Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1860-09-19
PRACTICAL RESULTS OF AMALGAMAr1oN

IN THE SOUTHERN STATES.
sObseryer'' writes from Washington City to
the New York Tsmes an interesting letter on
the relations Of Slavery, from which we make
the following extract:-
"Aside from the perpetual danger and unea-
siness which attends upon American Slavery,
there is another evil which besets those coun-
tries which tolerate it, even more abhorrent to
the minds of the dominant race than the perils
of bloody insurrectiou. l allude to the ANAL
ganlation of races. The extent of this danger
is not at all appreciated, for the reason that the
distinctive features of the African soon disap-
pear, and then those of the corrupted blood
cease to be designated as colored. Some of
the most eminent families OF the South are
known to have African blood in their veins ;
and the number of undistinguished whites who
are thus connected, could be counted by thou
sands. The odium which attaches to the tairt
OF. African blood is so great that families shake
1t otf as soon as possible by change of resi-
denee, and probably of name. In this way
hundreds of free colored people graduate year
ly, and pass themselves off as pure Anglo Sax
ors. So extensively is this sy stem carried on
that the impression has gained ground that the
mulatto race is incapable of propagating itself |;
whereas its ambition has prompted it to bleach
out and cease to carry the mark of Ham upon
its brow. The fact that persons having negro
blood may work out the stain and be admitted
into the upper tier of pure whites, rests not
is regulated by law, in SEVERAL if not in all the
Southern States. The laws of Virginia, of
1 North Carolina, of Alabama and Louisiana de-
fine the term mnlatto to be person having
negro ancestor in the third or fourth degree
for the State laws differ on this point. Ii am
not mistaken, the Virginia definition confines
the term to those in the third degree. For in
stance person whose father is white and his
mother black, is muatto OF the half blood.
If female child of this half blood bear child
by white man, it has only one-fourth negro,
and child of this quatroon by white man
would have but one-efghth negro blood. At
ter this degree, if no further admixture of col
ored blood takes place, the laws of Virginia
regard the issue as white, if the mother is
free. How many white people there are in
Virginia, who, if the fact were as honorable as
1T is degrading, could trace their lineage up to
the purest Congo or Dahomey, it would be diff
fcult to ascertain. But if we recur to the laws
OF population, and remember that there were
free negroes and mulattoes in Virginia almost
from the year that Slavery was introduced, the
result will be anything but aattering to the
vanity OF the second, third and even fourth
families. Blackstone says sIf we only sup
pose each couple of our ancestors to have left,
one with another, two children. and each of
these children, on an average, to have left two
more, (and without such supposition the hu-
man species must be daily diminishing,) we
near two hundred and seventy millions of kim
dred in the fifteenth degree, at the same dis
tance frem the several common ancestors as
ourselves are, besides those that are one or
two descentS nearer to or further from the COM
mon stock, who may amouLt to as many ore.'
lntermarriages among the descendants of CON-
mon ancestors would reduce these figures a
hundred or a thousand times, as Blackstone
admits, but there would still remain formi-
dable host of cousins. In the case of persons
OF negro descent, emerging into Anglo Saxon
hood, their ambition would prompt them to
seek alliances with the purest blood, lest, un-
happily, the mark of Ham should re-appear in
luxurient crop of wool, swarthy skin, or a
fiat nose. 1t may be hoped that this process
OF amalgamation has not gone SO far as to be
ineradicable; but nothing future may be coun-
ted on with more certainty than that the con-
tlDuance of Slavery will, in century or two
more, utterly destroy the purity of the Anglo
Saxon sanguine current in the Southern States.
The presence OF the negro, whether slave or
free, must be attended with the same result, |
and there is no escape but in the cohfning of
the whole colored race to the tropics. The |
of Blackstone as to the rate of in
crease of population is not more than half O. |
qual to the fact as it exists in this country I; |
and his table of collateral degree, with which |
every Southern law student is familiar, should |
be studied in the light of this tact. Accord |
ing TO tnat taoie, one oiacR propOsltuS would
have l6 1884 descendants in the eighteenth gen.
Grafton and fully that number of generations |
have elapsed since the Introduction of Slavery |
into Virginia. Well may the Vrginians all |
claim to be of sthe first families.'''
Great as are the dangers Of amalgamation |
where the white and negro races exist togeth- |
er. as they do in the Southern States, the Dem |
ocratic leaders are advocating policy which,
ii carried out, will increase those dangers, by |
bringing negro slaves among the white people |
Of the Territories! Every man whose mind |
revolts at the idea of amalgamation, should |
exert himself to check this evil; and the way |
to do that is, to check the spreading, orssdifu-
sion" OF Slavery, as the PropagaDdists term 1t. |
Self-dsnfal Is always praisevoythy.