The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1868-01-08
COLTlJNB!IA.
wednesday HoFning. Jan. 5. 1858.
A Review OF slavery.

The Petersburg Cypress publishes
the following interesting article on
this subject: i, !, (
Emancipation brings to 4 mind
slavery, and TINT takes us back to the
early ages. AT first, there were both
white and black slayes. The ancient
nations generally recognized the in
;stitntion. White slavery existed in
England till the time ofJames III.
Some date it's origin from the con-
quest Of William the Norman, but
from the Anglo Saxon laws it appears
to have existed prior to that period,
After the Conquest, the white slaves
were known assvilliens. There were
two kinds fof villiens- regardant,
who were sold with the land, and
villiens in gross, who were sold as
chattels or personal property. After
the lapse OF long time o strong
testing grew mp for The emancipation
of the whites, and Queen Elizabeth
issued q commission to Cecil, Lord
Burleigh and Sir William Mildwsy,:
giving them authority to}manumit
slaves, 5y getting a ,'easo,,abie price
for their liberty. But while the.
Queen was putting money in one
pocket by selling liberty to the
whites, she established the African
slave trade, and thus put money in
her other pocket. This trade was
regarded as OF great Importance to
Britain; and under Charles III, q
monopoly was created In favor Of O.
company authorized to export to the
colonies 5000 slaves per annum. I'm
this money-making affair, Great Bri-4
tain did not stand alone France,
Spain and Portugal acted in concert.
Portugal began as early as 1903.
These nations negro!traded on q
grand scale. About the year 1713.i
Spain entered into a contract with
the Royal Guinea Company, of
France, to furnish slaves to Spanish
America. BY the treaty of Utrecht,
on the 11th of April, 1918, Great
Britain obtained q transfer of this
contract, which yes greeted IL EsS
land with shouts of Joy, and in May
of the same year, Britain agreed to
furnish the Spanish American Colo.
mics 1890 slaves per annun, for
thirty years. A question arose as to
the legal character of the slaves so,
exported, and was submitted by the
Crown to the twelve Judges of Eng
land, and they said: 4
;4n pursuance Of his Majesty's
order, in council hereto annexed, we
humbly certify our opinion to be
that negroes are merchandise. Signed
by Chief Justice Holt.
The monopoly of the slave trade
was, by the influence Of the people,
through the House Of Commons,
taken down, and, all the citizens OF
Britain were allowed to trade freely
in slaves, and they were daily sold on
the public exchange in London. In
the conrse of time. the colonies in
America thought they had slaves
enough, and South Carolina, in 1760,
passed an Act prohibiting the slave
trade. The Act was repealed by the
Grown and the Governor reprimand-
ed. A circular was sent to all the
Governors of the colonies, warming
them against presuming to counte-
nance such legislation.
In 1765, Jamaica made q move
against the slave trade, but met the
same fate as South Carolina. And
even after the commencement of the
revolution which severed the North
American Colonies from Great Bri-
tain, the Earl of Dartn outh, on the
part Of the Crown, in answer to a
remonstrance from the agent of the
colonies on the slave trade, said :
''We cannot allow the colonies to
check or discourage in any degree
traffic SO beneficial to the nation. :"
And this was after Lord Mansfield
had decided the Somerset case, in
which he said: "If slave carried
from the West Indies resisted his
master, there was no remedy by
which the master could exercise his
control; that the colonial law had no
force in England"
Thus the British sGovernment was
trading in slaves abroad and boasting
of freedom at home-air so pure that
one could not breathe it and remain
q slave. But she dropped the whole
thing when it ceased to be profitable.
Her colonies became States, and
when the Federal Constitution was
being framed, the Northern eye was
turned to the slave question; for the
trade was carried on principally by
Northern vessels and protection was
granted. When the cold States found