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Show 74 DESPOTISM SECTION Vlli. Wealth and lu:r:ury of the masters, as it a,ffects the condition of slaves. It is a fact well worthy of consideration, that with the progress of wealth and luxury am~ng the masters, the sufferings, the misery, the degradation of the s laves have been steadily aggravated; till at len gtl~ , m the wealthiest and most refined of our slave holdmg comnulnitics, a point has been ~cached , both in theory and fd ~ractice, beyond which 1t. does not sec:n easy to go. The mildest form of Amencan slavery IS to be found, not amoncr the polite and well educated citizens of Richmond and Charleston, but amid the rude and wild abodes of the Creeks, the Choctaws, the Seminoles,- tribcs whom we describe and stigmatize, as savages. The indian slaves, arc in many respects, almost upon a level with their masters. 'rhc wants of savao- e life are few and simple. 'I' he avarice o[ the mast.;' r is not stimulated by the greediness of luxury. He is content with a moderate annual tribute of corn and other provisions; and provided this be paid, the slave is left at liberty to procure 1t as he pleases, and to employ his time and strength as he best sees fit. It thus happens that an indian slave is sometimes n chcr .1 ~1an his mas ter; and if he have talents and ambitiOn, though still a slave, he may become on~ of the most influential persons of the tribe. . '"rhe indian slaves are well aware how supenor JS their condition to that of the miserable sufferers, who labor for white masters, upon cotton and sugar plantations · and the dread they have of that lot, as well as the i1~fluence they are able to exercise, may be clearly illustrated by the case of the Seminole war. That war, accordin~ to the statement of those best acquamted with th.:' subject, had the following origin. . It was not that the i11dians themselves had such senous ob- IN Al\TERICA. 75 jections to removal ; but as th.e time for the execu.tion of. the treaty approached, then country was overrun with speculators and adventurers from the states wl ~an:e partly to set up claims, true or false, to c~rta:~ md1an slaves, 0~1 the ground that they were runaways, or the c~Jld:en of runaways, who had years ago fled to the Scm moles for prote_ction ; and partly to set on fo?t a slav~ trade With the mdtans, who, it was hoped might be. mduced at the moment of their removal to part With thCir servants for little or nothing. The mdmn slaves were filled with terror and alarm at this prospect of fallmg into the hands of white masters ; and It IS believed to have been by their instigation and encouragement, that the Seminoles were induced to resist the execution of the treaty, and to commence the war. The small planter, who can ne ither read nor write who has been bred up in poverty and ignorance but who has wandered into some new settlement and has earned by his own personal labor, the means to purchase two or three slaves, next to the wild indian is the most mild and indulgent master. He works ,;ith hts slaves in the field, he converses with them and consults them. If either of them exhibits any peculiar shrewdness or good judgment, the master percmvcs It, and aya!ls htmsclf of it ; and such a slave often b~comes hts owner's chief confidant ami adviser. In l~ts fits of drunkenness, or those bursts of passion to winch the rude and uneducated are peculiarly liable, such a master beats and abuses his slaves. But he does the same thing to his wife and children. ln general he treats them with a certain dearcc of tcnd~ rness and familiarity ; and as they arc a~vays about him,. by flattery, management and importunity, they are able l? carry a thousand points, and to secure a thousand mdulgcnces. But as such a planter grow.s rich and increases the 1\umber o.f his slaves, his feelings' and his conduct c lange wllh his condition. He appears in the field not as a laborer, but on horseback, whip in hand. H~ |