The Black Man, the Father of Civilization Part 1

The Black Man, the Father of Civilization.

by James Morris Webb.

PREFACE.

I have many objects in presenting this book to the public.

_First_: I love my race regardless of the prejudice against her, the unenviable position she holds, and the things she is falsely said to be guilty of.

I demonstrate my love for her by launching this book before the public as somewhat of a defense against the prejudice of ancient, as well as modern historical writers and lecturers, who have misrepresented her, and took from her the good deeds and honors that are justly due her.

_Secondly_: I realize that my race has had defenders, and has some now, men of my race and men of other races. But I am simply presenting this book as an humble race defender, in connection with the body of race defenders, and if my theory in this book is accepted as one of the little fingers of this splendid body, I will feel that I have accomplished some results and thus portrayed the story of "The Widow's Mite"--she gave all she had, and I contribute likewise.

_Thirdly_: To appreciate my argument, the reader had best have a Bible at his finger tips so as to examine my references and compare them with my statements, which I make wholly and solely upon the authorities found in the Bible, which in turn is the real and only authority on ancient history (again my authority is not inspired in the slightest degree with malice or hatred for the white race). My profession as a Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ would not permit me to defend in the name of justice, harboring malice and hatred or any ill feeling toward my white brethren. I am acting with that meek and humble spirit and with a gigantic pride in my race, which I hope, pleases G.o.d.

J. M. WEBB.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ABRAHAM LINCOLN

FREDERICK DOUGLAS

DR. BOOKER T. WAs.h.i.+NGTON]

THREE OF THE GREATEST MEN IN AMERICAN HISTORY

Frederick Douglas, the thunder-bolt, whose mighty peals of thunder awoke the sympathy of the Christian men and women of this country in behalf of his enslaved and suffering people.

Abraham Lincoln, the flash of lightning, who, like a streak of light from Heaven giving hope to the black people, struck the shackles from their hands and left them lying shattered at their feet.

Dr. Booker T. Was.h.i.+ngton, who is n.o.bly directing a never-to-be-forgotten battle for that moral and industrial education, which Douglas and Lincoln made it possible for them to obtain.

INTRODUCTION

The Bible gives the first and only true account of the origin of mankind.

It is the only book containing an accurate record of the progress of man toward civilization, and it is the indispensable reference of all searchers after the real facts of the birth of humanity and its progress toward the civilization of today; beginning with his creation, it is the only authentic record of man; authentic because it is first hand, not a copy of something else or a scientific or literary review, but a dispa.s.sionate record of man's creation and progress, untrimmed, unshaped and unvarnished, to suit prejudice. It would not be a complete record if it did not show with the rest of them the origin of the black man and "Woe for all these pinnacle thieves"--it shows that he, the "black man" is the "father of civilization."

The black man has been misrepresented by prejudiced historians and lecturers. It has been and is now quoted that Ham, the father of the black man, was cursed by his father, Noah. Now, in regard to this incident let us take the Biblical record for it, and anyone not totally blind with prejudice will be convinced by reading in the Book of Genesis the 9th Chapter from the 20th to the 27th verse inclusive, that Noah did not, "for he could not curse" Ham, although he did in a fit of intoxication p.r.o.nounce a curse on Canaan, the son of Ham. In pa.s.sing, I might mention that Canaan was never inconvenienced by the curse of Noah, because he was the Father of seven prosperous nations, foremost among them were the Canaanites, Phoenicians and Sidonians. The Sidonians sprang from Sidon, who was the first son of Canaan, according to Genesis 10th Chapter 15th verse. These same Sidonians are the men "descended from black men" whom Solomon ordered Hiram of Tyre to engage to do the skilled hewing and designing of the timber work on Solomon's temple--Solomon declaring that these Sidonians, "black men" were the only men possessed with anywhere near sufficient skill to take charge of and successfully complete the artistic timber work on "His" Solomon's temple. First Kings 5th Chapter 6th verse speaks very plainly of this fact. Solomon knew the black race was a superior, not an inferior race. He married Pharoah's daughter--see 1st Kings, 3rd Chapter 1st verse; 7th Chapter 8th verse, also the 9th Chapter and 16th verse. Solomon's wife might have been of as dark skin or even as black as he was, for history shows that Egypt had two full blooded Ethiopian Pharoahs just before and during the reign of Solomon, according to Herodotus, the names of these two Ethiopians were Sabaco or "Seb.i.+.c.hos"

and Sethos, so Solomon surely got an Ethiopian "Negro or black" woman for a wife. This naturally increased the proportion of Negro blood in the veins of the future King of the Jews. Viewing the progress of the immediate descendants of Ham we learn that a curse laid upon one by a mortal of that day was as foolish and ineffective as it is in this, the story about this curse, also the story of the black man who contended that a black skin and woolly hair is a disgrace, has, according to the Bible, no foundation. Speaking of black skin, the greatest brain work and wisdom ever given to this world was given by men of black skins, or at least in whose veins the greatest portion of blood was Ethiopian or Negro blood. As to this a.s.sertion and King Solomon, see "Songs of Solomon 1st Chapter 6th verse." Solomon's dark skin should cause no surprise, because his mother, Hitt.i.te, was also the widow of Uriah (see 2nd Samuels 12th Chapter 9th and 10th verses). The Hitt.i.tes are the descendants of Heth and Heth was the second son of Canaan (see Genesis 10th Chapter 15th verse).

As to the woolly hair, Jesus, the Blessed Saviour of Mankind, will have His head covered with woolly hair when he comes to judge the world, (Daniel 7th Chapter 9th and 10th verses). Now, if Daniel's prophecy is true that when Christ left this earth he had woolly hair, he naturally will return with woolly hair, and the pictures of Him today are an erroneous conception of Him, by the artists. This grand old book the Bible, does not show that G.o.d ever turned a man black to disgrace him for his sins, or anything else, but this same Bible does show that G.o.d's power did turn a man white to disgrace him because of his sins, and said that his seed would be likewise forever. Facts are stubborn things and often very disagreeable, sometimes even sickening, and by reading carefully the 5th Chapter of the 2nd Kings, 25th, 26th and 27th verses, many of our highly civilized brethren "whose ancient ancestors disgraced them" will suffer an alarming fit of nausea. Among the many low cowardly things that have been said and done against the Negro during this Christian era, one poor benighted individual published a "joke" in book form, in which he claims that, the Negro is a beast, the poor fellow tries to be serious, and no doubt thinks he is offering at least some proof of his a.s.sertion.

The poor fellow of course, receives some sympathy, and would no doubt receive as much as any of the rest of his cla.s.s, were it not for the fact that he holds a Professors.h.i.+p in one of our leading American Christian Universities. Of course the disgust, if any, is felt for those responsible for placing the poor devil in such a position, and the real and well placed sympathy is for the student, who must suffer because of this fellow. The fact remains, however, that regardless of what has been said and done against the Negro and of whatever might be said or done against him in future, he is the ONLY man who can trace himself back through the ages to his origin, and find monumental evidence of his unequaled greatness, his prowess, the laurels and great honors he won, the things he created and perfected which have a direct influence on our civilization of today.

The "black man" I boldly a.s.sert "was the Father of civilization," born in the land of Egypt, and the different branches of Science and Art were simply transmitted to other races, which, as the ages have rolled by have only been enlarged and to some extent improved upon. Even the modern American Negro has proven that he is original, for instance--as a Tonsorial Artist he has no superiors and no Negro was ever known to enter a "Barber College" to learn the trade. Negroes inherit the sweetest, most musical voices, and if you have not heard a Negro quartette or chorus after they have arranged the harmony of a piece they are to sing, you have not heard what is best and sweetest in vocal music. As instrumentalists "not forgetting the many others" I simply mention Blind Tom, and Blind Boone, the fame of these two men needs no comment. They only displayed that talent handed down to them through centuries by their black ancestors. As for the Negro being original, why the Negro has given great America the only claim she ever did or ever will have to a National music.

G.o.d honored the black man by allowing some of his Ethiopian blood to flow in the veins of His only Son Jesus Christ, and I unhesitatingly a.s.sert that Jesus would in America be cla.s.sed a NEGRO. I make this a.s.sertion only on the authority of the Bible, according to which Jesus was born out of the tribe of Judah. Judah had only five children and they were males, (1st Chron. 2nd ch. and 4th v.), three by his first wife and two by his second wife (1st Chron. 2nd ch. 3rd and 4th vs.), and both of his wives were descendants of Canaan, a black man who was the son of Ham (Genesis 10th ch. 6th v.). Tamar, Judah's second wife, bore him two of these sons whose names were Phares and Zarah (1st Chron. 2nd ch. and 4th v.), these two names appear in the genealogy of Jesus Christ in the Book of Matthew (1st Chapter 3rd verse), so it is no trouble to see that Judah of whom Christ was to come, started out by presenting to the world children of Canaanite women who were Hamite descendants. Now, Virgin Mary, of whom Christ was born was beyond all doubt a woman out of the tribe of Judah, and every Bible reference proclaims that Jesus was to spring from this tribe of Judah (Genesis 49-10, Heb. 7-14, Rev. 5-5th). Our beloved St.

Paul tells us in (Romans 1-3) that Jesus was of the seed of David according to the flesh. David is the 10th man named from Judah in the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1st Chapter, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th verses). Added to this David's great, great grandfather "Booz" was born of the woman Rahab, who was a direct descendant of Ham (Matthew 1st Chapter 5th verse). This also shows that David, one of G.o.d's greatest soldiers, was one who most successfully led his people and one who had Negro blood in his veins. Bible history is full of honors for the Black Man, Jethro the Ethiopian or Negro father-in-law of Moses, who was the author who first employed that, which is today, our judicial system, considerably twisted and revised to meet the changing conditions of civilization (Exodus 18th Chapter). This chapter tells of Jethro's visit to Moses, and how he gave Moses the foundation of what is today our system of graded courts for p.r.o.nouncing judgments. Again Moses "The Hebrew Emanc.i.p.ator" was named by a black woman "Pharoah's daughter"--she said she called him Moses because she drew him out of the water (Exodus 2-10) and besides black men educated Moses. At any rate he received what education he had in the schools of the black people of Egypt (Acts 7th 22nd), so there is nothing remarkable in the fact that Dr. Booker T. Was.h.i.+ngton, W. E. B. DuBois, W.

S. Scarborough and many other Negro or black men occupy places among the foremost and most eminent educators of the world, and why should they not?

They are descended from fathers who ruled Egypt centuries ago and with their great wisdom layed the foundation of learning.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BISHOP H. M. TURNER, D.D., L.L.D.

The Most Fearless Defender the Afro-Americans Have]

BISHOP H. M. TURNER, D.D., L.L.D.

Bishop H. M. Turner, born at Newbury, South Carolina, February 1st, 1833, is the senior Bishop of the A. M. E. Church. He has been Bishop for thirty-one years, and is quoted as the walking encyclopedia of Methodism, and for this cause the last general conference that convened at Norfolk, Va., on May, 1908, voted unanimously for the good Bishop to be the historian of the African-Methodist Episcopal Church. It is to be remembered that Bishop Turner was the first colored man to be a commissioned officer in the United States Army, which appointment he received from President Lincoln. The Bishop was twice a member of the Georgia Legislature, and also the first of his church to be elected Bishop to Africa.

THE BLACK MAN

FIRST CHAPTER.

"That time changes all things" is a saying so old and so true as to admit of no argument. It is exemplified in so many different ways as to require no comment, and yet when we hear the phrase used glibly and thoughtlessly, every day, it is but natural to wonder if the one who uses it realizes what he is saying, or rather, if he knows what those few commonplace words mean, when used to form that sentence.

It is a foregone conclusion that he does not. He never stopped, "he, of this enlightened age, I mean," long enough to examine even a little of the abundance of indisputable proof that the saying "Time changes all things"

applies to things and conditions, seldom if ever present, to his own narrow mind, and far away and beyond even his meaner and low prejudiced influence. If he did, his retrospective mood, would, before carrying him back to the very beginning, suffer something of a shock, and his att.i.tude would change. Instead of delighting in history, modern, medieval and ancient, his att.i.tude would change so noticeably that an observer would imagine that his only interest was in tearing down and falsifying facts, and concealing records that he could not falsify. When we hear or read the sayings of some of our "misnamed" great men, but in reality disgustingly conspicuous public figures, we are fully justified in making the charge of falsifying and concealing such facts as they are not really ignorant of.

One of these conspicuous public characters delights in making the a.s.sertion that the Hamite Ethiopian or Negro never amounted to anything, or possessed anything, never occupied an eminence, save to which the Semitic or white man had dragged or driven him up to. If ignorance alone was responsible for this glaring falsehood, a great deal of sympathy would go out to those who make the statement as well as those who believe it to be true because of their ignorance. As harsh as it may seem sympathy would be wasted for a great deal of the self a.s.serted enlightenment of today is but egotism. Much of the so-called wisdom is self praise for successfully concealing, or at least surrounding historical facts with such mystery as to place the descendants of Shem upon an eminence which is not justly his and makes him in his own opinion appear much larger than what he really is. And yet with all the egotism, some knowledge of the true origin of mankind exists, and it is this knowledge that causes the fasifying and hiding as much as possible the true historical records, especially of the black man. It cannot be said that the learned historical writers, the great Divines, Theological students and lecturers of today are ignorant of the history of Ham, the son of Noah, and his descendants, such as Nimrod, the founder of the great ancient city of Babylon, and also Menes the first King of Egypt and the founder of the great ancient city of Memphis.

Ridpath says that the traditions of antiquity points to Memphis and Babylon as the fountains of human wisdom. If those above-named are ignorant of the history of the last-named, they are doing the world a great injustice in a.s.suming the position of teacher and leader. If they are familiar with the history of the races and the deeds of men, they will no doubt have for them and their kind good and sufficient reasons for making false and misleading statements as to some historical records, and totally forgetting or demeaning others.

An early Queen of Egypt was a descendant of the Ethiopian or Negro race.

This is conceded by some of the modern writers; some of them going so far as to say that her skin was very black, and a few of them acknowledge that it was this black queen who placed the first fleet of war s.h.i.+ps on the river Nile. They have no doubt traced this woman back to where they are satisfied that she was descended in a direct lineal line from Zipporah, the black and Ethiopian wife of Moses. We read very little of these two women, because modern writers seek to obscure them, and our ministers of the gospel never preach or lecture on that part of the Bible in which they are mentioned. WHY? Because, if they do they must give credit to black people. In this connection, I do not speak of Biblical history only. Were it not for the fact that the dimensions of this book would be extended far beyond what was intended, I could begin even with Hannibal, the Carthagenian General, and record the accomplishments of black men without the intervening of any long periods of time, down to the time of Alexander Dumas, Toussant L'Overture, and Alexander Sergievitch Pouskin, Russo-African poet. I could do more, I could come into the borders of this Republic and beginning with Crispus Octikus, or Alexander Hamilton--record the accomplishments of these same black descendants of Ham, down to this day. This modern record would contain many references to both the war of Independence and the war of the Rebellion. It would also mention a great many black men who can never forget El Caney and San Juan Hill. Besides the heroes of war, modern history is replete with the names of black men famous in peace for their accomplishments in science and letters of art.

s.p.a.ce will not permit me to dwell upon these men and their accomplishments and the towering obstacles in spite of which they succeeded. I could not fail, however, to mention Frederick Douglas who was one of the greatest statesmen America ever had, even though he was born a slave. Dr. Booker T.

Was.h.i.+ngton was also born a slave, and is one of the greatest educators the world has ever known. As to the many other great things black men have done and are doing, I cannot fail to mention the north pole, for, if human beings have stood on the spot claimed as the north pole, the black man was preceded by no one. I speak of Mr. Matt Henson, the Negro, who, if indeed, the pole ever was reached, was one of the first of the only two "to date"

to reach it.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PROF. W. S. SCARBOROUGH]