Untitled - African American History

X HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY.
slaves "born in the house" were frequently armed and
went forth to battle with their master. 1
The condition of the other class, the bond-servants,
bought from the stranger and the heathen, or the captives
taken in war, was very different. 2
They were pure
slaves, considered as "a possession," and "an inheritance
for their children after them,"
to inherit them for
a possession. They were "bondmen forever." 3 These
were very numerous, and rigorous treatment of them
was tacitly allowed. That many of them were Africans
and of negro extraction, seems to admit of but little
doubt. Josephus says, " King Solomon had many ships
that lay upon the Sea of Tarsus. These he cpmmanded
to carry out all sorts of merchandise, to the remotest
nations, by the sale of which silver and gold were
brought to the king, and a great quantity of ivory, apes,
and Ethiopians." 4 These were doubtless sometimes
taken captives in the wars of Israel, 5 and frequently ob-
tained in exchange of goods, as there was undoubtedly
a slave-trade at that time, in which the Jews sometimes
engaged. 6 This practice and trade are negatively proved
by the prohibition to sell the Hebrew women that were
1 Lev. 25 : 49.
2 Gen. 17 : 13; Exodus 12 : 44-45 ; Deuter. 20 : 14, 21 : 10, 11 ; 1
Kings 9 : 20-22,; Michaelis's Comm. vol. ii,
3
Lev. 25 : 44, 45, 46.
4
art. 123.
Antiquities of the Jews, Book VIII, ch. 7, p. 293. In another edition
translated "negroes." See 2 Chron. 9 : 21 ; 1 Kings 10 : 21. I am
aware of the strictures of Gliddon and others upon the common acceptation
of the term " Ethiopians." I am inclined to believe that the term
was applied to all black races, the Hindoo as well as the negro. See remarks
of Abbe" Gregoire on this subject, in his work De la LUterature des
Ntgres,
ch. i.
5
See 2 Chron. 14 : 9 ;
1 Kings 9 : 20, 22 ; Isaiah 20 : 3, 4; 1 Chron.
9:2; Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book III, ch. ii, p. 85. The
Abb6 Gregoire cites and approves a statement of J. Ch. Jahn, in his Ar-
chasologia Biblica, that the Hebrews had negro eunuchs. Literature
des Negres, p. 7.
6 Joel 3: 8; Ezek. 27 : 13,