The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-06-21

tended privileges: Jamaica was seized /.
aUd slaves poured into 9, ~ the rate I
% forty and ffty thousand a year. IN
go The trade allied and oyeraiied the /,
markets .n the wcs; Indies and South /
America. and overaowsd into North I
America. To this overflow the csiab- |
lishmcEt % slavery ia the Uuitsd f.
States VS. due. In 1884 there were h. T.
South Carolina 10000 biacl. slaves.
ou;nugbsrinE the whites FIVE To one. /
and coming in NJ che rate % three
thousand 4 year"
In their native forests The Africans
were not without social institutions:
they had definite forms OF goyeTn-
ment and religion. rs well a. firmly
implanted ideas OF marriage. work.
and amusement They were divided
into families. several OF which. bound
together 10y blood Relationship. form
ed 4 elan. which was ruled by a chief
tain. Although polygamy was univer-
sal. family ties were sacred and pres
titution was unknown. The slave
trade OF the sixteenth century. 10y lis
system 81 promiscuous herding. de-
stroyed every vestigc 81 this tribal
and elan life. deprived the women of
all protection. caused parental au-
thority to- disappear. and all forms OF
lawiessneSs To abound. On the other
hand the effect on the masters was
equally disastrous. and the system
OF human slavery in the West Indies
put a check on civilization there from
which those islands have never recov-
cred
As the centuries passed. however.
slavery became a very different prob
lem. The Negroes were ccasing to he
heather foreigners and among their
owners was developed greater freedom
OF thought and more liberal ideas.
The heather and commercial stages
OF the slaves evolution gave place to
the fcudal idea OF the personal serf
as retainer and cultivator OF the
soil. For time there was but little
difference between the condition OF
the Negroes and that OF the white
bond-serVants. Owing. however. to- tea
existence OF pcrsiStently stimulated
slave trade. and TO the growth Of ideas
OF freedom and humanity i'm Europe
which decreased the number of white
servants. the nineteenth century
found in America a system OF legally
fortified slavery. based on color and
race. rather than on condition" But
in the Southern States the feudal idea
continued in a form adapted to more
democratic conditions. the tendency
being to- make the slave a member ~
the family group. Slavery was at this
time. especially in Virginia, "a sch0o!
in civilization and manners. a train
ing in politics and social intercourse.
and a strong protection from without
to- the weak It's two fatal weaknesses
were the lax marriage morals. and its
failure to- provide any mode OF escape
from the lowest position for the tai
ented and deserving
/ While this picture at slavery - one
to- which the whites look back with
pride and longing and the blacks with
a sense Of less. there yet began TO he
found In some parts OF the United
States n distinct opposition tn slavery
ON humanitarian grounds. and an &C,
OF Congress was passed In iScS which
} provided for the national suppression
OF the slave trade. The continued cX-
; istence of n state OF slavery was. new
ertheless. too great temptation for
the traders to- withstand. especially
when Il was strengthened by the great
, industrial revolution which swept
! over the country. making cotton king
, and demanding cheap labor. First
came the resort to- interstate traffic
with it's attendant horrors of the auc-
ton block and the whipping post. and
finally the reopening of the African
, slave trade. which resulted in an In
crease in the expectation OF American
, cotton from 1900 bales in 1850 q
, $3.50. 900 at the time OF the secession
, This last step was. however. an AT
T front to the conscience of the world
mo dream OF empire can succeed IL
the face OF the moral sense OF the civ
ilized world: no system OF human IA
Dor can be long maintained In the fac.
, OF modern ideas OF ordinary right
Justice. and decency." Economic lie
, cline followed; IL grew clearer ans
clearer that slave labor did not pal
even under the most favorable circum
stances; the soil became exhausted b!
eNtravagant methods Of farming: law
. lessness and disorder increased: an,
war followed. bringing I'm its train ~,
emancipation OF the slave.
The period OF ''serfdom' include
the years since emancipation. the con