The Saber and Scroll Journal Volume 9, Number 1, Summer (June) 2020 | Page 28

Slavery in New York: Through the Lens of
slavery saturated all of the colonies; after
declaring independence, fewer areas
of the country had slavery as a common
practice. 16 Cooper maintained throughout
this text that the black slave and the
free black in America had more rights
than some European citizens, stating
“They are provided for in their age, are
never seen cumbering the approach to
the alters, objects of misery and disgust,
imploring alms and exhibiting their ails
and wants.” 17 Thus, there were numerous
justifications for slavery, although
Cooper did not believe that slavery
could—or should—continue to exist
within a free, democratic society.
Cooper worked black characters
into the main story plots in his novels,
which was a progressive action on his
part as a novelist. However, Cooper
also created a prescribed, caricatured
format for his black characters: misshapen,
dense, simple, superstitious,
and always smiling—even in the face
of danger or serious situations. 18 This
is also found in Coopers Defense of
Slave-Owning America, where it is stated
that blacks are a “race proverbial for
their light-heartedness. The laugh of
the negro is merriment itself.” 19 This is
intended to demonstrate that the position
of a slave—or a black society member—was
not a cause for misery. It was
the institution itself that was unjust.
This depiction of blacks was present in
various other works of Cooper. In the
novel, The Red Rover, the character of
Cassandra is a minor character; she is
a slave, but she also plays an important
role. She succeeds in helping rescue her
mistress, Gertrude Grayson, through
an act of rebellion, by distracting the
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