Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1823-08-16

land Of freedom--lhe land halowed by
the blood of her sons fighting for liberty
Can this be the land SO famed for the
"rigb,s of man !"
American citizens, where are the So
lemn appeals made to that Almighty
power, whose throne is equity and judg-
ment, in the day your distress Where
Is the solemn asseveration fronting that
declaration of independence
We hold these truths to be selEevi-
dent, that all men vere created equal:
that they are endowed By their creator
with certain unaliena6ie rights, thar
among these, are LIFE, Liberty,
and The PURSUIT OF HAPPE
NESS"
Did your patriots reason and your he
roes bleed 10 establish the position, that
only hart of the human race were en-
dowed with the right of freedom This
indeed, was not your declaration, bur
what must the tyranis ofthe world think
of your conduct? Will they not brand
your name, in other respects so fair,
with the eptbets of interested, inconsis-
tent people ? May they no, in justice
say, "you are the friends of freedom,
but your friendship is hypocrisy You
have declared all men equal in the pos
session ofrights, but you deny i, in prac-
lice? You profess to be influenced by the
benign spirit of liberty, but you carry ia
the hand the iron rod of oppression"
"Of all the extremes capable Of being
united in a political system, surely
LIBERTY and SLAVERY are the most he-
terogeneous, discortant and shocking.
We cannot form to ourselves the idea Of
an exhibition more unnatural than an
American patrio, signing declarations Of
independence with one hand, and BRAN
dishng whip over his affrigh,ed slave
with the other."
But it is not my i.tention to treat this
subject with mere defamation. Not
only the sentiments Of Mis- day'scelebra-
ion, but the peculiar situation of our
state, the efforts making to introduce
slavery among US, with the expecta-
tions Of this numerous and respectable
auditory, oblige me to dwell longer on
ittao suoJoCts
----"P Point to me the man
Who VIII not lift his voice against the trade
In human souls and blood, and | pronounce
| That he nor loves his country nor his God"
The practice Of stealing and enslaving
! he unofending natives of Africa originate
| cd with The Portuguese about l443, but
does not appear to have been carried OF
1 "a, e xtsalp l,, - II,
| In 1881, they bull, the castle of Del
Nina on the gold coast, from whence
| hey barbarousiy ravaged the country
and carried off its unoffendlng lnhabis
tants. Those were afterwards sold in
Portugal with as little remorse as the
plundered productions of their native
land. AS early as the year 1908, this
western continent received the curse Of
negro slavery from the importation OF .
few by the Spaniards into their West In.
dia colonies, but eight years after
the King Of Spain granted the importa-
ton OF Them in great numbers, and i'm:
posed duty on the traffic. The plea
was Humanity. The avaracious Spa
niards in their early settlements griey.
| ously oppressed the Indians BY COM
peling them to labor on their plantations.
and in the gold mines. This was effect.
ed by distribution of the natives among
the settlers. The Indians, unac custom,
ed to labor, sunk under the oppression.
OF their task-masters, and died by hun.
dreds, till the whole race was threatened
with extinction. This people found an
able and jealous advocate in Bartholo-
new De Las Casas. Spanish eclesias.
tic, who daily wept over the expressions
and rniscries OF the Indians. Actuated
by sincere though mistaken views of hu-
mainly, and from an Inconsistency na,u.
raj to men of impetuous feelings, he
! proposed to transport negro slaves from
The coast Of Africa. Upon this Charles
V. granted to one of bis Flemish ia.
vori,es the patent of exclusive right "a
import 1000 slaves into America.
"Thus while Las Casas commended for
the lawful rights and liberties Of the peo-
| pie on one side Of the globe, he labored
to enslave the inhabitants of another re-
gion, and in the warmth Of his zeal "a
save the Americans from the yoke Of
seryitude, pronounced it lawful and en-
pedient to impose one still heavier upon
The Africans. Unfortunately for the
latter, Las Casas' plan was adopted.
Thus the foundation of African slavery
was laid in the western world. %tr
In 1862, the British commenced the
same barbarous traffic. During tie
I ,c