The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-05-10
FUTURE OF THE NEGRO
Address Made to the Ministerial
Association.
AN EQUAL OF THE WHITE
Marvellous Progress in the Last Few
Years OF Freedom-A Just En-
forcement of Law in the
South Demanded.

IS published in the Standard at the re-
| quest of that body:
AN examination of the past record
and present condition of the American
negro will better enable us to form
fair and reasonable estimate of what
the future of the race will be.
| In the year 1919 the negro made his
| forced appearance in the land of the
| free and home of the brave (?) com
ing from home where the light of
civilization had been extinguished for
centuries: where the elevating and
purifying influence of Christianity We're
not felt; but where ignorance, vice and
immortality reigned supreme.
His enslavers placed him on equality
with the brute creation, and for more
than two centuries he suffered the mis-
| cry and degradation of American slav-
| cry, the half of which will never be
| told. Slavery was tolerated in all the
colonies. In most of them it was legal
| lied.
Time will not permit me to mention
the many acts of the different colonies,
which legally checked the negroes ad-
vancement When the revolutionary
| war began there We're in the 10 colonies
50l, l02 negro slaves; and some free ne
| groes
| One of the great questions which
agltated the minds of the Americans
was what part will the negro play in
| the great drama of independence. The
negro found place in both armies,
| but he soon learned which was the side
| OF liberty and justice, and the record
shows how well he played his part
Five years before the real commence
ment of the revolution, Crispus At
| tucks, a negro, gave his life a MARTYR
| to the cause of American independence
and was the first to shed his blood in
| its behalf
| In spite of the persistent and deter
| mined opposition, the negro was found
in the earliest engagements Bancroft,
in speaking of the battle of Bunker
Hill, says: Nor should history forget
| TO record that, as in the army a Cam
bridge, SO also in this gallant band, the
free negroes of the colony had their
| representatives. !.
Two negro soldiers especially dis
tinguished themselves and rendered the
| cause of the colonsts great service
| Major Pitcairn was a gallant officer of
the British marines He led the charge
against the redoubt, crying exultantly
| The day is ours His sudden appear
ance and commanding air at first
| startled the men Immediately before
| him. They neither answered nor fired
| AT this critical moment a negro soldier
| stepped forward, and aiming his mus
ket directly at the majors bosom, blew
him through. The negro's name was
| Peter Salem. private in Colonel Nix
! ons regiment of the continental army.
| The other negro soldier who won for
himself rare fame and distinguished
| consideration in the action at Bunker
| Hill was Salem Poor Delighted with
10 hoe min hi
could not refrain from calling the at
| tention of the civil authorities to the
| facts that came under their personal
observation. The petition that set
forth his worth as a brave soldier is
| still preserved in the manuscript arch
| ives of Massachusetts.
AT meeting of the Congregational
and Presbyterian Anti-Slavery society
at F'rancestown, N. H., the Rev. DR..
| Harris, himself a revolutionary soldier,
spoke thus complimentary of the
| Rhode Island negro regiment: Yes a
| regiment of negroes fighting for our
/ liberty and independence Not a white
man among them but the officers: sta
| toned in this same dangerous and re-
sponsibe position Had they been I'M
/ faithful. OF given away before the
enemy. all would have been lost Three
times in succession they We're attacked
| with most desperate valor and fury
| ny "Sli.ulSClplllltu lfDOpS, ana tnEeP
| times did they repel the assault and
thus preserve our army from capture.
| They fought through the war. They
| We're brave, hardy troops. They helped
to gain our liberty and independence.
! From the opening to the closing scenes
of the revolutionary war; from the
death of Pitcairn to the surrender of
| Corvallis; on many fields of strife
and triumph; of splendid valor and re-
publican glory; from the hazy dawn
| of unequal and uncertain conflict to
the bright morn of profound peace;
through and out of the fires of great
war that gave birth to new, a grand
| republic, the negro soldier fought his
way to undimmed glory and made for
himself magnificent record in the an
| mails of American history
| The only reward the negro received
for this was Tightening of the
shackles of slavery. His enslavers
sought to throttle his intellect, and
many of the states enacted laws which
made it a crime to teach negroes to
read or write. Any person or persons
who shall attempt to teach any free
person of color or slave to SPELL read
or write. shall, upon conviction thereof
by Indictment, be fined in a sum not
less than $3.50 nor more than $780, said
Alabama in 1892 The Georgia legisla-
ture passed the following law in 1929:
If any slave negro or free person of
color, or any white person, shall teach
any other slave negro or free person
of color, to read or write, either written
or printed characters, the said free per-
son of color or slave shall be punished
by fine and whipping or fine or whip
ping, at the the discretion of the court:
and if white person so offend, he or
she or they shall be punished, with a
fine not exceeding $500 and imprison-
ment in the common Jail at the discre-
ton of the court
Louisiana passed an act in 1880 for
bidding free negroes to enter the state.
1t provided also that whosoeVer should
write, print publish or distribute any
| thing having tendency to produce dis
content among the free colored popula-
ton or insubordinat ton among the
slaves, should, on conviction thereof,
be imprisoned at hard labor for life;
or suffer death at the discretion of the
court. All persons who shall teach or
permit or cause to be taught any slave
| to read or write shall be imprisoned