EXODUS OF COLORED PEOPLE. 



157 



over the land tend to the amelioration of their 

 condition, the promotion of their well-being, 

 noue should object. It is probable that the 

 interests of the Southern States would be ad- 

 vanced if there was a distribution of this peo- 

 ple. At present their numbers exclude from 

 those States a better population. But to en- 

 tice them to remove upon hopes that are delu- 

 sive is vicious and criminal. 



The temporary disorganization of labor in 

 limited portions of the South threatened dis- 

 aster to the growing crops. The excitement 

 spread rapidly among the colored people. On 

 April 17th a colored convention assembled in a 

 Baptist church in New Orleans. There was a 

 total attendance of about two hundred persons, 

 at least one third of whom were colored pas- 

 tors. The assemblage was ill-organized and 

 tumultuous. They refused to appoint a com- 

 mittee on credentials, on the ground that all 

 present belonged to the classes designated in 

 the call for this convention, viz., " clergymen, 

 teachers, or social directors." In point of fact, 

 the body was simply a mass meeting, com- 

 posed chiefly of blacks .brought down from the 

 country as witnesses in the recent political 

 trials. After a recapitulation of the threadbare 

 story of violence and intimidation, they pro- 

 ceeded to discuss the migration of the African 

 race to the Northwest. They were far from 

 unanimous in regard to the expediency of this 

 movement. Mr. Pinchbeck (colored), of New 

 Orleans, spoke in opposition. He stated that 

 he saw people in Madison Parish sacrificing 

 their stock and tools, and asked them why 

 they did so. The answer was that they were 

 starving ; that they were swindled ; that they 

 were afraid of the Constitutional Convention ; 

 that the Indians were coming to occupy the 

 Boil and drive them off. If any colored man 

 wanted to go, let him go ; but, having met to 

 consider the interests of their race, he was op- 

 posed to a general movement, and must warn 

 the convention of its ruinous consequences. 

 Another orator cited the published opinion ol 

 Frederick Douglass adverse to the exodus. The 

 name of Douglass brought down a storm of 

 yells and hisses. Finally a resolution was 

 passed that it was the sense of this convention 

 that the colored people of the South should 

 migrate. Much of the time of the convention 

 was given to the discussion of correspondence 

 from abroad. One of these communications 

 was from the " Congress of Humanity " in New 

 York, suggesting that the Government should 

 provide the people with industries, etc. The 

 convention closed with an "appeal for ma- 

 terial aid to the official and moral influence 

 of the President of the United States," and 

 to the Republican party and the country at 

 large. 



The Mississippi Valley Labor Convention 

 met in Vicksburg on May 5th. Its object was 

 "to adopt such measures as will allay the ex- 

 citement prevailing, or will enable them to 

 supply the places of those laborers who have 



gone, or who may hereafter go, to the West- 

 ern States." Colored delegates were invited to 

 present their grievances and assist in their re- 

 moval. There was a numerous attendance of 

 planters and of representative colored men. 

 The following resolutions embody the results 

 of their deliberations : , 



Itesolved, That the unrestricted credit system pre- 

 vailing in all the States here represented, based upon 

 liens or mortgage on stock and crops to be grown in 

 the future, followed by short crops, provoked distrust 

 and created unrest, and disturbed die entire laboring 

 population ; and all laws authorizing liens on crop* 

 for advance constituted of articles otbcr than those ot 

 prime necessity at moderate profits, whether such 

 advances are made by the landlord, planter, or mer- 

 chants, should be discountenanced and repealed. 



Itesolved, That this Convention call upon the col- 

 ored people here present to contradict the false reports 

 circulated among and impressed upon the more igno- 

 rant and credulous, and to instruct them that no 

 lands, mules, or money await them in Kansas or else- 

 where, without labor or price, and report to the civil 

 authorities all persons disseminating such reports. 



Resolved, That it is the constitutional right of the 

 colored people to emigrate where they please, to what- 

 ever State they may select for residence ; but this Con- 

 vention urges them to proceed in their movements 

 toward emigration as reasonable human beings, pro- 

 viding in advance by economy the means for trans- 

 portation and settlement, sustaining their reputation 

 for honesty and fair dealing by preserving intact until 

 the completion of contracts for labor-leasing which 

 have already been made. If, when they have done 

 this, they still desire to leave, all obstacles to their 

 departure will be removed and all practicable assist- 

 ance will be offered them. Their places will be refilled 

 by other contented labor. 



The Nashville Colored Convention assem- 

 bled in that city on May 7th. It was largely 

 attended by delegates from Alabama, Arkansas, 

 Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississip- 

 pi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsyl- 

 vania, Tennessee, and South Carolina. The 

 report set forth the various obstructions to the 

 progress of the blacks during the fifteen years 

 since emancipation. These were attributed 

 solely to the prejudices of color and caste. It 

 recounted the services of the colored people to 

 the Union in freely shedding their blood in de- 

 fense of its flag and thus securing its victory. 

 It demanded social and political equality as a 

 right. It recommended to the various State 

 Legislatures the adoption of a compulsory sys- 

 tem of public education. It insisted that sep- 

 arate schools are injurious to the interests of 

 both races, and foster color prejudices, and 

 that where such schools exist colored teachers 

 alone should be employed. It voted to memo- 

 rialize Congress to place in the hands of col- 

 ored regents $300,000, the amount of unclaimed 

 bounty of the colored soldiers and sailors in 

 the Union army during the late war, to be used 

 in establishing and maintaining an industrial 

 and technical school for colored youths in the 

 unoccupied buildings of Harper's Ferry, or at 

 some other place easy of access. The Com- 

 mittee on Organization reported the consti- 

 tution of an " American Protective Society," 

 whose objects are to prevent injustice to the 

 colored people, to improve their civil, political, 



