# Five hundred thousand strokes for freedom : a series of anti-slavery tracts, of which half a million are now first issued by the friends of the Negro

Five hundred thousand strokes for freedom : a series of anti-slavery tracts, of which half a million are now first issued by the friends of the Negro
* by Wilson Armistead (1853)
* Preface
* Valediction
* Leeds Anti-slavery. No. 1.
* Leeds Anti-slavery. No. 2.
* Leeds Anti-slavery. No. 3.
* Leeds Anti-slavery. No. 4.
* Leeds Anti-slavery. No. 5.
* Leeds Anti-slavery. No. 7.
Transcription project for this book
Originally published as:
Five hundred thousand strokes for freedom : a series of anti-slavery tracts, of which half a million are now first issued by the friends of the Negro LONDON . W & F Cash , 5 Bishopsgate S William Tweedie.337 Strand , and may be had of all Booksellers. 1853.
PREFACE.
[by Wilson Armistead 1853]
WHILST millions of our oppressed and manacled fellow- creatures are still groaning under the cruelties of slavery , and panting for deliverance from thraldom , no apology is thought requisite in presenting anything calculated to increase a feeling of sympathy for that portion of suffering humanity whose own voice has but little chance of being heard , and when it has an opportunity of being raised in self - defence , is too often but little regarded . It must be evident to the most superficial observer , that recent events have excited an awakened interest universally in behalf of the down - trodden slave . It is exceedingly de- sirable that this feeling should not be allowed to pass hastily away , but that the public mind should be kept alive to the great subject of the negro's wrongs , till such time as they are effectually redressed . It has been thought , that an extensive distribution of Anti - Slavery Tracts would be very opportune at the present moment , and assist more than any other means in maintain- ing this feeling ; for , in the days in which we live , more is to be effected by public opinion , and by appeals to the great sympathies of mankind , than by force or by statute.
It must be evident to the most superficial observer , that recent events have excited an awakened interest universally in behalf of the down - trodden slave . It is exceedingly de- sirable that this feeling should not be allowed to pass hastily away , but that the public mind should be kept alive to the great subject of the negro's wrongs , till such time as they are effectually redressed.
It has been thought , that an extensive distribution of Anti - Slavery Tracts would be very opportune at the present moment , and assist more than any other means in maintain- ing this feeling ; for , in the days in which we live , more is to be effected by public opinion , and by appeals to the great sympathies of mankind , than by force or by statute laws . The want of a cheap variety of well - written , judi- ciously - selected , and popular Anti - Slavery Tracts , has long been felt , for distribution after public meetings , lectures , and on all suitable occasions . We have abundance of Tracts on Peace and on Temperance , & c . , in extensive circulation -Olive Leaves are scattered the wide world over . Why should we not have something equally available for diffusing information on the question of Slavery , when it is admitted to be one of the greatest calamities that afflict mankind ? something calculated to excite an interest in a subject so intimately connected with the happiness or misery of a very large portion of the human family ?
Thoughts like the above have long occurred to the writer , but the difficulties of effectually supplying the want have appeared considerable . The idea not being lost sight of , however , plans have become gradually developed for carrying out the design ; and it has been eventually resolved to issue a series of half a million of Tracts . The subject was first communicated to a few well - known friends of the cause , who not only expressed approbation , but soon furnished a handsome nucleus of contributions for carrying out the design forthwith . Circulars were struck off and distributed , and although the undertaking was deemed by many to be somewhat Herculean , and by a few of the more timid , altogether Utopian , the call has been very generally re- sponded to . Indeed the result has proved that the quantity originally contemplated , 500,000 , is quite inadequate to the requirements of Anti - slavery friends ; for whilst the first impression is passing through the printer's hands , the demand for these Tracts has been so great , that a second Half Million are already in the press. Many contributions have been received for a gratuitous circulation , which alone will provide for the distribution of 300,000 Tracts .
By this means a scattering of Anti - slavery missiles will be effected to an extent not hitherto attempted , which cannot fail to assist in increasing the lively interest already excited on this question ; and create among a large class who are still ignorant of the evils of Slavery a feeling for suffering humanity of which they are at present wholly unconscious .
The series prepared for the first half million , consists of eighty - two distinct Tracts , varying from 1 to 28 pages each , a list of which will be found at the end of this volume , which also contains one of each of the series in rotation . The compiler claims no merit for originality in these Tracts . Though many of them are expressly written for the occasion , they consist chiefly of reprints from Ameri- can , or other publications adapted to the present purpose . They will be found admirably suited for general circula- tion ; and those who employ themselves in the distribution of tracts , will find them an efficient means of maintaining a renewed interest in the oppressed . Without advocating any particular plan of emancipation , they point out the facts and iniquities of the foul system , in such a manner as cannot fail to arouse an Anti - slavery feeling - deep , strong , and practical — and assist in promoting the abolition of an “ institution ” involving such complicated distress .
It is an appalling fact , that all the efforts of philan- thropists , to arrest the progress of slavery , have hitherto proved ineffectual . Still,-
"- hideous Slavery , Full fraught with horror , reigns ; and wild despair Binds to the earth his victims . "
Not only so , but the accursed system of oppression has for some years steadily advanced . There are now seven to eight millions of our fellow - creatures in servile bondage , nearly half of that number being held by professedly free and Christian America - a caricature to its institutions , and a fact palpably turning its boast of religion and liberty into a lie .
Thanks be to God , England has freed herself from the taint of slavery . " On the page of history , " says Hugh Stowell , one deed shall stand out in bold relief - one con- senting voice pronounce that the greatest honour our country ever attained , was when , with her sovereign at her head , she proclaimed - The Slave is Free ! In the pages of history this act will stand out the gem in our diadem . " No more is heard within our borders the cracking of the torturing whip , the clanking of the accursed chain : -
" Long time has past Since first our English soil with magic touch , Ithuriel - like , transmuted bond to free ; The fetters from the wretches ' limbs dropt off , And he , who erst by fell oppression's yoke Bent down enslaved , now lifts his head in hope , And feels himself a MAN ! "
But having rid ourselves of the sin , let us not think we are at liberty to rest . Whilst a single brother or sister continues to endure the chains of slavery , it is our duty to raise our voices to demand their release ; and if we remain silent , our brother's blood will be upon us . Christian philan- thropy and love know nothing of geographical limitations . We must not confine our sympathies within the narrow sphere of our own country , but extend them throughout the whole habitable globe . As children of Him who hath made of one blood all the nations of the earth, we must recognize in the human form , wheresoever it presents itself , a man and a brother , a woman and a sister , each and every one entitled to the blessed privilege of liberty , and the pursuit of happiness-
" Blest privilege ! Nay , rather say , inalienable right ! Which every son of earth may justly claim ; No less the native of the torrid zone Of darkest hue , than they who dwell beneath More temperate skies , and every shade between- This sacred right , alike possessed by all , By lawless force or fraud alone withheld . "
Seven to eight millions of our fellow - beings , deprived of this rightful liberty , demand our exertions for their eman- cipation from this unrighteous thraldom ; our brother's blood crieth from the ground , craving our help and our protection .
Duties are ours - consequences are in the hands of the Omnipotent . Our duty is to sow the seed - the great Husbandman can alone give the increase . Though no immediate success may seem to crown our efforts , they may be as bread cast upon the waters , which shall one day return to yield a rich harvest .
Angelina J. Knox , in the Pennsylvania Freeman , Oct. 1852 , relates the following circumstance , illustrating the beneficial results of Tract distribution :
" A slaveholder in Alabama , who had almost become a disbeliever in the Christian religion , had a little son who returned delighted from school , with a prize which his teacher had given him . The father called his happy child to his side to examine his gift . It was a tract . For a moment he looked at it , and then resolved he would read it .
Its perusal led him to reflection , and then to his conversion to the religion of Jesus . In looking at his slaves , he felt that he had no right to retain them longer in bondage , and at once formed the noble resolution of liberating them . True to his principles , he faltered not ; but , with trust in God for his future necessities , he removed with them to Kentucky ( not being able to liberate them in Alabama ) , and there , after much instruction and kindest care over them , he made them free . His property , which wholly consisted in his slaves , was estimated at a hundred thou- sand dollars . At once he sacrificed it all , and became poor for conscience sake . For years he was ridiculed by the name of abolitionist , ' but it moved him not from his purpose . He has been mobbed and insulted , even in the free states , yet never did he dodge a single missile hurled at him . The decided Christian , the great philanthropist , the uncompromising abolitionist , we now see in him all the fruits of that little tract ! What a blessing followed that teacher's gift ! Who can tell all the happy influences arising from that one Christian act ? 'In the morning , sow thy seed , and in the evening withhold not thy hand ; for thou knowest not whether shall prosper , this or that , or whether they both shall be alike good' "
What abundance of good might be effected , if packages of Anti - slavery Tracts were distributed amongst emigrant ships , bound for foreign lands where slavery prevails , or is advocated ! America should be deluged with these missiles . They should be wafted over the vast stronghold of slavery , like the leaves of autumn . Pamphlets , embodying facts , arguments , and appeals , calculated to arouse the reader to a sense of the sinfulness of slaveholding ; exhibiting briefly , yet cogently, its enormous evils, its inherent cruelties, and its repugnance to Christianity ; contrasting it with the benefits of emancipation , and showing that the holding of men in abject bondage , subjected every moment to all the liabilities attaching to any other description of property , is utterly opposed to those inalienable rights with which God has invested every human being to all the principles of truth and justice - to the provisions of all righteous govern- ment and to the laws of God ; and that it therefore becomes our duty , as men and Christians , to seek its eternal overthrow.
If persons corresponding with , or sending goods to America , made a point of inclosing some of these tracts , it would be like scattering seed in the now - prepared soil . We ought , also , to endeavour to derive the full benefit from our cheap postage at home , by making up the weight prescribed with something likely to do good . Tracts might be inclosed in every letter , without increasing the postage . Let them be sent in faith , a blessing asked upon them , and we know not how many may take root , and what a fruitful harvest will result . We must not be silent or inactive so long as a single fellow - creature bleeds in chains . So long as one man holds property in another , an Anti - slavery feeling needs to be created and kept alive - society must be saturated with it ; it must be preached everywhere , and to the great work of emancipation every assistance must be summoned .
Let us not then fear the voice of ridicule or censure , but follow the dictates of those sympathies which the God of nature hath implanted in our bosoms ; defend the defence- less , succour the oppressed ; plead the cause of the inno- cent ; manifest our allegiance to Him , the distinctive badge of whose disciples is love - love to the whole human family ; and prove that we joyfully exchange the admiration of the world for the blessing of the perishing . Then , in solemn anticipation of that day when the negro , his friends , and his foes , shall stand before the one Judge and Father of all , we may be found worthy to receive the approving sentence , " Ye have done what " Inasmuch as could . " ye ye did it unto one of the least of these my brethren , ye did it unto me . Enter into the joy of your Lord . "
WILSON ARMISTEAD
LEEDS , 6th Month , 1853 .
Five hundred thousand strokes for freedom : a series of anti-slavery tracts, of which half a million are now first issued by the friends of the Negro
* by Wilson Armistead (1853)
* Preface
* Valediction
* Leeds Anti-slavery. No. 1.
* Leeds Anti-slavery. No. 2.
* Leeds Anti-slavery. No. 3.
* Leeds Anti-slavery. No. 4.
* Leeds Anti-slavery. No. 5.
* Leeds Anti-slavery. No. 7.
This work was published before January 1, 1930, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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