The Journal of Negro History, Volume 2, 1917

Journal of Negro History,
Volume 2, 1917, by Various

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Title: The Journal of Negro History, Volume 2, 1917
Author: Various
Release Date: March 6, 2007 [EBook #20752]
Language: English
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THE JOURNAL
OF
NEGRO HISTORY
Volume II
1917

Table of Contents
Vol II--January, 1917--No. 1
Slavery and the Slave Trade in Africa JEROME DOWD The Negro in
the Field of Invention HENRY E. BAKER Anthony Benezet C. G.
WOODSON People of Color in Louisiana ALICE
DUNBAR-NELSON Notes on Connecticut as a Slave State Documents
Letters of Anthony Benezet Reviews of Books Notes
Vol II--April, 1917--No. 2
Slave Status in American Democracy JOHN M. MECKLIN John
Woolman's Efforts in Behalf of Freedom G. DAVID HOUSTON The
Tarik É Soudan A.O. STAFFORD From a Jamaica Portfolio T.H.
MACDERMOT Notes on the Nomolis of Sherbroland WALTER L.
EDWIN Documents Observations on the Negroes of Louisiana The
Conditions against which Woolman and Anthony Benezet Inveighted
Book Reviews Notes
Vol II--July, 1917--No. 3
Formation of American Colonization Society HENRY NOBLE
SHERWOOD, PH.D Slave Status in American Democracy JOHN M.

MECKLIN History of High School for Negroes in Washington MARY
CHURCH TERRELL The Danish West Indies LEILA AMOS
PENDLETON Documents Relating to the Danish West Indies Reviews
of Books Notes African Origin of Grecian Civilization
Vol II--October, 1917--No. 4
Historical Errors of James Ford Rhodes JOHN R. LYNCH The
Struggle of Haiti and Liberia for Recognition CHARLES H. WESLEY
Three Negro Poets BENJAMIN BRAWLEY Catholics and the Negro
JOSEPH BUTSCH Documents Letters of George Washington Bearing
on the Negro Petition for Compensation for the Loss of Slaves An
Extract from the Will of Robert Pleasants Proceedings of a
Reconstruction Meeting Reviews of Books Notes The First Biennial
Meeting of the Association

THE JOURNAL
OF
NEGRO HISTORY
VOL. II--JANUARY, 1917--NO. 1

SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE TRADE IN AFRICA
I. THE ORIGIN AND EXTENT OF SLAVERY IN THE SEVERAL
ECONOMIC ZONES OF AFRICA
Slavery in Africa has existed from time immemorial, having arisen, not
from any outside influence, but from the very nature of the local
conditions. The three circumstances necessary to develop slavery are:
First, a country favored by the bounty of nature. Unless nature yields
generously it is impossible for a subject class to produce surplus
enough to maintain their masters. Where nature is niggardly, as in

many hunting districts, the labor of all the population is required to
meet the demands of subsistence.
Second, a country where the labor necessary to subsistence is, in some
way, very disagreeable. In such cases every man and woman will seek
to impose the task of production upon another. Among most primitive
agricultural peoples, the labor necessary to maintenance is very
monotonous and uninteresting, and no freeman will voluntarily perform
it. On the contrary, among hunting and fishing peoples, the labor of
maintenance is decidedly interesting. It partakes of the nature of sport.
Third, a country where there is an abundance of free land. In such a
country it is impossible for one man to secure another to work for him
except by coercion; for when a man has a chance to use free land and
its products he will work only for himself, and take all the product for
himself rather than work for another and accept a bare subsistence for
himself. On the contrary, where all the land is appropriated a man who
does not own land has no chance to live except at the mercy of the
landlord. He is obliged to offer himself as a wage-earner or a tenant.
The landlord can obtain, therefore, all the help he may need without
coercion. Free labor is then economically advantageous to both the
landlord and the wage-earner, since the freedom of the latter inspires
greatly increased production. From these facts and considerations,
verified by history, it may be laid down as a sociological law that
where land is monopolized slavery necessarily yields to a regime of
freedom.[1]
In applying these principles to Africa it is necessary to take account of