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d50
THE
OUTLINE
OFHISTORY
andglitter,then
no
doubtAlexandertheGreatis
at
theapex
of
humangreatness.
But
isgreatnessthat
~
Is
notagreatmanratheronewho,
in
agreatposition
or
amidstgreatopportunities
-and
greatgiftsarenomorethangreatopportunities--servesGodandhisfellowswithahumbleheart
~
Andquiteanumber
of
theseAmericansoftherevolutionarytime
do
seem
to
havedisplayedmuchdisinterestednessanddevotion.Theywerelimitedmen,falliblemen;Washingtonwas,
for
example,
a.
conspicuouslyindolent
man;
butonthewholetheyseemedtohavecaredmoreforthecommonwealtheywerecreating
than
foranypersonalend
or
personalvanity.Theywerealllimitedmen.Theywerelimited
in
knowledgeandoutlook;theywerelimitedbythelimitationsofthetime.
And
therewasnoperfectmanamongthem.Theywere,likeallofus,menofmixedmotives;
good
impulsesarose
in
theirminds,greatideassweptthroughthem,andalsotheycouldbejealous,lazy,
ob-
stinate,greedy,vicious.
If
oneweretowriteatrue,full,andparticularhistoryofthe
m a k i n ~
oftheUnited
States,it
wouldhave
to
bewrittenwithcharityandhighspiritsasasplendidcomedy.Andinnootherregard
do
wefindtherichtortuoushumanityoftheAIQericanstory
so
finelydisplayedas
in
regardtoslavery.Slavery,havingregardtothegeneralquestion
of
labour,isthetest
of
thisnewsoul
in
theworld'shistory,theAmericansoul.Slaverybeganveryearly
in
theEuropeanhistory
of
America,andnoEuropeanpeople
who
wenttoAmericacan
be
heldaltogetherinnocent
in
thematter.
At
atimewhentheGermanisstillthemoralwhipping-boy
of
Europe,
it
iswelltonote
that
theGermanrecordis
in
thisrespectthebestofall.AlmostthefirstoutspokenutterancesagainstnegroslaverycamefromGermansettlers
in
Pennsylvania.
But
theGermansettlerwasworkingwithfreelabouruponatemperatecountry-
['01
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REPUBLICS
OFAMERICAANDFRANCE
851
side,wellnorth
of
theplantationzone;hewasnotunderserioustemptation
in
thismatter.Americanslaverybeganwiththeenslavement
of
Indiansforgangwork
in
minesanduponplantations,and
it
iscurioustonotethat
it
wasaverygoodandhumanemanindeed,LasCasas,whourgedthatnegroesshouldbebroughttoAmericatorelievehistormented
Indian
proteges.TheneedforlabourupontheplantationsoftheWestIndiesandthesouthwasimperative.Whenthesupplyof
Indian
captivesprovedinadequate,theplantersturnednotonly
to
thenegro,
but
tothejailsandpoorhousesofEuropeforasupplyoftoilers.Thereader
of
Defoe's
MollFlanders
willlearn
how
thebusinessofVirginianwhiteslaverylookedtoanintelligentEnglishman
in
theearlyeighteenthcentury.
But
thenegrocameveryearly.Theyear(1620)
that
sawthePilgrimFatherslanding
at
Plymouth
in
NewEngland,sawaDutchsloopdisembarkingthefirstcargo
of
negroesatJamestowninVirginia.NegroslaverywasasoldasNewEngland;
it
hadbeenanAmericaninstitutionforoveracenturyandahalfbeforethe
War
of
Independence.
It
wastostruggleonforthebetter
partof
acenturymore.
But
theconscience
of
thoughtfulmen
in
thecolonieswasneverquiteeasyuponthisscore,and
it
wasoneoftheaccusationsofThomasJeffersonagainstthecrownandlordsofGreat
Britainthat
everyattempttoameliorate
or
restraintheslavetrade
on
the
part
of
thecolonistshadbeencheckedbythegreatproprietaryinterests
in
themothercountry.!
With
themoralandintellectualfermentoftherevolution,thequestionofnegroslaverycamerightintotheforegroundofthepublicconscience.
The
contrastandthechallengeglareduponthemind."Allmenarebynaturefreeandequal,"saidtheVirginiaBillofRights,andoutside
in
thesunshine,underthewhip
of
theoverseer,toiledthenegroslave.
It
witnessestothegreatchange
in
humanideassincetheRomanImperialsystemdissolvedunderthebarbarianinrush,
that
therecouldbethisheart-searching.Conditions
of
indus
try,
production,andlandtenurehadlongpreventedany
re-
crudescenceofgangslavery;
but
nowthecyclehadcomeroundagain,andtherewereenormousimmediateadvantagestobereapedbytheowningandrulingclassesintherevivalofthat
J
In
1776
LordDartmouthwrote
that
the
colonistscould
Dot
bealloww
"to
checkordiscourageatrafficsobeneficent
to
thenation."
 
852
THE
OUTLINE
OFHISTORY
l'.ncientinstitution
in
mines,uponplantations,andupongreatpublicworks.
It
was
revived-but
againstgreatopposition.
From
thebeginningoftherevivaltherewereprotests,andtheygrew.
The
revivalwascountertothenewconscienceofman-kind.
In
somerespectsthenewgangslaverywasworsethananything
in
theancientworld.Peculiarlyhorriblewastheprovocationbythe
trade
ofslavewarsandmanhunts
in
WesternAfrica,
and
thecrueltiesofthelongtransatlantic
voy-
age.
The
poorcreatureswerepackedontheshipsoftenwithinsufficientprovisionoffoodandwater,withoutpropersanita-tion,withoutmedicines.ManywhocouldtolerateslaYeryupontheplantationsfoundtheslavetradetoomuchfortheirmoraldigestions.ThreeEuropeannationswerechieflyconcernedinthisdarkbusiness,Britain,Spain,andPortugal,becausetheywere
the
chiefownersof
the
newlands
in
America.The
com-
parativeinnocenceoftheotherEuropeanpowersis
to
be
as-
cribedlargelytotheirlessertemptations.Theyweresimilarcommunities;
in
parallelcircumstancestheywouldhave
be-
havedsimilarly.Throughoutthemiddle
part
oftheeighteenthcenturytherewas
an
activeagitationagainstnegroslaveryinGreatBritain
as
well
as
in
theStates.
It
wasestimated
that
in
1770therewerefifteenthousandslavesinBritain,mostlybroup:htover
b:v
theirownersfromtheWestIndiesandVirginia.
In
1771the
i s ~ u e
carnetoaconclusivetest
in
Britain
beforeLordMans-field.AnegronamedJamesSomersetthadbeenbroughttoEJ;lglandfromVirginiabyhisowner.
He
ran
away,wascap-
t t ~ r e d ,
andviolentlytakenonashipto
be
returnedtoVirginia.
From
theshiphewasextractedbya
writof
habeascorpus.
Lord'Mansfielddeclared
that
slaverywasaconditionunknowntoEnglishlaw,an"odious"condition,andSomersettwalkedoutofthecourtafreeman.
The
Massachusettsconstitutionof1780haddeclaredthat
"all
menarebornfreeandequal."Acertainnegro,Quaco,
put
thistothe
tElSt
in
1783,and
in
that
yearthesoilofMassachu-settsbecamelike
the
soilofBritain,intolerantofslavery;totreadupon
it
wastobecomefree.
At
that
timenootherstate
in
theUnionfollowedthisexample.
At
thecensusof1790,Massachusetts,aloneofallthestates,returned
"no
slaves."Thestateofopinionin
V i r ~ n i a
isremarkable,because
it
bringsto
li/1;ht
thepeculiardifficultiesofthesouthernstates.
of 00

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