About: A Child's Anti-Slavery Book by Various

A CHILD'S ANTI SLAVERY BOOK

Produced by Audrey Longhurst and PG Distributed Proofreaders.

[Illustration: A SLAVE FATHER SOLD AWAY FROM HIS FAMILY.]

THE CHILD'S ANTI SLAVERY BOOK

CONTAINING A

Few Words about American Slave Children.

AND

STORIES OF SLAVE LIFE.

TEN ILLUSTRATIONS.

CONTENTS.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT AMERICAN SLAVE CHILDREN

LITTLE LEWIS THE STORY OF A SLAVE BOY

MARK AND HASTY

AUNT JUDY'S STORY A STORY FROM REAL LIFE

ME NEBER GIVE IT UP

Illustrations.

A SLAVE FATHER SOLD AWAY FROM HIS FAMILY.

LITTLE LEWIS SOLD.

WHIPPING A SLAVE.

HUNTING RUNAWAY SLAVES.

HASTY'S GRIEF.

AUNT JUDY'S HUSBAND CAPTURED.

HANDCUFFING JUDY'S HUSBAND.

WAITING TO BE SOLD.

AUNT JUDY.

"ME NEBER GIB IT UP!"

A FEW WORDS ABOUT AMERICAN SLAVE CHILDREN.

Children, you are free and happy. Kind parents watch over you withloving eyes; patient teachers instruct you from the beautiful pages ofthe printed book; benign laws, protect you from violence, and preventthe strong arms of wicked people from hurting you; the blessed Bible isin your hands; when you become men and women you will have full libertyto earn your living, to go, to come, to seek pleasure or profit in anyway that you may choose, so long as you do not meddle with the rights ofother people; in one word, _you are free children_! Thank God! thankGod! my children, for this precious gift. Count it dearer than life. Askthe great God who made you free to teach you to prefer death to the lossof liberty.

But are all the children in America free like you? No, no! I am sorry totell you that hundreds of thousands of American children are _slaves_.Though born beneath the same sun and on the same soil, with the samenatural right to freedom as yourselves, they are neverthelessSLAVES.Alas for them! Their parents cannot train them as they will, for theytoo haveMASTERS. These masters say to them:

"Your children areOURS OUR PROPERTY! They shall not be taught to reador write; they shall never go to school; they shall not be taught toread the Bible; they must submit to us and not to you; we shall whipthem, sell them, and do what else we please with them. They shall neverown themselves, never have the right to dispose of themselves, but shallobey us in all things as long as they live!"

"Why do their fathers let these masters have their children? My fatherwouldn't let anybody have me," I hear one of my little free spiritedreaders ask.

Simply, my noble boy, because they can't help it. The masters havebanded themselves together, and have made a set of wicked laws by whichnearly four millions of men, women, and children are declared to betheir personal chattels, or property. So that if one of these slavefathers should refuse to let his child be used as the property of hismaster, those wicked laws would help the master by inflicting cruelpunishments on the parent. Hence the poor slave fathers and mothers areforced to silently witness the cruel wrongs which their helplesschildren are made to suffer. Violence has been framed into a law, andthe poor slave is trodden beneath the feet of the powerful.

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