Analysis: An Address to the Negroes in the State of New York

Date: 1786

Author: Hammon, Jupiter

Genre: address; sermon

Summary Overview

Jupiter Hammon, born a slave owned by the Lloyd family of Long Island, New York, enjoyed an unusually close relationship with his master’s family. As a result, he had many advantages over ordinary slaves in eighteenth-century New York. Hammon was given a quality education alongside his master’s children, became a published poet, and preached the Christian gospel to fellow slaves.

During the Revolutionary War, the Lloyd family fled to Hartford, Connecticut, to escape the invading British forces. While there, Hammon gave sermons to fellow slaves about the importance of remaining loyal to their masters in a time of upheaval. The sermons were well received by slaves and free people. When the family moved back to Long Island, Hammon was given the opportunity to preach his message to New York slaves. On September 24, 1786, Hammon delivered “An Address to the Negroes in the State of New York to the New York African Society.” It was later reprinted by a number of abolitionist groups, including the Quakers, and became a staple of early antislavery literature.

On its surface, the address is an admonishment to slaves to obey their masters, learn to read the Bible, and avoid sin. Given the historical context of the time, though, it is a remarkably clever argument against slavery. It argues that owners should teach their slaves to read, reminds them that slavery is a sin that God will eventually stop, and that all people will eventually face judgment for their transgresses against God.

Document Analysis

In his speech, “An Address to the Negroes in the State of New York,” delivered at the New York African Society on September 24, 1786, Hammon condemns the institution of slavery and those who uphold it, which may be difficult for present-day readers to extrapolate from his speech. Despite his subtle condemnation, he cautions slaves in their behavior toward their masters and encourages them to become good Christians. He presents himself as an elder statesman of the black community who has had many educational advantages and is concerned about the bad behavior he sees around him. He urges his audience to read the Bible, to obey God’s law, and to act meekly toward their masters. It is not this world that matters, he asserts, but the eternity of God’s judgment, which all people will face. Freedom or slavery in life, Hammon declares, is a secondary concern compared to freedom from sin and the promise of paradise.

Hammon begins his address by comparing the slaves in New York to the biblical Jews. This reflects an early instance of a metaphor that became centrally important to the black community in its struggle for equality in the United States. In the metaphor, he compares himself to the Apostle Paul, come to speak harsh truths to bring enlightenment to his community. He describes being pained by reflecting upon his fellow slaves, finding them to be mostly poor, ignorant, and wicked. He then states that he has often hesitated to speak out because he has a sense of his own ignorance and struggles to consider himself a fit teacher.

Next, Hammon mentions that when he was living in Hartford, Connecticut, where he fled the British with his master during the Revolutionary War, he wrote several pieces on the state of the black community. He says that these pieces were considered insightful by fellow slaves as well as white slave owners, who thought that “they might do some good among their servants.” These statements give Hammon credibility not only with the slaves he is addressing, but with slave owners. By pointing out these successes in Connecticut, as well as his advanced age and wealth of life experience, he has given himself the authority to speak out honestly to slaves in New York.

In his full address, Hammon stresses that it is necessary to obey masters, even if slavery itself is wrong in the eyes of God. He points to a passage in the biblical book of Ephesians, chapter 6, verse 5, in which Paul commands that servants earnestly obey masters because true obedience is the will of Christ. Hammon underscores that this passage is a command from God to obey masters, even though many future abolitionists would explain that this passage should be interpreted as a call to obey God, not earthly masters. However, Hammon says that slaves should do what they are told cheerfully because good service is doing the will of God. This was a popular sentiment among slave owners at the time.

Hammon points out that obeying slave masters is necessary to preserve the safety and comfort of fellow slaves. He advises that even if a master does act unfairly, slaves should respond meekly. If they do, Hammon suggests, the master or others will recognize the good conduct and befriend them. If that doesn’t work, Hammon states, slaves should then “cry to him, who has the hearts of all men in his hands,” meaning God.

The second major point he makes in the full speech is that stealing from masters, in particular, is sinful. Even if they will never be found out, he states, slaves who steal from their masters are doing wrong and provoking God. Hammon says that all slaves know that stealing from masters is wrong, even though they try to excuse their bad behavior. He further states that being unfaithful to their masters in business is the same as stealing, and is, therefore, wrong. He specifically points to wasting time, which he describes as wicked. Even though slaves find excuses for being unfaithful, it is wrong, and they will have to answer to God for this wickedness. Even if masters are wicked in keeping slaves, Hammon implores slaves to “be faithful to God, to your masters, and to your own souls.”

Hammon then says he wishes to discuss the issue of profane language, or taking the Lord’s name in vain. He points to scriptural admonishments not to swear or use the name of the Lord in vain, and that God has forbidden such language. He asks his audience how common it is to hear such language, even though it is against God’s will. If those who commit the sin of profanity do not repent, he says, God may punish by sending them to hell. Hammon says that he has heard that the heathens never used the names of their false gods in vain, and asks why the followers of the true God should be so bold. He says that the use of profanity is due to temptation by Satan, who “wishes to have men think lightly of the true God.” He warns his audience that anyone using profane language is actually serving the devil.

Hammon points out that one reason that so many slaves use profane language is that they hear their masters or other white people using it. This, he admonishes, does not absolve the sin. He asks if the slaves present saw their master kill someone, would they themselves then be sinless if they committed murder. He then says that of course nobody would consider it ethical to follow a murderous master’s example, and that it is equally immoral to use the name of God in vain.

No matter how rich or powerful, Hammon states, nobody is greater than God. All people, white and black, will be judged by God some day. Those who acted according to his commandments, including not using his name in vain, will sit in heaven. This is when slavery will come to an end for his compatriots, when they reach the kingdom of God after death.

Hammon then says that he may just as well have mentioned other sins than profane language. He explains that swearing and using the Lord’s name in vain just happen to be sins to which slaves are often tempted because of bad influences. He tells his audience to become religious and to make religion the focus of their lives. And so, by instructing his audience in the ways of God, Hammon is preparing them for liberty in the afterlife. However, he is also very subtly commanding them to follow God first and their masters second. For even though the behavior he encourages benefits the master, Hammon knows that it will eventually set free the slave.

Where the above excerpt picks up again, Hammon is addressing the issue of liberty. He says that it is a fine thing if “we can get it honestly,” meaning earning it through obedience to God and to their masters. If they obey, he says, the masters may set them free. He hastens to add that he himself does not wish to be free, and that he, like many older slaves, would be lost without the masters they have always had to “take care of” them. Younger slaves, however, might have a brighter future if freed.

Hammon points to the sacrifices made in the recent Revolutionary War as proof of how important liberty is. He states that he had hoped that all the rhetoric about liberty would lead to emancipation of the slaves. Still, he maintains, it is up to God to move white people to take pity on blacks.

He says that all people are slaves to Satan unless they become good Christians, and that true liberty comes from God. Hammon reminds his audience that all people, white or black, go to heaven or hell, depending on their conduct in this world. Heaven is for those who love God, and hell is for those who hate him. Those who are not true Christians, he explains, are enemies of God and will be judged accordingly.

Hammon encourages those members of the audience who know how to read to spend as much time as possible reading the Bible, even if they need to take time away from sleeping at night. He also says that it weighs on his mind how many slaves cannot read, and that they should endeavor to learn so that they can read the Bible for themselves. This will allow them to learn about the word of God and what is necessary to please God. He also adds that reading other books will do them no good, and that if there were no Bible it would not matter if they could read, for it is in the Bible that God teaches everything a person needs to know. In this way, Hammon encourages another small rebellion, as slave owners as a whole opposed the education of slaves. They feared that if slaves were educated, they would rebel.

Hammon then recounts how God first created mankind in his image, as perfect beings, but that they fell from Grace, and afterward all people were born sinners. Only through becoming devout Christians, he says, will people earn God’s love and salvation from hell. This world, in his view, is nothing more than a trial by God to determine who will and will not be accepted into heaven. There are no people so innocent that they will not be judged, and ignorance of God’s will, no matter how good a person is, will keep an individual from heaven.

Hammon tells his audience that although we do not know when or how, a day of judgment will come. At this time, all of a person’s sins will be known, even if they were done in secret. All the people who have ever been, and all the angels, will be witnesses to a person’s deeds, however good or bad.

He then reiterates that it is important for slaves to learn how to read. The Bible, being the word of God, states that it is not the rich and powerful of the world that are chosen, but the weak. The slave community suffers more than any other people in the world. Therefore, they have the most to gain from salvation. As slaves, they will not be tempted by riches in this world and should use their efforts to get to heaven instead of worrying about material wealth.

Hammon declares that life is very short and amounts to nothing, compared to the duration of eternity. It makes more sense to seek happiness in eternal life rather than temporary comfort in their earthly lives. He says that those slaves lucky enough to have religious masters, and therefore to have been taught about Christianity, will meet them in heaven to praise God together. Slaves who do not have religious masters, but who become Christians, will be far better off in the afterlife than their former masters. Here, again, Hammon is emphasizing that all are equal in the eyes of God. He is insinuating that slave masters will be judged in the afterlife and that slaves will be set free.

Next, he admonishes his fellow blacks not to worry overly much about freedom in this life. When they get to heaven, he explains, nobody will fault them for having been a slave or look down on them for being black. When and how they achieve freedom in this life is entirely up to God. The most important thing for slaves to think about is whether or not they are slaves to Satan, as being free in this life means nothing for people beholden to the devil.

The last section of the piece is specifically directed to former slaves living as free people in the New York area. Hammon says that the advice he has outlined applies to them as well, but says that if anything, it is more important for them to heed his words. Free blacks, according to Hammon, should have the advantage of more free time in which to study the Bible. He says that if they do not use their freedoms to become better Christians, then they are no better off as free men than as slaves.

He also scolds some free blacks for being idle and engaging in immoral activities. Doing so, Hammon claims, is very harmful to those blacks who remain slaves because it supports the justification for slavery as a means of taking care of those who could not take care of themselves if they were free. White people claimed that they would resort to drinking excessively, steal from others, and refuse to work. Hammon warns that those free blacks who do not work hard to earn an honest living bolster the claims that keep most blacks enslaved. Hammon ends the piece by begging free blacks, for the sake of their own long-term happiness and the future rights of their enslaved brethren, to lead peaceful and quiet lives. He adds that he hopes God will bless and save the free blacks, allowing them into his kingdom.

Bibliography

Davis, David. The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution 1770–1823. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1999. Print.

Hammon, Jupiter. America’s First Negro Poet. Ed. Stanley R. Ransom, Jr. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat, 1970. Print.

Shields, David S. American Poetry: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. New York: Library of America, 2007. Print.

Wegelin, Oscar. Jupiter Hammon, American Negro Poet: Selections from His Writings and a Bibliography. 1915. Miami: Mnemosyne, 1969. Print.