THE RELATION OF MASTER AND SLAVE,

Fundamental idea of modern Slaveholding, namely, the assumed principle of Human Chattelhood, or Property in Man, constituting the relation of Owner and Property, of Master and Slave

Sale—Purchase—Barter—Mortgage—Auction—Coffle-gang—Shipments—as absolutely as in the case of any other Property, and by the same tenure

As Property, Slaves may be seized and sold to pay the debts of their Owners, while living, or for the Settlement of their Estates after their Decease,

Slaves, as Property, are transmitted by Inheritance, or by Will, to heirs at law or legatees. In the distribution of Estates they are distributed like other Property,

Slaves, as Property, may be USED, absolutely, by their Owners, for their own profit or pleasure,

Being Property themselves, they can own no property, nor make any contract,

Being held as Property, and incapable of making any Contract, they cannot contract Marriage recognized by law,

Being Property,—“Goods and Chattels Personal, to all intents, constructions, and purposes whatsoever,”—they have no claim on each other; no security from separation; no Marital Rights; no Parental Rights; no Family Government; no Family Education; no Family Protection,

The Power of the Master or Owner is virtually unlimited; the submission required of the Slave is unbounded; the Save, being Property, can have no Protection against the Master, and has no redress for injuries inflicted by him

The Slave, being a Chattel, may be worked at the discretion of his Owner, as other working Chattels are,

The Slave, as a Chattel, is fed or famished, covered or uncovered, sheltered or unsheltered, at the discretion or convenience of his Owner, like other working animals,

The “legal relation of Master and Slave,” being the relation of an Owner to a Chattel, is incompatible with the natural and Heaven-sanctioned “relation” of Labor and Wages.

Being the absolute Property of the Owner, the Slave is wholly in his power, without any effectual restraint,

The structure of the Laws and the condition of the Slaves render adequate Protection impossible.

All the power of the Owner over his Slave is held and exercised also by Overseers and Agents,

Slaves are better protected as Property than they are as Sentient Beings,

The Extent, the Atrocity, the Frequency, and the Impunity of barbarous Outrages upon Slaves, show that the laws afford them little or no Protection,

The Slave, being Property, may be hampered and confined to prevent his escape; may be pursued and reclaimed; must not be aided or concealed from his Master; and when too wild or refractory to be used by his Owner, may be killed by him with impunity

Slave Property cannot litigate with its Owner

The Slave, being a Chattel, has no power of Self-redemption, nor of an exchange of Owners

Slaves, being held as Property, like other Domestic Animals, their Offspring are held as Property in the same manner

The Slave, being held as a Chattel, is held by a tenure which excludes any legal recognition of his rights as a thinking and religious being,

The so-called “legal relation” of Slave Ownership of Negroes originated in that African Slave-Trade which our laws now punish as piracy; but Slavery is, in general, extended over all classes whom the Slaveholders have been able to seize upon and retain—over Indians, free persons of Color, and Whites,

RELATION OF THE SLAVE TO SOCIETY AND TO CIVIL GOVERNMENT.

The Civil Condition of the Slave grows out of his relation to his Master, as Property, and is determined and defined by it

“A Slave cannot be a Party to a Civil Suit.” (Stroud.)

Slavery is upheld by suppressing the testimony of its victims,

Submission is required of the Slave, not only to the will of his Master, but to the will of all other White Persons,

The Laws are unequal; their administration despotic: their execution barbarous. Even this is exceeded by “Lynch Law,”

The Slave, not being regarded as a Member of Society, nor as a Human Being, the Government, instead of providing for his Education, takes care to forbid it, as being inconsistent with the condition of Chattelhood

The Government not only allows the Master to forbid the Free Social Worship and Instruction of his Slaves, but it also steps in with direct prohibitions of its own, which even the Master himself may not relax or abrogate,

The Statutes of the Slave States not only make no provision for a general Emancipation, but they obstruct and prevent ELmancipations by the Master. And the Constitutions of some of the States forbid the Legislatures to abolish Slavery,

RELATION OF THE SLAVE CODE TO THE LIBERTIES OF THE FREE.

The free People of Color, though not in a condition of Chattelhood, are constantly exposed to it, and, at best, enjoy only a portion of their rights,

The White People of the Slaveholding States, whether Slaveholders or Non Slaveholders, are deprived, by the Slave Code, of some of their essential Rights, and cannot be regarded as a people in possession of Civil, Religious and Political Freedom,

The Rights of the White People of the Non-Slaveholding States are directly and indirectly invaded by the Slave Code of the Slave States; their Liberties, to a great extent, have already fallen a sacrifice, and can never be secure while Slaveholding continues,

Summary Review of the Slave Code; its Character and Erfects—Inquiries concerning the Duty of Chrisianrs, Churches, and Ministers—The Responsibilities of Citizens, of Society, of Civil Government, of Legislators, of Magistrates—Scrutiny of the Legality of American Slavery—The Heaven prescribed Remedy—The Worthlessness of Temporizing Expedients—Closing Appeal