The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1854-08-31

ster. The siav6hoiding interest iSaAlarmed and
agitated by the first dawn Of the spirit of free
labor; and the journals and politicians devoted
to the ancient order of things besome frantic
with rage as they perceive the adsancing tide
of free opinions, which, at no distant day, is
destined to sweep away their Baltimore plat
forms, with the time-seryers who. stand upon
Them G. Fl
WHAT BECOMES OF THE FREE coIoBFD PEG.
PLEi
We had several observations tomake on this
subject, which the unusual length of our arti-
Gle on Monday constrained us to postpone.
The strength of the prejudioes against color
is SO great in this country that even the peo-
pie of color themselves partake Of it. Every
one of African descent values himself in pro-
portion to the degree of white blood he has in
his veins; and it is rarely the case that mulat-
toes are willing to form matrimonial alliances
with persons having less of Cancasisn blood.
They are willing g TO take no step backwards
in their upward progress to the level of the
whites; and except among such as possess
rigid ideas Of virtue, the females prefer Illicit
intercourse with white men, to matrimony with
men one shade darker than themselves De
Toequsville, in his Democracy "a America"
gives the following graphic piotur Of the me-
gro's estimate of his position, and of his indy
ing ambition to take rank among white men
"The negro makes thousanfl fruitless Of
forts to insinuate himself amongst men who
Ho 20 Toe ~
oppressors, adopts their opinions, aud hopes by
initiating them to form o part of sSeir commu-
nifty Having been told from inf hey that his
race is naturally inferior to that g tho whites,
he assents to the proposition, anf is ashamed
of his own nature. In each of hi features he
discovers trace Of Slavery, and, If it were in
his power, he would willingly ria himself of
everything that makes him what. he Is" \
"The negro, who earnestly desifes to mingle
his race with that of the Euro-ean, cannot
effect it; while the Indian, who n Ight succeed
to certain extent, disdsins to AXE the at
tempt The servility of the one Doms him to
slavery, the pride of the other, TO leath."
So far as the individual negro concerned,
it is true, es asserted by De Toe neville, that
he can never overstep the part ion wall of
caste, which separates him from the whites !;
but if by the negro he means be race, we
have shown, in the preceding article, that his
conclusion is unfounded in fact. The author
is equally mistaken in supposing hat the In
dian disdains the idea of comrlingliDg his
trary, where the white race have been brought
into social contact with the Aborigines of the
country, the same illicit intercourse has taken
place between white men and Indian women,
of which we see evidences between whites and
negroes. In fact, the affinity between the
whites and mulattoes is much greater than
that between the whites and Indians
We have, therefore none of the gloomy fore
bodings of collision of races, which M. De
Tocqueville anticipates. The disreputable OIL
tentative of Illicit snaalgamation, which is
going on with accelerating progress, will re-
ieve the South from the bloody catastrophe
which some have apprehended. Our institu-
tions, and the constituent elements of our
country, are so dissiniilar from those which the
history of the world has ever afforded else
where to the contemplation of philosophers,
that it is little short of presumption in for
eigner, though profoundly wise as is De
Tocqueville to speculate upon our distant flu
ture
It may be said that, on the principles we
have laid down, the slaves would become white,
even faster than the free colored people. This
is no doubt the case but the slave may be-
come white without becoming free; while the
descendants of free colored persons, when they
cease to have one-fourth Of African blood in
1t is for this reason that De oftsner see vers
1Ohite Slaves than very lOhite free colOred peo-
pLe" This remark will be confirmed by the
experience of every Southern man. 1t is quite
common to see slaves who are as white as their
masters, with straight hair and European fea-
lures.
1t is evident that the longer the less numer-
GUS race, which at the Same time is deemed the
inferior, remains in contact with the superior
and more numerous, the less there viii remain
of the original, undiluted African blood in the
country. Practical amalgamation and climate
will constantly tend to brighten the dark visa
ges of the African stock, and to wash out all
stain from the mulattoes This would be the
case if there were no active stimulants assist
ing the natural course of things. We have
already pointed to the sense of inferiority in
the negro and mulatto races which makes
them ambitious of ranking with tho whites,
and which facilitates illicit intercourse. On
the other hand, the wealth and power of the
whites, operating upon the poverty and help
lessness of the colored race, places female
chastity in the latter almost completely at the
mercy of icentious white men. These causes
combined are rapidly removing the varieties of
color which checker the face of the South and
of the whole country. G.
PRACTICE uERGIrz THEORY