The statesman., 1905-10-27
Of Ham.
Paper read before the Literary Society.


my purpose to merely give nara
tive OF what the Negro race has ac-
eomplished in very short period of
time, but rather to prove that the Ne
gro has an ancestry and a history to
which IL may refer with much pride
and OF which it may be justly proud.
All races except the Negro race con.
slider II a great honor to trace their
ancestry back TO ancient times. II
has been said and is still being said
that the Negroes have no ancestors,
and we ourselves are ever bemoaning
and lamenting the fact that we are
descendants Of Ham, upon one of
whose sons curse was pronounced.
A more serious and erroneous mistake
could not be made.
The sons OF Ham were as follows:
Mlzraim. Cush, Phut and Canaan.
Remember the curse was pronounced
upon Canaan, the youngest son OF
Ham, and not upon MiZraim. Cush and
Phut Another important thing we
must remember is this II is commonly
said that God pronounced the curse
upon Canaan. Such Is not true. II
was Noah himself who pronounced the
curse upon Canaan. In Gen. 3: "a, %
verses we find these words: And
Noah awoke from his wine and knew
what his younger son had done unto
him And he said cursed be Canaan:
servant Of servants shall he be unto
his brethren" Thus you see the curse
was pronounced upon Canaan only
Regardless OF this fact. however,
Canaan and his descendants became a
great people aud mighty rulers. Ca.
naan and his descendants peopled Pal,
estine. and they ruled this country for
hundreds Of years When the prom
Use was made 10 Abraham the descend.
ants OF Canaan were in PALESTINE
when Israel came up out OF Egypt
four hundred years later they we're
still in possession OF it: and even
after the Israelltes had entered upon
their promised possessions two tribes.
the Jebusites and the Sidonians. Ne.
sisted them for four hundred years
Not until David became king were the
Jebusltes driven out, and he did not
succeed in driving out the Sidonians
The Phoeniclans, the founders OF
Carthage. were descendants OF Ca
uaan. Ancient history proves this
fact And since we know II is char.
acteristic Of the Caucasian to try to
deprive the Negroes Of everything that
Is honorable and commondable, let us
quote from Rollin, one OF the earliest
historians. He says: The Canaan
ties are the same people who are
called almost always phoeniciaus by
the Greeks" DR. Barnes also says
that the Phoenicians are descendants
Of the Canaanites. In his commen-
taries on Mat. xy;22 he says this OF
the woman who met Jesus on the
coasts OF Tyre and Sidon: This
woman is also called Greek, n Siro.
Phoenician by birth" On the same
text DR.. Abbott also says: The term
Canaan was the older title of the
country. and the inhabitants We're sue.
cessiyely termed Cannanites and
Phoenicians. as the inhabitants OF En-.
land were successively called Britons
and Englishmen"
All students OF history are well
aware OF what the Carthagenians, the
direct descendants of Canaan, did for
the world in the way OF art science /
and literature. In speaking Of the
Carthagenian government Rollin says: !
THE government of Carthage was
founded upon principles Of most con
summate wisdom, and II is with rea-
son that Aristotle ranks this republic |