The Journal of Negro History

The Journal of Negro History,
Volume 1, January 1916

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Title: The Journal of Negro History, Vol. I. Jan. 1916
Author: Various
Release Date: October 5, 2004 [EBook #13642]
Language: English
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THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY
EDITED BY
CARTER G. WOODSON

VOL. I., No. 1 JANUARY, 1916
PUBLISHED QUARTERLY

CONTENTS

CARTER G. WOODSON: The Negroes of Cincinnati Prior to the Civil
War
W. B. HARTGROVE: The Story of Maria Louise Moore and Fannie M.
Richards
MONROE N. WORK: The Passing Tradition and the African
Civilization
A. O. STAFFORD: The Mind of the African Negro as reflected in his
Proverbs
DOCUMENTS: What the Negro was thinking during the Eighteenth
Century. Letters showing the Rise and Progress of the early Negro
Churches of Georgia and The West Indies.
REVIEWS OF BOOKS: STEWARD'S _Haitian Revolution_;
CROMWELL'S _The Negro in American History_; ELLIS'S _Negro
Culture in West Africa_; and WOODSON'S _The Education of the
Negro Prior to 1861_.
NOTES

THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF NEGRO LIFE AND
HISTORY, INCORPORATED
41 North Queen Street, Lancaster, PA. 2223 Twelfth Street,
Washington, D.C.
25 Cents A Copy $1.00 A Year
Copyright, 1916
Application made for entry as second class mail matter at the Postoffice
at Lancaster, Pa.

THE NEGROES OF CINCINNATI PRIOR TO THE CIVIL WAR

The study of the history of the Negroes of Cincinnati is unusually

important for the reason that from no other annals do we get such
striking evidence that the colored people generally thrive when
encouraged by their white neighbors. This story is otherwise significant
when we consider the fact that about a fourth of the persons of color
settling in the State of Ohio during the first half of the last century
made their homes in this city. Situated on a north bend of the Ohio
where commerce breaks bulk, Cincinnati rapidly developed, attracting
both foreigners and Americans, among whom were not a few Negroes.
Exactly how many persons of color were in this city during the first
decade of the nineteenth century is not yet known. It has been said that
there were no Negroes in Hamilton County in 1800.[1] It is evident, too,
that the real exodus of free Negroes and fugitives from the South to the
Northwest Territory did not begin prior to 1815, although their
attention had been earlier directed to this section as a more desirable
place for colonization than the shores of Africa.[2] As the reaction
following the era of good feeling toward the Negroes during the
revolutionary period had not reached its climax free persons of color
had been content to remain in the South.[3] The unexpected
immigration of these Negroes into this section and the last bold effort
made to drive them out marked epochs in their history in this city. The
history of these people prior to the Civil War, therefore, falls into three
periods, one of toleration from 1800 to 1826, one of persecution from
1826 to 1841, and one of amelioration from 1841 to 1861.
In the beginning the Negroes were not a live issue in Cincinnati. The
question of their settlement in that community was debated but resulted
in great diversity of opinion rather than a fixedness of judgment among
the citizens. The question came up in the Constitutional Convention of
1802 and provoked some discussion, but reaching no decision, the
convention simply left the Negroes out of the pale of the newly
organized body politic, discriminating against them together with
Indians and foreigners, by incorporating the word white into the
fundamental law.[4] The legislature to which the disposition of this
question was left, however, took it up in 1804 to calm the fears of those
who had more seriously considered the so-called menace of Negro
immigration. This body enacted a law, providing that no Negro or
mulatto should be allowed to remain permanently in that State, unless
he could furnish a certificate of freedom issued by some court in the

United States. Negroes then living there had to be registered before the
following June, giving the names of their children. No man could
employ a Negro who could not show such a certificate. Hiring a
delinquent black or harboring or hindering the capture of a runaway
was punishable by a fine of $50 and the owner of a