William Bevan
Published: 2015-08-05
Total Pages: 68
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Excerpt from The Operation of the Apprenticeship System in the British Colonies: A Statement, the Substance of Which Was Presented and Adopted at the Meeting of the Liverpool Anti-Slavery Society, December 19th 1837; With References to Official Documents, Authentic Narratives, and Additional Subsequent Information "I propose," then," he said, "that every slave, on the passing of this Act, shall forthwith have the power of claiming to be put in a situation, in which he shall enjoy all the privileges of a free man, - in which he shall feel no taint of his servile condition, - in which he shall be freed from the atrocious system of irresponsible corporeal punishment, - in which he shall have the full enjoyment of his domestic ties, - in which he shall not be compelled to see those that are nearest and dearest to him insulted by punishment, or liable to degradation, - in which his evidence shall not be disputable in a court of justice, - in which his right to property of every description shall be as undisputed as every other class of the King's subjects, - in which he shall enjoy every right and every privilege of A Free Man, subject to this restriction, and this restriction only, that he shall, for a certain time, remain under contract to labour industriously in the service of his present owner, but his then employer." Notwithstanding this explicit avowal, and although the conditions of the contract have been, in every respect, fulfilled by the British Government, and those required of the Negroes have been performed in the most exemplary manner; - the conditions required of the Colonists have been, and continue to be, in the majority of cases, violated. The Twenty Millions sterling has been freely and honorably paid; but adequate and satisfactory provision for carrying into effect the design of the measure, has not been furnished. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.