The Negroes of Alabama.
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Title
The Negroes of Alabama.
Description
A report on the 1874 Alabama State Convention of Colored Men held in Montgomery published in the Daily Inter Ocean (December 9, 1874)
Source
From Gale. 19th Century U.S. Newspapers. ©2008 Gale, a part of Cengage Learning, Inc. Reproduced by permission. www.cengage.com/permissions
Publisher
Daily Inter Ocean
Date
1874-12-10
Type
Newspaper article
Scripto
Transcription
[PAGE 1]
THE NEGROES OF ALABAMA. We print elsewhere in this issue the address of the colored people of Alabama to the people of the United States, as adopted by the convention recently assembled at Montgomery. The address is a moving recital of the wrongs to which the colored people of that State are subjected. It contains internal evidence of truthfulness, and is to that extent conclusive of the fact that the Constitution of the United States , as amended, and the laws of Congress bearing on the subject of the rights of negroes are absolutely ignored or willfully violated by the white people of the State. The following strong language is used. The ex-slaveholder believed then (after the nominal acceptance of the Thirteenth amendment) and does believe to this day, and has taught his children to believe that we were his property, his chattels, stolen from him by a powerful enemy, who had invaded his country; and that to deprive us of everything we earn and possess is a matter of right, and it is the duty to treat as an alien enemy every white man and intelligent colored man who may attempt to improve us. We believe this to be a true characterization of Southern sentiment; and the sooner the Republican party and the administration adopt and act upon the theory of its correctness, the sooner will a solution of the Southern political question be reached. The assumption that the South accepts the freedom and equal political and civil rights of the negro as guaranteed by the Constitution is false. And being false, it is delusive; leading inevitably to new complications. The colored people of Alabama are about to give up the struggle for the acknowledgement of their rights. When they come to this conclusion finally, one of two things must happen. Either they will be reduced to practical slavery or forced to emigrate to some more favored State. In fact, so far as the Alabama Convention is concerned, they have already adopted the latter alternative. They have organized an emigration association, and conferred upon it authority to "take such steps as will best effect the early settlement of a colony of colored families at the far West." To this end aid is to be sought at the North; for, says the address:
[PAGE 2]
The continued spoliation of the colored people of their earnings has rendered them unable to pay for the transportation of their families to the localities where they desire to go; and we therefore ask the assistance of all lovers of freedom and enemies to human slavery, to carry us to a portion of the country where we may have an equal chance in the struggle for life and fortune. In connection with the address we publish a letter from Savannah, Ga., containing a circular from the Rev. H. M. Turner, of that city, in which he condemns the emigration movement as hazardous and likely to result in great privation and loss of life. He says, "Over 100,000 have left the State already; and while some have done well, others have died for the want of necessary clothing, medicine, and domestic comforts." He declares that there is no hope for the negro race in attempting to crowd certain States and hold them for their special interest; for he says, "Whatever the negro may in be in other States, he must eventually be in Georgia." * * * "Our status in one section of the country will be a common status everywhere." But he believes that the negro must ultimately return to Africa. He says: I can hear the voice of God now, in the way we are treated, saying, prepare to leave. Look at the tardiness of Congress in our civil rights. Look how the Northern newspapers are both deserting and slandering us. Look how much of the Southern press is calling our wives and daughters wenches, helpers, and ------, to say nothing of the men. Look at the howl of the "White Man's Government." Look at the thousands that have been murdered even in the so-called Radical States. Look how we are summarily tried and convicted for trivial charges before jurors who assert "that they will be d----d if they will acquit a negro, guilty or not; for if a negro is not guilty, he ought to be;" you might as well try a frog for his life before a hungry snake. Look at the efforts being made to transport Chinese, Swedes, and coolies to the South, to take our places as laborers. Look at the millions of our race who have not a foot of land from which to raise a pea to sustain their wives and children, yet whole counties will league together not to sell them an inch of ground, for the purpose of keeping them in perpetual serfdom, when history shows no instance of a landless people rising to respectability since the world began.
[PAGE 3]
This is a very dark picture, and it reflects seriously upon the Government of the United States, which has the power to protect every citizen in the enjoyment of all his rights. That 100,000 blacks possessing, by statute, equal rights with whites, should be driven from their homes because statutes are not enforced is a situation full of significance. That the oppression of blacks is so great at the South as to induce thoughts of a universal exodus to Africa is cause for alarm. To lose 5,000,000 of laborers, were it possible, in a single year, would plunge the nation into bankruptcy. ruptey. The economic value of a man is estimated mated at $ 800. Calling the negroes worth half price, their value to the country is equal to the volume of the public debt-- $ 2,000,000,000. In the light of these figures, the proposition that the negroes shall emigrate to Africa enmasse masse is somewhat what startling. There is but one safe course to pursue with the negro: he must be protected in all the rights that white men enjoy. It will cost infinitely more to oppress him than it will to respect every right guaranteed to him by the amended Constitution.
THE NEGROES OF ALABAMA. We print elsewhere in this issue the address of the colored people of Alabama to the people of the United States, as adopted by the convention recently assembled at Montgomery. The address is a moving recital of the wrongs to which the colored people of that State are subjected. It contains internal evidence of truthfulness, and is to that extent conclusive of the fact that the Constitution of the United States , as amended, and the laws of Congress bearing on the subject of the rights of negroes are absolutely ignored or willfully violated by the white people of the State. The following strong language is used. The ex-slaveholder believed then (after the nominal acceptance of the Thirteenth amendment) and does believe to this day, and has taught his children to believe that we were his property, his chattels, stolen from him by a powerful enemy, who had invaded his country; and that to deprive us of everything we earn and possess is a matter of right, and it is the duty to treat as an alien enemy every white man and intelligent colored man who may attempt to improve us. We believe this to be a true characterization of Southern sentiment; and the sooner the Republican party and the administration adopt and act upon the theory of its correctness, the sooner will a solution of the Southern political question be reached. The assumption that the South accepts the freedom and equal political and civil rights of the negro as guaranteed by the Constitution is false. And being false, it is delusive; leading inevitably to new complications. The colored people of Alabama are about to give up the struggle for the acknowledgement of their rights. When they come to this conclusion finally, one of two things must happen. Either they will be reduced to practical slavery or forced to emigrate to some more favored State. In fact, so far as the Alabama Convention is concerned, they have already adopted the latter alternative. They have organized an emigration association, and conferred upon it authority to "take such steps as will best effect the early settlement of a colony of colored families at the far West." To this end aid is to be sought at the North; for, says the address:
[PAGE 2]
The continued spoliation of the colored people of their earnings has rendered them unable to pay for the transportation of their families to the localities where they desire to go; and we therefore ask the assistance of all lovers of freedom and enemies to human slavery, to carry us to a portion of the country where we may have an equal chance in the struggle for life and fortune. In connection with the address we publish a letter from Savannah, Ga., containing a circular from the Rev. H. M. Turner, of that city, in which he condemns the emigration movement as hazardous and likely to result in great privation and loss of life. He says, "Over 100,000 have left the State already; and while some have done well, others have died for the want of necessary clothing, medicine, and domestic comforts." He declares that there is no hope for the negro race in attempting to crowd certain States and hold them for their special interest; for he says, "Whatever the negro may in be in other States, he must eventually be in Georgia." * * * "Our status in one section of the country will be a common status everywhere." But he believes that the negro must ultimately return to Africa. He says: I can hear the voice of God now, in the way we are treated, saying, prepare to leave. Look at the tardiness of Congress in our civil rights. Look how the Northern newspapers are both deserting and slandering us. Look how much of the Southern press is calling our wives and daughters wenches, helpers, and ------, to say nothing of the men. Look at the howl of the "White Man's Government." Look at the thousands that have been murdered even in the so-called Radical States. Look how we are summarily tried and convicted for trivial charges before jurors who assert "that they will be d----d if they will acquit a negro, guilty or not; for if a negro is not guilty, he ought to be;" you might as well try a frog for his life before a hungry snake. Look at the efforts being made to transport Chinese, Swedes, and coolies to the South, to take our places as laborers. Look at the millions of our race who have not a foot of land from which to raise a pea to sustain their wives and children, yet whole counties will league together not to sell them an inch of ground, for the purpose of keeping them in perpetual serfdom, when history shows no instance of a landless people rising to respectability since the world began.
[PAGE 3]
This is a very dark picture, and it reflects seriously upon the Government of the United States, which has the power to protect every citizen in the enjoyment of all his rights. That 100,000 blacks possessing, by statute, equal rights with whites, should be driven from their homes because statutes are not enforced is a situation full of significance. That the oppression of blacks is so great at the South as to induce thoughts of a universal exodus to Africa is cause for alarm. To lose 5,000,000 of laborers, were it possible, in a single year, would plunge the nation into bankruptcy. ruptey. The economic value of a man is estimated mated at $ 800. Calling the negroes worth half price, their value to the country is equal to the volume of the public debt-- $ 2,000,000,000. In the light of these figures, the proposition that the negroes shall emigrate to Africa enmasse masse is somewhat what startling. There is but one safe course to pursue with the negro: he must be protected in all the rights that white men enjoy. It will cost infinitely more to oppress him than it will to respect every right guaranteed to him by the amended Constitution.
Convention Minutes Item Type Metadata
City
Montgomery
State
AL
Country
USA
Contributor
This transcription is the combination of work from more than 4,500 people who volunteered during the 2022 celebration of Douglass Day, held in partnership with Zooniverse.
Event ID
1874.AL-12.01.MONT
Citation
“The Negroes of Alabama.,” Colored Conventions Project Digital Records, accessed October 22, 2026, https://omeka.coloredconventions.org/items/show/1702.