An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans — John Shaqi
An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called AfricansChild, Lydia Maria
History
An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans
Child, Lydia Maria
Antislavery movements -- United States; Slavery -- United States
board perished! We could judge of the extent of their sufferings from
the afflicting sight we now saw. When the poor creatures were ordered
down again, several of them came, and pressed their heads against our
knees, with looks of the greatest anguish, with the prospect of
returning to the horrid place of suffering below."
Alas! the slave-captain proved by his papers that he confined his
traffic strictly to the south of the Line, where it was yet lawful;
perhaps his papers were forged; but the English officers were afraid to
violate an article of the treaty, which their government had made with
Brazil. Thus does cunning wickedness defeat benevolence and justice in
this world! Dr. Walsh continues: "With infinite regret, therefore, we
were obliged to restore his papers to the captain, and permit him to
proceed, after nine hours' detention and close investigation. It was
dark when we separated, and the last parting sounds we heard from the
unhallowed ship, were the cries and shrieks of the slaves, suffering
under some bodily infliction."
I suppose the English officers acted politically right; but not for the
world's wealth, would I have acted politically right, under such
circumstances![B]
[Footnote B: Dr. Walsh's book on Brazil was published in 1831. He says;
"Notwithstanding the benevolent and persevering exertions of England,
this horrid traffic in human flesh is nearly as extensively carried on
as ever, and under circumstances perhaps of a more revolting character.
The very shifts at evasion, the necessity for concealment, and the
desperate hazard, cause inconvenience and sufferings to the poor
creatures in a very aggravated degree."]
Arrived at the place of destination, the condition of the slave is
scarcely less deplorable. They are advertised with cattle; chained in
droves, and driven to market with a whip; and sold at auction, with the
beasts of the field. They are treated like brutes, and all the
influences around them conspire to make them brutes.
"Some are employed as domestic slaves, when and how the owner pleases;
by day or by night, on Sunday or other days, in any measure or degree,
with any remuneration or with none, with what kind or quantity of food
the owner of the human beast may choose. Male or female, young or old,
weak or strong, may be punished with or without reason, as caprice or
passion may prompt. When the drudge does not suit, he may be sold for
some inferior purpose, like a horse that has seen his best days, till
like a worn-out beast he dies, unpitied and forgotten! Kept in ignorance
of the holy precepts and divine consolations of Christianity, he remains
a Pagan in a Christian land, without even an object of idolatrous
worship--'having no hope, and without God in the world.'"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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