Colonial Uncle Tom: Jupiter Hammon

Jupiter Hammon (born 1711–[died between 1790-1806]) passed his entire life as the property of the wealthy and influential Lloyd family of Long Island, New York. He believed he was so favorably situated in slavery that he actually preferred to remain a slave than to go free. In his “Address to the Negroes of the State of New York,” Hammon outwardly grieves about the condition of his “dear brethren”: “when I think of your ignorance and stupidity, and the great wickedness of the most of you, I am pained to the heart.” He admonishes the Blacks who dream of freedom to perish the thought and come to their senses:

[F]or my own part I do not wish to be free…for many of us who are grown up slaves, and have always had masters to take care of us, should hardly know how to take care of ourselves; and it may be more for our own comfort to remain as we are.

Hammon was taught to read and write and he often wrote pro-slavery propaganda in the form of poetry, for which he was widely known. Here is a sample entitled “A Dialogue Entitled the Kind Master and the Dutiful Servant”:

Master: Come my servant, follow me, According to thy place; And surely God will be with thee And send thee heav’nly grace.

Servant: Dear Master, I will follow thee According to thy word…

Hammon descended from the white heavens just long enough to reveal the ultimate aim of his brand of “Christianity” as purely economic: “It is very wicked for you not to take care of your masters goods, but how much worse is it to pilfer and steal from them…God will certainly punish you for stealing and for being unfaithful.”

In a chilling appeal that forms the cornerstone of the Uncle Tom mission in America, Hammon exhorts his fellow captives to accept enslavement: “Let me beg of you my dear African brethren, to think very little of your bondage in this life, for your thinking of it will do you no good.”