 | The South-west |  |
Note D.—Page 258.
A recent writer, in speculating upon the possible result of an
insurrectionary movement in the south, says, in the course of his
remarks,—
“Here, where the whites so far outnumber the blacks, as to
render such a struggle hopeless on their part, there is little or nothing
to apprehend; but in the south, where the case is reversed,
the consequences will probably be what they were in St. Domingo—the
extermination or expatriation of the whites, the loss of
tens of hundreds of thousands of lives, and hundreds or perhaps
of millions of property.”
In reply, and in confutation of this opinion, Gen. Houston of
Natchez, addressed a very sensible and well-written paper to the
editor of the New-York Courier and Enquirer, in which he says—
“There are but two states in the Union where the slaves are
equal in numbers to the whites, and in these they have a bare
majority; in other states they have but a third and in others a
fourth or fifth. Now is there any man who supposes that an
equal number of negroes, unacquainted with arms, undisciplined,
or a single cartridge, can in any way be formidable to an equal
number of whites, well armed and equipped, well supplied with
all the necessaries of war, well organized, and well officered?
The notion is absurd. I will go farther; take a body of negroes,
furnish them with arms, equipments, and every thing necessary
for war; let them have twelve months to combine, to train, and
to acquire a knowledge of the use of arms, and my life on it, they
would be nothing more at the end of the time than an ignorant
disorderly rabble, who could not form a line of battle, a thousand
of them would not stand the charge of a single volunteer corps,
they would disperse at the first volley of musketry, and a body of
white men would feel debased to compete with such foes.
“There is no southern state that apprehends any injury from
its slaves—that seeks protection from any power on earth—not
one of them values the Union one particle as the means of guarding
them on that score.
“There are no people on earth better supplied with arms,
more accustomed to their daily use, and I may say more ready to
use them, than the people of the south. Go into any house in
Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia,
Tennessee, or any other southern state, and you will generally
see a good rifle and fowling-piece; and every neighbourhood has
its men who can throw a deer running at full speed at the distance
of one hundred yards. Do such men seek protection or
apprehend danger from an inferior number of unarmed, ignorant
and enslaved negroes? Most assuredly not.
“Experience has shown that the militia of the United States
are frequently able to combat successfully with the regular troops
of Europe. And many a well-fought field has shown that the
militia of the southern states are equal to any in the Union, I will
not be invidious and say superior. If such is the case, what lessons
do the wars and experience of Europe teach us? There it is
a received maxim that ten thousand disciplined troops are superior
to an army of forty thousand undisciplined peasantry, even when
they are equally supplied with arms. And to this maxim history
shows but few exceptions, as in Switzerland and the Tyrolese
mountains, where the peasantry are much favoured by the mountains
and in the use of arms.
“Have not the peasantry of Europe more acquaintance with
arms, more means of acquiring them and other necessaries for
war, more military information, more means of combination, and
more intelligence, than the negroes of the south? Most assuredly
they have, and yet they are generally held in subjection by a
comparatively small body of men. I merely glance at this, but
could, if time and space permitted, give many striking illustrations.
“If the south are so safe, it may be asked why are they so
sensitive on this subject? I will answer:—they are sensitive from
motives of interest and humanity.
“He who makes my negroes dissatisfied with their situation,
makes them less useful to me, and puts me under the necessity
of dealing more rigorously with them.
“Throughout the whole south it is considered disgraceful not
to clothe and feed negroes well, or to treat them cruelly, and
there are very few who have the hardihood to brave public sentiment.
And on many plantations, when they are orderly and
obedient, they have many indulgences and privileges, such as to
raise and sell poultry, &c.: to cultivate a small piece of ground
and sell the products; and time is allowed them for such purposes.
But if negroes become disorderly, discontented, and disohedient,
the necessity requires that they should either be set at large at
once, or their privileges curtailed, and discipline made more rigorous
till they are brought into complete subjection; there is no
middle course. Again—if negroes become dissatisfied, disobedient
and rebellious, there is a possibility that they may do
damage in a single neighbourhood, and destroy the lives of a few
women and children—the consequence of which would be that
then whites would be under the necessity of putting great numbers
of the misguided wretches to death. Such was the case at
Southampton. This we would avoid, both from motives of interest
and humanity, not that we apprehend any more serious
injury, and you may rest assured that if the negroes were to
rebel and do any considerable injury, the havoc and destruction
made amongst them would be dreadful; and it would be difficult to
prevent its extending to those who were innocent.
“Those, therefore, who are instrumental in making the negro
dissatisfied with his condition, make it much worse, for they constrain
his owner to be more rigorous in his treatment, and they
tempt him to rebellion, which must lead to death and extermination.”
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