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A Review of Uncle Tom's Cabin by A. Woodward

A >> A. Woodward >> A Review of Uncle Tom\'s Cabin




Some are, no doubt, ready to ask, how is it that Africans became
slaves to their own race? Many of them were taken captives in war and
subjected to slavery. The different tribes in Africa have in all ages
engaged in predatory warfare, and the captives taken in those wars
became slaves. Necessity may have forced many of them to subject
themselves to servitude. Negroes have not that aversion to slavery,
that many suppose who are unacquainted with the peculiarities of negro
character. They are ignorant, indolent and improvident, and in many
instances are neither competent nor willing to provide for themselves;
and, therefore, they probably frequently became slaves to the more
highly gifted and fortunate of their own race from necessity, and it
may be from choice.

How is it that one nation acquires dominion over another? that one
nation falls a prey to another? that one nation makes slaves of
another? By what means were the posterity of Shem and Japheth enabled
to enslave the posterity of Ham? Some will say that God willed it
thus, and so it is. I consider the phraseology of this answer faulty.
It would, in my view, be more appropriate to say, God suffered it; or
permitted it; and so it is. I do not believe that Ham's crimes were in
accordance with the benevolent designs of Providence. The degradation
and slavery entailed upon his posterity, was but a necessary
consequence of his crimes, a just judgment, which a righteous God
suffered to fall on his posterity. It was a violation of God's laws,
which involved the African race in accursed slavery. God has attached
certain punishments to the violation of certain laws, in other words,
to the commission of certain crimes. The law is violated, otherwise,
the crime is committed, and the penalty, or punishment falls on the
head of the offender. Now all this is brought about in opposition to
the will of God; for when God gave laws, he willed that man should
obey those laws. If he says, "son honor thy father," and the son
dishonors his father, he acts in opposition to God's will. And to
secure obedience to his laws, and uphold moral order, he has attached
to every crime its appropriate punishment.

But every effect has a cause, and if one nation acquires an ascendancy
over another, there is a reason in the nature of things, _why it is
so_. There are reasons why individuals differ, and why they are found
under different circumstances and conditions in this world. Why one
becomes poor and another rich; why one acquires wealth and influence,
while another becomes poor, indigent and miserable--it may be a slave
to his wealthy neighbor. There is an internal cause; a constitutional
difference in individuals, physically, mentally, and morally. So it is
with nations. Locality, climate and other external causes have also
had much agency in shaping and moulding the characters, and
determining the destinies of nations. Nothing is more true than the
trite saying, "that knowledge is power." The Author of our existence,
"the giver of every good and perfect gift," conferred on Shem and
Japheth, or rather, on their posterity, superior mental endowments.
The African and the Anglo-Saxon races differ widely in their physical
organizations; their mental susceptibilities, and their moral natures;
and the advantages are in favor of the Anglo-Saxon. The Anglo-Saxons
are a superior race. They are the best specimens of humanity--the
noblest work of God. They excel in all those qualities and endowments
that raise man above his fellow man. The whole posterity of Shem and
Japheth are intellectually superior to the posterity of Ham. Locality
has had its influence. The human species degenerate mentally and
morally in a tropical climate.

Vice saps the foundation, and gradually impairs and undermines the
mental and moral constitutions of mankind. Ham being more vicious than
his brothers, the mental and moral deterioration of his race,
commenced in his own person, and was transmitted by him to his
posterity. A man transmits his intellectual powers, his moral nature,
or sentiments, as well as his physical organization to his progeny;
and this he does with positive certainty, unless the mother possesses
opposite qualities and properties. The children of the vicious are by
nature more vicious than the children of the virtuous. Hence, we see
that men by ordinary generation, transmit their own peculiar vices to
their offspring. Every innate principle, passion and propensity of
soul, body and mind, is transmitted from parent to child. This view of
the subject need strike us with no surprise, if we would reflect, that
men beget the souls, as well as the bodies of their children. I read
in Genesis, that God breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of life,
"and that he became a living soul;" but I am not aware, that the
Divine Being has breathed a soul into any other living being since the
day he created Adam. No! When he breathed a soul into Adam he invested
him with the power to procreate the souls as well as the bodies of his
progeny. Hence, every man begets a soul and a body like his own,
except so far as his own qualities and properties come in contact with
opposite ones in the female; then, of course, some modification of the
foetus may be expected. If an acid and an alkali are brought in
contact, the result will be a neutral salt. We will generally find,
however, that in what are called neutral mixtures, there is either a
predominance of the acid, or the alkali. So it is with the children of
parents possessing opposite propensities and qualities, either those
of the father or the mother, are likely to predominate in the
offspring.

Slavery was entailed on Ham's posterity, in consequence of the
indignity with which he treated his aged and pious father. Ham was a
free agent; it was an act of his own. The Divine Being suffered him to
transgress his laws; and foreseeing that it would involve his
posterity in the curse of slavery, he foretold the result of the
transgression, by the mouth of Noah, Ham's father.

I have remarked in the preceding pages, that Ham was more wicked than
his brothers; and that he transmitted his own corrupt nature to his
offspring; and that in consequence of sin, his descendants sank into
ignorance, barbarism and brutality which subjected them to the
dominion of their more enlightened and virtuous brethren. Thus, we
see, that it was the wickedness of Ham, which involved his race in
ignorance, degradation and slavery. I repeat, that Ham entailed
slavery on his own race; it was an effect of the violation of
Jehovah's righteous laws; a just and righteous judgment. It is clear,
from the foregoing remarks, that Ham transmitted the germs of slavery
to his posterity, by ordinary generation.

God permitted the transgression, and he also permitted the penalty to
fall on the transgressors; and it then devolved on him, as Supreme
Ruler of the universe, to regulate, govern, and control the
transgressors, and the calamitous consequences of their transgression
according to his own righteous will. "Justice and judgment are the
habitation of his throne, and righteousness goeth before him." "The
wrath of man shall praise thee, and the remainder of wrath wilt thou
restrain." That the almighty and all-wise God governs both men and
devils, and the consequences of their acts, in accordance with the
strictest principles of righteousness, judgment and justice, we have
no right to doubt. He, in his amazing condescension, illimitable
goodness, and boundless mercy, has given us a revelation of his will,
to regulate, govern, and control our actions; and all that comports
with our best interests, or that is essential for us to know
concerning himself and his government of our world, is revealed in
this Holy Volume; and if there are some things in the moral government
of God, which we cannot comprehend, we have no right to cavil. "The
Judge of all the earth will do right."

If either masters or servants wish to know the will of God concerning
slavery--if they would learn their respective relations and duties, as
masters, and servants, I must refer them to the Bible. There they will
find a revelation of the will of God in relation to slavery, clearly
set forth. If we have any other authority, or guide, I am not aware of
it. I know of none. It is true, that I have heard something about a
_higher law_ but from whence it came, "to whom related, or by whom
begot," I know not. It is enough for us to know, that it did not come
from God. Christians must take the Bible as their guide, and God as
their master; and if others think that they can do better, let them
try. Poor old Ham, I suppose, thought that he could do better; and
he deserted the source of all mercy, goodness, truth, light and
knowledge; and what was the consequence? Ignorance, barbarism,
degradation and woe; ending in the accursed slavery of his race.
Accursed of God! A curse entailed on sin--an individual curse--national
curse! Too often, a curse to him that serves, and him that rules! God
be merciful to the slave and his master. The master, as well as the
slave, is entitled to our sympathies, and not to our maledictions.

Whether the mental powers of Shem and Japheth, were originally
superior to those of Ham, we know not. We know that the posterity of
Shem and Japheth, are mentally superior to the posterity of Ham, at
the present day. To me, it seems probable, that Ham came from the
hands of his Creator, in every respect equal to Shem and Japheth; and
that his mental and moral powers were debased by sin, and they thus
acquired a superiority over him. But, supposing that Ham was
originally inferior to his more fortunate brothers, he had no right to
complain. Suppose that the Divine Being gave Ham one talent, Japheth
two, and Shem four; he, in so doing, inflicted no wrong on Ham. To
whom much is given, of the same much is required. In order to secure
the blessing of God, it was only necessary for Ham to improve what he
had received. God required no more at his hands. But it is evident,
from the manner in which he conducted himself toward his heaven
favored and pious father, that he was an egregious sinner, and the
curse of God fell upon him, and his progeny. "The curse causeless
shall not come."

When the Almighty in his providence suffers a punishment to fall on a
man, or a race of men, he has a good and sufficient reason for it. If
He hides his face, or withhold his blessings, we may search for the
cause in our own hearts. "It is your iniquities," (said the prophet),
"that have separated you and your God." But to return to the
sovereignty of God. He has the power.--He has the right. He, alone, is
competent to decide what is best for us. "Hath not the potter power
over the same lump of clay, to make one vessel to honor, and another
to dishonor." He is under no obligation to any one; the best of us
having forfeited all right, title, or claim to his mercy. Whatever
mercies or blessings we may receive at the hands of Divine
Benificence, are unmerited; undeserved on our part. The Divine Being
is debtor to no one. There is no merit on our part, there can be none.
God nevertheless has respect to character. Shem and Japheth, acted in
accordance with Divine will, and He chose to confer on them certain
favors and benefits. Ham incurred his displeasure, by violating his
laws; and He left his posterity to those temporal misfortunes, which
must necessarily grow out of moral infirmities, and mental
disabilities.

I think I have clearly shown that African slavery originated in the
inferiority of the African race; and that the inferiority of the
African race, originated in the violation of God's laws. Slavery is
perpetuated by the cause that brought it into existence. I have
alluded in the preceding pages to the mental disabilities and the
moral defects and infirmities of the posterity of Ham; as subjecting
them to degradation and slavery. Physical conformation and color,
viz., the curly hair, the black skin, the flat nose, the broad flat
foot, &c., have had no small share in subjecting the negro race to
degradation and slavery. All other races of men shun and despise them
on account of their physical peculiarities. This is the key to that
universal prejudice against the African race, the world over. The
negro race are then, slaves from necessity, viz., they are slaves
because they are incapable of attaining to the rights and privilege of
free men. And those rights and privileges they never can enjoy in the
midst of the Anglo-Saxon race.

We have seen in the preceding pages, that slavery and all the evils
and calamities appertaining thereto, were entailed on Ham's posterity,
as a penalty for the wilful violation of God's laws; and, I shall
attempt to show before I bring this essay to a close, that in
consequence of disobedience on the part of masters, as well as
servants, that the evils and calamities of slavery fall not alone on
him who serves, but also on him who rules. Therefore, the evils of
slavery can only be mitigated, or removed by obedience to the
requisitions of Divine revelations, on the part of masters and
servants. This is the only remedy. There is no other. Here is a great
principle of God's moral government of the world, which we should
never lose sight of. It is a principle of universal application. All
those evils that befal mankind in consequence of transgression, may be
mitigated, or removed, or otherwise the penalty may be averted, by
repentance and obedience to the requisitions of the Holy Bible.




CHAPTER IX.


I shall now take a glance at slavery under the Mosaic dispensation.
Whatever our views may be on the subject of slavery, if we have read
our Bibles, we know that it was tolerated and regulated by the Divine
Being among the children of Israel; no doubt for wise and beneficent
purposes. I know that it is vain for us to attempt to elevate our
minds to a clear comprehension of the moral government of God. There
is much, I admit, that to us is incomprehensible. Finite beings,
cannot fathom the Infinite mind of Jehovah. We can, however, if we
will read our Bibles, learn the will of God concerning ourselves and
our fellow creatures; at least so far as our respective duties are
concerned. This may be learned from the Old, as well as the New
Testament. Forms and ceremonies may change; but the eternal principles
of truth, righteousness and justice, change not.

Prior to the Mosaic dispensation, we read that Abraham held servants,
and that when Sarai treated her maid-servant unkindly, and she fled
from her face, the angel of the Lord said unto her, "Return to thy
mistress, and subject thyself under her hands." It is a notable fact,
that when the law was delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai, he received
from the hands of God Almighty the following words: "In it," (the
Sabbath,) "thou shalt not do any work; thou, nor thy son, nor thy
daughter, thy man-servant nor thy maid-servant." It appears that the
Hebrews under peculiar circumstances became servants; and they were
released, or went free on the seventh year. If, however, they
preferred to remain with their masters, they then became servants
forever. The Hebrews were not suffered to enslave each other, except
for a limited time; their servants were taken from the heathen nations
around them. See Leviticus, 25th Chapter, from the 39th to the 55th
verses inclusive. Mention is frequently made of servants throughout
the Old Testament. Men women and children were held in bondage by
patriarchs, prophets, kings, and others. Moses delivered various laws
to the children of Israel, for the guidance and regulation of both
masters and servants. The holding of slaves is nowhere denounced as
sinful in the Old Testament; on the contrary, the Hebrews were
_permitted_ to buy slaves from the surrounding heathen nations.
Masters were commanded in the Old as well as in the New Testament, to
treat servants with kindness and humanity. Inhumanity, cruelty, and
oppression being every where forbidden in the Bible.

Having briefly alluded to the revealed will of God tinder the old
dispensation, we will now hastily glance at the position occupied by
Christ and his apostles in relation to this institution, and at their
instructions and admonitions to masters and servants.

It is clearly and indisputably true that their course with reference
to masters and servants, and the doctrine which they taught, give no
countenance to the wild and visionary views of the faction, known in
the United States by the name of abolitionists. I cannot, however,
stop here to draw fully the contrast, but it will be found in other
parts of this work.

Christ came to preach the gospel, and not abolitionism. Christ came to
preach peace, and not to foment strife. He and his apostles taught
servants to love and obey their masters, to serve them freely and
cheerfully, and not to run away from them. No! No! They never incited
servants to murder their masters, nor to murmur at their service; nor
yet to steal all they could get, and then leave then. But there are
those among us who have been guilty of all these things; and yet,
notwithstanding, they have the audacity to tell us, at least those who
have not embraced the views of Tom Paine, that they are Christians.
The more consistent ones, I believe, are open infidels.

Our Saviour said nothing that could be construed into a condemnation
of the institution of slavery; nor yet did he invest his apostles with
any authority to interfere with it. It was no part of their
commission. Our Saviour preached the gospel of peace and glad tidings
to the bond and the free, to masters and servants, to the poor, the
maimed, the halt and the blind. He intermeddled not with the civil
institutions of the day. On the contrary, he inculcated, both by
precept and example, submission to the ruling authorities. His
apostles followed in his footsteps, for they likewise enjoined on
their followers, to be subject to the higher powers--to those in
authority. They too, preached the gospel to the bond and the free,
masters and servants; and gathered them together in the same fold, as
brethren beloved--the sheep of one common shepherd, the servants of
one common master--members of the same church--partakers of the same
joys. But they did not in a solitary instance denounce the holding of
slaves as sinful; nor yet enjoin it on masters to release their
slaves. They carefully instructed both masters and servants in their
relative duties, as masters and servants; and otherwise left the
institution of slavery as they found it. How unlike the great apostles
of modern reform! Many will no doubt be ready to ask, if slavery is an
evil, why did not Christ and his apostles strike directly at its root,
and eradicate it from the face of the earth? Others may impiously ask
if it is an evil, why did the Almighty permit it, or why does he
tolerate it? The latter interrogatory is fully considered in the
preceding Chapter; but I will for obvious reasons make a few
additional remarks in reply. I again beg such persons to recollect
that we are but finite beings, and cannot, therefore, fully comprehend
the Infinite Mind; and that God is moreover the Supreme Ruler of the
universe, and that to Him belongs the right to govern and dispose of
the work of his own hands, as he, in his infinite wisdom, sees fit and
proper. We may observe His dealings with man, but we cannot in all
cases say why he acts thus; nor have we any right to ask him, why hast
them done thus? Slavery is a consequence of sin, and God, in his
providence, suffered it to fall on the posterity of Ham as a just and
righteous judgment--as a punishment suitable and proper--as a
punishment proportioned to the magnitude of the crime. The Divine
Being, no doubt, intended that the signal punishment inflicted on
Ham's posterity, should be a warning to all future generations, in all
future time, to warn them of the danger of violating his commands, and
deter them from the commission of crime. God, no doubt, willed that it
should continue until the crime was adequately punished, and future
generations warned of the danger of violating his laws; and his own
honor vindicated. We have reason to believe that God moreover willed,
that in his own good time, this evil, as well as all other evils
should be eradicated; and that the sons and daughters of Adam should
enjoy universal freedom; and that "righteousness should cover the
earth, as the waters cover the great deep." But God willed to bring
about this result, not only in his own time, but in his own way. By
his own appointed means as revealed in his Holy Word; and that we as
co-workers with him, in the accomplishment of his designs, should be
guided by his revealed will. So far as we deviate from the revealed
will of God in the use of means, we sin against him, and are destined
to disappointment. The Holy Scriptures justify the conclusion, that in
the process of time, the Almighty disposer of events, will root out
all evil from the face of the earth. "Every plant," (says Jesus
Christ,) "that my heavenly father hath not planted shall be rooted
up." But there are many evils so interwoven with the institutions of
society, that they can only be rooted out by the general spread of the
benign and purifying influences of the Gospel.

Much has been said and written about slavery as an evil--a curse--a
misfortune, &c. It is admitted on all hands that slavery is an evil;
but it would be well for those who undertake to propose remedies for
it, first to ascertain wherein the evil consists; or in other words,
what are the circumstances which give rise to it. It is essential to
the success in medical practice, that the physician correctly
understands the disease which he proposes to treat. I have shown in the
preceding Chapter that slavery originated in sin; or otherwise, that
Ham entailed it on his posterity by violating the laws of God. The
evils of slavery, to the present day, originate in the same cause, viz,
a violation of God's commands; a failure on the part of masters and
servants to comply with the requisitions of the Holy Bible. It is
disobedience to God's commands, that makes slavery an evil and a curse.
The curse of slavery originates in the disobedience of slaves, and the
cruelty of masters. "Servants, be obedient to them that are your
masters--masters give unto your servants that which is just and equal."
Here, in a sentence of twenty words, the Apostle Paul prescribes a
remedy for the evils of slavery, a remedy too, that has never failed--a
remedy that will remove the curse of slavery; and under some
circumstances, make it a blessing to both masters and servants. A
compliance on the part of masters and servants with the requisitions of
God's word, will disarm slavery of all its evils and terrors. It will
bring peace and consolation to masters and servants. Herein is
manifest, the wisdom and goodness of God. When the gospel was first
promulgated slavery existed in the world, in a form, no doubt, which
made it a sore evil--a grievous curse. The cries of the oppressed had
come up before the throne of God. He was moved with compassion for
masters and servants. Go, said He, to his beloved son, to yonder world,
and remove the curse of slavery. Instruct servants to love and obey
their masters, to serve them freely and cheerfully--without murmuring
or repining--and to be content with their lot. Instruct masters to give
unto their servants that which is just and equal. To never loose sight,
in the treatment of their slaves, of the great principles of love,
justice and humanity.

Jesus Christ and his apostles went forth to preach the gospel of peace
and glad tidings. Their object was to confer the largest possible
amount of happiness on the bond and free, that they were capable of
enjoying under the circumstances. The gospel contemplated the present
happiness of the human race, as well as their future interests. It had
no design of detracting anything from the happiness of masters or
servants; on the contrary, it contemplated the augmentation of the
happiness of all who should be brought under its influence. Slavery
existed. Masters were cruel and oppressive, and slaves were
disobedient. This condition of slavery made it a sore evil--a grievous
calamity, to both masters and servants. The duty of the apostles was
clear. It was to remove those evils as far as practicable. It was to
instruct masters and servants in their relative duties; well knowing,
that obedience on their part, would remove the evils of slavery, and
make both masters and servants better and happier. Having done this,
they could do no more. Any other course would have entailed misery on
masters and servants; or otherwise would have deprived them of all
access to both servants and masters. The apostles adopted and carried
out the only practicable and effective means within their reach, of
ameliorating the condition of servants. Go, ye ministers of Jesus
Christ, and follow in their footsteps. And ye apostles of modern
reform, from whence did ye derive your authority to speak evil of
rulers? To oppose the execution of the laws of your country? to foment
strife? to sow the seeds of discontent and rebellion among the slaves,
and thereby incite masters to acts of cruelty and oppression? "Woe to
you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites."

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