the south-western market. Hence a
nursery for slaves has been imperceptibly forming
in that state, till now, by a sort of necessity, a vast
amount of its capital is involved in this trade, the
discontinuance of which would be as injurious in a
pecuniary point of view, to those who raise them,
as the want of the facilities which the trade affords,
would be to the planter. Thus Virginia has become
the field for the purchaser, and the phrase—
“he is gone to Virginia to buy negroes,” or “niggers,”
as is the elegant and equally common phraseology,
is as often applied to a temporarily absent
planter, as “he is gone to Boston to buy goods,” to
a New-England country merchant.

Negroes are transported here both by sea and
land. Alexandria and Norfolk are the principal
depots of slaves, previous to their being shipped.
To these cities they are brought from the surrounding
country, and sold to the slave-trader, who purchases
them for about one-half or one-third less
than he expects to obtain for them in the southern
market. After the resident slave-dealer has collected
a sufficient number, he places them under
the care of an agent. They are then shipped for
New-Orleans, with as comfortable accommodations
as can be expected, where one or two hundred are
congregated in a single merchant vessel. I have
seen more than one hundred landing from a brig,
on the Levee, in New-Orleans, in fine condition,
looking as lively and hearty as though a sea voyage

agreed well with them. They are transferred, if
destined for the Mississippi market, to a steamboat,
and landed at Natchez. The debarkation of a hundred
slaves, of both sexes and all ages, is a novel
spectacle to a northerner. Landing on the Levée,
they proceed, each with his bundle, under the
charge of their temporary master or conductor, toward
the city, in a long straggling line, or sometimes
in double files, in well-ordered procession,
gazing about them with curiosity and wonder upon
the new scenes opening before them, as they advance
into the city, and speculating upon the advantages
afforded as their home, by the beautiful
country to which they find themselves transplanted.
Nothing seems to escape their attention, and every
few steps offer subjects for remark or laughter; for
the risible muscles of the negro are uncommonly
excitable.

On arriving on the “Hill,” in view of the city,
and obtaining a glimpse of the fine country spread
out around them, their delight is very great. Full
of the impression, which they early imbibe, that the
south is emphatically the grave of their race, and
daily having it held up before their imaginations at
home, in terrorem, to keep them in the line of duty,
if insubordinate, they leave home, as they proudly
and affectionately term Virginia, with something of
the feelings of the soldier, allotted to a “forlorn
hope.” It cannot be denied that many have died
shortly after being brought into this country; but
this was owing to indiscretion, in transporting them
at the wrong season of the year—in the spring, after

a winter spent at the north; or in autumn, during
the prevalence, in former years, of the epidemics,
which once were almost annual visitants of
this country. Experience has taught those who
introduce slaves, in late years, to bring them quite
late in autumn. Hence, the two great causes of
mortality being removed, the effects have, in a great
measure, ceased; and slaves, when they arrive here,
and gaze with surprise upon the athletic figures and
gray heads of their fellows, who meet them at every
step, as they advance into the city—find that they
can live even in the south, and grow old on other
plantations than those in “Ol' Wirginny.” “I see
no dead nigger yet, Jef.”—“No—nor no coffin pile
up neider in de street,”—said another of a gang of
negroes passing through the streets, peering on all
sides for these ominous signs of this “fatal” climate,
as they trudged along to their quarters in the slave-market.
This too common opinion of master and
slave must soon be exploded, for it has now no
foundation in fact. Passing through the city in procession,
sometimes dressed in a new uniform, purchased
for them in New-Orleans, but often in the
brown rags in which they left Virginia, preceded
by a large wagon, carrying the surplus baggage;
they are marched beyond the city limits, within
which, till recently, they were publicly sold, the
marts being on nearly every street. Arriving at
their quarters, which are usually old unoccupied
buildings, and often tents or booths, pitched upon
the common, beside some stream of water, and
under the shade of trees, they resort, in the first
place, to a general ablution, preparatory to being
exposed for sale. The toilet arrangements of one
hundred negroes, just from a long voyage, are a
formidable affair. Both the rivers, Alpheus and
Peneus, would hardly suffice for the process. Two
or three days are consumed in it; after which, all
appear in new, comfortable, uniform dresses, with
shining faces, and refreshed after the fatigue of travel.
They are now ready for inspection and sale.
To this important period, the day of sale, they cheerfully
look forward, manifesting not a little emulation
to be “sol' fust.” The interim between their
arrival and sale—for they are not sold at auction, or
all at once, but singly, or in parties, as purchasers
may be inclined to buy—is passed in an otium cum
dignitate of a peculiarly African character, involving
eating, drinking, playing, and sleeping. The
interval of ease enjoyed in the slave-market is an
oasis of luxury in their existence, which they seldom
know how to appreciate, if we may judge from
the wishful manner in which they gaze upon gentlemen
who enter the mart, as though anxious to put
a period to this kind of enjoyment, so congenial to
their feelings and temperament.

Probably two-thirds of the first slaves came into
this state from Virginia; and nearly all now introduced,
of whom there are several thousands annually,
are brought from that state. Kentucky contributes
a small number, which is yearly increasing;
and since the late passage of the slave law in Missouri,
a new market is there opened for this trade.
It is computed that more than two hundred thousand

dollars' worth of slaves will be purchased in
Missouri this season, for the Natchez market. A
single individual has recently left Natchez with one
hundred thousand dollars, for the purpose of buying
up negroes in that state to sell in Mississippi.

The usual way of transporting slaves is by land,
although they are frequently brought round by sea;
but the last is the most expensive method, and therefore,
to “bring them through,” is accounted preferable.
This is done by forming them into a caravan
at the place where they are purchased, and conducting
them by land through the Indian nations to this
state. The route is for the most part through a continuous
forest, and is usually performed by the negroes,
on foot, in seven or eight weeks. Their personal
appearance, when they arrive at Natchez, is
by no means improved, although they are usually
stouter and in better condition than when they leave
home, for they are generally well fed, and their
health is otherwise carefully attended to, while on
the route. Arrived within two or three miles of
Natchez, they encamp in some romantic spot near
a rivulet, and like their brethren transported by sea,
commence polishing their skins, and arraying themselves
in the coarse but neat uniform, which their
master has purchased for them in Natchez.

A few Sabbaths ago, while standing before a village
church in the country, my attention was drawn
to a long procession at the extremity of the street,
slowly approaching like a troop of wearied pilgrims.
There were several gentlemen in company, some
of them planters, who gazed upon the singular spectacle

with unusual interest. One sooty brown hue
was cast over the whole horde, by the sombre colour
of their tattered garments, which, combined
with the slow pace and fatigued air of most of those
who composed it, gave to the whole train a sad and
funereal appearance. First came half a dozen boys
and girls, with fragments of blankets and ragged
pantaloons and frocks, hanging upon, but not covering
their glossy limbs. They passed along in high
spirits, glad to be once more in a village, after their
weary way through the wilderness; capering and
practising jokes upon each other, while their even
rows of teeth, and the whites of their eyes—the
most expressive features in the African physiognomy—were
displayed in striking contrast to their
ebony skins. These were followed by a tall mulatto,
with high cheek-bones, and lean and hungry
looks, making rapid inroads into a huge loaf of bread,
whose twin brother was secured under his left arm.
A woman, very black, very short, and very pursy,
who breathed like a porpoise, and whose capacity
for rapid movement was equal to that of a puncheon,
trudged along behind, evidently endeavouring to
come up with the mulatto, as her eye was fixed very
resolutely on the spare loaf; but its owner strode
forward deliberately and with perfect impunity.
She was followed by another female, bearing an infant
in her arms, probably born in the wilderness.
Close behind her came a covered wagon, from which
she had just descended to walk, drawn by two fine
horses, and loaded with young negroes, who were
permitted to ride and walk alternately on the jour
ney. Behind the wagon, at a long distance, came
an old patriarch, at least eighty years of age, bent
nearly double with the weight of years and infirmity.
By his side moved an old negress, nearly
coeval with him, who supported her decrepit form
by a staff. They were the venerable progenitors
of the children and grandchildren who preceded
them. This aged couple, who were at liberty to
ride when they chose, in a covered wagon behind
them, were followed by a mixed crowd of negroes
of all ages, and of both sexes, with and without
staff, hatless and barefooted. The office of the negro's
hat is a mere sinecure—they love the warm
sun upon their heads—but they like to be well shod,
and that with boots, for the lower region of their
limbs about the ancles is very sensitive. Behind
these came a wretched cart, covered with torn, redpainted
canvass, and drawn by a mule and a horse;
—Sancho Panza's mule and Rosinante—I mean no
insult to the worthy knight or his squire—if coupled
together, would have made precisely such a pair.
This vehicle contained several invalids, two of
whom were reclining on a matrass laid along the
bottom. Around it were many young slaves of
both sexes, talking and marching along in gleeful
mood. Two or three old people followed, one of
whom, who walked with both hands grasping a long
staff, stopped as he passed us, and with an air of
affecting humility, and with his venerable forehead
bowed to the earth, addressed us, “hab massas got
piece 'bacca' for ol' nigger?” An old gentleman
standing by, whose locks were whitened with the
snows of sixty winters, having first obtained leave to
do so from the owner of the drove, who, mounted on
a fine blooded horse, rode carelessly along behind
them, gave the old slave all he had about him,
which, fortunately for the petitioner, happened to
be a large quantity, and for which he appeared extremely
grateful. Several other negroes, walking
along with vigorous steps, and another white conductor,
with a couple of delicately limbed racehorses,
enveloped in broidered mantles, and ridden
by bright-eyed little mulatto boys, and two or three
leashes of hounds, led by a slave, completed the
train. They had been seven weeks on the road,
through the “nation,” as the southern wilderness is
here termed—travelling by easy stages, and encamping
at night. Old people are seldom seen in
these “droves.” The young and athletic usually
compose them. But as in this instance, the old
people are sometimes allowed to come with the
younger portion of their families, as a favour; and
if sold at all, they are sold with their children, who
can take care of them in their old age, which they well
do—for negroes have a peculiarly strong affection
for the old people of their own colour. Veneration
for the aged is one of their strongest characteristics.

Nor are planters indifferent to the comfort of
their gray-headed slaves. I have been much affected
at beholding many exhibitions of their kindly
feeling toward them. They always address them
in a mild and pleasant manner—as “Uncle,” or
“Aunty”—titles as peculiar to the old negro and

negress, as “boy” and “girl,” to all under forty
years of age. Some old Africans are allowed to
spend their last years in their houses, without doing
any kind of labour; these, if not too infirm, cultivate
little patches of ground, on which they raise a
few vegetables—for vegetables grow nearly all the
year round in this climate—and make a little money
to purchase a few extra comforts. They are also
always receiving presents from their masters and
mistresses, and the negroes on the estate, the latter
of whom are extremely desirous of seeing the old
people comfortable. A relation of the extra comforts,
which some planters allow their slaves, would
hardly obtain credit at the north. But you must
recollect that southern planters are men—and men
of feeling—generous and high minded, and possessing
as much of the “milk of human kindness,” as
the sons of colder climes—although they may have
been educated to regard that as right, which a different
education has led northerners to consider
wrong.

“What can you do with so much tobacco?” said
a gentleman—who related the circumstance to me
—on hearing a planter, whom he was visiting, give
an order to his teamster to bring two hogsheads of
tobacco out to the estate from the “Landing.” “I
purchase it for my negroes; it is a harmless indulgence,
which it gives me pleasure to afford them.”

“Why are you at the trouble and expense of
having high-post bedsteads for your negroes?” said
a gentleman from the north, while walking through

the handsome “quarters,” or village for the slaves,
then in progress on a plantation near Natchez—addressing
the proprietor.

“To suspend their “bars” from, that they may
not be troubled with musquitoes.”

“Master, me would like, if you please, a little bit
gallery, front my house.” “For what, Peter?”
“Cause, master, de sun too hot” (an odd reason for
a negro to give,)” “dat side, and when he rain we no
able to keep de door open.” “Well, well, when the
carpenter gets a little leisure you shall have one.”
A few weeks after I was at the plantation, and
riding past the quarters one Sabbath morning, beheld
Peter, his wife, and children, with his old father,
all sunning themselves in their new gallery.

“Missus, you promise me a Chrismus gif'.”
“Well, Jane, there is a new calico frock for you.”
“It werry pretty, missus,” said Jane, eyeing it at a
distance without touching it, “but me prefer muslin,
if you please; muslin de fashion dis Chrismus.”
“Very well, Jane, call to-morrow and you shall
have a muslin.”

These little anecdotes are unimportant in themselves,
but they serve to illustrate what I have stated
above, of the kindness and indulgence of masters
to their slaves. I could add many others, of frequent
occurrence; but these are sufficiently numerous
for my purpose.

Probably of the two ways of bringing slaves
here, that by land is preferable; not only because
attended with less expense, but by gradually advancing
them into the climate, it in a measure precludes

the effect which a sudden transition from one
state to the other might produce. All slaves,
however, are not brought here by negro traders.
Many of the planters prefer going on and purchasing
for themselves, for which purpose it is not unusual
for them to take on from twenty to forty and fifty
thousand dollars, lay the whole out in slaves, and
either accompany them through the wilderness
themselves on horseback, or engage a conductor.
By adopting this method they purchase them at a
much greater advantage, than at second-hand from
the professional trader, as slaves can be bought for
fifty per cent. less there, than after they are once
brought into this market. The number of slaves
introduced into the south-western market is annually
increasing. Last year more than four thousand
were brought into the state, one-third of whom
were sold in the Natchez market. The prices of
slaves vary with the prices of cotton and sugar. At
this time, when cotton brings a good price, a good
“field hand” cannot be bought for less than eight
hundred dollars, if a male; if a female, for six hundred.
“Body servants” sell much higher, one
thousand dollars being a common price for them.
Good mechanics sometimes sell for two thousand
dollars, and seldom for less than nine hundred.
Coachmen are high, and house servants are worth
at all times, from ten to thirty per cent. more than
field negroes. The usual price for a good seamstress,
or nurse, is from seven hundred to one thousand
dollars. Children are valued in proportion to
their ages. An infant adds one hundred dollars to
the price of the mother; and from infancy the children
of the slaves increase in value about one hundred
dollars for every three years, until they arrive
at mature age. All domestic slaves, or “house
servants,” which class includes coachmen, nurses,
hostlers, gardeners, footmen, cooks, waiting-maids,
&c., &c.—all indispensable to the menage of a
wealthy planter—are always in great demand, and
often sell at the most extravagant prices. Some of
these, born and raised in this climate, (acclimated
as they are termed,) often sell for eighteen hundred
and two thousand dollars apiece, of either sex.
But these are exceptions, where the slave possesses
some peculiarly valuable trait as a domestic.

Negro traders soon accumulate great wealth, from
the immense profit they make on their merchandise.
Certainly such a trade demands no trifling consideration.
If any of the worshippers of Mammon
earn their gold, it is the slave-dealer. One of their
number, who is the great southern slave-merchant,
and who, for the last fifteen years, has supplied this
country with two-thirds of the slaves brought into
it, has amassed a fortune of more than a million of
dollars by this traffic alone. He is a bachelor, and
a man of gentlemanly address, as are many of these
merchants, and not the ferocious, Captain Kidd
looking fellows, we Yankees have been apt to imagine
them. Their admission into society, however,
is not recognised. Planters associate with them
freely enough, in the way of business, but notice
them no farther. A slave trader is, nevertheless,
very much like other men. He is to-day a plain

farmer, with twenty or thirty slaves, endeavouring
to earn a few dollars from worn-out land, in some
old “homestead” among the Alleghanies; which,
with his slaves, he has inherited from his father.
He is in debt, and hears that he can sell his slaves
in Mississippi for twice their value in his own state.
If there is no harm in selling them to his next neighbour,
and coming to Mississippi without them, he
feels that there can be no harm—nay, justice to his
creditors requires that he should place them in the
highest market—in bringing them into this state,
and selling them here. He rises in the morning,
gathers his slaves, prepares his wagons and horses,
takes one or two of his sons, or hires a neighbour,
who may add a few of his own to the stock, to accompany
him; and, by and by, the caravan moves
slowly off toward the south and west. Seven or
eight weeks afterward, a drove of negroes, weary
and worn, from a long journey, are seen within two
or three miles of Natchez, turning from the high
road, to pitch their tents upon the green sward, beneath
some wide-spreading tree. It is the caravan
from the Alleghanies. The ensuing morning a
bright array of white tents, and busy men moving
among them, excites the attention of the passer-by.
The figure of the old Virginia farmer, mingling
among his slaves, attracts the notice of a stranger.
“Who is that old gentleman?” he inquires
of the southerner with whom he is riding in company.
“A negro trader,” is the reply. This is
the first step of the trader. He finds it profitable;
and if his inclinations prompt him, he will return
home, after selling his slaves, and buy, with ready
money, from his neighbours, a few here and a few
there, until he has a sufficient number to make another
caravan, with which he proceeds a second time
to the south-western market. He follows this trade
from season to season, and does it conscientiously.
He reasons as I have above stated; and if there is
no harm in selling the first, there is none in selling
the last. This is the metal of which a slave trader
is moulded. The humane characteristics of the
trade will be, of course, regulated by the tempers
and dispositions of the individuals who engage in it.