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Article ON AFRICAN SLAVERY. Page 1 of 4 →
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On African Slavery.
ON AFRICAN SLAVERY .
[ By Mr - SWIFT . ]
THE untutored African was safely sheltered in his native woods , without fear of any foreign power , till the time of the Portuguese discoveries . A short time after thfe splendid-adventure of Columbus , Vasco de Gama completed those discoveries by steering round the Cape of Good Hope , and opening to his country the inexhaustible riches of the East . This event produced a revolution that changed the channels
of commerce , and poured upon Europe the delicacies and luxuries of the Indus and Ganges . The Portuguese first imported the Africans into Europe , and made that miserable nation an article of traffic . They were followed by the Spanish , and all the commercial nations , for the purpose of supplying with slaves their American colonies . All eagerly engaged in a branch of trade that held out such lucrative profits as to
stifle the feeble voice of compassion , and the unsupported claims of justice . In this manner the discovery of America has proved a most Calamitous event to Africa , and has extended the slave-trade to such a degree , as to call upon humanity , philosophy , and religion , to combine
their exertions to abolish so destructive a custom . America is the only christian country where domestic slavery is tolerated in any considerable degree . —May it be the g lory of the present age to wipe away this reproach from , our land . 'To attempt a refutation of the arguments advanced in defence of this custom , in this enli g htened period , would be a useless labour . Dissimilarity of complexionand inferiority of mind , are arguments so
, far from j ustifying this conduct , that they serve to evince , that the extreme baseness of the persons who advance them can only be exceeded by those who carry them into practice , by taking an unfair advantage of the weak and defenceless state of their fellow creatures , and doubling those jnisfortunes which , it is pretended , they have inherited as their portion from the God of nature .
That the condition of the African is meliorated by removing him from Ms native wilds to the cultivated fields of America , will appear to be false , upon an examination of the fact . In their own country , before their retreat was discovered by the European merchants , the savages of Africa lived in the exercise of that freedom and independence which are natural to their state in society , and in the enjoyment of that repose and indolence which resulted from the warmth of their climate and the . .
fertility of their soil . Though destitute of the security of a well-regu-. lated government , and exposed to all the distresses of frequent wars ; yet , from their innocence and simplicity of manners , they derived a felicity and tranquillity of mind which are unknown to their barbarous oppressors , and which perhaps fall not so far short of the artificial , pleasures of polished life as pride and vanity have pretended . Sudj .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On African Slavery.
ON AFRICAN SLAVERY .
[ By Mr - SWIFT . ]
THE untutored African was safely sheltered in his native woods , without fear of any foreign power , till the time of the Portuguese discoveries . A short time after thfe splendid-adventure of Columbus , Vasco de Gama completed those discoveries by steering round the Cape of Good Hope , and opening to his country the inexhaustible riches of the East . This event produced a revolution that changed the channels
of commerce , and poured upon Europe the delicacies and luxuries of the Indus and Ganges . The Portuguese first imported the Africans into Europe , and made that miserable nation an article of traffic . They were followed by the Spanish , and all the commercial nations , for the purpose of supplying with slaves their American colonies . All eagerly engaged in a branch of trade that held out such lucrative profits as to
stifle the feeble voice of compassion , and the unsupported claims of justice . In this manner the discovery of America has proved a most Calamitous event to Africa , and has extended the slave-trade to such a degree , as to call upon humanity , philosophy , and religion , to combine
their exertions to abolish so destructive a custom . America is the only christian country where domestic slavery is tolerated in any considerable degree . —May it be the g lory of the present age to wipe away this reproach from , our land . 'To attempt a refutation of the arguments advanced in defence of this custom , in this enli g htened period , would be a useless labour . Dissimilarity of complexionand inferiority of mind , are arguments so
, far from j ustifying this conduct , that they serve to evince , that the extreme baseness of the persons who advance them can only be exceeded by those who carry them into practice , by taking an unfair advantage of the weak and defenceless state of their fellow creatures , and doubling those jnisfortunes which , it is pretended , they have inherited as their portion from the God of nature .
That the condition of the African is meliorated by removing him from Ms native wilds to the cultivated fields of America , will appear to be false , upon an examination of the fact . In their own country , before their retreat was discovered by the European merchants , the savages of Africa lived in the exercise of that freedom and independence which are natural to their state in society , and in the enjoyment of that repose and indolence which resulted from the warmth of their climate and the . .
fertility of their soil . Though destitute of the security of a well-regu-. lated government , and exposed to all the distresses of frequent wars ; yet , from their innocence and simplicity of manners , they derived a felicity and tranquillity of mind which are unknown to their barbarous oppressors , and which perhaps fall not so far short of the artificial , pleasures of polished life as pride and vanity have pretended . Sudj .