The Rising Son; or, the Antecedents and Advancement of the Colored RaceBrown, William Wells
History
The Rising Son; or, the Antecedents and Advancement of the Colored Race
Brown, William Wells
African Americans -- Biography; African Americans -- History; Black race; Slavery -- United States
The number of inflammatory pamphlets on slavery brought into Charleston
from some of our sister states within the last four years (and once
from Sierra Leone), and distributed amongst the colored population of
the city, for which there was a great facility, in consequence of the
unrestricted intercourse allowed to the persons of color between the
different states in the Union, and the speeches in Congress of those
opposed to the admission of Missouri into the Union, perhaps garbled
and misrepresented, furnished him with ample means for inflaming the
minds of the colored population of this State; and by distorting
certain parts of those speeches, or selecting from them particular
passages, he persuaded but too many that Congress had actually declared
them free, and that they were held in bondage contrary to the laws of
the land.
Even whilst walking through the streets in company with another, he
was not idle; for if his companion bowed to a white person, he would
rebuke him, and observe that all men were born equal, and that he was
surprised that any one would degrade himself by such conduct,--that
he would never cringe to the whites, nor ought any one who had
the feelings of a man. When answered, ‘We are slaves,’ he would
sarcastically and indignantly reply, ‘You deserve to remain slaves;’
and if he were further asked, ‘What can we do?’ he would remark,
‘Go and buy a spelling-book and read the fable of Hercules and the
Wagoner,’ which he would then repeat, and apply it to their situation.
He also sought every opportunity of entering into conversation with
white persons, when they could be overheard by negroes near by,
especially in grog shops; during which conversation, he would artfully
introduce some bold remark on slavery; and sometimes, when, from the
character he was conversing with, he found he might be still bolder, he
would go so far, that, had not his declarations in such situations been
clearly proved, they would scarcely have been credited. He continued
this course until some time after the commencement of the last winter;
by which time he had not only obtained incredible influence amongst
persons of color, but many feared him more than their owners, and, one
of them declared, even more than his God.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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