A clerical correspondent writes us from the Southern coast protesting against the rapid tendency to amalgamation…

Posted in Articles, Media Archive, Slavery on 2015-03-03 21:59Z by Steven

A clerical correspondent writes us from the Southern coast protesting against the rapid tendency to amalgamation…

Franklin Repository
1863-12-09
page 4, column 4

Source: Valley of the Shadow: Civil War Era Newspapers, University of Virginia Library

A clerical correspondent writes us from the Southern coast protesting against the rapid tendency to amalgamation. He says that he has been called upon to perform the marriage service repeatedly where the bride was mulatto, quadroon or octoroon, and he calls upon Congress to arrest this unnatural mingling of the races, which, to use his own language, “threatens the annihilation of the white race in the United States.”

We beg our correspondent to quiet his fears on the subject. He cites some half a dozen cases to vindicate his apprehensions; but not one of them presents the union of a northern man with the southern negress. All the happy grooms were either southerners or foreigners, and they have been adopting no novel social system. Slavery has never fastened its desolation on any land without carrying the social evil of amalgamation with it; and the crime has been peculiar to the chivalric and opulent rather than to the lowly. Had our correspondent cast a thought as to the origin of the mulatto, quadroon and octoroon brides of whom he speaks, he might have cherished a reasonable suspicion that amalgamation is not just dawning upon the world, but has blotted and blurred the whole social organization of the South ever since slavery came with its endless train of crime.

In the North, where the negro race is free and not the legitimate prey of a brutal master’s lust, amalgamation is very rare, and embraces only the most abandoned of both sexes; and we regard the destruction of Slavery as the only hope of dealing a death-blow to that unnatural evil. Slavery has been its parent, its shield, its apologist and stripped it of its hideous moral deformity by bringing virtuous wives and daughters and sensual sons in daily contact with it; and when its great foundation is destroyed, the whole structure of social pollution will fall with it. The remedy is not in Congress, but in the moral tone of the people, and that seems to be progressing well toward a better and brighter Nationality, free from the blistering stains of both legalized and lawless mingling of the distance races of the Continent.

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But miscegenation in the south has already taken place. It has been on the road over 200 years.

Posted in Excerpts/Quotes on 2012-07-12 22:55Z by Steven

Governor Northen says that miscegenation by law will never, take place in the south. But miscegenation in the south has already taken place. It has been on the road over 200 years. Not miscegenation by law, but by brute force, which is the very worst form of law. Who started it? Not the negroes, I am sure, nor was it the poor white trash. It was the blue vein aristocracy of the south that broke over the fence, defied all law, and the result is we have black negroes and white negroes, some of them as white as Governor Northen.

Joseph W. Henderson, “An Answer to Northen: The Son of a Slave Mother on Southern Miscegenation,” The Daily Star (via: Valley of the Shadow: Civil War Era Newspapers, University of Virginia Library), June 19, 1899, page 1 (column 1). http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=H9AwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WooDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5707%2C959988

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Miscegenation is practiced here.

Posted in Excerpts/Quotes on 2012-07-12 04:22Z by Steven

Speaking of morals, you asked me what effect the female population of mixed blood was going to have on society here [in Charleston, South Carolina]. I have looked somewhat into the matter since my return, from what I can learn, I believe there is hardly a young man here of Southern birth, who can afford the expense, who does not protect one of these girls, and few married men who have not two families. Miscegenation is practiced here. I know of nearly a dozen cases where the parties are married. These girls are many of them beautiful, many almost pure white, with blue eyes and light hair, of fine figures and lady-like appearance. Many of them are much whiter than the majority of pure whites, who seem to belong to the order of women known as scraggy, and are the color of a liver colored pointer, having tan colored paws and faces. But few children are born where these girls are protected by single men, while some of the old men have larger colored families. Nothing can be done to rectify this evil, as these girls will not on any account marry a man with a drop of “nigger blood” in his veins.

Life in the South,” Franklin Repository (via: Valley of the Shadow: Civil War Era Newspapers, University of Virginia Library), January 23, 1867, 2 (column 3). http://valley.lib.virginia.edu/news/fr1867/pa.fr.fr.1867.01.23.xml#02

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Life in the South

Posted in Articles, Media Archive, United States on 2012-07-11 22:21Z by Steven

Life in the South

Franklin Repository
Franklin County, Virginia
1867-01-23
page 2, column 3

Source: Valley of the Shadow: Civil War Era Newspapers, University of Virginia Library

The report provides a bleak assessment of life in post-war South Carolina, particularly for union men and blacks who “are at the mercy of a set of wretches, as unprincipled as they are cruel.” The war may have brought about the destruction of the Confederacy, relates the piece, but the outcome has had little impact on everyday life; the antebellum elite continues to rule over society and the ex-slaves are virtually powerless to defend themselves from violence perpetrated by whites.

A friend who is spending the winter in South Carolina for his health, writes us as follows from Charleston, as to the condition of the Freedmen and society generally among the chivalry. It is indeed a painful chapter of human degradation, treason, brutality and misery:

You know that any code of laws suited to a system of slavery must necessarily be barbarous, suited to the 14th or 15th century, but not to the 19th. Civil law here means power to the wealthy few to do as they please, but there is no law for the “poor white,” the Union man, or the Moke. Civil law whips for theft, hangs for larceny and burglary, and as you may have seen from the papers, they have a man now in Walterboro jail sentenced to death, for highway robbery, in that, he took while in our army, and upon a foraging expedition under orders, a wagon load of bacon. He was to have been hung on Jan. 4th or 7th, but an intimation having been given from the headquarters here that most probably their amusement would be interfered with, the Governor has respited him until Feb. 1st. A report of the investigation has been forwarded to the President; what he will do, who knows? The President has disapproved Gen. Howard’s order “to establish Bureau Courts where necessary,” in accordance with the Bureau bill, and consequently there is no protection of any kind for the Freedmen; they are at the mercy of a set of wretches, as unprincipled as they are cruel. What power the President has to set aside any provision of a law passed by Congress, we don’t know; [illeg] that as Commander in Chief of the Army, he can render any law of Congress a farce, by refusing the power necessary to enforce obedience, we do know, and we know also that this is just the situation here. The only thing the U. S. forces here now are doing, is aiding a half civilized people to reduce a defenseless herd to a worse condition than slavery ever was. Should Moke object to being shot and beaten, to being robbed, plundered and cheated, and exercise the right of self defense, these cowardly wolves call at once on the military for aid, in the name of civil law, and it is given; the President has ordered it. The officers of the Bureau are now mere advisory protectors no more, and are compelled to stand powerless and see, and listen, to acts and complaints that make the blood boil.

We’ll state a few instances of what is occurring all over the State. On Christmas eve and day, four Freedmen were murdered on the streets of this city, and a number more cut and stabbed. In Edgefield, on Friday, one of these kind, gentle massas, a high-toned chivalry, chopped the head off a Freedman with an axe.

Over near Lawtonville they work the Moke under the lash, as of yore, in the cotton field and at the port, and extend to him all the other kindnesses of the old system. One high bred Southern gentleman, brim full of the milk of human kindness, boasts that he has shot eighteen niggers. That dozens of these poor creatures are murdered and left to rot in the woods, of whom nothing is known, is true. While out shooting last winter within three miles of this town, we saw where a Moke had just been found with a rifle bullet through his head. When they cannot treat them with cruelty, they cheat and plunder them in every conceivable way. Any thing meaner than a S. C. planter, is impossible to imagine. What redress has Moke? None. If he dislikes this style of thing and complains, we can only say “go to a magistrate and make a complaint.” If he does so, he must give security in $200 or $300, to prosecute, or his complaint is not heard. This is the redress he has, and the satisfaction he gets, unless the certainty of feeling that he’ll be shot the first good opportunity, can be called satisfaction, a fact we don’t see in that light. There are a few localities in which the Justices(?) have some little humanity and regard for justice, but they dare not act. Should they act, and even express a desire to do justice to a Moke, any life insurance company would be warranted in cancelling their policy instanter. Another insuperable obstacle to anything like justice being done is the extensive ramification of the family relation. Suppose the whole of Franklin Co., divided into some hundred plantations and owned in one family connection; all the Mokes and poor whites (“tresh buccra”) under the old system would have been owned by that family connection. Now supposing all the property owners, actuated first by a deadly hatred to the government, second by a hatred to the Moke because he is free, and you see at once, that all the magistrates being members of that family, Moke or “tresh buccra” would have little to show. If they let him live, and shoot and beat him now and then, he ought to be satisfied. The last dodge in North Carolina is this: No one in N. C. who has ever been whipped can vote; therefore they are arresting all Mokes, for anything or nothing,–perjury is, you know, no crime in the South–and whipping them; and have announced their determination to whip every nigger in N. C., so as to disqualify him from voting for members of that convention. The N. C. delegation forgot to mention this amiable resolve in Washington, and so we had to send it on.

The last dodge in S. C. is this: A man sees a “likely nigger,” and preferring to have his services for nothing, swears out a warrant and has him arrested. Having let him lie in a S. C. jail for a few days, he goes to him, and offers to get him out, if he’ll agree to work for him six months or a year for nothing; of course Moke will do anything to get out, and we, from the moral obliquity of our vision, perhaps fail to see much difference between his former and his present condition. During the past week, the humane son of the jailor in this town, has with a club killed one and abused several freedmen in the jail. Suit will be brought against him to-morrow. High toned, honorable men, these moral church going community. Speaking of morals, you asked me what effect the female population of mixed blood was going to have on society here. I have looked somewhat into the matter since my return, from what I can learn, I believe there is hardly a young man here of Southern birth, who can afford the expense, who does not protect one of these girls, and few married men who have not two families. Miscegenation is practiced here. I know of nearly a dozen cases where the parties are married. These girls are many of them beautiful, many almost pure white, with blue eyes and light hair, of fine figures and lady-like appearance. Many of them are much whiter than the majority of pure whites, who seem to belong to the order of women known as scraggy, and are the color of a liver colored pointer, having tan colored paws and faces. But few children are born where these girls are protected by single men, while some of the old men have larger colored families. Nothing can be done to rectify this evil, as these girls will not on any account marry a man with a drop of “nigger blood” in his veins.

Thousands of the freed people here desire to quit the State. Many are going to Florida, some to Mississippi, and a large number to Texas. Northern men have purchased land in Florida, and are here now getting hands.

The people of Orangeburg rose and attempted to drive out the guard there, but the boys in blue having met Johnny before, formed, opened fire and cleared the streets in short order. There is a band there calling themselves “Dead Heads,” who have sworn to kill and drive out all freedmen from that section, and they have murdered four within a week. The cavalry, a detachment of Capt. William Brown’s Anotemicals, are after them.

That these people are slowly emerging from the darkness in which they have lived so long, is evinced by the passage of an act by the Legislature of this State, taxing all books, periodicals and papers coming from other States, twenty-five per cent. on their first cost, and by Georgia passing an act prohibiting all foreigners from holding real estate in that State—foreigners meaning all others than Georgians—which has since been reconsidered. Truly life among such a people is mere existence. Here in Charleston is the only spot where one can live with even a semblance of decency and comfort, and why? Because they know, that the troops once withdrawn, the freedmen would take this town and burn it in less than twenty-four hours. There is but one way to deal with this people, and that is the Irishman’s way with his wife. Appeal to them by the hair, expostulate with them by the shoulders, plead with them over the head. Add to this a sufficient quantity of moral suasion in the shape of bayonets and argumentative bullets, and something may be made of them in time. I would not have you understand that there is no leaven in this lump of the commonest humanity. There are among the young men, the soldiers, and to their credit be it said, they are heartily ashamed of the State, and will one and all quit it as soon as they can command the means. But the power, and the press and pulpit, are in the hands of an old, effete race, and young blood has no opportunity to make itself felt or heard.

That the colored race is doomed to extinction any observant man can see, and but few will be left to trouble the people of 1900. This fact that time will remove the cause of trouble, makes the trouble no less now. Time will cure the toothache, but it hurts at the time for all that. That the race is doomed is evident, and from these and other causes. They are incapable, or too careless to care for each other when sick. I have known them when sick of small-pox or pneumonia rise from their bed and go out into a cold, drizzling rain, yet feel it an outrage if compelled to do so. “We take care of she, we’s free as a frog, hab to take care of she, dats not bein free as a frog.” They care little for their children, and but few are being reared outside of the towns. They will leave their own sick and go any distance to nurse whites, and sit up with them night after night.

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A Sad Case Of Miscegenation

Posted in Articles, Media Archive, United States on 2012-07-11 18:32Z by Steven

A Sad Case Of Miscegenation

Valley Spirit (source: Pittsburgh Post)
Franklin County, Virginia
1867-02-06
page 1, column 8

Source: Valley of the Shadow: Civil War Era Newspapers, University of Virginia Library

The piece relates the story of a woman, who, after consenting to marry a returning white Union officer, had an affair with a black man and bore a child by him. According to the Spirit, the woman’s “sad” predicament is undoubtedly the result of the “negro equality teachings” of the Radicals.

Before alderman Nicholson, there came a short time since a young and handsome woman named Eliza Montgomery bearing in her arms an infant five weeks old, which the most casual observer would not be a great while in discovering was, to a certain extent of negro parentage. The woman acknowledged herself to be the mother of the child, and desired to make an information against the father, a “black and tan,” for fornication and bastardy. Notwithstanding the character of the intimacy which must have existed between them, the woman was unable to tell the name of the blackamoor. She know his first name was Archie, and that was all. A warrant was accordingly issued for, the apprehension of Archie. The above, bad as it is, is not the worst feature of the case, “by a jug full.”

Mary Montgomery, a young, beautiful and intelligent girl, resided in one of our suburban villages, where a little more than a year ago, she was met, wooed and won by an army officer of this city, who had but recently been discharged from the service and whose name we suppress for prudential motives. They were engaged to be married, and the 2d of June last was fixed for the consummation of the event. During last spring she met the negro Archie, and forgetting her vows of constancy to her affianced husband, she maintained an improper intercourse with the negro-to her lasting infamy be it said—almost to the day of her marriage. The 2d of June came and with it the wedding, which was duly celebrated, and the pair lived happily together for a time. The young wife soon discovered, however, that serious consequences were about to result from her infamous conduct, and she made a “clean breast” of her crime to her husband. The denouement was of course followed by an immediate separation, and an application for divorce is now pending in court. On Wednesday last, the wretched woman made application to the guardians of the poor, and herself and mulatto child were sent to the Poor Farm where she will probably end her days in misery and disgrace—Pittsburgh Post.

The frequency of such cases as the forgoing of late make it evident that the negro equality teachings of Phillips, Forney, Cameron, and other Radical leaders, are having their affect upon the impressible minds of the young – the female sex especially. In the wreck of the young woman mentioned those leaders may see their work, as the public see it. Over such wrecks they are striding to place and power. Every step of their progress is marked with the footprints of shame, and every stage with a landmark of suffering. Alas, for the poor victims of Radical cupidity and ambition.

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President Johnson’s Message

Posted in Articles, Media Archive, Politics/Public Policy, United States on 2012-07-11 02:28Z by Steven

President Johnson’s Message

Staunton Spectator
Staunton Virginia
1867-12-10
Column 1

Source: Valley of the Shadow: Civil War Era Newspapers, University of Virginia Library

A full transcript of President Johnson’s recent address to both houses of Congress, in which he argues that the most pressing danger facing the nation is the attempt “to Africanize the half of our country.”.

President Andrew Johnson
Washington, December 3, 1867

The continued disorganization of the Union, to which the President has so often called the attention of Congress, is yet a subject of profound and patriotic concern.-We may, however,, find some relief from that anxiety in the reelection that the painful political situation, although before untried by ourselves, is not new in the experience of nations. Political science, perhaps as highly perfected in our own time and country as in any other, has not yet disclosed any means by which civil wars can be absolutely prevented. An enlightened nation, however, with a wise and beneficent Constitution of free government, may diminish their frequency and mitigate their severity by directing all its proceedings in accordance with its fundamental law.

When a civil war has been brought to a close, it is manifestly the first interest and duty of the State to repair the injuries which the war has inflicted, and to secure the benefit of the lessons it teaches as fully and as speedily as possible. This duty was, upon the termination of the rebellion, promptly accepted, both only by the Executive Department, but by the insurrectionary States themselves, and restoration, in the first moment of peace, was believed to be as easy and certain as it was indispensable. The expectations, however, then so reasonably and confidently entertained, were disappointed by legislation from which I felt constrained by my obligations to the Constitution, to withhold my assent.

It is therefore a source of profound regret that, in complying with the obligation imposed upon the President by the Constitution, to give the Congress from time to time information of the state of the Union, I am unable to communicate ahy definitive adjustment satisfactory to the American People, of the questions which, since the close of the rebellion, have agitated the public mind. On the contrary, candor compels me to declare that at this time there is no Union as our Fathers understood the term, and as they meant it to be understood by us. The Union which they established can exist only where all the States are represented in both Houses of Congress; where one State is as free as another to regulate its internal concerns according to its own will: and where the laws of the central Government, strictly confined to matters of national jurisdiction, apply with equal force to all the people of every section. That such is not the present “state of the Union” is a melancholy fact; and we all must acknowledge that the restoration of the States to their proper legal relations with the Federal Government and with one another according to the terms of the original compact, would be the greatest temporal blessing which God, in his kindest providence, could bestow upon this nation. It becomes our imperative duty to consider whether or not it is impossible to effect this most desirable consummation…
 
…The plan of putting the Southern States wholly, and the General Government partially, into the hands of negroes, is proposed at a time peculiarly unpropitious. The foundations of society have been broken up by civil war. Industry must be reorganized and justice re-established, public credit maintained, and order brought out of confusion. To accomplish these ends would require all the wisdom and virtue of the great men who formed our institutions originally. I confidently believe that their descendants will be equal to the arduous task before them, but it is worse than madness to expect that negroes will perform it for us. Certainly we ought not to ask their assistance until we despair of our competency.

The great difference between the two races in physical, mental, and moral characteristics will prevent an amalgamation or fusion of them together in one homogeneous mass. If the inferior obtains the ascendancy over the other, it will govern with reference, only to its own interests-for it will recognize no common interest-and create such a tyranny as this continent has never witnessed. Already the negroes are influenced by promises of confiscation and plunder. They are taught to regard as an enemy every white man who has any respect for the rights of his own race. If this continues, it must become worse and worse, until all order will be subverted, all industry cease, and the fertile fields of the South grow up into a wilderness. Of all the dangers which our nation has yet encountered, non are equal to those which must result from the success of the effort now making to Africanize the half of the country.

I would not put considerations of money in competition with justice and right. But the expenses incident to “reconstruction” under the system adopted by Congress aggravate what I regard as the intrinsic wrong of the measure itself. It has cost uncounted millions already, and if persisted in will add largely to the weight of taxation, already too oppressive to be borne without just complaint, and may finally reduce the Treasury of the nation to a condition of bankruptcy. We must not delude ourselves. It will require a strong standing army, and probably more than two hundred millions of dollars per annum, to maintain the supremacy of negro governments after they are established. The sum thus thrown away would, if properly used, form a sinking fund large enough to pay the whole national debt in less than fifteen years. It is vain to hope that negroes will maintain their ascendancy themselves. Without military power they are wholly incapable of holding in subjection the white people of the South…

Read the entire article here.

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