356 



EXODUS OF COLORED PEOPLE. 



gregated in masses, and spent their days in 

 idleness and vacancy. Then there was a neces- 

 sity for a Freedman's Bureau, in 1865 and for 

 several years, to furnish them with some guar- 

 dianship, guidance, and maintenance. The res- 

 toration of order and repose, that order and 

 repose which consist in steady pursuits and set- 

 tled conditions, was not fully attained for many 

 years. In many instances, probably in most 

 instances, the plantation slaves returned for a 

 time at least to their former homes and resumed 

 their accustomed work. The transition from 

 a condition of servitude, where all responsibil- 

 ity and care for themselves was superseded by 

 the control and superintendence of others, to a 

 state of freedom, in which these responsibili- 

 ties and demands were greatly increased, must 

 have been distressing to the greater part of 

 this population. It would be strange if the 

 majority did not find themselves incompetent 

 to the task. Nor is it surprising that there 

 has not been any marked improvement in their 

 moral or physical condition. The habits and 

 affections acquired in the time of servitude we 

 have mentioned. Sobriety, industry, and do- 

 mestication we may suppose to have retained a 

 hold upon them, and to account for the absence 

 of any disorder or tumult, and for the mainte- 

 nance of the existing relations. But a new 

 generation is rapidly rising that did not share 

 in any of the results of this training. They 

 have come into life with instincts to separate 

 from all the associations and to banish the rec- 

 ollections of the life of their progenitors. The 

 seclusion of the plantations, the steady and 

 continuous labor required there, and the ab- 

 sence of excitements and amusements which 

 are found in village and town life, must be re- 

 pulsive to the sensual natures of this genera- 

 tion. The statesmen of the African race in 

 Hayti seem to have observed this disposition. 

 Toussaint 1'Ouverture remanded the laborers 

 on the plantations to their former abodes. He 

 required that they should be supplied with a 

 house and a garden, should have the benefit of 

 a Sunday's market, and should share in the 

 productions of the plantation generally, one 

 fourth of the gross product. They were pro- 

 hibited from leaving the plantation without 

 the permission of the owner. The rural code 

 of Hayti in 1826 was more detailed and expli- 

 cit. " The citizens of the agricultural class " 

 could not be withdrawn from their pursuits 

 except in cases provided by law. They were 

 forbidden to leave the country to reside in 

 towns or villages without permission of the 

 magistrate of their domicile and the consent of 

 the town or village they would reside in. They 

 were prohibited from sending their children 

 to school without such permission. They were 

 not allowed to cultivate a plantation for them- 

 selves, and were required to make contracts 

 for service as laborers on the plantations, and 

 were not allowed to leave without permission. 

 The hours of labor were determined, and 

 provisions were made for a house and plot of 



ground and means of transportation. Wheth- 

 er this system has been carried into effect, and 

 Hayti is possessed of a sober, industrious, and 

 improving population, may be doubted. The 

 fact is certain that there has been no approxi- 

 mation to the wealth and improvements exist- 

 ing a century ago. In the smaller islands of 

 the British Antilles the relations between the 

 blacks and whites have been harmonious. In 

 Jamaica the tendency has been to estrange- 

 ment, and the probability is that in the course 

 of a few years there will be none other than 

 the descendants of Africans in that island, as 

 in Hayti. 



"We have not been able to attribute any par- 

 ticular importance to the movements which 

 have been observed during the past year among 

 the colored population. The publications in 

 the newspapers have been much exaggerated, 

 and the motives for it have been misrepresent- 

 ed. It is quite probable that partisans, eager 

 to accomplish a triumph in an election, may 

 have tempted emigrations from the densely 

 populated districts on the Mississippi River, for 

 a transient and mischievous use of them in 

 some contested election. It may be that some 

 speculators may desire to have a population for 

 waste lands in the far West, and they may have 

 circulated prints and descriptions of a region 

 producing milk and honey, where a black man 

 may bask in the sunshine in idleness between 

 his meals. It may be that there have been in- 

 stances of wrong and injustice in the dealings 

 of the shopkeepers who besiege the plantations 

 and tempt the laborers to improvident and ru- 

 inous dealings, subjecting them to penury and 

 want. It may be that fanatical efforts for es- 

 tablishing large bodies together for religious 

 enterprises or excitements have been opera- 

 tive. It must be remembered that here is 

 a population of about five millions who have 

 been suddenly relieved from restraint and dis- 

 cipline, without being furnished with instruc- 

 tion, and who are without accumulated experi- 

 ence or information of the world and its habits 

 of intercourse. The most improved and ad- 

 vanced are barely able to take care of them- 

 selves. The larger proportion are imbecile and 

 incapable for that purpose, and need guidance 

 and guardianship. All of the events of the 

 years following the removal of the restraints 

 we have spoken of, tend to separate this popu- 

 lation from those who live in the States where 

 they belonged. There is no reason why there 

 should not be migrations from this part of the 

 country to other portions, and these must be 

 expected. This population will number ten 

 millions of persons within half a century. It 

 is not a population which will add to the in- 

 tellectual wealth of the country for a long pe- 

 riod of time. It is of the utmost consequence 

 that the measures to be adopted in respect to 

 them shall not tend to deteriorate their mor- 

 als, or fit them to be instruments in the hands 

 of wicked and unscrupulous persons. In so 

 far as projects for a spread of this population 



