xt71g15t7c76 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt71g15t7c76/data/mets.xml Helper, Hinton Rowan, 1829-1909. 1857  books b923264h36i2009 English Burdick Brothers : New York Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Slavery --United States. Slavery --United States --Controversial literature --1857. Southern States --Economic conditions. The impending crisis of the South: how to meet it. text The impending crisis of the South: how to meet it. 1857 2009 true xt71g15t7c76 section xt71g15t7c76 
  
  
  
  
THE

IMPENDING

CRISIS

THE

SOUTH:

H

O

W

T

O

M

E

E

T

IT.

BY HINTON
OP

ROWAN
NORTH

HELPER,

OAROLINA.

C OUNTRYMEN I I Hue for Blmplo justice at y o u r hands, N a u g h t e lse I a sk, nor less w i l l h ave , A c t r ight, therefore, and y i e l d m y c l a i m , O r , b y the great G o d that made all things, I 'll f ight, t ill f rom m y bones m y flesh be h a c k ' d T h e l iberal devisoth liberal things, A n d b y liberal things shall he stand.    Isanih '.   S/uiii/icarc.

HUNDREDTH

THOUSAND.

NEW-YORK A. B. B U E D 1 C K , N o. 145 1860.

: STREET.

NASSAU

  
  
HENRY
OF

M,

WILLIS,

CALIFORNIA,

F ORMERLY OF MARYLAND.,

WOODFORD
OF

O.
OREGON,

HOLM

AN,

F ORMERLY OF KENTUCKY,

MATTHEW
OF F ORMERLY OF

K.

SMITH,

WASHINGTON

TERRITORY, VIRGINIA,

A N D TO T H E

NON-SLAVEIIOLBTNG

W H I T E S OF T H E S O U T H

GENERALLY, WHETHER AT HOME OR ABROAD

T H I S W O R K IS M O S T

CORDIALLY

DEDICATED BY THKIR SINCERE FRIEND AND FELLOW-CITIZEN,

THE

AUTHOR.

  
  
PREFACE.

I F my countrymen, particularly my countrymen of the South, R i ll more particularly those of them who are non-slaveholders, shall peruse this work, they w ill learn that no narrow and partial doctrines of political or social economy, no prejudices of early education have induced me to write it. If, in an}' part of it, I

have actually deflected from the tone of true patriotism and nationality, I am unahle to perceive the fault. W hat I have com-

mitted to paper is but a fair reflex of the honest and long-settled convictions of my heart. In writing this book, it has been no part of my purpose to cast unmerited opprobrium upon slaveholders, or to display any special friendliness or sympathy for the blacks. I have considered my subject more particularly w ith reference to its economic aspects as regards the whites   not with reference, except in a very slight degree, to its humanitarian or religious aspects. To the latter side

sf the question, Northern writers have already done full and timely justice. The genius of the North has also most a bly and Yankee

eloquently discussed the subject in the form of novels.

wives have written the most popular anti-slavery literature of

  
Vi

PREFACE.

the day.

Against this I have nothing to say ; it is all well

enough for women to give the fictions of slavery ; men should give the facts. I trust that my friends and fellow-citizens of the South will read this book   nay, proud as any Southerner though I am, I entreat, I beg of them to do so. And as the work, considered

w ith reference to its author's nativity, is a novelty   the South being ray birth-place and my home, and my ancestry having resided there for more than a century   so I indulge the hope that its reception by my fellow-Southrons will also be novel ; that is to say, that they will receive it, as it is offered, in a reasonable and friendly spirit, and that they w ill read it and reflect upon it as an honest and faithful endeavor to treat a subject of enormous import, without rancor or prejudice, by one who naturally comes w ithin the pale of their own sympathies. A n irrepressibly active desire to do something to elevate the South to an honorable and powerful position among the enlightened quarters of the globe, has been the great leading principle that has actuated me in the preparation of the present volume ; and so well convinced am I that the plan which I have proposed is the only really practical one for achieving the desired end, that I earnestly hope to see it prosecuted with energy and zeal, until the F lag of Freedom shall wave triumphantly alike ever the valleys j f V irginia and the mounds of Mississipr .
H. R . II.

Jo> , 1857.

  
CONTENTS.
C H A P T E R I.
COMPARISON BETWEEN THE FREE AND THE SLAVE STATES.. 11

Progress and Prosperity of the North   Inertness and I mbecility of the South   The True Cause and the Remedy    Quantity and Value of the Agricultural Products of the two Sections   Important Statistics   Wealth, Revenue, and Exdenditure of the several States   Sterling Extracts and General Remarks on Free and Slave Labor   The Immediate Abolition of Slavery the True Policy of the South. CHAPTER
HOW SLAVERY CAN BE ABOLISHED

I I.
12rf

Value of Lands in the Free and in the Slave States   A few P lain W ords addressed to Slaveholders   The Old Home s tead   Area and Population of the several States, of the T erritories, and of the District of Columbia   Number of Slaveholders in the United States   Abstract of the A u thor's Plan for the Abolition of Slaver}'   Official Power and Despotism of the Oligarchy   Mal-treatment of the Non-slaveholding Whites   Liberal Slaveholders, and what may be expected of them   Slave-driving Democrats   Classification of V otes P olled at the Five Points Precinct in 1856   Parts played by the Republicans, Whigs, Democrats, and Know-Nothings during the last Presidential Campaign   How and why Slavery should be Abolished without direct Compensation to the Masters   The American Colonization Society   Emigration to L iberia    U ltimatum o f the Non-slaveholding Whites. CHAPTER
SOUTHERN TESTIMONY AGAINST

I II.
188

SLAVERY

W hat the Fathers of the Republic thought of Slavery    Opinions of Washington   Jefferson   Madison   Monroe    H enry   Randolph   Clay   Benton   Mason   McDowell    I redell   Pinkney   Leigh   Marshall   Boiling   Chandler     Summers   Preston   Fremont   Blair   Maury   Birney. D elaware   McLane. Maryland   Martin. V irginia   Bill of

  
Vlll

CONTENTS.

R ights. North Carolina   Mecklenburg Declaratioi of Independence   Judge Ruffln. South Carolina   Extracts from the Writings of some of her more Sensible Sons. Georgia     G e n . O glethorpe   Darien Resolutions. C IL1 P T E R I V .
K.IKTHERN TESTIMONY 235

Opinions of Franklin   Hamilton   Jay   Adams   Webster - Clinton   Warren   Complimentary Allusions to Garrison, Greeley, Seward, Sumner, and others. C H A P T E R V.
'EST1M0NY OF T H E NATIONS 2 45

The Voice of England   Opinions of Mansfield   Locke    P i t t     F o x     S hakspeare   Cowper   Milton   Johnson    P rice   Buckstone   Coke   Hampden   Harrington   Fortescue   Itfougham   The V oice of Ireland   Opinions of B urke   Curran   Extract from the Dublin University Magazine for December, 1 856     The V oice of Scotland   Opinions of Beattie   Millor   Macknight   The Voice of France     Opinions of Lafayette   Montesquieu   Louis X   Buffon     Rousseau   Brissot   The Voice of Germany   Opinions o f Grotius   Goethe   Luther   Extract from the Letter of a l iving G erman writer to his Friends in this Country    T he Voice of Italy   Opinions of Cicero   Lactantius   Leo X     T h e Voice of Greece.   Opinions of Socrates   Aristotle     Polybius   Plato. C H A P T E R VI.
TESTIMONY OF T H E CHURCHES 258

Introductory Remarks   Presbyterian Testimony   Albert B arnes   Thomas Scott   General A ssembly in 1818   Synod of Kentucky   Episcopal Testimony   Bishop Horsley     Bishop Butler   Bishop Porteus   John J a y     A n t i slavery Churchman   Baptist Testimony   Rev. M r . B risbane, of South Carolina   Fiancis Wayland   Abraham B ooth   Baptists of V irginia i n 1789   Methodist T estimony   John Wesley   Adam Clarke   Extracts from the D iscipline for 1784. '85 and '97   Catholic Testimony    Pope Gregory X V I     P o p e Leo X     T h e Abbe Roynal    H enry Kemp.

> u-*^  >-.v m~M M -M

* - * "'mir airfhi     
t 1J ti w

r--m m

  
CONTENTS.

C H A P T E R VII.
BIBLE TESTIMONY

Tlie Bible an A nti-Slavery Text-book   Selected Precepts and Sayings of the O ld Testament   Selected Precepts and Sayings of the N ew T estament   Irrefragability of the A r guments here and elsewhere introduced against Slavery. CHAPTER
FREE FIGURES AND SLAVE

V III.

Opening Remarks   General Statistics of the F ree and of the Slave States   Tonnage, Exports, and I mports   Products of M anufactures   Miles of Canals and Railroads in O peration   Public S chools   Libraries other than Private    Newspapers and Periodicals   Illiterate White Adults        National P olitical P ower of the two S ections   Popular V ote for President in 1856   Patents Issued on New Inventions   Value of C hurch P roperty   Acts of Benevolence   Contributions for the B ible Cause, Tract Cause, M issionary Cause, and Colonization Cause   Table ot deaths in the several States i n 1850    N umber of Free W hite Male Persons over fifteen y ear3 of age engaged in A griculture or other out-door Labor i n the Slave States    F alsity of the Assertion that White M en cannot cultivate Southern Soil   White Female Agriculturists in N orth C arolina   Number of Natives of the Slave States in the Free States, and of Natives of the F ree States in the Slave S tates   Value of the Slaves at $400 per h ead   List of Presidents of the U nited States   Judges of the Supreme Court   Secretaries of S tate   Presidents of the Senate    Speakers of the House   Postmasters General   Secretaries o f the Interior   Secretaries of the T reasury   Secretaries o f War   Secretaries of the Navy   Result of the P residential Elections in the U nited States from 1790 to 1 856   Aid for Kansas   Contributions for the Sufferers i n P ortsmouth, Va., during the Prevalence of the Yellow Fever i n the Summer of 1855   Congressional Representation   Custom House Receipts-When the Old States were Settled and the N ew A dmitted into the U nion   First European Settlements in A merica   Freedom and Slavery at the F air     What F reedom Did   What Slavery Did   Average Value per Acre of Lands in the States of New Y ork and North Carolina.

  
X

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER
COMMERCIAL CITIES SOUTHERN

IX.
PAOl

COMMERCE

331

F ' e a for a great Southern Commercial C i t y     Importance o f Cities in General   Letters from the Mayors of sundry A merican Cities, North and South   AYealth and Population of New-York, Baltimore. Philadelphia, New-Orleans, Boston. St. Louis, Brooklyn, Charleston, Cincinnati, Louisville, Chicago, Richmond. Providence, Norfolk, Buffalo, Savannah, New-Bedford, AVilmington   Wealth Concentrated' at Commercial Points   Boston and its Business    Progressive Growth of Cities   A Fleet of Merchantmen    Commerce of Norfolk   Baltimore, Past. Present, and Future   Insignificance of Southern Commerce   Enslavement , of Slaveholders to the Products of Northern Industry    ' Almost Utter Lack of Patrioitsin in Southern Merchants and Slaveholders. C H A P T E R X.
FACTS AND ARGUMENTS RY THE WAYSIDE 360

W hy this W ork was not Published in Baltimore   Legislative Acts Against Slavery   Testimony of a W est I ndia P lanter to the Advantages of Free over Slave Labor   The T rue F riends of the South   Slavery Thoughtful   Signs of C ontrition   Progress of Freedom in the South   Antislavery Extracts from Southern Journals   A Right Feeling in the Right Quarter   The Illiterate Poor W hites of the South. C H A P T E R XI.
SOUTHERN LITERATURE 383

Instances of Protracted Literary Labor   Comparative Insignificance of Periodical and General Literature in the Southern States   The New-York Tribune   Southern System of Publishing   Book-making in America   The B usiness of the Messrs. Harper   Southern Journals Struggling for Existence   Paucity of Southern Authors   Proportion of W hite A dults, over Twenty Years of Age, in each State, who cannot Read and Write, to .he W hole W hite P opulation   Southern Authors Compelled to Seek N orthern P ublishers   Conclusion.

  
CHATTEE

I

COMPARISON B ETWEEN T HE F REE AND THE SLAVE S T . a i . 3 .

IT i s not our intention i n this chapter to enter into an e laborate ethnographical essay, to establish peculiarities o f difference, mental, moral, and p h y s i c a l , i n the great f amily o f man. Neither is it our design to launch into a p hilosophical d isquisition on the l a w s and principles of l i g h t a nd darkness, w i t h a v i e w of educing any additional e vidence o f the fact, that as a general rule, the rays of t he sun are m ore f r u c t i f y i n g and congenial than the shades o f night. N o r yet is i t our purpose, b y w r i t i n g a f ormal t reatise o n ethics, to d r a w a broad line of distinction between r i g h t and wrong, to point out the propriety of morality a nd its advantages o ver i m m o r a l i t y , nor to waste t ime i n pressing a u n i v e r s a l l y admitted t r u i s m     t h a t v i r tue is preferable to vice. Self-evident truths require no a rgumentative demonstration. W h a t w e mean to do is s i m p l y this : to take a survey o f the relative position and importance of the several s tates of this c onfederacy, f rom the adoption of the national c ompact ; a nd when, of two sections of the country s t a r t i n g u nder the same auspices, and w ith e qual n atural a dvantages, we find the one r i s i n g t o a d egree o f almost u nexampled p ower a nd eminence, and the other s inking'

  
I-J

COMPARISON'

BETVHGN

TH&

i nto a s tate of comparative i m b e c i l i t y and obscurity, i t is o ur determination to trace out the causes w h i c h have led t o the elevation of the former, and the depression of the l atter, a nd to use our most earnest and honest endeavors to u t t e r l y extirpate whatever o pposes t he progress and p rosperity o f any portion of the union. T h i s s urvey we have already made ; we have also i n stituted a n i mpartial c omparison between the c a r d i n a l s ections of the country, north, south, east, and west ; and a s a true hearted southerner, w hose a ncestors have resided i n N o r t h C arolina b etween one and two hundred years, a nd a s one who w o u l d rather have his native clime excel t han b e excelled, we feel constrained to c onfess t hat w e a re deeply abashed and chagrined at the disclosures of t he comparison thus instituted. A t the time of the adoption o f the Constitution, i n 1789, we commenced r ace w i t h t he N o r t h . an even A l l things considered, i f either the

N o r t h o r the South had the advantage, i t was the latter. I n p roof of t his, l et us introduce a few statistics, beginn i n g w i t h t he states of

NEW

YORK

AND

VIRGINIA.

I n 1 190, when the fust census was t a k e n , N e w Y o r k c ontained 340,120 inhabitants ; at the same time the population o f V i r g i n i a w as 148,308, b e i n g more t h a n t w i c e t he number of N e w Y o r k . J u s t s i x t y years afterward, as only w e l e a r n from the census of 1850, N e w Y o r k had a population o f 3,091,394 ; w hile that of V i r g i n i a w a s 1,421,661, b e i n g less than half the number of N e w Y o r k .'

  
FREE

AND

THE SLAVE

STATES.

13

I n 1 191, the exports of N e w Y o r k amounted to $2,505,465 ; the exports of V i r g i n i a a mounted to $3,130,865. In 1 852, the exports of N e w Y o r k amounted to $81,484,456 ; t he exports of V i r g i n i a , d u r i n g t he same year, amounted t o only $2,124,651. I n 1190, the imports of N e w Y o r k a nd V i r g i n i a w ere about e q u a l ; i n 1853, the imports of N e w Y o r k amounted to the enormous sum of $118,210,999 ; w h i l e those of V i r g i n i a , f or the same period, amounted to the p i t i f u l s um of only $399,004. In 1850, the products of manufactures, m i n i n g a nd the mechanic arts i n N e w Y o r k amounted to $231,591,249 ; those of V i r g i n i a a mounted to only $29,105,381. A t the t a k i n g o f the l a s t c ensus, the value of r eal a nd personal property i n V i r g i n i a , i n c l u d i n g n egroes, was $391,646,438 ; that of N e w Y o r k , e xclusive of any monetary v a l u a t i o n of human bei n g s , w as $1,080,309,216. I n A u g u s t , 1856, the r e a l a nd personal estate assessed i n t he C i t y o f N e w - Y o r k amounted i n v a l u a t i o n to $511,140,491, s h o w i n g that N e w - Y o r k C i t y a lone is w o r t h far m ore t han t he whole State of V i r g i n i a . W h a t s ays one of V i r g i n i a ' s o w n s ons ? h ear h i m speak. Says Gov. W i s e : H e s t i l l l ives ;

" I t m a y be p ainful, b ut nevertheless, profitable, tc recur o ccasionally to the history of the past ; to l isten t o the a dmonitions o f experience, and l earn l essons of w i s d o m f rom t he efforts and actions of those who have u s i n the drama of human l ife preceded T he records of former days

s how that at a period not very remote, V i r g i n i a s tood preeminently t he first c ommercial State i n the U n i o n ; w neu h er c ommerce e xceeded i n amount that of a l l the New

  
COMPARISON

BETWEEN THE

E ngland S tates combined ; when

the C i t y o f

Norfolk

o wned rt ore t h a n one hundred t r a d i n g ships, and her d i rect foreign trade e xceeded t hat of the C i t y o f N e w - Y o r k , n ow the centre of trade and the great emporium of N o r t h ' A merica. A t the period of the w a r of independence, the c ommerce o f V i r g i n i a w as four times l a r g e r t h a n that of New-York." T he cash value of a l l the farms, f a r m i n g implements a nd m achinery i n V i r g i n i a , i n 1850, was $223,423,315 ; the v alue of the same i n N e w - Y o r k , i n the same year, w a s $ 576,631,568. I n about the same ratio d oes t he value of t he a g r i c u l t u r a l products and live stock of N e w - Y o r k exceed, t he value of the a g r i c u l t u r a l products and live stock of V i r g i n i a . B u t we w i l l p ursue this h u m i l i a t i n g compaW i t h f eelings m i n g l e d w i t h i n d i g n a t i o n rison n o further. o ur respects to

a nd d isgust, we t u r n f rom the picture, and w i l l n ow p a y

MASSACHUSETTS

AND

NORTH CAROLINA.

I n 1 790, Massachusetts contained 378,717 inhabitants ; i n t he same year N o r t h C a r o l i n a contained 393,751 ; i n 1 850, the population of Massachusetts was 994,514, a l l f reemen ; while that of N o r t h C a r o l i n a w a s only 869,039, o f whom 288,548 were slaves. Massachusetts has a n area o f only 7,800 s quare miles ; the area of N o r t h Carolina is 50,704 square miles, w h i c h , though less than V i r g i n i a , i s c onsiderably larger than the State of N e w - Y o r k . Massachusetts and N o r t h Carolina each have a harbor, Boston a nd B eaufort, w h i c h harbors, w i t h t he States that back

  
F REE A N D T HE S L A V E STATES.

15

t hem, a re, b y nature, p ossessed o f about equal capacities a nd a dvantages for commercial and manufacturing enterprise. B oston has g r o w n to be the second commercial c i t y i n the U n i o n ; h er ships, freighted w i t h t he useful and u nique i nventions and manufactures of her ingenious art; s ans and mechanics, and b e a r i n g upon their s t a l w a r t a r m the majestic flag of our country, glide t riumphantly t hrough t he winds and over the waves of every ocean. She has d one, a nd is now doing, great honor to herself, her State a nd t he nation, and her name and fame are spoken w i t h r everence i n t^e remotest regions of the earth. H o w i s i t w i t h B eaufort, i n N o r t h C arolina, w hose h arbor is said to be the safest and most commodious bor of N e w - Y o r k , and but l ittle i nferior to t h a t ? a nybody ever heard of her ? e ver cast a shadow on foreign waters ? anyHas where to be found on the A t l a n t i c c oast s outh of the harDo the masts of her ships U p o n w h a t dis-

tant o r benighted shore have her merchants and mariners e ver hoisted our national ensign, or spread the arts of c ivilization a nd peaceful i n d u s t r y ? W h a t changes w o r t h y o f note have taken place i n the p h y s i c a l features of her s uperficies since " the evening and the m o r n i n g were the t hird d ay ?" B u t we w i l l m ake no further attempt to d raw a c omparison between the populous, wealthy, and r enowned c i t y of Boston and the obscure, despicable l i t t l e v i l l a g e o f Beaufort, w h i c h , n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g " the p l a c i d b osom o f its d eep a nd well-protected harbor," has no place i n t he annals or records of the country, and has scarcely e ver been heard of fifty miles from home. In 1853, t he exports of Massachusetts amounted to

  
Ifi

COMPARISON

BETWEEN THE

$ 10,895,304, and her imports to $41,367,956 ; d u r i n g .lie s ame time, and indeed d u r i n g a l l the time, from the period o f the formation of the government up to the year 1853, i nclusive, t he exports and imports ot N o r t h Carolina were so utterly insignificant that we are ashamed to record t hem. I n 1850, the products of manufactures, m i n i n g and In t he mechanic arts i n Massachusetts, amounted to $151,137,145 ; those of N o r t h C arolina, t o only $9,111,245. 1 856, the products of these i ndustrial p ursuits i n Massachusetts had increased to something over $288,000,000, a s um m ore than twice the value of the entire cotton c rop o f a l l the Southern States 1 I n 1850, the cash value of a l l t he farms, f a r m i n g implements and machinery i n Massachusetts, was $112,285,931 ; the value of the same i n N o r t h C arolina, i n the same year, was only $71,823,298. I n 1850, the value of a l l the real and personal estate i n M assachusetts, without recognizing property i n man, or s etting a m onetary price on the head of a single citizen, w hite or black, amounted to $573,342,286 ; the value of t he same i n N o r t h C arolina, i n c l u d i n g negroes, amounted t o only $226,800,472. I n 1856, the real and personal e state assessed i n the C i t y o f Boston amounted i n valuation t o w i t h i n a f raction of $250,000,000, showing conclus i v e l y t hat so far as dollars and cents are concerned, that s ingle c i t y could b u y the whole State of N o r t h C arolina, a nd b y r i g h t of purchase, i f sanctioned by the Constitution o f the U n i t e d States, and by State Constitutions, hold h er as a province. In 1850, there were i n Massachusetts 1,861 native white and free colored persons over twenty y ears of age who could not read and write ; in the same

  
FREE

AND

THE

SLAVE

STATES.

IT

y oar, the same class of persons i n N o r t h C a r o l k a n umbered 80,083 ; while her 288,548 slaves were, b y legislative e nactments, kept i n a state of absolute ignorance and u nconditional s ubordination. H o p i n g , h owever, and b e l i e v i n g , that a large majority o f the most respectable and p a t r i o t i c citizens of North C arolina h ave resolved, or w i l l s oon r esolve, w i t h u n y i e l d i n g p urpose, to cast aside the great obstacle that impedes t heir p rogress, and b r i n g into action a new policy w h i c h w i l l l ead them from poverty and ignorance to w e a l t h and i ntellectual g reatness, and w h i c h w i l l s hield them not onJy f rom the rebukes of their o w n consciences, but also from i he j u s t reproaches of the c ivilized w o r l d , we w i l l , f or the p resent, i n d eference t o their feelings, forbear the furthei e numeration o f these degrading disparities, and t urn o ur a ttention t o

PENNSYLVANIA

AND

SOUTH CAROLINA.

A n o ld gentleman, now r e s i d i n g i n Charleston, t c l d us, b ut a few months since, that ho had a distinct recollection o f the time when Charleston imported foreign fabrics for t he P hiladelphia t rade, and when, on a certain occasion, h is m other went into a store on Market-street to solect a s ilk d ress for herself, the merchant, unable to please her f ancy, persuaded her to p ostpone t he selection for a few d ays, or u n t i l t he a r r i v a l o f a ne,w stock of superb styles a nd f ashions w h i c h he had recently purchased i n the metropolis o f South C arolina. T h i s was a l l v e r y proper C harleston h ad a spacious harbor, a central position, and

  
18

C OMPARISON"

BETWEEN THE

a m i l d c limate ; and from p r i o r i t y of settlement add business connections, to say nothing of other advantages, she e njoyed greater facilities for commercial transactions than P hiladelphia. S he had a r i g h t t o get custom wherever she could find i t , and i n securing so valuable a customer a s the Quaker C ity, s he exhibited no s m a l l d egree o f laudable enterprise. macy ?
\ 7h0le

B u t w h y d i d she not m aintain h er supre-

I f the answer to this query is not already i n the F o r the present, suffice i t to say,

r eader's mind, i t w i l l s uggest i t s e l f b efore h e peruses the o f this work. h at t he cause of her shameful insignificance and decline i 3 e ssentially the same that has thrown every other Southern c i t y and State i n the rear of progress, and rendered t hem tributary, i n a commercial and manufacturing point o f v i e w , almost entirely t r i b u t a r y , to the more sagacious a nd e nterprising States and cities of the N o r t h . A m ost unfortunate day was that for the Palmetto State, a nd i ndeed for the whole South, when the course of trade w as changed, and she found herself the retailer of foreign a nd d omestic g oods, i mported and vended b y wholesale m erchants at the N o r t h . P h i l a d e l p h i a ladies no longer of l ook to the South for late fashions, and fine s ilks a nd s atins ; n o Quaker dame now wears drab apparel C harleston i mportation. L i k e a l l other niggei-vilhs i n our

d isreputable part of the confederacy, the commercial emporium o f South Carolina is sick and impoverished ; her s ilver c ord has been loosed ; her golden b o w l has been b roken ; and her unhappy people, without proper or profitable employment, p oor i n pocket, and few i n number, go m ourning o r loafing about the streets. H e r annual iin-

  
FREE

AND

THE

S .AVE STATES.

19

p ortations arc actually less now than they were a century a go, when South Carolina was the secc.nd commercial p rovince on the continent, V i r g i n i a b eing the f irst. I n 1760, as we learn from M r . Benton's " T h i r t y Y e a r s ' V i e w , " t he foreign imports into Charleston were $2,602,In 000 ; i n P355, they amounted to only $1,750,000 !

1 854, the imports into P h i l a d e l p h i a , w h i c h , i n foreign t rade, r anks at present but fourth among the commercial c ities of the union, were $21,963,021. I n 1850, the products of manufactures, m i n i n g , and the mechanic arts, i r P ennsylvania, a mounted to $155,044,910 ; the products of t he same i n South C arolina, a mounted to only $7,063,513. A s s hown b y the census report of 1850, w h i c h was prepared under the superintendence of a native of South C arolina, w ho certainly w i l l n ot be suspected of injustice to h is o w n section of the country, the Southern states, the c ash value of a l l the farms, farming implements, and machinery i n P e n n s y l v a n i a , w a s $422,598,640 ; the value of t he same i n South C arolina, i n the same year, was only $ 86,518,038. F r o m a compendium of the same census, we l earn t hat the value of a l l the real and personal property i n P e n n s y l v a n i a , actual property, no slaves, amounted to $ 729,144,998 ; the value of the same i n South C arolina, i n c l u d i n g t he e s t i m a t e d     w e were about to say 094. fictitious     v alue of 384,925 negroes, amounted to only $288,257,W e have not been able to obtain the figures n ecessary t o show the exact value of the r e a l and personal estate i n P hiladelphia, b ut the amount is estimated to be not l ess than $300,000,000 ; and as, i n 1850, there were 408,762 free inhabitants i n the single c i t y of P h i l a d e l p h i a ,

  
20

COMPARISON

BETWEEN THE

a gainst 283,544 of the same class, i n the whole state of S outh C arolina, i t is quite evident that the former is more p owerful than the latter, and far ahead of her i n a l l the e lements of genuine and permanent superiority. In Penns y l v a n i a , i n 1850, the annual income of public s chools a mounted to $1,34S,249 ; the same i n South C arolina, i n t he same year, amounted to only $200,600 ; i n the former ' state there were 393 libraries other than private, i n the l atter o nly 26 ; i n P e n n s y l v a n i a 310 newspapers and periodicals w ere published, c i r c u l a t i n g 84,89S,672 c opies a nn u a l l y ; i n South Carolina only 46 newspapers and periodicals were published, c i r c u l a t i n g but 7,145,930 c opies p er annum. T he incontrovertible facts we have thus far presented a re, w e t hink, a mply sufficient, both i n number and magnitude, t o b r i n g conviction to the m i n d of every candid r eader, that there is something w r o n g , socially, p o l i t i c a l l y a nd m orally w r o n g , i n the p o l i c y under w h i c h the South h as so l o n g loitered and languished. E lse, h ow is i t that t he N o r t h , u nder the operations of a policy directly the o pposite of ours, has surpassed us i n almost e v e r y t h i n g g reat and g ood, a nd left us standing b efore t he w o r l d , an o bject o f merited reprehension and derision ? F o r o ne, we are h e a r t i l y ashamed of the inexcusable w eakness, i nertia a nd dilapidation everywhere so manifest t hroughout our native section j b u t the blame properly a ttaches itself to an u s u r p i n g m i n o r i t y of the people, and w e are determined that i t s hall r est where i t belongs. M ore o n this subject, however, after a brief but general s urvey of the inequalities and disparities that exist between

  
FREE

AMD

THE

SLAVE

STATES.

21

t hose t wo g r a n d divisions of the country . ..which, w i l l - o u t r eference t o the situation that any part of their territory b ears to the c a r d i n a l points, are every day becoming m ore f a m i l i a r l y k n o w n b y the appropriate appellation of

THE

FREE

AND

THE

SLAVE

STATES.

I t i s a fact w e l l k n o w n to every intelligent Southerner t hat w e are compelled to go to the N o r t h for almost every a rticle o f u t i l i t y a nd adornment, from matches, s hoepegs a nd p aintings up to cotton-mills, steamships and statuary ; t hat w e have no foreign trade, no p r i n c e l y merchants, nor r espectable artists ; that, i n comparison w i t h t he f ree s tates, we contribute nothing to the literature, polite arts a nd i nventions of the age ; that, for w a n t of profitable e mployment at h ome, l arge numbers of our native population find themselves necessitated to emigrate to the W e s t , w h i l s t t he f ree s tates retain not only the l a r g e r proportion o f t hose b orn w i t h i n t heir o w n l imits, b ut induce, annually, h undreds of thousands of foreigners to settle and remain a mongst them ; that almost e v e r y t h i n g produced at the N o r t h m eets w i t h r eady sale, while, at the same time, t here is no demand, even among our o w n citizens, for the p roductions of Southern industry ; that, o w i n g to the a bsence o f a proper system of business amongst us, the N o r t h b ecomes, i n one w a y or another, the proprietor and d ispenser of a l l our floating wealth, and that we are dependent on N o r t h e r n capitalists for the means necessary t o b u i l a o ur railroads, canals and other public improvements ; that i f we w a n t to v isit a f oreign country, even

  
22

COMPARISON

BETWEEN

THE

t hough it may lie directly South of us, we find no convenient w a y of g e t t i n g there e xcept b y t a k i n g passage through a N o r t h e r n p o r t ; and that nearly a l l the profits a r i s i n g from t he exchange of commodities, from insurance and shipping offices, and from the thousand and one i ndustrial p ursuits o f the country, accrue to the N o r t h , a nd are there invested i n t he erection of those magnificent cities and stupendous w o r k s of art w h i c h dazzle the e yes o f the South, and attest t he superiority of free institutions ! T he N o r t h is the Mecca of our merchants, and to i t they m ust and do make two pilgrimages per annum   one i n the s p r i n g a nd one i n the f all. A l l o ur commercial, mechanical, We m anufactural, a nd literary supplies c ome f rom there.

w a n t Bibles, brooms, buckets and books, and we go to the N o r t h ; w e w a n t pens,