Slavery and the ConstitutionBowditch, William I. (William Ingersoll)
Religion
Slavery and the Constitution
Bowditch, William I. (William Ingersoll)
Enslaved persons -- United States -- Social conditions; Slavery -- United States
"The lot now on hand consists of plough-boys; several likely and
well-qualified house-servants, of both sexes; several women with
children; small girls, suitable for nurses; and _several small boys,
without their mothers_. Planters and traders are earnestly requested
to give the subscriber a call previously to making purchases
elsewhere, as he is enabled, and will sell as cheap or cheaper than
can be sold by any other person in the trade.
"Hamburg, S.C. Sept. 28, 1838. BENJAMIN DAVIS."
This is taken from the "Jackson (Tenn.) Telegraph," Sept. 14, 1838:--
"COMMITTED TO THE JAIL OF MADISON COUNTY, a negro woman, who calls
her name Fanny, and says she belongs to Wm. Miller, of Mobile. She
formerly belonged to John Givins, of this county, who now owns
several of her children. DAVID SHROPSHIRE, Jailer."
How strong was that poor mother's love! She had toiled all the way from
Mobile to the county where her children lived, and the laws of a
Christian country consigned her to the jail! Perhaps, in her loneliness,
she remembered some oral instruction like this (Jones's "Catechism," pp.
125,126):
"Q. Should mothers and fathers very tenderly love their
children?--A. Yes.
Q. And, as they receive their children from the Lord, is it not
their duty and privilege to present them unto the Lord in his own
appointed ordinance, and to train them up for his church and
service?--A. Yes....
Q. What should they teach them to do every night and morning?--A.
Pray to God.
Q. What book should parents early make their children acquainted
with, and out of which diligently instruct them?--A. The Holy Bible.
Q. Is it the duty of parents to pray with and for their children
continually?--A. Yes.
* * * * *
Q. Is it their duty to warn their children of bad company, and keep
them out of it?--A. Yes."
Poor slave-mother! very tenderly indeed did you love your children. But,
in your agony, you forgot that it was wicked to run away,--even for the
sake of teaching them to pray night and morning! How thankful, then,
ought you to be to God, that, in his great mercy, he was willing to
punish your transgression in this world, instead of the next!
We never so deeply feel the brutalizing effects of slavery as when we
reflect upon its peculiarly degrading influences upon woman. On some
accounts, we would gladly pass over this point in silence; but so
atrocious a wrong should rest upon the heart of every one.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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