An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans

An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans is an 1833 book by American writer Lydia Maria Child in favor of the immediate emancipation of the slaves without compensation to slaveholders.[1][2][3]

Illustration from the book, page 16

It is the first book in support of this policy written by a white woman.[4][5][6] It was published by Allen & Ticknor in Boston, a predecessor to Ticknor and Fields, at the expense of the author.[7] She spent about three years researching and writing the book and often drew from William Lloyd Garrison's antislavery newspaper The Liberator and likely David Walker's 1829 Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World.[8]

Child's argument includes a distrust of the growing political power of the Southern states which she perceived as a proslavery oligarchy. She addresses her concern in a chapter titled "Influence of Slavery on the Politics of the United States" and specifically uses the Missouri Compromise as an example.[9]


Chapters

An Appeal  has a total of 8 chapters with a preface. Each chapter in An Appeal begins with a brief quote or poem, including those from Wordsworth, Julius Caesar, Montesquieu, and a stanza from Hamlet.[10]


"BRIEF HISTORY OF NEGRO SLAVERY.—ITS INEVITABLE EFFECT UPON ALL CONCERNED IN IT."

In her first chapter, Child draws much or the content and inspiration from British abolitionist Thomas Clarkson's two-volume History.[11] In this chapter she remarks on the traffic and treatment of slaves:

“We say the negroes are so ignorant that they must be slaves; and we insist upon keeping them ignorant, lest we spoil them for slaves.”

"COMPARATIVE VIEW OF SLAVERY, IN DIFFERENT AGES AND NATIONS."

The second chapter, and the longest of the piece, "COMPARATIVE VIEW OF SLAVERY, IN DIFFERENT AGES AND NATIONS." regards the practice of slavery within the United States and in other countries, including both present and ancient societies. It starts by mentioning the slave trade by Spanish and Portuguese, and the capture of black Africans.[10]


"FREE LABOR AND SLAVE LABOR.—POSSIBILITY OF SAFE EMANCIPATION."

“Free Labor and Slave Labor. -- Possibility of Safe Emancipation” concerns the transition to abolition. Namely, slavery isn’t necessarily needed for the health of an economy, and free labor could benefit slaveholders to a greater extent. To her point, she states Slaves are “bought, sometimes at a very high price”, “children of the slave must be supported by his master”, “The slave does not care how slowly or carelessly he works”, and claims “Two hired laborers will perform as much work as three slaves”.[10] Child again mentions that the supporters of slavery will “ base their arguments upon the necessity of continuing slavery because it is already begun”.

There are numerous mentions of Central American countries that have stopped the practice of slavery, either by revolutions or peaceful transition. These include Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, and Tortola among others.

"INFLUENCE OF SLAVERY ON THE POLITICS OF THE UNITED STATES."

In this chapter, Child refers to the handling of slavery during the inception of the United States. She mentions the Three-Fifths Compromise, as well as the effect of slavery as a whole on a number of the states. She brings up the apparent divide of the U.S. during that time: free northern states and slave-holding southern states in contest. The aggression is nothing good, as she claims “Who does not see that the American people are walking over a subterranean fire, the flames of which are fed by slavery?”[10]


COLONIZATION SOCIETY, AND ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY.

This fifth chapter discusses the beliefs of those working with slavery, and the concern for the undesirable outcomes of treating blacks as equals. The worry that blacks would marry white men’s daughters was prevalent, for example. But there seems to be no hope of that yet at all, as she states:

“But so long as the South insist that slavery is unavoidable, and say they will not tolerate any schemes tending to its abolition—and so long as the North take the necessity of slavery for an unalterable truth, and put down any discussions, however mild and candid, which tend to show that it may be done away with safety—so long as we thus strengthen each other's hands in evil, what remote hope is there of emancipation?”[10]

Child also connects the pro-slavery society with colonization. The nature of colonization makes it wicked, in most people’s opinions, but that slavery is very similar.


"INTELLECT OF NEGROES."

Chapter 6, Intellect of Negroes prepares a strong argument for the equal humanity of blacks and whites. This chapter is based upon Thomas Clarkson's two-volume History, and Henri Grégoire's An Enquiry concerning the Intellectual and Moral Faculties, and Literature of Negroes.[11]

As an example of black greatness, Toussaint L'Ouverture is mentioned, as an exemplary black man and a great leader. Child also brings up evidence that ancient societies had respect for blacks: “Even the proud Grecians evinced respect for Ethiopia, almost amounting to reverence, and derived thence the sublimest portions of their mythology.” [10]


"MORAL CHARACTER OF NEGROES."

This chapter begins with a short excerpt from “The Negro's Complaint” by Cowper. As the title suggests, the chapter discusses the morality of Negros and delves deeper into their culture. A recount of Mungo Park’s trip to a place called “Sego”, in “Bambarra” includes a surprising song sung by the women there, "Let us pity the white man” being the first line of the chorus.[10]

Mention is again given to the Greek reverence of Ethiopia, and Toussaint L'Ouverture: “The moral character of Toussaint L'Ouverture is even more worthy of admiration than his intellectual acuteness”.[10]


"PREJUDICES AGAINST PEOPLE OF COLOR, AND OUR DUTIES IN RELATION TO THIS SUBJECT."

Child begins her 8th and final chapter with a sobering note:

“While we bestow our earnest disapprobation on the system of slavery, let us not flatter ourselves that we are in reality any better than our brethren of the South [...] Our prejudices against colored people is even more inveterate than it is at the South.”[10]

She urges readers of her book to question the act of slavery, the morality of the issue, and the potential solutions to it. She finishes by stating:

“By publishing this book I have put my mite into the treasury. The expectation of displeasing all classes has not been unaccompanied with pain. But it has been strongly impressed upon my mind that it was a duty to fulfil [sic] this task; and earthly considerations should never stifle the voice of conscience.”[10]

References
  1. "Lydia Maria Child's Appeal". utc.iath.virginia.edu. Archived from the original on 2003-02-23. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  2. "An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans | work by Child". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  3. "Dangerous Ideas: Controversial Works from the William L. Clements Library - An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans". clements.umich.edu. Archived from the original on 2019-09-20. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  4. "An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans | University of Massachusetts Press". www.umass.edu. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  5. "An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans - Dictionary definition of An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans | Encyclopedia.com: FREE online dictionary". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  6. "Lydia Maria Child". Poetry Foundation. 2016-11-17. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  7. Winship, Michael. American Literary Publishing in the Mid-Nineteenth Century: The Business of Ticknor and Fields. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995: 16. ISBN 0-521-45469-7
  8. Karcher, Carolyn L. The First Woman in the Republic: A Cultural Biography of Lydia Maria Child. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1994: 176–177. ISBN 0822321637
  9. Karcher, Carolyn L. The First Woman in the Republic: A Cultural Biography of Lydia Maria Child. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1994: 9. ISBN 0822321637
  10. Child, Lydia Maria (1833). An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans. Allen & Ticknor.
  11. "Lydia Maria Child | American author". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-10-25.

* s:Index:An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans.djvu - full transcript at Wikisource


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