JF Ptak Science Books Post 2531
Charles Dickens made a tour of the United States in the first half of 1841--the results of his visit were a critical appraisal of U.S. society and culture, and in general he didn't like much of what he saw. He published his impressions and observations in 1842 in his American Notes, and it was in chapter 17 (the final chapter) that Dickens undertakes a thunderingly blistering condemnation of the U.S. institution of slavery--he found it repugnant and inhuman, and a demonstration of a hypocritical American way of life. There was plenty that he didn't like about the U.S., but it was the slavery issue that really set him on fire.
Here's the beginning of the chapter:
CHAPTER XVII
SLAVERY
"The upholders of slavery in America—of the atrocities of which system, I shall not write one word for which I have not had ample proof and warrant—may be divided into three great classes."
"The first, are those more moderate and rational owners of human cattle, who have come into the possession of them as so many coins in their trading capital, but who admit the frightful nature of the Institution in the abstract, and perceive the dangers to society with which it is fraught: dangers which however distant they may be, or howsoever tardy in their coming on, are as certain to fall upon its guilty head, as is the Day of Judgment."
"The second, consists of all those owners, breeders, users, buyers and sellers of slaves, who will, until the bloody chapter has a bloody end, own, breed, use, buy, and sell them at all hazards: who doggedly deny the horrors of the system in the teeth of such a mass of evidence as never was brought to bear on any other subject, and to which the experience of every day contributes its immense amount; who would at this or any other moment, gladly involve America in a war, civil or foreign, provided that it had for its sole end and object the assertion of their right to perpetuate slavery, and to whip and work and torture slaves, unquestioned by any human authority, and unassailed by any human power; who, when they speak of Freedom, mean the Freedom to oppress their kind, and to be savage, merciless, and cruel; and of whom every man on his own ground, in republican America, is a more exacting, and a sterner, and a less responsible despot than the Caliph Haroun Alraschid in his angry robe of scarlet."
"The third, and not the least numerous or influential, is composed of all that delicate gentility which cannot bear a superior, and cannot brook an equal; of that class whose Republicanism means, ‘I will not tolerate a man above me: and of those below, none must approach too near;’ whose pride, in a land where voluntary servitude is shunned as a disgrace, must be ministered to by slaves; and whose inalienable rights can only have their growth in negro wrongs."
Then comes this incredible listing of runaway/escaped slaves—in attempting to identify their “property” properly, the slave owners described the various injuries made to the slaves' bodies and how they happen to have been bound before their flight to freedom. It is an unknowing self-indictment, each ad a testimony to cruelty and viciousness.
"The following are a few specimens of the advertisements in the public papers. It is only four years since the oldest among them appeared; and others of the same nature continue to be published every day, in shoals.
‘Ran away, Negress Caroline. Had on a collar with one prong turned down.’
‘Ran away, a black woman, Betsy. Had an iron bar on her right leg.’
‘Ran away, the negro Manuel. Much marked with irons.’
‘Ran away, the negress Fanny. Had on an iron band about her neck.’
‘Ran away, a negro boy about twelve years old. Had round his neck a chain dog-collar with “De Lampert” engraved on it.’
‘Ran away, the negro Hown. Has a ring of iron on his left foot. Also, Grise, his wife, having a ring and chain on the left leg.’
‘Ran away, a negro boy named James. Said boy was ironed when he left me.’
‘Committed to jail, a man who calls his name John. He has a clog of iron on his right foot which will weigh four or five pounds.’
‘Detained at the police jail, the negro wench, Myra. Has several marks of lashing, and has irons on her feet.’
‘Ran away, a negro woman and two children. A few days before she went off, I burnt her with a hot iron, on the left side of her face. I tried to make the letter M.’
‘Ran away, a negro man named Henry; his left eye out, some scars from a dirk on and under his left arm, and much scarred with the whip.’
‘One hundred dollars reward, for a negro fellow, Pompey, 40 years old. He is branded on the left jaw.’
‘Committed to jail, a negro man. Has no toes on the left foot.’
‘Ran away, a negro woman named Rachel. Has lost all her toes except the large one.’
‘Ran away, Sam. He was shot a short time since through the hand, and has several shots in his left arm and side.’
‘Ran away, my negro man Dennis. Said negro has been shot in the left arm between the shoulder and elbow, which has paralysed the left hand.’
‘Ran away, my negro man named Simon. He has been shot badly, in his back and right arm.’
‘Ran away, a negro named Arthur. Has a considerable scar across his breast and each arm, made by a knife; loves to talk much of the goodness of God.’
‘Twenty-five dollars reward for my man Isaac. He has a scar on his forehead, caused by a blow; and one on his back, made by a shot from a pistol.’
‘Ran away, a negro girl called Mary. Has a small scar over her eye, a good many teeth missing, the letter A is branded on her cheek and forehead.’
‘Ran away, negro Ben. Has a scar on his right hand; his thumb and forefinger being injured by being shot last fall. A part of the bone came out. He has also one or two large scars on his back and hips.’
‘Detained at the jail, a mulatto, named Tom. Has a scar on the right cheek, and appears to have been burned with powder on the face.’
‘Ran away, a negro man named Ned. Three of his fingers are drawn into the palm of his hand by a cut. Has a scar on the back of his neck, nearly half round, done by a knife.’
‘Was committed to jail, a negro man. Says his name is Josiah. His back very much scarred by the whip; and branded on the thigh and hips in three or four places, thus (J M). The rim of his right ear has been bit or cut off.’
‘Fifty dollars reward, for my fellow Edward. He has a scar on the corner of his mouth, two cuts on and under his arm, and the letter E on his arm.’
‘Ran away, negro boy Ellie. Has a scar on one of his arms from the bite of a dog.’
‘Ran away, from the plantation of James Surgette, the following negroes: Randal, has one ear cropped; Bob, has lost one eye; Kentucky Tom, has one jaw broken.’
‘Ran away, Anthony. One of his ears cut off, and his left hand cut with an axe.’
‘Fifty dollars reward for the negro Jim Blake. Has a piece cut out of each ear, and the middle finger of the left hand cut off to the second joint.’
‘Ran away, a negro woman named Maria. Has a scar on one side of her cheek, by a cut. Some scars on her back.’
‘Ran away, the Mulatto wench Mary. Has a cut on the left arm, a scar on the left shoulder, and two upper teeth missing.’
"I should say, perhaps, in explanation of this latter piece of description, that among the other blessings which public opinion secures to the negroes, is the common practice of violently punching out their teeth. To make them wear iron collars by day and night, and to worry them with dogs, are practices almost too ordinary to deserve mention."
‘Ran away, my man Fountain. Has holes in his ears, a scar on the right side of his forehead, has been shot in the hind part of his legs, and is marked on the back with the whip.’
‘Two hundred and fifty dollars reward for my negro man Jim. He is much marked with shot in his right thigh. The shot entered on the outside, halfway between the hip and knee joints.’
‘Brought to jail, John. Left ear cropt.’
‘Taken up, a negro man. Is very much scarred about the face and body, and has the left ear bit off.’
‘Ran away, a black girl, named Mary. Has a scar on her cheek, and the end of one of her toes cut off.’
‘Ran away, my Mulatto woman, Judy. She has had her right arm broke.’
‘Ran away, my negro man, Levi. His left hand has been burnt, and I think the end of his forefinger is off.’
‘Ran away, a negro man, named Washington. Has lost a part of his middle finger, and the end of his little finger.’
‘Twenty-five dollars reward for my man John. The tip of his nose is bit off.’
‘Twenty-five dollars reward for the negro slave, Sally. Walks as though crippled in the back.’
‘Ran away, Joe Dennis. Has a small notch in one of his ears.’
‘Ran away, negro boy, Jack. Has a small crop out of his left ear.’
‘Ran away, a negro man, named Ivory. Has a small piece cut out of the top of each ear.’
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