Texas, its claims to be recognised as an independent power by Great Britain : examined in a series of letters Page: 18 of 58
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16
over again in countries 'so situated, until the rationale of slavery
shall come to be understood, and artificial means be devised of
rendering land dear where it is naturally cheap."
2. IIis facts: IHe says that "in all ages and countries slavery
has existed in some shape while land was very cheap, and has been
as surely abolished when and wherever land became dear ;" that
the "efforts of abolitionists hitherto, it is not only admitted, but
emphatically asserted by the most zealous of them, llave done more
harm than good-have greatly aggravated the evil which it was
their object to cure ;" that "England has ruined an important part
of her Colonial empireby abolishing slavery there,
ithout providing
any substitute in the form of labour for hire ;" and that "we have
set fiee 800,000 ncgroes in the West Indies, and have thereby
prompted Brazil to import as many fiesh slaves from Af:ica."
Such are his principles and his proofs. Proofs ! I deny that he
has or can prove the truth of his theory. He may invoke history
in vain, philosophy in vain, in its support; they both repudiate it;
and demonstrate, that, as far as the value of land is involved in
the question of slavery, the reverse of this is true. Slavery depreciates
the value of land by impoverishing it. Look at Maryland,
Virginia, and Kentucky, with their immense districts of land,
once fertile and flourishing, now entirely worn out and abandoned,
notwithstanding the increase of the slave population in these
States, and, consequently, increased means for its profitable cultivation.
It is quite clear that, if the slave-holders in them could not find
a vent for tile sale of their surplus slave population in the markets of
Louisiana, Mississippi, and one or two other States, RUIN or EMANCIPATION
would speedily take place. The fact is, only the most
fertile lands-lands most intrinsically valuable-can sustain slavery.
Ience we find that slavery is gradually receding southward andwestward
in the United States, leaving its curse upon the soil it has been
compelled to abandon, a legacy for fieemen! And now contrast
Pennsylvania and Ohio, not to mention other free States bordering
on the slave States, and we behold flourishing communities
and a wealthy population, whose demand for manufactures such as
Great Britain can supply, is ten-fold greater, in proportion to the
population, than that of their neighbour States cursed by slavery.
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Scoble, John. Texas, its claims to be recognised as an independent power by Great Britain : examined in a series of letters, book, 1839; London. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth6108/m1/18/: accessed April 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.