APPEAL IN FAVOR OF THAT CLASS OF AMERICANS CALLED AFRICANS
BY MRS. CHILD



AN


APPEAL


IN FAVOR OF THAT CLASS


OF


AMERICANS CALLED AFRICANS.


BY MRS. CHILD,

AUTHOR OF THE MOTHER'S BOOK, THE GIRL'S OWN BOOK,
THE FRUGAL HOUSEWIFE, ETC.


"We have offended, Oh! my countrymen!
We have offended very grievously,
And been most tyrannous. From east to west
A groan of accusation pierces Heaven!
The wretched plead against us; multitudes,
Countless and vehement, the sons of God,
Our brethren!"

COLERIDGE.




NEW-YORK:

PUBLISHED BY JOHN S. TAYLOR.

1836.




PREFACE.


Reader, I beseech you not to throw down this volume as soon as you have
glanced at the title. Read it, if your prejudices will allow, for the
very truth's sake:--If I have the most trifling claims upon your good
will, for an hour's amusement to yourself, or benefit to your children,
read it for _my_ sake:--Read it, if it be merely to find fresh occasion
to sneer at the vulgarity of the cause:--Read it, from sheer curiosity
to see what a woman (who had much better attend to her household
concerns) will say upon such a subject:--Read it, on any terms, and my
purpose will be gained.

The subject I have chosen admits of no encomiums on my country; but
as I generally make it an object to supply what is most needed, this
circumstance is unimportant; the market is so glutted with flattery,
that a little truth may be acceptable, were it only for its rarity.

I am fully aware of the unpopularity of the task I have undertaken; but
though I _expect_ ridicule and censure, it is not in my nature to _fear_
them.

A few years hence, the opinion of the world will be a matter in which I
have not even the most transient interest; but this book will be abroad
on its mission of humanity, long after the hand that wrote it is
mingling with the dust.

Should it be the means of advancing, even one single hour, the
inevitable progress of truth and justice, I would not exchange the
consciousness for all Rothchild's wealth, or Sir Walter's fame.




CONTENTS


PAGE

CHAPTER I.

BRIEF HISTORY OF NEGRO SLAVERY.--ITS INEVITABLE EFFECT
UPON ALL CONCERNED IN IT. 7


CHAPTER II.

COMPARATIVE VIEW OF SLAVERY, IN DIFFERENT AGES AND
NATIONS. 38


CHAPTER III.

FREE LABOR AND SLAVE LABOR.--POSSIBILITY OF SAFE
EMANCIPATION. 76


CHAPTER IV.

INFLUENCE OF SLAVERY ON THE POLITICS OF THE UNITED
STATES. 105


CHAPTER V.

COLONIZATION SOCIETY, AND ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. 123


CHAPTER VI.

INTELLECT OF NEGROES. 148


CHAPTER VII.

MORAL CHARACTER OF NEGROES.