Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1907-02-08
REMARKABLE ADDRESS
OF A NEGRO
Norfolk landmark

Uf A NEGRU.
Norfolk LandmarkJ
May notable tributes were paid to
the memory of General Robert e. Lee
IN various parts Of tbe country ct the
lOOth anniversary IF his birth, bat
few of them were more interesting
and courageous than the one paid by
Principal Richard A. Tucker, of the
ColoreG Public Schools Of Norfolk.
10 speech delivered before the pu-
pills aud teachers under his superyi-
sion.
The address of Principal Tucker
is not remarkable only as an enthu-
slastlc eulogium pronounced by a ne
gro on the life and character of the
greatest Confederate leader, but also
for its recognition of the historical
fact that the South has been made
to occupy false position in the eyes
of the world with regard to the instr
tuition of slavery. The following
uttersnces from colored speaker are
worthy of attention in both the
North aud the South:
General Lee was a true patriot.
lie loved Virginia from the sea-rip-
Piled sands of her eastern shores to
the sun. kissed SUBMITS of the Blue
Ridge. 1t was not that he loved lib-
erty and union, peace and prosperity
less, but he loved Virginia more.
"Slavery had existed throughout
the Colonies, but the rigorous wealth
er of the North proved inhospitable
for the warm-blooded sons of the
African race; but the genial skies and
the fertile fields of the Southland,
where tie corn and the cotton seed
grow furnished him with an ASYLUM
that was equaled only by his own
sunny CLINE.
"The people of the North soon di-
vested themselves of their slaves by
selling them off to Southern planters.
but still kept up a brisk traffic on
the coast Of Africa with Southern
ports. Many of the earlier laws laid
an embargo on the importation of
slaves, yet the Constitution of the
united colonies permitted the prac.
tice of slavery within their bounda-
ries, and 1T was not until African
slavery had proven an Improbable
investment in the North that her
people became opposed to it; but long
before the Revolution the voice of
such patriots as Richard Henry Lee,
Thomas Jefferson and others pro-
claimed in the councils of the nation.
that African slevery should be aboi-l
ished. re ~,rSs ~,
"Any casual reader of the intsr-l
state history of the South may dis,
cover numerous instances where
wealthy land propriteors like aKinp''
Carter, John Randolph of Roanoke
and Thomas jefferson of Virginia
freed their slaves and provided for
their support. The first abolition,
society was organized in South Caro-.
lima. Many measures having for
their object the amelioration or the
abandonment of slavery on, being
offered in Congress by Southern men
aroused the stoutest opposition from
Northern Representatives whose con-
stituencies were composed largely of
manufacturers and shipmasters, who
enjoyed monopoly of the carrying
trade between the great slave marts
of the West Ind es and Southern
ports.
"Eli Whitney, the inventor of the
cotton gin, was born in New Eng
land. No sooner had the ad van tages
of his invention become known than
an impetus was given to the cultiya-
ton of cotton and the increased de-
mand for slave labor taxed to the
utmost the capacity of the carrying
trade of the Northern shipmaster to
supply the need. "Cotton is King!"
became the slogan of the South.
"The North began to look with
Jealous eyes upon the rapidly accumu-
lating wealth and Importance of the
proud Southern planters and the
fair section which they represented.
The North became alarmed. Her
Legislators began to plot and plan to
arrest the spread Of her power and
influence. Then were inaugurated
those exciting seenesin the halls of
legislation which accompanied the
introduction of the Missouri Com
promise and kindred measnras 60.
the suppression of slavery. While
the North was just as much amen
able to the laws of humanity and
equally responsible for the existence
or human bondage in the Colonies,
most of the odium and evil arising
from its nefarious traffic was relent-
lessly heaped upon the South.
"Lee barred his sword in defense
of Virginia. He owed his first al
legiance to that proud old Common
wealth whioh nro 90 h,.,r h:~kL A. -