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James Cox - My Native Land
When the reader goes to San Francisco, as we hope he will go some day, if he has not already visited it,
he will be told within a few minutes of his entering the city, that he has at least reached what may be
fairly termed God's country. Of the glorious climate of California he will hear much at every step, and
before he has been in the city many days, he will wonder how he is to get out of it alive if he is to see but
a fraction of the wonderful sights to which his attention is called.
California is frequently spoken of as the Golden State. The name California was given to the territory
comprising the State and Lower California as long ago as 1510, when a Spanish novelist, either in fancy
or prophecy, wrote concerning "the great land of California, where an abundance of gold and precious
stones are found." In 1848, California proper was ceded to the United States, and in the same year the
discovery of gold at Colomo put a stop to the peace and quiet which had prevailed on the fertile plains,
the unexplored mountains and the attractive valleys. Shortly after, a hundred thousand men rushed into
the State, and for the first few years as many as a hundred thousand miners were kept steadily at work.
It was in 1856 that the famous Vigilance Committee was formed. In the month of May of that year
murderers were taken from jail and executed, the result being that the Governor declared San Francisco
to be in a state of insurrection. The Vigilance Committee gained almost sovereign power, and before it
disbanded in August, it had a parade in which over 5,000 armed, disciplined men took part.
Two years later, the overland mail commenced its journeys and the celebrated pony express followed in
1860. Railroads followed soon after, and instead of being a practically unknown country, several weeks'
journey from the old established cities, the lightning express has brought the Pacific so near to the
Atlantic that time and space seem to have been almost annihilated.
CHAPTER XIV. BEFORE EMANCIPATION AND AFTER.
First Importation of Negro Slaves into America - The Original Abolitionists - A Colored Enthusiast and a
Coward - Origin of the word "Secession" - John Brown's Fanaticism - Uncle Tom's Cabin - Faithful unto
Death - George Augustus Sala on the Negro who Lingered too long in the Mill Pond.
The American negro is such a distinct character that he cannot be overlooked in a work of this nature.
Some people think he is wholly bad, and that although he occasionally assumes a virtue, he is but playing
a part, and playing it but indifferently well at that. Others place him on a lofty pedestal, and magnify him
into a hero and a martyr.
But the Afro-American, commonly called a "nigger" in the South, is neither the one nor the other. He is
often as worthless as the "white trash" he so scornfully despises, and he is often all that the most exacting
could expect, when his surroundings and disadvantages are taken into consideration. Physiologists tell us
that man is very largely what others make him, many going so far as to say that character and disposition
are three parts hereditary and one part environment. If this is so, a good deal of allowance should be
made. It is less than 300 years since the first negroes were brought over to this country, and it is but little
more than thirty years since slavery was abolished. Hence, from both the standpoints of descent and
environment, the negro is at a great disadvantage, and he should hardly be judged by the common
standard.
It was in the year 1619 that a Dutch ship landed a cargo of negroes from Guinea, but that was not really
the first case of slavery in this country. Prior to that time paupers and criminals from the old world had
voluntarily sold themselves into a species of subjection, in preference to starvation and detention in their
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