"A FOOL PROOF METHOD FOR CONTROLLING YOUR BLACK SLAVES" by Willie Lynch, 1712

SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_states

Gentlemen: I greet you here on the bank of the James River in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and twelve. First, I shall thank you, The Gentlemen of the Colony of Virginia, for bringing me here. I am here to help you solve some of your problems with slaves. Your invitation reached me on my modest plantation in the West Indies where I have experimented with some of the newest and still the oldest methods for the control of slaves. Ancient Rome would envy us if my program was implemented. As our boat sailed south on the James River, named for our illustrious King, whose version of the Bible we cherish, I saw enough to know that your problem is not unique. While Rome used cords of wood as crosses for standing human bodies along its old highways, in great numbers you are here using the tree and the rope on occasion.

I caught the whiff of a dead slave hanging from a tree a couple of miles back. You are losing valuable stock by hangings, you are having uprisings, slaves are running away, your crops are sometimes left in the fields too long for maximum profit, you suffer occasional fires, your animals are killed off. Gentlemen, you know what your problems are: I do not need to elaborate. I am not here to enumerate your problems. I am here to introduce you to a method of solving them.

In my bag here, I have a fool proof method for controlling your Black slaves. I guarantee everyone of you that if installed correctly, it will control the slaves for at least 300 years. My method is simple, any member of your family or any overseer can use it.

I have outlined a number of differences among the slaves: and I take these differences and make them bigger. I use fear, distrust and envy for control purposes. These methods have worked on my modest plantation in the West Indies and it will work throughout the South for you also. Take this simple little list of differences, and think about them. On top of my list is "Age" but it is only there because it starts with an "A": the second is "Color" or shade, there is intelligence, size, sex size of plantations, status on plantation, attitude of owners, whether the slaves live in the valley, on a hill, East, West, North, South, have fine or coarse hair, or is tall or short. Now that you have a list of differences, I shall give you an outline of action -- but before that, I shall assure you that distrust is stronger than trust, and envy is stronger than adulation, respect or admiration. The Black Slave, after receiving this indoctrination shall carry on and will become self re-fueling and self-generating for hundreds of years, maybe thousands.

Don't forget you must pit the old Black male vs. the young Black male and the young Black male vs. the old Black male. You must use the dark skin slaves vs. the light skin slaves and the light skin slaves vs. the dark skin slaves. You must use the female vs. the male, and the male vs. the female. You must also have you Caucasian servants and overseers distrust all Blacks, but it is necessary that your Black slaves trust and depend on us. They must love, respect and trust only us.

Gentlemen, these kits are your keys to control. Use them. Have your wives and children use them. Never miss an opportunity. My plan is guaranteed, and the good thing about this plan is that if used intensely and properly for one year, the slaves themselves will remain perpetually distrustful.

Thank you Gentlemen.

---------------------------- For information on how to "Make A Slave," click here! DISCLAIMER: Some people dispute the authenticity of the Willie Lynch letters; nevertheless, the principles defined in these letters accurately define and capture the perpetual character and scope of the "Black experience" in the United States of America.