Hamilton
Edward Patterson
I was a slave in Maryland, till thirty-three years of age.
The prejudice in Canada is amongst the whites to the colored, and amongst the colored to the whites. The colored fancy that the whites are a little against them, and so they do not treat the whites as they would otherwise,—this brings back a prejudice from the whites. When the colored people here are insulted it is by the ruffians in Canada.
I was well used, as it is called in the South, but I do n’t think my usage was human. For, what is good treatment? Look at the dress,—two pairs of pantaloons and two shirts in the summer; in the fall, one pair of shoes, one pair of pantaloons, and one pair of stockings. If they want more, they must buy them themselves if they can. No more till summer. Look at the eating,—a bushel of corn meal a month, sixteen pounds hog meat a month, rye coffee sweetened with molasses, and milk if they have any; for a rarity, wheat bread and butter. This is what I called good treatment. Look at the bedding,—sometimes they have a bed, sometimes not. If they have one, it is filled with straw or hay, and they have one blanket, and must get along as they can. Those who have no beds must sleep how they can—in the ashes, before the fire, in the barn or stable, or anywhere they can get. Now look at the privileges where they are well used,—what is called good treatment. After eleven days and a half hard labor, the kindest masters give their slaves half a Saturday, and then the slave, through ignorance, goes to ask his master the privilege of going to see his neighbors and friends. He may allow this if he sees proper. All this is good usage to the slave.
Now I come to the great evil: it is,—recollect the human mind is progressive,—the raising up of a generation of people under gross ignorance, in the place of their being cultivated as they ought to be. Cut off from all proper human enjoyments, they are only instructed enough to do their master’s will—the same instruction which is given to asses. If the slave happen to take to himself a woman, (marrying a wife would be too high phrase,) and there is any increase, his children are considered of no more consequence to him than the calf is to the cow. If the slaveholder becomes involved, or takes a dislike to any of these children, or to the woman, he takes them to a slave-market and puts them under the hammer. And all this in presence of the husband.
If any man has a wife and family, and has human feelings for them, can he call this humanity?
I was never sent to a day school—I went to a Sabbath school four Sundays. I have, however, picked up a knowledge of reading, writing, and ciphering.