Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1912-04-26
SLAVERY CONDITIONS N :. !.
ssEoRG|A BEFORE THEC|vILWAR
Nv r. J. MASSEY.

a,,.orv of Georgia, and has been 80
Is.o,v interviewer with her civiliza-
Nv. s that a brief account Of its origin.
~ growth and its sudden abolition
.sonId be recorded. not for crimina-
.on or exculpation, but that the truth
:, history may be vindicated. Facts.
oo,d facts, are history. and they never
s,ush to be narrated. Georgia was
.ho arst state to prohibit the slave
.-ade with Africa, and she kept that
I. s,obibition inviolate, while some OF
.hs northern states carried it on long
.rer their own slaves were freed.
There was to them no profit in slavery.
.ut there we're fabulous gains In the
,osed of their ow nslaves by sending
,hem south, and in some instances the
voung of their slaves were given
away.
Their average conditions was indeh-
,itelv better than that Of the poor.
vbo lived in the slums Of the great
cit,es of the north. They had all the
necessities Of life and many Of its
COMFORTS, and in the main were more
independent and less care. less re-
enonsibility than their masters.
Young negroes grew up to manhood
with the children Of their masters.
frolickeu with them by day and hunt
d with them by night. They had
their own corn stockings. their har-
vest suppers and their Christmas
dances. where the fiddle, the banjo
and their merry laugh were always
heard in the field by day and at the
freside by night. The masters were
almost universally kind from good
policy, If nothing else. It was as
much to their interest to keep their
slaves in good condition as it was to
protect and nourish their horses and
cows. It was rare to see puny,
sickly negro child or one that was
malfcrmed or diseased. Cornbread,
pot liquor, big hominy and plenty Of
crease saved Doctors bills. There was
Z trusting companionship between the
young people Of both races, but the
color line was always drawn and do.
minion war on one side and obedience
on the other. Never did race in
crease faster than the slaves Of Geor-
gia. Nowhere was such ripe old age
to be found among the parents. Good
food was abundant on the plantations
and comfortable clothing came from
the homemade loom and spinning
wheel Negro infants and children
we're always cared for by their mas
ter and mistress, and 50 were the
aged ones who had served out their
day and were too old to work. Sim
pie medicines and good physicians
we're near at hand, and the negro
was almost without care or apprehen-
sion. The marriage relation was
inforced among them and divorces
were unknown. The multiplied rap
idly, in many cases the parents living
to see more than q hundred de-
scendants
NEGRO WAS HAPPY.
/, That Georgians. did not emancipate
their slaves was owing to a variety Of
circumstances. The climate Of the
south was suited to the negro. and he
seemed to be contented and happy
here. The southerners had invested
more money in slaves than had their
northern brethren. The invention Of
the cotton gin had suddenly stimulat-
ed the cultivation of cotton, for which
the negro was peculiarly fitted, and
the growth Of rice, tobacco and sugar
cane was equally inviting to his labor.
But more than all these reasons was
the fear that the slaves were increas-
Ing so rapidly as to put the common
wealth in peril If they were freed.
They were still affected with the same
race traits that they inheriteod from
barbarian ancestors, and it was feared
that they could not be controlled as
fredmen or as citizens. Still, there
was an intelligent number Of our peo-
pie who favored gradual emancipa-
uon. This sentiment was slowly, but
surely, spreading Joseph Henry
Lumpkin, chief justice of our supreme
court, was outspoken as a co-worker
with the gradual emancipation policy,
lnaugurated and advocated by Henry
Clay of Kentucky. This policy would
doubtless have been adopted by Geor-
ga had her people not resented what
seemed like attempts to coerce them
Our people said: IF you let US alone
We may do it, but you cannot drive
u.s. We are penned up with these ne
gFoes, and know where our safety
!ies." The common people Of Georgia,
tne yeomanry, the toilers, were no low
ers OF the negro. They realized he
was In their way. The Shareholders
owned the best Of the land, lived in
n l. houses, and had the best stock,
tne best tools, and the best vehicles,
while the toilers had to take what
!ney could get. No wonder they were
JEALOUS of the institution. And yet
,uese men, poor and struggling for a
nVehnood In the mountains OF north
ueorg1a, or down in the pine woods Of
.ne southern counties, did not hest
~te 10 shoulder their rifles and hurry
" tne'r country's call. my country.
l'snt or wrong" was their motto. Only
oueseventh of the taxpayers of the
.'ate were owners of slaves in 1860,
.no not more than one soldier in ten
.as interested In slavery. In fact,
Nrtaln countries in north Georgia
=. .eoe more soldiers to the field than
~ %ese were slaves in those counties.
Ne'tner Georgia nor the south was re-
"aslole for slavery, nor for the traf.
,,,a IN slaves across the seas, for from
~ DOWN to the present time there
rs ss out single attempt made by a
ots'a man to introduce African
,t sses INTO southern port, and that
80 ,mpt was failure. A small yacht