THE CURSE OF NOAH WAS NOT DIVINE!

        The following passage of scripture has been much quoted as an argument to prove the inferiority of the Negro race. The Devil can quote scripture but not always correctly: "And Noah began to be an husbandman and he planted a vineyard: and he drank of the wine, and was drunken and was uncovered in his tent, and Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without, and Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness, and Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him, and he said, cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said: Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant."

        After the flood Noah's mission as a preacher to the people was over. He so recognized it himself, and settled himself down with his family on a vineyard. He got drunk of the wine he made and disgracefully lay in nakedness; on awaking from his drunken stupor and learning of Ham's acts, he in rage speaks his feelings to Canaan, Ham's son. He was in bad temper at this time, and spoke as one in such a temper in those times naturally would speak. To say he was uttering God's will would be a monstrosity -- would be to drag the sacred words of prophecy through profane lips, and make God speak His will to men out of the mouth of a drunkard, of whom the holy writ says none can enter the kingdom. A drunken prophet strikes the mind with ridicule! Yet, such was Noah, if at all -- and such the character of that prophet, whom biased minds have chosen as the expounder of a curse on the Negro race. It is not strange that so few people have championed the curse theory of the race, when we think that in so doing they must at the same time endorse Noah's drunkenness.

        But, aside from this, the so-called prophecy of Noah has not become true. The best evidence of a prophecy is its fulfillment. Canaan's descendants have often conquered, though Noah said they would not. Goodrich makes the Canaanites, so powerful in the fortified cities of Ai and Jericho, the direct descendants of Canaan. They were among the most powerful people of olden times. They and their kindred built up Egypt, Phoenicia, the mother of the alphabet, and Nineveh and Babylon the two most wonderful of ancient cities. The Jews, God's chosen people, were enslaved by the kindred of Canaan both in Egypt and Babylon. Melchizedek

(King of Righteousness), a sacred character of the old Testament, was a Canaanite. So, rather than being a race of slaves as Noah predicted, the Canaanitish people have been the greatest people of the earth. The great nations of antiquity were in and around Eastern Africa and Western Asia in which is located Mt. Ararat supposed to be the spot on which the ark rested after the flood. These nations sprang from the four sons of Ham -- Cush, Mizarim, Phut and Canaan. The Cushites were Ethiopians who lived in Abyssinia. The Mizarimites were Egyptians who lived in Egypt and so distinguished for greatness. The Canaanites occupied the country including Tyre and Sidon and stretching down into Arabia as far as Gaza and including the province of the renowned Queen of Sheba.

        In the light of true history the curse theory of the Negro melts like snow under a summer sun. We contend from the above facts that Noah did not utter a prophecy when he spoke to Canaan, and as proof of that fact we have quoted a few historical facts to show that if he did make such a prophecy it was not fulfilled. We will add further, that the part of the alleged prophecy conferring blessings on Shem and Japheth has also fallen without verification, in that the descendants of these two personages have more than once been enslaved.

        It seems hardly necessary in this age of enlightenment to refer to the Curse Theory argued so persistently by those who needed some such argument as an apology for wrong doing, but still there are some who still believe in it, having never cut loose from the moorings of blind prejudice. The Color Theory was also quite popular formerly as an argument in support of the curse of Noah. We hold that the color of the race is due to climatic influences, and in support of this view read this quotation in reference to Africa: "As we go westward we observe the light color predominating over the dark; and then, again, when we come within the influence of the damp from the sea air, we find the shade deepened into the general blackness of the coast population."

        "It is well known that the Biseagan women are shining white, the inhabitants of Granada, on the contrary, dark, to such an extent that in this region (West Europe), the pictures of the blessed Virgin and other saints are painted of the same color."

        Black is no mark of reproach to people who do not worship white. The West Indians in the interior represent the devil as white. The American Indians make fun of the "pale face" and so does the native African. People in this country have been educated to believe in white because all that is good has been ascribed to the white race both in pictures and words. God, the angels and all the prophets are pictured white and the Devil is represented as black.

CHAPTER II.
THE BEGINNING OF SLAVERY IN THE COLONIES.

        The first Negroes landed at Jamestown, Va. In the year 1619, a Dutch trading vessel being in need of supplies weighed anchor at Jamestown, and exchanged fourteen Negroes for food and supplies. The Jamestown people made slaves of these fourteen Negroes, but did not pass any law to that effect until the year 1662, when the number of slaves in the colony was then nearly 2,000, most of whom had been imported from Africa.

        How they were Employed. The Jamestown colony early discovered the profits of the tobacco crop, and the Negro slaves were largely employed in this industry where they proved very profitable, They were also enlisted in the militia, but could not bear arms except in defense of the colonists against the Indians. The greater part of the manual labor of all kinds was performed by the slaves.

        The Slaves Imported came chiefly from the west coast of Africa. They were crowded into the holds of ships in droves, and often suffered for food and

drink. Many, when opportunity permitted, would jump overboard rather than be taken from their homes. Various schemes were resorted to by the slave-traders to get possession of the Africans. They bought many who had been taken prisoners by stronger tribes than their own; they stole others, and some they took at the gun and pistol's mouth.

        Many of the Captives of the slave-traders sold in this country were from tribes possessing more or less knowledge of the use of tools. Some came from tribes skilled in making gold and ivory ornaments, cloth, and magnificent steel weapons of war. The men had been trained to truthfulness, honesty, and valor, while the women were virtuous even unto death. While polygamy is prevalent among most African tribes, yet their system of marrying off the young girls at an early age, and thus putting them under the guardianship of their husbands, is a protection to them; and the result is plainly seen by travellers who testify positively to the uprightness of the women.

        The Ancestors of the American Negroes, though savage in some respects, yet were not so bad as many people think. The native African had then, and he has now, much respect for what we call law and justice. This fact is substantiated by the

numerous large tribes existing, individuals of which grow to be very old, a thing that could not happen were there the wholesale brutalism which we are sometimes told exists. All native Africans universally despise slavery, and even in Liberia, have a contempt for the colored people there who were once slaves in America.

        The Jamestown Slaves were doomed to servitude and ignorance both by law and custom; they were not allowed to vote, and could not be set free even by their masters, except for "some meritorious service." Their religious instruction was of an inferior order, and slaves were sometimes given to the white ministers as pay for their services.

        The Free Negroes of Jamestown were in a similar condition to that of the slaves. They could vote and bear arms in defence of the colony, but not for themselves. They were taxed to bear the expenses of the government, but could not be educated in the schools they helped to build. Some of them managed to acquire some education and property.

        The Negro Heroes who may have exhibited their heroism in many a daring feat during the early history of Jamestown are not known. It is unfortunate that there was no record kept except that of the crimes of his ancestors in this country. Judging,

however, from the records of later years, we may conclude that the Negro slave of Jamestown was not without his Banneka or Blind Tom. Certainly his labor was profitable and may be said to have built up the colony.

        When John Smith became Governor of the Jamestown colony, there were none but white inhabitants; their indolent habits caused him to make a law declaring that "he who would not work should not eat." Prior to this time the colony had proved a failure and continued so till the introduction of the slaves, under whose labor it soon grew prosperous and recovered from its hardships.

        Thomas Fuller, sometimes called "the Virginia Calculator," must not be overlooked in speaking of the record of the Virginia Negro. He was stolen from his home in Africa and sold to a planter near Alexandria, Va. His genius for mathematics won for him a great reputation. He attracted the attention of such men as Dr. Benjamin Rush, of Philadelphia, who, in company with others, was passing through Virginia. Tom was sent for by one of the company and asked, "how many seconds a man of seventy years, some odd months, weeks and days, had lived?" "He gave the exact number in a minute and a half." The gentleman who questioned him took his pen, and after some figuring

told him he must be mistaken, as the number was too great. "Top, massa!" cried Tom, you hab left out the leap year" -- and sure enough Tom was correct. -- Williams.

        The following was published in several newspapers when Thomas Fuller died:

        "DIED. -- Negro Tom, the famous African Calculator, aged 80 years. He was the property of Mrs. Elizabeth Cox, of Alexandria. Tom was a very black man. He was brought to this country at the age of fourteen, and was sold as a slave with many of his unfortunate countrymen. This man was a prodigy; though he could neither read nor write, he had perfectly acquired the use of enumeration. He could give the number of months, days, weeks, hours, minutes and seconds for any period of time that a person chose to mention, allowing in his calculations for all the leap years that happened in the time. He would give the number of poles, yards, feet, inches and barleycorns in a given distance -- say the diameter of the earth's orbit -- and in every calculation he would produce the true answer in less time than ninety-nine out of a hundred men would take with their pens. And what was, perhaps, more extraordinary, though interrupted in the progress of his calculations and engaged in discourse upon any other subject, his operations were

not thereby in the least deranged. He would go on where he left off, and could give any and all of the stages through which his calculations had passed. Thus died Negro Tom, this untaught arithmetician, this untutored scholar. Had his opportunities of improvement been equal to those of a thousand of his fellow men, neither the Royal Society of London, the Academy of Sciences at Paris, nor even a Newton himself need have been ashamed to acknowledge him a brother in science."

        How many of his kind might there have been had the people of Jamestown seen fit to give the Negroes who came to their shores a laborer's and emigrant's chance, rather than enslaving them! Much bloodshed and dissension might thus have been avoided, and the honor of the nation never besmirched with human bondage.

CHAPTER III.
THE NEW YORK COLONY.

        The enslavement of the Negro seems to have commenced in the New York Colony about the same time as at Jamestown. The slaves were used on the farms and became so profitable that about the time the English took the colony from the Dutch, 1664, there was a great demand for slaves, and the trade grew accordingly.

        The Privileges of the Slaves in New York were for a while a little better than in Virginia. They were taken into the church and baptized, and no law was passed to prevent their getting an education. But the famous Wall Street, now the financial center of the New World, was once the scene of an auction block where Indians and persons of Negro descent were bought and sold. A whipping boss was once a characteristic office in New York City.

        The Riot of 1712 shows the feeling between the master and servant at that time. The Negro population being excluded from schools, not allowed to own land even when free, and forbidden to "strike a Christian or Jew" in self-defence, and their testimony

excluded from the courts, arose in arms and with the torch; houses were burned and many whites killed before the militia suppressed them. Many of the Negroes of New York were free, and many came from the Spanish provinces.

CHAPTER IV.
MASSACHUSETTS, RHODE ISLAND AND CONNECTICUT.

        Negro slavery existed in Massachusetts as early as 1633. The Puritan fathers who came to this country in search of liberty did not hesitate to carry on for more than a century a disgraceful traffic in human flesh and blood. The New England ships of the 17th century brought cargoes of Negroes from the west coast of Africa and the Barbadoes. They sold many of them in New England as well as in the Southern colonies. In 1764 there were nearly 6,000 slaves in Massachusetts, about 4,000 in Rhode Island and the same in Connecticut.

        The Treatmentof the slaves in these colonies at this time was regulated by laws which classed them as property, "being rated as horses and hogs." They could not bear arms nor be admitted to the schools. They were baptized in the churches, but this did not make them freemen, as it did white serfs.

        Better Treatment was given the slaves as the colonies grew older and were threatened with wars. It was thought that the slaves might espouse the

cause of the enemy, and for this reason some leniency was shown them.

        Judge Samuel Sewall, a Chief Justice of Massachusetts wrote a tract in 1700 warning the people of New England against slavery and ill treatment of Negroes. He said: "Forasmuch as Liberty is in real value next unto Life, none ought to part with it themselves, or deprive others of it, but upon most mature consideration."

        Judge Sewall's tract greatly excited the New England people on the subject of emancipating their slaves. "The pulpit and the press were not silent, and sermons and essays in behalf of the enslaved Africans were continually making their appearance."

        The Slaves Themselves aroused by these favorable utterances from friendly people made up petitions which they presented with strong arguments for their emancipation. A great many slaves brought suits against their masters for restraining them of their liberty. In 1774 a slave "of one Caleb Dodge," of Essex county, brought suit against his master praying for his liberty. The jury decided that there was "no law in the Province to hold a man to serve for life," and the slave of Caleb Dodge won the suit.

        Felix Holbrook and other slaves presented a petition

to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1773, asking to be set free and granted some unimproved lands where they might earn an honest living as freemen. Their petition was delayed consideration one year, and finally passed. But the English governors, Hutchinson and Gage, refused to sign it, because they perhaps thought it would "choke the channel of a commerce in human souls."

        British Hatred to Negro freedom thus made itself plain to the New England slaves, and a few years later, when England fired her guns to subdue the revolution begun at Lexington, the slave population enlisted largely in the defence of the colonists. And thus the Negro slave by valor, patriotism and industry, began to loosen the chains of his own bondage in the Northern colonies.