H. Blackmarr to Frederick Douglass, January 22, 1856

For Frederick Douglass' Paper.

EDUCATION OF THE COLORED PEOPLE—NO. 1.

FRIEND DOUGLASS: SIR:—I take up my pen at this time to sketch a few thoughts in respect to the cause of suffering humanity, and thereby to contribute my mite for the advancement of the cause of freedom. In looking over the condition of the colored people of this country, my heart is often moved with pity, in view of their oppression, degradation and suffering.— And why should I not feel? They are men, my fellows, my brethren for whom Christ died, and to whom the portals of heaven are open, on the same conditions as to other men, and yet in their efforts to regain their God-given rights to "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," must contend with public opinion, popular prejudice, the influence of monetary interests, and unrighteous laws, even though they sustain good, moral, and christian characters.— Under such circumstances, every colored man must feel his degradation, this heartless world looks down upon him with disdain; and feel it the more sensibly, too, as he is the more intelligent. And every true philanthropist will commiserate such sufferings. The effects of the foul system of slavery are not confined within its own border, would that they were; but they extend over sea and land, over free and bond, children and men. The trembling slave and panting fugitive are not the only sufferers, but almost everywhere its influence hangs upon the colored man like an incubus upon his progress, threatening the fondest hopes that heaven has instituted. But after all, in some things he may rejoice. Life glows in his countenance, intelligence sparkles in his eye, and immortality nestles within as well as in his paler neighbor. Make him free, give him facilities, and he will soar to the heights of intellectual greatness, feast upon the elysian fruits of earthly paradise, and drink of the streams that make glad the city

of God. He will be a man. Complexion is no barrier to intellectual progress nor elevation. But for Slavery, "the sum of all villainies," heir of hell, and child of human depravity, these blessings had long since been enjoyed by the now outraged and down-trodden sons of Africa. Thank heaven; they are only crushed, not subdued. Their cause lies deep in God's compassion, deep in a Savior's love, and deep in every good man's heart, and must prevail.— Liberty must triumph. AMERICA MUST BE FREE. Liberty is the true atmosphere of the soul, and, therefore, does not consist in the enjoyments of secural rights or governmental immunities, but in true intellectual greatness. It is he that is made free by the Son of God, who is free indeed.

Without this liberty, though enjoying all the privileges earth can afford, a man is in the worst of bondage. One man, by physical force, may deprive another of his prerogative to do as he will, and thereby cramp and tramel the mind.— And the great evil of Slavery lies in the arrogant claim of one class of men to deprive another of themselves and their right to voluntary action. That claim is based upon the unrighteous absurd doctrine of the intellectual inferiority of the colored race. Disprove this false theory, and the work is comparatively done. That will devolve upon the colored people alone. No body else can do it.

H. BLACKMARR

ROCHESTER, Jan. 22, 1855 [1856].