Huntsville gazette., 1884-01-26
The .,n.lition o9 toe Freednon
b FRED DanIcE DocarAss

Die Gegfee OF progress si--e1 Icy gS-a'-1t0
sheir freedom Isl question often pUt 70 nle
fl a tone cf doubt ana denial. Anosasr
guestion, equally pertinent, and even NOR
momentous in view OF the history OF Aezoo,
Hamburg, and the recen. slaughter at Dan
Vile. is this: Have the recent slaye hold
ers made any sensible degree Of progress
civilization since the emancipation OF their
slaves ? Are they more industrious, honest,
and humane than when they bought, sold,
and fogged their fslloVnen to toll fof
them without wages? These two questions
ike the two sides OF horse. should go to-
gether, since they are lafgsly dependent
upon each other. Plainly enough the re-
cent bondsmen can make little progress
without the consent and cooperation OF the
ruling class among whom they live, and
WHO own the land upon which they live
Nobody seems to doubt the progress Of the
masters, but everybody is curious to know
how the freedmen are getting along.
Well, it is not for me-. to speak for the
late slave holders. They have never been
in want of defenders. It is mine, hy your
leave and magnanimity. to speak for the
class less favored The answer to the
question now put to them is Of. vital impor-
bnce. y If it shall be found that the freed
men are progressive and improving, that
they only need time, patience.s and fair
chance in the race of life to become useful
citizens, making the nation prosperous IN
peace and powerful il war, there IS. be-
lievs. justice and generosity enough IL the
American people to supply the needed con~
ditions Of success. II on tbs other hand,
they are found 10 b. non-progreseive, worse
masters to themselves than their old has
ters were to them, that liberty nsither IT,
proves their character ncr condition, they
are sure to be treated in the end as cumber-
ers of tbe ground, and Will in due season
perish from the earth. Civil zation Is all
| love and tenderness toward whatever at-
cords and co operates with i, but lmp-aet-
| BILE, cruel, and remorseless to al obstacles
Il spares neither fores+, mountain, nor
ocean, and it vii not spare Indian, Mon-
gol-an, OF Ethiopian All must go aiong
WITH it, or be crushed beneath its swift
flying wheels.
Before answering pro or con concerning
the progress Of the freedmen, candid men
will see the justice Of another inquiry,
namely, what these paople we're before they
were emancipated, under what conditions
/ they were emancipated. and what have been
the means of improvement within their
re ch since they; were emancipeted? All
will admit that il would be manitestly am
grossly unfair to Judge the freedom without
| taking their an.ecedents into account.
They should be measured, not from. the
height yet to be ...attained, but from the
depths from whichSthey have come
| Ny relation to these people does not
make me close my eyes against facts favor
able or unfavorabl9 TO tnem. [ know no
race in my regard bat tae human race.
| tn same feeling that led me TO risk my
lie to save that of a white boy in my boy
/ III no ---r-------=.-sN Cause u TAG
| slave as soon as I vas able to think.
The question asked at the beginning OF
this article includes mental moral, and
material improvement. What the Ameri-
can people want TO know, and have right
to know. is whether the lately enslaved
| ta.l hAftar ti-ec aad hava ~ IA far r1srr.
selves more comfortable condItlo1s of 4
is.enee than in slavery during
these twenty years they have advanced,
ste od still, or retrogradsd.
Let Us first compare their mental condi-
tion of twenty years ago with what it IS at
present. Prior to emancipation the color
ed intellect Of the South made no visible
sigu-and could make no sign-of life or
power. 1t was suppressed and sbrouded
IN darkness. Letters were unknown. The
law made fine and imprisonment the pen
atty for teaching one OF these sable chill
6ren 10 read. So far down were they in
the scale of intelligence that they were
4SGLLSa ibNaS'NDiO " A1lNtSA ms
the rudiments Of an English education.
Even N religion nothing more than oral
instructions was allowed them. Servants,
obey your masters, aad be contented with
your lot, was the most they got of this,
but Of this they got abundance. both by
arguments from the pulpit on Sunday aud
oy the rhetoric of the lash in the field on
Monday. L. thos. days colored man who
could read Was curiosity. and was genes
rally set down in the estimation of the
white people as dangerous character. 1t
would be easy TO enlarge upon this mental
midnight darkness. but | will leave some
thing to the rejection of the intelligent
reader.
I affirm that in nothing have these illit>
crate and benighted people made more
progress than in the acquisition Of knowl-
edge. There are now in the Southern
States. according to statistics In the Bureau
of Education at Washington, between tFo
and three hundIed thousand eolored chil-
dren attending schools during some por
49,, of fba 1asr Of conrSa This il hrft