The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-01-23
FHE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW.
The Lecture of MIR. W. P. Fishback to
the School Children Yesterday.
An Interesting Review of the History of
Slavery in the United States-The
Underground Railroad.

yesterday AFTERNOON, az Hfymoutn CHufcu, Ills
subject being 1.-THE Fugitive Slave Law"
In beginning his talk he referred to
the patriotic song the audience had sung
preceding the lecture He said: Our coun-
try that we have been singing ABOUT is deserving
of the praise we have given it. 1t is great pity
&c has so many mean men in it, but am satisfied
there were more mean men when was a boy,
md yet more in my grandfather's time, and
meaner than those who live now. Let US hope
our country will grow better and better, until
it is what it should be. Before the Revolution,
as now, there were men who wanted to make
money. and it is we'll enough to make money, if
it is done honorably. One of the meanest ways
to make money is to swindle man out of what
belongs to him; but the very meanest way ever
devised by the cruel ingenuity of man was that
which stole mans labor; that while he toied
and sweat, another man should sit in the shade
and spend his earnings.
When this country was settled, 1t occurred to
men in New England that it would be a good
way to make money by engaging in the African
slave trade So vessels were fitted out from
New England ports, by New England owners,
by the descendants of those Puritan fathers who
came over on the Mayfower. They went to ia
maica and bought rum, and took the rum to the
coast of Guinea. There they would get the natives
drunk, decoy them in their canoes out to the
ships get them on shipboard, and then sail away
with the poor wretches to the West Indies. where
they would sell them for more rum. They
would sell some of this rum in New England and
with the remainder they would 60 to Africa and
Oafu mo- Man olo and cuh
ed to servitude to other men, who had no right
to them at ALL These slave traders would often
pack these natives into the hold of the ship and
shut down the matches, and there without water
or food, they would die by hundreds Many
were smothered to death. After while they
would open the hatchways and throw out the
dead 1t has been estimated that often 80 per
cent of the natives died before they got to the
West India islands. The New England people
were making great deal out of this, and many
were sold to Sourherners, who paid great
amount of money for them. This was the way
slavery was brought to this country, and have
heard preachers say in pulpits that God had Or
dained it, and that it was good thing
After time thirteen colonies wanted to
come together as a nation. It was no little mat
Ter to get thirteen different peoples with differ
ent interests to agree on contract. So
stitutional convention was held, and each of the
thirteen colonies sent delegates. Month after
month they were trying to agree upon what
terms they should live together Slavery at
that time existed in several of the Northern
States. Georgia and South Carolina said: IF
you do not allow us to keep our slaves and 60 to
Africa and get more, we will not come with
you" It was finally agreed that they should be
permitted to import slaves until 1903 and then
stop. Strange to say, Virginia opposed the
slave trade, and wanted it stopped, and Massa-
chusetts insisted that it should continue. After
q while, q bright Yankee boy whitney, in
vented machine and it is said that machine
has done good; has caused great suffering and
misery. He invented the cotton GIN Cotton
grows in a boil, and is filled with seeds. and it
was so tedious and expensive to separate these
seeds that there was not much demand
for cotton. But this machine separated
the seeds from the cotton and made
it profitable to grow cotton. Cotton was
in demand end the value of negroes increased.
Before the machine was invented negroes were
worth one hundred or two hundred dollars;
afterwards they were valued at ST. 600 head.
saw q negro caught in Indianapolis once who
was worth ST. 000
Shareholders were not all cruel but there were
many who were These drove slaves like dogs
beat them. put iron collars upon their necks
cropped their ears, branded them with hot irons
sold them on the auction block. Some laws the
slave States made were very peculiar. Slaves
were not allowed to learn to read; slaves found
together in cabin trying to learn to read, were
beaten, according to a law of South Carolina,
with many stripes. A white lady Mrs. Dix, was
put in jail for some months, in the South, for at
tempting to teach slaves to read the Bible Men
who were in sympathy with slaves were pun
ished. Amos Dresser, eolporter, went to
Memphis to sell Bibles. He had a copy of the
New York Tribune in his trunk-a newspaper
that was not tolerated in the South. When
man from the North came among them they
took all sorts of liberties with him. They
would take his letters out of the postofice
and read them They opened Mr. Dressers
trunk and found a copy of the Tribune. Then
they took him outside the city of Memphis.
stripped him, and beat HIM until the blood ran
down to his feet. And when he was an old man,
teaching me Latin grammar, he had the scars on
back. Elijah Lovejoy Presbyterian minister,
who wrote in his newspaper, advocating the
manumssion of slaves, was killed at Alton. Ill,
In 1887, by mob that came over from Missouri
They killed him because he had published in his
paper that slavery was wrong. You see how in
tolerant were those who believed in slavery.
There was great deal of money in it, and when
there Is much money in thing men will do a
great deal of wrong for it. Here il Indiana, at
Pendleton Fred Douglass was taken by mob
They broke his ribs and left him on the ground
for dead l myself have an old man, a
former United States Senator from Ohio, who
was mobbed and rotten-egged because he was an
Abolitonist.
The first thing the slave studied was astron-
ony He looked to the heavens and saw the
stars, and particularly the north star that
lighted the way to Canada, where his shackes
would drop off. There was no place in this
country where the slave could find freedom In
1S43 law was passed that slave running
away could be captured and taken hack to
slavery. Slavery cared nothing for the ties of
kindred among black people. Husbands were
separated from their wives, children from their
parents, brothers from sisters. mothers from
their babes Very naturally these people were
discontinued. and wanted to get away from this
thing. England had engaged in the slave trade,
but Wilberforce and others had slavery abol-
ished. Then it was declared that no slave could
breathe the air of Britain without becoming
free. There was a ship. called the Creole on
her way to New Orleans with a cargo
of negroes. Off the North Carolina
coast these negroes rose, murdered
the captain, took the vessel and put into the port
at Nassau. Some people wanted to 60 to war
with England because she would not return
those slaves. she told as to do so if we wished
Levi Coffin lived in North Carolina when ha was
boy. and when he went out into the woods to
feed the hogs he used to take other food along 70
feed runaway negroes The woods were full of
al NkAxx