Address to the Negroes of the State of New York
- Address to the Negroes of the State of New York
The Address to the Negroes of the State of New York, or the Hammon Address, was a speech by Jupiter Hammon, the first African-American writer to be published in the United States. Hammon delivered the speech, in which he expressed his opinions on slavery, before the African Society on 24 September 1786.
Jupiter Hammon wrote the speech at age seventy-six after a lifetime of slavery in Long Island, New York. In the speech, Hammon gives his famous quote, "If we should ever get to Heaven, we shall find nobody to reproach us for being black, or for being slaves." [http://www.africawithin.com/schomburg/negro_digs.htm]
Hammon was an extremely devout Christian and, as such, the speech draws heavily on Christian motifs and theology. For example, Hammon said that Black people should maintain their high moral standards precisely because being slaves on earth had already secured their place in heaven. Hammon's speech also promoted the idea of a gradual emancipation as a way of ending slavery. [http://www.galeschools.com/black_history/literature/address.htm] It is thought that Hammon stated this plan because he knew that slavery was so entrenched in American society that an immediate emancipation of all slaves would be difficult to achieve.
Hammon apparently remained a slave until his death. His speech was initially published by the New York Quakers. After his death, his speech was widely reprinted and distributed by the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery.
See also
* Jupiter Hammon
* African American literature
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